At the same time in the Aira Royal Court, the War Witch Nikki stood facing another girl across a massive sand table — a girl wrapped head to toe in white bandages, with long, dark-green hair cascading behind her.
"Pestis… it looks like those cultists have made something quite troublesome. Your plans haven't been affected, have they?"
Nikki's expression was grim.
She had expected the Cult of Ascension to pull a few tricks while cooperating with them — but not this.
Even she had felt the terrifying divine power that had erupted earlier… and along with it came a deep, helpless sense of her own weakness.
That feeling only strengthened her determination — she needed to grow stronger, and fast.
The green-haired girl, Pestis, replied with her usual cold, emotionless tone:
"It doesn't matter. It's only the Kingdom of Sacrifice that's fallen — hardly worth worrying about.
My 'rats' have already spread throughout the entire Knight Empire, and the eastern nations of the Yunir Empire have been thoroughly infiltrated as well.
By the time spring comes, the infection should cover all three major human empires completely.
And when that happens… it will be time for the all-out offensive you've planned against humanity."
Pestis slowly opened her eyes, her bandaged face still unreadable.
"But are you sure the Death Witch hasn't escaped to the Magic Empire?"
Her tone carried a hint of skepticism.
"I'm fairly certain," Nikki replied. "The spies from the Magic Empire haven't detected any signs of a witch heading toward the Wind Nation.
Besides, the area surrounding the Wind Nation is sealed tight by the Judgment Knights.
I doubt a newly ascended witch could possibly slip through their encirclement."
"Or perhaps," Pestis murmured, "this Death Witch really is what she claims to be — an ancient monster who's lived for countless years?"
"Do you actually believe that?" Nikki asked, arching an eyebrow.
"Of course not," Pestis said flatly.
Her gaze drifted back to the sand table, as if recalling something buried in memory.
After a long silence, she finally continued:
"The previous Death Witch, the one controlled by the Church, only died eighty years ago.
By the usual cycle, the new Death Witch would have been born less than ten years ago.
I suspect the Undead Plague in the Free Nation and the Underworld Witch's seal breaking are both connected to her."
"I agree," Nikki said, nodding.
She picked up a small wooden stick and pointed to several locations on the sand table.
"If the Death Witch was originally in the Free Nation, then after causing that much chaos, she'd have no choice but to flee toward the human heartlands.
The Dessert Kingdom is the homeland of that legendary adventurer — heading there would be suicide.
The Northmount and Southmount Kingdoms form the natural barriers of the Ymir Empire.
If she tried to cross them into the Maritime Nation to the east, she'd only trap herself there.
So the most likely destination she'd flee to… is the Kingdom of Sacrifice."
"Which is exactly why you were the first to attack there, isn't it?"
Pestis nodded, approving of Nikki's reasoning — but her tone grew more serious as she added:
"You do realize, Nikki, that among the Seven Witches, you are the only one capable of seizing the Death Divinity.
But your disadvantage is your youth. You've just barely reached the sixth tier.
Meanwhile, the Slaughter Witch among us is already at the peak of tier six — she could step into the Saint Rank within a few years.
If you don't find that Death Witch soon and take her divinity, your future might end… very poorly."
"I know."
Nikki nodded solemnly. She understood perfectly what Pestis meant.
If the Slaughter Witch ascended to the Saint Rank first, the only thing waiting for Nikki would be a challenge for succession — a bloody duel where only one Witch would survive.
She'd end up as the other's stepping stone.
Just like she herself planned to make the Death Witch her own.
That was the law of their kind.
She had to find the Death Witch first —
and claim her godhood.
"Achoo!"
Hel sneezed, pulling her cloak tighter around herself.
"What's wrong, Master? Did you catch a cold?"
Beside her, Niv looked up in concern. With a flick of her wrist, a soft white fur mantle appeared in her hands, which she gently draped over Hel's shoulders.
It fit her perfectly — clearly custom-made.
"Thanks, I'm fine," Hel said, clutching the cloak.
Although it was winter, the Goblin Ruins weren't particularly cold, so it was unlikely she was sick.
No — she had a feeling someone, somewhere, was probably talking about her.
Considering how many people she'd annoyed during her adventures, that wouldn't be surprising.
"Alright, Niv, let's go see your masterpiece."
"Okay~!"
Niv's eyes lit up, and she grabbed Hel's hand, pulling her eagerly toward the depths of the ruins.
After passing through rows of dusty storage racks, they entered a vast chamber.
At its center stood an enormous mechanized construct — towering, gleaming with cold metal, its design vaguely reminiscent of a knight's armor.
"Niv… is this your old mech suit?"
"Nope, Master," Niv said proudly. "This is the puppet construct you asked me to build!
Though right now it's just the frame — the internal arrays and mechanisms aren't set up yet.
Some of the inner systems use puppet-tech from those ancient automatons, so it can't channel magic on its own.
But the mana cannons are fully functional!"
"You're telling me this thing is a puppet?"
Hel looked up at the colossal machine — over fifty meters tall — and struggled to reconcile it with her idea of a "puppet."
But then again… this was Niv's work.
Her design philosophy had always been simple and insane:
"Bigger is better. More is beautiful. Caliber is justice. Turrets are truth."
And sure enough — mounted on its shoulders were two massive six-barreled 1200mm mana cannons, and hanging at its waist was a forty-meter ship-slicing blade.
Yep. Niv had absolutely stayed true to her principles.
"That's right, Master!" Niv said proudly.
"High-grade city-class puppets at tier six are usually around this size — some even reach a hundred meters at tier seven.
The stronger the puppet, the bigger it gets!"
"Sure… whatever you say," Hel sighed.
"Still, it's impressive you managed to build this much in just half a month."
"Ehehe~ well, it's only a rough shell for now.
For something of this scale, even if we use the cheapest iron ingots available, it'll still take about two more months to finish.
And since you'll need to help transmute materials, I'd estimate three months total before it's fully completed."
Hel couldn't help but smile wryly.
At least Niv's madness was productive.