Our Family Has Fallen

On the contrary, the Witch raised her soup spoon and waved it. An indescribable power began to wither the thorns, though it still drew the Witch's attention.

Lance seized this rare opportunity. Daring to be distracted in his presence meant she had to bear the consequences. His greatsword's direction of attack suddenly changed. Using an air slash to gather power, Lance rotated and unleashed an even more powerful force onto the Witch.

"CRACK!"

A crisp sound rang out, and the bone armor she wore finally shattered completely, becoming useless.

Under this force, the Witch could not stand steady, let alone with thorns entangling her legs, and her massive body began to teeter.

At this moment, as the two of them pressed their attack, the Witch finally showed a hint of panic.

But she only had to strain to snap the dried-up thorns before stepping back twice. The Witch did not look at Lance. Instead, she turned to rage at the woman, her eyes filled with malice.

"You actually side with these Imperial People!"

Saying so, she raised her soup spoon and pointed, the power of the Curse descending upon the woman in an instant.

The Curse, useless against Lance, had a terrifying effect on the woman, severely injuring both her mind and body. The remaining half of the thorns went limp. If not for her Magic Wand supporting her, she wouldn't even have been able to stand.

However, Lance could see the radiance bursting from her body; something was fighting against the Curse.

The Witch's cruelty was apparent. She had just been discussing their relationship, yet the next second, she picked up her hammer and charged, each step shaking the earth like a tank.

It seemed she knew the Curse wouldn't kill the woman, but the hammer could!

Seeing this, Lance couldn't allow it. Before killing the Witch, the woman was his ally, and he certainly had to help her out.

"Fatso! Your opponent is right here."

Lance rushed over and stood in front of the woman, swinging his sword to drive the Witch back.

Lifting his hand, he cast Bless, his power pouring fiercely into the woman. Her radiance exploded instantly, clearing away the Curse.

"Are you alright?"

"Mhm~" Naturally feeling the empowerment, the woman looked at Lance.

"Stand behind me, and she can't hurt you."

When Lance said this, it was very straightforward; the Witch's Curse indeed had no effect on him. But hearing it, the woman had mixed feelings, not knowing what to say.

Not holding back any longer, she lifted her hand, and a scent of flowers entered Lance's nostrils. Instantly, his mind cleared, his senses heightened, allowing him to more accurately anticipate the Witch's movements.

He even felt a calming effect on his Spiritual Essence, though unnecessary for him; however, it did alleviate some pressure.

And it wasn't over yet. The woman lifted her other hand, and a whiff of herbal essence wafted from her sleeve, making Lance feel his nerves reacting faster.

"Thanks!" Feeling the enhancement in his body, Lance charged directly at the Witch, his attack unceasing.

Already worn down by the successive fights, the Witch's power was waning. Furthermore, with Lance now empowered, he was beating her fiercely. If it weren't for the many strange mystical items she carried that kept blocking his attacks, he probably would have taken her down much earlier.

Whirlwind Slash!

Centered on his body, Lance grabbed his greatsword and started spinning. The blade drew a large arc, accumulating terrifying force, hitting the Witch like a tornado.

The greatsword, carrying terrifying force, slashed through. Strangely, the Witch didn't suffer much damage, and the impact felt off to Lance.

"It was the substitute doll that took the damage," the voice behind him spoke.

Lance didn't know the details. He only knew he had to cut down the bastard in front of him.

"YAH!!!"

The long-lasting Bless finally pushed his Strengthening to a new level. At that moment, Lance surpassed another human limit. His muscles bulged with exertion, stretching his clothes tight.

With the power contained in the greatsword, it unleashed an unprecedented might, its huge form disappearing into a blur as if tearing through space itself.

The Witch also sensed the life-threatening crisis and showed panic. She tried desperately to dodge but found herself locked in, as if unable to resist.

No, the sword is too fast; my body can't react in time.

Such despair... I don't even know when the last time I felt this was...

"BUZZ!"

Lance had no idea what she was thinking. As the greatsword sliced through the air, there was only a resonant hum, not even the sound of cutting Flesh.

Right, that door beneath the dungeon...

The Witch remembered something, but the next second her head soared into the air, and her massive body soon fell as it shook.

"Looks like your little doll is all used up~" Lance looked at the corpse and couldn't help but jeer, though the corpse wouldn't answer him.

Once he was certain the Witch was dead, Lance let out a breath of relief and interrupted the Spiritual Essence-consuming Bless.

As his state changed, the accumulated physical and mental pressure instantly bore down on him. Even he couldn't help but pant heavily, waiting for his body to recover.

Looking over to the other side, he saw Balistan fall, heavily wounded, with the banshee coordinating the squad's attack on the monster.

"Whew~"

Lance took a long breath and, not caring about anything else, hurriedly dragged his greatsword over there.

It had to be said that the banshee greatly restrained the monster. A series of controls kept it pinned, and physical resistance was meaningless against it. Not to mention, Reynard was striking wildly.

In fact, there was no threat left, and Lance's arrival brought an end to it all.

The greatsword swept across, and where Reynard had hacked a huge gap, the monster broke apart, its upper body toppling like a great tree, stirring up a cloud of spores.

Dead was dead. Or perhaps the monster had been dead for a long time; what lingered was merely a monster twisted into existence by the Witch using witchcraft.

When all was settled, Lance's gaze fell on the banshee's spirit. He saw it revert to its original form, as if completely letting go of something, then dissolve away.

Lance instinctively reached out to catch it, but it was too late. The Spiritual Body vanished into particles of light and disappeared into the air.

A banshee repaying gratitude? Even knight novels wouldn't dare write something like this.

However, Lance didn't pay much attention to this, turning instead to the injured Balistan and lifting his hand to initiate Flesh Reconstruction.

The wounds healed, and the pain was relieved.

But the oddity was that the healed wounds actually developed blisters that soon erupted and festered again.

This situation puzzled Lance, causing him to frown.

"The toxin has entered the body through the wound. If not removed, the corrosion will last a long time."

Lance couldn't help but follow the voice. He saw that the woman had also come over, and she seemed to know quite a bit about these things.

Reynard and the others also noticed the woman. Having just disengaged from the battle, they were already on high alert, especially since she was a stranger. This made them wary.

"She just helped me kill the Witch. She should know about this stuff," Lance explained, recalling the Antidote from earlier. He then asked for her advice, "What should we do in this case?"

Without saying much, the woman examined Balistan's wounds. Then, she turned to the monster's gigantic body, surprisingly reaching out to pick up the remaining corrosive slime with her bare hand.

The slime, which corroded metal and Flesh, had no effect on her. On the contrary, she seemed to understand something. She took out a Potion from her pocket, added some unknown powder, and shook it while murmuring incomprehensible words. The color of the Potion changed.

"Drink half, use half externally."

Everyone looked at her strange actions and the mysterious Potion with inherent distrust.

The woman seemed to notice Dismas and the others' gazes, and her hand almost moved to retract it.

"Thank you." Lance went up to take it directly, not forgetting to express his gratitude and show a friendly attitude.

Lance's inexplicable trust confused Reynard and the others, but they said nothing more, their attention more focused on whether that bizarre Potion would work...