On this continent, where the Nine Kingdoms fought bitterly every day, many intelligent beings merely stood on opposing sides. There was no strict distinction between good and evil.
For example, the Lyne Empire's intense hatred of the undead did not mean that an undead like Amber Xiu was truly irredeemably evil. Nor could one stand from Amber Xiu's perspective and claim that the Lyne Empire was a heartless evil cult.
It was a matter of opposing positions, and could not be judged simply by good and evil.
Hags were different, however. They were inherently evil creatures, the most cruel and vicious beings from the moment they were born.
Hags looked like ugly, twisted old women on the outside, and their hearts were just as ugly.
The extreme and twisted nature of these creatures could be seen from the way they reproduced.
Hags could not bear offspring themselves. They stole babies from cradles, or even from their mothers' wombs, and then absorbed the poor infants completely. A week later, the hag would give birth to a human-looking female infant
and maintain its human appearance as it grew. When its thirteenth birthday arrived, it would transform into a hag exactly like its mother.
Normally, a hag would give its offspring to a couple who had lost their child. Until the child reached around ten years old, it would grow normally, appearing no different from an ordinary child.
More than a decade was enough time for them to become a true family.
Once the hag's soul matured, the child would suddenly change personality, becoming cruel and vicious and catching its adoptive parents off guard. No matter what those parents did, they could never awaken the child's conscience. After countless betrayals and wounds, they were often killed by the child they had raised with their own hands.
As they lay dying, they would even watch their child transform into the hag's ugly form, realizing that the creature they had raised for more than a decade was a monster—and that this monster had grown by devouring their own child.
Such cruel torment would leave a mortal's soul battered and torn, while the hag would feel immense joy at the human's anger and despair.
That was the essence of hags. Their very existence was meant to bring pain to other life-forms.
After reaching adulthood, hags would quickly master vast amounts of evil magic. They would then grow arrogant and conceited. Some even believed that the gods were nothing special, and that sooner or later they could trample all the gods beneath their feet.
This extreme arrogance made hags fond of toying with humans. It was one of their ways of proving that they were "gods as well." Normally, hags played trading games with humans. For example, they would poison someone first, then appear when he was desperate and tell him that he could survive as long as he sacrificed his most beloved family member.
By deceiving humans into sacrificing their loved ones, then revealing the truth, hags could happily savor the expressions of collapse and despair on their faces.
For that pleasure, they were even willing to pay a price.
It could be said that hags were creatures born evil, even more outrageous than Devils from Hell.
Amber Xiu gave Naomi a very thorough explanation of hags and their nature. Naomi listened with her mouth hanging open, unable to close it for a long time.
"By Sylvanus, there are actually such evil monsters in this world? They eat children, then create a monster and give it to the child's parents to raise... That's simply too vile!"
Just listening to Amber Xiu's description made Naomi's skin crawl. Her people had actually encountered such a terrifying monster.
Amber Xiu continued, "Most hags are skilled in illusion magic. Large-scale illusions are no challenge for them. Hags possess not only powerful spellcasting abilities; their claws are strong enough to tear through steel. And hags are never alone. What they do best is deceive humans and turn them into their puppets.
"Even if an entire army made thorough preparations, it would probably suffer heavy casualties against a hag. Worse still, most hags are skilled at escaping. If you cannot kill one in a single attempt, it will keep taking revenge until it kills you!
"I once heard a rumor that three hags joined forces and created a terrifying plague in the Elven capital, turning city after city into dead zones and causing more than a thousand deaths. If not for a Legendary expert from the High Elves driving away the three hags, the casualties would have been even greater."
Amber Xiu's words turned Naomi pale. This sounded like an incredibly terrifying monster. Didn't that mean her people were in great danger?
"Master Ultraman, what should we do now?" Naomi asked anxiously.
"It's difficult. Hags really aren't easy to deal with. Only someone at the Legendary Tier can deal with one with absolute certainty. If you spend money to hire a professional adventurer team, it would take at least tens of thousands of gold coins before anyone might be willing to accept the commission. But that was the price several years ago. Prices in Alchemy City have soared recently, so it will probably cost twice as much."
Naomi grew even more anxious after hearing Amber Xiu. Where could she possibly get tens of thousands of gold coins to hire adventurers? Could it be that her people truly had no hope?
"However..." Amber Xiu suddenly changed his tone.
Naomi hurriedly asked, "However what?"
"However, I happen to know an expert at dealing with hags. Thanks to my reputation, he can guarantee solving this hag for at most ten thousand gold coins."
"Really?" Naomi asked suspiciously. She vaguely sensed that something was wrong. Why did those words sound so much like a scam?
Amber Xiu thumped his chest and said, "Of course. If you don't believe me, I can swear by the God of Undead. The expert I know can definitely deal with the hag. And he only charges ten thousand gold coins. If he fails—even if he lets the hag escape—he won't charge a single coin."
Naomi said helplessly, "But I don't have that much money either. I don't have anything valuable on me."
Amber Xiu smiled and said, "That's easy. Aren't you going to rescue your tribesmen? The things they have on them should add up to ten thousand gold coins easily. Natural magic equipment made by Druids sells very well throughout the Nine Kingdoms. You can receive the service first and pay afterward."
Naomi felt that something was still off, but she seemed to have no other choice right now.
As long as she could rescue her people, ten thousand gold coins would definitely be worth it. If everyone in the tribe pooled their resources, they should have enough.
If they failed to rescue them, what could she possibly lose?
With that thought, Naomi immediately agreed.
"Then shall we go find the expert you mentioned now? Where is he?" Naomi urged anxiously.
Amber Xiu smiled faintly. "No need to hurry. He's already here."
After saying that, Amber Xiu's body began to radiate layers of eerie light.
The effect of the Transformation Spell was undone. The black-haired youth rapidly turned into a snow-white skeleton. He wore a black robe, Soul Fire burned in his eye sockets, and he hovered in midair without touching the ground, a long magic staff in his hand.
With such an appearance, Naomi did not need him to introduce himself before she cried out, "A lich? You're a lich?!"
There were countless kinds of undead. Naomi had initially guessed that Amber Xiu was a Vampire or something similar, but she had never expected him to be a lich.
Among the undead, liches were probably the most powerful spellcasters. No wonder his spells were so formidable.
"Wait, you're the expert you mentioned?"
Naomi suddenly felt that she had been tricked.
"That's right. I have plenty of experience dealing with hags. Don't worry." Amber Xiu spoke with absolute confidence.
After he restored his lich form, however, his voice became a vibration of magic power. It sounded like a chilling wind blowing through a mass grave, making it especially terrifying.
Naomi still felt that something was wrong and continued questioning him. "But you just said that only someone at the Legendary Tier could deal with a hag alone."
Amber Xiu lightly waved the magic staff in his hand. The corpses of the mutated rats on the ground suddenly burst apart. Amid the indistinct flesh and blood, countless bones clicked and assembled themselves, transforming into dozens of strange-looking skeletons.
Standing before the army of skeletons, Amber Xiu said to Naomi, "Allow me to introduce myself again. I, Diga Ultraman, Legendary lich!"
(Fin.)
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