Lingering Poison of the Witch King

A large amount of tax paid in kind was converted through various reasonable calculation methods, and then inexplicably cut off to match the data from previous years.

Oute turned the page and found a series of small villages under Stein's name.

Some villages have very detailed records, while others only have precise figures for each year and ranges of numbers that are merely inferences.

This is not a public account; it is a private account disguised as a public account.

He was embezzling, but that's not surprising.

But you're still guessing it's from your colleagues?

The entire private account is measured in time... so...

Oute quickly found the origins of these three villages.

Really.

He confirmed his suspicions.

The bedroom door was suddenly flung open, and a jet-black energy sphere shot straight toward the Scavenger's face!

Oute stepped aside to clear the shooting line, closed the ledger with one hand, and reached for his waist with the other.

The jet-black orb tousled the Scavenger's silver hair, revealing his merciless, jewel-like red eyes, before blasting a massive gash in the village chief's mansion.

Zalak's eyes turn red when he is emotionally agitated.

And Oute's brain, which was constantly engaged in precise calculations, seemed to be identified by this body as "emotionally agitated".

"I had no idea that Catastrophe Messenger would attract thieves!"

Caprinae's guard brandished his staff, and amidst the jeers, he conjured two more magic orbs.

Sniper!?

A crossbow bolt came from the window behind Oute, and the guards, caught off guard, had no choice but to abandon the magic orb they were conjuring and deploy a barrier.

Unable to maintain both offensive and defensive capabilities simultaneously?

He doesn't seem to be a warlock specializing in combat.

But he was a guard... and quite astute at that.

Having discovered something interesting, Oute coldly watched the guards' performance and handed the initiative of the battle back to the Scavenger.

The nimble short axe was concealed behind the Scavenger arm, and with a single step, she disappeared from the guards' sight.

"They're all petty thieves!" the guard cursed angrily. Just as he opened his chest to do something, an axe thrust out from his blind spot was held to his throat.

"Trash, want to call for other trash?" the Scavenger said coldly. "Dare to speak loudly, or you'll be saying goodbye to your life forever."

It's impolite to say this, but the Doctor was definitely more likable when he was inside.

GreyThroat sighed softly, but the crossbow remained unmoved.

Wait, why is that guard smiling?

He's now incapacitated and can't call for his companions!

Chapter 284 The Remaining Poison of the Witch King

Why were Caprinae's guards still able to laugh even after completely losing the initiative?

The question about GreyThroat was quickly answered.

Caprinae the sorcerer said, as if showing off, "You little thief, so you're an infected one after all!"

All my years of practice actually came in handy at this critical moment...

The sorcerer Caprinae was filled with a strange mix of excitement, pride, and a sense of destiny.

The Originium particles flowing in Zalak's blood, the Originium crystals on her body, and the Originium crystals in her flesh trembled slightly under the brutal spell of the Caprinae sorcerer.

These energies slowly, chaotically, and violently attempt to converge, trying to form something of value.

However, this rudimentary energy gathering process itself causes great harm to the infected person's body.

The Scavenger grunted and gritted his teeth, saying, "They actually used the Originium within me to cast a spell!"

Feeling the blade recede from their necks, the remnants of the Witch King's faction exclaimed excitedly, "That's right! Did you feel it!?"

"This is Herzog's (Note ①) magic!"

But GreyThroat didn't hesitate and shot an arrow into his torso.

"Ughhhhhh!" This novice warlock, who was not good at fighting, could not endure the pain any longer.

He exclaimed incredulously, "I'm the one holding her life in my hands now! Why did you dare shoot me?!"

Oute kicked the warlock in the back of the knee, and placed her slender hand directly on his shoulder.

The Scavenger was unharmed.

Using the Originium within infected individuals as a casting material and forcibly consuming it is one of the Witch King's commonly used techniques.

Unlike Oute, this technique, which forcibly consumes Originium, often causes the Originium to be activated and retaliate.

The Witch King himself might be able to perform Oute's brutal and gruesome "healing" with the aid of numerous healing spells. But these amateurish imitators are consuming not only the Originium within the infected, but also their lives.

"When did you get the illusion that you have this person's life in your hands?" Oute said ruthlessly.

Caprinae's eyes widened, and his exposed skin began to redden, as if his blood were evaporating...

"Gurgle..."

Holding the cosplayer's life in his hands, Oute said indifferently, "Whether or not someone is infected might have different value in medical treatment."

"But to me, the vast majority of living beings in this world... are infected."

"Originium flows in your blood, every breath you take in and out is imbued with Originium, and the most jarring yet beautiful melody in the clash between civilization and violence is played out by Originium."

"A three-year-old child casually swings a teenager's logging axe, but when the axe falls out of control, he perceives the chiseling action on the ground as the axe's purpose."

"When you try to do such a thing to my operators, do you have a premonition of your own end?"

The jet-black crystal shell pierced the throat of the sorcerer Caprinae, returning to him in a wondrous way the fate he had tried to inflict upon the Scavenger.

The Scavenger's chest and abdomen were soaked in blood, and combined with her hand axe, she looked particularly frightening.

GreyThroat initially thought he was just infiltrating, but now things have taken a turn for the worse. The house the village chief lent to the tax collector has a huge hole in it, and the tax collector's guard is dead on the spot. Meanwhile, Oute has the ledger tucked into his pocket...

Seeing this, GreyThroat asked timidly, "... Doctor, how do we handle this?"

Zalak gave Little Swallow a strange look. "Why should we clean up this mess? Someone will take responsibility."

GreyThroat doesn't understand what this means yet.

Thor drove his off-road vehicle, trailing far behind the villagers.

They lied!

They all know where each other lives!

After all, they were traveling through the wilderness without roads, so the villagers' movements were far from straightforward. But a seasoned Catastrophe Messenger like Thor could easily tell that they had a clear destination.

"Warning: Target is approaching the warning range. Please suspend your movement."

After all, being in the wilderness, the vehicles chasing behind would be too conspicuous.

To avoid prematurely revealing himself, Thor had to rely on the terrain or distance for cover.

Seemingly sensing the driver's intentions, the in-vehicle terminal proactively offered numerous suggestions!

While marveling at Rhodes Island's wealth, Thor felt no remorse—he had focused all his energy on how to deal with this Catastrophe disaster by any means necessary.

The villagers' vehicles were much slower than Rhodes Island's off-road vehicles, and the roads in the wilderness were difficult to navigate.

By the time the infected village came into view at the edge of the horizon, the Twin Moons had already sunk below the horizon, while the east was still far from being light.

"... Doctor... Dr. Ansel!" In her panic, Lupo shook Ansel awake and then went to knock on another door.

The clinic and lodging in the infected village on Rhodes Island were provided by an infected couple: the woman named Lupo and the former young man Caprinae.

Judging from the villagers' reactions, this Lupo woman is also the unofficial village chief of the infected village.

"What illness?" Ansel asked as he pulled on his coat, without even putting on socks, and walked down the corridor.

Quite a few people have already come out here.

"Quick, hide!" the Lupo woman cried anxiously. "Don't let anyone outside see us!"

Several medical personnel peered out the window and saw a bright red sky.

No, not just one piece.

They're everywhere.

The familiar young men, the young men who had worked alongside them not long ago... they thronged around Stein's men, holding torches high, surrounding the small village of infected.

The light source was overhead, illuminating their noses and profiles, but plunging half of their faces into shadow.

The young Caprinae rallied a group to confront them, but looking at the staffs of those "tax collectors' guards," they were completely outmatched in terms of momentum.

"Stein's here to rob us!" the Lupo woman quickly explained. "You'd better hide! If he sees you, he'll use that as an excuse to steal more money!"

Upon hearing the knock on the door, Eyjafjalla, who was rubbing her sleepy eyes a second ago, became indifferent the next.

[Senior, what's wrong?]

Oute carefully put away Eyjafjalla's drafts and went to the corridor.

He simultaneously responded to everyone, everywhere. "They're not after money, they're after people."

In front of GreyThroat, Scavenger made no attempt to hide his blood-stained clothes, revealing his muscular, scarred body.

As she put on her change of clothes, she explained the account book to Xiao Yanzi.

"According to the tax collectors' private accounts, these three villages did not pay any normal taxes in the year of the Catastrophe."

"This is a 'planned scrapping'."