With the monster identified, the two witchers wasted no time getting to work.
Witchers were not merely warriors who knew how to wield swords.
They were called monster slayers because, besides swordsmanship and Signs, they had other means of dealing with monsters.
First, grave hags were a type of necrophage.
As such, coating their blades with Necrophage Oil would be helpful.
Second, fire was the bane of most necrophages.
Grave hags were no exception.
Preparing potions that enhanced Signs beforehand would therefore be useful.
Petri's Philter and Tawny Owl Potion, for example.
The former could increase the power of Signs.
The latter greatly accelerated the recovery of vitality and magic, substantially improving a witcher's ability to keep casting Signs.
Of course, whatever the situation, stocking up on Swallow Potions was also essential.
If they were injured in battle, a seemingly unremarkable Swallow Potion might become the key to saving their lives.
At that thought, Lynn could not help thinking of a witcher from the School of the Griffin in the future. If someone handed him a Swallow Potion while he lay dying, perhaps he could survive.
As an experienced witcher, Geralt had long since prepared the ingredients for these commonly used potions and kept them in the alchemy pouch he carried.
However, Lynn volunteered to take on the task of mixing the blade oil and potions.
By the time everything was ready, it was already the next morning.
The two of them went to find the village elder.
"We're ready. Where's the cemetery?"
The elder had Roy guide Lynn and Geralt there.
Half an hour later, the three finally reached the cemetery a short distance from the village.
The cemetery's desolate, chaotic state came into view:
The gravestones had either been toppled or damaged.
Broken stones lay scattered across the trampled grass.
Dried blood was everywhere in the cemetery.
There were numerous footprints of different shapes and sizes on the ground, but no sign of the monster.
Just then, Lynn heard a bewildered voice from Roy, who had brought them there.
"Smith, Sanji, Troy-their bodies are gone! What happened?"
Lynn surveyed their surroundings and soon spotted a clue.
"Over there!"
He pointed to several fresh graves without headstones in the cemetery.
"That beast even buries the dead?" Roy asked incredulously.
"No, you've misunderstood." Geralt shook his head. "It only buries people because it likes eating rotting corpses."
In an instant, Roy's face went white. He braced himself against the cemetery wall and vomited.
Lynn and Geralt's expressions remained unchanged.
Neither showed any sign of discomfort.
Ignoring Roy, who nearly threw up last night's dinner, the two carefully examined the cemetery.
"Found it?"
Lynn looked toward a haphazardly assembled, unauthorized wooden structure at the far end of the cemetery.
"I can sense it. The monster should be hiding in the gravedigger's hut."
He glanced up at the overcast sky. "There's no sunlight to weaken it, but it's still better than fighting it at night."
Meanwhile, Roy finally had nothing left to throw up.
But his complexion was still dreadful.
He swayed on his feet, as though even a light breeze could knock him over.
He said shakily, "Master witchers, I... I'm afraid I won't be much help. Staying here will only hold you both back."
Lynn agreed.
"Head back to the village and tell your elder to get the gold ready. We'll be back to see you with the monster's head shortly."
They watched Roy sprint toward the village as though he had been granted a pardon, wishing he had another pair of legs.
Lynn and Geralt took out the blade oil and potions they had brewed earlier.
They spread the Necrophage Oil evenly over their silver swords, then each drank Petri's Philter and Tawny Owl Potion.
Once the potent effects of the potions took hold, they drew their silver swords and crept toward the gravedigger's hut from either side.
As they approached the gravedigger's hut, their witcher senses confirmed without difficulty that the monster was indeed hiding inside.
Lynn and Geralt exchanged a glance.
Neither hesitated.
Geralt circled around behind the gravedigger's hut, and roaring flames erupted from his palm.
An ordinary witcher's Igni Sign was actually quite limited in power, but Geralt was different. He had undergone mutation for far longer than ordinary witchers during the Trial of the Grasses, and the resulting enhancements surpassed those of ordinary witchers from the School of the Wolf.
The power of his Signs rivaled even that of the School of the Griffin.
The roaring flames clung to the hut's wooden walls and soon set the wooden structure ablaze.
Meanwhile, Lynn went to the hut's front entrance and slapped the ground.
He laid down an Yrden Trap.
Before long, the flames clinging to the hut grew fiercer and fiercer.
A fear of fire was ingrained in most necrophages.
Grave hags were no exception.
Bang!
The hut's front door burst open.
A hideous, deformed figure charged frantically outside.
But the moment it stepped into the Yrden Sign's range, it was as though three mountains had been pressed down upon it.
Its movements immediately grew sluggish.
Seizing the opportunity, Lynn raised his silver sword high in both hands and brought it down hard on the grave hag's back.
Squelch!
A streak of silver flashed past.
It left a wound deep enough to expose bone on the grave hag's deformed body.
For these creatures that had come to this world through the Conjunction of the Spheres, not only was silver their bane, but the Necrophage Oil spread evenly over the silver blade was also a deadly poison.
The grave hag let out a piercing shriek of agony.
It instinctively swiped backward.
But the Yrden Sign had greatly slowed it down.
With the additional boost from his "Comprehensive Enhancement" perk, Lynn easily dodged the grave hag's counterattack with a backward leap.
Then he stepped forward again and swung his silver sword, leaving another wound on the grave hag as blood sprayed.
The grave hag howled repeatedly.
It launched a succession of vicious attacks.
Clang, clang, clang, clang-
Lynn knew that the grave hag's vicious flurry was actually an attempt to escape the Yrden Sign's range.
He also knew that without the Yrden Sign slowing the grave hag down, this battle would become more than one degree harder.
So this time, he did not dodge. Instead, relying on his greater speed compared to the weakened grave hag, he intercepted every swipe of the monster's claws.
Then, seizing an opening, he thrust out the Igni Sign he had readied in his left hand. Surging flames engulfed the grave hag, whose face still bore a vicious expression.
That vicious expression instantly turned to shock, then immediately to terror.
The grave hag's body seemed to be perfect tinder, and the fire rapidly spread over its entire body.