Night Ranger

Chapter 537: Night Flower

Translator: Translation Nation Editor: Translation Nation

When she heard Bandel mentioning Witchcraft, Hathaway's already impatient expression suddenly became unsightly.

She asked with an icy voice, "Where do you think the power of Witchcraft that you wield comes from?"

"She originally borrowed our Anzed power, and the return deadline is today."

"I'll give you one last chance!"

"Hand over the [Night Flower]!"

At that instant, Hathaway's air of being a young girl faded.

It was replaced by a monarch's domineering attitude.

Her gaze was cold and tyrannical, which felt quite out of place coming from a young girl.

Marvin's heart felt even more complex.

From what the Winter Assassin just said, it was Hathaway herself who had transformed him into a Wisp.

But that was countless years ago.

Could they be two different people with the same appearance? Or was it possible for the Witch Queen's appearance and rank to be inherited?

Marvin didn't know the answer.

What he was more concerned about right now was Hathaway's safety.

But from her tone, she didn't seem to be afraid of the Lich even though she was still gradually recovering her power.

'It should be really hard for Bandel to harm her… But that thing in the coffin…"

Marvin couldn't help but involuntarily look at one side of the six-pointed star.

The flame was still flickering, and strong lifeforce fluctuations were emitted from the coffin, seeming like a sort of heartbeat.

And Cold Light's Grasps were still stuck into both sides of the coffin.

Marvin frowned.

'Something is fishy…'

Minsk appeared at Marvin's side and quietly said, "She can't pull out Cold Light's Grasps."

"There is a strange seal that is using Cold Light's Grasps to seal the Wilderness God's main body!"

Marvin was a bit surprised.

The Cold Light's Grasps were quite outstanding, but from what he knew, they were an Artifact at most.

The strength of an Artifact was usually dependent on its synergy with its owner. As a descendant of an Ancient God, even though Miss Silvermoon had earned Faniya's favor and became a God with Lance's help, for someone that was partially considered an Ancient God, she wasn't especially powerful.

The Cold Light's Grasps were also an Assassin-type Artifact. Though the daggers were quite fierce when used for killing, there should be nothing about them that would cause worry when it came to other fields.

But Minsk said that they were the key to the Wilderness God's seal?

Although Marvin's Perception allowed him to probe the array with his senses, it wasn't enough to let him learn anything specific concerning Cold Light's Grasps.

With the help of Earth Perception, he could only get some confusing information.

The [Life and Death] ritual was taking shape and there was already a hint of space distorting, making it hard to see through.

But Minsk, as the son of the Nature God, had some unique abilities.

He shouldn't be wrong.

Moreover, the Winter Assassin, who had been using the Cold Light's Grasps for a long period, also said that the daggers looked somewhat different now.

It looked like there was a much more complicated power on it now compared to back when he had held them.

Marvin also clearly saw that the coffin kept shuddering.

If not for the two daggers holding it in place, the coffin might have already opened!

'This Lich is really strange… If he truly wanted to resurrect the Wilderness God, why not release him from his coffin?'

The more Marvin thought about it, the more confusing the situation became. He decided to hide Isabelle for now because he and Minsk weren't able to take care of the binding spell. The spell was apparently from the Witchcraft system, it was hard for them to find a way to resolve it for the moment.

That decision was immediately contested by the Winter Assassin.

Isabelle herself was obviously not willing to be stuffed in a piece of paper.

But their opinions were ignored by Marvin.

At such a crucial time, he didn't dare to take any risks with her safety.

After training for so long, his Origami had progressed greatly.

He had already been able to fold some paper clones before, but back then, he could only control three at most. After recently gaining an enormous amount of experience, Marvin had unlocked the ability to turn the battle exp into skill points through the Essence Absorption System. Despite the exchange rate being incredibly low, Marvin couldn't stand having so much exp and not being able to use it. His Origami skill had reached Greatmaster level!

An Origami Greatmaster could use paper to fold a special space to carry people.

He could only hide or store away dead things before, but now he could carry a living person. The skill Owl imparted to him was clearly a curious one.

Of course, besides Origami, Marvin still had [Eternal Night Seal], which could also transport living people. But compared to the spotless storage space of Origami, the pitch-black space of Eternal Night Seal wasn't the first choice to transfer Isabelle and the Winter Assassin. And the latter was somewhat a bit more wasteful compared to the former.

Marvin moved very quickly and had already put Isabelle in the space before she could blink.

This skill made Minsk have a whole new level of respect for Marvin.

"What is this strange skill? It can hide a living person like that?"

Minsk was surprised. As an Ancient God's descendant, he was quite knowledgeable. From what he knew, the skills able to hide away living people were mostly Divine Spells, or simply a method to hide people within the user's God Realm.

For mortals to also have this kind of strange skill was truly inconceivable for him.

Marvin smiled but didn't say anything.

Minsk understood. Everyone had their own secrets, and they had just met. Marvin wouldn't necessarily answer any given question.

...

They both looked at the center of the array.

A fight had broken out in the sky above the array!

Sure enough, Hathaway and Bandel didn't come to an agreement. Bandel wouldn't agree to return Cold Light's Grasps to Hathaway.

The Ashes Queen wasn't someone with a good temper. It was quite normal for her to attack someone who disagreed with her.

The Two-Headed Bone Dragon was continuously spouting a gray fog, and with the help of the Jade Banshee, this fog covered the entire Life and Death array, preventing the fight between those two from disturbing the ritual.

As Marvin watched, he felt that the fight between the two was very strange.

The Lich himself was a member of the Regis casters, who were skilled with magic that utilized negative energy. Furthermore, most of them had extremely high magical talent.

From what Marvin remembered, Liches typically had many spells that targeted vitality. They were especially proficient with combat magic.

But Bandel didn't use any spells in this fight.

They were both using Witchcraft to fight.

The deep Anzed Language kept echoing in the mysteriously quiet dungeon. Hathaway took the lead.

[Witchcraft – Locust]!

In an instant, countless Ghost Locusts came out of the Astral Plane and rushed toward the black fog covering Bandel!

In the black fog, two green lights were flickering. They were Bandel's soul fire!

The Ghost Locusts were the first lifeforms discovered in the Astral Plane by mankind. It was said that they had signed a pact with the Anzed Witches.

That Witchcraft was equivalent to summoning magic.

But summoning magic had restrictions with respect to quantity. Witchcraft didn't have the corresponding restrictions in the Plane Laws!

From this point of view, Witchcraft was a type of power that was seemingly above the Plane Laws!

The Lich under the black fog had no flesh, only pure extreme negative power. Ordinary magic couldn't harm him.

But these Ghost Locusts could.

They started crazily swallowing the black fog itself.

Although the Locusts died after swallowing the black fog, there was still an endless swarm of the Ghost Locusts appearing in front of Hathaway.

In a short time, a third of Bandel's fog disappeared!

The Lich naturally didn't just sit and watch.

He fought back.

The same Anzed Language came out of Bandel's mouth!

Then, a strange energy was emitted from him.

[Witchcraft – Stop]!

Every Ghost Locust came to a standstill.

They seemed to be at a loss, as if they didn't know who they should listen to.

Both sides had the power of the contract!

Hathaway's expression worsened even more.

"She gave that to you!" Her tone was filled with anger.

"If we had known at the time, we wouldn't have lent you the Night Flower!"

The Lich coldly snorted, "Witch, since you already saw my Witchcraft, you should understand, you can't beat me."

Hathaway waved her hand, and all the Locusts disappeared.

"The Anzeds' Iron Law... The holders of the highest Witchcraft Authority can't hurt each other. Did I say anything wrong?" Bandel laughed, pleased with himself. "You can't harm me."

"Thus… If you understand your position, leave quickly. My teacher won't be as nice once he recovers."

Hathaway paled, wanting to say something, but hesitating.

As for Marvin and Minsk, they had heavy expressions.

"The highest Witchcraft holders can't hurt each other?"

Marvin recorded this sentence in his mind.

'What is the highest Witchcraft Authority? My Witchcraft Authority should very low, right? I don't know if I can harm Bandel, then.'

But regardless of whether he could, the situation looked quite terrible.

If the Wilderness God really resurrected, the entire world would fall into turmoil. And the Crimson Wasteland would definitely collapse.

Who knew if the Gods would act?

If the three Great Gods joined hands, they would be able to suppress the Wilderness God, but they were now attacking the core of the Universe Magic Pool.

He couldn't put any hope on them.

Marvin took a deep breath.

If Bandel wasn't doable, destroying his array would be fine!

The Life and Death ritual was isolated in a separate space. It would be very difficult for Marvin to get in. He tried the Shadow Plane, but the area was restricted, so he couldn't find the entrance to the Shadow Plane.

'Damnit! If this goes on, the array will really be activated.'

Marvin kept his Stealth active as he searched the perimeter of the array, looking for an entrance.

At that time, Molly, who had been suffering from the curse up until now, suddenly opened her eyes.

She looked toward Marvin.

"Kind Mister, did Uncle Griffin send you to save me?"

Her voice was clear and ethereal, as if it could pierce through everything.

Marvin was faintly startled.

She could see him?