Lann and his cavalry left the theater and continued to clear out gangsters along the way and rescue the citizens of Novigrad.
When the people whose lives are hanging by a thread are rescued, the first thing they see when they look up is the emblem of a roaring lion with its head held high and a pair of sparkling lion eyes.
No one knows whether these will cause any other impact in the future.
Soon, Chapelle, who had solved the problem of the coup by Gal Manji, led the temple guards to officially enter. They met Reso who was coming towards them halfway, and after learning the specific situation, they quickly launched the rescue work.
It took a whole day for the chaos to be basically quelled. With the intervention of the official orthodox forces of Novigrad and the covert help of the Beggar King and Machete, the Ghost Face Gang no longer had the strength to resist.
Although the main culprit has been killed, the little ghosts are still difficult to deal with. There are still many members of the Ghost Face Gang hiding in the alleys. The Eternal Fire has issued a wanted order and mobilized all forces in the city to arrest all suspicious persons.
Even the stake in Novigrad Square was used again.
Three days later, the Eternal Flame sent a bishop to Novigrad to give a brief official explanation of the situation:
"Our city was invaded by evil pagans. They sent evil spirits to possess Caleb Manji, bringing out the darkness and meanness deep in his heart. But under the light of the Eternal Flame, our security officer Mr. Chapelle saw through the enemy's plot, protected us, and crushed the enemy's invasion.
The thug riots in the casino, women's branch, and fighting arena were also the result of the incitement of pagans. Because they were often in filthy places, the evil spirits of pagans easily occupied the dark brains of these people, causing them to become crazy and confused. Everyone should know that there are no gangs in Novigrad, and the so-called gang riots are nonsense!
The underground toads in Novigrad are also a conspiracy of pagans! They wrapped the poison in candy shells and poisoned so many innocent girls and believers of the Eternal Fire!
Mr. Chapelle protected us! Thanks also to the Lion in Flame, Lord Lannister of Cintra - and his fellow witchers. In the land shrouded in eternal fire, they were able to detect sin in time and make the evil spirits nowhere to hide. "
Regardless of what the citizens thought deep down, they ultimately accepted the statement.
In the end, Chapelle took the lead in donating a batch of gold reserves and all the silver of the Eternal Flame to comfort the citizens affected by the riot and help the city restore order as soon as possible.
In this regard, Chapelle said: "Everything is guided by the eternal flame."
Lann also sent some soldiers from Cintra, as well as Milva and Levin, to help boost reputation and comfort the citizens.
These were scenes that could not be seen in other places in the North, and many merchants and politicians from other countries were amazed and admired the achievements of the Free City.
…
Did a single Ghostface gang really wreak much havoc in Novigrad? No.
The chaos only looked scary, after all, it was the gangs that were rioting, not the soldiers who were breaking into the city.
Most of the victims were honest local citizens, travelers who were too late to react, and homeless vagrants on the streets. Merchants from other countries, large organizations, and wealthy nobles living here were almost unscathed, and they could even make a fortune in the name of "rebuilding the city."
On the other hand, the reputation of the Eternal Flame has increased among the citizens after this battle, and the faith of the believers has become even stronger.
Temple Island.
In a residence previously prepared for the king, Chapelle watched the chaotic energy emanating from Lann's body and chatted softly about the recent situation in Novigrad.
"I'm sorry for not putting the blame on Nilfgaard for this disaster. I originally thought of 'Black Sun Pagans', but now Nilfgaard's merchants have occupied a large market share, and I can't drive them out. But I will adjust their tariffs and try to transfer their interests to Cintra."
Lan nodded to show his understanding. "Driving the enemy's merchants out directly is the most brutal and unskillful way. Now it's good. After all, this is the Free City. And the merchants from Nilfgaard will also bring intelligence from the Empire. We can also mix sand into their caravans. Their presence is necessary."
Chapelle nodded and continued, "The Eternal Flame will purchase a batch of silverware later, and if possible, I would like to order a batch of [Moon Dust] from you. Some alchemists want to compete for this order, but I plan to make this a trade order for Cintra. What do you think?"
Lan thought for a moment and said, "It may take some time before I can supply you with the goods."
Chapelle didn't care: "I also need some time to prepare."
As he spoke, he touched the silver chain around his neck, feeling uneasy.
"Can this thing really make me immune to damage from other silver objects?"
"No, what are you thinking?" Lan glanced at him. "It can only temporarily suppress your ability to transform with chaotic energy, fixing you in the image of 'Chapelle' so that you won't lose control on the spot. It also has a little illusion. But if you are injured by the silver, you still have to find a deserted place to recover as soon as possible."
This silver chain is a magical item that Triss made in the past few days. For this purpose, she also took a lot of Chapelle's blood and body tissue for research, which scared the shapeshifter a lot.
But even so, the effect of this silver chain was still not enough to satisfy Chapelle. Especially when he thought that the Eternal Flame would order a batch of special silverware in the future, he sighed even more.
Lann comforted him, "If anything happens, you can contact Kaiyan in time. Triss has been making magic props for communication recently. If there is an accident, he will come to save you. But if you go far away, you must take him with you. This small communication prop has a limited range of use."
Chapelle nodded gratefully.
That's right, Lann decided to leave Kaiyan in Novigrad for the time being to serve as his eyes here.
Although they had not been together for a long time, under the influence of the [Follower] panel, Kaiyan's position was not a concern for the time being; and in the eyes of other forces, they did not know that Kaiyan was Lann's man. Chapelle even wanted Kaiyan to join the Eternal Fire Sect as a personal guard to conceal his identity.
At the same time, Lann also planned to let Kaiyan return to his old job as a demon hunter in Novigrad: accepting commissions and sharing his experience through the system.
You know, this is the first city in the North, and there are countless missions coming. Lann was even worried that Kaiyan might not be able to absorb all the experience alone and wanted to send more people, but unfortunately he didn't have any other demon hunters [followers], so he had to give up for the time being.
"Remember to equip Kaiyan with a better set of armor, and build it according to the drawings he provided."
Chapelle nodded as a matter of fact: "I will hire the best craftsman in Novigrad."
After finishing the above conversation, Chapelle left. He has been very busy recently.
When the surroundings became quiet, Lann took a deep breath, and the chaotic energy surged throughout his body again, and his mana began to decrease continuously.
In front of Lann, a man in a nomadic slanted-breasted robe had his eyes closed. His body twitched and twisted with the energy in the air, and a jade-colored shell gradually climbed onto his skin, and his body became smaller and smaller.
But in the end, his body's transformation stopped at an extreme point, and he immediately swelled back to the size of a normal person. As the magic failed, his body began to bleed continuously, directly waking him up from his coma.
"Lannister!"
The man who was cast a spell by Lann was naturally Olgierd. You can see that his robe is now soaked with blood, and has even scabbed and dried up, turning into a hard shell.
Lan En had been using the [Transformation and Sealing Technique] that he had been practicing for three whole days.
What better way to increase spell proficiency than through hands-on experimentation?
However, in the past, because the failure of the [Transformation and Sealing Technique] would cause irreversible physical damage to the person being cast, or even endanger his life, this kind of spell practice on humans was expressly prohibited.
But Olgierd had no such moral problems at all.
Seeing the experimental material awaken, Triss suddenly appeared beside her. She skillfully cast a spell and made Olgierd fall into a coma again.
"Your magic has progressed very quickly these past few days," the sorceress confirmed. "Perhaps tomorrow, or even today, you will be able to master your spells."
Lann smiled confidently: "I think it will succeed next time."
Triss nodded in agreement: "I believe you."
With Triss guarding the captives, Lann knelt on the ground and meditated for a while. After his magic power was restored, he began to chant the spell again and cast magic on Ogierd.
The ancient blood brought a magical physique that exceeded that of ordinary magic sources. Violent magical fluctuations emanated from Lann's body. Under the influence of chaotic energy, Ogierd's body underwent another drastic change, constantly twisting in the direction of the jade carving.
At this moment, Lann suddenly heard a sound like a holy sigh in his ears. The system panel opened in front of him, and a burst of light flashed from the [Skills] column.
Lann seemed to have a feeling in his heart, and he opened the panel with his consciousness with great anticipation.
In addition to the five interfaces of [Battle], [Alchemy], [Sign], [Secondary Mutation], and [Ancient Blood], a new skill interface suddenly appeared.
【magic】
At this moment, there is only one lonely skill on it.
[Transformation and Sealing]: Wrap the caster in a jade shell and shrink it to a "statue" that can be held in the palm of your hand. This spell may cause serious physical damage to the caster, the extent of which depends on the skill effect. (1/1)
The spell I just learned was actually included as a skill by the system!
And then, this solitary skill flashed again, and when I looked again, it suddenly became: [Transformation and Sealing Technique (2/2)]
[Magic Tide] can also be used on this skill, surprisingly pushing the level of this skill up another level!
After the surprise, Lann quickly calmed himself down and began to summarize the changes in his skills that had been recorded by the system.
First of all, the skills included in the system can get a significant proficiency bonus. Lann can cast it freely with just a thought, as if it were muscle memory. There is no accidental situation where the spell fails due to poor condition and wrong spell.
Later, Lann also noticed the mark behind the skill, which was originally (1/1) and now (2/2). This means that Lann can't use skill points to forcibly upgrade these magic skills. It seems that he can only continue to improve the upper limit of this magic through his own practice. After all, it is not a skill produced by the system itself.
But even so, Lan En was very satisfied. After all, this was a pleasant surprise, and it was still a profit no matter how much he made.
The changes in the system and Lane's psychological activities are unknown to the outside world.
At this moment, Triss watched as Olgierd turned into a jade statue, and happily hugged Lan.
"It worked, Lan! You did it!"
Lan touched the flaming red hair and took a deep breath.
"Yes, it succeeded." He said, "Then we can continue with the next thing."
Now, there is only one reason left for Lann to stay in Novigrad:
Mirror Master's commission, the last part of the [Heart of Stone] series of quests: [Memories of Marriage].
Lann needs to lead people into Everec Manor, find Olgierd's wife, and bring back the purple rose that symbolizes Olgierd's love.
But now that Olgierd was physically "in Lane's hands", Lane decided to just take Olgierd over and dump him in front of his wife, which should have the same effect.
But there is a problem here - Everec Manor is an out-and-out boss battle.
As mentioned before, Ogierd had a natural talent in black magic, and he even established contact with the Mirror Master by accident.
That is why Everec Manor is filled with alien demons and creatures from other dimensions summoned by the black magic of [Summoning Magic]. In addition, there are many other monsters that cannot be seen by the outside world.
It can be said that the interior of Everec Manor is a world of its own.
This is the real world, Lann doesn't have the confidence to go solo like a player, and even Lann thinks that even if he brings all his Cintra cavalry, he might be buried in the manor. Originally, he hoped to get the help of the Eternal Flame to complete this task, and if that didn't work, he would ask Geron and Mossak to come over for temporary help.
But now, he has other options.
Letho, Kolgrim, Oaks, Serrit, Kaiyan, four snake-faction demon hunters and one cat-faction demon hunter were called over by Lann.
At this moment, they gathered in Lann's room, listening to him explain the purpose of his trip and the dangers they might encounter in Everec Manor.
Triss was also listening in. She also wanted to go out and help, but Lann politely refused:
"The monsters in the manor are elusive. If a warlock rushes in rashly, he will easily be approached before he can react. The protective shield will probably be useless. This kind of situation is more suitable for demon hunters."
In order to make full preparations, Lann stayed on the Temple Island for more than half a month. With funding and manpower provided by Chapelle, he upgraded the equipment of several demon hunters from head to toe according to the equipment blueprints of the Snake School found by Kolgrim and the equipment blueprints of the Cat School brought by Kaian!
Because Kaiyan obtained the most basic Cat School suit blueprint, his equipment was completed first.
At this moment, he wore a white sweatshirt as lining, and a light leather vest on the outside. The inside of the vest was simply reinforced with metal materials, but not much; the pants and boots were all made of leather, and only the gloves and wrist guards were cast on the leather base with rivets to enhance boxing power and steel bars to block light weapons.
Its outstanding feature is its dexterity and lightness, and its overall weight is even lighter than the leather armor worn by some mercenaries.
But Kaiyan was very satisfied. The most important thing was that he had his own pair of steel and silver cat-head swords again.
The forging of the Serpent Sect's armor is a little more troublesome. Its blueprint is more advanced, and many alchemical processes and the addition of rune materials need to be completed by going back to Mossak. Only the most basic prototype forging can be completed here.
The Serpent Armor is somewhat similar to the one that Geralt wore when Lann first met him, but it is only similar in appearance. In terms of material, this set of armor uses fine chain mail as the base. The dense metal ensures defense while allowing the wearer to maintain complete flexibility.
In addition, the upper body armor has three additional layers of shoulder armor on the shoulders, with leather stitching on both sides of the waist, and a steel plate cast on the chest that is then wrapped in leather, with two straps running across it to make it fit more closely. There is also a special dagger bag hanging from the shoulder.
Triss also found a lot of high-quality emeralds in the treasure house of the Eternal Flame, and made basic poison and resistance enchantments for the Snake Faction's dual swords and armor.
In addition to the time to create equipment, such a long period of time also gives several demon hunters time to familiarize themselves with the new equipment and make certain modifications according to their own combat styles.
Kolgrim's snake suit is dyed dark green and dark brown, and has appropriate metal reinforcements on the shoulders and waist, making it look like a jungle snake.
Ox and Serrit chose slate gray and sand brown, two sand snakes, and they reduced the shoulder armor and increased the thickness of the arm armor.
Reso was not so fancy. He did not dye or cast his new armor, and even went so far as to do some subtraction. He cancelled all the designs on the arms, leaving the two thick arms exposed as usual, which made the image closer to Kaiyan.
According to him, this makes it more convenient to move around.
Everything was ready. The witchers finally checked their bombs, potions, poisons, sword oil and other equipment, and left Novigrad early one morning.
The people of Cintra were left watching them go.
"I hope the Earl will come back soon... Hmm? What's wrong with you?"
House gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. His abnormality quickly attracted the attention of the other three servants.
House swallowed hard. "How dangerous is it that six witchers have to go out together? The Earl has even prepared for this for so long. We are the Earl's servants. We should always follow the Earl, fight for him, and die for him. But now the ones following the Earl are these... new witchers."
He stroked the lifelike lion head carving on the hilt of the silver sword at his waist and gritted his teeth and said, "I can't accept it!"
Levin consoled him, "Didn't the Earl tell us? He asked us to spread the reputation of Cintra in the city while the impact of the previous riots is still there. This is a more important political task."
Milva also nodded. She was also sorry that she couldn't follow Lann, but she was meticulous about Lann's mission.
House shook his head. "I have no problem with the mission, but I cannot accept... I cannot accept the fact that I 'cannot protect the Lord's back'. It is difficult for us to intervene in the battle of the Lord Earl now. It was like this before in the Bull Castle, and it is still like this time."
"But we are already part of the 'lion group', and you can definitely feel your improvement." Milva said, "I am now stronger than those big men. As long as we keep going like this, one day we will be able to surpass those demon hunters."
House remained silent, he still felt it was not enough.
He looked down at the lion-headed silver sword. As the earliest servant to follow Lan, he knew that this sword was recast by Lan from the silver sword of a cat-faction witcher.
Demon Hunter...
As long as I become a demon hunter, can I get out of my current predicament?
…
Oxburgh, Everec Manor.
Kaiyan had been here once, so coming here again was a piece of cake.
They were all riding the best war horses, and in just over half a day they arrived at the Everec Manor on the edge of the Oxburgh area.
It was afternoon, but the manor was covered by a dark cloud. At first, everyone thought it was a weather problem, but when they looked far away, they could see that the sun was still shining in the woods in the distance.
This dark cloud spread out from the manor to the surrounding areas.
The manor's walls were very high, and it was probably designed by the builders to look like a castle. Everyone walked along the wall while observing, feeling the grass and creepers along the way, and soon found a huge gap in the wall.
From time to time, a chilly wind blew out from inside, rustling the surrounding bushes and other overgrown herbs. Looking inside from the gap, one could also see a faint white mist covering most of the manor.
"Okay." Kolgrim shrugged. "I now believe what Lann said. This manor is the kind of place where you can be sure there is dark magic at a glance."
Kaiyan nodded. "When I came here before, I heard that the villagers would sneak in when the owner of the manor was away and try to steal some property, but those who went in never came out. Later, there were still homeless people and thieves who wanted to try their luck from time to time, but they never came back."
The cat-faction witcher was attracted by the depth of the manor when he first came here, but he was on a mission to awaken Vlodimi at the time and was unable to explore it as he wished. Now that he came here again, he could hardly suppress his excitement.
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