Many old men with old-fashioned ideas believe that the female night demon is a monster from hell, the cause of the corruption of young people, and the root cause of national unrest.
The "old men" mentioned here include not only farmers and herdsmen who have not received any education, but also druids who are like old scholars.
This ignorant statement is of course not correct. Most people are just ashamed to face the truth of their own depravity. Losers need to find an excuse for their incompetence. It just so happens that the image of the female demon is too inaccurate, so she became the perfect target for criticism.
In fact, most female night demons would not rashly choose the path of killing and destruction unless it was for the purpose of self-defense. After all, that was contrary to their way of survival and was like exhausting the resources.
However, even though the non-human races in the game are pitiful, female night demons are often persecuted. But just like there are real ogres among the silly trolls, there are also female bodhisattvas among the female night demons with a sense of contrast and kindness, but sometimes there are real soul-sucking demons.
It is these real demons that give the conservative older generation an excuse to teach young people to stay away from female demons.
But now Lann can at least be sure that the female night demon in front of him is not from the evil camp, at most she is chaotic neutral.
So he began to seriously weigh the pros and cons of the other party joining Cintra.
Putting aside the emotional and hormonal factors, is there any benefit in allowing the female demon to join Cintra?
It seems so.
The racial characteristics of female night demons do not always bring unrest. Toussaint and Novigrad are good examples: in this era, any prosperous city needs a place like the "Rose Garden", which can drive the city's economy, increase people's happiness index, and at the same time enhance public security and stability to a certain extent - mercenaries who have completed their missions, soldiers who have been paid, and merchants passing by always need a place to squander their money and relax their tense nerves, and taverns are too prone to fights.
Lann had previously specifically instructed Kaiyan from the Cat Faction to look for the female night demon from Novigrad, as well as other non-human races including her.
In addition, the female night demons themselves are also very powerful creatures - after all, they have existed in the world since the intersection of the celestial spheres. Their bodies are comparable to steel, and they also have excellent spellcasting abilities.
It just so happens that the female night demon has power, but also has an upper limit to her ability: although a female night demon who is thousands of years old is knowledgeable, she is still at a level that can be hunted by experienced demon hunters, and is much weaker than the high-level vampires who are also immortal.
Just like just now, this female night demon suffered a defeat at the hands of Alice.
In other words, this is an existence that can boost the city's economy and has considerable power, but it will not be out of control.
Lan was quite happy to subdue this female night demon named "Nanomi".
If it really doesn't work, just treat it as a benefit for Eskar who "likes women with horns". It is also very necessary to win over the Wolf Faction, as it is related to the internal harmony of the Witcher Cult in the future.
However, I still feel uneasy when I suddenly encounter a monster that wants to surrender in the wilderness.
Lann still needs to get to know the other party better.
…
"Come on." The female night demon didn't take Lan's question seriously. "Those old human men always advise young people to stay away from me, but they always sneak over here. There was a village chief in the village near where I lived before. No matter how much I advised him, he wouldn't listen. No matter how much magic I used, he couldn't be driven away. He even threatened that if I refused again, he would unite the nearby villages to attack me."
The female night demon shrugged. "I had no choice. It's not that I was really afraid of him. But since he wanted to play so much, I had to let him see it - but he exhausted himself to death."
"I was very upset for a while because of this, and I built a grave for him. But in the end, many people nearby still used this as an excuse to attack me... It's annoying! I don't want to stay in Skellige anymore!"
"For you, Cintra will not be better than Skellige." Lann still did not put down the rune sword, and pointed the blade directly at the other party. "I can't think of any reason for you to come to Cintra."
Facing Lann's defensive posture, the female demon was fearless. Even though Alice was watching her closely not far away, the female demon forgot the pain even before her scar healed.
She walked towards Lann lightly under the candlelight, tapped the tip of the sword with her fingertips, and said:
"Isn't it obvious? Because Cintra has you~"
"Hmm?" The tip of Lann's sword moved slightly because of the sudden confession.
Emerald flames ignited behind Lann, and Alice's plain black skirt appeared in the darkness. Her face was covered with a black veil, and her expression could not be seen, but it seemed that she was staring at the female demon through Lann with sharp eyes.
She raised the black magic scimitar in her hand, and sheathed it close to Lan's back. The blade rubbed against the steel, making a crisp sound:
“Clang—clang!”
The female night demon's expression changed.
She quickly chuckled: "Because Lei Anlun, you are the blood of the ancients."
"I came here from the time of the intersection of the celestial spheres. It was not an accident, but a planned escape. My world was destroyed by the white frost, and I had no choice but to come to a place I was not familiar with."
The female night demon's voice became heavy, with a slightly sad hoarseness, which made people want to rub their throat with their fingertips.
“Not long ago, this continent once again showed the prelude to a celestial conjunction, and another crisis is about to come.”
"Maybe not so soon, maybe decades, hundreds of years, or even thousands of years later, but it will never be wrong to choose a way out for the future as early as possible."
As she spoke, the female demon began to move subconsciously. She gently placed her palm on the ridge of the rune sword, stroking the runes on it inch by inch, and approached Lann step by step.
"And Lei Anlun, your 'Ancient Blood' is the key to save the world - and even if it fails to save the world in the end, it is easy to leave this world with this power, so I will follow you, just to protect myself in the future world-destroying crisis. Is this reason appropriate? Young bloodline heir~"
The Ancient Blood is on a mission to save the world, so it makes sense to follow such a person in order to protect yourself.
However, Lan En was no longer distracted by the female Night Devil's actions. His attention was focused on another piece of news:
"You said... the prelude to the celestial sphere conjunction has begun again?!"
…
The history of the continent cannot escape the term "celestial sphere intersection". This is an astronomical phenomenon of catastrophic level, a collision between worlds of different dimensions. In the celestial sphere intersection, different worlds are directly connected and penetrate each other.
The most recent celestial sphere conjunction was about 1,500 years ago. That conjunction not only brought about several mainstream civilized races today, but also brought a large number of monsters. It can be said that it completely changed the structure of the continent.
Among the study materials that Mossak gave to Lane was a textbook called "The Confluence of the Celestial Spheres", which used vivid metaphors to explain this rare astronomical phenomenon:
Please imagine our world as a ship, sailing on the vast ocean. Standing on the deck, we can see other distant ships - that is, other stars. These ships are each carrying cargo and crew, and are usually very far away when they pass by us, and we can hardly see them even with a telescope.
[However, every few thousand years, a storm would occur on this cosmic ocean, so strong that it would blow ships towards each other, sailing close together. At this time, part of the crew of one ship could be moved to another ship, and cargo might be spilled onto the ship next door. When the weather eased, the ships would separate again, go their separate ways, and never see each other again.]
[The so-called "post-rendezvous creatures", that is, monsters such as ghouls and basilisks, are passengers from other ships. We humans are victims of shipwrecks, thrown into a world originally inhabited by ancient races. After we arrived, we learned mysterious ancient magic that we had never seen before.]
[Will different worlds collide again? It is possible. Do we have a way to avoid this disaster or speed it up? Some scholars believe that certain creatures have mastered this skill. They have rare genes in their bodies that can control the direction of our ship and lead us to safe waters or to doomsday. ]
Although the end of the original game also hinted that a new round of celestial conjunction was about to begin, that was still many years later. It shouldn't be now, right?
After being surprised, Lan quickly calmed down.
Some fragments of memories of past experiences began to piece together in his mind.
If the information that "the celestial spheres are about to meet" is true, then some of the things that happened in the past have become traceable: the sudden increase in the number of monsters on the way to the Northern Conference, the sudden awakening of the monsters that were originally hidden in the forest, and even the ice giants in Skellige suddenly began to become restless...
Is all this a prelude to a catastrophe?
But why would the celestial conjunction occur so many years in advance?
Lann was not a dull person. Once he had the clues, it was easy for him to unravel the mystery.
The timing of each phenomenon's appearance coincided with each other, and when you think of the celestial sphere intersection, a strange natural disaster where different worlds collided...
…
Lan covered his forehead with his hands. In the end, it seemed that all this was the fault of the full awakening of his ancient blood?
Thinking back to the time when he first activated [Time Travel], when various other worlds reached out to him eagerly, and even required the intervention of the Mirror Master to pull them away, Lan's judgment became more certain.
Is it that serious? I am just a small ancient blood, and now I can't even form an army of one person. I haven't even started saving the world yet, how can I indirectly trigger the prelude to a natural disaster...
Or was all this part of your plan? Even after leaving this world, you still ordered the last scene for yourself in the first-class audience - Mirror Master?
…
Lan's thoughts turned around a thousand times here.
After seeing Lann's reaction, the female night demon laughed.
"You don't know about the conjunction of the celestial spheres yet? That's great."
When she said this, the female night demon looked at Alice with fear. Even though she was a thousand-year-old woman, it was the first time for her to see such a magical existence as the soul in the painting.
"I brought you this crucial information. In your human terms, it is considered as... a 'pledge of allegiance'?"
"Can I join Cintra now?"
"And I'm not just seeking asylum. I know a lot of fellow vampires, and even a few high-level vampires. The Ancient Blood will surely form their own forces, right? If you need anything in the future, I can help you contact them!"
Seeing Alice's eyes full of tears, and Lann still weighing the pros and cons, the female night demon continued to throw out chips.
Lann looked at his [Follower] panel and his three extra skill points, then looked at the female night demon in front of him who was smiling like a little white flower in the mud, and sighed.
…
[Follower: Nanomi Vera Ai Dimitin
Gender: Female
Race: Female Night Devil
Level: 1
Talent: Mystery
Experience value: 0/1000
HP: 1756/2000
Mana: 1824/2000
Items: Cotton and linen floral apron
Skills: Iron Bones, Advanced Botany, Advanced Mysticism, Advanced General Knowledge, Intermediate Night Demon Spells
Mission: None]
[Shared Follower Talent: Mystery]
[Enigma: Grants the gifted an extra charm besides appearance, and enhances the power of hypnotic spells by 50%]
In order to contract the female demon, Lann finally reduced his experience accumulated by his servants and demon hunters by half. Obviously, the female demon said she was willing to follow him, but in fact she still had her own thoughts. In short, it was all business, no emotion.
Fortunately, the other party was unaware of the power of the system and did not put up any violent resistance when signing the contract. Otherwise, Lann estimated that his experience points would have been completely depleted.
Feeling the eyes of the night demons Nanomi and Alice changing at the same time, Lan was silent for a while.
"I have many things to do in Skellige, so it's not convenient for me to take you with me right now. I'll come to see you when I return to Cintra."
The female Night Demon nodded in confusion at Lan's explanation. Then she suddenly realized that she had completely trusted the heir of the Ancient Blood in front of her, and was not worried that he would abandon her here and not return.
why is that?
Lann naturally would not answer Nanomi's doubts. He then turned around and continued to say to Alice: "I have found the druid apprentice, and I am also ready to return to the Oak Ring. Do you want to possess it now?"
As he spoke, he patted the black magic scimitar behind him.
Alice looked Lan up and down. She felt that she should be angry for accepting the female demon. But for some reason, the eyes behind the veil began to become more and more fiery.
I have been following this blond knight almost all day long, but why did I suddenly feel that he has become more...handsome?
"Lan En... Let's go on horseback and let Black Wind play for a while longer. I'll return when we get to a populated area."
Lann naturally had no objection to such a small request.
…
The return journey was uneventful, nothing much to elaborate on.
A man, a horse and a soul quickly returned to the Oak Ring and brought the unconscious druid apprentice back to where he should be.
Upon receiving the news, Fetov rushed over immediately.
"Lan, thank you so much, I really didn't expect you to find him so quickly!" Tianzong hugged Lan tightly and expressed his excitement loudly, "I didn't even expect him to be alive!"
Although he looked to be a man in his sixties, and his actual age might be several times that, Fetov's hand around Lann was particularly strong: "Why don't you stay with us for a while? I'll pass on all my knowledge and abilities to you! Do you want to be a skydiver? Even Mossak can't match my ability to control the weather!"
Lann laughed dryly and pointed at the unconscious druid apprentice: "Why don't we wake him up first?"
Fetov finally reacted, as if waking up from a dream. He frowned and looked at his apprentice: "Did he encounter any danger in the forest? I can't see any external injuries, but he is unconscious... Is it magic?"
Fetov immediately became alert: "He was attacked by another spellcaster? Is it the traitor we are tracking?"
Lann shook his head, not knowing whether he should tell the other party about the psychedelic adventure in the forest, or wait until the apprentice sobers up and then tell him himself.
Finally, he tactfully suggested, "He was not attacked. But you may have to have a good talk with him after you wake him up. Otherwise, I am worried that he will return to the forest from time to time."
Fetov was stunned and didn't understand what Lann meant for a moment.
But he soon understood.
Lann took two steps back and gently closed the door of the cabin. Soon, the sound of the druid casting a spell and removing the spell, the apprentice murmured as he woke up, followed by the panicked call for someone but then stopped, the teacher's majestic questioning, and the young man's hesitant explanation.
Later, there was another fluctuation of magical energy in the house. Lan was very familiar with this spell, which Mossak often used. It was a spell that made the oak cane grow into a close-range long stick weapon.
The noise continued for another quarter of an hour before it finally quieted down. During this time, druids who came to check on the situation because of the screams inside passed by the door of the wooden house from time to time, and they were all responded to by Lann's eyes, saying "everything is fine".
After a long silence, Fetov pushed the door and walked out of the room.
Compared with the old druid Lan had met not long ago, who was depressed and blamed himself for the loss of his apprentice, the current Fetov can be described as "refreshed".
"No matter what, I still have to thank you, Lan." Fetov pondered, "Did you properly deal with the female night demon who bewitched him?"
Lann was silent for a while. Even in the open-minded Skellige, where druids advocated protecting nature, the stereotype of female night demons was still strong.
"I can guarantee that she will no longer be a problem for Skellige."
Fetov let out a sigh of relief.
The apprentice was found, and he felt relieved. It was a good opportunity to exchange the information he had with Lan.
These days, Fetov went to Udvik Island to find the mentor of the once missing druid Attis and learned a lot of information.
"As much as I hate to say this, the more I get to know Atis, the more I'm sure he might be the traitor who joined the Vilkas." Fetov shook his head.
"He said some very inappropriate things and did some very inappropriate things. If it weren't for his outstanding talent and his mentor's strong support, we might have kicked him out of the Oak Ring long ago."
Lane caught the key words in Fetov's words: "He is very talented?"
Fetov nodded. "Yes, so even if Artis is not a traitor, there must be someone else who is the Fallen Druid. The traitor who subdued Artis must be incredibly powerful. Lan, you must be careful when dealing with him."
Lan thought about it, hoping to know more details: "How is Atis's talent so outstanding?"
Fetov took a deep breath: "First of all - he is a demon source."
…
On the vast ocean, a small transport ship broke through the waves and headed towards Little Skellig Island.
There were only about fifteen people on the boat, and the one in the lead was dressed as a knight. The emblem on his body was divided into red and blue on the left and right, and in the middle was a hybrid monster with an eagle's upper body and a fish's lower body.
At this moment, the knight was loudly encouraging his men: "We have obtained accurate intelligence: the evil witch hunter Gerd is now in the Little Skellige Islands. He has taken refuge with a pirate lord named Thorgil. Now is the perfect time for us to punish him!"
The knight was extremely excited, but few of his men responded. They were all listless and their morale was low.
"Chastek, our leader was Knight Charimir, and he's dead... And I've been wanting to say this for a long time. Given the current situation in the North, even Redania has to make peace with Skellige. We're attacking because of the Duchess's personal grudge, right..."
The knight named Chastek shouted and kicked the rebellious soldier off the boat, causing the remaining people to be shocked and confused.
"Fuck the North and Redania, we in the Principality of Akosi don't care! That demon hunter named Gede, that disgusting mutant, actually dared to refuse the Baroness's recruitment and serve the despicable usurper. Even if he runs to the Golden Tower City in Nilfgaard, I will hunt him down to the end!"
"Charmier died for the Lady and gained his honor." The knight shouted righteously, "And I, Chastek of Blaviken, will defend my honor with my life!"
Chastek made an impassioned declaration, and because of his action of kicking someone off the boat just now, the others dared not ignore him and could only respond reluctantly.
They rowed vigorously towards Little Skellig, while the knight continued his long speech tirelessly, continuing to "boost morale".
Suddenly, a sailor screamed, "Chastek, there is a storm at sea! And... there is a small boat in the storm!"
Chastek's speech came to an abrupt end.
After taking a look at the bow, he turned back confidently:
"Never mind it! Nothing can stop us from reaching Little Skellig!"
"You don't understand! You are a fool who has been pampered in the palace. A storm of this magnitude is enough to overturn a warship! Only the dragon ships of Skellige can remain safe!"
Chastek yelled and kicked the man into the sea again, then drew his sword and pointed it at the small figure swaying in the storm.
"Don't try to deceive me, you cowardly fool! Even a small sailboat can be safe in the sea, how can such a storm overturn our transport ship?"
The sailor who was kicked off the boat by him did not float up again, leaving only a string of bubbles floating on the surface.
However, before a few breaths had passed, another sailor screamed:
"Chastek!"
The knight turned around with a grim look and looked at the sailor who spoke.
The other party swallowed, adjusted his tone, and said: "The storm and the boat seem to be heading towards us..."
As the sailors spoke, the deck beneath their feet began to shake violently.
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