A pitch black.

Fang Zheng sat idly on the Vimona, yawning as he looked at the forest below. According to the information obtained by Blue Rose, the Witch Cult had been active in the area recently, but the exact location was unclear. Blue Rose opted to gather information from nearby towns and villages, while Fang Zheng was responsible for scouting the forest at the border. He was to immediately report any incidents.

However, for the moment, there was nothing happening.

Fang Zheng also didn’t feel like walking around the forest, so he summoned the Vimona from the Royal Wealth and circled in the sky. After all, if he encountered any cultists, he would sense them in advance. But for now, the forest seemed peaceful and serene, with nothing unusual in sight.

If Fang Zheng were in a hurry, he would have tried using a Prophecy Spell to resolve the issue. However, since he wasn’t in a rush—especially considering Lina Inverse hadn’t made any progress either—he figured there was no use in getting anxious himself, right?

So Fang Zheng treated it as a way to pass the time.

"Hmm?"

Just then, Fang Zheng suddenly noticed a faint red glow far off near the forest’s edge. Though it seemed tiny and almost imperceptible, as soon as Fang Zheng saw the glimmer, an inexplicable forewarning rose within him.

Fixing his eyes on that small red dot, Fang Zheng squinted slightly, tapping his fingers on the throne of the Vimona. In the next instant, the golden aircraft accelerated, darting forward with a speed incomparable even to a fifth-generation fighter jet.

In less than a minute, Fang Zheng arrived at the source of the red light.

It was a village.

Or rather, it once was a village.

Now the entire village was engulfed in flames, with bodies scattered on the ground. There were also those wrapped completely in black robes, looking like members of the FFF Group, clutching weapons as they screamed, darting about the flames like jackals hunting their prey.

"Hmph."

Seeing this, Fang Zheng’s gaze turned cold, and he let out a snort.

In the next moment, the air trembled around him, countless weapons materializing from the golden whirlpool and raining down like a storm towards the attackers.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!!"

The destructive power of the Royal Wealth was undeniable. The weapons descending from the sky were unstoppable for the cultists. In fact, most cultists didn’t even realize what had happened before their heads and bodies were completely pierced by the falling weapons, turning them into mincemeat.

At the same time, Fang Zheng leaped down.

The whistling wind rushed past Fang Zheng’s ears as a pitch-black greatsword appeared in his hand. Holding the greatsword, Fang Zheng used gravity to cleave a black-robed cultist in two.

"Is everything okay?"

Only then did Fang Zheng lift his head, looking at the survivors before him.

They were twin girls, appearing quite young. One had blue hair, the other red. They wore garments resembling Japanese-style kimonos. The blue-haired girl was currently crying out loud beside the red-haired girl.

"Sister! Sister! Please, save my sister!"

"What’s wrong?"

Fang Zheng quickly approached the red-haired girl, lifting her up. Only then did he notice a scar on her forehead—but was it a cut wound rather than a stab wound?

What could have grown here?

Fang Zheng scrutinized the red-haired girl closely, then checked the forehead of the blue-haired girl beside her—smooth, with nothing unusual?

Was it possibly just a scrape?

These thoughts flashed through Fang Zheng’s mind, and then he raised his hand. Soon, a Holy Light descended, shining upon the red-haired girl and swiftly healing her wounds.

"Do you know what happened?"

Holding the red-haired girl, Fang Zheng glanced around. Unfortunately, there were no other survivors in the village. It’s undeniable that the cultists acted quickly. From the moment Fang Zheng saw the flames to his arrival, not even ten minutes had passed, and they had nearly wiped out the entire village—only these twin sisters survived.

"N-no, I don’t know..."

The blue-haired girl wiped her tears, shaking her head frantically.

"Rem was just sleeping, then woke up, and outside everything was fire, then sister..."

Perhaps overwhelmed by panic, the blue-haired girl’s words were somewhat disjointed, but Fang Zheng roughly grasped her meaning.

Clearly, she didn’t know what had happened either.

However, as Fang Zheng pondered what to do next, a bizarre voice suddenly rang out.

"Ah, how could it be like this...?"

"Hmm?"

Fang Zheng turned his head and soon saw a man dressed like a clown floating in the sky, glaring malevolently at him with an evident air of killing intent and fury.

"Who are you? Why are you here...?"

"And who are you?"

Hearing the affected tone from the other side, Fang Zheng furrowed his brow. Everything about this guy, from his appearance to his voice, disgusted him, no different from a clown. Oh right, the people from Blue Rose mentioned that the Archbishops of Sin in the Witch Cult were all insane...

"It shouldn’t be like this! It shouldn’t be this way...!"

However, the man showed no intention to answer Fang Zheng, instead clutching his head and ranting in the sky. Upon seeing this, the blue-haired girl hid behind Fang Zheng, who continued holding the red-haired girl and glaring coldly at the clown. In a sudden motion, the clown thrust out his hand.

"No! No, you’re an unexpected factor and must be...eliminated!"

With the clown’s words, a powerful magical force coalesced around him, transforming into a storm of lightning that surged towards Fang Zheng.

By this time, Fang Zheng had confirmed the other’s identity—they were indeed enemies!

Perhaps this was the Archbishop of Sin from the Witch Cult?

No matter, he would kill him first and ask questions later!

Fang Zheng had no intention of showing courtesy to those who would attack him. The reason was simple: when someone attacked him, they wanted to kill him. The reason he wasn’t dead wasn’t because his opponents showed mercy, but because of his tremendous strength. Regardless of the reasons, the intention to kill him would not change.

Since that was the case, Fang Zheng certainly wouldn’t be polite!

"Hmph!"

Facing the oncoming magic attack, Fang Zheng merely snorted coldly. The next moment, he watched as the raging thunderstorm shattered like glass. Then, the Lock of Heaven suddenly materialized out of thin air, tightly binding the Joker. Staring at the Joker before him, Fang Zheng’s greatsword in his right hand erupted, a blazing Primordial Fire soared into the sky, transforming into a Giant Dragon that opened its maw toward the Joker.

Next, Fang Zheng held a red-haired girl in one arm, raised his greatsword with the other, and swung it forcefully at the Joker in the sky.

"Boom!!"

The flaming Giant Dragon roared forward, charging directly at the Joker. Witnessing this scene, the Joker’s expression changed drastically. His figure flickered but quickly stopped. A multicolored magic defense rapidly emerged around the Joker, forming a solid protective shield.

However, none of it made any difference.

The flaming Giant Dragon smashed into the Joker’s magic barrier, shattering it to pieces. The next instant, the Joker was engulfed in flames. With a wretched scream, the ridiculous Joker was reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye under the scorching flames.

Soon after, the Blue Rose, having sensed the situation, arrived.

"Your Excellency Fang Zheng! What happened?"

"This village was attacked."

In response to Radis’s inquiry, Fang Zheng gestured to a nearby corpse.

"I took care of the attackers. I’m not sure if they’re from the Witch Cult; the only survivors are these two children."

Upon hearing Fang Zheng’s words, Radis immediately signaled others to investigate. After examining the corpses in black robes, the female warrior and the ninja reported back without delay.

"They are indeed Witch Cultists."

"So the Witch Cultists appeared here to attack this village? What were they trying to do?"

Gazing at the village before her, Radis was filled with puzzlement but didn’t dwell on it. The Witch Cultists were basically a group of lunatics. They’ve been around for quite some time, but few know what the Witch Cult actually aims to do. Even terrorists have political demands. Witch Cultists, on the other hand, stir trouble without giving any reason.

Radis’s understanding of the Witch Cult was limited to the fact that its core might be related to the Witch from centuries ago. But that’s about it.

As for what the Witch Cult truly sought to accomplish, she had no clue.

"Oh, by the way, I also killed a suspected high-ranking member of the Witch Cult earlier..."

At this, Fang Zheng thought for a moment and provided some information.

"Really?"

Upon hearing Fang Zheng’s response, Radis was pleasantly surprised. The Witch Cult causing trouble was old news. However, capturing its high-ranking members was exceedingly difficult. The Archbishops of Sin were powerful and elusive, making them nearly impossible to nab. But Fang Zheng actually eliminated an Archbishop of Sin... Upon reflection, considering that Fang Zheng easily dispatched such a powerful Lich, eradicating an Archbishop of Sin might not be so far-fetched.

"Who was it?"

"I don’t know, but he dressed like a Joker and spoke disgustingly."

"......?"

After listening to Fang Zheng’s narration, Radis paused, pondered for a moment... and realized she had never heard of such a figure in the Witch Cult.

"It would have been nice to capture him."

"Hehe."

Despite Radis’s lament, Fang Zheng chuckled. At that moment, he was holding a red-haired girl and had a blue-haired girl behind him. Faced with the opponent’s attack, Fang Zheng found himself short of hands, so he straightforwardly decided to kill the enemy. In Fang Zheng’s view, it wasn’t a big deal.

In any case, the matter with the Witch Cult was temporarily on pause. Blue Rose went back to report the situation to Princess Lana. After all, they had come here because of the rumors of the Witch Cult showing itself. Now, the Witch Cult’s attack on the border village validated the rumors’ reliability, which meant the Kingdom had to consider the possibility of the Witch Cult causing trouble within its borders.

As for Fang Zheng, he took the two girls back to a nearby inn to rest. The two girls, having lost their home, were traumatized and needed thorough comfort. Of course, Fang Zheng had already decided to take them back to the castle — considering there were already plenty of orphans there, a couple more wouldn’t matter.

However, just as Fang Zheng was preparing to set off and return home with the two girls, Blue Rose once again hurriedly found him.

"Your Excellency Fang Zheng!"

"What’s the matter?"

Seeing the flustered Radis, Fang Zheng was slightly taken aback.

"What’s going on?"

"I wanted to ask, you previously mentioned you killed a suspected high-ranking member of the Witch Cult, right? What did he look like?"

"I already said, that person dressed up like a Joker and spoke incredibly disgustingly."

"Then, could you mimic his tone of speech for me?"

"That’s simple."

Fang Zheng pondered briefly before imitating the Joker’s speech for Radis — the Joker’s tone was so repulsive it left a deep impression.

But to Fang Zheng’s surprise, after hearing his imitation, Radis’s expression turned pale instantly.

"Oh no, that’s not someone from the Witch Cult!"

"It’s not?"

"Yes, if I’m not mistaken..."

Saying this, Radis’s face revealed an expression as though she had eaten something terrible.

"The one you killed was likely the Kingdom of Lugnica’s nobility, the Court Magician, Lord Roswaal..."

"... Huh?"