Lucia Resurrected

Dim. To put it simply, it was extremely dim.

The world was a shade of gray, caught somewhere between black and white.

No matter how hard she rubbed her eyes or how many times she closed and reopened them, that oppressive, dim hue remained, breeding a restless irritability.

What's happening to me?

Lucia asked herself in her mind.

I think I was backstabbed by someone from the Yeti race, a blade through my chest... then I lost consciousness. After that... I can't remember.

Well, that makes sense.

It was only natural not to remember anything after being murdered.

Does this mean I'm dead? Where is this?

The underworld? Hell? Or the City of the Dead?

Hmm... those places all seem to be where souls are taken.

I remember some of those summoners calling forth monsters that came from hell.

In that case, my soul must have come to hell after I died.

Tsk tsk, I didn't expect myself to face death so calmly. It's actually quite interesting.

Or do you lose your emotions once you become a soul?

Whatever. I might as well take a good look at this world I never imagined I'd reach.

If those summoners knew, they'd be so jealous.

With that thought, Lucia began her small adventure in this gray, misty hell.

However, this didn't last long. A few hours later, she felt herself being violently yanked by something, and then she drifted toward a place she couldn't see.

To be honest.

Compared to the novelty of seeing new things everywhere in hell, this current state was what truly made her feel terror.

Unable to hear, see, speak, or touch—it was as if she were thinking without any meaning.

This kind of waste of time felt exceptionally horrifying to her, whose heart and soul had already become a witch.

Fortunately, it didn't seem to last very long before it ended.

As for why she said 'seem to,' it was because in that state where she could do nothing, she had even lost the concept of time.

She had no idea how much time had passed.

“Did it work?”

“I don't know.”

“Hey, Lucia, are you dead yet?”

When Lucia regained the ability to feel her own body and the air being drawn into her nose, the first thing she heard was several familiar voices.

“I was dead, and I just got back from a one-day tour of hell.”

She replied, then weakly opened her eyes to look at the people around her.

Each and every one of them was a face she knew better than anyone.

As for the 【Toy Witch】 Katie... forget it, things felt a bit awkward right now; it wouldn't be too late to get to know her properly later.

“Ohhh!”

Hearing Lucia's snarky remark, everyone in the room couldn't help but cheer.

“Stop howling. I feel extremely weak right now.”

Though she felt a bit bad about it, Lucia couldn't help but call a halt to their way of celebrating.

Mainly because their loud shouting was more than her ears could take.

“Well, it’s only right that you’re weak. After all, you were bled dry.”

No one minded Lucia's grumbling, and Erika even spoke up with a mocking tone.

Hmm? Bled dry?

Good grief, what kind of heartless metaphor is that?

Seeing that Lucia didn't quite understand what she meant, Erika explained everything Lucia had gone through and what was currently happening.

“Tsk tsk, the Yeti race, huh? You’d better leave them to me. If I don't hunt them to extinction, I'll write my name backward and call myself Aicul.”

Once she learned what had happened to her, Lucia immediately focused her attention on the Yeti race, who had betrayed her trust and stabbed her in the back.

After all, she had trusted them so much. She had even traded her refined potions for their hunted game just to make sure they didn't get the short end of the stick.

Truly, the kind are the ones who get bullied.

Looking back now, she had been a fool.

If she had just blocked the roads and let them rot back then, would there have been so much trouble?

Hmm... probably not.

The enemy's actions had been premeditated for a long time.

Regardless of her involvement, this war was inevitable.

At most, some other witch would have been used as the 'sacrifice' instead.

“Get some rest. There are still many witches who need treatment.”

With that, Nightingale made a cool turn and walked out of the room in a few steps, her white coat swaying.

“How cold-hearted...”

Lucia grumbled at Nightingale’s behavior.

But she could understand.

After all, once an experimental subject had fulfilled its mission, it became something of no value to the researcher.

Nightingale was in that state right now, which was why Lucia, the 'thing of no value,' grumbled like that.

“But you really should rest. We’re short-handed outside, so we won't disturb you. Get some sleep, and I'll bring you some food later.”

Erika said as she and the other witches retreated from the room.

Lucia was left alone to stare at the unfamiliar ceiling.

The silence was like a beast, its bloody maw constantly gnawing away at Lucia's newly recovered spirit.

It was a bit much for her to handle.

However, this didn't last long.

As witches who had been turned into dolls were carried in from outside one by one, Lucia's peaceful time of staring at the ceiling came to an end.

Sigh...

To think an experimental subject can't even get a private room. How pathetic...

Lucia mocked herself as she looked at the dolls beside her.

Beside each of these dolls was a transparent glass bottle filled with red liquid.

Needless to say, these were people who, like her, had been carelessly ambushed.

As for how they distinguished whose blood was whose, it was actually quite simple and not a big deal.

They simply relied on mana to tell the difference.

After all, everyone's mana was different; they just had to find the similarities within the differences to successfully match the blood to the body.

Although she didn't know exactly what everyone was busy with outside, she could tell from Erika's earlier words that everyone was fighting.

And here she was, one of the 88 guardian witches, lying in bed.

To be honest, she felt a bit ashamed.

Even though Lucia wasn't the type to be competitive, she couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt at a time like this.

However, the battle across the entire Abandoned Land was said to have entered a stalemate phase.

Everyone was hiding in their shelters and sniping at the incoming enemies, and the results were supposedly quite good.

It was precisely because of this defensive sniping battle that the stalemate had become possible.

Of course.

Besides those who were defending, there were also those who took the initiative to attack.

Every one of these individuals was an absolute powerhouse capable of taking on ten thousand enemies alone.

For example, the 【Flame Witch】 Pandora, who rode atop a Fire Elemental and burned everything in her path.

Or the 【White-haired Witch】 Nangong Lengyue, who focused on teleportation.