LRAB Chapter 123 The Gray-Green Hand
Chapter 123 The Gray-Green Hand
Chapter 123 The Gray-Green Hand
Any one of the Knights of the Unswearing Order would undoubtedly be an elite warrior.
They are not only powerful, but also intelligent.
But now Natalie has a new opinion of them; they seem to lack common sense.
If Natalie were one of them, she would never be wearing their steel armor, which easily conducts cold, in such a frigid place as the Eternal Frozen Continent.
Whenever someone took off his helmet, Natalie could see their lips, which had turned a dark purple from the cold.
Their attire would probably be more than enough for them to travel all over the continent of Ancent.
But this is a permafrost continent, and the extreme climate of this land has long been known to the world.
Natalie couldn't tell whether they lacked common sense or were simply inflexible.
However, Natalie was certain that these people were visiting the frozen continent for the first time.
None of them spoke the language of Ice and had no knowledge of the local culture.
Fortunately, this is the Eastern Community; otherwise, given their behavior, we would have sensed an even stronger atmosphere of exclusion and hostility.
They wandered around various squares for days, but ultimately failed to find their employer.
Having lived on the frozen continent for many years, Natalie could easily help them.
But she couldn't possibly do that. How could she be so foolish as to help them sell themselves?
This can only delay things temporarily, but it cannot last forever.
While the Unswearing Knights do indeed have a hard time finding employers, the local witches can easily learn of their existence.
Their attire and words were so conspicuous that it wouldn't be long before the wizards who attended the witches' tea party that day found out.
At that moment, "Gentleman" Seth Kelly suddenly appeared in front of Natalie, bowed to her, and said:
"Miss, thank you for your patience. We have contacted the ladies who are looking for you."
Natalie ruthlessly exposed her lie: "They found you, didn't they!"
"It's all the same, Miss," Seth said with a smile, without getting annoyed. "Please get ready, we're leaving right away."
As a prisoner, Natalie had no right to refuse.
She had no choice but to wear her clothes tightly to avoid suffering from the cold.
It's only the beginning of September, but the weather is like the harsh winter of the continent of Ancent.
The permafrost continent has no summer, except for the southern communities.
Even the vague spring and autumn seasons in other communities only exist in the brief months of June, July, and August.
When Natalie stepped out of the tent, half of the warriors led by Seth were already there to greet her.
Seth bowed gracefully to Natalie, stepped forward, and tried to take her hand.
Natalie, however, chose to ignore it and joined the team directly.
The group members surrounded her and then set off together.
After a long time, they arrived at their destination.
This is a mansion, which Natalie is very familiar with.
This was the private residence of Celestia, the host of that witch's tea party.
Natalie had visited this place before and cleverly seduced the hostess to host that tea party.
No matter how much truth these witches had uncovered before, as soon as Celestia met Natalie, she would immediately learn that Natalie was the mastermind behind the incident and that she had tricked all the witches.
Although Natalie had been walking a tightrope since her teens.
But she knew that this time, the odds were really against her.
She could only pray in her heart that things would go as she expected.
Natalie followed the Knights to the mansion gate and overheard Seth and the gatekeeper having a halting conversation.
Ultimately, not all of the Knights were allowed inside; Seth was only permitted to bring a few close associates.
Seth seemed very confident in his abilities and agreed without any hesitation.
Before long, they were led to the reception room of the mansion.
"Phew!"
Upon entering, the group members exclaimed with relief at the warmth that greeted them.
However, houses in the permafrost continent rarely have fireplaces, and there are hardly any heat sources in the rooms.
The hall was warm thanks to the huge block of silver ice placed in the center of the room.
Silver ice is a special mineral that, as far as is currently known, can only be mined in the ice houses of the northern communities.
It can concentrate cold air in its vicinity while keeping the overall temperature constant, thereby indirectly increasing the indoor temperature.
For Natalie, this was nothing to be surprised about. The uses of Silver Ice had been widely developed in the frozen continent, and she had even considered whether to buy a Silver Ice dagger.
However, due to its price, Natalie ultimately had to give up on it.
The piece of silver ice in the room is a cube-shaped raw stone with sides measuring two feet.
This gives a glimpse into just how wealthy Celestia's family was.
Not long after they entered, a group of women also walked into the hall.
Natalie immediately recognized Celestia as the leader, followed by what appeared to be the witches who had attended the tea party that day.
Upon seeing this, Seth immediately stepped forward and bowed to greet him.
"Oh! Beautiful lady, it is my honor to see your face. And as you requested, I have brought the person you desired to you. Please take a look, is this the one you are looking for?"
A woman standing next to Celestia stepped forward and translated Seth's words into Ice Language, which Celestia then listened to.
Upon hearing this, Celestia stared at Natalie for a moment, then a cold smile appeared on her face as she replied in icy language:
"This is the woman I've been looking for, Commander. The Unswearing Knights truly live up to their reputation."
"We are fortunate to have your trust and praise, but we warriors are rough and don't really like the climate of the permafrost continent, so we would like to exchange what we have promised each other as soon as possible."
As soon as Seth finished speaking, another old man standing to the side stepped forward:
"You have to give me back my things first."
"Your things?" Seth retorted. "What did you say, old man?"
"My crow."
"Oh! Of course," Seth said with sudden realization, "It's a fine bird, I like it very much. Can I have it? I'm willing to pay you any gold or other things you want."
Celestia then spoke up, "Giving an animal a special ability is no easy task, Commander."
That raven is the lifeblood of this elderly witch; please return it.
Hearing this, Natalie was certain that the reason she was discovered that day was indeed because of the crow.
But she never imagined that the raven belonged to the witch.
The gentleman said no more, but simply snapped his fingers lightly, and a crow flew in through the crack in the curtain.
It landed on Seth's shoulder.
The old man puffed out his cheeks and then exhaled a puff of pinkish-purple mist.
The gas drifted toward the crow and entered its body.
Suddenly, the crow flapped its wings and landed on the old man's shoulder.
Then, Celestia waved her hand, signaling a servant to take Seth to collect his payment.
Before parting, the gentleman did not forget to bow and say goodbye to Natalie.
At this moment, only Natalie and the group of witches remained in the room.
Celestia circled around Natalie, who could only awkwardly endure her gaze.
After a long silence, Celestia finally spoke:
"So that's how it is. I was outmaneuvered by you from the very beginning."
In such situations, it's best to remain silent, so Natalie chose to keep quiet.
Celestia immediately resumed her analysis:
"However, if you are simply lying, I will be able to see through it, which means there is truth in your lie."
We raided the diving hut and searched through all the documents inside. It was full of divers' nonsense, but we didn't find a single clue about mermaids.
"But there's a document with a page torn out. Hey, woman, did you steal that page beforehand?"
'
As she spoke, she came to face Natalie and used her long, slender index finger, painted with dark purple nail polish, to lift Natalie's chin.
Natalie remained silent, and of course, dared not resist.
Celestia brought her face close, her purple lips only a finger's width away from Natalie's face, then opened her mouth again, the scent of her perfume wafting into Natalie's nose:
"If the whole incident was part of your plan, then your motives are easy to guess. You wanted to use us to attack the diving hut so you could steal that page of records. Am I right? And this confirms that the information about the mermaid does indeed exist—"
As she said this, Celestia's fingers slid down Natalie's skin.
When he touched Natalie's throat, he suddenly extended his thumb and forefinger and gripped Natalie's throat bone.
In an instant, a feeling of nausea and suffocation rushed to Natalie's head.
She instinctively tried to struggle, only to realize that she couldn't move her limbs at all.
With her last ounce of willpower, Natalie glanced down at the area below her body.
It turned out that a black substance, like chains, was wrapped around and binding her limbs.
Tears welled up uncontrollably in her eyes, and her tongue lolled out.
Celestia only let go when she was almost fainting.
Natalie gasped, coughed, and gagged repeatedly. After calming down a bit, she looked at Celestia and said:
"I've already destroyed that intelligence report."
Upon hearing this, Celestia turned around and exchanged glances with the witches behind her. A strange smile appeared on their faces. Natalie added, "Really, I'm not lying to you."
“Indeed, such a lie makes no sense,” Celestia said. “So, are you trying to say that you can lead us to the mermaid?”
Natalie's thoughts were exposed; that was indeed what she was thinking.
Now, she was somewhat at a loss as to what Celestia was up to, but for the moment, she could only continue according to the previous plan.
“I remember the information in that document,” Natalie said, “and you’ve offended the Sea Divers, so I’m your only lead.”
"Ha!" Celestia sneered. "You're right, you are indeed a clue, but not accurate enough. The clue is in your mind."
Upon hearing this, Natalie suddenly felt a bone-chilling cold sweep over her entire body, inexplicably, in this warm room.
She raised an eyebrow and looked warily at the group of witches before her.
As Celestia gently raised her chin, a witch who looked to be in her forties or fifties stepped forward.
She stretched out her slightly loose-skinned right hand, then her eyes rolled back, and two nameless gray flames suddenly ignited in her eyeballs.
After that, several streaks of color suddenly appeared in front of the witch's raised right hand.
The colors blend and twist, eventually taking the shape of a human hand.
Celestia said, "I originally wanted to ask the most renowned mind wizard, Loloti, for assistance, but he seems to be busy with other matters. Not everyone is as skilled and meticulous as Loloti."
As she spoke, Celestia stepped forward and gently stroked Natalie's face with her hand.
"Oh! What a delicate face! But, my dear sister, please bear with it, that 'hand' might be a little rough..."
As Natalie watched the grayish-green, semi-transparent, gaseous right hand slowly extend towards her face, her pupils trembled, and terror reached the back of her head.
She screamed in fear, "What do you want to do!"
Natalie tried to resist, but found that she couldn't move at all; she couldn't even turn her head.
"No!" Natalie cried, trembling. "No! Please! Please!"
But these witches showed no sign of stopping.
The gray-green hand touched Natalie's brow and then continued forward.
Natalie rolled her eyes; she felt something directly touching her brain.
In an instant, all her memories and emotions became a jumbled mess.
Natalie felt that her personality was being torn apart.
Help me
Her last shred of reason was still calling out.
Someone, please save me!
Henry—.