The Witcher: Lord of the Empire

"When I returned to the village, the villagers chased me. I had no choice but to flee to the shelter Shae'nira told me about. She had told me that if I ever had nowhere else to go, to look for her there."

"And there she was, waiting for me. She sang and smiled as she welcomed me."

"But there were sirens living in the cave too, and they couldn't stand me. They never could stand me since Shae'nira, and I were together. They attacked me immediately, screaming in rage."

"They probably just wanted to teach me a lesson, like other times, because they didn't like me. They made small wounds on me, made me bleed, but they were actually just superficial scratches. Shae'nira always scolded them and then healed me with magic..."

"But this time it was different. I was beside myself. When I saw my own blood and tasted its metallic flavor, I turned into a bear… and lost control."

"I tore apart the sirens who attacked me, then Shae'nira who tried to stop me… and then the others, until they feared me and stopped attacking."

Bill burst into tears. "When I returned to human form, I forgot everything… those herbs and mushrooms continued to affect me until recently."

"I thought Shae'nira was angry with me and that's why she was hiding. I thought the decrease in sirens was the villagers' work…"

"It turned out to be all because of me..."

...

The witchers who had just finished the battle approached.

Although they thoroughly enjoyed the fight, their hearts were now filled with mixed feelings at the young man's words.

They had seen many tragedies like this: blood killing, lovers killing each other; whether intentional or unintentional.

But no matter how many horrors they had witnessed, it did not stop them from feeling a pang of pain in their hearts, nor did it take away their compassion for the situation.

Although, at that moment, their faces remained expressionless.

Lann sighed. If it were any other day, his understanding nature would have made him not mind giving his new follower some time to recover emotionally. But now, after the fierce battle, the Skelligers were filled with fervor and rage, and he had no patience to wait for Bill to vent.

Fortunately, after his breakdown, Bill did not let things develop in the worst possible way.

Groaning, hugging his head, he looked at the corpses of the Vildkaarls, and his look of guilt quickly turned into deep hatred.

"It was them, they turned me into a monster! If it weren't for them, Shae'nira wouldn't have died!"

Bill turned and knelt in front of Lann. "My Lord, my memories are complete now... even clearer than before. Allow me to take you to the shrine of the Svalblod cult, allow me to help you remove all this filth from the island of Skellige once and for all."

Lann raised an eyebrow. This turn in his thinking was quite promising.

However, looking at the flames shining in Bill's eyes, he felt that this young man could become someone who, after finishing off his enemies, would decide to make extreme decisions, such as committing suicide.

Although, if that were the case, Lann would not allow such an action to be carried out. For him, that was not a problem.

"So now guide us according to what you remember and take us to the Svalblod cult and the Vildkaarls." Lann said seriously, his voice suggesting great responsibility. "We now have an unresolvable grudge with them."

...

After activating the follower panel, Bill's mind became incredibly clearer, to the point that he no longer needed the help of the witchers' senses to find the path he had previously taken when escaping.

Shortly after, a dark and gigantic tunnel appeared before them.

The tunnel entrance was extremely dangerous, connected to the mountain trail by a narrow, slippery rocky path, barely wide enough for a single person to pass through. Around it, there was no vegetation to conceal the place.

Most importantly, the experienced mountaineers knew from the footprints at the entrance that a giant Skellige bear lived there.

This would make any normal person shy away, but to Lann and the others, it meant one thing: they had found the right place.

Eist frowned as he looked down the narrow, rocky path. If an army of a thousand men tried to traverse this terrain, it would be suicidal. The Vildkaarls could defend this tunnel with only a dozen men.

"Based on the footprints here, this must be the Svalblod cult's hideout." Eist mused. "This terrain is an advantage for them, who are few in number, but for an army like ours, it is a deadly disadvantage. Perhaps we should disperse our troops and look for other entrances."

Though his words made sense, everyone knew that hope was small. The Svalblod cult had chosen this refuge for a reason: they must have anticipated the possibility of being discovered. There might be escape routes, but none wide enough for an army to pass through.

Lann studied the place for a moment and suggested: "Why don't I go inside and do some reconnaissance first? You know my ability. If the Vildkaarls are ambushing inside, I can avoid them at any time."

"And in the meantime, the army can continue to look for other paths."

Eist recalled Lann's abilities, such as [Teleport] and [Blink], and nodded, albeit reluctantly.

Lann could no longer be treated as a regular combat unit. Eist even suppressed his impulse to ask him to bring some guards. He knew that doing so would most likely slow him down.

Still, he couldn't help but give his usual warning: "Be careful."

Lann smiled and nodded before his body disappeared in a flash of light.

Shortly after, a spark of golden light flashed at the entrance of the cave, then faded into darkness.

Eist ordered the witchers to stay alert and watch for any changes at the cave entrance. Meanwhile, he began organizing troops to search for other entrances.

But before they could leave, the green light appeared again, and Lann materialized in front of them with a strange expression.

Eist quickly asked: "What happened? Did you encounter any danger?"

Crach stepped forward, also worried. "What's the terrain like inside? How many enemies are there? Have they discovered you?"

Lann sighed. "There is no danger…"

"There are not even enemies."

"But I do need some support. There are injured people inside, and some items that may need to be removed."

...

Despite Lann's assurances that there were no enemies, Eist and Crach, out of caution, decided to take their respective escorts with them, and Jutta did not want to be left behind, joining her clan's soldiers in following them.

The witchers and Bill could not be left behind either.

As they entered the cave, a nauseating and foul-smelling wave of smell hit them in the face. Unlike the strong smell of a transformed bear, this was the typical stench of a wild animal.

The cave was dark and damp, the rocky walls covered in moss and thorns, while the floor was littered with bone fragments.

In the center of the cave was a fearsome statue, bathed in blood.

Around the statue lay three naked young men, unconscious, with horrible wounds, which had been rudimentarily bandaged.

Lann pointed at the three young men. "This is why I needed help."

Eist quickly ordered several soldiers with medical experience to approach, while he himself inspected the young men. His face showed disbelief at recognizing them.

"They're… druid apprentices. I saw them in the druidic circle." Eist could hardly believe his eyes.

His words also shocked everyone present.

Crash looked at the blood dripping from the statue and the three clearly flayed druids, and exclaimed: "The Svalblod cult is using druids in their blood rituals? How audacious!"

The druids in Skellige held great influence, even during the height of the Sorcerers' Brotherhood, their status among the jarls was even higher than that of the mages in the human kingdoms. This was because the druids, although they knew vast secrets, were not interested in political power, and so all the jarls, no matter how unhinged, treated them with great respect.

They never imagined that the Svalblod cult would capture them for their sacrifices.

Crach, indignant, quickly approached to examine the druid apprentices.

"We need to get them to the Druidic Circle right away to be healed." Crach said in a firm voice.

As the soldiers tended to the young druids' wounds, Lann explained to them the results of his recent research.

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