On this continent where the Nine Great Kingdoms were constantly at each other's throats, the conflicts between many intelligent races were often a matter of differing standpoints, not strict divisions of good and evil.
For example, just because the Ryan Empire vehently despised the undead didn't an that an undead like Ambrose was irredeemably evil. Nor could you, from Ambrose's perspective, claim the Ryan Empire was an inhuman cult.
It was a matter of perspective, sothing that couldn't be asured by a simple scale of good and evil.
But hags were different. They were innately evil creatures, born as the most cruel and malevolent of beings.
Hags appeared as ugly, twisted old won, and their hearts were as hideous as their faces.
Their thod of reproduction alone revealed the extre and warped nature of their kind.
Hags could not bear their own children. Instead, they would steal a baby from its cradle or even its mother's womb, then completely consu the poor infant. A week later, the hag would give birth to a human-looking baby girl, who would grow up looking human. But on her thirteenth birthday, she would transform into a hag identical to her mother.
Typically, a hag would return her offspring to the couple who had lost their child. The child would grow up normally until her early teens.
More than a decade was enough ti for them to beco a real family.
Once the young hag's soul matured, the child's personality would abruptly change, becoming cruel and vicious, catching her adoptive parents completely off guard. No matter what they tried, they could not reawaken their daughter's conscience. Often, after enduring countless betrayals and hurts, they would be killed by the very child they had raised.
And as they lay dying, they would witness their daughter transform into the hag's hideous form, realizing that for over a decade, they had been raising a monster—a monster that had grown by devouring their own biological child.
This cruel tornt would leave a mortal's soul in tatters, while the hag would revel in the humans' rage and despair.
This was the essence of a hag. Their very existence was to bring suffering to other living beings.
Upon reaching adulthood, a hag would rapidly master a vast array of evil magic and beco incredibly arrogant. So even ca to believe that the gods were nothing special and that they would one day trample the deities underfoot.
This extre arrogance led hags to enjoy toying with humans, which was one of their ways of proving they were "gods themselves." They commonly played gas of trade with mortals. For instance, they might poison soone, then appear in their mont of despair and tell them they could live if they sacrificed their most beloved family mber.
Through such deceptions, they tricked humans into sacrificing their loved ones. When the truth was revealed, the hags would delight in watching the humans' expressions of collapse and despair.
They were even willing to pay a certain price for this perverse pleasure.
It could be said that hags were innately evil, even more depraved than the devils of Hell.
Ambrose gave Naomi a very detailed rundown on these monstrous creatures. She listened with her mouth agape, unable to close it for a long while.
"Silvanus above, such evil monsters exist in this world? Eating a child and then creating a fake monster for the parents to raise... it's just too vicious!"
Just hearing Ambrose's description sent a chill down Naomi's spine. To think her kin had encountered such a terrifying creature.
Ambrose continued, "The vast majority of hags are proficient in illusion magic. Creating a large-scale illusion is not difficult for them. Not only do they possess powerful spellcasting abilities, but their claws can tear through steel. Moreover, a hag is never alone; they excel at bewitching humans to beco their puppets."
"Even a fully prepared army would likely suffer heavy casualties against a hag. What's more terrifying is that most hags are masters of escape. If you don't kill one in a single blow, it will return for revenge again and again, until you're dead!"
"I've heard a rumor that three hags once worked together to create a horrific plague in the capital of the elves, turning entire cities into dead zones with over a thousand fatalities. If not for a legendary High Elf powerhouse who intervened and drove the three hags away, the casualties would have been even greater."
Ambrose's words made Naomi's face turn pale. This sounded like an incredibly fearso monster. Weren't her people in grave danger?
"Master Ultraman, what do we do now?" Naomi asked, her voice trembling with panic.
"It's difficult. Hags are not easy to deal with. Only a Legendary-rank individual would have a surefire chance of success. If you were to hire a professional team of adventurers, it would cost at least tens of thousands of gold coins before anyone would even consider accepting the commission. And that was the price a few years ago. With the recent soaring prices in the City of Alchemy, you can probably double that."
Ambrose's words made Naomi even more anxious. Where would she get tens of thousands of gold coins to hire adventurers? Was there truly no hope for her people?
"But..." Ambrose's tone suddenly shifted.
Naomi quickly pressed, "But what?"
Ambrose said, "But as it happens, I know an expert in dealing with hags. With my connection, he'll guarantee a solution for this hag for ten thousand gold, tops."
"Really?" Naomi asked skeptically. She had a nagging feeling that sothing was off. The way he phrased it sounded an awful lot like a scam.
Ambrose patted his chest. "Of course. If you don't believe , I can swear on the God of the Undead's na. The expert I know can absolutely handle the hag, and for only ten thousand gold. If he fails, or even if the hag escapes, he won't charge a single copper."
Naomi said helplessly, "But I don't have that kind of money. I don't have anything valuable on ."
Ambrose smiled. "That's easy. Aren't you going to rescue your tribe mbers? The value of their belongings combined will surely be enough to cover ten thousand gold. Natural magic equipnt crafted by druids sells very well throughout the Nine Great Kingdoms. We can do service first, paynt later."
Naomi still felt that sothing wasn't right, but it seed she had no other choice.
If she could rescue her people, ten thousand gold was definitely worth it. The tribe could surely scrape that much together.
And if they failed to rescue them, what did she stand to lose?
With that thought, Naomi imdiately agreed.
"Then should we go find this expert you ntioned right now? Where is he?" Naomi urged impatiently.
Ambrose smiled faintly. "No need to rush. He's already here."
As he finished speaking, layers of ethereal light emanated from Ambrose's body.
The effects of the transformation spell were dispelled. The dark-haired youth rapidly changed into a stark white skeleton. He was draped in a black mage's robe, with soulfire burning in his eye sockets. Hovering above the ground, feet never touching the floor, he held a long magic staff in his hand.
With such an appearance, Ambrose didn't need to introduce himself. Naomi gasped, "A lich? You're a lich?!"
There were many types of undead. Naomi had initially guessed Ambrose was a vampire or sothing similar, but she never expected him to be a lich.
Among the undead, liches were arguably the most powerful spellcasters. No wonder his magic was so formidable.
"Wait, the expert you ntioned... is you?"
Naomi suddenly felt like she had been duped.
"That's right. I'm very experienced in dealing with hags. Don't you worry," Ambrose said with imnse confidence.
But now that he had returned to his lich form, his voice was a magical vibration that sounded like a chilling wind blowing through a graveyard, making it exceptionally creepy.
Naomi still felt sothing was amiss and pressed on, "But you just said that only a Legendary could deal with a hag alone."
With a light wave of his staff, the corpses of the mutated rats on the ground exploded. Amidst the blur of flesh and blood, countless bones clicked and clacked, assembling themselves into dozens of bizarrely shaped skeletons.
Standing before his skeletal army, Ambrose addressed Naomi, "Allow to reintroduce myself. I am Tiga Ultraman, a Legendary Lich!"
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