"A high-tier Life magic—Blood Pact Prohibition. Pity that insect had no elemental power in its body; otherwise, I might have been able to stop it."
Hel toyed with the soul orb in her hand, observing it carefully.
"There's a restriction on the soul as well? A soul oath… They really were cautious. But—"
She lightly tapped it a few times with her finger, and the seal binding the soul vanished.
This kind of large-scale restrictive magic, while high-level, was most likely applied in batches using alchemical tools. As a result, the restrictions were rather rigid—and easy to break.
That was only easy for Hel, of course. If it were another Saint-tier necromancer, it would take at least several days to unravel it.
"Done."
With a wave of her hand, a node of the Soul Network manifested before her. She sent the soul into it, and an immense suction force immediately pulled it in.
With a whoosh, the soul crossed more than seven hundred kilometers in an instant, arriving deep underground in the Heim territory.
A small mage body that had long been hidden there raised its hand, summoning the soul orb out of the Soul Network.
After the Reincarnation Mainframe finished its analysis, Hel quickly learned everything she wanted to know.
When the Fifth Prince was very young, he had once followed his elder brother into a certain place—one of the entrances to the Witch Dungeon.
However, all memories of what happened after entering had been brutally stripped away.
The method used was crude. Although his memories were erased, the fear he felt toward that place had been left behind.
"Powerful, terrifying, and filled with despair… So there's something horrifying guarding the Witch Dungeon?"
At that moment, the catgirl Niv interrupted Hel's thoughts.
"Master, the old king of the Kingdom of Trod whom you asked me to monitor has left Savant City. He's currently flying west together with the Holy Tribunal envoy. The undead insects can't keep up with their speed—at most three more minutes before they leave our surveillance network."
"They're about to escape monitoring?"
Hel frowned. She didn't know what Old Chui-de and that envoy were rushing off to do in the middle of the night, but she suspected their actions were related to the Recovery Witch.
Combined with what the young envoy had said earlier, could it be that the witch he intended to publicly execute was the Recovery Witch?
And that this witch was also tied to the forbidden spell he wanted to cast?
Was there really a forbidden spell that required sacrificing a witch?
At present, only Hel's elemental magic had reached the pink tier, allowing her to cast forbidden spells. Her Life and Death magic had yet to reach that level.
Because of that, she couldn't guess what kind of forbidden spell the other party was planning to use.
"Where is Morrigan now?"
"At the western border of the Scholars' Nation. She's about to enter the territory of the Garden Nation."
"I see…"
Hel pondered for a moment, then abandoned the idea of intercepting them halfway.
Not because of anything else—simply because it was too risky.
She dared to ambush a supreme archbishop of the Church because she feared neither their strength nor their death magic. But this Saint-tier envoy was different.
Hel didn't know his true combat capability. Acting rashly could easily draw the attention of even more powerful figures.
"By the way, how many signal hawks do we still have—the ones I captured from the Aira Royal Court?"
"Three."
"Only three…"
Hel frowned.
At present, the Soul Network Morrigan had established only reached the border of the Scholars' Nation.
To extend it all the way to Trod City would require nearly another sixteen hundred li—meaning that even using signal hawks to set up an aerial Soul Network, they'd need at least sixteen of them.
No… maybe there's another way.
With that thought, Hel took out some alchemical equipment and began crafting relays on the spot.
Before long, several small flying insects were completed.
"No digging ability, poor self-defense—but as temporary relays, they'll do."
She then spent the entire night crafting twenty such relays and handed them all to Morrigan.
At that point, Morrigan would control undead signal hawks to scatter these insects along the mandatory route leading to the Kingdom of Trod.
That way, Hel could set up an ambush in advance within Trod territory and seize the Recovery Witch once she was brought out.
However, after examining the small insects in Hel's hand, Niv offered her own suggestion.
"Master, when we previously researched relay systems, we considered this possibility. Insect-type relays are easily eaten by other creatures and carried out of their designated areas. To avoid accidents, it would be best to deploy two lines instead."
"Two lines, huh? That works. I'll make a few more and send the hawks once we have enough."
Thus, Hel stayed busy through the morning, eventually crafting another twenty relays and sending them to Morrigan as well.
Under Niv's control, Morrigan released two signal hawks, each carrying twenty small insects clinging to their bodies.
The insects hid beneath the hawks' feathers like parasites.
Once they reached designated distances, Niv would guide them out from the feathers, letting them slowly descend to suitable locations.
By the time everything was done, it was already close to noon.
Since Hel needed to focus on alchemy, control over Lyco's side was handed to Niv.
At that moment, Niv was leading Hel's roommates to lunch.
Ever since Hel had complained that the lunches here were too simple, Leflina had taken the initiative to cook.
As for Hiness—there was no need to elaborate. This hopeless case with zero cooking talent, who regularly burned pots and couldn't tell salt from sugar, was promptly kicked out by the others.
Tina, the "master chef" who turned every dish into an indiscriminate stew, showed off once and then obediently sat beside Hiness, waiting to be fed by the real cooks.
Leflina, on the other hand, often cooked for herself at home.
Her shepherd's pie and mashed potatoes were quite good—though, admittedly, those were the only dishes she knew how to make.
With no other choice, Niv personally stepped in to make sure Hel got a proper meal.
And aside from managing the clone, the catgirl Niv also manifested physically, cooking lunch for Hel herself.
After enjoying a satisfying meal, Hel hugged catgirl Niv and began wandering aimlessly around the academy once more.