"Xixi… something's wrong."
After opening the metal case, Psyche looked on the verge of tears as she turned to Imshi.
Imshi immediately took the case from her hands. She inspected it carefully several times, but in the end, her expression darkened.
"This is just an ordinary box. It's not a sealing container at all."
For a witch who had lived for thousands of years, this was the first time she had ever been deceived in such a matter.
"That doesn't make sense. When we examined it earlier, there were spatial fluctuations, and we could clearly sense the Healing Witch's aura inside. Why did it turn into this after we retrieved it?"
"Could it have been swapped?" Psyche asked uncertainly.
"Impossible. After the box was taken from the sealing site, York kept it on him the entire time. There was no chance for a switch."
Imshi's gaze grew colder.
"It seems that old man from the Holy Tribunal never intended to bring the Healing Witch out in the first place."
"H-How so?" Psyche instinctively stepped back.
Although she had followed Imshi for over three thousand years, whenever Imshi showed this expression, an inexplicable fear would rise in her heart. It meant someone had truly angered this veteran witch who had already stepped into the demigod realm.
"That thief who stole the Authority of Wealth likely planned from the very beginning to forcibly merge the sealed domain into his own mind-world. Whether he discovered my ambush early, or sent the King of Chuid out with the box—it was all just an act.
The so-called Healing Witch never left the sealing site."
"Then… should we intercept them again, Xixi?"
"Hahaha. Why wouldn't we?"
Imshi's lips curved into a mad smile.
"I've been laying the groundwork across the Three Empires for three thousand years for this very moment—to make the traitor's bloodline betray their new master once more.
This performance deserves a perfect finale."
Meanwhile, in the underground shelter of Heim City—
Hel used her undead space to teleport back.
She casually grabbed a box and pressed the newly obtained tag onto it.
A wave of spatial distortion followed. When she opened the box, a vast interior space appeared inside.
But upon seeing what was stored there, her brows furrowed.
Inside lay a bleeding kidney.
There was no sign of the Healing Witch.
"So it was bait from the start?"
"Not exactly," said the elf Niv, walking over.
"Based on our micro-expression analysis of the envoy York, he clearly wasn't aware of this."
She glanced at the bloody organ as well.
"This was most likely the old King of Chui-de's plan. He probably guessed that York intended to use his kingdom as bait, so he staged this entire operation to secure the greatest possible benefit for himself."
"I see. By accident, that old king actually helped the Church."
Hel nodded.
"Looks like we need to intercept them again before they escape the Chui-de Kingdom."
"Don't worry, Master. The undead insects nearby are already heading toward Chui-de City. We'll find them again soon."
Above the desert that Chui-de City had become—
York, who had been praying with closed eyes, slowly opened them, feeling the vitality of his newly restored body.
With a casual wave, he retracted the golden scale, straightened his clothes, and looked down at the devastated land below.
In the vast sea of sand, the remains of the Sacred Oak stood exposed—a broken trunk.
Atop it was the sealing altar, and even the spatial gateway was still there.
Then the gateway rippled violently.
A crafty-looking old man tumbled out in a sorry state.
As he emerged, the previously stable portal collapsed into streams of light that rushed into his body.
"You old bastard—how dare you!"
York's eyes turned vicious as he gripped his staff.
His mission to retrieve the Healing Witch had already failed. Worse, he didn't even know who had ambushed him.
That alone would earn him severe punishment upon returning to the Holy Tribunal—possibly at great personal cost.
So he had already decided to claim the remaining sealed domain of the Chui-de Kingdom as compensation.
Yet in just the brief moment he spent adjusting to his new body, someone had stolen it from under his nose.
"Hahaha… I used a secret technique to forcibly merge my ancestors' mind-world into my own body."
As the old King of Chui-de spoke, blood began to pour from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
"Once the fusion begins, I either break through to the Saint Realm—or I die. And if I die, this entire world will vanish with me."
"So what?" York sneered.
"After stealing what's mine, you think I'd help you?"
He looked at the king like a dead man walking.
Cough, cough.
"Of course. The Holy Tribunal has always treated the Three Empires like insects—sinners."
The king laughed weakly, his teeth stained with blood.
"You can seize what belongs to us whenever you like. Why would you care that we're supposedly on the same side?"
"But if you still want the Healing Witch…"
"Then you'll have to help me."
"What?!"
York's face changed instantly.
"You… you didn't bring the Healing Witch out?!"
The old king snorted in disdain.
"Are you arrogant, Your Excellency…or just naive?
You knew there was an ambush outside. And you expected me to bring the Healing Witch out anyway?
Was I supposed to make it easier for the enemy to steal her?"