A swirl of smoke suddenly erupted around the three beauties, enveloping them completely before quickly dissipating.
From within the receding haze ca a profane voice, utterly devoid of the sweet tone they had used monts before.
"Witcher, you are truly arrogant. Do you think we three sisters fear you?"
"I will kill you, and then use your skull as a drinking bowl."
The smoke cleared, and the three beautiful won were gone, replaced by three monstrous forms.
One wore a mask, hiding its face, with a sack hanging before it from which a severed arm dangled. Another was as bloated as the Foegus guard, but headless, its neck capped by a bundled stack of straw. The last wore a pointed hood, one eye covered by cloth, while the other was a dense mass of buzzing holes, like a honeycomb, with insects swarming.
As the illusion dissolved, the cavern reverted to its true state: the ankle-deep water on the floor beca thick, crimson blood, and the contents of the central cauldron were no longer animal at, but human limbs and severed heads. The sweet aroma was replaced by a nauseating sll of death and putrescence.
Since the Crones had dropped the charade, Lynn saw no need for further courtesy.
He stomped his right foot hard on the ground; the standing blood exploded upward, and before it could fall, he had shot forward like a bolt of lightning, charging the most bloated of the three: the Brewess.
These were ancient beings, existing since the arrival of humans. The Brewess didn't need a spell chant; with a wave of her hand, she drew the blood from the ground into her palm, instantly forming a grotesque, profane blade.
Clang!
The Brewess gripped the profane blade with both hands, steadily blocking the downward slash of Aerondight. A thought of scorn flashed through her mind:
Hmph! The knight of that whore of the lake is nothing special…
Before the thought could fade, a burst of firelight erupted in her vision. The fla was so fast, so close. Like the Crones, the witcher needed no incantation to unleash the Igni Sign.
The witch-fire, hot enough to lt steel, caused the Brewess's monstrous hide to resist only montarily. The intense heat forced a scream of agony from her.
But the scream lasted only a fraction of a second.
Lynn had cleaved her straight down the middle.
The holy nature of Aerondight against evil things took effect imdiately. Golden light, like pure fire, climbed across the Brewess's body. An entity like her could not normally be easily slain even by a common silver sword, but Aerondight negated her 'immortality,' letting her die like any common creature, bleeding out into the crimson sludge.
The remaining Whispess and Weaving Woman froze at the sight. They clearly hadn't expected their sister to be felled by a single strike.
Realizing the danger, the Weaving Woman exploded into a flock of black crows, and the Whispess dove into the thick blood, attempting to escape.
It was all futile.
Lynn slamd his hand onto the ground, and a circle of purple light flared up, trapping both the Weaving Woman and the Whispess within its confines.
Yrden.
In the end, the Whispess and the Weaving Woman followed the Brewess into oblivion.
Having killed the three Crones, Lynn, rembering the lessons from Ciri's experiences in the ga, first froze their bodies solid with a freezing Aard Sign, then ticulously hacked them into pieces. Only after confirming they were utterly and irrevocably dead did Lynn finally set fire to their remains.
Thus, the ancient Crones, beings who had existed since humanity first landed on the continent, were history.
After burning the Crones' corpses, Lynn looked around the cavern.
The old oak on Bald Mountain was reportedly a magical creation of the Druids. But after the Druids of Velen were defeated by the Crones, the magical oak was taken over and subsequently corrupted.
Lynn wasn't sure if soone like Mousesack could cleanse the corruption of the magical oak, but logically, the entire mountain had been perated by the Crones' influence for millennia. It would likely be easier to destroy the place and start over than to purify the filth.
With that conclusion reached, Lynn stopped agonizing over the details.
He pulled a massive amount of Higher Alchemy Bombs from his magic-woven satchel and ticulously packed them into the roots throughout the cavern. Afterward, he placed a frightening quantity of high-grade bombs along all the tunnels and pathways he had taken.
After a long period of work, he finally descended from Bald Mountain and returned to where he had moored his small boat.
Once he was aboard, he lit the long fuse he had intentionally left trailing behind him.
He rowed away quickly.
After he had put a safe distance between himself and the shore, a trendous, earth-shattering roar echoed across the land, and the entire mountain instantly disintegrated. Massive shards of rock sprayed out like shrapnel, and the violent explosion unleashed rolling smoke and flas. Bald Mountain's silhouette was utterly shattered by the terrifying force.
Lady of Velen
In the study of Crow's Perch castle in Velen.
Triss rigold wrote her na on a piece of parchnt, then poured a small amount of lted sealing wax onto a blank space. She gently pressed the signet side of her ring onto the still-soft wax, leaving her unique seal upon it.
Triss was in excellent spirits. With Lynn's patient help and guidance, she was now capable of managing the affairs of her domain independently.
"Is this everything?"
"Yes, My Lady." The chamberlain offered a polite bow.
She was a highly accomplished graduate of Oxenfurt Academy whom Lynn had recruited from Novigrad, having studied specifically how to assist a lord in managing their domain. Though young, she had proven herself highly capable and had adapted well to the job so far.
The chamberlain waited until the wax seal on the parchnt had hardened before picking it up along with the other signed docunts. As she prepared to leave, Triss called out: "Where is Lynn?"
"Here, over here! Yes, co this way."
North of Crow's Perch, a location known as the Crossroads Inn was currently being converted into a fortified outpost.
The wooden gates opened, and several soldiers directed a company that had traveled a long distance into the compound. The main force consisted of over a hundred fully armored soldiers. Most were clad in black, bearing the insignia of a white cross on a black field on their chests, cloaks, and shields.
This was the newly ford Hospitaler Knights of the Eternal Fire, comprised only of the faith's most dedicated mbers.
A minority of the unit wore chainmail and red surcoats, carrying morning stars at their waists and bearing the emblem of a flaming torch on their chests. These were the Priests of the Eternal Fire.
This change was implented at Lynn's insistence after Shappelle had fully consolidated control over the faith. Priests of the Eternal Fire were no longer allowed to simply preach dogma from safe rear lines; they were now expected to take up the morning star and fight on the front lines against darkness and in defense of the faith.
Inside the outpost, the commander of this company t the witcher who had been waiting for them for so ti.
....
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