It seemed Natalis didn't know much; he was a pure soldier, never meddling in anything other than receiving orders and commanding troops.
Guilliman handed Adda's retreat order to the Marshal, then went alone to the battlefield and the cave where the enemies had disappeared.
The situation was currently chaotic, and his old father-in-law Foltest didn't know when he would wake up.
To ensure the safety of the kingdom's capital and conserve war materials, there was no need to station a large army here.
Moving them back to Vizima could, to some extent, also protect the royal legitimacy and suppress those restless individuals.
Unfortunately, after an investigation, Guilliman was once again somewhat disappointed with his detective skills.
Indeed, having a cheat system couldn't boost intelligence; if he didn't have a talent for investigation, he simply didn't. He hadn't found a single clue.
The only thing he could see was that the mysterious troops who suddenly appeared were indeed incredibly strong in combat.
Because the battlefield hadn't been cleared yet, it was clear that most of the over a thousand soldiers who died in the town could not be found with intact bodies. Many were headless, and some were even chopped into several pieces, dying horribly.
From this, it could be seen that the physical strength of this mysterious force was indeed great, capable of easily chopping human limbs, which was something ordinary people could not do.
At the same time, Guilliman could also discern one thing: the people in this mysterious force seemed to have extremely unstable emotions, and perhaps there were also severe cases of corpse mutilation and slaughter.
Because many of the deceased soldiers' bodies had been severely damaged even after death, which was also something normal people wouldn't do.
Subsequently, Guilliman went to the cave where those guys had disappeared, and sure enough, he still found no clues.
Five days was too long; even if there were magic fluctuations, they would have already dissipated.
Fortunately, as the strongest mortal with the 'Face-Face Fruit' ability, the truth of many matters didn't require him to investigate.
When in doubt, ask the Goddess; that was the fastest solution.
Guilliman took out the magical conch, which he hadn't used for a long time, then poured magic into it and carefully asked, holding it to his ear:
"Hey!"
"Lady Goddess, are you there?"
"I have some matters I wish to ask you about. Please respond to me as soon as possible."
Perhaps because he hadn't contacted the Lady of the Lake for some time, it took about half a minute of waiting before the sacred yet ethereal female voice slowly emerged from the conch, reaching the Witcher's ears.
"Long time no see, Guilliman."
"Do you have any troubles that require my help?"
Hearing the Lady of the Lake's inquiry, Guilliman didn't stand on ceremony and directly asked:
"Lady Goddess, I am currently tracking a mysterious army. Five days ago, on the battlefield in the Duchy of Maribor, they killed over a thousand Temeria soldiers and then mysteriously disappeared."
"I want to know the background of this army and where they are now."
As the most well-informed deity on the entire continent that Guilliman currently knew of, he guessed that as long as there were rivers flowing and lakes settling, they were all within the Lady of the Lake's monitoring range.
Although this Goddess certainly couldn't be called omniscient, for matters that would leave many traces, asking her might yield results.
After another ten seconds or so of silence, the Lady of the Lake on the other side suddenly said:
"This matter is a bit complicated. You should come to my small island."
"I'll be waiting for you in the lake."
Having received the Goddess's invitation, Guilliman didn't hesitate and prepared to use his long-distance teleportation ability to directly teleport to the Goddess's small island next to Black Tern Island.
However, to his surprise, even though he had accurately predicted the spatiotemporal coordinates, his Elder Blood ability couldn't be activated, preventing him from reaching the desired location. It seemed to be interfered with by some ability.
After several failed attempts, Guilliman guessed that the area might be protected by divine power, which caused his teleportation to fail.
But it didn't matter. He changed the coordinates to the lake about a hundred meters outside the island, then instantly disappeared, swimming directly from the lake to the small island, and then walking towards the lake in the center of the island.
Interestingly, this time, he didn't see the Hermit who always guarded the small island, and he didn't know where the old man had gone.
Thinking about it now, the Hermit, whom he once considered very powerful, would probably not last more than a few rounds against him now.
In just a few months, his strength had increased by at least tenfold, and he was no longer comparable to when they first met.
Walking through the secret path in the woods, Guilliman once again arrived at the Lady of the Lake's small island.
From afar, he saw the beautiful and sacred Lady of the Lake, sitting sideways on a rock by the lake. Her full and graceful body was vaguely visible, with half of her white long dress floating in the lake, and two fair, jade-like small feet playing with the water, seemingly waiting for him.
When Guilliman approached the Goddess to within ten meters, the beautiful Goddess turned her head to look at the Witcher, with a calm smile like the lake water on her lips. After a slight nod of greeting, she said:
"You've arrived, Guilliman."
The Witcher nodded in greeting to the Lady of the Lake as an equal, then unceremoniously walked to within half a meter of the Goddess before stopping.
He could even clearly smell the faint fragrance of gardenias emanating from the Lady of the Lake.
However, time was urgent at the moment, and out of concern for Triss, Guilliman had no time for excessive pleasantries with the Goddess. He simply asked directly:
"Regarding that mysterious force, is there anything you can tell me, Lady Goddess?"
The Lady of the Lake remained quite understanding. Without any unnecessary words, she gently waved her slender, graceful hand towards the lake surface beside her, and a mirror-like projection magic appeared.
As if it were a remote camera, an army of about a hundred men, clad in heavy plate armor, appeared on the screen.
However, at this time, their location appeared to be an underground laboratory. All these soldiers had removed their helmets, standing neatly against the wall, revealing their original faces.
Beneath their helmets, they all had terrifying appearances: full of rough features, pale complexions, no hair whatsoever, many prominent veins on their faces and necks, bloodshot eyes, and cat-like vertical pupils.
If one had to use an adjective to describe them, they somewhat resembled zombies from certain horror films, but zombies without fangs or sharp teeth.
Upon seeing the soldiers' appearances, Guilliman couldn't help but frown, because their characteristic cat-like vertical pupils, and the terrifying, seemingly mutated changes on their faces and necks, involuntarily reminded him of Witcher mutations.
Were all these soldiers Witchers?
Could it be that those guys from the Salamandra gang really managed to achieve Witcher mutations in adults, just like in the original timeline?
Guilliman wasn't sure, then turned his head to look at the Lady of the Lake, who was also slightly frowning, and asked:
"Lady Goddess, where are they located?"
"Do you know the exact location?"
The Lady of the Lake's voice remained calm and gentle.
"They are in Tretogor, the capital of Redania."
"I can only see them in some underground ruins near the royal palace."
"The exact location is unclear."
Hearing the Lady of the Lake's answer, Guilliman sighed in his heart.
Indeed, this matter must have been led by the Redania Kingdom, or rather, by Philippa and Dijkstra.
Since King Vizimir II's assassination, although the nominal king was Radovid V, the real power was held by Philippa, the royal advisor, and Dijkstra, a member of the royal cabinet and head of intelligence.
He hadn't expected them to get involved with the Salamandra gang. With the support of a powerful country like Redania and the assistance of a seasoned sorceress like Philippa, it was indeed possible for them to create Witcher soldiers.
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