Li Wen didn’t keep watching.
She already knew how it would end.
A wild mage stood no chance against a spellbreaker—someone who could not only see through magic but counter it with ease.
“Spellbreaker” wasn’t a class, but a title.
When the Noraton Empire began to decline, the various churches of the West pushed eastward, seeking to expand.
In response to Noraton’s overwhelming magical might, the Temple trained a group of knights specialized in dealing with mages.
Their efforts were so effective that the training methods survived into modern times.
Those who completed the training were known as spellbreakers.
Why would the Temple’s “Firstborn” be here?
Li Wen was filled with questions.
If World Tree: Origins was really just a game, then Moriah Enoch still held significant weight in its main storyline.
He was known as the Temple’s Firstborn, a sixth-stage Crimson Shepherd, one of the most elite Temple knights.
He had completed every secret training the Temple offered, served a clandestine church, and was said to have spilled enough heretic and demon blood to dye all of Kanan red.
Not far in the future, after the fall of Arthurian’s kingdom, Moriah would command one of the Red Knight battalions that annihilated the cult of Dark Dawn.
Later still, during the final siege on Kanan by the City of Sin, he alone would stand against and slay several demon sages and the High Priest of Bloodlust.
To Li Wen, he was also an “old acquaintance”—though perhaps that was putting it too kindly.
In her previous life, Moriah Enoch had hunted her relentlessly for quite some time.
Back then, she hadn’t yet joined the strategy guild.
After a string of failures, desperate to grow stronger, she resorted to a forbidden ritual.
Unfortunately, Moriah happened to be passing through her city—just in time to catch her in the act of a dark sacrifice.
There was no room for excuses.
The Temple’s Firstborn struck without hesitation.
She was nearly decapitated in that crushing battle, and only barely escaped with her life.
For a long while after that, Moriah pursued her across the continent.
She eventually had to flee the mainland to shake him off.
As for why he was so intent on killing her, Li Wen never found out.
But he was a church mad dog—what reason did he need?
Now, to encounter her “old enemy” in such an unexpected place, Li Wen felt a mix of apprehension and calculation.
This version of Moriah likely wasn’t as fearsome as his future self.
At this point in the timeline, he probably hadn’t begun his “pilgrimage of flame,” meaning his level shouldn’t exceed thirty.
Though Moriah typically wore knight’s armor, he didn’t walk the path of Judgment or Guardianship.
He followed the Sacrifice path and was actually a Flame Priest.
His armor was simply a remnant of his Temple training.
A third-stage Sacrifice path priest couldn’t possibly have overwhelming power.
At this stage, Moriah shouldn’t be killing every heretic he saw on sight.
That meant he likely wasn’t on an assignment for the secret church.
Could it be related to that phantom fairy, Granny Marsha?
Li Wen didn’t dwell on it.
In this life, she had no intention of getting tangled with any church lunatics.
Better to finish her business while Moriah was busy dealing with the wild mage.
She didn’t linger.
Without hesitation, she made her way toward the phantom fairy’s residence.
According to the dwarf, Granny Marsha lived in a treehouse—and as far as Li Wen could see, there was only one treehouse in the entire fairy market.
It was built into the canopy of a massive oak, so wide it would take dozens of people to wrap their arms around it.
No normal oak could grow that large—it had to be the work of fairy magic.
A wooden staircase connected the treetop house to the ground.
No one else was around, perhaps because no one dared disturb the phantom fairy.
Li Wen climbed the stairs and knocked lightly on the door.
There was no answer.
Unwilling to waste time, she tried the door.
Finding it unlocked, she pushed it open and stepped inside.
“Is anyone here? I’m looking for Granny Marsha.”
The treehouse was small.
It didn’t feel like a residence so much as a laboratory—one that might belong to an evil witch.
The most striking feature was a massive cauldron, yet unlit, filled with a thick, bright yellow substance that didn’t even look like liquid.
Nearby stood a material rack split into two sections: the top held various plants and animal carcasses drying out, while the bottom contained animal parts preserved in jars.
Li Wen spotted organs from multiple intelligent species—some even human heads.
Aside from that were all kinds of alchemy tools and apparatus.
Li Wen gave them a passing glance and didn’t think much of it.
The place was empty.
If anything stood out, it was a mirror tucked into a dark corner.
It was easy to overlook at first glance, but its placement allowed it to reflect the entire room—including Li Wen herself.
Li Wen looked into the mirror, and her reflection looked right back.
“How rude,” said the figure in the mirror.
Li Wen wasn’t surprised.
Phantom fairies were also known as mirror fairies.
It was said they could enter unknown realms through mirrors, which explained how they always appeared and vanished without a trace.
“Hello. I’m only here to ask for something—I mean no harm.”
“I stopped receiving guests over a hundred years ago.”
Ripples spread across the surface of the mirror.
A bloated, hideous face appeared, followed by a shriveled, wiry figure that slowly emerged into the room.
Its head was unusually large, its nose hooked and twisted like a giant claw, and its mouth stretched all the way to its ears, filled with rows of yellowed fangs.
It was the classic image of a witch from folk legend.
“Rules are meant to be broken,” Li Wen replied.
“And what makes you think you’re worth breaking them for?”
Granny Marsha slowly walked toward the cauldron.
Her steps were heavy, but her figure moved with ghostly grace.
She lifted a dirty, grime-covered ladle and scooped some of the yellow stew, then smacked her lips as she tasted it.
“Golden spruce root, stewed down and blended with bloodthirst grass and belladonna… Ah, such an addictive flavor.”
“High-grade hallucinogen?”
Li Wen guessed, based on the ingredients.
“No. It’s a soul-return elixir,” the phantom fairy said, baring her fangs in a smile.
“You know a little alchemy, but not much.”
Li Wen didn’t know what that potion did.
Likely something the phantom fairy had invented herself.
So she steered the topic back to her purpose.
“I need Shadowfall Elixir. I’ve heard you might be able to make it. If you can, I’ll offer a reward you’ll find satisfying.”
“Shadowfall Elixir? So, you’re either trying to become a Shadow Assassin, or sneak into the Shadow Realm. Ha. Whatever the case…”
The fairy grinned wide.
“Yes, I know how to make it, and yes, I can help you. But I have one condition: you have to kill the paladin standing outside my door first.”
Li Wen didn’t even have time to respond.
A crimson blaze erupted as a sword slashed through the door behind her.
The blade was engulfed in searing blood-red flames, radiating a terrifying heat.
Tftc!