Shortly after Claudette spoke, her instincts screamed danger. At that moment, the Thousand Fog Illusion Dragon was hot on her tail.
She felt like she could feel its hot breath on the back of her neck, causing her to shiver with terror.
“Levana, a little help, please!” Claudette quickly cried.
Levana quickly conjured a huge fireball and shot it at the shadow moving through the thick white fog in their rear.
Pshhh!
The fog and shadow of the Thousand Fog Illusion Dragon scattered under the hot flames passing through them.
However, a short moment later, the dragon shadow reformed itself and resumed its pursuit of the two Fallen Witches.
Even so, Levana successfully increased their distance by a couple of dozen yards.
“We’re almost out of the upper regions. Hold on a little longer, Claudette,” Levana urged.
Nevertheless, she saw Claudette losing speed due to exhaustion. Thus, she quickly carried her by the waist and thrust herself forward with Fire Magic.
Swoosh~!
Levana covered a large distance in a short moment. Before long, they finally passed the halfway point and made it out of the upper regions.
In that instant, the dragon shadow in their rear faded, disappearing into the depths of the thick fog and ending its pursuit.
“We’re out!” Levana rejoiced.
At the same time, while still being carried by the waist, Claudette raised her hand and summoned the black spatial portal ahead of them.
Without hesitation, Levana dashed through the spatial portal with Claudette.
…
On the other side of the spatial portal was the headquarters of their Black Witch Society.
Nevertheless, everyone in the area immediately noticed their sorry states when they dropped to the ground upon exiting the spatial portal.
“Levana? Claudette? What on earth happened to you girls? You both look like a mess,” a nearby Fallen Witch in black robes inquired with surprise written all over her face. “Was the mission that difficult?”
The two Fallen Witches before her were powerful High Witches and were considered seniors in the Black Witch Society, both wielding a lot of authority.
Thus, it was rare to see them fall to such pitiful states.
“Bluebell, huh? You bet the mission was difficult. We barely escaped with our lives!” Levana spoke.
“Anyway, which bitch was in charge of ranking the mission? How could the Thousand Fog Mountains be a Mid-level 4-Star mission? It should be a Low-level 5-Star mission, at least!”
“L-Low-level 5-Star mission?” Bluebell exclaimed before she suddenly paused. “Wait, hold on a minute. Wasn’t your mission to investigate the rumor of the dragons? Did you girls actually run into a dragon or something?”
“Not a real dragon, but a really powerful attack-illusion spell in the shape of one!” Levana solemnly said.
“We need Opalina’s specialty to crack the spell. Otherwise, we cannot proceed further. We jumped straight into the upper regions and nearly died. That entire place is under a spatial lock. Thus, we can’t freely explore the Thousand Fog Mountains with Claudette’s magic either.”
“And although we didn’t get to see any real dragon, we heard dragon roars. So, coupled with the ancient grand spells set up around the Thousand Fog Mountains, we can conclude that there are True Dragons in that place,” Levana stated.
“Aren’t you ashamed, Levana?” someone else suddenly spoke from a distance.
Levana, Claudette, and Bluebell turned their gazes in the direction of the Mission Hall before they spotted the speaker, another Fallen Witch in a black robe, leaning over the wooden fence and staring back at them.
Like most witches, the Fallen Witch also had a beautiful face with flawless skin. However, she also carried the bitchy vibe that would immediately make people dislike her.
“Kareena,” Levana narrowed her eyes.
“What’s with that look? Not only did you fail to complete your mission, but you are spewing excuses for your failure. Do you think I will stamp your mission with success just because you heard dragon roars and assumed a True Dragon was behind it?” Kareena glanced at Levana condescendingly.
“If you want to clear the mission, either see the True Dragon with your own eyes or bring back actual proof of its existence. Your assumptions don’t mean anything.”
“Bitch, I wasn’t even talking to you!” Levana cussed with anger before Claudette and Bluebell quickly held her back, preventing her from attacking Kareena outright.
Naturally, she was hoping to clear the mission with her assumption.
She was only sharing her thoughts about the mission with a fellow Fallen Witch in the Black Witch Society.
“Calm down, Levana. Attacking a fellow member isn’t worth it,” Claudette kindly reminded her.
“How can you be so calm, Claudette?” Levana asked before accusing Kareena, “It must be her! She must have been the one who recorded and ranked the mission! We almost died thanks to her inaccurate information about the Thousand Fog Illusion Dragon!”
“Who knows if the information about the Wyvern-type Abomination was also true or not?!” Levana added.
“Don’t blame me for your incompetence, Levana. Since it’s an investigation mission, you should have researched this additional information on your own.” Kareena coolly said, “If you die, you only have yourself to blame.”
Right after she finished speaking, she suddenly felt the presence of a higher-rank witch behind her. The person’s aura pressured her.
She quickly turned around to see who it was before her eyes widened with alarm.
“W-Witch Mother!” Kareena uttered fearfully when she stared into the person’s stern eyes. “When did you return? Did you hear everything?”
“What do you think?” the person called Witch Mother coldly stated before her gaze sharpened.
“With the whole world against us, who else do we have if we turn on each other? Not only did you reflect on the mistake of providing inadequate and inaccurate information about a mission to a fellow member, but you patronized her. I will not tolerate such behaviors in our society.”
“You are temporarily relieved of your duties in the Mission Hall. Go to Sector 3 and serve the frontlines for six months as penance, then you may return to your original post,” the Witch Mother instructed.
“Yes, Witch Mother!” Kareena complied with a complaint. She didn’t dare to object.
Shortly after Kareena left, the Witch Mother turned her attention to Levana and Claudette and said, “You two, follow me. We’ll talk in my room.”
“Yes, Witch Mother!”
“Yes, My Queen!”
The two answered.