Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 144: Cold Light (Combined Chapter)
Meatball's eyes were filled with fear. He moved his dry lips but could not utter a word.

The red tapeworm burrowed into his body, and he could feel his internal organs being eaten away by it. They were about to fester and fail. The pain he endured was much more rapid than recorded, as if it had reached the final stage directly.

But... perhaps this is how God's chosen ones should behave. They are unique and unique, and they are synonymous with cruelty and bloodthirstiness. As long as they are interested, they will not even hesitate to attack other believers of God. This is also the status given to them by God.

He gave the Chosen Ones the power of life and death.

Ethan ignored the panic in Meatball's eyes. He felt that this trip to Hearth Bay was a good choice. "The Scarlet Plague" had given him a lot of inspiration. The second trial sent by God was a test of wisdom. The real inspiration for him was not the reference answer given at the end of the book, but that it made him realize that he should look at the problem from another perspective.

High priest Mary spent several years proving that this was an incurable disease and paid a heavy price for it. Ethan expressed deep sympathy for her experience and thanked her for her contribution to future generations, which gave him a new idea while reading.

What if, instead of curing the disease, he creates a new "plague"?

The prevalence of the Red Death in Gear City brought him a wealth of experimental samples. The only problem now was how he could combine the characteristics of the two upgraded elements.

Or to be more precise, can the reconstruction characteristics brought about by upgrading Frost Arrow reconstruct the elements themselves?

This was a daring experiment and he didn't want to be disturbed.

The red ice blocked the main entrance of the store and also blocked the golden light that did not belong to this block.

The ball of meat was crawling on the ground in pain, unable to move. He could only stare with wide eyes at the terrifying holy light. He could not understand why two completely opposite auras appeared on Ethan's body at the same time, one was the heart-pounding light belonging to the rightful God, and the other was the power that seemed to come from the Heavenly Father himself.

What frightened him even more was that these two opposing energies were intertwining, dividing the entire store into two distinct colors.

The golden flame flickered under the cover of the blood-red ice layer, its shape constantly changing, just like the book that had just fallen to the ground, being reconstructed into some kind of living insect.

A scarab surrounded by golden light.

The scarab crawled towards the meatball, causing it to uncontrollably mutter in fear.

"No, don't do this, please!"

This humble request received no sympathy. When the scarab stretched open his mouth and drilled into his throat, the ball of flesh almost immediately let out a wail of pain. The pain was far greater than that of the red tapeworm. His tongue had no feeling and his throat was burning. The burning quickly entered his body along the esophagus and burned every part of his body.

The ball of flesh rolled on the floor in agony. This was a pain that was unfamiliar to him, and it made his numb body seem to have returned to its state before it was twisted.

Thick black juice flowed from his facial features, making him unable to feel the passage of time. This torture seemed to have become eternal, and his broken soul would eventually be annihilated in the purification.

Fear gripped him.

After becoming a believer in God, this unnecessary emotion should have been eliminated from his body. Ethan's face was reflected in his flickering vision. It was obscured by the mask, making it impossible to see his expression at the moment. But it was a look without any emotion, no anger, and no mercy.

The pair of eyes were surrounded by golden light, and in this space shrouded in darkness and blood, they became a cold light.

As a believer serving God, he had nowhere to hide under this cold light.

Meatball's struggle lasted for nearly five minutes. Ethan slowly waited for the store to return to silence, looking down at the motionless broken body. Meatball's skin was shattered, and the surface was covered with horrifying holes.

The red tapeworm was purified, but the downside was that the host was killed along with it.

This was undoubtedly a failed experiment.

Before the last ray of light in Meatball's eyes was about to dissipate, blood-red ice enveloped his body, the holes healed at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the organs that had been burned to ashes resumed their original functions.

Fear appeared in Meatball's eyes again. He looked at Ethan, his mouth moving constantly.

"Take a five-minute break and adjust your state."

Out of humanitarian concern, Ethan gave Meatball enough time to rest.

On this day, wailing sounds continued to echo in the shops, attracting believers wandering in the alley. However, when they approached, they were scared away by the light that occasionally emanated from inside. They realized that unimaginable torture was happening on the other side of the red ice.

This is the Chosen One of the Father, a man who is a hundred times more cruel than the Scarlet King. He takes pleasure in torture and even deprives the tortured of the power of death.

Meatball didn't know how long this torture lasted, so long that he had become accustomed to the pain of being burned. Later on, he even felt pleasure from the process of breaking and repairing. It was an addictive feeling.

He remembered many things, all memories that he had forgotten as his soul twisted.

He recalled that he used to be a businessman with a happy family. He believed in the great goddess of life and would spend an evening in the church every week with his family, praying to the goddess and thanking her for her protection.

Darkfurnace City.

He remembered a familiar place name.

One night, a group of guards with torches broke into his home and set his house on fire. Count Garland confiscated his property and he was charged with false charges. He was tried by the chief pastor of the church, who put him in prison to die. He didn't know how long he lived in the dark environment and ate rats when he was hungry. Until one day, believers in God planned a prison break and saved him, the lost lamb.

From that day on, he became the most devout believer of Heavenly Father.

but……

There seemed to be one last mystery hidden in that chaotic memory.

He forgot his own name and could only glimpse some vague silhouettes.

"Mr. Evans, Earl Garland, and the chief priest of Darkfurnace City are dead. Their despicable souls are destined to never return to heaven."

He heard the call from reality, and those blurry silhouettes disappeared at the same time. Meatball saw the existence standing in front of him, and that cold light brought the answer to the question.

Yes, his name was Evans, but that was a long, long time ago.

"Congratulations, you have fully recovered."

The bloody ice that enveloped the store dissipated, and the golden light disappeared along with it. "But I must regretfully inform you that your body may not be able to recover in the short term."

Hearing this, Evans stared at his too short limbs. For the first time, he felt that his body was a little funny, like those special performers in the circus who were performing to attract attention. Before this, he had firmly believed that this was the most perfect body - that's what the whispers in his mind told him.

Ethan was satisfied with the results of the research. In his opinion, Mr. Evans was a terminally ill patient. What was worse than the scarlet plague was the state of his soul. Out of some evil taste, Bazatos twisted Evans' soul into a "ball", making all his emotions and memories overlap.

This is why Evans's thinking is always confused and his emotions are extremely unstable. It takes a lot of his energy to repair this broken soul.

Evans prostrated himself with excitement, almost putting his face to the ground. He couldn't control his emotions and was so excited that he wanted to cry.

It was a completely different gaze from that of the Heavenly Father, no longer playfully twisting his soul into a strange state like a toy.

The Chosen One examined his soul and remembered everything about him, and when Evans heard his own name, he felt happiness and satisfaction that could not be described in words.

as if……

This was his original imagination of the gods.

The false existence carefully woven by the Holy See now appeared before him.

This made Evans feel confused. It was difficult for him to tell whether what he saw was the chosen one of Heavenly Father or a proper God.

"I will be back."

Ethan didn't stay in the shop for long. He wanted to go back to Creekwood Town. He had already found the answer to the second trial.

Lao Ba gave him a lot of inspiration.

A new "plague" is coming.

..............................

At the same time, outside the border of the empire, Wolf's Head Fort.

"Is there something wrong with your so-called tracking technique?"

Under the cover of night, a white cat questioned the red wolf beside it, "Why did you bring us to someone else's territory?" The cat hadn't seen Ethan for almost two days. What was worse was that they hadn't even seen the shadow of a high-level monster. Now, she heard that an unknown disease had appeared in Ximu Town. The cat regretted not being able to be with Ethan during this critical period.

The culprit of all this was the big stupid wolf beside her, who claimed that she smelled the scent of a high-level monster and ended up leading them all the way to Wolf's Head Castle.

In order to sneak into the castle, they temporarily formed a cat-dog-chicken team and avoided the patrols of the guards.

"Don't be angry yet, I feel like we are already very close."

Higan whispered. She admitted that this time was a little unusual, but her sense of smell and premonition told her that she could find unexpected super monsters here. "Didn't you notice? The atmosphere here is a little unusual, as if... a war is about to break out."

The large amount of armaments produced, the troops still training late at night, and the eyes of the soldiers.

This is not a good sign.

Wolf's Head Fort is a stronghold occupied by bandits, and it is filled with a large number of believers of the Hunting Goddess. Over the past hundred years, the bandits of Wolf's Head Fort have always been a scourge on the border. They robbed caravans, burned, killed, looted and committed all kinds of atrocities.

"When I was still the Knight Commander, I ordered the Kingdom Army of Gear City to cooperate with the border town to go to Wolf's Head Fort to eliminate these roaming bandits more than once, but Gear City always pretended to obey and secretly disobeyed. Now it seems that they are most likely colluding with this group of people."

Ever since she became the Knight Commander, she has become extremely restricted in her freedom. Leaving the empire requires reporting and approval, and sometimes a series of procedures have to wait for several days, but in the end they are still not approved, which really makes her angry. If she had stayed at the border, she would have led her troops to raze Wolf's Head Fort to the ground.

Today's empire is like a machine that has become extremely corrupt and is on the verge of falling apart.

"Come on, I'll make sure they never come back!"

Maomao squinted at her, "Tell me the truth, did you bring us here because of some personal grudge you have?"

"Of course not. How would I know they were going to attack?"

Bi'an immediately defended herself, saying that Lin Dong should trust her professional ethics as the president of the Game Association of Ximu Town. "There really is a smell of high-level monsters here. I have a very good nose. If you don't believe me, ask Miss Chloe."

"Goo!"

Miss Chloe immediately nodded in approval. In the Game Association of Creekwood Town that they had formed, Bi'an had always been the best hunter.

The torches outlined the contours of Wolf's Head Fort. Just as the few people were talking, a horse came from afar and headed straight for the military camp.

The system of Wolf's Head Fort is very different from that of the Empire. Here, the garrison officers are the decision makers of all important matters, and all the troops are composed of hunters. They are proficient in archery and are very good at harassment warfare in mountainous areas.

The person who got off the horse was an old man in a magician's robe, but Lin Dong saw through it at a glance.

The old man's eyes were dull, like a walking corpse. His movements when he got off the horse were very unnatural, and his uncoordinated steps attracted the attention of the guards. This almost immediately reminded her of the priest she met in the library of St. Hillman's Cathedral. The priest was also bewitched by a similar spell and became a puppet controlled by someone.

But this time, the manipulator did not come in person.

"We'll keep watch for you, you go in and take a look."

The other side whispered.

Wolf's Head Fort was not far from Ximu Town. If a war really broke out, Ximu Town would most likely be their target. Coupled with the sudden appearance of strange diseases recently, she had to suspect that this was a conspiracy against Ximu Town.

When the other side opened its mouth, the white cat swiftly slid down along the eaves, easily avoiding the sight of the patrolling guards.

The current garrison officer of Wolf's Head Fort is a dark-skinned bald man. Winter saw a brown boiled egg pacing back and forth in the room through the window. A strategic map was spread out on the table with many detailed annotations on it.

Hearing the footsteps approaching from afar, the brown egg was delighted and couldn't wait to greet the dusty old magician.

"My Lady Witch, the army of Wolf's Head Castle is ready."

This title attracted Winter's attention.

On this continent, only a handful of spellcasters are given the title of "witch", and without exception, they are all wanted criminals by the empire.

"The Scarlet Plague has spread to Riverwood Town. You should launch a fierce attack in two days."

The magician had a pale face and spoke like a zombie. When Winter got closer, he realized that the puppet had been dead for a long time. There were corpse spots on its neck. Judging from his attire, he should be a magician of level three or above.

Brown Egg was overjoyed, but then he showed a worried expression, "But I heard that the Knight Commander of the Empire had been to Ximu Town not long ago. Although she died in the battle, is that elite knight group still in Ximu Town?"

He thought of the invincible Knights of the Empire and felt a little frightened. If the Grand Master of the Empire had not died and the Witch had not brought the news of the death of Henry VI, they would definitely not dare to attack the border of the Empire.

Despite this, the previous failure also cast a shadow over his heart.

But as a believer of the hunting goddess Cynthia, he had reasons to do so.

"They have returned to the Temple of Netheril. There is only one guard under the command of the Baron in Riverwood Town now. There is no need to worry."

The puppet being manipulated continued in his stiff and creepy voice, "When you launch the attack, I will assist you secretly from the side."

"I understand. Regarding the remains of the goddess..."

"Once you occupy Ximu Town, I will bring you news."

The conversation between the two was clearly heard by Lin Dong. As a professional book thief, her hearing was amazing. However, she felt that this brown boiled egg was not very smart. He was fooled by a bad check, and the witch who had private contact with him had even more ill intentions.

If she had been wandering around Creekwood Town, she would have realized the turmoil caused by the arrival of the Giant God Soldier, as well as the polluted areas that were eradicated in Riverside Town. With only the power of Wolf's Head Fort, it could only serve as cannon fodder.

The question is, what are the witch's true intentions?
Unleashing the Scarlet Plague in Riverwood and secretly starting a losing war seemed like a waste of effort.

While thinking, the magician walked to the table, picked up a pen and drew a circle on the strategic map. It was a mountainous area not far from Wolf's Head Castle.

"At that time, I will set up a summoning array here, and you should prepare 15 pure souls as sacrifices."

"As ordered!"

Brown Egg's attitude was almost flattering, and from his tightly clenched fists and trembling body, it was not difficult to tell that he was in a state of extreme excitement.

Bi'an and Miss Chloe waited on the eaves for nearly half an hour before they saw the cat jumping to the top of the eaves.

"How is it, what did you find out?"

Bi'an asked impatiently. She smelled the scent of a high-level monster again, and it seemed to be getting closer and closer to them.

"You have such a dog nose."

Winter had to look at the other side with new eyes. This was not something that could be explained by the sense of smell. This guy could actually smell what was going to happen in the future. "The witches set up a summoning array in the mountainous area. They planned to use fifteen pure souls to tear open a rift and summon some kind of creature from the abnormal space."

"First of all, I'm a wolf."

Bi'an couldn't remember how many times she had emphasized this: She looked so majestic, why did some people always think she had become a dog?

Then she asked in a low voice, "Wasn't that an old man who just went in? Was he a witch in disguise?"

"To be precise, it's a corpse controlled by a witch."

"Do you know that girl? Is she your colleague?"

"I don't know. The members of Dream Eclipse rarely interact with each other."

She was not even sure whether this witch who appeared out of nowhere was a member of Dream Eclipse. After all, outside the borders of the empire, there were countless "evil god believers" organizations that opposed the Church. Some of them truly believed in evil gods, while others were just resistance organizations pushed to the opposite side by the Church.

"And, you guessed right."

Winter calmed down and said, "Wolf's Head Fort is about to launch an attack on Riverwood Town."

(End of this chapter)