Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 257 Scrapped Draft
"how did you do it?"

Mrs. Judy was speechless. She had seen too many people try to decipher the contents of letters. The professors at the college had tried every means at their disposal, but all to no avail. Yet Winter seemed to have simply run her index finger across the parchment, imbuing it with some magic.

She finally saw the words appearing on the parchment, which relieved her of a long-held obsession.

Cynthia.

This is the name of the goddess of the hunt.

Dean McCadley concealed it very well; even she, as a researcher, never noticed the relationship between the Dean and the Goddess of the Hunt.

"You've got it wrong before. The contents of this letter have nothing to do with the Magic Network."

As winter approached, Mekka-Delin finally managed to write down his purest thoughts on the parchment as his life drew to a close. "It's just a kind of testing magic," he thought.

"What about the other parts that were covered up..."

"It's probably also related to Cynthia."

Winter's tone was muffled, and a nameless anger welled up in his heart. The contents of the parchment were sincere and heartfelt. If Cynthia ever returned to the academy and saw the contents of the letter, she would know that Maca-Derlin had always longed for her, and that her love had never changed from beginning to end.

He believed Cynthia would see it, perhaps at his funeral.

Even without the supply of energy from the old gods, the lifespan of the right-hand gods and the middle-hand gods is much longer than that of humans. However, while he is already an old man with white hair, Cynthia will probably still look like a young person.

But if McAfee were still alive, she might not be able to resist punching him.

The letter mentioned that their last meeting was after the war ended. Cynthia missed the academy's founding ceremony, when many people came to the academy, including knight lords, goddesses of life, and other respected deities. He regretted not being able to find Cynthia in the crowd.

McCa-Dell's views on Cynthia changed as he went through different stages of his life.

At first, he still couldn't understand Cynthia's departure without saying goodbye, and even felt resentful about it. But when he became the dean and was busy with official duties every day, he vaguely understood Cynthia's choice. The surviving humans had experienced a long war, but it seemed that they had not learned enough lessons. They defined their enemies as evil gods, and the new camp led by the knight lord was called the new gods. They still longed for the existence of gods. At first, it was to promote them, but later it gradually evolved into a struggle on the level of faith.

The followers of the Middle God are considered inferior in the new order, and negative comments about the Middle God are rampant.

Over the course of 30 years since the academy was established, a large number of believers of the middle God have left in anger. They could no longer coexist with the believers of the right God and decided to leave the academy to find a home that truly belonged to them.

At this stage, McCa-Dellen vaguely understood Cynthia's decision. When too many people's eyes were on him, and when too many people's hopes became a heavy burden on his shoulders, his life no longer belonged to himself.

The letter mentioned that every morning when he opened his eyes, the unfinished work would flood his mind instantly.

He must use his limited lifespan to lay the foundation for those who come after him.

There are still too many problems to solve in the magic network, and magic addiction remains a major problem that plagues all magicians.

McCain Delin has lived a very fulfilling life; he has never had a day of leisure.

Forget about leaving the academy to search for Cynthia's whereabouts, they didn't even have time to go fishing on the island.

"His life was ruined by the knight lord."

"I see," Winter commented, then turned to Ethan, "that's the downside of being a dean."

If it were her, she would have abandoned all the affairs of the academy and gone to find Cynthia long ago.

McCain Delin seems to have written his regrets in letters at the end of his life, but if time could be turned back, he would certainly have made the same choice.

Stay in the college and change your life into what people expect.

The founder of the academy, the greatest elemental sculptor in human history—not everyone can bear such a title.

"I never knew Dean McCardlin had such a past..."

Mrs. Judy lowered her head, overwhelmed by intense emotions.

She has spent all these years in the memorial, inspired by Dean McCardlin. Whenever she opens those books, she feels as if an elder is telling her stories of the past, only this elder seems to lack human emotion.

"If this is what Professor Wapol hopes we will see, he is destined to be disappointed."

Winter raised an eyebrow.

In the final moments of his life, Mekka-Dellin finally put the matter of the magic network and his addiction behind him, leaving behind this wordless letter for posterity.

"Ethan, are you aware of the traditions of the academy's headmaster?"

she asked suddenly.

"What tradition?"

“People say it’s the Dean’s blessing, that his spirit protects every Dean, and that every Dean after him lives a long life, even during periods of civilizational change. But this blessing has a drawback.” Winter deliberately paused for a while. “Most of the Deans in the academy have remained single their entire lives. Even those Deans who broke this tradition have experienced many ups and downs in their love lives.”

Either their lover died young, or they had to live apart for various reasons and never had the chance to meet again.

In Winter's view, this was more like a curse.

Ethan opened the notebook that McCard-Drin had personally given him, tore out the page with the message left by "Future Winter" and put it in the inside pocket of his clothes. Then he handed the notebook to Mrs. Judy, saying, "This notebook should be returned to its rightful owner."

The two watched as Mrs. Judy put the notebook away on the bookshelf.

The good news is that although Mekka-Delin's last envelope had nothing to do with the Magic Network, it still contained some of his experiences within it.

Mrs. Judy knew the contents of every book by heart. She took Ethan and Winter to the study, and soon a thick stack of books was placed on the table.

The descriptions of the magic network were fragmented, and McCard-Delin did not deliberately arrange the order when he wrote them down. The contents of the parchment were mostly based on his observations, but they were enough to deeply shock Ethan.

Mekka-Delin called the Magic Network a mysterious place, a completely fragmented world filled with things beyond their comprehension, where you might encounter anything beyond the realm of reason.

For example, there is a giant building with hundreds of floors, whose exterior is made of a transparent material that looks like an energy storage crystal. The building uses some kind of mysterious magic, and the lights inside can cover every area of ​​the floors. McCardlin tried to study the material that made up this magnificent building, but to no avail.

He also found many strange things in the building.

The square box placed on the table will display strange images inside.

The people here put drinking water into a bucket, place it upside down on a white shelf, and just by pressing one of the buttons, pure water without impurities will flow into their hands.

"Beast - Safe Zone". This is the name that Mekka-Delin gave to this magnificent building. He found no signs of other life in the building, nor could he determine who built it. There was plenty of clean food and water in the building. After leaving the main entrance, one would be switched to other areas of the magic network.

"You know where there?"

The ragdoll cat on my shoulder asked lazily.

When Ethan started reading, Winter transformed into her cat form and curled up in her favorite spot.

She noticed the change in Ethan's eyes.

"That place should be called the company building, the square box is called a computer, and the white shelf is called a water dispenser."

These were all familiar parts to Ethan; desks separated each employee's workspace, and McCardlin even found edible snacks in the drawers of many desks.

This is a scene familiar to every modern person.

"really……"

Winter muttered to herself, "You always know some strange things... Telephones and motorcycles were created there too, weren't they?"

"Ah."

Winter suddenly realized, "So you escaped from the magic network!"

"You've been inside?"

"I went to the labyrinth, but I couldn't find the entrance to the magic network. The magic there has been depleted."

She shrugged.

McCa-Drin's notes also mention many less safe areas, such as villages shrouded in plague. In the first stage, the bodies of the infected become completely ulcerated, followed by fleshy growths that sprout from the holes, turning them into twisted, mutated monsters. These mutated monsters are extremely aggressive, and the village will fall within three days.

"Aberrant Settlement - Extremely Dangerous".

This is McCadrin's assessment, and he advises any magicians who stumble upon this place to leave as soon as possible, by jumping into the village's dry well.

These bizarre departures made Ethan wonder if Dean McCardlin was still mentally sound.

However, it is not difficult to see from his description that it was at the end of the Third Age, in a village ravaged by the Scarlet Plague. At that time, Mekka-Drin could not possibly have foreseen the world two ages later.

Apart from areas like the company building that are completely out of place in this world, most of the areas that McCardling mentions are more like scenes of this world on different timelines.

The case is scrapped.

A word came to Ethan's mind.

If viewed from a "game" perspective, these scenes are usually presented as Easter eggs.

"What did you think of?"

“Perhaps McCardling was the first explorer of the contaminated area.”

As Ethan read the contents of the parchment book, he felt that the contaminated zone, the past, and the planes created by the Old Gods were essentially the same thing. In recent years, the followers of the evil god had been active both inside and outside the Empire, engaging in soul sacrifice rituals, seemingly to replenish the energy of the magic network.

However, among the followers of the evil god, the magic network may have a different name—Winter just mentioned that the magic network has fallen into a state of depletion.

"Teacher, what do you know about the Garlog Dynasty?"

"The Second Era? Why are you suddenly interested in it?"

"I suspect that time travelers are closely related to the magic network. Perhaps they have mastered some kind of technology that allows them to use the magic network to help them reach different timelines."

This theory perfectly matches the description of time travelers appearing and disappearing without a trace.

However, there are still too many mysteries to be solved, such as the purpose of the time travelers and the reason why they destroyed the Garg dynasty. Judging from the rituals in the lower levels of the academy, they are working to resurrect their goddess, who most likely belongs to the Old Gods.

"let me see."

The cat on my shoulder tilted its head. The academy had set up history classes, and the Gallog dynasty of the Second Age was still a required subject.

After a moment, she cleared her throat. "More than a decade after the end of the War of Addiction, humanity in the Second Age welcomed a new ruler, Garlog Morgan. His parents were devout followers of the Goddess of Life. The outbreak of the War of Addiction destroyed their homeland. After witnessing the various harms caused by addiction, Garlog, who established a new kingdom, decided to prohibit all research on magic networks. These policies were supported by the Nesseril Sanctuary and the Cult of Life. Under the guidance of his mentor Merlin, he retrieved a holy sword blessed by fairies from the lake. This sword was forged by elves, with a hilt made of gold and inlaid with gems. It can break all magic..."

"Wait a minute, his teacher Merlin?"

This legend is all too familiar to a modern person.

The "Sword of Oath and Victory" on the other side today is based on this legend.

His intuition told him that the name Merlin was no coincidence.

"Yes, a magician named Merlin. Many people believe he is a high-ranking mage in the academy, but there is no information about him within the academy. As a teacher of Galog-Morgan, he taught him to unite people and helped him draw the Holy Sword to ascend the throne. He was both a wise man and a warrior of the Galog dynasty, leading troops to fight against countless fallen people suffering from magic addiction."

When I was learning about this part of history, I wanted to complain about it.

In her view, Merlin's life story was far more legendary than that of the founder of the Garlog dynasty, yet history books contained very little about Merlin.

He is more of a symbol.

Mentor, warrior, hero in the hearts of the people of the Garlog dynasty, but no one knows where he came from.

“Oh, right.” Winter suddenly remembered something. “Merlin had always existed as the guardian of the Garog dynasty until the Time Travelers appeared. They plotted to kill Merlin and pierced his heart with a spear forged by an evil god.”

With the loss of its protector, the Garlog dynasty came to an end.

However, now that I think about it, according to the "theory of civilizational change" of the servants, Merlin lived for nearly four hundred years—a lifespan that is longer than that of the principal and intermediate gods.

"Perhaps the Time Traveler's purpose is not to destroy the Garlog Dynasty."

Ethan pondered, "They just want to kill Merlin."

Kill a "time traveler" who has disrupted the course of the world.

(End of this chapter)