Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 260 The contact you called is not in service.
Bazartos excitedly shared His flesh factory plan with Ethan, but what sounded like a proposal to turn the academy's students and faculty into monsters was actually just spiritual guidance.

As for providing "volunteers," Old Man Barth perfectly resolved the moral dilemma. He not only provided a large number of believers who were already in a state of mental collapse, but also had a hundred ways to ensure that they would not die suddenly after drinking the potion. As for the changes to their bodies...

Ethan felt that the changes brought about by the potion would actually make them more like normal people.

While discussing his many followers, Ethan overheard Bazartos's assessment of them—a bunch of useless people lacking creativity and artistic passion, self-proclaimed steadfast believers who couldn't understand His thoughts at all. Therefore, Bazartos had always put them aside. If Ethan hadn't brought up the issue of potion volunteers, He probably wouldn't have remembered that there was such a group of people calling out "Father."

Out of humanitarian concern, Ethan felt it was best not to let those fanatical believers hear Bazarus's evaluation of them, as the voice was too sharp and would cause many to lose their pearls.

After agreeing on the volunteers and art courses, Bazartos began designing the teaching materials. He also planned to take the students on field trips during the courses so that they could experience firsthand the superiority of flesh and blood and evolutionary art. Ethan thought that Bazartos was just having a whim, but he did not expect that he was seriously preparing for the courses and had already planned the teaching content for the next semester.

If students taking the "Introduction to Art" course can accept that their teacher has seven eyes and wears a skirt that moves like a living being, they should be able to learn a lot from the course.

The communication between Winter and the Dean went smoothly, and the Academy immediately decided to organize a banquet, which would be held tonight.

Many things have happened at the college recently, and the school administration has a lot to announce to the students.

However, just when Ethan thought the day was about to pass peacefully, Rowena brought a message from the Dean and Mr. Frankie, who wanted Ethan to meet with them in the Dean's office before the dinner began.

As dusk began to fall, the excited chatter of students could be heard throughout the academy.

The news of Winter's return spread like wildfire among the students, and the newly enrolled students couldn't wait to meet the legendary "Dark Lord".

Some students from the Empire also mentioned Ethan. They had recently heard about the changes in the capital from letters sent by their families, and also knew that another elemental sculptor whose talent was no less than that of Winter had appeared.

All signs indicate that a new era of magic is about to begin.

Ethan soon found Franky in the dean's office. Franky had dark circles under his eyes, his eyes seemed to be shrouded in darkness, and he looked listless, as if he hadn't slept all night.

"Mr. Ethan, you've finally arrived."

Upon seeing Ethan, Franky's brow finally relaxed a little.

The dean sat in front of his office, carefully reviewing the yellowed files. The usually composed old man's face turned unusually somber.

"It's bad news, about the time travelers."

Franky began, “Perhaps the descriptions of time travelers in the books are wrong, or perhaps they were incomplete from the beginning. I counted the number of people in the academy and found that a professor and a teaching assistant were missing. Recently, there was also a case of alchemical materials being stolen from the material storage room. I checked carefully and found that they were used to brew transformation potions.”

"Does a time traveler's transformation also require potions?"

Ethan felt that this had lowered their status considerably. He had thought that those were subspecies of the deep-sea race, dark creatures that were more advanced than shapeshifters.

“It’s complicated.” Franky composed himself and sorted out his thoughts before speaking. “They need to use a shapeshifting potion to impersonate the Dean, but that’s because they’ve already transformed into other people beforehand.”

He knew this was a rather convoluted explanation, and when he heard the news, he was also puzzled for a long time. "The academy's griffons found the body that had been knocked away on the edge of the island. When the search team arrived at the scene, they had already... returned to normal. I'm not referring to the red octopus face, but the missing alchemy professor."

At first, Franky thought it was another trick, but after the patrol team carefully checked and confirmed it again, they found that the deceased was the missing alchemy professor, while his assistant was still missing.

As for the reason why his whereabouts are unknown...

Frankie glanced at Ethan.

He didn't think anyone could survive being hit head-on by Ethan's wind elemental magic.

In addition, the investigation team also found traces of the Lightning Bolt spell on the tattered clothing.

"Perhaps the time traveler assassinated the alchemy professor before infiltrating the academy?"

“We examined the wounds on the professor’s body; they were marks from wind elemental cutting, and the fall from a height had damaged almost all of his organs.”

Franky tried to be as tactful as possible, because his conclusion was consistent with that of all the search teams—the alchemy professor died from Ethan's wind magic. Of course, as an eyewitness, he could assure them that the two time travelers had attacked them first.

As Winter said, this was self-defense.

"You mean they first infiltrated the academy as alchemy teachers and assistants, and then used potions to impersonate the dean?"

"Unless their plan started decades ago."

The dean finally spoke, “He is an outstanding graduate of the academy. After graduation, he first served as a teaching assistant for the alchemy class and gradually passed the exams to obtain a professor's qualification certificate. He is a very down-to-earth young man. As for his assistant, he is an apothecary we specially hired from the Alchemy Association. They have never dealt with each other before, and this was my decision.”

The dean's voice sounded somewhat sad; he had watched many of the college's professors grow up.

He trusted his judgment of people and believed that his students were definitely not infiltrators with ulterior motives.

"I tend to think this is some kind of possession magic, which seems to explain why time travelers can always come and go without a trace."

Like a parasite, it attaches itself to a host, altering their thoughts and behaviors, gradually turning them into its puppets. During this process, the host's body is altered, and when the host is severely injured, the parasite repairs the broken body.

They have no way of knowing whether the host's consciousness was erased from the moment they were parasitized.

Today, the college has suffered a great loss, losing a kind and approachable professor, and "the threat of parasites continues."

On the other hand, they gained crucial information—a secret that even the people of the Second Age had never discovered.

“People used to think of the parasite and the host as a whole, so the people of the Garg dynasty tried many methods but failed to kill them completely... The same was true for Professor Franky. His lightning spell destroyed the host's body but failed to reach the parasite's body.”

The dean recounted his conjecture.

Ethan's magic was different. Franky called it some kind of powerful wind elemental magic, but the Dean could see that it did not conform to any form of wind elemental magic they knew. The similar one was Winter's ice elemental magic, which possessed power that transcended elemental magic.

This is the reason why the parasites were eliminated.

Without the parasite, the host's damaged body will no longer be repaired, or they may have already died in the first place.

“Mr. Ethan, Ms. Rowena said you are an expert in this area, and that you have faced similar situations in the Mage Tower. I would like to hear your opinion.”

The dean looked directly into Ethan's eyes. As the leader of the academy and the heir to the title of Hermit, he had to find out how the parasite possessed people as soon as possible, otherwise every second that followed would put the academy's teachers and students in danger.

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

On the other side, in the girls' dormitory of the Alchemy Academy.

"Su, the banquet is about to start, what are you dawdling for?" Her roommates called out from not far away.

This was the most exciting time for the female students in the college. When they learned that a banquet would be held tonight, they took out all the beautiful clothes they had hidden away and spent the next few hours facing the mirror, trying their best to make their makeup perfect.

The girls enjoyed meeting students from other colleges at the dinner party, and they relished the feeling of the boys' eyes lingering on them.

They usually arrive earlier to secure a better position.

Some well-informed students had already learned about the special nature of the banquet: all the professors would be in attendance, and the magicians from the Astrology Guild were also on the invitation list.

"You guys go first, I'll be there in a little while."

Su answered without turning his head.

Her roommates, caught up in their excitement, didn't have much time to waste on her. Seeing her sitting motionless at the table from afar, they assumed she was secretly planning to create an outfit that would amaze everyone.

This damn competitive mentality!

This made them feel threatened. Sue came from a prestigious family; both her parents worked at the Ministry of Magic, and her uncle was a high-ranking nobleman in the capital. She had received an excellent courtly aristocratic education since childhood, and her temperament alone was unmatched by ordinary people. If she dressed up carefully, who knows how many boys' eyes she could steal!

They are usually good friends, but in public settings like departmental events, they are secretly rivals. If you had to pick the most threatening "annoying one," Su would undoubtedly be the answer.

They sincerely hoped that Sue's cosmetics had malfunctioned, or that her evening gown had been chewed by rats.

As the chattering sounds faded into the distance, Su finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

She was still wearing her gold-trimmed magic robe, and with less than an hour left before the banquet began, she made no attempt to dress up.

"It's finally quiet down."

Once the footsteps had faded into the distance, she uttered a somewhat disgruntled complaint.

She turned the mirror on the table toward herself, seemingly familiarizing herself with her beautiful face reflected in the mirror. She raised her hand to touch her cheek, and the smooth skin of the young girl made her smile with satisfaction.

Before setting off, she needed to learn some important information.

Su was born into a noble family in the capital. Both her parents were respected elemental shapers who held important positions in the Ministry of Magic. She showed outstanding talent in electric elemental magic from a young age. At the age of six, she left the capital and was sent to the academy by her parents. This fall, she applied for the exam to become a third-tier elemental shaper.

However, he secretly disliked the conventional life and joined the Mole Club without telling his parents and teachers, yearning for a rebellious and exciting life.

Born with a silver spoon in her mouth and possessing exceptional talent, her life seemed like that of a perfect aristocratic young lady.

But more than this background information, she was more concerned about which elemental magic she could skillfully use.

She closed her eyes and silently chanted a spell, and a blue ball of electricity formed in her palm. She waved her right hand toward the sky outside the arena, and the ball of electricity transformed into an arrow and disappeared into the night sky.

It's a simple second-tier elemental spell, and its casting efficiency is among the best of the students.

After the evaluation, she took out a parchment book from the drawer. The cover had no title; it was just a notebook that could be found anywhere in the college.

As she opened the notebook to the first page, the black ink gradually appeared:
Timeline: Summer of 1793.

"Dimensional rating: Unpredictable."

"Security level: Unpredictable."

"Potential threat: unpredictable."

With each line of text, her expression grew even more solemn, a sight never before seen.

This place looks like a cozy academy. Not long ago, the girls were discussing their expectations for the banquet. It should be a relaxed and enjoyable magical academy playhouse.

Moreover, she has a very high status—excellent magical talent, and her family has many resources that she can utilize. She is a perfect example of a winner in life, saving her a lot of exploration and cultivation.

The more this happened, the more abnormal she felt it was.

A series of "unpredictable" events made her palms sweat. In her experience, the lack of a clear risk assessment is often the worst-case scenario.

This seemingly bustling academy definitely hides some unknown secrets.

The text continued to surface:

"Task objective (first): Contact error code 0xc0012041."

"Mission Objective (Second): Find the whereabouts of the goddess."

"Task time limit: ∞".

"Task prompt: Error code 0xc0012041."

"Guild Points Reward: Error Code 0xc0012041".

Su almost involuntarily stood up from her chair. Her breathing became rapid, and her heart pounded. If she remembered correctly, before entering the Magic Network, the guild members told her that this should be an investigation mission.

Not long ago, a guild's magic network exploration team discovered traces of the goddess and immediately arranged a series of investigations.

Two senior investigators from the guild had already participated in this mission before her.

Thinking of this, Sue immediately turned to the next page of the parchment book.

We must find a way to contact the other investigators!
She silently chanted incantations before the parchment book, her heart filled with anxiety, but what met her eyes were several lines of blood-red text:

Number of nearby investigators who can be contacted: 0

"Investigator Zach is dead."

"Investigator Zulga is dead."

(End of this chapter)