Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 266 Unswerving Determination
“Cynthia, there will definitely be an elemental sculptor who is better than me in the future.”

"They will definitely find a cure for addiction."

"Humanity will usher in a period of unimaginable glory."

"And what I have to do is pave the way for them."

McCa-Delin always had these words on her lips, and this was a recurring theme in almost every meeting she had with the other party after the war.

All invitations were rejected; he was too deeply influenced by the ideas of the knight lords to the point of no return.

And today, the Elemental Shaper that McCardling mentioned has appeared.

When the golden arrow she shot at Ethan was caught in the lightning elemental's hand and broke in two, Cynthia's feelings were incredibly complex. This showed that this elemental sculptor's mastery of the lightning element had reached a level that even Mekka-Delin could not match.

How would an elemental sculptor, far superior and more powerful than Mekka Delin, wield this symbol of nature's power?

The answer was that the element of electricity was sent back to the capital overnight to write thousands of leaflets, which were posted on the doors of every dormitory in the academy. This was indeed beyond reason, a miracle that only the element of lightning could create.

Cynthia's initial reaction was, "Are you fucking crazy?", but later she felt that swearing was uncivilized, so she changed the swear word to five question marks. However, she still couldn't figure out why anyone would use electricity to do such a pointless thing.

This completely disrupted her plans.

In Cynthia's original plan, she shouldn't have just barged in with her bow, making the atmosphere like a robbery. But instead, she suffered double the anger, and now the whole academy is talking about her love story with Maca-Drin—in the realm of fantasy, human talent will only ever grow stronger.

"Please come in."

Ethan, on the other hand, remained calm. Even with such a dangerous weapon pointed at his head, he did not forget his manners. He took a step back to make way for Cynthia and invited her into the house. He had prepared tea and snacks beforehand, but Cynthia seemed to have no need for them and could not eat them.

The golden mask concealed her face and seemed to have robbed her of the ability to speak, replacing it with a mysterious power he had never encountered before.

Looking at the smiling expression on the golden mask, he could understand Cynthia's emotions.

This is somewhat similar to the whispers of the Old Gods, but it's also like communicating through several thick walls, requiring guessing and understanding to grasp her intentions.

"First, I need to clarify that this is not a prank, but to fulfill Mr. McCardlin's last wish."

The atmosphere eased a little.

The illusion bow inlaid with red gemstones was placed on the table, and the arrows were put into the quiver.

At least no one was pointing arrows at his head anymore.

Cynthia was waiting for him to continue.

“A few days ago we visited the former residence of the first Dean. Mrs. Judy mentioned that Mr. McCardlin had been waiting for someone to arrive. On the day before he died, he left behind this letter which was enchanted. By some coincidence, we saw the contents of the letter.”

Cynthia was trying her best to hide the emotions welling up inside her, but the fact that she immediately straightened her posture said it all.

Noticing the change in the other person, Ethan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

From a temporal perspective, more than a thousand years have passed since the death of Mekka-Delin, and human civilization has undergone five transformations. Nowadays, apart from the elemental energizers of the Academy, very few people can remember this name.

He found it hard to be sure whether Cynthia's feelings remained the same after a thousand years.

If Cynthia's feelings have long been worn away by time, then all the communication strategies he had prepared would be ineffective, and everything would return to being businesslike.

"But now it seems that 'coincidence' is not enough to explain all of this... Miss Cynthia, do you believe in fate?"

The golden mask continued to smile, but Ethan responded with a long silence.

Cynthia's emotions fluctuated once again, and Ethan could imagine her frowning beneath her mask.

Since the end of the war, she has been revered by the world as the goddess of the hunt.

Believers prostrated themselves before her, offering her praise and songs of adoration.

It was a boring time, and Cynthia didn't like that feeling. Fewer and fewer people were around her, until she was all alone.

However, now, someone from a timeline that is thousands of years removed from hers has spoken her name to her face.

At this moment, Cynthia finally realized the source of those strange feelings—this was her first formal meeting with Ethan, but the elemental sculptor in front of her seemed to have known her for a long time.

Moreover, he also mentioned fate.

Cynthia nodded slightly.

She naturally believed in fate, and all the destinies mentioned by the Golden King had come true so far, but that was by no means a good thing. In the past thousand years, she had followed the Golden Kingdom to too many planes and witnessed those kingdoms ruled by the Golden King.

The people of the Golden Kingdom believe in the existence of fate, but more accurately, they believe in the will of the King of Gold and his omnipotent power to change reality and illusion.

The elemental sculptor before us is definitely a dangerous individual.

The thirst for knowledge of the magic network and the understanding of destiny lead to only two outcomes—becoming the most loyal inhabitants of the Golden Kingdom, or facing destruction.

“That saves a lot of explanation work,” Ethan said. “I think reading the contents of that letter was a sign of destiny; it foretold your arrival.”

No, that's a completely wrong understanding.

If it weren't for the golden mask as a constraint, Cynthia would have blurted it out.

McCa-Drin left her his last letter, which was probably one of the few romantic gestures he had ever shown to someone who had given his entire life to another. However, an emotion even stronger than being moved was steadily taking hold of Cynthia's heart.

When Ethan mentioned "fate," the pervasive fear brought her to her senses completely.

They are under the watchful eye of the Golden King, and no living being can escape his gaze.

Even the meeting with Ethan, this face-to-face conversation, was driven by the will of the King of Gold.

To make her reminisce about the past when she revisits the place?

Cynthia, of course, would not have such a naive idea; she almost immediately understood the Golden King's true intentions.

This is a test.

It was also before the Golden Throne that he mentioned "the last chance".

Her heart will be tested in the trial, and if she makes the wrong decision, this place will become like those planes ruled by the Golden King, where no other noise will be tolerated.

She had stopped the King of Gold once, and now she was doing it a second time; this was one of the few things she could do to protect the place that Mekka-delin had been fighting for.

With this in mind, Cynthia became absolutely determined.

She stared at Ethan.

"In that case, Mr. Ethan, let's talk about your fate."

Meanwhile, the Golden Throne.

A sphere, displaying blurry images, was slowly rotating in the center of the hall. The figure on the throne leaned lazily against it, gazing at Cynthia's reflection in the sphere. Everyone wearing a golden mask did the same.

They watched intently, and the hall was completely silent, without the slightest noise.

Aside from a mask bearing a sorrowful expression, he cast his gaze upon the figure on the throne, silently expressing his bewilderment.

"Hmm? You're questioning whether Cynthia might not be able to complete the mission well?"

The King of Gold glanced at the man wearing the mask of sorrow and said with interest.

He was the only voice in the hall.

The figure wearing a sorrowful mask looked at him humbly, trying to explain something.

This wasn't just his opinion; in fact, all the ministers felt that sending Cynthia out was not a wise decision, and that the three-day agreement should never have existed in the first place.

The suspected murder of three guild investigators gave them ample reason to take a tougher stance.

Meanwhile, Cynthia was still trying to persuade the human who wanted to meddle with the magic network through peaceful means. She offered him the option of becoming a resident of the Golden Kingdom, and with his abilities, he might even be able to go further and become one of the beings residing in this great hall.

But even if she succeeds, the same events will likely repeat themselves hundreds of years from now.

The safest approach is to make everyone abandon this idea from the bottom of their hearts and completely erase any trace of the magic network's existence in that plane.

Moreover, among them, Cynthia has always been the most disloyal one.

She always tries to fulfill the mission entrusted to her by the King of Gold through her own means, and this time is no exception.

"But it's interesting, isn't it?"

Or rather, this is why he values ​​Cynthia.

A burning passion, even willing to sacrifice oneself for it, facing the fear of the unknown, and this passion is so intense that even the golden mask cannot completely erase it.

Returning to that place that evokes so many memories, and learning what happened there, will inevitably intensify those emotions, making them stronger and more uncontrollable, thus...leading to unexpected decisions.

The people below the hall fell silent; they had grasped the will of the Golden King.

They were wrong from the start; sending Cynthia was never about solving a problem, but merely a pastime for their king when he was bored.

The stakes were Cynthia's hometown.

This "stage play" requires a strong inner struggle and more intense emotions than ever before. If Cynthia's performance can satisfy their king, it might buy some more time for this plane.

All the conflicts and contradictions are meant to echo the final theme.

--yield.

This is the core of all the drama in The King of Gold.

Eventually, Cynthia will lower her proud head and return to the Golden Throne, just as she did a thousand years ago.

They had all gone through the same process, and their hearts had long since become numb. Cynthia was probably the one who persevered the longest, which is why the King of Gold was so interested in her.

This became the source of all her suffering.

When the last vestige of her passionate feelings is worn away by time, and she becomes like everyone else, then the King of Gold's interest in her will also vanish. That will be true liberation, and she will no longer need to be an object of amusement.

At that time, a new "toy" will replace Cynthia's position.

They quietly observed the images inside the sphere, and it seemed that the next "toy" favored by the king was already taking shape.

This should be Cynthia's final test.

As a form of entertainment, its shelf life is already exceptionally long.

They could hear fragmented conversations within the sphere;
“I roughly understand. If I were to take this job from a work perspective, I would be transferred to a very far city where transportation is inconvenient and communication is extremely poor. I would most likely never be able to contact my friends in this city again.”

Ethan thought it was a pretty bad job offer.

According to Cynthia's description, this job doesn't allow family members to be brought along; one must go alone. There's no end to the work period, and no concept of retirement. The only advantage is probably the "very high salary," more knowledge, and greater power...

The problem is, he's not a big spender, so what does he need so much salary for?
Ethan said, "I'm very happy with my life right now and I have no plans to change jobs for the time being."

He's already achieved financial freedom ahead of schedule, and after finishing his busy work each day, he can come home and relax. That's a wonderful thing.

But it's clear that Cynthia won't leave just yet.

Because this job recruitment is mandatory, those recruited have no right to refuse; otherwise, something bad will happen.

His city will be turned upside down, and those he cherishes will be affected.

This thus constitutes a classic trolley problem.

Giving up yourself to benefit others, or walking towards destruction with those you cherish.

Cynthia made her choice a thousand years ago; she went to a place where she could never contact Mackay-Drin again, and she was unable to see him one last time until his death.

From the job posting Cynthia submitted, Ethan learned roughly what had happened to her back then.

Poor Cynthia, before she could even enjoy life after the war, she was tricked into working illegally in the park.

Ethan couldn't help but silently mourn for her.

Cynthia was not a weak woman who could not even kill a chicken. She was a goddess of the hunt who had faced the Old Gods and fought against their minions. He found it hard to imagine how powerful the mastermind behind this park was to control Cynthia for thousands of years.

However, from a purely temporal perspective, this golden mask granted Cynthia eternal life.

Her friends have all fallen, but her strength remains undiminished.

King of Gold...

This was a name he had never heard of before, and there was no record of him in the academy's books.

Now, this trolley problem has fallen on Ethan's shoulders.

Moreover, he himself was also tied to the tracks.

(End of this chapter)