Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 283 Time Travel
Looking at the fist-sized bump on her father's head, Vivian dared not speak out in anger, and could only comfort herself that it was a kind of blessing in disguise. After all, if you were to delve deeper, Cynthia was a legitimate mid-level god.

Do other people receive the same treatment?
On the other side, Cynthia was explaining the details of the car accident to Ethan. Although she had successfully activated the spacetime teleportation array left by Merlin by imitating Ethan, the landing location was not ideal.

After a brief moment of disorientation, she and the stroller separated.

But that wasn't the worst of it. To make matters worse, she discovered that the cart and King Sivarandin had also separated and, due to inertia, continued their descent down the steep stone steps. Eventually, the broken cart went to the left and the king to the right.

Conservative estimates suggest that the back of the king's head made at least eight contacts with the steps as he rolled down.

"Fortunately, he is also a third-tier superhuman with a very strong vitality."

Cynthia said she decided to skip the topic, as there were many other things to discuss. "The one attacking here is Filazar, a kingdom dominated by nomadic civilizations. The Golden King used Filazar's state religion to start this war."

This discovery puzzled her.

She couldn't understand why the Golden King would go to such lengths to bewitch the state religion of Filaze and use the saintess to persuade the king. He could easily bring the entire Filaze under his control in an instant, and even the Garog dynasty would not be spared.

"Neither the king of Philadelphia nor the soldiers on the front lines appear to be affected by the gold radiation."

Could it be that the King of Gold left all the artifacts on the other side of time and space in order to deal with Ethan, so that he has now lost most of his powers and is so weak that he can't even control a group of ordinary people in his eyes?

Cynthia felt increasingly uneasy.

Ethan said, "Maybe he came here last time and came up empty-handed."

Based on the current situation, the King of Gold may have been involved in the guild's operation to hunt down Merlin, and the name "Golden Land" may not be a coincidence.

Only those who abide by Merlin's rules can find the treasure he left behind, and the Golden King, as a former colleague, and several other guild leaders are his key targets.

Ethan felt he was getting closer and closer to the truth.

All the mysteries point to that title that the Golden King and guild members always use.

"goddess".

In fact, the Time Traveler and all this turmoil began with the "Goddess." The guild observed abnormal energy fluctuations and therefore sent several guild investigators to investigate the Goddess's whereabouts. After guessing Merlin's and the Golden King's identities, the title became somewhat ambiguous.

If Merlin and the Golden King are similar to him, having come to this world as "transmigrators," then what kind of being would they willingly call her a goddess?

And why would such a great being, who was perceived as omnipotent by the guild members, suddenly disappear?

Ethan's intuition told him that the treasure Merlin had hidden here had nothing to do with the Old Gods; it was likely related to a way out, and perhaps even contained information about another world.

"How is your investigation progressing?"

Cynthia asked, expressing her high hopes for Ethan.

"It's time to uncover the secrets of the land of gold."

The young king spoke of Merlin's legacy and revealed some secrets that had never been made public before.

Merlin seemed to have foreseen his death long ago, and began to "make arrangements" for himself before the Time Travelers arrived. The young king mentioned that before his father passed away, he had summoned him to his bedside, dismissed everyone, and told him the Great Guardian's secret order.

However, the secret order was elusive and incomprehensible.

"You must always be prepared to welcome those who come after you."

The young king followed the last wishes of his father and the Great Guardian, until Vivian, a person with the blood of the Garog royal family who had never been recorded, appeared, and he finally understood the meaning of those words.

But as their long, heart-to-heart talk was drawing to a close, the young king left behind some intriguing words.

Don't let illusions blind you.

That is a trap woven by time.

Follow the wheel's path, and the treasure will be hidden there.

These are Merlin's own words. As his life was about to end, he entrusted not the royal family of Garlog, but he didn't even care about the future of the dynasty.

The young king finally opened up, including about his resentment towards Merlin.

To the High Wardens, the throne of Garrog seems to be merely a key; their only purpose is to pass on the gift to those who come after them.

"Merlin may be telling us that the treasure is hidden in the royal tombs."

Vivian suddenly said that she had been thinking about the message Merlin left for them recently. "The trajectory of the wheel refers to the process of history. This winter is the day the Galog Dynasty will fall. The history of Sivarandin after that is like a gap of several years until the arrival of the next historical node."

She found her role in the team through the history of Sivaran Din, which she had studied carefully since childhood. This was a tradition that every descendant with royal blood had to follow, in order to keep the glory of the dynasty in their hearts. The next major historical event that Sivaran Din experienced was a massive internal purge.

After a pause, Vivian continued, "The trigger was the incompetent last king who listened to the slander of his ministers and made the decision to move the capital."

Historians in Sivarantin have offered various interpretations of this, with the most mainstream view being that the Golden Land and Merlin were too closely connected, and whenever they sought to advance further in power, inexplicable anomalies would prevent them from doing so.

The last king's brother took advantage of this, claiming that he heard the Great Protector's echo in the royal tombs, who told him that change was imperative.

"Besides, there are many anecdotes about the royal tombs. At the beginning of the dynasty, when the king asked Merlin about his wishes, he only made one request: that his body be buried in this tomb after his death."

After Merlin's death, the royal family fulfilled their vow and buried him among the successive members of the Galog dynasty's royal family. "The tomb is very close to the capital, and it doesn't take long to get there."

Do you need a shovel?

The pragmatic Cynthia broke the serious atmosphere, "What kind of looks are those? Since we're going to a tomb, it's normal to be prepared to rob it, isn't it?"

Based on her years of experience traveling abroad, the worst-case scenario was that they would have to dig up Merlin's grave.

If Vivian were bound by social etiquette at that time, she would be happy to do it for her.

"When it comes to digging up graves, I'm a professional."

To reassure the two, Cynthia gave them what she considered a reliable smile.

But in Vivian's eyes, the smile was anything but sunny; it was like that of a grave robber. Considering that Cynthia had recently bumped her father's head and given him a fist-sized bump, she felt even more strongly that Cynthia wasn't a good person either.

“I’m serious. If we encounter a clueless newbie who digs around recklessly, it could damage the objects and remains in the tomb. We have to be especially careful when facing the tombs of high-level superhumans. There have been many cases where people have dug up a deadly evil spirit with a single shovel, and the entire team had to be buried with it.”

She heard that Merlin's death was gruesome; it was as if his heart had been pierced, and then his head had been cut off and hung on the city wall. The royal family didn't dare retrieve his body and handle his funeral arrangements until the time travelers disappeared. Having died with resentment, and possessing extraordinary abilities in life, Cynthia felt that if Merlin's soul had transformed into an evil spirit, it would be incredibly troublesome.

"Don't worry, if you don't trust her, I have someone more suitable."

Ethan also comforted Vivian.

Before the words were even finished, a small yellow potato poked its head out from under the floor.

No creature in the world is better at digging than the earth element, because in principle, burial is no different from digging a hole and storing the coffin and body in a small yellow potato's house.

According to this theory, their subsequent actions had nothing to do with tomb raiding; they were simply visiting Yellow Potato's house.

Vivian didn't understand why the discussion had to be based on digging up Merlin's grave, but since it was Ethan's decision, it was difficult for anyone else to change it.

With a local guide, the royal tombs are not difficult to find.

The young king dismissed the guards stationed at the mausoleum early in the morning, giving them ample private space. However, when the magnificent royal mausoleum came into Ethan's view, he already sensed something was amiss.

Whether it's the materials used at the tomb entrance or the stone carvings guarding the tomb as divine beasts, everything is full of the style of the Golden Kingdom. Above each set of steps is a huge beast-faced human statue, with the beast wearing a golden mask, as if it were a mark left here by the King of Gold.

Compared to Cynthia, the Golden King was the one who disrespected Merlin the most.

He not only visited the mausoleum without permission and dug up Merlin's grave, but also left a Golden Kingdom-style mark outside the mausoleum in an almost mocking manner.

"not like this……"

Vivian gazed at the statue on the stone steps in the distance and blurted out, "The statues outside the tomb aren't like this."

Although she had never been inside, during her childhood she often had her maid secretly take her to visit the outside of the tomb. The statues outside the tomb had never worn such ugly and strange golden masks.

"This statue... is gone."

Eh?
Vivian stared blankly at the back of her hand, feeling a hard yet cold touch on her fingertips.

When did she arrive here?

After a brief moment of mental blankness, she remembered that just a second ago she was about to describe to Ethan and Cynthia what the statue originally looked like and its origin, which was also closely related to the history of the Garlog clan.

But a second later, she appeared dozens of meters away, standing under the statue wearing the golden mask, touching the statue made entirely of gold.

Immediately afterwards, she noticed a change in the ground beneath her feet.

The stone steps turned to gold, and the red carpet stretched out in front of them.

This would be even more in line with the name of the land of gold.

"Vivian, you seem to have never mentioned the origin of the name 'Land of Gold' before, have you?"

She heard Ethan's voice coming from above the stairs—he had somehow already climbed the stairs in front of the tomb, and Cynthia was right behind him.

Ethan, seemingly oblivious to the earlier anomaly, continued, "The Golden Land, as the capital of both the Garog Dynasty and Westwarden, and the home of the High Warden, must have many stories to tell, right?"

Vivian opened her mouth, but for a moment she didn't know what to say.

Of course, the Land of Gold has many stories, too many to tell in an afternoon, but compared to the origin of the Land of Gold, shouldn't we be discussing the anomaly we just witnessed?
Why did she suddenly appear here after leaping dozens of meters?
Why did time seem to have jumped forward so much, and why couldn't she remember anything that happened during that time leap?

"Didn't you sense anything was wrong?"

"Oh? You mean time has flown by, and these steps have turned into gold?"

"Now that you've discovered it, why...?"

"That's why I'm curious about the origin of the Golden Land. If Merlin had a choice, he certainly wouldn't want his 'hometown' to share the same name as the murderer."

Merlin was not born here, nor has this ever been his homeland. He came to this plane through the guild's technology.

"Just like the original stone steps here, if they had been replaced before they appeared, it would have looked like this now."

Perhaps this place was never called the Land of Gold; it's just that someone returned to an earlier point in time after Merlin's death, before it was named, and left their own mark on it.

It is easy to see that the King of Gold is a very possessive person, and also has a terrible personality.

"So you need to be mentally prepared for what's to come."

Ethan reminded Vivian.

He had already reached the top of the golden staircase and could see the interior of the tomb.

Structurally, this place has nothing to do with a tomb anymore; it looks more like a temple, filled with religious-style animal-faced human figures everywhere. Their movements are uniform, holding the same vessels, from which golden liquid flows down and gathers at the deepest part of the temple.

When he took another step, the scene before him changed once again.

The flow of time brings with it the illusions of the past.

He heard a religious orchestra playing melodies he didn't recognize.

There were also dancers gracefully moving about.

Next came the man whose heart had been pierced by a spear, who stared with hatred at the man holding the spear.

The murderer was wearing a gold mask.

His right hand held a scimitar raised high, which he slashed down mercilessly.

Ethan felt as if he were walking on the river of time, and at the end of this river, someone was waiting for his arrival.

"We've finally met, Mr. Ethan."

The voice came from the deepest part of the temple: "Welcome."

(End of this chapter)