Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 293 The decision is yours!

"The father of my child disappeared after I gave birth to it! What a heartless man!"

Late at night, atop the treetops, by a warm campfire, the young dragon mother recounted her family troubles to Ethan, who still held the giant white egg in his arms, sitting upright.

He learned his temporary identity in this world—a poacher whose purpose was to steal dragon eggs and bring them back to the big city to sell for money. It was the kind of big job that would allow him to go back to his hometown and get married once he had done this one.

During the training, the guild mentioned that in order to help investigators integrate into different planes more quickly, a new identity will be generated based on the environment when entering a plane. In some planes where no human races live, they may even be transformed into species such as mushrooms or man-eating plants.

Before being thrown off the treetop by the angry single dragon mother, Ethan tried to use his communication skills.

Perhaps because she had been lonely for too long, the dragon mother suddenly started talking, and the conversation gradually took the way it has now.

Ethan gained a lot of knowledge.

In this world dominated by summoners, dragons naturally occupy the top of the natural ecological niche, and dragon cubs become partners that summoners vie for. For Ethan, a modern man with a wealth of knowledge, this is easy to understand. A baby dragon is equivalent to a quasi-god baby, and only wealthy merchants and nobles with considerable status are qualified to obtain one. The price of an egg form is much higher.

Because it increases intimacy.

Even dragons have the habit of regarding the first creature they see after hatching as their mother.

Ethan is a professional poacher. His team was originally a small group of a dozen people, but after the bearded man with the white turban was thrown from the treetop by the angry single mother, he was left all alone.

Is there any way to find the father of the child?

Ethan also fell into thought.

Not long ago, he learned about the ecology of dragons. After mating and laying eggs in a special season, the male dragon would disappear, leaving only a single mother dragon to take care of the children. When the mother dragon went out to hunt, the dragon eggs in the nest at the top of the treetop would be left unprotected.

This is a racial characteristic.

Once the baby dragons hatch and learn basic flying skills, the mother dragon will leave the canopy nest.

"It flew off in the southwest direction."

The dragon mother turned her head to the side, gazing melancholically into the darkness with her amber lizard eyes. "It's probably gone."

Ah, nature!
Even the eloquent Ethan fell silent.

"Madam, I apologize for disturbing you today. If fate allows, we shall meet again in the future."

"You're here to steal dragon eggs, aren't you?"

Mother Dragon didn't seem to intend to let him off so easily; her gaze immediately shifted to Ethan, fixing on him intently.

"That certainly seems to be the case on the surface."

"In terms of performance?"

"But in reality, I am a Kingdom agent who is conducting an infiltration investigation. Not long ago, we received a report that a large poaching gang had entered the Kingdom. In order to wipe out this poaching gang, I have been disguised as one of them for the past three months and have been working with them."

Ethan didn't have a choice before, but now he just wants to be a secret agent.

The rest of the journey has been arranged. After saying goodbye to the single dragon mother, they only need to travel south along the forest to reach the border city of Moon Forest, which is said to be a city built in the forest.

The single mother stared intently at Ethan, seemingly lost in thought.

She tilted her head, curled up, and her thorny chin touched the ground as she did so.

Where are you planning to go?

"We went to Moon Forest City in the south. Although there were some unexpected events along the way, this despicable poaching gang was finally wiped out."

"You are very good at communicating with dragons."

If it were any other human, she would have thrown them down to the treetop with a single paw. She had indeed intended to do so, but once this young man named Ethan opened his mouth, she was willing to listen to what he had to say.

Time flew by, and before she knew it, it was dark. She discovered that Ethan not only spoke pleasantly, but his appearance also met the aesthetic standards of dragons, and he had even gone to the southern part of the forest…

That is a civilization built by humankind.

"Take this egg with you."

?

Ethan was taken aback by the sudden suggestion. Suspecting it was a sting operation, he immediately and firmly refused, saying, "Madam, as I said, I'm not here for such petty theft!"

“I always have a feeling that if this child stays with you, maybe one day he will meet the child’s father.”

The dragon mother's eyes were bright and piercing.

In fact, there was more than one dragon egg in the nest. Ethan glanced around and found that there were about six other white giant eggs of the same size in the nest.

Filled with a sense of destiny, a young man encounters a single dragon mother who entrusts him with a dragon egg, and thus the young man embarks on an adventure.

This is definitely a classic adventure story that fits the setting of this world.

Besides, this young adventurer was actually a poacher.

The dragon mother added, "It said it wants to travel with you."

real or fake?

Ethan looked again at the giant egg he was holding in his arms. The dragon egg was not moving at all. How did the dragon mother understand what it was saying?

"Then let's make a deal."

With the stars as witnesses, Ethan declared loudly, "When I have raised it into a magnificent dragon, I will bring it back to you."

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

"Old Sen."

Following the treetops downwards until the firelight at the top could no longer be seen, the bat, fluttering its wings, finally asked in bewilderment, "Why do even dragons like you so much?"

She found it hard to imagine that a dragon would entrust its eggs to a stranger it had only met once. Their plane also had dragons, who were considered the most mysterious and proud race. In the eyes of dragons, humans were no different from insects. Moreover, Rowena was willing to guarantee that all known dragon tamers had stolen their dragon eggs at the beginning.

The destined encounter between dragons and humans only exists in romantic stories.

On one occasion, Palancy, a Knight of the Round Table, got drunk and let slip that his wyvern companions were also stolen from the dragon's lair.

"Maybe it's because I look so upright."

Ethan could only guess that even if he "randomly" became a poacher, it couldn't hide his innate integrity.

"Hard to say."

The Wolf-form of the Other Shore commented, but rather than dwelling on the dragon's attitude towards Ethan, she felt it was better to understand this world. While Ethan was chatting with the single dragon mother, she and Rowena formed a scout team and discovered that this was a world almost entirely occupied by forests, where both humans and monsters lived.

At the very center of this world, one can vaguely see a colossal tree reaching towards the sky. If I'm not mistaken, that is the center of human civilization, a kingdom whose territory is even larger than an empire.

In this kingdom, only one path exists—the Summoner. "How much do you know about Summoners?"

"If I remember correctly, it should be one of the branches of the path of the Goddess of Hunting."

Ethan could still recall the occult books he had read in Riverwood, in which the goddess of the hunt, Cynthia, was the most frequently mentioned deity. She had the largest number of followers, and these followers were also the most diverse. The "simulation method" alone gave rise to a series of followers such as werewolves and ghouls.

In addition, among the non-mutated population, there are also several branches such as witchers, beast tamers, and archers.

Summoners are a high-level branch of beast tamers.

However, this branch is not common within the Empire, and the Cynthian followers with such abilities naturally do not want to get involved with the Cult of Life. They have established a habitat for the hunters.

However, despite knowing Cynthia for so long, she has never mentioned which god she worshipped before the outbreak of the War of the Old Gods.

The powers of the rightful gods and the middle gods both originate from the old gods. Besides the three most active evil gods today, there are many more little-known old gods like Old An who are sleeping in some place unknown to them.

"I'm just reminding you that such a social structure cannot be achieved by any one person."

"I'm driving on the other side," he said as he spoke.

No deity can completely "eliminate" other paths.

Moreover, it is clear that the humans in this dimension are slightly different from what they know.

They encountered the same burly man with the white turban and thick beard they had met earlier. Although he was covered in dust and looked disheveled, he was still alive. When Ethan landed, the burly man was resting against a thick tree trunk. The two men stared at each other almost simultaneously.

"You're still alive!?"

Both of them could see the same meaning in each other's eyes.

You have to understand that this guy was pinched by his single-parent dragon mother in a fit of rage, and then thrown off the treetop hundreds of meters high. If it were a normal human, he would have been smashed into a pile of minced meat.

Even more outrageous is that the poaching gang members who should have "died" during the hunt are all alive and have even built a camp under the giant tree.

"A dragon egg! This kid got a dragon egg!"

After staring at each other for several seconds, the man wearing the white headscarf, ignoring his pain, immediately got up from the ground.

Upon hearing this, the other members of the theft gang were overjoyed and gathered around.

Get rich!
They made no attempt to hide their greedy eyes.

They talked at length about the information they had gathered, including the sales channels for dragon eggs.

The daughter of the Moon Forest City Lord has just completed her coming-of-age ceremony, and it's time for her parents to find her a companion. This dragon egg is sure to fetch a higher price than usual, and some members of the poaching gang have already begun to assess its value.

Whether it was his imagination or not, Ethan felt that the dragon egg in his arms seemed to be trembling.

Amidst the poaching gang's lively discussion, Ethan learns why they are still alive.

They were "defeated" while trying to delay the single dragon mother. This is one of the special laws of this world. When the summoner and his companions all lose their ability to move, they will fall into a state of "sudden darkness". After waking up from unconsciousness, they went to the rehabilitation center set up in the forest by Moon Forest City and regained their vitality.

In addition to members of the poaching gang, their associates were also present at the camp.

It is mainly composed of wolves, as well as some bats with particularly large mouths. Although they look somewhat different from Rowena and the Other Shore, they can generally be considered the same type of monster.

This scene gave Ethan a strong sense of déjà vu.

The giant beak bat and the coyote dog perfectly fit the image of a poaching group.

From their appearance, Rowena and Bi'an seem to be evolved versions of the two.

"Ethan, we're planning to storm the canopy head-on! We'll take as many as we can, and even if we can't, we'll burn the dragon's nest down!"

Ethan seemed to understand why this poaching gang dared to take the risk of stealing dragon eggs. Although they, as summoners, couldn't last a single round against an adult dragon, some kind of law in this world would protect their lives, making humans as unkillable as cockroaches compared to powerful monsters.

Not only are they invincible, but they also appear in droves, swarming forward.

The poaching gangs had already prepared traps and various ignition devices.

"Ethan, you're back just in time! Once that mother dragon is asleep, we'll launch our all-out attack!"

The burly man in the white turban looked like a minor leader among the poachers. "Here, hand me this dragon egg first, then we can prepare for the final assault."

Ethan dodged the outstretched hands by taking a step back, and the previously cheerful atmosphere instantly froze. The poachers immediately glared at him menacingly.

"Ethan, what do you mean by this?"

The burly man with the white turban asked, "Could it be... that you intend to keep this dragon egg for yourself?"

The poachers were ready to strike at any moment, and bats and wolves gathered together, emitting low growls.

Such scenarios are not uncommon for them. As a criminal gang, it's perfectly normal for disputes to arise over the distribution of spoils.

"Gentlemen, please give me, old man, face and let's drop this matter."

Before the words were finished, a huge figure came crashing down like a battle axe. In an instant, the two figures crossed in mid-air. A black wolf, several times larger than the other wolf-type monsters and covered with needle-like fur on its back, landed in front of the burly man with the white turban. Compared to it, the other side was a size smaller.

The wolf pack howled, and the black wolf that suddenly appeared seemed to be the leader of this group of monsters.

It was a type of monster he'd never seen before, but Ethan suspected the wolf was a combination of evil and poison.

It seems the poachers have no intention of giving Old Sen any face in this matter.

"Thank you for your hard work, Ethan."

The burly man in the white turban grinned maliciously, "But your mission ends here."

If this were an adventure story, this would be the protagonist's first real battle, and even the poachers, who are his opponents, seem to be tailor-made for a "tutorial level".

There are many laws in this plane that he is unaware of, but one of them clearly stipulates that during battles, "trainers" cannot personally participate in the battle.

"I've decided that you're the one for me, the other side."

Faced with poachers and wolves, Ethan quickly got into the zone, issuing the command, "Use the sword of oath and victory!"

……

This was the last sound the poachers heard.

Immediately afterwards, their vision was engulfed by a blinding golden light, followed by a shockwave powerful enough to blast them and the entire camp away. This oncoming blow caused them to lose consciousness instantly.

Even at the very end, a question remained in their minds.

What kind of wolf was it?

Why would a wolf use a sword to attack a person?
(End of this chapter)