Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 295 We have a jinx among us.
By the flickering candlelight, Ethan quickly drifted off to sleep.

Perhaps because the pillow and bed frame were too hard, Ethan had a nightmare for the first time in a long time.

It was a strange nightmare. He knew very well that he was in a dream world and saw things that did not exist in reality. The sky was black and covered with tangled tree roots, which looked as if the sky and the earth were reversed. Under his feet was a void of darkness, and he stood on this darkness in a way that violated the rules of physics.

And above the sky formed by roots, hung an enormous figure, so large that it became the center of the world, filling everything within sight.

Ethan heard a faint call, coming from that unknown thing not far from him.

His walking speed in the dream also defied the laws of physics. He only took a few steps forward before reaching the foot of that enormous figure. This made him think almost immediately of his conversation with Ampolis above the stars, where there seemed to be such a colossal creature above their heads.

Unlike the original ancient gods he had seen, such as Ampolis and Bazartos, the giant shadow before him showed signs of artificial modification. Ethan saw a brass compass spinning behind it, and thirteen steam-powered copper pipes extending from the wheel, leading to a device that was faintly visible in the deeper darkness.

The skin on the arms, which were bound by chains, cracked open, revealing the bones beneath, which had been replaced with bronze. The bronze tubes had patterns that emitted a blue fluorescence, and these patterns, like blood vessels, seeped into His flesh and blood, converging towards His head, which was a face wrapped in countless bandages, making it impossible to recognize the face beneath them.

But Ethan still recognized him.

Or rather, almost the instant they met, a name popped into his mind.

Argos.

An adventurer with endless curiosity who never tires.

He could still feel the object, bound by chains and flowing with "blue blood," trying to reach out to him, but the dense chains prevented it from moving.

This long-awaited meeting did not last long. Before the two could even speak, noise from the real world invaded the dream, and the void beneath their feet began to shake violently. Cracks shattered the dream, and when the candlelight of reality shone back into Ethan's sight, he had already rolled off the bed and onto the floor without even realizing it.

"Hey hey!"

He sat on the floor, supporting his back.

The cat also woke up from its sleep and quickly transformed into human form to help Ethan up from the floor, and even nervously began to massage Ethan's lower back.

It's still late at night, or more accurately, the middle of the night.

Flames soared outside the treehouse, and panicked screams pierced the air, accompanied by the trembling of the floor.

Something enormous is rapidly approaching Moonforest City; it appears the city's outer patrols have been breached.

Even Winter looked flustered, but she was flustered about something else.

"I didn't kick you out of bed."

"I know, I fell down myself."

During the conversation, the intelligence expert Rowena had completed her reconnaissance, and a small purple bat flapped its wings and tried to squeeze in through the half-open window.

"A strange monster has appeared outside the city!"

"A strange monster?"

Rowena was quite knowledgeable, and anything described as "strange" by her couldn't possibly be a species found in the monster atlas. Before she finished speaking, another red flash streaked across the night sky. This flash, like a signal flare, almost instantly awakened the entire city. The sound of doors being broken open came from outside. Summoners passing by, regardless of their status or position, responded to the call of the signal flare. Some even rushed out of their rooms without having time to pack their clothes.

"The city lord has issued an emergency summons."

Rowena continued to demonstrate the value of her "Don't underestimate my intelligence network" statement. On her first day in Moonforest City, she had already figured out the local culture. At the same time, she was also deeply suspicious: "Could there be a jinx in our group?"

She paused, then added, "An emergency call-up has not been issued for decades. It is a mandatory call-up that is only issued in cases of danger that could destroy the entire city. Any summoner who sees the call-up is obligated to respond."

Unsurprisingly, this kind of danger, which "once in decades," appeared on their very first night in Moon Forest City.

Unexpected, but reasonable.

Ethan only needed to stand in the treehouse and look down to clearly see the "strange" monster Rowena had described—a giant beetle with a metal carapace on its back, covered with brass tubes, from which blue fluorescence was being injected into its body.

This has long since caused it to lose the body structure of an insect, and it is more like a war machine built by some mad scientist based on a beetle.

At this very moment, the chariot was crushing the surrounding trees and everything in its way, advancing at full speed toward Moon Forest City.

The patrol guard suffered numerous casualties.

The people of Moonforest rarely use the word "casualties" to describe the battle situation, because usually, whether you are a guard or a poacher gang on the villain's side, after fighting until you are exhausted and everything goes black, you can simply go to the nearest recovery station to be fully restored. This is the kingdom that the Crimson Queen promised to everyone, a gentle kingdom that has abandoned the concepts of death and pain.

Now, the rules set by the Crimson Queen have been broken, and the first patrol guards to confront the beetle monsters head-on have been almost completely wiped out.

The summoners of Moonforest City were gathered together, with the city lord serving as the commander on the front lines of this force. His partner happened to be a familiar face to Ethan.

——Wolf God.

Its grayish-white fur, scarlet eyes, and massive body several stories high reassured many of the summoners who had come to summon it.

The other side's assessment of this old friend is...

It tastes better when paired with black pepper, but the flavor is less appealing when used in soups.

They've forgotten what skills the wolf god possessed, but the taste remains forever in everyone's hearts.

As spoils of the Battle of Wolfhead Fortress, each of them had tasted the Wolf God's flesh, especially Miss Chloe, who ended up eating most of it.

Upon seeing her good friend, the Wolf God, Miss Chloe let out a soft "clucking," a sign of her joy.

However, according to the intelligence gathered by Rowena, the kingdom's structure is different from that of the empire. Only accomplished summoners are qualified to become city lords, and there will never be a situation where the nominal guardian of a city is Baron Gretin, who doesn't even know how to use a sword.

Without involving super-powerful beings like the Old Gods, the Wolf God is already considered a fairly powerful monster. After all, the former Black Egg of Wolfhead Fortress had high hopes for it, believing it to be a super monster capable of destroying Riverwood single-handedly and even causing great damage to Gear City.

The city lord's expression was solemn. Facing the giant beetle that was constantly approaching, the wolf god took the lead and pounced on it with a biting force.

In Ethan's view, the scene was quite like a massive pit team battle. As the city lord set an example, more and more summoners issued orders to their respective partners.

Then, unsurprisingly... before he could get close to the giant beetle, the wolf god was flung away by the huge flexible tubes that extended from the sides of the beetle's body. Each tube seemed to have its own consciousness; they seemed to be parasitic in the beetle's body, and before the wolf god could get up from the ground in a sorry state, they pounced on it as if they had seen food.

The wolf god opened its mouth, but before the energy could take shape, one of the tubes sucked up all the gathered energy. They greedily absorbed the energy, and under the entanglement of the tubes, the wolf god's body was shrinking at a visible speed.

"Lovina, use the Void Slash!"

To prevent their old friend from finally reappearing only to become food again, and to prevent the battle from turning into a tentacle play scenario, Team Rocket member Ethan gave orders to his partners.

The summoners all heard the command, a skill they had never heard of before, but they all saw a purple bat heading straight for the center of the battlefield. The bat looked small and could easily be swallowed up by the many monsters charging forward, but its flapping wings tore a crack in the night sky.

The crack was imprinted on the waving hose, and the parasite-like head snapped off. The crack, still powerful, struck the beetle's back.

The unstoppable charge came to an abrupt halt, and the metal shell, split in two by the cut, slowly slid to the ground.

The shockwave from the fall instantly sent many small monsters flying. After the dust settled, the summoners finally saw the beetle's internal structure. Everyone was stunned. They could hardly call it a living being. What drove the beetle forward was not biological instinct. It had no blood vessels or internal organs, but rather a precisely functioning axle.

The beetle stops moving when these axles stop rotating due to the cutting.

"This...what on earth is this?"

The city lord stood there, stunned.

These are unusual monsters that are beyond human control, and they cannot even confirm whether they are monsters at the moment.

He felt a wave of fear wash over him.

If it weren't for the suddenly appearing purple bat and the skill he had never heard of called the Void Slash, the beetle would have charged into Moonforest City with undiminished momentum, and he, as the city lord of Moonforest City, was defeated in just one encounter.

He tried to find the summoner of the purple bats in the crowd, but his eyes immediately fell on the wailing patrol members, some of whom were seriously injured, and others who had lost their comrades forever.

For some unknown reason, this beetle broke the Crimson Queen's protection, turning the battle into a fight for life and death.

"Quickly treat the wounded!"

This is the first thing he, as the city lord, must do.

Meanwhile, Ethan had taken a completely different path. When the mysterious beetle appeared, he knew he couldn't stay in Moonforest City any longer. Just now, he had received some information about Argos from Old Ann.

A tireless adventurer.

An Old God who "went missing" before the War of the Old Gods broke out.

Although Old Ann didn't know exactly what had happened to Argos, he was quite certain that the Argos of the past was completely different from the one Ethan saw in his dream. Before "going missing," Argos looked normal to Old Ann, and the heavy metal was added later.

More importantly, Argos would not idly suspend himself in the air with chains; He was never the kind of Old God with strong masochistic tendencies.

Ethan finally met the Old God that Cynthia worshipped, but he had to point out that they even shared the same characteristic of being "kidnapped".

Based on Ethan's description, Old Ann deduced the most likely outcome.

Argos was in this plane, and the dream was Argos greeting Ethan. When he woke up, his creations appeared on the outskirts of Moonforest City, which could hardly be a coincidence.

Mirror world.

Old An deduced that the tree roots in the sky and the dark void on the ground were like the world turned upside down, and all of this pointed to the giant tree that existed at the very center of the plane. It reached straight to the clouds, and it was said that the world above the clouds was the residence of the Crimson Queen.

So, what would happen if the Crimson Queen went to war with an Old God?

Regardless of the outcome of this war, this plane will be annihilated.

This was the only outcome Lao An could predict.

Therefore, Ethan had neither the time nor the interest to stay in Moonforest City to attend the commendation ceremony, and he also did not want to be remembered by many summoners.

However, not everyone was involved in the rescue efforts. As he was about to leave Moonforest City and head towards the heart of the kingdom, where the sacred tree was located, a short figure blocked his way.

It was a girl with a single golden ponytail, arms outstretched, glaring at him menacingly.

"You must be Ethan."

Compared to poacher gangs, her attire was more like that of a noblewoman.

The blonde girl said in a resolute tone, "But I know it's just a fake name."

"I didn't expect you to see through me."

Ethan agreed.

It must have been the white-turbaned poachers who leaked the information.

"Charlotte, remember this, it's the name of your formidable rival!"

The blonde girl looked imposing, but her slightly trembling voice and quivering legs revealed her extreme anxiety.

This is the name of the city lord's daughter.

If he hadn't shown up, perhaps the White Hood poaching gang would have actually brought back a dragon egg, which would have been given to Charlotte as a coming-of-age gift.

According to the original "historical course," Charlotte might gain the approval of the single dragon mother during tonight's attack and embark on an adventure with the baby dragon.

Charlotte did not back down; she was still waiting for Ethan to respond to her.

"Sakaki."

Ethan said, "Sakaki of the Rockets."

(End of this chapter)