Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 296 Magic Mirror, Magic Mirror Tells Me

"You have something to explain to us, Scarlet?"

"Whether it's Merlin or the Golden King..."

"They all have one thing in common: they all met with you before they set off."

"I'd like to know exactly what you talked about?"

……

As the first rays of dawn shone into the treehouse, the red-haired girl sat alone on the edge of the bed, the less-than-friendly questions from her "companions" echoing in her mind. She gently raised her right index finger, and a mirror as tall as a person floated in front of her.

This is a room that perfectly fulfills a girl's dream. The pink wallpaper is printed with many cute cartoon characters, and the room is filled with a sweet floral fragrance. Anyone who comes here will feel like they have stumbled into a fairy tale world. The story says that a princess lives on a sacred tree that reaches the sky.

This is a castle that belongs to the princess alone; it is dreamy and romantic, but also the loneliest place in the world.

Now, the princess living in the castle, following the story's guidance, faces the enchanted mirror and asks, "Magic mirror, magic mirror, tell me, how should I answer their questions?"

His tone was one of distress, but he received no response.

The reflection in the mirror wasn't of the red-haired girl's cute face; compared to the dreamlike treehouse, the mirror showed a hellish scene.

The sky is woven from tree roots, and the ground is a bottomless abyss. A huge figure hangs upside down in the center of "hell".

That is the place where the evil god is sealed.

The evil god's face was wrapped in dense bandages, but this still could not block his gaze.

Scorching, and filled with anger.

"Why are you angry? Merlin said that being sealed away is your destiny."

The red-haired girl ignored the anger emanating from the mirror. The lip gloss slid from her sleeve into her palm, and she focused intently on applying the lip gloss, facing a mirror that couldn't reflect her own face.

She kept talking to herself, as always.

"Is it because you sensed someone coming to rescue you?... Then let me tell you some good news, at least for you. The Golden King, whom you hate the most, has been killed, in a place we don't know. And now, the murderer who killed him is coming for me."

Finally, a ripple came from the other side of the mirror, and all the spreading energy was conveying the same emotion to the red-haired girl.

Mocking.

As if they couldn't wait to witness her death here.

But this wasn't anything particularly infuriating. The treehouse window was opened, and one by one, exquisite desserts appeared on the table. These were all sweets made from the fruit of the divine tree, imprinted with the mark of her energy.

They were neatly arranged on a table woven from vines.

“Our relationship doesn’t have to be like this. I am a summoner, and all the summoners in this world are your children.”

The red-haired girl brewed herself another cup of black tea, which also had a faint fruity aroma. "So, great Argos, I want to ask you a question. If this world was a lie from the beginning, then those who perish here and whose souls are annihilated will simply disappear, or will they awaken on the other side?"

The magic mirror still didn't give her any answer, and the red-haired girl seemed to have long been used to the quiet atmosphere in the treehouse and her life of talking to herself.

She savored the dessert on the table.

"Food, clothes, and a dragon egg I recently found."

This was her answer to her "companions," which was of course a lie. At the very least, she didn't tell the whole truth, just as all the information about her was false when she first came to this world with the group.

Before Merlin and the Golden King left, she asked them both the same question.

She was curious about how people like them viewed death.
Is a long, beautiful dream still worth savoring after waking up?

Or is it a deep sense of being lost, an illusion that makes one unable to escape?
What was the answer again?

The chewing motion paused slightly.

Oh, I remembered it.

Merlin always said he had a reason to go back, even if the guild considered him a traitor and he was vilified, he was willing to do it.

The King of Gold's answer was much simpler: he did not believe this would be his death.

He was certain of victory, because from the beginning this was not a battle between him and that aberrant creature, but a judgment by the goddess upon the transgressor—a secret perhaps known only to her.

But in hindsight, the King of Gold miscalculated.

That leaves only two possible explanations.

The omnipotent goddess was defeated, or perhaps she betrayed them, betraying everyone in the guild.

Neither of these pieces of information was good news for them, so she naturally chose to keep it a secret.

"In fact, the goddess has also given us a mission."

Her eyes narrowed to slits from the sweetness of the pastries, as if she were talking about something completely unrelated to her: "Merlin will be executed as a traitor, the Golden King will die because of his arrogance... Each of us must die at the right time and in the right way."

Next, it will be her turn.

However, unlike Merlin and the Golden King, who chose to fight until the very end of their lives, she was already very content.

A life spanning thousands of years was enough for her to accomplish everything she wanted.

She gradually transformed a barren plane into the shape she imagined, rewrote the rules of the world, and granted them power until there was nothing left to change, and she gradually lost her enthusiasm.

It might not be a bad thing if it ends here.

So, assuming that all of this is a destiny ordained by the goddess, what is her purpose?
It wasn't until the appearance of that unusual individual named Ethan, who also came from the same place as them, that she finally found the answer to this question.

That anomalous individual clearly held extraordinary significance for the goddess; if one were to stand in that anomalous individual's shoes, everything would be easily understood.

This is a fake world.

In theory, those planes are just regions built from data, and the more chaotic the code, the higher the danger level.

As for the guild's mission and the exploration of those planes, they are merely a way to pass the time in this endless life.

In reality, they were all trapped here, lacking the courage to wake up.

While Merlin was alive, he was still constantly searching for a way to leave this false world. He tried countless methods, even causing many irreparable disasters. He never stopped until his death. But from another perspective, Merlin overlooked the most direct and straightforward method.

If you want to wake up from a dream, just find a tall building and jump off, or end your life in some other way.

As far as she knew, Merlin had never made a similar attempt; what he needed was a more "reasonable" approach, more about convincing himself.

She didn't yet know the relationship between the goddess and that anomalous individual, but it seemed the goddess was trying to tell him everything she knew, guiding him forward, as if she ultimately intended to entrust the entire guild to him. Regardless, she needed to know the truth.

But before that...

The red-haired girl's gaze swept over the dragon egg on the bedside table. In an instant, an invisible energy lifted the dragon egg and slowly carried it outside the treehouse window. Then, the power supporting the dragon egg disappeared, and the pure white dragon egg fell from the clouds, its smooth surface cracking at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Sunlight penetrated the cracks, accelerating the hatching process.

The fledgling dragon, having just emerged from its egg, tried to flap its wings and steady itself in mid-air.

When the sun shone on the earth again, all the residents of Moonforest City witnessed the miracle. A hatchling dragon, emerging from its shell, slowly descended with the sunlight. It flew over the sea of ​​trees in Moonforest City, swept past the exclaiming crowd, and crashed straight into the arms of a blonde girl.

Charlotte.

Everyone in Moon Forest City knows her name; if it weren't for the invasion of the mechanical beetles, she would have been the most talked-about person recently.

Her father was a renowned summoner, and she was recognized from a young age as having talent that surpassed her parents'. Her innate affinity for dragons destined her to form a contract with the most mysterious race. Long before Charlotte's coming-of-age ceremony, many people had already heard rumors that her father had found a dragon egg for her.

And now, even those who were skeptical of the rumors have witnessed this process firsthand.

The sight of a dragon hatchling from an egg is far more sacred than hatching a dragon from an egg—especially after a catastrophe that broke the Scarlet Queen's rules. The dragon that descended from the sky seemed to bring the Scarlet Queen's divine message, proclaiming to everyone that Charlotte was the chosen one.

This fairytale-like plot is unfolding before their eyes, which also means that Charlotte is destined to uncover the truth and restore peace to the kingdom.

Some devout people have already knelt on one knee to pay the highest respect to the arrival of the divine oracle.

The baby dragon that fell from the sky rubbed happily against Charlotte, who was standing there dumbfounded. She saw that her parents also had incredulous expressions on their faces.

Not long ago, she was still struggling with her first partner.

Although he impulsively declared himself a formidable rival to Sakaki, a summoner without companions is not qualified to be anyone's opponent.

She happened to learn from the White Turban Poaching Gang that Sakaki had also obtained a dragon egg.

This seems to be a fateful encounter, but at present, Giovanni seems to be one step ahead of her. He not only obtained the dragon egg, but also gained five other reliable partners.

The poaching gang mentioned a wolf that could kill people with a sword, and a bat that cut the entire mechanical beetle in two.

Charlotte also inquired about Team Rocket from her father, but even her well-informed father knew nothing about this mysterious organization.

And now, it's time for her to embark on her journey.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

The curious Rowena is conducting a thrilling test.

"Did you know that summoners in this world also have different talents?"

This is the latest information she found out: "Children in every big city are invited to take several tests when they are old enough to understand things. This is to provide individualized education. It is worth mentioning that the tests are provided by professional institutions and are all free of charge."

"What kind of test?"

Ethan was intrigued. He suddenly imagined a group of teenagers lining up in a ring-like arena, going up one by one to be tested, with the examiners occasionally announcing things like "Summoning power, level seven".

"Testing the compatibility between summoners and different types of monsters will reveal some anomalies among summoners who will develop a special affinity with a certain type of monster."

Rowena lay on Miss Chloe's tail feathers, reading the documents she had smuggled from the Adventurers' Guild. With these documents, she could legitimately cling to Miss Chloe without having to flap her wings and fly after the group.

She considered herself to be slim and not a burden to Miss Chloe. She and Bi'an were at opposite ends of the spectrum. The wolf was never still and would never sit down as long as it could run. In Bi'an's words, this was less than one-tenth of the knight's daily physical training.

“I can understand that.”

Ethan has a simpler way of understanding things than the terminology in the adventure manual.

Simply put, some people are born to be insect hunters, some are born to be fishermen, and of course, there are also paranormal enthusiasts or martial artists.

But in Ethan's view, this so-called affinity is not a good thing at all. True champion-level trainers are known for their well-rounded teams. Those who are fixated on one attribute can only become the Elite Four at best.

"I originally thought you had a natural affinity for dragons."

Rowena assessed the situation, noting that the Adventurer's Handbook described it as one of the top summoner talents. After all, dragons are the most mysterious and powerful monsters, and they are usually arrogant. It is almost impossible for someone without dragon affinity to form a contract with a dragon monster.

But through her scheming experiments along the way, Rowena discovered a startling truth!

Ethan and the annoying Sincarlo are complete opposites. The caterpillars she catches from the grass happily burrow into Ethan's arms when they see him, as if they want to join his group.

Ethan could only refuse the enthusiastic monsters with "Sorry, the team is full" and even had to tell a few bird monsters who were following them around and refused to leave, "You can stay in this forest and I will come back to see you after I finish my business."

"This shows that even if you don't become an elemental econometrician, you can still become an excellent summoner."

Rowena was absolutely certain that such talent was worthy of being described as Argos's own son.

"indeed so."

As she ran, Bi'an approached, saying, "Actually, I've wanted to say this ever since I said goodbye to that dragon."

As a mount enthusiast, Bi'an had some reservations about this.

Every knight dreams of owning a dragon as a mount, and Bi'an is no exception, but so far every time she has dealt with dragons, it has ended in discord.

The proud dragons would not allow any race they looked down upon to ride on their backs, but the single dragon mother simply gave one of her eggs to Ethan.

"Your situation reminds me of a certain creature."

"That's what they said from the other side."

"Oh, now that you mention it, I thought of that too."

Rowena exchanged a knowing glance with her. "Old Sen, your true form isn't a succubus, is it? Only a succubus could be so charming that even a caterpillar on the street would fall for you!"

"No, he is human."

The cat perched on Ethan's shoulder narrowed its eyes and, with absolute certainty, refuted their speculation: "A pure-blooded human."

"How do you know?" Rowena raised an eyebrow defiantly. "You know, high-ranking succubi can disguise themselves as humans, and even the high priests of the Church of Life can't detect them. Do you have any evidence?"

"Have."

"What evidence?"

"I tried."

(End of this chapter)