Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 309 The Lovely and Charming Villain
Within a day, news of Blacksteel's defeat spread like wildfire throughout the capital, and the Rockets' infamy became known to everyone.

In the dead of night, the Royal Summoners Association is facing an unprecedented crisis.

The summoners stood guard at the entrance of the association, warily confronting the uninvited guests before them. As masters certified by the kingdom, they should not back down. However, the events that had occurred at Blacksteel Manor had already spread throughout the association. Team Rocket was perhaps the most vicious organization they had ever faced.

"What...what are you doing here?"

Finally, someone could no longer contain their unease and asked.

"I don't need to report to you."

As Ethan spoke, the white ragdoll cat on his shoulder leaped down and walked gracefully toward the summoners blocking the entrance to the guild.

Then, it tilted its head back, opened its mouth, and revealed its sharp teeth.

The cat had long since mastered the art of hissing, using it as easily as eating or drinking. Although many summoners found the cat monster's fierce appearance somewhat cute, they scattered in fear for their own lives.

"See, this is the advantage of being a villain."

Ethan bent down and hugged the Ragdoll cat. The fierce cat immediately changed its expression, squinting its eyes contentedly and retracting its claws, leaving only its soft paw pads resting gently on his forearm.

For a good person, getting into the association is incredibly difficult. First, they need to fill out a series of forms, then endure the arrogant faces and terrible attitudes of the royal summoners, followed by extremely low work efficiency. They might not get a reply for weeks, and it might even be a formulaic rejection.

And the villains...

The villains don't need to go through procedures, wait, or put up with anyone's attitude.

He can go wherever he wants.

After settling Blacksteel's estate, Ethan did consider negotiating with the royal family and the Summoner's Association in a friendly and equal manner. However, the response he received was a conscription order from the association—they were very interested in the dragon babies in the estate. Since Blacksteel was no longer there, they had become the kingdom's assets, and these assets should be distributed by the royal family.

If Ethan cooperates in handing over the baby dragon to the association, the Royal Family could consider recognizing Team Rocket as a legitimate organization and granting them certain preferential treatment.

Ethan ultimately declined the "kindness" of the Royal Family and the Summoner's Association. He left Rowena and the others at the manor, making it a temporary activity center for Team Rocket, and then went alone to the gates of the Royal Summoner's Association.

Now, the royal summoners have finally become smarter and no longer stand in his way.

The destination of this trip is the chairman's office, where Black Steel has held the position for several years. The dragon maids of the manor revealed that all his research materials should be kept in his office.

The office door has also been renovated, with two dragon-head-shaped ornaments in front of the black metal door, their eyes burning with dark red flames.

"The energy form here is somewhat similar to that of mechanical monsters, so they should all be related to Argos."

Now that there are only the two of them, the cat becomes more talkative.

Ethan noticed that even in front of familiar people like Rowena and the Other Shore, Winter was still concerned about her image, speaking very little and trying hard to maintain her aloof persona. She only became lively when they were alone together.

In reality, Lin Dong is very talkative in private. Once she starts talking, she will chatter on and on, and she also has a kind of chuunibyou (adolescent delusions of grandeur) vibe.

"The second rule of villains: no key is needed to get in."

A cyan wind blade sliced ​​through the tightly closed metal door, instantly splitting the door panel in a grid-like pattern. The scattered debris was then shredded into powder by the invisible wind blade before it even hit the ground.

The summoners hiding in the shadows held their breath upon seeing this, fearing that the next wind blade would cut them.

The kingdom's best summoners are gathered here, but they still don't know what kind of monster the little white cat on Ethan's shoulder is, or where those terrifying wind blades came from.

Although Ethan, like them, had many monster companions, they always felt that he was not a summoner.

"The third rule of villains: you don't need anyone's permission to ransack things."

The cat quickly got into the swing of things. As soon as she entered the room, she jumped onto the ebony wooden table and used her paws to pull up a thick stack of documents piled on top.

She also enjoyed the feeling of being the villain, a time when she could freely discard all the formalities. She would skim through the parchment, carelessly making a mess of the black steel table.

"...Earth veins."

She quickly obtained the information she wanted.

Perhaps Black Steel believed he had long since taken control of the capital, and that even the royal family dared not defy his will, so he placed all the results of his research in the most conspicuous place in the room without any precautions.

Cat raised an eyebrow and revealed a villainous smile, "It's a pity that Charlotte wasn't the one who discovered this information."

She could imagine Charlotte's shocked expression when she saw the information. The mechanical monsters and plague that destroyed the kingdom were a conspiracy orchestrated by the president of the Royal Summoning Association. To be precise, it was a byproduct of their research on ley lines.

The royal family, completely unaware of this, remained immersed in a comfortable illusion, fantasizing that Blacksteel would defend their rule as before.

"And those fledglings in the incubation room... that's just the tip of the iceberg. Over the years, Blacksteel has been trying to mate with different monsters in order to create a young creature that can fully inherit the energy of the ley lines."

Dragons, wyverns, humans, and any other high-ranking monsters on record.

The vast majority of them are conceived through mating. However, if a small number of individuals are unwilling to cooperate, Black Steel will forcibly inject its genes into their bodies.

This thick stack of research reports is Black Steel's "criminal record" over the years. He closely monitors the birth of those offspring. Initially, he was unable to control the energy of the earth's veins well, resulting in most of his offspring being deformed and dying shortly after birth. Now, he has been able to stabilize the condition of the offspring well.

But this still couldn't satisfy him.

In Black Steel's view, these larvae were far from his ideal state and had no value in existing.

"This page mentions Woodland Spinosaurus..."

The cat's paw stopped on a piece of parchment. "She was deemed an unqualified mother and had no research value, so she escaped this fate. The Azure Dragon in the altar was not so lucky. She had a fairly pure bloodline, roughly equivalent to a noble among dragons. Therefore, after Black Steel tricked her into coming here, he imprisoned her in his research room for close observation."

Before its death, the Azure Dragon underwent many seemingly inhumane modifications. The dragon's powerful vitality made the process quite lengthy. After the Azure Dragon's death, Black Steel came up with a "genius" idea: he left the newly hatched dragons in the altar and let them gnaw on the Azure Dragon's corpse when they were starving.

Perhaps this cannibalism can bring about some unexpected changes.

"This idea comes from some folk tales. You've probably heard of ghouls, right?"

"Ah."

Ethan nodded. "Ghouls have been spotted near Riverwood before. They're mentioned in '100 Creatures of the Dark.' Witchers believe they are the product of cannibalism among humans. Whenever a famine breaks out, large numbers of ghouls appear in the Empire."

This is his old profession.

When he worked at the Adventurers' Guild in Riverwood, his job was to write any information related to the objective into the mission announcement. The more detailed the announcement, the less likely unnecessary casualties would be to occur.

It seems that Mr. Black Steel has some knowledge of local customs, but he has not used his wisdom and knowledge for good.

"If the prophecy of that ancient tree is true, that would be interesting."

The Woodland Spiny Dragon, deemed worthless by Blacksteel, gave birth to the offspring he had always dreamed of, capable of containing ley line energy.

Fate is truly unpredictable.

"According to Blacksteel's plan, he will take that dragon cub to the ley lines and throw it into the 'Blue Lake.' If it can swim out of the lake alive, it will become a dragon that surpasses Blacksteel and possesses unprecedented power."

One day in the future, a dark dragon that has seized the earth's veins will engage in a fateful duel with the kingdom's heroes.

In the prophecy mentioned by the ancient tree, the hero will die, but she will lead the people of the kingdom into a new era. The appearance of mechanical monsters and plagues means that Blacksteel is becoming increasingly impatient.

In order to return to the real world.

Overthrow the Scarlet Queen's false rule.

This goal was imprinted on his heart like a stamp. He infiltrated human society and treated his offspring as experimental subjects, all for this ultimate goal.

Ethan lowered his head and remained silent.

He faced "fate" once again, which the Golden King regarded as his trump card for victory. This meant that even the founders of the guild could not easily change the trajectory of fate, and only the goddess they mentioned had a higher level of authority.

So, what is the Scarlet Queen's purpose?
It seems she simply continues to remain in the cabin atop the treetop, quietly observing the fate of this world.

After centuries of peace, Blacksteel appeared, influenced by the will of Argos, determined to become the scourge that would destroy this era.

However, judging from the battle in the manor just now, Blacksteel's abilities do not match his ambitions.

Even after seizing the energy of the earth's veins, he only barely crossed the threshold of becoming a saint.

"The key to the problem lies with Argos, which is the feud between Him and the Crimson Queen."

"Perhaps, you are also a part of fate."

The cat on the table suddenly spoke up, "Lovina said you're a jinx, and in a sense she's right."

When Ethan shows up, something bad usually happens.

This has been proven countless times.

"...I don't think there's any scientific basis for this."

"Not everything can be explained immediately, which is why you came here, isn't it?"

Those bright red eyes stared straight at Ethan, and for a moment, Ethan felt that the cat's expression overlapped with her future self.

“But I don’t think it’s your responsibility. The real jinx is fate itself. All you did was set the gears of fate in motion.”

She paused, then said, "Imagine what would have happened if you hadn't come to this world?"

Black Steel will continue his research, five years, ten years, twenty years... He has long been accustomed to failure after failure.

His judgment about the Woodland Spiny Dragon was also correct; she had given birth to just an ordinary hybrid dragon cub.

Charlotte, having completed her coming-of-age ceremony, may receive a dragon egg, and then, like all young adventurers, leave her hometown to embark on an adventurous journey.

There were no invading mechanical monsters, nor any spreading plague.

All the turmoil will remain dormant until the day Ethan arrives.

The cat on the table smiled at him, "Now everyone knows you're a 'jinx,' but only you can figure out why."

……

Meanwhile, the earth's veins.

Black Steel stood before the azure lake, its fluorescent glow casting a blurry silhouette in the water.

Blue Lake, that's the name he chose.

Anyone who sees it will be captivated by its beauty, ignoring the imminent danger. They will be unable to resist touching the strange lake's surface, and then...

Black Steel glanced at his right hand. Some of the black scales on his palm disappeared, replaced by cold metal. The part assimilated by Blue Lake could no longer feel the presence of skin and flesh; it had become a sophisticated energy transmission device.

If you immerse your whole body in the Blue Lake, you will experience a complete transformation.

Just like... those mechanical monsters that have lost their ability to think and are driven by instinct to head towards the divine tree.

They are also products of experiments.

Blacksteel hadn't intended for them to appear in human sight, but just a few days ago, he had that strange dream again, in which the upside-down figures told him the time had come.

Even now, the Hanged Man's whispers still echoed in his mind.

"Ignatius Vortigern, can you defeat this man?"

He hesitated.

The defeat made him realize the gap between himself and that human being, an insurmountable chasm.

The Hanged Man once again saw through his heart and guided him.

Whenever he felt lost, he would appear in his dreams and hear the whispers of the Hanged Man.

“Ignatius, you know where to go, you know what to do.”

Black Steel stared at his reflection in the blue lake, his expression obscured by the fluorescent light.

He knew what to do, but at that moment, his biological instincts stood in opposition to his reason.

"What are you still standing there for, Ignatius?"

He thought he must be hallucinating. The voice of the upside-down man was coming from the bottom of the lake. This was not a dream. They were very close. He could touch them if he just reached out his hand.

This time, however, instinct gradually took over.

"I haven't found a suitable larvae yet..."

"There is no time."

"It was a voice from the lake," said the lake.

The calm lake water became turbulent, as if something was swimming towards the shore.

"No, no!"

Black Steel took half a step back.

The next moment, the hose that shot out of the lake grabbed his legs, and the voice from the bottom of the lake was no longer calm, but cold and aggressive: "This is the only way you can defeat him."

Dark red energy surged in the black steel claws, his eyes were blood red, and he opened his mouth to spew out scorching dragon breath, but nothing he did could change the seemingly predetermined ending.

The sound of a heavy object falling into the lake was heard, and then there was no further sound.

(End of this chapter)