Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 312 Blue Flame
"I admit that this is a bit complicated to explain."

Ethan cleared his throat.

Charlotte remained silent, her arms wrapped around her shoulders, her nails digging into her flesh.

She didn't believe the ancient tree's prophecy. After the mechanical locust plague descended, Ethan became her last hope. However, she crossed most of the city during the locust attack, witnessing countless residents of the capital turn into copper-blooded monsters under the locusts' attack. What awaited her here was a scene of Ethan fighting alongside these culprits who invaded the capital.

Locusts crawled at his feet, nuzzling his palms affectionately, as if he were the culprit who had brought about the natural disaster.

Although Charlotte was utterly disappointed with the Oled royal family, she overcame her fear and gathered here as the kingdom's market. In the first wave of locust invasion, most of the residents were killed or wounded, and only a small number escaped by hiding in cellars and underground sewers.

On the other hand, she secretly hoped that Ethan could offer some explanation that she could believe, even if... it was a lie.

Less than a week had passed since she completed her coming-of-age ceremony. This is the age when most summoners are just embarking on their adventures, but she was bound to the prophecy of the ancient tree. She was in the royal capital, facing a disaster that could destroy the city in an instant.

So let time prove everything.

In the end, Ethan gave up explaining, saying, "You'll understand someday."

As for what Charlotte will understand in the future, he has no way of knowing. He can only say that he understands what he understands, and he will not explain what he does not understand. Moreover, there is no point in dwelling on the tragedy that has already happened. He will always look forward.

Furthermore, Ethan has already gathered some useful intelligence.

The residents of the capital were simply infected with a disease by the locust swarms, and had entered a state of utter stagnation. Since it was a disease, there was a possibility of a cure.

Another piece of good news is that these mechanical locusts are very friendly to him, even though this makes him look like the culprit who brought destruction to the kingdom. Ethan is thinking about how he can use this relationship.

The locusts are countless, and when they gather together they form a black cloud. If we want to eradicate them all, we will inevitably need to use the super-level magic used by the saints mentioned by Winter and Rowena. In some of the academy's books, this kind of spell, which is too powerful and will inevitably cause a lot of destruction once used, is called a forbidden spell.

The result of unleashing super-level magic with the aim of eliminating the locust swarm was that the city's buildings and the still-wandering infected residents were reduced to ashes.

This unexpected discovery gave Ethan another option.

So he flipped over and rode on Miss Chloe's back. The golden bird flapped its wings and took off. With a loud cry, all the mechanical locusts in the city were summoned. They stopped moving at the same time, turned around, and followed the golden tail of the bird.

Charlotte looked in the direction of the surging dark clouds—that was where the divine tree was located.

Her heart began to pound.

She recalled the analysis of mechanical monsters in the Cuckoo Bird Daily. Monster research experts believed that mechanical monsters were likely not hostile to humans; it was just that those cities happened to be blocking their path.

The same is true now.

The locust swarm and Ethan's target are the Divine Tree and the Crimson Queen who resides on it.

Perhaps this was his purpose from the very beginning.

Within minutes, the all-consuming black cloud left the city, leaving behind only a scene of infection and decay.

Charlotte saw the half-built insect hive. The gilded dome of the council hall looked as if it had been licked by a giant beast. The exposed steel bars exhibited eerie biological features, and where the rust peeled off like scabs, the newly formed alloy surface revealed the patterns of insect compound eyes. On the gnawed cross-sections of the pillars, tens of thousands of hexagonal bite marks were slowly writhing.

If Ethan hadn't left, the entire capital would have become a breeding ground for locusts.

Ethan glanced back at the city, which was shrinking smaller and smaller. Behind him followed a dense swarm of mechanical insects. Charlotte, who was outside the hotel, had long since disappeared.

He was going to see the Scarlet Queen.

In terms of how they handle problems, the Scarlet Queen and the Gold King have very different personalities.

If it were the Golden King, who had an extremely strong desire for control, she would never have tolerated Argos making a mess of her territory right under her nose.

Three days have passed since the first mechanical monster appeared, and the Crimson Queen has not made any statement about it. This makes Ethan want to see her immediately and interview her to find out what she thinks of Argos's actions.

Meanwhile, another person embarked on the same journey.

"Black Steel—!"

A furious shout erupted from the village beneath the sacred tree, and priests draped in light green robes surrounded the uninvited guest.

They could not hide their fear.

Black Steel looked very abnormal. His eyes were empty and lifeless, and blue veins, like blood vessels, were densely distributed on the skin of his upper body. His right hand was holding a forest priest by the collar, dragging him into the village.

The priest's fate is unknown, and his body is undergoing changes at a visible speed.

The cut revealed rusted metal bones, and the blood had turned copper-colored. When Black Steel released his grip, the seemingly long-dead Forest Priest staggered to his feet, his lips moving slightly as he uttered incomprehensible whispers.

"……Step aside."

Black Steel's voice was deep as he took a few more steps forward.

"Stop him!"

The high priest roared, and the forest priests immediately launched their attack. As the Crimson Queen's personal guard, they did not need monsters; the trees and vegetation in the forest were their companions. In an instant, thorny vines burst forth from the ground and wrapped around the black steel in the center.

The rustling of the branches and leaves sounded like nature's roar.

"This is the residence of the Crimson Queen. Only those summoned by the Queen are qualified to set foot in this forbidden area!"

The high priest raised his arms high, "Now you will pay the price for your evil deeds!"

At his command, thorny vines tore at Black Steel's body, dragging him forcefully into the mud.

They had used this method to punish many who trespassed into forbidden areas. The vines would imprison them in the deepest part of the soil, rendering them unable to move even a finger. The punishment would continue until the day they were forgiven. The shady priests believed that only in this way could the villains confront their own hearts and purify their evil side.

The Scarlet Queen is merciful; even when dealing with villains, she gives them an equal chance to reform.

However, this time, the high priest felt very uneasy.

The gaze of the black steel figure, burning with azure flames, revealed not desire and evil, but a purer, more intense emotion.

Even when his body was reconstructed, or he became a monster driven by instinct, his emotions persisted until the very last moment.

The high priest stared intently at the spot where the black steel had been pulled down by the vines. The soil was then refilled, and grass sprouted anew.

He didn't know how long a villain like Blacksteel should be imprisoned. But the next moment, his thoughts were interrupted by a violent shaking beneath his feet.

Something emerged from beneath the soil; it was black, enormous, and sharp.

Those must be the claws of a dragon.

A fully grown dragon with jet-black scales covered by a thin metallic film, and surging blue energy emanating from the gaps in the scales.

This was the last thing the high priest saw: the dragon's claws reached out to him, making a pinching motion.

“High Priest—!”

The priests in the grove cried out, their eyes wide with disbelief at the sight before them.

When the dragon's claws loosened, what came into view was not the high priest who had fainted and gone black, but a lump of flesh deformed from being squeezed. With a gentle flick of the black dragon, the object, which had already lost all signs of life, was sent flying.

The Queen's rules have been broken.

"Death" was truly unfolding before their eyes.

Then, the priests witnessed an even more horrifying sight—they saw thorny vines tearing through the black steel scales, which were corroded by blue blood, writhing and twisting into flexible, tube-like creatures that detached themselves from the trees and vegetation and proliferated in an abnormal way.

Loud noises echoed from outside the village, and the ground beneath their feet shook violently as the sounds grew louder and closer.

It is a mammoth.

It has completed its transformation, and no trace of flesh and blood can be found on its body anymore. Its eyes are also burning with azure energy, and it is moving towards the divine tree with all its might, like a war chariot.

The priests also heard a shriek coming from the clouds, and a raptor several tens of meters long flew over their heads—more and more monsters appeared. They were born in different areas, but now they all had the same characteristics: their flesh and bones were replaced by metal and machinery, and their blood was azure blue.

Not long ago, the Cuckoo Bird Daily brought news from all over the kingdom that mechanical monsters were simultaneously heading towards the Divine Tree.

No one could have predicted that they would arrive so quickly.

The next moment, the dark blue figure tore through the earth. When its wings, which blotted out the sky, were spread, the entire village seemed tiny in comparison. Its eyes, surging with blue flames, did not linger on the priests. Its tail swept across the village's treehouses, and those treehouses, which had stood for thousands of years and carried loyalty and honor, collapsed completely.

Welcome to the real world.

The black dragon spoke in human language, and its eyes, no longer cloudy, now held a hint of mockery.

The priests were thrown away by the wind pressure generated by the flapping of wings. The black dragon did not deliver the final blow, but that was by no means out of mercy. They were thrown into the center of the mechanical monster swarm, blocking their inevitable path.

No one can stop the Black Dragon King's path anymore.

The black dragon flew towards the top of the divine tree.

Ignatius, that is its name.

When the thorny vines dragged the black steel into the soil, when he lost all his senses and was suppressed by the woodland beneath the earth, he remembered his name, and... that familiar sense of humiliation, imprinted in his blood.

Also awakened were memories from even further back.

He once lived in the real world, and from the moment he was born, he was born with the noble blood of a black dragon. They were the most powerful and ancient monsters in the world, and the ones at the top of the food chain. Until one day, a red-haired human woman appeared in their territory.

The red-haired woman wrote the destiny of the Black Dragon Clan.

They bow down to humans and become their companions... but the so-called "companion" is just a beautified term. The relationship between monsters and humans is closer to that of pets and their owners. The contract they have made has never been equal. Under the influence of the contract, they cannot truly harm humans, but humans can swagger into their territory and steal what belongs to them.

The name Ignatius was given to him by a human.

Poachers broke into the black dragon's lair and, relying on the protection of the contract, stole a black dragon egg.

This black dragon egg circulated on the black market at a high price and was eventually auctioned off to a high-ranking nobleman.

Those long-forgotten memories are slowly reviving in his mind. He remembers the long whip his "master" wielded, the heart-palpitating pain it would bring when it struck his body before his scales were fully grown. He also remembers the feeling of hunger—humanity's punishment for disobedient monsters.

Even dragons would lower their noble heads if they were starved for a week.

That's what the animal trainers always say.

But it was precisely because of this that he learned a lot.

Having learned how to interact with humans, he realized that human methods were more effective than the limitations imposed by contracts. Even in a world without the concept of "death," humans knew how to inflict pain on others.

He remembered how his "master" had been tried by the royal family, becoming the target of public criticism, and how all his property had been confiscated, and everything he once owned had been taken away from him.

When something precious is taken away by others, he must also endure hunger and experience the feeling of his dignity being trampled on the ground.

But that's far from enough!
The end of the sacred tree was just a stone's throw away; Black Steel could already see the treehouse nestled among the lush foliage.

This is the dwelling place of that red-haired woman; she is the source of all evil.

The black dragon hovered in front of the treehouse, and in an instant, azure flames spread out with the force of burning everything in their path.

In the kingdom's semantics, Ignatius means "hero" and "freedom," and when the nobleman bought it, he hoped it would continue the glory of his family.

His inner obsession awakened his consciousness, allowing him to adapt to the body that had been transformed by the "Blue Lake." He could feel the power of the Old Gods surging through his blood.

He will break the contract created by the Scarlet Queen, bringing an end to this hypocritical world.

"You came."

He saw the red-haired woman again; she stood amidst the blue sea of ​​fire, seemingly unsurprised by his arrival.

The red-haired woman wore a fake smile, just as I remembered.

But she said things that were hard to understand.

"Ignatius, welcome home."

(End of this chapter)