Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 313 Off Work

Welcome home, Ignatius.

The Black Dragon King, lingering before the sacred tree, stared at the red-haired girl standing in front of the treehouse. No matter how hard he tried to recall, he couldn't remember ever having any interaction with her. He first saw her in his father's dream. Even though it was an illusion, it made him truly feel the humiliation that the Crimson Queen had inflicted on their race.

And now, the red-haired girl is treating it as if it were a pet that has been away from home for many years...

Yes, that was the look he gave to a pet. He had seen the same look in the eyes of those human nobles. Black Steel loathed humans from the bottom of his heart. All he did was drag this high and mighty Crimson Queen down from the divine tree to the mortal world.

Black Steel has envisioned the future world more than once.

When the false fairy tale world is torn apart, what is left for humanity is a bleak reality. They will die in the attacks of monsters, their territories will be taken away, and the survivors will be gradually forced to live in cramped places. However, he has no intention of exterminating humanity. In Black Steel's view, a better way is to put them back into the food chain.

But he soon discovered unusual phenomena.

The blue flames avoided the red-haired girl, who remained calm as she bathed in the raging fire, with no visible flow of energy around her.

"You did a great job, Ignatius, thank you for your hard work."

……

What exactly is this woman saying?
A strange emotion welled up inside Blacksteel, which gradually made him realize a terrible fact—he had deliberately avoided the red-haired girl's dragon breath, which would undoubtedly consume a lot of his energy, and his mind had acted against his will.

"As a reward..."

The red-haired girl took out a red gem in front of him.

Illuminated by the blue flames, the gemstone shattered and broke apart, releasing the object sealed within, which drifted towards the black steel like wisps of smoke.

Reason told him to avoid the wisp of smoke, but his body once again defied his will.

This wisp of smoke was so familiar to him, as if it were a part of his own body.

Immediately afterwards, the raging blue flames were extinguished. The location was still the treehouse, and sunlight shone into the treehouse through the lush foliage, creating a peaceful and serene scene. This was not a memory of his, yet he found himself in the treehouse—in the form of a fledgling dragon.

Kurogane refused to believe that the young dragon rolling around and acting spoiled on the red-haired girl's lap was him. Meanwhile, on a bed not far away, a white dragon about his age was curled up, dozing leisurely. On the wooden table, a plate was filled with the fruit of the divine tree, and a sweet fragrance filled the air.

This scene also soothed the violence deep within him.

There was also an uninvited guest in the room, standing with his back to them by the window. The tall figure wore a golden mask and looked up at the sun.

King of Gold.

A name came to mind.

He couldn't remember the exact date, but he vaguely remembered that it was one of the few friends of the red-haired girl. Whenever he came, it would cause strange phenomena in the sky. A magnificent golden ship would tear open a gap in the sky, and when that ship appeared, there would no longer be a concept of day and night. Only an almost eternal beam of yellow light would shine on the land.

Kurogane also remembered that they always talked about some strange topics.

Just like now.

"You mean, you want to try to implant an idea in people's minds?"

Without turning his head, the King of Gold said, seemingly scoffing at the red-haired girl's theory, "Only power and fear can subdue people. This is a truth proven by history over thousands of years... Crimson, look at this plane. This is your only territory. You should really leave here and see the outside world."

"Here we go again with the lecturing."

The red-haired girl sighed, picked up the black dragon clinging to her lap, and placed it between herself and the Golden King. She then pinched the dragon's soft belly, causing it to whimper softly. "Do you know what you look like right now?"

"like what?"

“A middle-aged man in his fifties or sixties, who keeps spouting grand theories about ‘society’ and ‘life,’ and keeps preaching the idea that ‘staying at home is bad and you should go out more.’”

With her dead fish eyes, she said, "You're too much of a father figure. Be careful, or I'll let my little dragon bite you."

"Hiss—!"

The black baby dragon cooperated by baring its teeth at the man wearing a golden mask, trying its best to appear fierce. However, its chubby little face and its tiny claws that had nowhere to go in the air made it difficult to be intimidating.

Upon hearing this, the man wearing the golden mask was stunned.

"Moreover, the submission brought about by power and fear is only temporary. Once someone more powerful than you appears, the rule maintained by these means will collapse."

"A more powerful person?"

The man wearing the golden mask laughed. "Such a person doesn't exist, because we've already grasped the secrets of this world—didn't you hear them say? The project has been halted, the company has laid off all its R&D departments, which means the 'game' will no longer be updated."

A game that will never have new mechanics, new storylines, or new bosses again.

For the "players" who have already completed the game, they have reached the end. In order to avoid being lost and confused in the future due to the loss of goals, they must find some fun for themselves. "Recently, I have come to understand those old gods more and more. Without 'stage plays,' their lives would be nothing but boring emptiness."

Are you happy now?

"of course."

The man wearing the golden mask blurted out, “I recently found another plane where a complete civilization exists, and there seem to be traces of the Old Gods there... Have you heard of the Chosen Ones? They are humans chosen by the Old Gods who have obtained some incomplete power of the rules. I plan to capture one and put it on my ship to study them carefully.”

"Tsk, tsk."

The red-haired girl responded to the man wearing the golden mask in this way.

The treehouse fell silent for a moment, then the Golden King turned around and started a new topic, "What did you mean by planting an idea in someone else's mind?"

The red-haired girl looked around, her gaze finally settling on the black fledgling she was holding. "Take him as an example. According to the rules of this plane, he and I are partners with highly compatible souls. Our souls can sense each other's existence. There is no way to separate him and me except through death... This is a 'rule' that even you and I cannot change."

Sensing the red-haired girl's gaze, the black baby dragon fluttered its wings joyfully.

The King of Gold nodded slightly. "It's truly remarkable that you discovered such a place."

In a plane free from death and strife, people live together in harmony. They fight by battling each other with carefully cultivated monsters. Even if they are injured in battle, they are quickly healed. Fatal wounds that would be fatal in other planes will only cause people in this world to "blur their vision" in an instant.

People who lose consciousness will be taken to the nearest aid station, and when they wake up, both they and their monster companions will receive effective medical treatment.

In the eyes of the King of Gold, this Eden-like plane was like the product of a goddess's whim after getting drunk one day; perhaps she turned a memory from her childhood into a real plane.

"That's not the point."

The red-haired girl shook her head. "If I implant an idea into this little guy's mind, I can bypass the rules set by the goddess."

"what idea?"

"For example... well, let's say it believes that it hatched from a dragon egg stolen by a poacher gang and was adopted by a bad nobleman from a young age, like the circus model. In this way, its thoughts and will will change."

She paused, then continued, "As long as you plant a seed in a person's brain, and wait for it to blossom and bear fruit, you can harvest the fruit you want." "Boring."

The King of Gold also gave a blunt assessment: "It's nothing more than hallucinogenic magic. Many of Sincarlo's followers have this ability. Those skilled natives can even fool the guild's A-level investigators."

"You're the one who's being ridiculous! Get out of here, you're not welcome!"

The red-haired girl pointed to the doorway of the treehouse.

They seemed to have long been accustomed to this way of getting along.

The Golden King, having been told to leave, shrugged and walked towards the treehouse. Reaching the door, he suddenly remembered something and asked, "Aren't you really coming with me to that plane to take a look?... It's said Merlin went there too; perhaps that place isn't as simple as we imagine."

"I don't like these kinds of occasions."

The red-haired girl said, "Good luck."

……

When the illusory image disappeared from his eyes, Kurogane's eyes were filled with confusion.

Ignatius, the stolen dragon egg, the wicked nobleman who treats animals like animals in a circus... his childhood spent in the treehouse, and the white hatchling whose name he still can't remember.

The red-haired girl seemed to see right through him, asking, "Which memory is the real one?"

At that moment, she curled the corners of her mouth into a mischievous smile.

Black Steel was completely confused. He suddenly felt that his memories of being adopted by a nobleman were empty and hollow. If he thought about it carefully, he could see that there were many things that didn't hold water.

But if what he just saw was reality, then all his hatred and obsession over the years...

"Maybe the memory I just showed you was fake."

The red-haired girl's words interrupted his thoughts, "I have every reason to do this. After all, time is too long for us, and we need to find some fun to keep life going. My fun is to fool everyone. For example, right now, you came to me with the determination to die, but you hesitated because of a memory."

Black Steel stared intently at the figure in front of the treehouse.

Reason reminded him that this woman was a liar, and that he should fulfill his mission.

His years of hard work have been for this moment.

But his body once again defied reason, seemingly due to the influence of the soul contract—for monsters and summoners whose souls are intertwined, only death can separate them, and that will be a very long time, until one of them reaches the end of its lifespan.

This also leads to an even more terrifying fact.

This world without death, which he considered a falsehood, was the real one.

"Little Ignatius, do you know what's really interesting about this experiment?"

The red-haired girl's gaze was captivating. "Even if they one day discover that their memories have been tampered with, they will never be able to tell which side is real... Your mission is complete, and you are no longer needed here."

She suddenly changed her tone, becoming cold and distant.

With a flick of his raised hand, his expression was as if he were dealing with trash that had lost its usefulness. "Besides, you don't actually think you can defy the true ruler of this plane, do you?"

An invisible force hurled the massive body of the black steel flying. Its wings were bound by that force, preventing it from turning around in mid-air. It moved further and further away from the treehouse, the red-haired girl's cold words still echoing in its ears: "I have seen everything you have experienced. Every person you have met and every event you have gone through will only happen with my permission."

The black steel plummeted straight down, and he even saw someone pass by him.

The man rode on the back of a golden divine bird and headed straight for the treehouse.

"boom--!"

His body made contact with the ground, instantly creating a deep crater.

but……

He didn't feel the slightest bit of pain.

That invisible force, while binding him, also provided him with protection.

He recalled fragments of the past once again. In his memory, the red-haired girl would always pick him up in her arms and place him on the soft mattress after they had played together until they were tired. That was perhaps the most beautiful memory he could recall.

Black Steel's doubts deepened. He was completely lost in the two intertwined memories. He couldn't understand why Red Hair would say those cold words in front of him when he had already begun to accept those new memories.

Why did you throw it to the ground while simultaneously diverting your strength to protect it?

It only made him look like he had fallen badly, but in reality, there wasn't even a single scratch. Moreover, he could feel a warm energy flowing into his body, gradually eroding the Blue Lake's influence.

It cannot be explained by logic.

Could it be that all of this is the Scarlet Queen's twisted sense of humor?
Does watching the creatures she deceives fall into chaos make her happy?
However, the next moment, he heard a loud noise coming from the top of the divine tree. After the human riding the golden divine bird climbed onto the treehouse, countless cracks were torn open in the clouds. In an instant, Black Steel seemed to vaguely feel that those inexplicable questions had been answered.

That's the one the Scarlet Queen has been waiting for.

For her, this was the final battle, and his presence by the treehouse would only be a hindrance.

She now has even more powerful allies.

After the sky was torn apart, a figure hidden in another world emerged, revealing its true form from the broken cracks in the form of a hanging man.

His body was so enormous that it blotted out the sky. Everything in the world came to a standstill because of his appearance. The mechanical monsters surrounding the divine tree prostrated themselves on the ground, devoutly welcoming the return of the god.

This is a war that only "gods" are qualified to intervene in, and the outcome of the war will affect the course of the entire world.

However, the next moment, Kurogane's pupils contracted.

He saw a figure falling from the sky, her fiery red hair fluttering in the wind, her body intertwined with the blazing sun.

Her chest was pierced.

In that gaping hole that stretched straight to the other side, there was no blood or human organs. This was a way of dying that Black Steel had never seen before. Time seemed to freeze in his eyes at that moment. The familiar figure disappeared little by little under his gaze, like drifting white light, slowly returning to nothingness.

The red-haired girl still had a smile on her face, and her voice transcended the concepts of time and space, reaching Black Steel's ears.

His tone was incredibly relaxed, carrying a sense of relief and ease.

Goodbye, little Ignatius.

I'm going home now.

(End of this chapter)