Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 326 The Guidance of Destiny

half a month later.

This day has finally arrived.

As people watched her go, Charlotte walked forward step by step. She looked up and saw the divine tree that stretched straight into the sky. The part that had been attached to the metal surface had been restored to its original state. This divine tree, which symbolized the life of the kingdom, was once again full of life.

Behind her were Blacksteel, Phoenixtail Butterfly, her father, and every city lord she had met during this time. Charlotte could feel the heavy gazes pressing on her shoulders. At this moment, at the top of the divine tree, someone was waiting for her arrival.

After completing the trials of the Black Dragon Clan, her companions grew rapidly. To this day, even Blacksteel has been defeated by her, which means that she may have already qualified to become the strongest summoner in the kingdom. However, Charlotte knows that the true "strongest" is located at the top of the Divine Tree, overlooking this world.

So much has happened in the past month.

After the invasion of mechanical monsters, the kingdom's residents were pleasantly surprised to find that the rules set by the Crimson Queen were gradually reviving. A group of people calling themselves Woodland Priests came to the capital, bringing with them a way to cure the mechanical plague. Many wanderers were healed, and the survivors in the capital spontaneously began reconstruction work.

When the concept of "death" was once again eliminated, the summoners from various cities united under the joint appeal of several city lords and launched a siege against Team Rocket. Under the personal leadership of the city lords, Team Rocket was defeated one by one. Just two days ago, Charlotte returned from her training and destroyed Team Rocket's last stronghold.

Thus, the massive Team Rocket uprising came to a complete end. The poachers were imprisoned in jails in various cities, and after the complete victory in this war, they will be tried according to the crimes they committed.

But before that, there is one last battle.

"noob!"

Charlotte called out her companion's name, and the white dragon, now in its adult form, gave her a resolute look. Their understanding had reached a point where they could comprehend each other's thoughts without needing words. In the words of Lady Phoenixtail Butterfly, this was the highest level a summoner could achieve.

The city lords were all amazed by her speed of growth, but Charlotte felt that the journey had been too smooth. She had hardly encountered any setbacks, and every step she took seemed to have been designed by someone.

She could only attribute this to the Scarlet Queen.

Even though she has fallen, she continues to protect the world in some way they don't know.

Charlotte climbed onto the back of the white dragon, who spread its wings and flew straight toward the treetops as the people watched.

Dimension: Canopy

Environment: Stable (Anomaly coefficient: 99.7%)

Belief System: Argos

High in the treetop, Ethan looked with satisfaction at the fruits of his labor over the past few days. Through continuous exploration, he had gained a deeper understanding of the power system.

He heard the approaching dragon roar, stepped out of the treehouse, and saw Charlotte and the white dragon leap across the dense branches to the front of the rebuilt treehouse. Since their last meeting, she had changed a lot. Her golden hair was tied into a neat single ponytail, her clothes were changed into light leather armor that was more suitable for combat, and her blue eyes were no longer confused, but stared at him firmly.

"Looks like you're ready."

Ethan was not surprised by Charlotte's arrival. Even the timing of her appearance was pre-planned so as not to disturb their leisurely lunch time. He personally designed every trial and every training session Charlotte underwent.

This feeling was strange to Ethan, as if he had personally designed a hero, and now that hero had passed all the trials and arrived before him with her fully-leveled companion.

He will face this final battle as the final boss guarding the "Demon King's Castle".

『Fantasy Dragon (Dragon/Fire), Level: 100』.

The dialogue box that appeared when the white dragon appeared said it all.

"Is that all?"

Charlotte asked, expecting Ethan to reveal more to her.

For example, his mysterious identity, his purpose, and the reason why he was waiting for her in the treetop.

Charlotte had a premonition these days that the changes in the world were not due to the protection of the Crimson Queen, but rather to Ethan's actions. The gradually reviving Divine Tree confirmed her suspicions. The forest priests of the capital claimed that Ethan and those mechanical monsters had taken over the Divine Tree, but according to their assumption that Ethan was evil, he should have continued to corrupt the Divine Tree. When they finally broke through the encirclement of the mechanical monsters and arrived here, they should have seen a steel forest instead.

But now even the Crimson Queen's treehouse has been completely renovated.

Sunlight shines through the branches and leaves, and new fruit has appeared on the sacred tree, creating a thriving scene.

"Otherwise what? We can save the victory speech for later, but before that..."

Under Charlotte's puzzled gaze, the black baby dragon climbed onto Ethan's shoulder, peeking out half its head to curiously examine Charlotte.

This was clearly not the scene she had imagined. According to the guidance of fate, when they reunited, the black fledgling dragon should have grown into a giant beast controlled by machinery, and the person carrying fantasy and reality would engage in a fateful duel.

Charlotte saw the spreading red fluorescence rise into the sky and turn into rain.

Compared to the day the Scarlet Queen fell, this rain was much lighter, and the raindrops falling on her actually gave her a warm feeling.

"what have you done?"

She frowned and asked.

"The same thing as that day."

As time went by, Charlotte finally noticed something unusual—part of the rain in the clouds had frozen, turning into a red ice layer that froze the entire sky. The ice layer blocked out the sun, turning the whole sky red. She couldn't see the end of the ice layer, as if the entire kingdom was shrouded in it.

Then, Charlotte saw herself reflected in the ice.

Riding on a white dragon, she is confronting the leader of Team Rocket, the murderer of the Crimson Queen.

This was a celestial phenomenon that even the Crimson Queen had never caused. At this moment, all the inhabitants of the kingdom could see the final battle that was about to take place through the ice.

Charlotte took a deep breath. "I, Charlotte, in the name of the Lord of Moon Forest City, challenge you!"

“Come on.” Ethan’s response was still brief.

The next moment, Charlotte heard the sound of space collapsing.

She saw cracks appear out of nowhere, cutting the world into countless pieces. In this shattered world, there were no more physical rules. The sky fell to the ground, and the ground became the sky. Everything she could see was cut into pieces, and behind the cracks was eternal nothingness.

This time, however, she did not back down.

"Go, Little White!"

……

……

Several days later, in a tavern in the capital.

"Hey, did you hear? Charlotte repaired the Divine Tree, and everything is fine now."

As soon as you enter, the sound of people talking incessantly.

Many days have passed since that battle, but the people of the kingdom seem to still be immersed in its afterglow. The drunken White-Headed Turban is recounting his experiences of that day in a frenzy, a battle in which the world was reborn from destruction.

A shattered world, shrouded in red ice.

The ground beneath their feet crumbled and was thrown into the sky; their consciousness was intermittent, sometimes in reality, sometimes thrown into the void.

The world is now reduced to only three colors: white, red, and black.

Each collision of these colors seemed to trigger geographical changes; mountains were leveled, oceans were blocked—scenes beyond their wildest imaginations. They were trapped in a cycle of life and death amidst that catastrophe, until…

A falling meteor pierced through the ice above people's heads, bringing sunlight back to their world.

"Meteor Shower, that's the name of that move!"

With his white headscarf flying as he spoke, he was surrounded by an audience who needed the eloquent man's words to fill the deep sense of unreality within them, to assure them that they had witnessed the same scene and that they were still truly alive in this world.

Others brought news from the Oled royal family.

This was perhaps one of the few regrettable things—the woodland priests healed Oled XI, and immediately after the war ended, Minister Fellrock appeared in the capital's square, attempting to deliver an inspiring speech.

But this time, he was met with a barrage of rotten eggs.

The Oled royal family is still unwilling to give up and has been trying to restore the Oled dynasty. However, their behavior is no different from that of clowns in the eyes of the survivors. They can bring a lot of fun to their lives by treating these people who are sometimes hysterical and sometimes pretend to be solemn as comedians.

The truly meaningful news for them was that, under Charlotte's leadership, the city lords gathered to discuss the future direction of the kingdom. People felt that the royal family was utterly meaningless to such a world. At Lady Phoenixtail Butterfly's suggestion, the summoners established an organization called the "Alliance." Every four years, the organization would select four of the most outstanding summoners to serve as the Alliance's managers, who would also be the Alliance's champions.

If any summoner can defeat these four outstanding summoners, they will be awarded the title of champion.

A new round of competition has begun.

After the cuckoo birds spread the news, the summoners who were passionate about monster battles set off on their journey. In order to qualify for the challenge alliance, they first needed to challenge the lords of various cities and gain their approval. After each victory, they would receive a badge with local characteristics, which was a recognition of their strength and enthusiasm.

Some people also talked about Rockets leader Giovanni Sakaki.

After the final battle, Giovanni disappeared without a trace, and no one knew where he went.

Some believe he is dead, while others think he has gone into hiding, waiting for an opportunity to strike.

Ethan sat at the bar counter, while the middle-aged man next to him said with great enthusiasm, "I see you have so many monster companions at such a young age. Are you planning to challenge the Alliance? If you ask me, the most noteworthy opponent is Lady Swallowtail Butterfly. Her fog tactics are very troublesome. I suggest you go to Fogwood County first. Maybe you can find a way to break the fog tactics there."

For Ethan, it's not difficult to make himself unrecognizable to others.

No need for disguise; just a few tweaks to the "rules" are enough for the kingdom's inhabitants to distinguish him from Sakaki.

His gaze passed over the man beside him and landed on the pop-up chat box:
Dimension: Canopy

Environment: Stable (Anomaly coefficient: 100%)

Belief System: Argos

"Meow~"

The cat on his shoulder meowed sweetly, urging him on.

Their work in this dimension is complete, and the intelligence was delivered back to guild headquarters this morning.

Ethan stretched and left some coins on the bar.

It's time to leave work.

He walked out of the tavern, leaving the heated discussion inside behind.

As she brushed past him, the girl with the blonde ponytail suddenly realized something. She turned her head and glanced at Ethan's back, but quickly looked away again.

I must have been seeing things.

The girl rubbed her tired eyes and started walking in another direction.

(End of this chapter)