Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 336 Red Eyes

The skill list included a natural element that had never been mentioned before, and even the academy had never recorded the shadow element. When Ethan stopped, the post office behind him had completely disappeared into the depths of the mist.

"Put me down, I feel much better."

Ivy, who was being carried on his back, said softly. Her eyes were still bloodshot, but her overall mental state seemed to have improved a lot. The blond guy who had been constantly hitting anyone who approached her had also quieted down.

Ethan joked, "You're not trying to trick me into letting you go so you can attack me, are you?"

Ivy smiled gently. "You can try it. I just feel that this place is a little different, and it brings me a certain... peace deep inside."

This place was calling to her; her voracious appetite gradually subsided, like a wanderer returning to his roots.

Ivy wriggled out of the covers, and the dizziness disappeared as well. She felt that all five senses were sharper than ever before, and her vision could even penetrate the fog to see further. There was a dilapidated village a few hundred meters away, and at that moment a group of people was approaching them.

In fact, she didn't know how she could see so far. Perhaps the ghoul virus had taken root in her body. The book "Take You to Understand 100 Dark Creatures" mentions that ghouls' senses are different from those of ordinary people. The Witcher Augustus believed that this was a compensatory mechanism after their thinking and intelligence were taken away, and also proof that ghouls had completely transformed from humans into beasts.

Ivy can't see her own appearance, and perhaps she's starting to look more and more like a ghoul.

"somebody is coming."

Before the words were even finished, a man's voice rang out from deep within the smog, "Put your hands up where I can see them!"

There were three people in total, all wearing similar gray cloaks and carrying old-fashioned crossbows. The leader was a burly man with a thick beard. He was old, his hair had turned gray, and a scar running across his face from his right eye silently told the story of what they had experienced in their youth.

"two?"

The burly man was visibly taken aback when he saw Ethan and Ivy, but when he saw Ivy's bloodshot eyes, his expression changed drastically. He immediately pointed his crossbow at her forehead and asked sternly, "How long have you been infected?"

"last night."

Ivy answered truthfully.

Hearing this, the burly man breathed a sigh of relief. "At least you're still conscious... Witcher Van Fleet, don't take it to heart. It's just a routine check. This isn't the place to talk. Our hideout is not far away."

"You're quite an enlightened person."

Ivy said, "The witchers I know usually shoot ghouls in the head the moment they see them."

"That's true, unless you were rescued by a humane ghoul when you were in trouble."

This is a village belonging to witchers.

Ethan had heard of such places before when he was in Riverwood; they were usually strongholds for witchers, providing them with lodging, supplies, and intelligence. Lanterns glowing with an eerie green light hung on the fence outside the village, each ten meters apart, forming a barrier around the village. The light from the lanterns helped to dispel the smog, keeping the visibility inside the village at a level similar to that of Darkhearth.

Upon entering the village, Ethan encountered even more people dressed as witchers. A group of guards patrolling the village entrance, armed with light crossbows, waved and gestured to Van Fleet upon his return, clearly indicating Van Fleet's high status in the village.

"Do you have any religious beliefs or spiritual path? Don't be nervous, this is just a routine check."

Van Fleet led the two to his house, a dilapidated wooden cabin that reeked of mildew. The furniture and beds were crudely made, making it feel as if one had been transported back to more than a decade ago.

"A believer in the God of Truth".

"Elemental Shaper".

The two spoke separately.

"I guess you've already realized that your usual methods aren't working here."

Van Fleet walked to the cabinet, took out a sword and a light crossbow, and placed them on the table. “You will need these later. If you have any questions, you can go to the village to find our training officer. He is also an experienced witcher who can teach you how to protect yourselves in the mist—provided you don’t stray too far from the village.”

Van Fleet seemed to have a lot of experience with this, skipping the tedious interrogation process. "Whether you came here by accident or on purpose, be prepared to stay in the village for a long time. Believe me, you can't go back the way you came. If you insist on going back the way you came, what awaits you at the end of that road is not the Darkhearth Post Office, but hordes of ghouls, more than you can imagine, and a kind you've never seen before."

"These people, are they all missing persons from Darkforge City?"

“Carpenters, blacksmiths, cooks—this village wouldn’t have been possible without them. In exchange, we taught them how to survive in the fog.”

Van Fleet paused. "And me? I've been in this godforsaken place for over a decade. I really hope I can find a way out before I die of old age." "I'm very interested in what you said about being rescued by ghouls. You mean those ghouls that still retain their cognitive abilities?"

Ethan glanced meaningfully at Ivy. "This will be of great help to us."

"It means exactly what it says, buddy. I was attacked by ghouls in the mist, and then I met a young woman with bloodshot eyes just like her. I think that might be the result of an incomplete mutation. The ghouls wandering in the mist seemed to be afraid of them, like... the difference between a vampire master and his servant."

Van Fleet paused. “We call those people ‘Red Eyes.’ They live somewhere deep in the mist, but I advise you not to think too highly of them. The young man I met was an outcast among the ‘Red Eyes.’ If you rashly enter their territory, the ghouls there will swarm you and devour you until not even bone fragments are left.”

“We are here to find a woman in her early thirties with long brown hair and wearing a brown trench coat.”

"Ms. Valerie."

Van Fleet directly named Valerie and sighed, “It’s a pity you’re too late. She went to ‘Red Eyes’ territory a long time ago. When she mentioned that she was a follower of the Society of Truth, I guessed your purpose—and that schoolteacher named Fisher, I warned him not to leave the village. You followers of the God of Truth are not good at listening to other people’s advice.”

The investigation finally made progress, which explained why Mr. Fisher died at the hands of a group of low-ranking ghouls.

This area severed his connection with the God of Truth. Here, both Fisher and Valerie became ordinary people, and once they lost their magic, their combat abilities were far inferior to those of a witcher who had undergone systematic weapons training.

This eerie place resembles a polluted area created by some ancient god.

In his book on the investigation of the contaminated zone, Director Jacqueville of the Containment Bureau mentioned that when they were deep enough in the contaminated zone, the power of the upright gods and the intermediate gods would distance themselves from them.

Therefore, it is almost impossible for humans to complete the exploration of contaminated areas.

“Listen, no matter what achievements you make outside, they mean nothing here. The only way to survive here in the long term is to stay with the other villagers. We have set up a defensive line around the village, so the ghouls won’t come here to cause trouble.”

He then changed the subject, “Of course, you can also take your swords and crossbows and find your own way out. I’m not going to lie to you. Not all the villagers are willing to accept a ‘red-eyed’ person to live here. It will probably be much more difficult for her to integrate than for others.”

Ethan wasn't surprised; he had noticed how others looked at Ivy when he entered the village.

However, he felt this was only natural; no normal person would want to live with an infected person whose condition was unknown and who could mutate into a ghoul and attack people at any time. Van Fleet provided them with important information.

Besides the disappearance of Darkforge City, there is also a group of people in this place who are also infected with the ghoul plague but are able to maintain their sanity.

They share the same characteristics as Ivy.

This also means they are likely to have more in common, and more importantly, if Ms. Valerie were still alive, she would very well be on the territory of the "red eyes" right now.

"We're planning to go out and try our luck."

Ivy said.

“They’re north of town. Just keep going up this road, and when you trespass into their territory, the ‘Red Eyes’ will appear.”

Van Fleet also seemed relieved, as this appeared to have saved him a lot of trouble.

Convincing the villagers to keep a "red-eyed" person in the village is no easy task. "They shouldn't make things difficult for this young lady. As for you, Mr. Ethan, I would suggest you stay in the village."

“I’ll go with her.”

Ethan immediately said that he was closely monitoring Ivy's condition.

Before heading to the post office, he suggested that his old friend help treat Ivy's illness, but Ivy refused. Ivy believed that this unusual ghoul plague was likely intricately connected to the place they were going to, and that she had heard some kind of summons in her dreams.

This will help their investigation.

Ethan agreed to Ivy's approach. She was a true believer in the God of Truth, willing to use her own body as a test subject in the pursuit of truth. However, the bottom line was that Ethan would not allow Ivy to actually become a crawling dark creature. If her condition continued to worsen and developed into the new stage mentioned in "Take You to Understand 100 Dark Creatures," he would immediately arrange a specialist consultation for Ivy.

"Mr. Ethan."

VanVlee gave Ethan a meaningful look. "You're very brave. I can only wish you good luck."

(End of this chapter)