Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 349 Becoming an Imperial Knight!

The Empire is facing an unprecedented ghoul plague, which the people of Darkhearth initially thought was just a common cold...

It overturned the entire knowledge system of all witchers, and even the divine power of the Goddess of Life could not purify it.

Therefore, Ethan invited Professor Barzatos, the teacher of the goddess of life and the heavenly father who controls flesh and blood and evolution.

"Is this old man Bazatos?"

Valerie felt somewhat numb. She pulled Ivy out of the house and asked in a low voice.

She couldn't believe what had happened in the outside world during the year she spent in the contaminated zone. When she came to Darkforge City, Bazartos was still one of the three evil gods, and his followers were all over the cities of the empire. They were growing stronger and stronger, and they all believed that sooner or later Bazartos' followers would destroy the country.

That was a prophecy of Doomsday.

The day Bazartos breaks free from his seal, the entire human civilization will come to an end.

Now, Bazartos has broken free of the seal.

He was treating villagers infected with the ghoul plague at Grand Duke Bellamore's estate. He proved to be a good doctor; Ivy only went into the house and talked to him for less than five minutes before her eyes returned to normal, and her golden hair on her head became leisurely and carefree, returning to the state Valerie was familiar with.

Valerie admitted that she had been feeling incredibly heavy-hearted, and she didn't even want Ethan to bring the villagers infected with the plague back to Darkhearth.

Without Bazartos's help, they would have had to spend a lot of time studying the plague, which reminded Valerie of the Scarlet Plague of the Third Age. In the worst-case scenario, it could have affected the entire Empire, so leaving these converted villagers in the contaminated zone was the most sensible decision.

But then she discovered another problem.

The Scarlet Plague of the Third Age, the most devastating plague in human history, seems to have been created by the evil god Bazartos.

He was a true expert in this field; no one knew more about the plague than Bazartos.

"Yes, He is Barzatos."

Ivy confirmed that she understood her teacher's feelings—when she first heard that Ethan had conducted a consultation for the ancient god Ampolis in the Western Continent, her feelings were exactly the same as Valerie's now. "You'll get used to it."

In fact, once you get to know Bahrain well, you'll find that he's a very easy Old God to get along with.

It is said that he was selected as one of the ten most popular professors of the year in this year's college elections, and his "Introduction to Art" course was already full of students before the start of the next semester.

"And what's this professor you're talking about?"

Valerie rubbed her forehead with both hands, feeling like her brain was still a complete mess.

Many things that happened today shouldn't be thought about too much.

To put it simply, Ethan summoned the true form of an evil god through a ritual on the streets of Darkhearth – an act of evil worthy of being recorded in human history.

"Professor Bazartos is currently teaching at the college."

"He, Barzatos, teaches?"

Valerie's brow furrowed even more, and she covered her forehead with her right hand. She couldn't put these keywords together no matter what she did, even though she had just confirmed that she didn't have a fever and that her mind was probably clear.

What courses did He teach?

The only thing she could think of was that Bazartos was trying to convert all the elemental energies in the academy into his followers in preparation for the further destruction of human civilization.

"Introduction to Art" is an elective course.

"Hmm... an elective course."

The followers of the God of Truth are expected to be skeptical of everything, and this seemingly peaceful scene only fueled Valerie's suspicions of a larger conspiracy.

Perhaps Ethan made some kind of deal with the evil god Bazartos, and during the year she left the capital, the entire capital fell under the evil god's control. When she thought about it carefully, the details all made sense—a year ago, the reason why Ethan and others were able to overthrow Pope Julius's rule in the empire was because of the power of the evil god.

Only an evil god could contend with the power of the church at that time.

Her student, Ivy, was also bewitched by the evil god, without even realizing it!
For this reason, Valerie does not intend to publicize her views. Premature exposure would only allow the evil god and his followers to prepare. True believers in the Society of Truth should collect sufficient evidence to prove their points, rather than trying to persuade others through conjecture.

In a peaceful atmosphere, Bazatos's consultation came to an end.

All the patients were satisfied with the doctor who had seven eyes. He not only cured the villagers of the ghoul plague, but also cured their malnutrition, bleeding gums, and even hemorrhoids.

In the patient's own words, it was like being reborn from scratch.

They now seem to be filled with power.

Valerie secretly noted down the patient's words: "re-education" could be interpreted as brainwashing, and "full of power" meant that the patient had been given power by an evil god. The evil god's followers she knew were always full of power when they committed crazy acts.

She could hardly imagine what the capital city had become in the year she left. If the evil god Bazartos could teach and be a professor in the academy, then the capital city might very well have become a flesh-and-blood manufacturing factory, with the streets full of deformed evil god believers wearing black cloaks.

Valerie silently observed the friendly conversation between Ethan and Barnard. The topic sounded bloody, full of blood, human remains, and the like. It was clearly a plot to carry out a cruel evil god sacrifice!

"Teacher, you haven't been back to the capital for a while."

Ivy patted Valerie on the shoulder from behind, pulling her back to reality from the frenzied rituals. Ivy noticed Valerie's unusual behavior and guessed what her teacher was thinking, but could only sigh silently—this was a common problem among believers of the God of Truth; they were always prone to conspiracy theories. If she explained to her teacher now, it would not only have no effect but would also deepen her teacher's suspicions, making her think that she had also been brainwashed by Ethan.

Fortunately, it's not a big deal.

In response, Ivy could only say that as long as the teacher is happy, it's fine; just treat it as a fun detective game.

Before leaving Darkforge, Ivy left a letter for Grand Duke Bellamor, in which she mentioned their experiences in the contaminated zone, the Blackreve family, and Morgana and her children.

With the departure of "Hunger," the entrance to the contaminated zone was completely closed, and Duke Bellamor no longer needed to worry about anyone disappearing near the post office in Darkhearth City on the 14th.

Afterwards, they visited the graves of Mr. Fisher and his wife, where they were buried together.

After returning to the new cabinet, Ivy still has many things to do, such as setting up a team to thoroughly investigate the Dark Furnace City's security office. Although Sheriff Shuga is dead, he left behind a mess that has not been dealt with.

With mixed feelings, the group entered the teleportation array leading to the capital.

Valerie was fully prepared mentally; even if she were met with a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood, she would not show too much surprise.

However, when the brilliance faded, what came into view was a bustling city.

The streets are bustling with people. The heavy pressure of a year ago has long since disappeared. People on the street no longer have to worry about being suddenly arrested and interrogated by court officials or church members while chatting on the street.

Wealth, freedom, prosperity.

This is the capital city today. Valerie also saw smoke rising from the dome of the Craftsmen's Guild, and many vehicles she had never seen before appeared on the streets. This city, which was once on the verge of death, has been revitalized.

This softened her gaze considerably.

Although the conspiracy theory of evil gods cannot be completely dispelled, at least the people of the capital city seem to be in a good mood now.

Until a dragon's roar from the clouds shattered this peaceful scene.

Before any of the guards could react, the dragon descended from the sky and stormed into the bustling market. Its claws swept across the crowd, instantly staining the prosperous street red with blood and bits of flesh.

Valerie's pupils contracted; the stark contrast left her stunned.

Immediately afterwards, she saw the Imperial Knight Commander, clad in silver armor and wielding a holy sword, appear dashingly on the street. However, instead of slaying the dragon in the clouds, she faced a certain spot in the market and spoke some incomprehensible words.

"Looks familiar? This kind of scene is happening in cities all over the empire. You might be next!"

!! ?
Valerie's heart skipped a beat.

She never imagined that the empire would be more dangerous than it was a year ago. At least during Julius's reign, dragon attacks on people were not so frequent in the major cities of the empire.

The speech on the other side continues.

"Unless you make the most important decision of your life and prove to yourself that you have the strength and courage to join the Imperial Knights, become a peacekeeping elite, become a hero, become a living legend, become an Imperial Knight."

"Crack——!"

An even stranger noise came from behind one of the stalls in the market. Valerie looked in the direction of the sound and saw a tree-man carrying a strange device.

Even more outrageous things happened.

The market residents who had died under the claws of the dragon got up as if nothing had happened. They picked up their arms and heads and put them back in their original positions. The dragon slowly landed in the center of the market. The other side threw a roast duck at it, which it swallowed whole.

The dragon stood happily with the tragically deceased citizens, discussing with great enthusiasm everything that had just happened.

Valerie's brain finally shut down, and a wisp of smoke rose from it.

In this respect, Ivy is just like her.

"Ivy".

She had to ask her students for help: "What...what are they doing?"

Ivy looked at the other side of the river, then at her teacher who was standing there dumbfounded.

She recognized the extras at the market; they were followers of Bazatos, the henchmen the Nightmare had brought to the capital, and the professional corpse actors in Old Bazatos's legendary films.

But she found it difficult to explain all of this to her teacher in simple terms.

"Ivy?"

Valerie looked confused and waited for her answer.

"cough--"

Ivy coughed lightly and answered her in a deep voice, "Become... an Imperial Knight!"

(End of this chapter)