Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 459 Is this you?

The affairs of the Vatican should be resolved internally; it is not for an outsider to interfere.

This is Ethan's view of the far west: even if he intervenes with force, it will only leave behind seeds of hatred. Carlo has turned this land into a world completely different from the Empire, to the point that there is a huge discrepancy in the perceptions of the people on the two lands.

It seems Mary is very unhappy with Carlo's long-standing practices, but before that, there is one more thing they need to resolve.

"Before that, we need to figure out a way to help you reshape your body."

This was one of the gifts Ethan prepared for Mary before he left.

Theoretically speaking, Mary is now only a weak soul. Once she leaves the ruins, her power will gradually weaken, and it may even cause her soul fragments to disappear completely. After all, thousands of years have passed since Mary's time, and the fact that her soul still exists is a miracle in itself.

Worse still, Julius and his teacher Turzan were utterly wicked. The summoning ritual they had set up in the capital had exacerbated the depletion of Mary's soul. They were treating Mary as a consumable item that could only be used once. If he hadn't stopped the giant sword hanging over the capital in time and forcibly interrupted Mary's spellcasting, her soul's energy would have been exhausted during her last trip to the capital.

In comparison, the pope and believers who built this ruin for Mary did everything they could. Although they often talked about Mary's bad temper behind her back and even suspected that she would pollute the spirits in the papal tombs, the magic arrays and spellcasting tools on this mountain were doing their best to prolong Mary's existence.

"It doesn't matter."

Mary waved her hand, "When I see him, I'll just chop him down with one sword."

Things probably won't go as smoothly as you imagine.

Ethan shook his head and said, "The Pope Carlos of today is not what he used to be."

Ivy had warned them on the phone that Carlo must believe he had a trump card that could defeat the Empire, which is why he used the assassination of the Bishop of Solaris as a starting point to launch a holy war against the Empire.

Several days have passed since the incident began, and everything I've seen along the way proves that Carlo is serious this time.

The Devout Chapter began deploying its troops, and forces from various small kingdoms in the far west were also gathering towards the border region. According to Ethan's conservative estimate, this would be a frontline force of over 100,000 men.

Moreover, the Vatican has done an excellent job of keeping the development of the Holy Relics secret. Neither their own observations nor the staff of the Demi-human Merchant Guild in various cities in the far west, nor the military intelligence spies who secretly infiltrated the far west, could access these core secrets of the Vatican.

All they knew was that Carlo had been mining the remains of the Goddess of Life all over the place, and the "Saint's Remains" mine was just one of them. These energy-rich substances existed in different forms in various parts of the far west. Apart from a few core members of the current Church, probably no one knew what kind of weapon Carlo had transformed the holy remains into.

And there's another question that Ethan can't figure out.

Why does Ivy look exactly like Saint Mary?
In the months following the coup, Ivy continued to investigate the matter in secret. However, all the investigations led to the same conclusion: there was no blood relation between the Margaret family ancestors and Mary. From a historical perspective, they were not from the same region at all.

Moreover, even if the same bloodline flows in their bodies, it is impossible for someone to look exactly like their "ancestor" thousands of years later.

Even the agile golden retriever on its head is exactly the same.

It's important to know that Ivy is a very special case in the Margaret family. Although this tuft of golden hair is a characteristic of purebloods, Ivy is the only one in the entire family whose tuft of golden hair is so agile that it seems to have its own independent thoughts.

Her father, from a scientific perspective, believed it was due to the emotional seal brought about by the Holy Word spell. However, after reading many "unofficial histories" about Saint Mary, Ivy was surprised to find that her tuft of blond hair was exactly the same as that of a papal saint from thousands of years ago.

Those "unofficial histories" also record the glorious feat of the blond-haired man taking down a Scarlet Church assassin while Mary was asleep.

Ivy increasingly felt that her father was just spouting pseudoscience, and it was clear that this coincidence could not be explained by the Holy Word technique.

"Oh, Mary, take a look at this."

Thinking of this, Ethan took out a photo of Ivy from when she was in Riverwood. Back then, she was the town's sheriff, always wearing a beige trench coat. She was only missing a detective hat and a pipe to perfectly fit the stereotype of a medieval detective.

Mary hadn't met Ivy directly last time, so she probably didn't know that there was a young girl in the empire who looked exactly like her.

"This is……"

Mary stared at the photo for a long time. "How did you get a photo of me when I was young?"

This isn't a surreptitious filming; it's something that theoretically couldn't possibly happen.

Because she had been dead for thousands of years when cameras and photographs were invented, she learned about these new things from some believers who guarded the ruins.

Moreover, the town in the background looks quite unfamiliar.

"Is this you?"

Ethan asked.

If even Mary herself couldn't tell the difference, it's enough to show that there are some unknown secrets involved.

"It was when I was in my early twenties, and I was still very thin back then."

"this is not you."

"This is me."

“Take a closer look. This is an Imperial girl named Ivy Margaret, who is also the current Prime Minister of the Empire.”

Upon hearing this, Mary stared at Ivy in the photo for a long time, also falling into doubt and confusion.

"You didn't lie to me?"

"I did not lie to you."

Ethan said, "We consulted some people in the Vatican, and the new bishop of the Vatican in the capital believes that only 'reincarnation' can explain this coincidence."

The Catholic Church sent over a box of church scriptures, using real-life cases to explain the coincidences that happened to Ivy and Mary.

In the long history of the Church of Life, there have been several similar cases. Usually, a believer hundreds of years later exhibited the qualities of a hero of the Church in the past. One faction in the Church called this phenomenon "reincarnation" and believed that heroic spirits with strong soul power and noble qualities could return to the world when humanity faces a crisis.

What that group of people talks about most is the relationship between Mary and the goddess of life. To this day, many people still believe that Saint Mary was the reincarnation of the goddess of life, because humanity in the Third Age is facing an unprecedented catastrophe.

If it weren't for Mary's existence, the whole world would have become the dinner plate of the evil god Bazartos.

However, even in the cases presented by the new bishop, there were never two people who looked exactly alike.

Moreover, the "reincarnation theory" is merely a hypothesis proposed by one school of thought within the Vatican, and no one has ever been able to prove it.

"impossible."

Mary immediately rejected this hypothesis, stating that "even according to the school's theory of reincarnation, it must be based on the complete annihilation of the former's soul."

She herself does not like this argument.

Although this led many believers to regard her as the goddess of life, it also kept her living in the shadows for almost her entire life.

After the Scarlet Plague ended, she spent many years pondering the theory of "reincarnation." Mary could confidently say that, in the entire church, no one understood reincarnation better than her.

Even the bishops of the faction that advocated this doctrine were rendered speechless by her rebuttals in the debate.

"This is just a baseless conjecture, used to satisfy some people's desire for pilgrimage."

No one understood the ulterior motives of certain members of the Church better than Mary. By portraying her as the reincarnation of the Goddess of Life, those who had fought alongside her against the Crimson Church were automatically elevated to the status of the goddess's apostles. The sect leader who had been rendered speechless by her rebuttal then compiled a book called "The Blade of the Goddess" after the Crimson Plague ended, to extol their outstanding contributions.

Mary said, "It's vanity at play."

"That's what I'm worried about."

Ethan's expression was serious.

If we set aside the coincidence and the Vatican's theological interpretation, then this matter may very well point to a deeper conspiracy.

Cloning technology, and other little-known secrets.

Julius revealed no details about Ivy's relationship with Mary until he was burned at the stake in public.

Based on her father's account, Ivy discovered that there were many ambiguities surrounding her birth.

This stems from the fact that her father was a complete rebellious teenager when he was young. He refused to follow family tradition and resolutely chose to marry a woman who was opposed by everyone, namely her mother.

As a result, her father fled the capital for a time, and it was during that time that she was born.

Ivy's memory of her mother was extremely vague. Later, during a calm conversation with her father, he finally revealed to her the reason why he eventually returned to the capital.

Because she had contracted a strange illness, her father visited the local hospitals and churches, but no one could do anything about it. In desperation, he could only take her back to the capital and bring her to meet Pope Julius.

The Holy Word was the bargaining chip proposed by Julius.

The Margaret family considered this a disgrace and suppressed all rumors about their eldest son eloping with a woman of the opposite sex. After they returned to their lives in the capital, everyone acted as if the incident had never happened.

The thought of any possible shady dealings made Ethan's scalp tingle.

He hoped that Xiao An had recently become obsessed with conspiracy theory videos and was watching them in the living room every night before bed, causing him to overthink things.

"Moriko, friends should help each other."

Mary patted Ethan on the shoulder heavily and said, "Although I can't determine what happened right now, I'll find out sooner or later."

"I knew I could count on you, my good buddy!"

Ethan perked up and continued the conversation that had started, "I also have some initial ideas about helping you reshape your body."

Upon hearing this, Bazatos also raised his head high.

He was waiting for Ethan to say those words.

No one knows better than Him how to reshape the body, and Mary is a human whom He greatly admires, second only to Bazarian in His heart. No matter how strong a body she wants to build, even if it means turning her into a spaceship, He can grant Mary's wish.

"First of all, if you want to support the strength of your soul, an ordinary physical body is definitely not enough."

The closest equivalent is the "divine intervention" created by the fake god of trickery. Turzan, a member of the Divine Servant, has been secretly selecting the most suitable practitioners in the capital city according to the fake god of trickery's instructions, and turning them into members of the choir to become reserve materials for the divine intervention ritual.

However, such a ritual is neither humane nor can it sustain Mary's soul for long. If a séance is performed, Mary will need to change into a new body every few days.

The hymn team's puppets can at most hold the souls of saints, while Mary's soul strength far surpasses that of a saint.

"We can also make full use of the relics."

"I support!"

Bazatos, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up.

He thought Ethan was a genius for coming up with such a brilliant idea.

Bazalian was the first human He took notice of. It was only after He heard Bazalian's call that He descended to this plane through a ritual. Mary, on the other hand, was another human He felt a sense of familiarity with, thousands of years after the First Era, who reminded Him of Bazalian.

If He could combine two happy memories, it would bring Him even more happiness.

His sudden statement successfully caught Mary's attention, and she stared at Barzatos for a long time.

"You are……?"

The seven-eyed woman also evoked some familiar feelings in her, though they weren't exactly happy memories.

Mary composed herself and reassured herself that it was probably because the woman had seven eyes.

"I am Ba—"

“He’s my good buddy, you can just call him Old Ba.”

Ethan quickly interrupted Bazatos's self-explanation, reminding Mary that this name couldn't be heard for the time being.

"Hello, Old Ba."

Mary extended her hand to the seven-eyed woman, and a subtle sensation quickly spread through her palm.

It has a coolness that touches the soul, and a sticky, slippery feeling.

"very good."

Ethan, as the team leader, stated, "Our next goal is to find all the goddess's remains!"

..............................

That night.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the mainland.

Ivy sat alone in her room on the second floor of the mansion, where the surroundings were unusually quiet.

She has been extremely busy these past few days. They have received reliable intelligence that Carlo has mobilized a frontline force of tens of thousands of men, which has put the entire cabinet in a state of tense preparation for war. More and more small countries are showing goodwill to the empire and expressing their willingness to send reinforcements to the empire.

Is war about to break out?
She stood facing the mirror in the room, which reflected her somewhat haggard face, and... something else.

That was a woman who existed deep in her memory, represented by an unfamiliar title.

mother.

The woman in the mirror was standing right behind her, looking at her with gentle eyes.

This is the second time.

(End of this chapter)