Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 477 Everything is possible
See, this is the harm of randomly digging up other people's remains.

This reminded Ethan of some tomb raiding novels he had read before, where a group of fully armed people broke into someone's tomb, only to unearth a monster that wiped out the entire team.

Now, Pope Carlo, the leader of a large tomb raiding gang, has brought about his own demise. Everything he had tried so hard to maintain in the Holy City over the years has become a breeding ground for the flesh plague.

The moment the tomb's owner awakens will be the moment the "large-scale tomb-raiding gang in the far west" is completely wiped out.

Ethan sincerely hopes that Mr. Carlo will learn a profound lesson from this experience, behave himself in the future, and strive to be a law-abiding citizen in his next life.

Clearly, the great Goddess of Life had no interest in mingling with the Church's fanatical followers or holding a grand fan meet-and-greet. After ordering the surrounding flesh and blood creatures to rush toward them, she stepped into a cracked, giant fleshy tentacle. Ethan had never seen such a creature before, but he could imagine that it served the same purpose as the tunnel worm.

Ethan kindly reminded Mary, who was holding the wind elemental sword, "From now on, I still suggest that you don't confuse her with the goddess in your memory. It's not good for your mental and physical health."

Although he and Mary were close friends, one thing is one thing. Mary had a "past" of her past. She had turned to the evil god Bazartos when she was extremely disappointed with the Church and the Goddess of Life. Ethan thought the reason was very simple - if the Goddess of Life and Bazartos's power were the same, why would they believe in a completely inferior imitation instead of Bazartos himself?

In the past, Bazartos's unconventional artistic pursuits were the biggest obstacle for most people. However, the deeper your understanding of flesh and blood and the power of evolution, the more you understand Bazartos's personality, the smaller this obstacle becomes until it eventually disappears.

In fact, Buffett has a very open mind and has never cared what those who believe in him do with this power.

Once you set aside the exaggerated "visual effects" and return to the essence, you'll find that this is a lenient sect that rewards good behavior (in the arts) and punishes bad behavior. It's rare to find a sect leader who suddenly appears out of nowhere and gathers everyone together to point fingers at them and impose hundreds of rules on them.

This is a fatal temptation for someone who has reached Mary's level of power.

Her sister's death became the trigger for her betrayal of the church. She exhausted everything she had learned in the church, but she could not change the process of her sister being transformed into a flesh and blood creation. She could only watch helplessly as it happened before her eyes, witnessing the secret that the goddess of life and other upright gods tried their best to cover up to the world.

The book "Mary the Bloody High Priestess" focuses on this chapter.

This is because it signifies the disappearance of a holy woman of the Church and the birth of an evil witch.

However, the author of this book was, after all, a bard from a later era. Despite his strong literary skills and dramatic awareness, he did not understand the mystery that Mary truly saw in that transformation. The author could not even verify what happened during the Crimson Age and could only rely on legends from various places and his own imagination to write an epic.

But that was by no means the end of Mary's story.

Under Mary's astonished gaze, Ethan slowly walked toward the flesh-and-blood creature that was approaching him, then raised his hand and patted it on the shoulder in a friendly manner.

The next moment, something even stranger happened.

The ferocious appearance of the flesh-and-blood creature vanished. Instead, after uttering some broken murmurs at Ethan, it plopped down on the ground. The murmurs quickly spread among the monsters, and the remaining flesh-and-blood creatures followed suit, disarming themselves and abandoning their hostility.

Although she couldn't understand the specific meaning of the whispers, Mary somehow gleaned from the relaxed postures of those flesh-and-blood creatures what they were trying to express—a misunderstanding, they were all buddies.

"What have you done!?"

She blurted out that the visual and mental impact of this scene was far stronger than a spell destroying an entire city. Even the most terrifying cultists she knew couldn't treat a flesh-and-blood creature like Ethan did, as if it were a new friend she met at a restaurant after get off work.

She even doubted that the "Goddess of Life," who had turned the Holy City into a living hell, could do such a thing.

"This is the benefit of learning another foreign language when you're traveling abroad."

Ethan answered fluently. Mary suddenly felt that even if the world were to be destroyed in the next second, it would not kill Ethan's composure. Facing the monsters that filled the city and the scene that was like purgatory, he still spoke eloquently, "Imagine that a monster suddenly appears in the city with a long sword of unknown origin and cuts down half of the city in one go. In order to save their lives, everyone has no choice but to fight this monster to the death."

"Monster... do you mean me?"

Mary's eyelids twitched violently a few times; she admitted that the Dawn Crown Cathedral, still floating in mid-air, made her feel uncertain.

The thought of how much it would cost to restore the church and the city after everything was over made her dizzy.

“I’m just explaining what’s happening to you from a different perspective—so when they realize it’s a misunderstanding and you didn’t intend to kill everyone, they relax.”

Upon hearing this, Mary's expression became complicated, and she put away the wind elemental sword with a hint of guilt.

Because if Ethan hadn't pulled this stunt in front of her, she really intended to kill all the flesh and blood creatures present; there was no misunderstanding at all.

Having lived through the Crimson Age, she knew that this was the only way to treat the infected and to liberate their twisted souls.

"This is the biggest lesson I've learned from spending so much time with Buffett."

Ethan witnessed the fall of the Kania civilization in the database of the God of Truth. It was a plague that far surpassed the Scarlet Plague in both scale and severity. No Kania person in the galaxy survived. From the human perspective, the Kania civilization was indeed destroyed. However, Old Ba had a different interpretation.

The Kanya people gained immortality.

With a more powerful physique, each person's thoughts can be accurately conveyed to each other. This is similar to how the thoughts of an independent individual on Earth can be precisely transmitted to a friend on Pluto without the aid of any tools. Although they have never met or lived in each other's places, they can truly connect with each other.

Before the "destruction" of the Kanya civilization, both of these were their greatest pursuits, and were once regarded as impossible miracles by the most intelligent people among the Kanya.

That was also the first time that Barzatos seriously responded to human desires, although the ending was somewhat...unsatisfactory.

“Old Bahrain conveyed a new idea to me and his followers—that this is another form of life.”

Winter and Barzatos had just stepped out of the shattered sanctuary when they heard the two talking and stopped in their tracks.

The woman with seven eyes was unusually moved by the emotion of "curiosity," which is unique to humans.

He had known Ethan for so long, and had never heard him directly comment on himself.

This strange and unfamiliar expectation held the same allure even for the Old Gods.

"Moriko, are you trying to speak up for Bazatos and his followers?"

Mary frowned seriously.

This was undoubtedly outrageous talk. If it had been anyone else, those words would have been enough for her to smash a nail into their head.

But since it's Mori, no matter how outrageous his statements are, it's worth listening to them before making a judgment.

"Now is not the time."

Ethan shook his head. He was recounting a sequel that wasn't included in the book "Mary the Bloody High Priest"—that is, what happened after Mary realized the secret that the goddess of life was trying so hard to hide and converted to the faith of Bazartos.

"Let's put aside grand concepts like the Scarlet Plague, evil gods, and rightful gods for now. Imagine this is a dog you meet on the street. You unexpectedly learn that it was originally a human, perhaps due to a failed alchemical experiment or some other unfortunate event. These things don't matter. What matters is whether you have a way to turn it back into a human?"

No.

The words were on the tip of Mary's tongue, but she suddenly froze on the spot.

This is the standard answer from believers of the Church of Life, because the human body and soul are far too complex, and any research involving the distortion of the body and soul is strictly prohibited by the precepts, as it would certainly bring unimaginable consequences.

But... if we set aside the Vatican's rules and answer Ethan's question from the perspective of an alchemist...

The answer must be yes.

Theoretically speaking, since there is a potion that can turn people into dogs, there must also be a version with the opposite effect; this is the balance that alchemists strive for.

Even if she doesn't know the potion recipe yet, given enough time and samples, she'll eventually be able to develop a corresponding version. Furthermore, if she broadens her horizons further, Mary has heard that in the magician's world, tricks like turning people into animals and animals into people are nothing new.

Mary saw through the essence of Ethan's problem at a glance because she had had similar thoughts back in the Crimson Age. However, the biggest obstacle to this problem was the Church's precepts—the prerequisite for studying reverse transformation was that she had to have a sufficient understanding of Bazartos's powers, or even become one of them.

But just now, this last shackle disappeared.

If the power of the goddess of life and that of Bazartos ultimately leads to the same goal...

Mary's mind was filled with the agonizing half-hour she had endured. In those fragmented scenes, she had failed to cure the plague. She had thought it was the end of everything, but what if... what if it was actually the beginning of something else?

The flesh plague prolongs the lives of patients. Generally speaking, as long as they are not physically destroyed, they can continue to exist. This means that she actually has enough time to explore, study, and master them.

Mary suddenly thought of something and slowly approached the seemingly harmless flesh and blood creature sitting easily next to Ethan.

It has long since changed beyond recognition, showing no resemblance to humans whatsoever.

This time, she didn't draw her sword, but instead placed her palm on the soft, sticky flesh.

The expected nauseating sensation was quickly dispelled by the gentle green fluorescence.

During the Crimson Era, she had exhausted all means as a saintess of the Church, but now… Ethan's suggestion flashed through her mind:
Leaving aside Bazartos, the precepts of the Papacy, and that terrible scarlet plague.

This is a hapless soul who was turned into a dog after accidentally ingesting a magic potion, and he was brought to her in the hope of getting help.

Mary closed her eyes, her mind so focused that she ignored the change in the form of the magic.

A splash of red appeared in the pure green fluorescence, and then the red grew more and more abundant and intense until it became dominant.

Under the influence of the scarlet energy, the form of flesh and blood creations is also quietly changing.

Unidentified whispers echoed in Mary's ears, and as they accumulated in her mind, she surprisingly understood their meaning:
I have never felt so good.

Nothing else matters anymore; this is the true meaning of life.

I plan to open a minced meat restaurant here.

How about we hold a competition to see who can learn the most?
The sounds came from all directions, like many people speaking at the same time, yet also like the voice of the same person.

Gradually, all the whispers became clear and distinct, right in her ears.

"Huh?"

Mary opened her eyes and found herself holding onto someone's arm.

The man she was pulling by the arm was wearing a priest's robe; the monster from before had vanished.

She recognized him; it was the priest in the confessional.

It worked!
Mary was breathing rapidly—this was the antidote she had been searching for throughout the Crimson Age!

"Moriko, Moriko! Did you see that? He's back! He's back!"

As she excitedly spoke, Mary also gave the priest's hand a hard pinch, and his grimacing expression confirmed to her that she wasn't dreaming.

The antidote that she, as a saint of the papacy, could not find in her entire life was achieved within minutes of "becoming a follower of Barzatos".

Her eyes gleamed as she looked at Ethan. "What does this mean?"

Mary had never felt the world was so absurd. She witnessed the resurrected goddess of life twist her followers into flesh and blood creatures, and then, with the power of Bazartos, she turned those creatures back into humans.

"It means you've turned Buffett into a 'subway senior citizen's phone.jpg'."

Mary suddenly realized something and looked behind her.

What comes into view is a woman with seven eyes.

Bazartos clearly witnessed this scene as well.

The seven-eyed woman looked at her with utter disgust, her brows furrowed so deeply they resembled a twisted knot, and her gaze was filled with profound disappointment.

This perfectly good work of art has been ruined like this!

By this point, he had completely lost all hope in Mary.

"That's what makes Buffett so magnanimous."

Ethan said, "Even if you turn Him into this expression, He won't punish you for what you've done."

"Compared to these, how did you come up with these theories?"

Mary still couldn't contain her excitement.

"What theory?"

"A human who turned into a dog after eating a magic potion!"

It was this vivid and practical example that allowed Mary to discard those distracting options during the process and return to the essence of magic.

She felt that whoever came up with this theory was a genius among geniuses.

However, she couldn't find a trace of the arrogance of a genius on Ethan's face, only a look of someone who had seen it all before.

"Anything is possible."

These are lessons learned through blood and tears.

Ethan let out a long sigh.

Years ago, when he first woke up among a group of refugees outside Riverwood, he too had been innocent and naive.

On his way to the Adventurers' Guild after finishing reading a book, he encountered a stray Ragdoll cat. Because he was too lonely living alone in another world, he took the white Ragdoll cat home.

Years later, when the ragdoll cat turned into a human and sneaked into his room in the middle of the night, pushing him onto the bed, he experienced firsthand the infinite possibilities of this world.

Ethan must remind those who haven't yet been victimized to be more vigilant; the cat you pick up on the street might actually be a witch in disguise.

Who knows?

(End of this chapter)