Women only affect my ability to spread the fire

Only after the impact was over did Rosaline finally remove the magic shield.

At this time, Rosaline was so tired that her legs were weak and she couldn't leave Russell's arms at all. She just let her precious magic wand lie in the mud at her feet.

She was covered in sweat, and her wide magic robe was soaked with sweat. Her hair, which was messed up by the wind, was now subdued by sweat and stuck quietly to her scalp.

Rosalyn lazily nestled in Russell's arms. The high-intensity calculations and the ability to crack the ancient tree's spells, as well as the sudden opening of the magic shield to deal with emergencies, consumed a lot of her energy.

Rosalyn was so exhausted that she felt as if she might fall asleep at any moment.

Just as Rosalyn's eyelids were about to close, the unpleasant voice echoed in the Forbidden Forest again.

"Excellent! Excellent! You did a great job! You really impressed me, young man!"

The voice praised Russell and seemed to appreciate the sword energy that Russell slashed out.

There was an irrepressible joy in its voice, and it also sounded a little weaker than before.

Russell could understand that the weakness was caused by the explosion, but what was the reason for this uncontrollable joy?

Rosalin, who was in Russell's arms, was suddenly awakened by the voice, and she felt a surge of anger for no reason.

"Francine, did you catch him?"

"Hehe! After destroying that ancient tree entangled with countless souls, this guy's existence is as dazzling as the moon in the night sky!" Francine replied proudly, "Of course I found him, sister!"

Very good, I want to see what this hiding guy is.

Russell helped Rosaline up, who was still leaning in his arms, and pulled out the sword that was stuck in the mud.

However, before Francine could point out the guy's location, the ground under the trees that were broken into pieces by the explosion suddenly began to spin.

After a moment, they silently lined up in two neat rows, forming a wide road between the two rows of trees, and at the end of the road, something could be vaguely seen.

Russell guessed that it must be the guy who was playing tricks.

As the trees formed a welcoming avenue, that unpleasant voice rang out again, its tone filled with joy: "Please come in, everyone, let's meet formally!"

Russell looked at Rosalyn. Rosalyn's lips were a little pale and she still looked a little weak.

But Rosalyn took out a pill and put it in her mouth.

After she swallowed the pill, Luosha nodded at Russell and smiled, "I'm fine. Let's go meet this enthusiastic gentleman."

"What did you take? Medicine to restore your magic power?" Russell asked curiously.

Rosalyn smiled and nodded, her spirits visibly restored. "Yes, it is indeed such a pill. Let's go."

"Ah, mages are really convenient." Russell sighed casually.

After confirming that Rosalyn was alright, Russell quietly asked Francine through the soul link, "Well, Francine, is this a trap?"

“No, he’s right at the end of the road,” Francine replied. “And the spirits in these trees are afraid of you. I don’t think this is a trap. If there is a trap, it has nothing to do with these broken trees. Look, they’re trembling with fear.”

"The trees are shaking because there's wind!" Russell retorted unhappily.

Since Francine said so, Russell no longer hesitated. He felt ready, so he walked forward with the four people along the road that still smelled of ashes.

There were no accidents along the way. When they reached the end of the road, Russell and his party did not see any living creatures, only a scarecrow.

The scarecrow is not tall and looks tattered. Its body is woven from several bundles of messy straw.

The scarecrow's arms are stretched out to both sides, as if welcoming every passerby coming in the wind.

However, its face had become incomplete under the ravages of wind and frost, and even only one eye socket remained. This remaining eye socket revealed a sense of emptiness.

The few strands of wheat straw sticking out of the decadent mouth seemed to be a reflection of the barren wheat fields in this year of severe drought.

How could there be a scarecrow in the forest? It doesn’t look normal. You are not hiding.

Without much thought, Russell immediately guessed that the scarecrow was the one with the unpleasant voice who invited him.

"This, this is the scarecrow! This is it! There are many souls flowing in it! It is the many sources I traced back to!" Francine's whisper echoed in Russell's heart at the right time, proving Russell's guess.

Russell looked the scarecrow up and down. He was not sure whether the scarecrow was full of malice, how credible its words "I have no ill will towards you" were, and what was its purpose in inviting them to meet it.

Russell was just trying to decide how to greet him when the Scarecrow spoke.

"Well, please allow me to formally introduce myself - my name is 'Ha'."

Its sound was as unpleasant as ever. Although it no longer echoed throughout the Forbidden Forest like a broadcast, it was even more piercing.

This voice even made Russell unable to think about this strange name at first. Instead, he resisted the rude action of raising his hands to plug his ears. Eleanor simply hid behind Russell again.

Margaret's voice suddenly became hurried: "Wait, you said your name is 'Ha'?"

Wait, what is it called?

ha?

This name is really strange, what does it mean?

Seeing that Margaret looked serious and seemed to be very familiar with this name, Russell patiently waited for the conversation between Margaret and "Ha".

The author says:

Author's words: Thanks to COICAL for the reminder, monthly tickets and coins;

Thanks to reader 1705688816 for the coin;

Thanks to Bloodthirsty Bronze Bull for the tip and coins;

Thanks to reader 1702173899 for the coin;

No updates tonight

Something small happened at home that needs time to be dealt with. I drank too much at a social event yesterday and wanted to finish the manuscript today, but I don’t have time.

It shouldn't affect tomorrow's update, please forgive me...

206 Primitive Sacrifice

"Yes, if I had a name for humans, my name would be 'Ha'." The Scarecrow answered Margaret's question in the affirmative.

"The 'Ha' I know is the god of harvest in the indigenous beliefs of East Usedom," Margaret explained to Russell, frowning. "The belief in this indigenous god gradually went underground decades ago with the expansion of the church and the crackdown on pagans..."

Russell looked at the scarecrow who called himself Ha. Putting aside his tattered appearance, he found that it was indeed the appearance of a god in charge of agriculture.

"The reason this deity was given the short, easy-to-understand name 'Ha' is because ancient people believed that language had magical powers. Using a syllable like this, which anyone can pronounce, as the deity's name, makes everyday speech akin to praying to the deity, expressing sincerity to the utmost."

Oh, so this is how the name Ha came about.

Russell nodded, and he looked at the tattered scarecrow next to him. It looked really, well, really down-to-earth.

This dilapidated appearance made it almost impossible for Russell to associate the scarecrow with a god.

"The folk witchcraft beliefs of Usedom today are closely tied to this Ha. Some scholars also view the battle we encountered earlier, where the witches used fennel bundles and sorghum stalks, as a sacrificial ritual to Ha."

Margaret continued to introduce...

"Oh, oh, so that's how it is." The Scarecrow's tone was as if he had suddenly realized something. "So that's how I got my name. So people dance with fennel bundles and sorghum stalks to pray to me for a good harvest?"

Margaret didn't really regard the scarecrow in front of her as a god. For Margaret, she had only one god, Russell, who was patiently listening to her story.

Therefore, facing the Scarecrow's behavior of claiming to be a god, Margaret sneered: "Are you trying to say that you are the god that people worship, 'ha'?"

"No, no, no! I'm not a god!" Ha said in his unpleasant voice.

The scarecrow in front of her claimed that he was not a god, which at least eliminated some of Margaret's hostility, so she continued to ask questions.

After asking and answering many details one by one, Margaret no longer had any doubts about the scarecrow in front of her. She nodded to Russell, confirming the identity of the scarecrow in front of her.

Only then did Ha have a chance to breathe. He corrected Margaret, "Those wizards can't be my believers! Have you ever seen a god imprisoned by his believers?"

This was a lot of information. Russell narrowed his eyes and asked, "You said you were imprisoned by a wizard?"

"Ah, that's right! That's it!" the unpleasant voice affirmed, its tone full of joy.

"Speaking of which, I have to thank you, young man! Thanks to you for chopping up that ancient tree that was parasitic on this land and constantly draining my energy, I finally regained my freedom! I feel great! I haven't felt this relaxed in a long time!"

As Ha spoke, the ground beneath his feet began to spin, causing the scarecrow to spin in circles, its body swaying as if it could fall down at any time.

Oh, so you asked me to cut down that tree to free you.

Russell raised his eyebrows: "Since I saved you, shouldn't you express your gratitude?"

"Ah? Didn't I express my gratitude?" Ha asked somewhat puzzled.

"So you're just going to thank me verbally?"

"Ah? Didn't I already thank you according to your human customs? Dancing and bowing. Uh, my body isn't as flexible as yours, so this is the best I can do!"

Oh, so when you spin your body you are dancing, and when you sway your body you are bowing...

Russell was speechless.

"You humans are so weird. When there's a good harvest, humans use these rituals to thank me. I do the same for you, so why aren't you satisfied?" Ha asked curiously.

Margaret couldn't bear to listen any longer. "As far as I know, when humans celebrate the harvest festival, in addition to dancing and revelry, they also offer sacrifices."

"Ah? What sacrifice?" Ha asked in confusion.

Ha denied receiving any offerings, and Margaret suddenly became serious. "Really? I've seen many records of ancient sacrifices, and they all record how much wine, livestock, and the newly harvested grain would be provided. So you didn't receive any offerings at all?"

Ha said in a tone of sudden enlightenment: "Ah, so those things that are completely useless to me are sacrifices?"

Russell felt that what Ha said seemed to make sense. If a supernatural being (regardless of whether he was a god or not) did not eat or drink, then wine, livestock, and food could hardly be considered effective sacrifices.

Margaret even took out a pen and paper and took notes quickly by the torch.

At this moment, Ha seemed to remember something, and it suddenly realized: "Oh, that's right! A long time ago, humans did sacrifice something useful to me. Then I will also express my gratitude to you!"

As soon as it finished speaking, Russell felt the ground beneath his feet shaking again, and a tree not far away moved towards Russell.

Russell couldn't understand what this scarecrow was trying to say.

"Be careful, there are two souls in that tree," Francine warned quietly, adding, "There are countless souls entangled in this scarecrow."

Russell nodded, became alert, and quietly pressed the sword at his waist.

At this time, the tree had slowly come to Russell's front, and then it suddenly split open by itself, and a two-headed monster rolled out from the hollow trunk.

Both of its heads were bruised and swollen, and it was in a coma. Russell took a long time to identify it before he confirmed that this was the two-headed monster consisting of the couple he had encountered before.

Russell looked at Ha in confusion, not understanding what it was going to do, nor why this was considered Ha's way of thanking him.

"Alas, it's a pity that you have to do the final step yourself. Please forgive me, these are the most human-like creatures in this forbidden forest, and I have no way to kill them like you humans do!" Ha continued to speak carelessly.

But this time, Russell could no longer treat Ha as a confused guy.

Russell's voice turned cold. "So, the only sacrifice that's useful to you is killing people in a ritual?"

"In more primitive stages, food was insufficient to support so many people, so it wasn't uncommon to kill the extra people as sacrifices to the gods."

Margaret explained at the right moment, her voice also tinged with disgust: "It's just that no one expected that sacrificing lives would actually be useful to this guy, right?"

Ha readily admitted: "Yes, and then I absorbed these souls to slowly become stronger -"

Before Ha could finish his words, he was interrupted by a flying spell.

The author says:

Author's note: Thanks to reader 1705688816 for the coin;

Thanks to Bloodthirsty Bronze Bull for the tip and coins;

Thanks to reader 1697116370 for the coin;

Thanks to Clemacia for the monthly pass and coins;

207 Roger and Diane

This guy is an absolute evil god! He grows stronger by devouring human souls. Is there any essential difference between him and a demon?

Russell thought so and let the magic spell flying from afar pass by him.

The powerful spell hit the scarecrow like a stone thrown into a lake. Apart from causing momentary ripples, nothing happened.

"Damn it, it's completely broken free from the restrictions!" An exasperated voice came from afar.

Another voice sounded equally panicked. "Damn it! Where's that ancient tree that was supposed to suppress it? Did those bastards from the church finally succeed and destroy the ancient tree?"

"Now is not the time to talk about this, go! Ah!"