Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 145 Plague Bringer

At first, Winter wanted to hunt a high-level monster to replenish Ethan's body. She had read some folk remedies in the forbidden book, saying that many high-level monsters would be of great benefit to the human body after being cooked and eaten, among which dragons were the most prominent. In the Third Age, there was a special ritual that involved eating dragon meat and drinking dragon blood to achieve a body as strong as a dragon.

Some time ago, she read a banned book in St. Hillman's Church that explored the ultimate mysteries of life and mentioned the importance of a healthy body.

After some observation, Lin Dong found that Ethan rarely exercised and liked to stay up late. This would not work, so he had to use external things to help him replenish his body.

Although they have not yet reached the stage of exploring the mysteries of life, she feels that they should prepare in advance.

However, Winter didn't expect that her first hunt would be so unsuccessful. She didn't encounter any high-level monsters, but instead encountered a group of hunters who were preparing to cause chaos on the border of the empire. After hearing the conversation between the officer and the magician, her temper came up - since they were here, they must eat the summoned monsters this time!
Preferably a sub-dragon species.

Winter looked at the starry sky and made a wish.

Not long ago, they talked about the upcoming attack in the chat room. Ethan thought it was a good thing. Hagrid and his men had never experienced a real war. The hunters of Wolf's Head Fort were very suitable as their first opponents. The hunters were mostly equipped with crossbows and bows and arrows. Compared with the army, these people were more like bandits entrenched in the stronghold.

According to his understanding, Wolf's Head Fort had not been built in recent years, and supplies were almost entirely obtained by robbing border caravans.

The brown boiled egg mentioned by Winter was wanted by the Empire for robbery, murder and other crimes in the early years. From time to time, caravans would appear on the guild's bulletin board, hoping that Ximu Town could send troops to wipe out the gang of bandits in Wolf's Head Fort.

At first, Baron Gladin would write to Gear City every once in a while to request reinforcements, but the garrison of Gear City simply ignored him, and his troops were not enough to launch an attack on Wolf's Head Fort, so the matter was left unresolved and became a historical legacy issue in Creekwood Town.

This time, they took advantage of the opportunity to attack Ximu Town and solve the bandit problem on the border at the same time.

As for the witch who caused the scarlet plague, they can only be more careful.

Due to the limited information they had, they were unable to discuss and understand the witch's true purpose.

Just when Brown Egg thought that this attack had the best timing, location and people, and was having a drink for this perfect attack plan, Ivy had already warned Baron Gladin of the movements of Wolf's Head Fort.

Ethan discovered that his teacher seemed to be a genius at naming. After some discussion, no one could remember the officer's name, but the nickname "brown boiled egg" became popular.

On the other side, Ivy's warning was at a stalemate.

She prepared the letter and made up a story with Ethan, saying that a classmate of hers from the Enlightenment Society had passed on information for them to prepare in advance, but she never expected that there would be a problem with the name of the bandit leader.

Her words "brown boiled eggs" immediately plunged Baron Gladin's manor into silence. The butler and the maids had strange looks on their faces, as if they wanted to laugh but didn't dare to.

Baron Gladin stared at Ivy with shocked eyes.

What did they hear?
A brown boiled egg is about to attack Riverwood?
This sentence, coupled with Ivy's serious expression, brought the comedy effect to an unprecedented level. They now couldn't help but suspect that the eldest daughter of Margaret's family was a cold-faced comedian behind the scenes.

Ivy pinched the blond hair that was bent with laughter. She quickly came up with an idea and explained, "The bandits from Wolf's Head Fort will launch a raid on Riverwood Town in the near future. The current leader has a brown bald head and is easy to identify in the crowd."

She felt this was a key message.

If you explain to Hagrid and the others how many caravans Brown Egg had robbed and how many crimes he had committed over the years, it would be difficult for them to form an intuitive understanding. At that time, one or two hundred people were fighting in a group and the scene was in chaos. The leader was a third-level hunter and it was easy for him to take advantage of the situation and seriously injure several people. But if you talk about Brown Egg, he could be seen from afar when the two armies were facing each other, and he was shot to death with a round of volleys at the beginning.

Thinking of this, Ivy suddenly felt that having a very distinctive appearance was not a good thing on the battlefield, as it was easy to become the target of the enemy's concentrated fire.

She drew inferences from the incident and immediately realized that she also belonged to the high-risk group. If she were to go to the battlefield in the future, the enemy commander would most likely wave his hand and order "Shoot the woman with the tuft of hair on her head!"

"Wolf's Head Castle..."

Baron Gretin came to his senses. This was a thorn in his side. According to the description of the victims of the caravan, there were about a hundred bandits, most of whom were former hunters from guilds of various countries. Some of them committed crimes while carrying out commissions, while others felt that robbery could make money much faster than completing commissions.

"I can mobilize the residents of Riverwood Town. We will not be at a disadvantage in terms of numbers. The key lies in the leader... Brown Egg."

It's over, Baron Gladin felt that he was also infected.

He couldn't remember the other person's name at all. When the words came to his lips, he suddenly felt that Brown Sauteed Egg was catchy and very recognizable. "He used to be an Imperial, and a third-level hunter certified by the guild. He is a dangerous person."

This is also the reason why he did not dare to send troops because Gear City did not come to reinforce.

In border cities, third-level transcendents are already considered big shots. No matter what path they take, once they reach the third level, they will be regarded as high-level transcendents. They often possess abilities that are beyond ordinary people's cognition, and in a battle of a hundred people, they will be the key to reversing the situation.

Baron Gladin looked solemn. "He is a hunter from the Wolf School. A caravan that was attacked mentioned that he is not only proficient in archery, but can also summon wolves. The guards they hired were wiped out in one encounter."

The poor merchant was robbed of all his belongings, beaten and stripped naked. His only luck was that he did not bring his family with him on his business trip. The bandits in Wolf's Head Fort would snatch away any women they met, and never hear from them again.

"You just need to mobilize the townspeople and put them in a state of readiness. Don't forget that you have already innovated your equipment."

Ivy spoke up. It was obvious that Baron Gladin did not have an intuitive understanding of the products of Old Sen's Magic Technology Store. However, she could not blame him. If she had not known Ethan, she would probably think that Brown Egg was a difficult enemy. But in fact, if Ethan and Winter were included, the current Riverwood Town even had the power to subvert a small country.

In front of the saint, no matter how many people there are, they are like cannon fodder and lose their meaning.

Brown Egg, who was still tasting wine at this moment, probably could not have imagined in his dreams what kind of place he was going to attack.

While Baron Gladin was talking to Ivy, Lao Ba's chosen one, the Great Plague Bringer, was spreading the plague in the town with all his might.

The golden flames were transformed into fingernail-sized scarabs, which were scattered throughout the town. These scarabs were given the same order - to find people infected with the scarlet plague, drill into their bodies, and infect them.

Although Lao Ba's aesthetic taste in art was criticized, he was a rare good teacher. He shared forbidden knowledge without reservation, helping Ethan thoroughly understand the concept of plague and laying a solid foundation for him to become a plague messenger.

In the book "The Scarlet Plague", Old Ba showed Ethan two different forms of the same plague.

Ordinary infected people, like the residents of Riverside Town, will die from organ rot and massive bleeding, but if they "open their hearts" to the great Heavenly Father, they will be transformed into flesh and blood creatures with powerful vitality. As for how they will exist, it is closely related to Lao Ba's aesthetics at that time point.

This means that the symptoms of infection with the plague are entirely determined by the person who spreads the plague.

Lao Ba can make people die in pain, or he can make them live "eternally".

After some debugging with Mr. Evans, Ethan identified the symptoms of the scarab plague.

Their souls, twisted by the Crimson Plague, will be repaired and become immune to the Crimson Plague.

Rowena thought Ethan was talking nonsense because it didn't sound like the effect of a plague at all. Ethan's theories were always somewhere between making sense and not making sense.

She originally dismissed Ivy's words, but after listening to Ethan's nonsense, she had to rethink her remarks.

Ethan isn't actually human at all!

But no matter what, she was a witness, so Rowena left the apartment and followed the scarab's trail straight to old Lecht's farm.

Old Lecht's condition deteriorated rapidly, and his internal organs had long since rotted. He had only managed to hold on until today because of his amazing belief in getting rid of the devil in his son. When Rowena left last night, old Lecht was already lying dying on the straw pile outside the barn.

He asked Rowena to burn him with the straw if he died.

According to the knowledge of scarlet plague mentioned by Ethan, no matter how strong a person is, he cannot survive the sixth day - tonight is the last day of old Lecht.

When they arrived at the farm, old Lecht had lost consciousness. The straw he was pressing down on was stained red with blood. His body was still bleeding. The corners of his mouth, nostrils, ear holes, corners of his eyes... only the unconscious twitching of his muscles proved that he was not completely dead yet.

There were many people like old Lecht. Among the 74 refugees who fled to Creekwood Town, some also showed the same symptoms. They bled profusely and soon fell into a coma. People were helpless until an inconspicuous beetle drilled into their bodies through their ears or nostrils.

Rowena saw a golden light emanating from old Lecht, and his body seemed to have become a container of light. His unconscious body was held up by an invisible force, and the remaining blood on his body evaporated at a speed visible to the naked eye.

At this moment, the people in the Riverwood Town Hospital witnessed the arrival of the plague. Their reaction was much stronger than Rowena's. They prostrated themselves in front of the infected people and prayed devoutly like believers.

Rowena witnessed the transformation of old Lecht and suddenly smiled in relief. Only Ethan would call it a plague. In all other organizations similar to the Church, this phenomenon has only one explanation: it is the grace of the Righteous God. When humans are in danger, God's grace will descend upon them and heal their pain.

Old Lecht slowly woke up, his brows no longer twisted by pain, and he sat up immediately.

He looked at his hands in disbelief, as if he was still immersed in this miracle.

"What did you see?"

Rowena asked him.

"I... it's hard to say... maybe it was a figure..."

The farmer, who usually had a strange temper, spoke with a tone full of joy and confusion.

"Congratulations, you have recovered."

"Miss Fortune Teller, are you helping me?"

"Me? I don't have that ability." Rowena raised her eyebrows jokingly, "Maybe your prayers were heard by a certain upright god."

At the same time, Ethan sneezed in the kitchen.

He hadn't eaten all day and was humming a little tune as he prepared a simple meal of hard bread and sour cream.

A horn sounded deep in the night. Baron Gladin was urgently summoning the people in the town. Whenever the town was in danger, the Baron's family would summon everyone, and the residents stopped what they were doing and responded to the call.

Soon, the central square of the town was filled with people, including those who had just recovered from the scarlet plague. People's eyes were solemn. To them, today was the day when a miracle happened, but it also meant that something big was about to happen.

This was a pre-war mobilization, and as usual, Baron Gladin told the story of the glorious past of Creekwood Town.

Ethan stood at the end of the group, holding a piece of hard bread and sour cream.

After a while, Rowena came over and spread her hands to him very naturally, "We'll split it in half when we meet."

She has been busy all day and hasn't had time to eat.

Inspired by Baron Gladin, the people of Creekwood, who had witnessed the miracle, united as never before. More importantly, they had long heard of the evil deeds of Wolf's Head Fort, a group of greedy bandits, and they must not let this group of people take away their homes!
Pitchforks and axes will become weapons to help them resist foreign enemies. The blacksmith took the initiative to step forward and said that he was willing to make the weapons in the store available to everyone.

They united as one to fight the enemy together, and also learned an important piece of information.

The leader is a brown boiled egg, the archer should focus on him and shoot first!

At the same time, in front of the military camp of Wolf's Head Fort, Brown Egg was also giving the same pre-war speech. However, compared to Baron Gladin's actions, this was more like a declaration of victory. The issue that was mentioned most was the distribution of the spoils after the occupation of Riverwood Town.

"There are plenty of food and supplies there, and of course, juicy girls!"

Brown Egg raised the bottle above his head, and the bandits responded in droves, they couldn't wait to taste the fruits of victory.

"This is an effortless battle. According to reliable information I received, a plague has swept the town. If we take action at this time, those people will have no power to resist. The only ones who may cause trouble are the guards under Baron Gladin, but for us who have been through many battles, they are nothing to be afraid of!"

There was another round of applause.

Brown Egg looked at the people moving around in the light of the torches, and felt a little elated.

If the witch had not brought this news, he would not have dared to attack Ximu Town. Even if they could break through the town’s defenses, it would have ended in a lose-lose situation. But now, those people are sick.

The spy he had planted in the town's guild returned to Wolf's Head Castle not long ago and brought back some great news - the Witch Lady did not lie, those people suffered from some diseases that caused them to cough up blood, and many were sent to the hospital to wait for death. They didn't need to do anything, the residents of the town were already dying.

The various recent rumors made him realize one thing, "The empire is about to be finished. They simply don't have the energy to manage the unrest on the border!"

And now, he wants to add the final weight to this great victory.

15 pure souls.

Following Brown Egg's order, fifteen children with their heads covered by linen bags were escorted out like cargo. Their hands and feet were bound with iron chains, and slight sobbing sounds came from under the bags.

This glorious task was given to his most trusted lieutenant.

A strategic map with the location marked was handed to the adjutant. Before dawn, the adjutant led a team of ten people towards the marked direction.

Brown Egg watched the team leave Wolf's Head Fort and disappear into the night. Victory was already within reach!

They would attack late tomorrow night, and before that he could have a drink.

Before dawn, a team of ten people led by the adjutant arrived at the designated location.

It was a terrace located deep in the mountains. The moment he arrived at the designated location, he was shocked by the huge magic circle drawn with blood on the ground, which was filled with obscure words.

This is clearly a ritual of the evil god.

The children seemed to have a premonition of their fate and their crying became even louder.

No one paid attention to the cries of the children, as they were born to the women they had robbed and were the only useless ones left after screening.

The strong children will be selected, learn archery and hone their combat skills from an early age, follow the teachings of the goddess of hunting, and live a life like wild beasts; the beautiful ones will also be selected, washed clean, and taken home to be raised.

As for those children who are ignored by everyone, they will be regarded as useless waste and left to fend for themselves.

Most of these children did not live past the age of ten, but now, they have other uses.

The list of 15 pure souls, referring to underage children, lists the detailed steps used in the summoning ceremony.

The adjutant spread the list on a stone and read it carefully.

But before long, he was interrupted by a subordinate who came over on tiptoe. The subordinate lowered his body and pointed to the distance, "Boss, look over there!"

The adjutant looked into the distance and was immediately attracted by a big golden bird. He had never seen such a beautiful creature. The big golden bird seemed to have discovered them and stood there observing them secretly.

Or more accurately, watching the children whose heads were covered in linen bags.

We have to find a way to bring it back to Wolf's Head Fort!
The adjutant looked greedily at the magical creature in the distance.

"Miss Chloe, these are the people!"

The adjutant was horrified by the female voice coming from the forest. What frightened him even more was that the big golden bird, after receiving the order, let out a hissing sound, emitted a dazzling light, spread its wings, and flew into the sky.

The bandits looked up, but couldn't open their eyes.

The huge shadow above their heads turned into a sun.

In the panic, they heard the female voice hiding in the dark again.

She commanded the sun, "Take them!"

(End of this chapter)