Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 217 From the Abyss
As a witch research scholar, Ethan saw a witch other than Winter for the first time today.

Eternity became one of their symbols.

Palansi mentioned on the phone that Nightmare was once an Imperial, born in a border city of the Empire. It was the peak period of the Empire's foreign wars, and almost every city was shrouded in the shadow of war. Batches of knights embarked on expeditions, and wounded people returned from the front lines every day.

The hospitals were almost completely occupied by wounded soldiers, and dead bodies were piled up on the streets, emitting a foul smell, waiting to be incinerated in batches.

The Nightmare Witch grew up in such an environment.

She was born into a wealthy aristocratic family, so she was exposed to a lot of knowledge about magic and supernatural ways since she was a child. This environment continued until she was 12 years old, when her father was ordered by Henry III to lead the Knights to block the enemy's legion.

The troops involved in this mission were completely wiped out and without their mainstay, coupled with the sabotage caused by hostile forces, Nightmare's family fell into poverty, their house was ransacked, and her mother lost contact after that. She went from being a pampered noble lady to an orphan wandering around with servants.

It was also from that day that Nightmare began to indulge in the study of magic and developed an unusual obsession with eternal life. He even went so far as to violate the ban of the Holy See and delve into the forbidden knowledge.

Ethan took this information to heart.

But at the same time, Winter, who has a cat-like personality, did not seem to welcome Nightmare's arrival. When he learned that she planned to take him and Rowena back to the abyss, he immediately began to breathe heavily.

If Nightmare continues talking, the angry cat might actually take aggressive action.

Winter's eyes were full of disgust.

This was supposed to be a wonderful night for her and Ethan. She had dressed up specially in the afternoon and smelled delicious. However, all this beauty was broken by a sudden nightmare.

Wherever the Dream Eclipse members go, nothing good will happen.

Fortunately, as Ethan got along with Winter, he became proficient in how to comfort cats. He patted Winter's shoulder, and when the latter turned her face away in confusion, he put his hand on her chin and scratched it gently.

The anger in Winter's eyes disappeared. She narrowed her eyes, revealing an expression of enjoyment, and made a slight nasal sound.

This scene brought great shock to Nightmare.

That was her student, but now he was being soothed like a house cat, looking completely tamed!
She had never seen Winter look like this before.

For the reserved followers of Bazatos, only the closest people would allow each other to touch them in this way. Nightmare remembered that Winter was very much like an old-school follower of Bazatos. She attached great importance to physical contact and never liked others to touch her easily, not even her companion Rowena.

Nightmare also remembered that Winter's cat form was cute and charming, making people want to touch her and hold her in their arms. However, such an excessive behavior would only make them eat a charged ice arrow.

Rowena was indomitable and failed countless times for this.

However, Ethan did what she, as a teacher, could never dream of!

The slight nasal tone sounded like she was acting coquettishly towards Ethan, and the slightly narrowed eyes almost melted Nightmare's heart.

What a docile and lovely cat!

It seemed as if the person who had just breathed at her and sent a "I'm going to stab you to death" signal with his eyes was not a single person.

"Let's sit down and talk."

Ethan took the initiative to invite Nightmare and closed the door to the banquet hall, blocking the light and noise on the other side. At this moment, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse, and the environment was much quieter. There were several sets of tables and chairs set up on the terrace, which was originally a place to provide people with a conversation space after the banquet.

Nightmare suppressed his envy and jealousy and sat opposite Ethan.

The panting cat was appeased, and the atmosphere of the conversation eased a lot, but she still made her mind clear, "I won't go back with you."

As early as in Ximu Town, she and Rowena had planned to withdraw from Dream Eclipse, but Dream Eclipse had no formal system and would not provide members with the option to withdraw from the organization. It seemed that once you entered Dream Eclipse, you would be a lifelong believer in the evil god.

But on the other hand, Dream Eclipse's management of its members is extremely loose, it can even be described as no management. Winter and Rowena discussed it and decided that as long as the members did not explicitly declare their withdrawal from the organization to the Council of Elders and did not take the initiative to confront them, Dream Eclipse would have no control over them at all.

The result was that before the nightmare came tonight, Winter had almost forgotten about the Dream Eclipse.

After receiving Winter's decisive answer, Nightmare's eyes darkened.

Her mind was a little confused. Lin Dong's attitude towards her made her suddenly realize a serious question - Lin Dong, does he know that he has always treated her as a student?

Nightmare calls herself an old-school follower of Bazatos, one of whose characteristics is that she is extremely reserved in expressing her emotions. She thinks Winter is of the same kind as her and can sense her thoughts from many details of their interactions, so in her imagination, they have the identities of student and teacher.

Since leaving the Empire to live in the Abyss, Nightmare has never cared so much about anyone.

This is because she saw her own shadow in Lin Dong, as well as the amazing talents that this student possessed.

"Did something happen in the abyss?"

Ethan's question brought Nightmare back to reality. He didn't know why Nightmare looked like a victim, but he guessed that there must be an important reason why the members of the Council of Elders took a huge risk to break into the capital of the empire.

Nightmare calmed down, and Ethan reminded her.

She admitted that there might be misunderstandings between her and Winter, but that would not change her purpose of returning to the Empire.

Leaving aside Rowena, Winter must return to the Abyss.

Regardless of whether the student understood her painstaking efforts or not, it was the teacher's responsibility. If the evil god could be laid, the benefits brought to Winter would be immeasurable.

However, now the plan has changed and she has to take Ethan's opinion into consideration.

After thinking for a moment, the Nightmare Witch said, "Have you ever heard of the evil god festival?"

Logically speaking, as a believer of Bazatos who was hostile to the Imperial camp, she should never reveal such confidential information to an outsider, but now she could no longer care about that.

Ethan shook his head.

Although Winter had heard this, she did not say anything. After all, she only had a vague understanding of the Evil God Ceremony. She only remembered that the Council of Elders had previously asked her and Rowena to return to the Abyss before the ceremony.

There is no specific time, it's like waiting for a random event.

Lin Dong never took this matter to heart. She never considered Meng Shi as her own destiny. They were in a relationship of mutual benefit.

What's more, there is no real friendship among the evil god's believers. In their words, everything comes from the guidance of God. If God gives an order, those people will not hesitate to offer their closest people as sacrifices to the evil god - in their view, being able to be a sacrifice is also a privilege.

"The turmoil in the western continent has intensified the infighting among the followers of Xinkalo. Once Flor falls, the evil god festival will come."

This is the best chance for Winter. Before setting off, Nightmare has made corresponding plans for his students.

"Once the festival begins, three candidates will appear, and the final winner will be chosen from among the three followers. Winter, you are the most promising one."

"Three dependents?"

"To put it in terms that you imperial people can understand, they are the three corresponding evil gods."

Nightmare does not like the title of "evil god". Just as they call Bazatos "Father of Heaven", the believers of the other two old gods also use specific titles to praise the gods who protect them. Both sides have different interpretations of the powers of the old gods.

Disease and plague are the authority of Bazatos, but in the Abyss, he represents mutation and evolution.

Stronger flesh and blood, nearly eternal life, those who pass the test of Heavenly Father will receive these gifts.

But she couldn't reveal more to Ethan, an Imperial.

"I can understand these three followers as candidates for the Chosen One."

Ethan seemed to be thinking about something. It seemed that their old friend Lao Ba was doing very well in the Abyss and was recognized as one of the three great old gods. The other one who was as famous as him must be the demon king Xinkalo worshipped by the Lophik Group. Considering his relationship with the god of trickery Kadra, his power should be treachery and trickery.

What Rowena said during her confrontation with the fake Kadra was not a lie, and these speculations were confirmed by Old Ann.

Old An only used four words to describe his old friend, the Demon King Xinkalo.

——A bunch of replies.

Well, Ethan admitted that he was the one who led Lao Ai and Lao An astray, and many of their evaluation terms were learned by other people in the team.

Lao An thought these terms were great, subtle and aggressive.

When Xinkalo is mentioned, Lao An's attack power will immediately rise several levels.

Although He had bad relationships with many of His kind back then, that was usually due to His personality and interests. Only Xinkalo was recognized as the number one war criminal by all His kind. The plan to seal the old gods was proposed by His "toys", but He did not expect that it was actually accomplished by those humans.

It's like Xinkalo is a member of the community, and suddenly one day he brings back a bomb and blows up the community.

Playing house in the community is a project that they all like, but this community cancer has made it impossible for anyone to play.

Old An also mentioned that if Ethan ever met Sincarlo in person one day, he would definitely punch him hard and say that he did it on behalf of Old An.

"The Chosen One?"

There was a hint of strangeness in Nightmare's eyes, and he looked at Ethan more seriously.

The word is very precise and does not seem like a term that would be used by imperial nobles.

In order to make it easier for Ethan to understand, she tried her best to use terms that could be understood by the people of the Empire, but Ethan's words and actions were like those of an old abyss man who had lived in the abyss for decades.

This young man is not simple.

Nightmare almost immediately discovered that there was no sign of panic on his face when talking about something so important to the evil god's followers.

If this news had been released during the reign of Henry III, it would have easily triggered a holy war.

In fact, at the end of Henry III's reign, he had always wanted to gather the power of the Holy See and the Church to wipe out the believers of the Abyss, and launched a total of four vigorous expeditions.

Countless knights and priests were killed or wounded, but these dead souls became the best sacrifices for the evil god, making the existence of the Abyss unshakable.

The Great Expedition failed to achieve any substantial results until both Henry III and Pope Turzain died.

Nightmare lowered her eyes—her father died in the First Great Crusade.

The so-called blocking war was nothing more than sending some "unimportant" advance troops into the abyss for reconnaissance. These scout teams were naturally wiped out, and even their corpses could not be distinguished. Their souls and flesh turned into limbs, forming twisted monsters.

She found out about this later.

"You are right. I am the Chosen One of God. This means supreme honor. In addition, I will receive gifts directly from Heavenly Father."

These words were naturally said to Winter.

Although Winter was dubbed a "witch" by the Vatican when she defected from the Empire, she was still far from being a real witch.

Winter's power has nothing to do with the belief in evil gods. It all stems from her development of her own magic power and the use of elemental energy spells.

She was special. Unlike most of the elders in the Council who relied on the gift of Heaven to cross the threshold of saints, Winter joined their ranks with her mortal body. This also meant that once she received the gift of Heaven and became a true witch, she would be so powerful that no one could catch up.

Perhaps, he will be the most powerful Chosen One in history.

Nightmare changed the subject and said, "I want to know where you heard this term. As far as I know, this is not a common term in the Empire."

"Riverside."

Ethan has always advocated treating people with sincerity. Since the Nightmare Witch told them the news about the Abyss, he no longer hid it.

That was the first place where he heard about the concept of "God's Chosen One". He caught Lao Ba's glance in the polluted area of ​​Lakeside Town. Since then, the title of "God's Chosen One" has been tied to him. The meatball in Hearth Bay was so scared after seeing him that he rolled to the ground.

That was the beginning of his communication with Lao Ba.

What surprised him was that Nightmare, as a true believer of Lao Ba, did not receive "instructions from superiors" like Meatball.

"Riverside Town? Wasn't it destroyed? Jacquewell also died there."

Jacquewill is not a member of Dream Eclipse, but he is also a believer appreciated by God. Nightmare heard that he had an important plan at the border of the empire, but he encountered an accident and died there.

This is good news for Meng Shi. If Jacquewill were still alive, Winter would probably have to compete with him for the candidate position.

“It’s a little complicated to explain.”

Ethan pointed behind Nightmare, who was facing away from the banquet hall door.

After all, today's dinner was hosted by Queen Margaret, and all the cabinet members were in attendance. If someone heard the three of them talking about "Old Ba's anecdotes" on the terrace outside the banquet hall, it would inevitably have an immeasurable impact on the atmosphere of the empire.

Nightmare didn't comment. She had already conveyed the message that needed to be conveyed. It was Winter's turn to express her attitude. She said, "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

There is only one Chosen One.

Those who are favored by the old gods should also become the managers of the Abyss.

The last person in power was the tycoon Flor, a man like a poisonous snake.

In their original plan, the Evil God Festival would not arrive for at least twenty years. No one could have imagined that Flor would suffer such a huge setback in Ophira.

This is also due to the system that Xinkalo set up for his believers.

Even if he received gifts and the title of God's Chosen One, he could not sit back and relax. Once he fell, the first ones to retaliate against Flor would be his "colleagues".

In comparison, our Heavenly Father is much more generous and loving.

He almost never takes gifts in return.

"Do you want to go?"

Winter did not answer, but looked at Ethan. She had no interest in Bazatos's gift, and even disliked Bazatos's aesthetic style. But for Ethan, this was a rare opportunity to meet an old friend.

The Abyss is the closest place to the old gods in this world, and Ethan can find answers to many puzzles there.

About the old gods, about the seal.

And what this world really looks like.

Nightmare immediately stated, "You can come with us. The creatures along the way will not make things difficult for you. I will take you to the residential area in the abyss, where you can wait for the ceremony to end."

That's probably the only good news of the night - at least Winter is open to returning to the Abyss.

The development of events was beyond Nightmare's expectations. All she could do was take it one step at a time. Even she couldn't predict what would happen at the festival.

She could see the changes that had taken place in Winter, and now she had become a completely unfamiliar person.

The anger and hatred in his heart were soothed, and he turned into a docile house cat.

Her students were...weaker.

Nightmare doesn't know whether he can get God's favor again in such a cold winter.

"Then trouble you."

The young man named Ethan gave her a polite reply. Then, Winter nodded and said, "Then let's go back."

At this point, the purpose of the trip to the imperial capital was achieved - in a way she had never expected.

The royal family demonstrated their hospitality by arranging a big house for Nightmare and sending two maids to take care of her daily life. As soon as she returned to the mansion, she asked the maids to prepare hot water for her.

This is her habit, soaking in warm water can make her relax.

Nightmare's mind was in a mess, and the scenes of the dinner party kept appearing in her mind.

Later she met Rowena and learned another shocking news.

Rowena is the leader of the "Root" organization mentioned by Palansi. This girl who used to be timid to the Council of Elders, somehow encountered some opportunity and her magic power grew to the point where even she couldn't tell its depth.

Rowena welcomed her arrival and was responsible for the subsequent arrangements of the mansion.

Rowena is much friendlier than the panting winter, but this friendliness reveals a clear sense of alienation.

When Rowena sent her back, she sat in the mansion for a while. When Nightmare cautiously asked her if she wanted to go back to the abyss together, she was immediately rejected politely.

Made an excuse of being busy at work.

But Rowena doesn't look busy at all. Her face is rosy and she uses an electric wheelchair when she goes out. Her skin is much rosier than when she was running around as a member of Dream Eclipse.

Perhaps it was the influence of that luxurious dress, Rowena now looked much more glamorous and beautiful.

Yes, if one can live carefree under the sunshine, who would be willing to dedicate their soul to the evil god?
Nightmare stared at his reflection in the water and smiled helplessly.

This family is about to break up.

Then, Nightmare’s face froze.

Something in the water responded to her. There was nothing under the clear water, but her body seemed to feel something sticky and slippery touching her skin.

Her beautiful face became distorted and terrifying in the water, and an ominous red color spread, making her body seem as if it was soaked in blood.

Then came the feeling of being watched.

Everything about her, both body and soul, was exposed under this gaze.

She had no secrets in front of the omnipotent Father.

"Heavenly Father!"

Before this, Heavenly Father had never shown himself in this way, but what was stirring in Nightmare's heart at this moment was endless fear, because not long ago, in order to persuade Winter to return to the Abyss, she violated the position of the Abyss residents and spoke about the most important evil god ceremony to a citizen of the Empire.

This might ruin the festival or even lead to a war.

But she really didn't want Lin Dong to miss this opportunity.

And now, after the dinner, God himself came to her, the "traitor".

Nightmare could hardly imagine what kind of torture would await her.

She thought that Heavenly Father might take away her right to eternal life, or destroy what she cherished most, her body, her face...

There was a chaotic whisper in Nightmare's ears. It was a language that humans could not understand, but she understood its meaning.

"Winter has agreed. She will return to the Abyss and participate in the ceremony."

"Yes, the Imperial man named Ethan will also come with us."

"It's true."

Every word of the nightmare was trembling. The sticky and slippery touch overwhelmed her. She felt as if she was being held in the palm of an invisible hand. As long as the owner of this hand wanted to, it could crush her body and soul in an instant.

Nevertheless, she had to open her heart to the Father.

"Please punish me, Father."

She closed her eyes.

The next moment, magical power that was difficult to describe in words poured into her whole body. The expected pain did not come, but instead, indescribable comfort followed.

She indulged in the nightmare for a long time until a knock on the door pulled her back to reality.

A maid's concerned voice came from outside the door, "Master Nightmare, are you okay?"

Nightmare then realized that he had been soaking for too long and the water temperature had long since cooled down.

The scarlet color disappeared and everything returned to normal.

"I am fine."

"That's great, if you need any help please let me know!"

Nightmare was in great spirits, she didn't need anyone's help, and she had never been in better physical shape.

Instead of punishing her, Heavenly Father generously gave her gifts.

just,

She doesn't understand.

Why did Heavenly Father suddenly become excited when he said the name "Ethan".

Especially after learning that Ethan was going to go with them, they suddenly took action, as if...

It's like the feeling when you suddenly find out that friends are coming to visit your house during the holidays, and you hurriedly get out of bed and clean the house.

(End of this chapter)