Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 453 Just call me Bazi
Bazatos felt that he still had a long way to go in terms of interpersonal skills. If Ethan were here today, he certainly wouldn't have been pushed and shoved out of the narrow space by the miners.

But at least, He understood why the miners had arranged the sacrificial ritual.

They wanted to rescue the attackers held by the Border Services Agency, who would be publicly executed within three days if the bombing charge was established.

He would be taken to the church square and executed in the presence of the people and the goddess of life.

Bazartos sat with his knees drawn up to his chest, deep in thought, while the determined miners chanted incantations to begin the ritual.

Everyone held their breath, their eyes filled with sorrow and resolve as they faced the two workers who had volunteered as sacrifices.

The ceremony, unsurprisingly, failed.

Space and time did not cleave apart due to the incantation. As Bazatos listened to the audience request from next door, he raised his hand and poked at the "decline" option with a resentful look.

This stalemate lasted for several minutes, with the sound of chaotic footsteps filling the air.

The approaching mine guards were taken aback when they saw Bazatos sitting like a mushroom in a cave, his knees drawn up to his chest at the entrance of the crevice. The head guard frowned and asked in a low voice, "Are you with them?"

The reason the guards didn't rush forward was simple—this woman had seven eyes, and her skirt looked like wriggling buds, instantly resembling a spider at first glance.

They didn't know who brought a demi-human here, but in a border city, demi-humans were definitely not someone that the Holy See or the Kingdom's army wanted to mess with. Although they were few in number, they were unprecedentedly united, and the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Ginny, was no pushover either.

Bazatos glanced at the surrounding guards and shook his head silently.

Why does this demi-human look a bit dull?

Moreover, his entire body seemed to exude a dark and resentful aura.

"Come over here."

The captain of the guard gestured to Bazatos, who then stood up and walked to the end of the guard line.

After getting Bazartos away, the captain immediately directed the guards to begin the next step of their operation. They lit the bulging sacks and neatly threw them into the other end of the crevice.

In an instant, screams of terror came from the other end of the crevice. As black smoke spread, the miners had no choice but to abandon the sacrificial ritual array. Coughing violently, they stumbled and staggered out of the crevice. When they saw the fully armed guards standing at the exit of the crevice, their faces changed instantly, and they gripped their pickaxes tightly in fear.

"Do you really think you can carry out these dirty and despicable deeds right under our noses?"

Seeing that the guards had the situation under control, the overseer, who had been hiding in the crowd, walked to the front with a cold smile. He was wearing a gray priest's robe and looked like a clergyman sent to the mine by the Vatican.

“You were already being watched when you sneaked out to buy ritual materials.”

The foreman looked at the middle-aged man at the front of the miners, "'Blackstone,' you are a scoundrel without any conscience. Have you forgotten who provided you with a way out when you were in the deepest debt and most destitute?"

Bazatos silently observed the standoff between the two groups. He noticed that the man known as "Black Stone" was the same human who had just pushed him out of the crevice.

"They actually dare to talk about conscience!"

The man was instantly enraged, "If you had even a shred of conscience, you wouldn't have killed an old man like that!"

That became the final straw that broke the miners' backs.

"Oh, you mean her."

The overseer's expression remained completely calm. "She attempted to steal important supplies from the Vatican and was caught red-handed by the guards on duty. Such a sinner deserves to die."

"I already know everything!"

These words instantly turned the man's eyes bloodshot. He grabbed his pickaxe, wanting to smash the overseer's head, but the miners behind him grabbed his arms.

The overseer was clearly provoking his anger, and once he launched an attack on the overseer, there would be only one outcome—he would be beaten to death by the guards with hammers and clubs.

From the moment the soul sacrifice ritual failed, their plan was doomed to failure.

"You caused that mining accident, and that's how you got rid of her son! And now? Are you planning to use the same methods against me?"

This time, even the other miners were stunned.

"...Blackstone, what exactly are you talking about?"

Blackstone had never mentioned these things to them before.

"My mother-in-law has been searching for evidence, which is why she keeps going into the mine!"

Black Stone gritted his teeth and said that he did not want to reveal these secrets, nor did he want anyone to know why his mother-in-law came to the mine, lest someone leak the news. But what he received was bad news.

"Her son was investigating the reasons for the theft of the 'Holy Relics' before he was murdered."

All of this points to the overseers and guards of the mine, and even the Border Management Bureau is involved. Blackstone is in a standoff with the overseers. "For a long time, these scoundrels have been embezzling important strategic materials! When they can no longer hide it, they will grab a few innocent people to take the blame for them!"

"This person has gone mad; you can't understand a word he's saying."

Blackstone's response, however, was a mocking expression from the overseer.

He and the mine guards exchanged knowing smiles, as if they had heard the biggest joke in the world.

The most humorous part is that every now and then a few self-righteous people will appear here, fantasizing that they are chosen by God to be righteous messengers, and trying to expose them.

Just like the fool whose head they smashed and whose body was dumped deep in the mine like garbage, so too are these miners who gathered together, fantasizing about setting up a sacrificial ritual to incite a riot.

How can we expose them in this city?

The Kingdom's army and the Border Management Bureau extract huge sums of money from the stolen goods every month, and they use a portion of this enormous wealth to cultivate relationships in various places. The Vatican, the police station, and the courts, these important law enforcement agencies in the border cities, are all part of this huge chain of interests.

"If that's the case, why don't you report us to the police station or the Vatican?"

The foreman grinned maliciously, "Could it be that you've already done it? Anonymously sent the evidence you had to the police station? Otherwise, how would we know that there's a bunch of rats in the gutter, secretly carrying out some dirty tricks right under our noses?"

Black Stone's pupils contracted, and he was speechless for a moment, only able to stare intently at the overseer.

He did indeed send anonymous letters of denunciation to the police station and the Vatican, and he also understood the deeper meaning behind the overseer's words.

The person who truly exposed the mother-in-law, leading to her being beaten to death by the guards... was actually him!
Because he sent the whistleblower letter to the wrong organization.

"The truth is that we have discovered that someone is performing an evil god sacrifice ritual deep in the mine, which is an intolerable crime."

The overseer's face darkened as he looked at the miners not far away. "However, the Goddess of Life is merciful. You must have been bewitched by this evil god's follower to go down the wrong path. Now is your chance to make amends—kill this evil god's follower and then spend the rest of your lives in the mine to atone for your sins."

"Don't believe him!"

Blackstone roared, "Fight them!"

This time, however, the miners did not obey their orders.

They looked at each other, and no one made a move for a long time.

The ritual to summon the evil god Bazartos failed; their strength was simply insufficient to contend with the well-equipped kingdom army, and just now the overseer seemed to...

It provided them with a way to survive.

Although it went against their conscience, if they pretended to obey the monitor's orders, they might still find a chance to escape the mine. The miners at the back of the line exchanged glances, gripping their pickaxes tightly.

They were very close to Blackrock, and the latter were completely unprepared for them.

Just as the two sides were deadlocked, the seven-eyed woman who was originally in the last row of the guards stepped forward and stood between the miners and the overseers.

Bazatos understood what had happened and couldn't bear to listen any longer.

He recognized the overseer's identity; he was a priest of the Vatican, and his position was not low, which made Him somewhat unhappy.

Bazalian.

Was it for people like you that you turned your blade against me?

The question arose in Barzatos's mind. His seven eyes scrutinized the overseer, whose face and soul were equally ugly. He had been trying to find even the slightest redeeming quality in the overseer to balance his mind, but all his attempts had failed.

He could not find any reason for such a person to be saved.

Even the Old Gods themselves do not need such believers.

Perhaps only a dog like Sincarno would welcome such a filthy soul.

"Aren't you afraid that Li... the goddess of life will punish you?"

"Bazatos asked."

"punish?"

The overseer seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world.

Another person who doesn't understand the situation has appeared. Her identity as a demi-human is relatively troublesome, but it's not entirely unmanageable.

If we kill her and dump her body in the deepest part of the mine or burn it, the demi-humans of the merchant guild will never be able to find her again. Even if Ginny goes to cause trouble for the Holy See, she will have no way to prove anything.

"Don't come here to play the hero. This matter has nothing to do with the Chamber of Commerce. This is the last warning."

He couldn't be bothered to explain to this seven-eyed woman.

This is where their wisdom lies: they only conduct trade in the far west and never interfere in the affairs of the Papacy and the Kingdom's army. Those with true insight know that the Goddess of Life has long since fallen, and only the most foolish people would believe those public speeches, because their incompetence and ignorance require an omnipotent god to save them.

They deserve to be enslaved by blind faith, squeezed dry and then thrown away like trash without even realizing it.

The more people like this there are, the better their lives will become.

This "secret" wasn't first proposed by "Imperial Truth".

Before Julius died, he was the true leader of the far west. Back then, he announced that the rightful gods had already fallen. In order to consolidate his rule over the far west, Pope Carlo used the "Day of Doom" as a guide to spread the news that the gods would return in the seventh era.

This is an open secret within the Vatican, and perhaps only a small number of ascetics still harbor illusions about the return of the Goddess of Life.

"Although Julius is dead, the blessings he brought to this land continue!"

The overseer stood at the very front of the line, arrogantly spreading his arms wide and proclaiming, "Haven't you all been curious about the secrets of the Holy Remains? He has found the place where the Goddess of Life fell, and Her power and bloodline still exist in this land!"

As he spoke, he held up the unpolished, newly mined sacred relic crystal, "Look, the goddess is right here, watching us. How about that? She didn't raise a single question, did she?"

……what?

The deathly silence brought the overseer back to his senses.

He felt a hard texture in his palm. He looked around and saw that even the guards accompanying him were staring at him in shock.

Why did he say those things just now?

And where does that surging emotion in my heart come from?

"you--!"

The overseer also noticed a hint of fear in the eyes of the guard captain, who raised his right hand and pointed to the top of his head.

The foreman instinctively reached up to his head and touched a soft object covered in a sticky liquid. He looked up shakily and saw the blue octopus-like creature move its tentacles away from his head. The countless eyes on the tentacles made his scalp tingle.

When he came to his senses, the seven-eyed woman had already appeared in front of him.

She simply raised her left hand slowly.

It didn't look like an attack; a cold palm touched the overseer's cheek.

An unprecedented fear gripped him.

"you……"

He couldn't continue speaking. He wanted to scream, but it wasn't from pain. Instead, it was from a fear beyond his comprehension. He watched in horror as his skin became transparent, and the bones beneath it wriggled and deformed like living snakes. His five fingers merged and elongated, transforming into pale, insect-like bone cones.

His vision began to split, his head cracked open like an overripe fruit, squeezing out three asymmetrical, bloodshot eyeballs that spun wildly, reflecting the dissolving world. His uniform was torn apart by the bulging flesh, and his spine arched uncontrollably backward, piercing the skin of his back to form a grotesque bony bow.

The swelling of his body did not stop there. He vaguely felt something wriggling beneath his flesh, about to burst through his skin at any moment.

Help, help me—!
The overseer thought of the guards behind him, and he leaned back. As he fell to the ground, he was met with an even more desperate scene.

All the guards have disappeared.

He could only vaguely make out the outline of a human from those fleshy lumps that looked like they had been forcibly kneaded into a ball, and on top of those fleshy lumps were several proliferating buds.

It's not just the physical body that's changing.

The hard rock surface revealed grooves resembling the cerebral cortex, beginning to undulate slowly, like breathing. The light of the pseudo-light moss turned into a dark red like blood vessels, illuminating the entire mine as if it were inside the body of some giant creature. The ground became soft and elastic, feeling like stepping on the viscera of a living being. The pillars supporting the mine twisted and deformed, like giant vertebrae, pulsating rhythmically, transporting nutrients to every corner of the mine.

Immediately afterwards, his consciousness connected with everything that was changing.

The entire mine was no longer a place; it had become a living, breathing, and growing giant creature, and he and the transformed guardians were nothing more than a few insignificant cells within this newborn body.

All consciousness was mixed together.

The fear had not yet dissipated, and the cries echoed in my ears.

The overseer seemed to be in purgatory; to be precise, it was a more terrifying sight than described in the scriptures.

"Who...who are you...?"

A hesitant question came from behind Bazartos.

The miner, whose legs had already given way, collapsed to the ground and huddled in a ball.

"Barzatos".

The seven-eyed woman surveyed the survivors on the ground, recalling Ethan's way of dealing with people. "You can call me Bazi."

(End of this chapter)