Spellcasting Gods

Gazing into the last trace of infinite longing for life remaining in the other person's eyes, Zhang Cheng felt a strong sense of fear welling up inside him—a fear of aging and death.

Although he was still very young, not even thirty years old, time always slips away unnoticed, and by the time people realize it, they find that their days are numbered.

Suddenly, he began to realize why countless people were willing to do all sorts of crazy things in order to achieve immortality, whether it was making deals with demons or plundering life energy from others to sustain themselves through some cruel magical rituals.

In contrast, those who possess similar abilities but fail to put them into practice, like Miles, are rarer than some endangered animals.

“Mr. Zhang, if you don’t mind, could you please take care of Elfrieda for a few days? I need to focus on dealing with a lot of troublesome matters, including the congressman’s funeral, and I really don’t have time to comfort the frightened little girl.” Francis asked in a rather helpless tone while using his magical abilities to repair the damaged walls and floors of the intensive care unit.

His face was filled with sorrow, and he glanced at Miles, who lay on the hospital bed like a dried-up corpse, from time to time.

"Take care of her?" Zhang Cheng glanced at the girl who was bleeding profusely and frowned instinctively.

Francis sighed slightly and replied, "Yes! Don't worry, I've given her a hematopoietic agent, she won't be in any danger for at least a week. The wounds caused by the Inca sacrificial bone knife are troublesome, I need to visit a friend of a councilor to see if he can lift the curse."

"Okay, but please hurry, my personality isn't suited to taking care of children." With that, Zhang Cheng turned around and waved.

A naked woman, whose appearance and features bore a striking resemblance to Patty, stepped forward, bent down, and picked up the girl who was in a deep coma.

Clearly, this was the "surprise" Miles gave him before he died: an artificial life reconstructed through alchemy, a slave who could never disobey his master's orders.

To put it simply, Miles destroyed Patty's body, then created a clone with special limitations, and finally stuffed his soul into it.

In this way, she retains her previous memories, personality, and abilities, but is forced to submit to the creator's commands, just like a prisoner trapped in a body, suffering pain and torment at all times.

Perhaps Miles wanted to use this horrific method to avenge her killing of her loved ones...

As the morning sun rose, Zhang Cheng, who had been busy all night, finally dragged his tired body back to his residence. After taking a quick shower, he went back to bed and fell into a deep sleep.

When I woke up, it was already around 3 p.m. The rainwater on the road had basically evaporated completely, leaving only one or two small puddles.

He drew back the blinds and gazed at the peaceful scene outside. He took a deep breath, smiled, and sighed, "What a beautiful day. I hope there won't be too much violence and bloodshed today..."

The words had barely left his mouth!

There was a sudden knock on the closed door.

boom! boom! boom!

Then Polman's voice came through the crack in the door: "Sir, are you awake?"

"Yes, is there something urgent?" Zhang Cheng asked through the door.

"Two things! First, I just received a notice from the council that the funeral will be held in three days at Greenwood Cemetery. The other three councilors and many lords will be present, and Brooklyn will be officially declared to be in a state of war. Second, Ms. Catherine invites you to dinner at 7 p.m.."

"Okay, I understand." Zhang Cheng quickly put on a coat, opened the door, and walked down to the living room.

Polman quickly followed behind, lowering his voice to continue, "In addition, I also heard that a special envoy from the European Parliament arrived in New York early this morning, apparently to discuss something very important."

"Oh? What is it?" A hint of curiosity finally appeared on Zhang Cheng's usually calm face.

According to his understanding, although there is always an organization called the Supreme Council ruling over the underworld, in reality, whether in Europe, North America, South America, or other regions, relatively independent branches have been formed. On ordinary days, no one interferes in other people's business, and there may even be some minor disputes in secret. They only choose to join forces when some major events occur.

"It's said that a new entrance to a fragmented world has been discovered!" Polman licked his lips excitedly.

The Fragmented World, as the name suggests, is a fragment torn apart from Earth, Heaven, and Hell during the ancient war. After thousands of years of exploration, most of it has been discovered and occupied, becoming the backyard of various forces. The most famous of these is the Wizarding Academy in the Magical Realm.

This school, which specializes in teaching supernatural powers, is said to produce more than a dozen qualified male and female wizards every year and wields considerable influence in councils in many regions.

However, because there were so many shattered spaces back then, some remain hidden from the explorers' sight to this day.

It can be said that the discovery of each fragmented world is equivalent to an adventure for power, wealth and strength. Although it is accompanied by a lot of uncertainties and dangers, no one is willing to give up, even if the price is to lose their life.

However, Zhang Cheng, who possessed the ability to travel between numerous worlds, was not blinded.

On the contrary, he keenly realized that this was likely a trap, just like the chaos happening in New York right now, a conspiracy secretly planned by someone or some force.

Otherwise, how could the War Game, the discovery of the entrance to the Fragment World, and the ever-present Selma descendants have coincidentally appeared at the same time?

Even more coincidentally, Patty, the madwoman exiled to the isolated rainforest, managed to get the news of Miles' impending death in time and smuggled herself back from the South American jungle.

Everything suggests that an unseen hand is silently manipulating things from the shadows.

But Zhang Cheng also understood that his power was still too weak to change anything. At least Miles' control over the elements, which he had shown last night, was far superior to his own. The terrifying ability to switch life forms at will was something that even the shamans of Azeroth could not do.

Sensing the approaching storm, a cryptic smile appeared on his face. He muttered to himself in a voice only he could hear, "Looks like it's time to return to Dalaran and prepare for the coming tempest..."

Chapter 0280 Catherine's Plan

In the evening, inside Francis's Tavern, New York's oldest pub, the seductive witch Catherine sat at a table, admiring the endless stream of cars and people outside the glass window.

After a long while, she turned to the girl beside her who looked seven or eight parts like herself and asked, "Elizabeth, do you know why I chose you as my heir, instead of your irresponsible parents or your other siblings?"

"No, I don't know, Grandmother." The blonde girl gently shook her head.

To be precise, before lawyers and relevant agencies came to her door, she always thought of herself as an orphan without any relatives. Every day, in addition to studying, she had to try her best to work and earn money, otherwise she would be punished by not having food to eat.

In many movies and TV shows, children sent to foster homes often find foster parents who genuinely love them. However, in reality, many American foster families are quite terrible, and some are even just trying to scam government cash and food subsidies.

Unfortunately, Elizabeth lived in the latter harsh environment, having to do all sorts of chores from the age of eight and go out to do odd jobs at the age of twelve.

If it weren't for the fear of being sued by child protection agencies, her adoptive parents would have forced her to join the ranks of street prostitutes long ago, using her young and beautiful body to exchange for a lot of money.

Just as the girl was secretly preparing to save some money to escape this living hell, her fate suddenly took a turn for the better. She suddenly had a very wealthy grandmother who left a will designating her as the heir to her estate.

When she learned that the total value of the fortune was likely to exceed seventy million US dollars, she felt her heart stop beating.

Most importantly, DNA testing confirmed that the two are indeed closely related by blood.

Catherine is also very good to girls. Whether it's the designer clothes and shoes she wears or the considerable amount of pocket money, it's enough to prove that she has completed the transformation from an "ugly duckling" to a "swan".

Although she didn't quite understand why her seemingly young grandmother, who appeared to be only twenty or thirty years old, suddenly needed an heir, her difficult childhood had taught her a lesson: there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world, and the incredibly privileged life she was living now always came at a price...

Noticing the determination in the girl's eyes, Catherine nodded approvingly and said, "You are indeed very smart and sensible. Actually, the reason I chose you is very simple: I'm about to die."

“Die!!” Elizabeth’s face showed disbelief.

She couldn't believe that her grandmother, who sat next to her with a youthful appearance, a sexy figure, and a mature demeanor, could say that she was going to die. To outsiders, the two looked more like a pair of beautiful sisters.

“Yes! Please don’t be fooled by my appearance. I’m actually over fifty years old. I rely on some kind of mysterious power to maintain my beauty, but this power isn’t unlimited. Before long, I will lose control of it, become old and ugly, and eventually die. I want to leave everything to you before I die.” Catherine gently stroked the girl’s hair, her tone full of sincerity.

"Maintaining beauty with mysterious powers?" Elizabeth blinked in surprise.

“Hehe, that’s right. You don’t know yet, do you? I’m actually a witch, and you’re a descendant of witches, with magical blood flowing through your veins. With just a specific ritual to activate it, you can gain unparalleled power.” After saying that, Catherine tapped the table with one finger.

moment!

All the cups, plates, knives, and forks on the table slowly floated up into the air. Although they were less than a centimeter away from the table, the girl stared wide-eyed at this incredible scene.

It took Elizabeth a full minute to come to her senses, and she exclaimed in a hurried voice, "My God! It's incredible! How...how did you do that?"

Catherine waved her fingers, causing everything to fall silently, and replied with a half-smile, "It's the power of bloodline! So, do you want to possess it?"

"Of course! Can I become a witch too?" Elizabeth clenched her fists excitedly.

“That’s right, darling, you can become a witch too, which is why I brought you to this restaurant today. To become a witch, first you need to find a real male wizard, then seduce him and have him help you transform from a girl into a woman. This process may take days, weeks, months, or even years. Only after you have absorbed enough magic from him can you activate the abilities hidden in your bloodline,” Catherine explained, half-jokingly.

"You...you mean, I'm going to seduce a man into bed?" Elizabeth stammered.

Clearly, she has no experience in this area and has no idea what to do.

"Relax, I'll arrange everything for you. Just treat it like a normal romance. Trust me, you'll like him, even fall in love with him..." A purple light flashed in Catherine's pupils, followed by a meaningful smile as she pursed her lips.

However, the smile came quickly and went just as fast.

When she saw Zhang Cheng walk in through the main entrance, she immediately changed her expression, elegantly raising her arm and waving: "Darling, over here, I've been waiting for you for quite a while."

"I'm sorry, ma'am, a lot of unexpected things happened last night, I need to get some rest." Zhang Cheng sat down without any politeness to defend his lateness.

In fact, the main reason he was late was because he was delayed by studying the cursed wound on Miles' granddaughter's body.

As you know, mages in the world of Azeroth have always been very good at dispelling all kinds of curses. In addition, the mage template gives him the skill of dispelling minor curses, which is clearly marked as being able to dispel all forms of magical curses. So he couldn't help but give it a try.

The result was surprising; you wouldn't have thought it was worth trying.

Removing the minor curse did indeed dispel the mysterious energy near the wound for the first few seconds, but less than half a minute later, a new energy would emerge. No matter how many times it was dispelled, this thing would return to its original state, like an unkillable cockroach.

In the end, after going back and forth for a while, a lot of time was wasted, and we unknowingly missed the agreed time.

“It’s alright, I understand. After all, Patty’s madness is obvious to everyone, and her death is not a bad thing for anyone. Okay, let’s not talk about these unpleasant things today. Come, let me introduce you. This is my long-lost relative whom I just found. Her name is Elizabeth. I hope you can take good care of her in the future.” As she spoke, Catherine pointed to the girl who had completely fallen into a daze.

Zhang Cheng subconsciously looked in the direction the other person was pointing, and his whole body trembled involuntarily.

The instant he saw Elizabeth, he felt a surge of warmth well up in his cold heart, as if the world had suddenly gained a touch of color...

Chapter 0281 The Banquet

"Good evening...sir, it's a pleasure to meet you." Elizabeth stood up hurriedly and extended her right hand.

She looked so nervous that she could barely speak.

Although the girl didn't understand what was happening, she could clearly feel that her heart started racing when the young man appeared in front of her, as if he had a charm that made her heart flutter.

Undoubtedly, this temptation is fatal for a girl who has never been in a relationship, which is why she behaved so out of control.

In contrast, Zhang Cheng had a similar feeling, but he didn't show it. He smiled and shook hands with the other person, saying, "Me too."

Sensing the subtle atmosphere between the two, Catherine's eyes flashed with amusement, and she teased in a half-joking tone, "It seems you two made a very good first impression on each other, saving me a lot of trouble. Alright, my little darling, don't stand there, sit down, I'm going to order."

"I'm sorry..." Elizabeth blushed and quickly returned to her seat.

"What's good to eat here?" Zhang Cheng flipped through the menu, deliberately avoiding looking at the girl.

Only now did he realize what Kane meant by being driven by desire and being unable to control himself.

Clearly, by manipulating instincts and desires, the witch first created a strong attraction between him and Elizabeth, just as people crave food when they are hungry or water when they are thirsty. This is something that cannot be overcome by willpower alone.

Moreover, this attraction will become stronger and stronger over time as people get to know each other better, eventually leading to a qualitative change from a quantitative one.

Unless Zhang Cheng immediately hires someone to kill Elizabeth, it's only a matter of time before feelings develop between them.

However, killing Elizabeth was not an easy task; at least, he didn't think the witch would fail to protect one of her most important pawns.

“Francis’s Tavern was established in 1719 and is the oldest bar and restaurant in the United States, having been in business for over two hundred years. If you’re looking for something delicious, the best choice is definitely the traditional food of South Street Harbor in Manhattan. If you don’t mind, how about I choose for you?” Catherine asked with a smile.

"No problem, please go ahead." Zhang Cheng handed over the menu with feigned generosity.

Catherine took it, tapped a few times on the menu with practiced ease, and then handed it to the polite waiter standing to the side.

After the latter finished writing down the dishes and went into the kitchen, she turned around and said with great emotion, "You know what? When I was little, my father often brought me to this place to eat. Even though it was a turbulent time, Francis's Tavern left me with the most beautiful childhood memories..."

"Madam, you didn't invite me here today just to reminisce about childhood delicacies, did you?" Zhang Cheng interrupted the witch without any politeness.

Catherine, whose thoughts had been interrupted, was not annoyed. She simply smiled and shook her head: "Hehe, no, of course not. I invited you here mainly because of that special envoy from Europe. I believe you have already received the news that an unknown fragment world has opened its entrance, and countless forces are secretly preparing to make a big splash. Right now, someone has offered a bounty of five thousand gold dinars for the location of the entrance."