Witch, Fireball and the Evil God of Steam-Chapter 675 - 68: Shadows, Only Shadows

If your child suddenly mutated into a ghoul, what would you do?

Duke Bellamo used all the resources he could muster: the Church, Demon Hunters, and even witches who believed in Bazatous. As long as there was a sliver of hope, he would stop at nothing.

The Demon Hunter mentioned the method found in "Introducing You to 100 Dark Creatures". They tied up the sick boy, and Bellamo summoned a High-tier Priest from the Church at the time. Over a week, the priest stayed by the boy's side, performing three purifications a day, strictly adhering to the book's warning: no matter how much the boy appeared to suffer or plead, Bellamo forced himself to steel his heart.

However, after a week, bad news still came as scheduled.

The treatment failed. The High-tier Priest could not purify the disease on the boy. It was a type of infection they had never seen; prayers to the Goddess of Life were completely ineffective. Both the Demon Hunter and High-tier Priest could only give the same suggestion — end his life, which would be a relief for the boy.

But this was not the outcome Duke Bellamo wanted.

He locked himself in the house, facing the mementos left by his deceased wife when the child was born.

She was not born into a noble family but was a Demon Hunter who traveled throughout the Empire. She had many fellow Demon Hunter friends, including the High-tier Demon Hunter presiding over the child's treatment, one of the most senior hunters in the Demon Hunter Guild and a disciple of August.

One should let go when it's time to let go.

His wife often used this phrase, a lesson from her many years as a Demon Hunter. Most of their malevolent spirit injury cases often occurred due to someone's excessive obsession, and forcefully keeping those souls that should have departed would ultimately lead to destruction.

She was indifferent about her own death — in this line of work, ninety percent of Demon Hunters didn't end well. At least she died at home, not in some dark creature's den never to be discovered, and she witnessed the birth of new life.

However, this time, Bellamo's heart darkened.

He found, through his wife's notes from her Demon Hunter days, a witch proficient in black magic. She was a fervent believer in Bazatous and had also been a target of the Demon Hunters.

The witch responded to Bellamo's invitation because she was curious that a High-tier Demon Hunter's husband would wish for her help. Upon hearing Bellamo's request, she showed a smile of indiscernible meaning.

The fourteenth day, in front of the Dark Furnace City's post office.

She left these cryptic keywords.

For the first time in his life, Bellamo realized that this witch seemed to understand his wife better than he did. She knew why his wife initially came to Dark Furnace City — the Demon Hunter Guild was investigating a ghoul attack incident, the clues leading them to Dark Furnace City, and according to the guild's records, this mission was successfully completed.

But was that truly the case?

The witch's question was chilling. Bellamo wanted to ask more but only saw her transform into dozens of bats, disappearing into the depths of the night.

Bellamo's heart leaned to the other side.

He faked the child's death, making the Church and Demon Hunters believe he had personally ended the child's life and followed the Demon Hunter tradition of cremating the body, preventing them from becoming malevolent spirits.

Meanwhile, his most trusted lieutenant, following the witch's guidance, arrived at the designated place at the right time.

It was the first ghoul-related disappearance case in Dark Furnace City, involving his child and that faithful subordinate.

However, his actions opened Pandora's box. Every month on the fourteenth evening thereafter, someone would disappear from the same place, the first missing person being a blacksmith in Dark Furnace City who vanished on his way home after work, last seen in front of the post office.

These missing persons were not infected with the disease; they seemed more like sacrifices, disappearing forever into the night.

In exchange, that child would survive somewhere he did not know.

Over the years, Bellamo sporadically received indications that the child still lived, a rare solace deep within his heart.

Ethan saw the deepest secret hidden in Bellamo's heart. When he learned that Fisher was investigating the missing persons case, he was sleepless, often tempted to silence Fisher permanently. For that period of his life, making someone disappear in Dark Furnace City was no difficult feat, even if that person was a third-tier Believer of the Truth Society.

The Church would certainly be glad to lend him a hand.

They could even define Fisher as a believer of the Evil God and publicly execute him.

However, Bellamo ultimately suppressed those evil thoughts, knowing they would open more Pandora's boxes, further entrenching him on this path of no return.

Before Bellamo could make any decision, Fisher disappeared.

Two days later, his corpse was found in the suburbs, bearing marks of a ghoul's feeding. At that time, Bellamo heaved a sigh of relief, thinking the matter thus concluded, little suspecting Fisher's wife had sent a letter to the Truth Society, bringing Valerie here.

Fisher's wife's death was unrelated to this.

After Fisher's death, she was convinced it was the sheriff, Shuge, who killed her husband, persistently tracking him until she came upon Shuge secretly trading with Imperial Military Industry; she used this to force Shuge to speak about her husband, only to be shot through the head with a firearm by the Imperial Military Industry's hitman.

Her body was thrown into the armory's furnace, disappearing without trace.

Bellamo maintained his silence.

Although Bazatous was notorious, he was a clever person who managed to conceal the disappearances regularly occurring in Dark Furnace City, keeping the Demon Hunter Guild away from the city as much as possible.

"In other words, we are dealing with a very new kind of ghoul virus."

Ethan concluded.

No source of infection could be found, as if it appeared suddenly like a cold.

It naturally resists the purifying energy of the Goddess of Life, sounding more like an evolved virus that has removed its original weaknesses.

Coincidentally, today is the fourteenth.

Lady Valerie chose this specific time to send the letter, perhaps also to coincide with this special day, explaining her whereabouts; if she saw the novel titled "Dark Furnace City Anecdotes," it is very possible she went to that special place at that specific time.

"Maybe she can also be cured at that place... I mean Ave."

Duke Bellamo despondently gazed at the ground.

Just now, many thoughts surged in his mind, such as possibly calling his Firearms Team to forever bury this secret, but this thought did not linger long in his mind.

Everything was over.

The secret hidden for years was exposed to the emissary from the Imperial Capital; if the disappearance cases in Dark Furnace City could cease, perhaps that would be a good outcome.

"If… you met that child on the other side, and he turned into a ghoul, what would you do?"

Bellamo asked.

All his dark secrets were exposed to Ethan, yet he knew nothing about Ethan, unable to see through the young man's thoughts completely.

"I know a friend who is a very good doctor, maybe he can help."

The day passed quickly; before departure, Ethan took a short nap, and when he opened his eyes, the sky outside the manor was dark. Ave wrapped herself tightly with a blanket, like a squirming caterpillar. Her mood had stabilized significantly compared to last night, although her eyes were still bloodshot, at least she no longer had the impulse to bite someone.

Thanks to the golden hair on her head.

Ave used a magical skill unknown even to Ethan, seemingly transferring part of her bloodthirsty desire to the golden hair on her head—the tuft looked very excited, even headbutting Ethan's hand when he approached.

Unfortunately, the golden hair had no teeth and couldn't eat anything, even its attack power was pitifully weak.

"It's time to set off."

Ethan asked, "Ready to reveal the secret of Dark Furnace City?"

Ave nodded.

Ethan, through the blanket, carried the golden caterpillar on his back.

The Security Office isolated the area near the post office to ensure no other unfortunate person accidentally occupied their spot.

The smog along the way grew heavier and thicker, almost obscuring Ethan's view of the road ahead; deeper within the smog, he felt a strong gaze.

This was another bizarre aspect of many disappearance cases.

Every missing person was last seen by someone before disappearing.

He passed the post office; the road beneath his feet subtly changed, becoming barren and desolate, overgrown with weeds; it no longer looked like a road within a city but placed him amidst wilderness, the very place where ghouls roamed in hordes.

Soon after, Ethan stopped in his tracks.

He saw an error message, and then these messages quickly connected into a patch.

"Fireball Skill (Sun), Proficiency: ∞, you have found your own path."

His skills automatically popped up, each one marked with a red scratch, the scratch was so forceful as if trying to pierce through the skill column itself; Ethan could even feel the strong resentment from the force of these scratches.

He tried to connect with these elements prohibited by the scratches, but unsurprisingly failed.

Below all the error messages, a new skill emerged, one never written by Lindong in "Fireball, Ice Arrow Magic Power."

It was inscribed with the ominous color of dried blood:

"Shadow Arrow, Proficiency: ???, Shadow Arrow, only Shadow Arrow (^_^)."