Witch, Fireball and the Evil God of Steam-Chapter 735 - 107: Audience Before the Divine

Meanwhile, Merlin, in the office, wrapped up an office meeting.

He first reported the work to Chen Qi; they hadn't noticed the issue with the chip failure at all. After that, he wrote down the contents he needed to instruct on paper and handed it to Zhuang Xiao.

This was likely the last meeting of his life.

"If they find my body in the apartment tomorrow, then open this note."

Merlin gave his last instructions.

"Sounds like a last will."

Zhuang Xiao half-joked; she indeed couldn't stand Merlin, thinking he was a bastard who pursued his great goals by any means necessary. But the thought of Merlin being found dead in the apartment bedroom like Du Li tomorrow morning made her feel uneasy.

This is the real world; once dead, there's no chance of resurrection or repeating.

She asked, "Any unfulfilled wishes?"

"Colonel Zhuang Xiao, you have to find a way to survive."

When leaving the office, Merlin said, "At least don't die on the same day as me; you're different; there's still work to be done."

Then off work, going home.

A high-end apartment in the North District, a residence distributed by the committee to recognize those who made outstanding contributions to the shelter.

The last day of his life seemed to have nothing special to accomplish; no need to bid farewell to anyone, which saved him a lot of trouble. Merlin suddenly thought this was the committee's strategy for selection—every member of that pioneer team became isolated individuals for various reasons.

In this way, if the experimental project failed, the committee wouldn't have to spend resources handling aftermath work, and most people in the shelter wouldn't even notice that someone else had "left."

He ate some of the synthetic fast food stocked in the fridge, then cleaned up the dining room, washed up, and changed into a decent outfit.

Lying in bed, a .45 caliber handgun was by the pillow; he deliberately got the same model as Du Li's. The only difference was that he had a legal gun permit. He began to think about what Du Li might have seen on the night of his suicide. Although he didn't go to the scene, from the police's on-site investigation results, there were no signs of a struggle in the room. According to them, Du Li died peacefully.

They believed that shooting oneself was definitely one of the least painful ways to die; the bullet would exit through the back of the head, and the pain would last no longer than 30 seconds.

But considering this was a meticulously orchestrated murder, Merlin speculated the killer probably followed Du Li home all the way; because Du Li drank a lot that day, he didn't notice anything unusual behind him, slept very soundly, and didn't hear the sound of knocking on the door. From the signs at the scene, the murderer likely used neurotoxic paralyzing poison.

They positioned Du Li's unconscious body, inserted the barrel into Du Li's mouth, and pulled the trigger.

Perhaps from beginning to end, Du Li had no awareness.

Merlin hadn't drunk; he was very clear-headed now. If the assassin had infiltrated his apartment in the same manner, a showdown in the apartment might be unavoidable. Although he was prepared to die tonight, it didn't mean he would surrender without a fight. Even in death, he would try to cause as much trouble for the opponent as possible, leaving more clues for Zhuang Xiao and Song Xian.

He was a hard nut to crack.

The first half of the night passed uneventfully; when drowsiness crept in during the latter half, Merlin took two anti-fatigue pills. Around four in the morning, he heard a subtle noise coming from the living room. The intruder sounded like a seasoned expert; the movements were light, and the noise vanished in an instant.

The lamp on the bedside table flickered, as if the circuit had been interfered with.

He speculated that the intruder was cutting off the apartment's electrical system, while he gripped the handgun tightly, rolled out of bed, and stuffed the pillow under the blanket to fake the impression that he was still lying in bed, then sidestepped to hide behind the curtains. Once he completed all that, the bedroom's lights went out entirely.

What followed was a darkness where one couldn't see their hand in front of their face, and he heard a soft noise coming from the bedroom door.

The door was being opened by someone.

Merlin could only see a fuzzy figure getting closer and closer to the bed.

The silenced gun's barrel aimed at the intruder's head. He held his breath and repeatedly squeezed the trigger.

Bullets from the muzzle passed through the curtains, precisely hitting the fuzzy figure's head. At such a distance, with such aiming time, even repeated a hundred times, he could accurately hit the target—this was far simpler than shooting training during practice.

However, the figure hit in the head by the bullet still stood, and even because of the gunfire, discovered Merlin's exact position, quickly heading towards the window.

Bulletproof helmet?

No, there was no sound of a bullet hitting a helmet.

Merlin quickly shifted position, simultaneously firing continuously, yet bullets couldn't stop the intruder's footsteps. The bedroom space wasn't expansive; the opponent only needed one sideways move to block the inevitable path to the living room, but Merlin never had unrealistic wishful thoughts from the start. He was now moving towards the most prominent spot where the camera was.

The flame from the gun barrel was the room's only illumination, yet the intruder seemed unequipped with firearms, not retaliating in a similar manner.

The figure got closer and closer, almost standing right in front of him.

Merlin poured his last bullets into the intruder's body, ready to embrace death, but when the muzzle flame finally illuminated the intruder's face for a fleeting moment, the sight made his blood run cold.

Red skin, face squirming with nauseating tentacles, its mouth opening and closing, uttering a low yet incomprehensible language.

Time Traveler.

The assassin sent by the guild explained why bullets were ineffective against him—they were blessed by the Goddess, not even bullets, nor high-level Elemental Magic that could vaporize them in an instant, could stop them from regenerating.

But why were they here?

The intruder didn't give Merlin much time to think; he grabbed Merlin by the collar with his right hand, and with irresistible force, lifted Merlin entirely. At the bedroom door, the same figure appeared again, and the second intruder seemed to be holding a long, slender object.

It was a long spear.

No one was more familiar with the scene before him than Merlin because...

This was how he died back then.

Pierced through the chest by a specially made spear, the enchanted spear dispelled the Goddess's blessing on him, depriving him of immortality, and then, the reaping Time Traveler used a scythe to cut off his head—that was the last image he saw.

Merlin heard movements behind him, as if someone was climbing in through the window, approaching him in the exact same way as in his memory. The second intruder had already come to him, raising the spear, aiming the sharp blade at his chest.

Unprecedented fear enveloped Merlin.

It was an instinctual fear, but he wasn't afraid of these grotesque visages covered in tendrils. What terrified him were the new mysteries brought about by the appearance of the Time Travelers, and he didn't have nearly enough time to unravel these mysteries one by one.

Merlin once thought he was close to the truth, but the approaching blade silently told him that he was destined to die with a mind full of doubts and confusion.

And tomorrow morning, Zhuang Xiao would discover this bizarre videotape in the room.

The chaotic whispers in Merlin's ears grew stronger, until another voice completely overshadowed it.

"This time, give your faith to me."

Before Ethan cut out of the dream, he had said this to him.

In an instant, many familiar spells surged in his mind. After returning to the sanctuary, Merlin had tried countless times to use Elemental Magic, each attempt ending in inevitable failure, except this time. The Elemental Elf once again responded to his call, his lifted body plummeted to the ground, and he saw the Time Traveler severed by a Wind Blade, lying on the ground, a temporary path appeared leading beyond the bedroom. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Merlin didn't hesitate, almost the moment he landed, he rolled toward the direction of the living room.

He knew all too well that the Wind Blade just now was not enough to break the Goddess's blessing; within 10 seconds, the severed body parts would return to normal.

Merlin continued to chant blessing-type elemental spells, using the wind element as wings, making his body light.

In that instant, he seemed to be back in the capital of the Gallog Dynasty, at that time he returned to the Land of Gold to unravel the secret of the Time Traveler's immortality. So this time?

Where should he run to?

Merlin pushed open the apartment door, racing down the staircase, his heart already knew the answer.

He needed to go to the council district.

Whether he could survive the Time Travelers' pursuit this time or not, he had to face those Democratic Assembly members who had lived for hundreds of years directly.

Had they also visited the "parallel world," and were these Time Travelers in their employment?

There were more and more Time Travelers on the street, at this moment it seemed as though the whole world had become his enemy. Merlin almost immediately realized this was unreasonable, if the council wanted a carefully faked scene, then why send so many assassins at once?

They were everywhere, making no effort to conceal their presence.

But for now, Merlin had no time to concern himself with this. He charged through the checkpoint guarded by Time Travelers, tearing an opening in the encirclement using the Wind Blade.

He reached the council's meeting room, the door was ajar, and white light was emanating from within.

Without a moment's hesitation, Merlin rushed in.

And then, he involuntarily stopped.

On the other side of the door, there were no council members; it was a vast starry sky as if he were walking in the universe, not far away, a majestic presence bathed in white light stood.

In that instant, Merlin felt as though his heart stopped beating.

Because he almost instantly recognized the figure bathed in the radiant light.

The God of Truth.

And the "God" was now examining him, the intruder.

"Interesting."

He made an assessment, "Cognition pollution 100%... Number 3791, why are you still alive?"