Just became an evil god and was summoned by the saint.

Chapter 49 Preparing to Take Action
"The sect's stronghold is just ahead. Let me tell you about a few taboos first."

After walking for a long time, Eric finally stopped, turned around, and gave him some advice:

"First, 'Shark' has a strange temper and doesn't like hearing the name of the evil god Ross. Don't mention it inside, even though 'Shark' isn't at the base right now."

"Second, do not go near the Crimson Spring. It's full of Holy Court people. If you get close, you'll be captured."

"Third, speak less. Don't say anything or panic when you see anything. In the stronghold, you may see frogs singing, cats using magic, crows healing... That's all normal. Don't make a fuss, or I won't be able to save you."

"Remember these three points, and once you've memorized them, come with me to report to the sardines."

“I’ve got it.” Celia nodded.

She knew what the second and third points were about, but she was a little curious about the first point.

Why does the outpost leader dislike hearing Ross's name? Is he afraid?

Eric glanced at Celia, then continued on his way.

Before long, the two arrived at a small mountain peak.

The mountain is quite steep and lush, with a rock rising straight up from the ground.

Eric went up to the stone and placed his hand on it.

Celia felt a powerful surge of corrupting magic emanating from his hand and flowing into the stone.

Underneath the boulder, an area slowly faded away, revealing an entrance large enough for two people.

"Another cave," Celia couldn't help but mutter to herself.

"follow me."

Eric gave a greeting and went in first.

After walking into the cave for a long time, light slowly appeared in front of us, and we could vaguely hear voices.

A powerful, corrupting magical energy surged from the depths of the cave, causing Celia to frown slightly.

"This pollution concentration is more than ten times stronger than all the pollutants in Beiya Village combined."

With so many pollutants stored together in Beya Village, ordinary people would feel severely uncomfortable and begin to experience hallucinations if they got close to them.

If not treated or removed in time, the body will become increasingly entrenched in the pollution, eventually becoming part of the pollution itself by invading every cell in the body.

Of course, most people can't survive to that extent; once pollution takes over their brains, they die.

The concentration of pollution emanating from them was so high that an ordinary person would die if they got too close.

Even sorcerers cannot stay for long.

Is this the level of contamination a cult stronghold should have?
Is this a plan to sacrifice all the believers?!
"Lord Ross, does summoning the White Whale require sacrificing believers?"

"Of course, when the bodies of everyone here are polluted, their souls are slowly absorbed by the white whale. Even if the white whale doesn't come out, they won't live for more than five years."

Upon hearing this, Celia immediately mobilized all her magic power to fight against the surging corrupted magic.

"Stop. Don't use magic to fight it. You'll be exposed. Don't worry, you won't be contaminated."

Celia hesitated for a moment, then chose to trust Ross and stopped circulating her magic.

She discovered that the contaminants that were about to invade her body would inexplicably disappear once they got close to her skin.

"What's going on?" Celia had never seen pollution mysteriously disappear before.

"I am an evil god," Ross said calmly.

"Oh." Although she didn't understand, Celia got it.

Rose never acted like the legendary evil god, and coupled with his long-held beliefs, he was not evil at all, causing her to forget that he was the only evil god certified by the gods.

Not surprising then.

In the Holy See's scriptures, wasn't the pollution caused by the evil god Ross?
While it's unclear whether this is true, it's certain that evil gods can eliminate pollution.

Celia followed Eric inside without worry.
Soon, the space opened up, revealing a doorway with a table at the entrance. Two people sat behind the table, which also held a plate and an account book—similar to the custom of collecting monetary gifts at a rural banquet. As Eric approached, one of them said, "Pay up first...wait, who's behind you? I don't recognize him."

He noticed Celia behind Eric, and the two immediately became wary.

“This is my brother, Duke. He felt the call of the gods and wants to join our family,” Eric said.

The two 'sardines' looked at each other and smiled.

"No problem, but as you know, the Holy Court has been cracking down hard lately, so we're very cautious about hiring new people. In principle, we can't hire anyone until that matter is resolved."

Eric remained silent, but simply took out a small cloth bag and placed it on the table.

One of them took it and opened it, beaming with joy: "But, there aren't many people left who can feel the call of the gods, so we can't let any of our good brothers go."

Another person picked up a quill pen: "Duke, right?"

“Yes.” Eric nodded.

The man quickly wrote "Duke (New)" in the ledger, and received 1 silver coin to join the church.

Celia glanced at it; Eric had given them a full 5 silver coins, and they immediately swallowed 4 of them.

The fee to pay upon entry was only 20 copper coins, which was an extra charge, not included in the 5 silver coins. Perhaps they didn't want to give change—or perhaps they only recorded 10 copper coins as 20 copper coins in their accounts.

Celia couldn't stand seeing people so greedy, even for 10 copper coins.

"Those two have gone too far!"

"They won't live more than two years."

"Two years is too long. I wish I could take them down right now."

Celia rambles on.

She still didn't dare to kill, but she drew inspiration from Ross's previous actions.

Killing is too easy for evildoers; it's better to abolish them. Not only will they not have the psychological barrier to killing, but they can also be punished as a deterrent.

After paying, the door opened, and the two went inside, where an even stronger wave of pollution hit them.

Eric took a deep breath, like a drug addict who had just gotten his fill, and showed an expression of ecstasy.

He looked to his left and greeted him, "Mr. Frog, you sang quite well today. I'm sure the princess will soon be captivated by your voice."

Celia looked over as well, but there were no frogs there, only a rotting toad covered in pus, which was filled with a persistent filth.

She asked in a low voice, "Eric, what do I need to do after joining the cult?"

"Come with me, and I'll tell you about the sect's situation while I'm at it."

Eric continued deeper into the cave.

As they walked, he said, “You don’t need to do anything here. Just pray in the ceremonial hall at the very back. Every day, ‘Sardine’ will provide lunch and dinner, but it’s not free. A meal costs 120 copper coins or 1 silver coin, and includes a loaf of bread, a cup of milk, and a potato. Meat will cost extra.”

"So expensive?"

"Well, you can earn 50 copper coins every day by praying, and you can also get extra income by collecting white whales, just like I told you."

This day's earnings probably aren't even enough to eat.

If I remember correctly, eating out, with bread, milk, and potatoes, only costs 20 copper coins.

The nobles haven't even started selling bread to commoners for 50 copper coins a loaf yet, and you're already doing it.

Celia clenched her fists.

At that moment, Ross's voice echoed in my mind:
"The person in charge of the outpost is not here. After we go to the ceremony hall with him, we will prepare to make our move."

"it is good!"

(End of this chapter)