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

Chapter 52: Heretics were actually founded by gods?

"Oh dear, your loot is gone."

Ross, having finished inscribing the runes, peeked at the devastation in the ritual hall and chuckled.

"What a pity, this meteor shower was too intense, leaving only charred remains, making it impossible to loot the corpse."

Celia's body trembled.

"W-what? Looting a corpse?!"

These are terrifying words. Is this some kind of evil god?
The meteor shower was incredibly destructive, but the dead were either burning or charred. There were no bloody or violent scenes. Celia, who had never killed anyone, felt a mix of emotions but didn't experience the disgust of being covered in blood.

Ross picked up the Siren's Eye and hid it in the puppet's storage module.

He looked up at the dome of the ceremonial hall and said, "Alright, stop looking. Although the ceiling of this hall is very sturdy, who knows if it will suddenly collapse? Let's go... oh, no need to go any further."

Celia, who was about to leave, paused for a moment, then turned to look at Ross: "What do you mean?"

"Your teachers have arrived, just like last time, after we finished fighting."

Ross gestured toward the gate.

The doors to the ceremonial hall had already been destroyed, so they didn't break in. Elena, along with many school instructors and Holy Knights, poured into the ceremonial hall.

Many mentors and knights were stunned by the horrific scene in the ritual hall.

Then, they looked at the only survivor in the hall—Celia.

Elena rushed up the platform like the wind, helped up Celia, and a holy magic flowed from her hand into Celia's body to examine her.

After circulating the holy magic, Elena realized that Celia was only overexerted and not injured, and breathed a sigh of relief.

"What's going on with you this time? How did you end up here, and even wiped out the heretical stronghold we've been trying to find?"

It was outrageous enough that Celia went to the heretical stronghold, but what's even more outrageous is that she destroyed the stronghold!
All the remaining forces in the stronghold were consumed by the flames.

This outpost is different from the one we went to for the previous assessment. That small outpost was one that the Holy Court knew about but didn't bother with, intending to use it for newcomers to accumulate experience.

This is a large stronghold of the heretics, and the leader of the stronghold is a fourth-tier mage.

Celia merely infiltrated, and Elena didn't say anything, but she directly caused a huge commotion inside...

It’s just a desperate matter!

"Luckily, the lord of the stronghold is being tracked by us and cannot return to the stronghold, otherwise you would have been killed by him for causing this commotion. This is absolutely outrageous! Do you even know what you're doing?!"

Elena grew angrier the more she talked.

Celia didn't refute, but simply lowered her head and counted the ants on the ground.

One ant, two ants...wait? These don't seem to be ants?

The girl suddenly looked up at the dome of the hall.

"The cave is about to collapse?!"

"Ok?"

Elena looked up as well, then her expression changed: "Someone is destroying the magic circle, evacuate immediately!"

After saying that, she grabbed Celia, slung her onto her back, and rushed toward the door.

The others also noticed that the magic array supporting the entire stronghold was being destroyed, and immediately put down their inspection work and rushed outside with Elena.

"It's too deep here, we might not make it out in time!" a knight shouted.

"Try to get out of here, at least to a place where it won't collapse, and then figure out what to do next," another knight said.

Although they were all on the run, these people were much more disciplined than the previous believers. They not only didn't block anyone, but they were also incredibly fast.

With Elena carrying her on her back, Celia didn't need to worry about how to run.

She looked behind her, somewhat worried.

She sensed that her puppet hadn't followed her out.

Ross doesn't seem to be back either; I wonder what he's doing.

Wait, what am I worried about?
You'd be better off worrying about yourself.

Listening to what the others were saying, Celia began to worry about herself and Elena and the others.

"Mentor Elena, is it possible to escape?" she asked Elena in a low voice. "Yes, trust me," Elena replied without hesitation.

Celia felt a little relieved.

I hope I can escape. But I have a feeling it won't be that simple...

……

On the other side, after everyone had left, Ross leisurely surveyed the area before regretfully stopping.

There really wasn't anything there.

He shook his head and looked at the increasing amount of dirt falling from above.

"Interesting. While destroying the formation, they also exposed the prayer formation."

At this moment, he was still standing on the platform. Instead of walking towards the gate, he turned around and walked towards the wall behind the platform.

Upon reaching the wall, strange runes appeared on it, filled with a thick layer of pollution.

Ross reached out and pressed his hand against the wall, tapping the runes several times.

Rumble——!
A gap was opened in the wall.

Rose walked into the gap.

"I want to see where the power of faith gathered by believers' prayers will ultimately end up."

From the moment he entered the ceremony hall, Ross had one thing on his mind.

Those pagans who prayed generated the power of faith needed by the gods during the process of prayer.

This is the source of the gods' power. A lack of faith will lead to a decline in strength, which is why Ross spreads atheism when playing the game.

Here, atheism refers to no longer believing in gods, rather than denying the existence of gods.

"There are two possibilities for the emergence of faith: the goal of faith is a god, or a saint-level mage who is in the process of forming a divine personality."

Ross believed the latter was impossible.

Then it can only be the former.

A deity is using religious artifacts to absorb the faith of many heretics.

That religious artifact was not the Eye of the Siren, but a prayer array hidden within a magic circle in a fixed cave.

Once Ross finds the core of the magic circle, he will know which god it is—unless a new god is created.

"If the core is a spiritual object, then there is a chance to trace it back and find out where that god is."

Thinking it over, Ross moved quickly through the secret passage.

A moment later, he arrived at the end of the secret passage, in a small stone house.

All the stones in the room were covered with magic circles and runes. In the center of the room was a stone table with a round plate on it.

But there was nothing on the disc.

"What a pity, the spirit has already been taken away."

Rose was very disappointed.

Spiritual objects are high-level magical items with many uses, and some even possess simple consciousness, making them extremely precious. Since the other party destroyed the magic array, they naturally wouldn't allow the spiritual objects to be buried along with it.

"Although there are no spiritual objects to track, the core runes of the magic array are still there, so we can still determine which deity it is."

Ross approached the stone table and placed his hand on the disc.

After a long while, he withdrew his hand.

"So it was you. I was wondering how you twelve main gods could die so easily."

"But why not go to the Holy Court and instead run off to a heretical sect to absorb faith? What are you thinking, my friend..."

"Sea God, Ethel."

　Thank you to Kuanglai Shuojian and Tianshan II for the 100-point donation.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)