The Villain Saint is my secondary account

"Humph."

Ella didn't reply. She drew a line in the air with her fingertip, and invisible ripples spread out, enveloping her from above.

"ga"

Edward saw the girl's body vanish in an instant, turning into several crows that scattered and flew away, leaving only a few black feathers that drifted down onto the original soft chair.

Is this really the Holy Maiden of Light...? What does this have to do with light?

Edward couldn't help but think of it, and then his whole head trembled reflexively.

No, no, no, that's not what I meant. I was praising the great Holy Maiden of Light.

He quickly changed his mind, paused for a few seconds looking at the empty chair, and then slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

Thankfully, it seems they can't sense my thoughts when they're not around... otherwise, it would be too terrifying...

Looking back now, this guy, let alone a saintess... probably doesn't even belong to the realm of human comprehension...

After Edward realized he was unharmed, some rebellious thoughts began to surface in his mind again.

Just then, that familiar yet chillingly aged voice slowly rang out.

“Child, it seems you still need some guidance from the Holy Light.”

Edward's expression froze, his eyes slowly glancing towards the dark corner beside him, where he saw the mad bishop Evans, who was holding the tentacle statue, slowly revealing himself with a twisted smile on his face.

"No way!? Huh!?"

As Edward watched Evans approach, he finally let out a hysterical scream.

"No!!! Help!!!"

……

Return to the free port on the other side of the ocean.

In a cave on the island, Ye Xiao and his pirates set up a temporary base for rest.

"Oh, God of Beasts above, those Aslans should not be able to find this place now."

Even the massive orc pirate Francis was thoroughly harassed during his escape and uttered a sigh of relief.

"They won't come."

Henry Morgan leaned against a corner of the rock wall, playing with the musket in his hand. "Most of our colleagues, and the ships, were burned to ashes in the bay inside the cave."

"For them, such a result is already acceptable... Of course, they would be even happier if they could discover that the headless corpse in the collapsed hall was Edward, whom they hate."

"Ha, damn Edward."

Francis picked at his dark green nose. "If it weren't for him, so many damned Aslans wouldn't have come... When I get back, I'm going to rob a few more Aslan merchant ships to vent my anger."

Henry Morgan shrugged, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Although his ship, which was moored in the bay, was also burned, as a major pirate, he still had some foundation. His real stronghold was still there, so he didn't need to provoke the Aslans again.

However, it's fine if Francis is willing to do this. After all, no matter how arrogant the Aslans are, they wouldn't send their army to the southern continent ruled by the Greenskins just to seek revenge on a pirate.

But that's all for later.

Henry Morgan turned his gaze to the side, to Ye Xiao, who was sitting on a stone stool with his eyes closed, resting.

Decali and Big Tooth were sitting next to Ye Xiao, and the nameless swordsman who had just assassinated Edward was lying on the ground.

Of course, the swordsman didn't die; he simply fainted due to blood loss and exhaustion.

Just as Morgan was pondering whether to disturb Ye Xiao, Ye Xiao suddenly opened his eyes.

"How about it?"

Seeing that Ye Xiao had come to his senses, Dekari asked.

"We still need to go to that underground lake."

Ye Xiao stretched and yawned. After fighting all night, even his iron body was a little tired.

But time waits for no one. Edward may ultimately only be considered a pawn of that evil god. Although he seems to be a rather special pawn, simply stopping Edward has a limited impact on the evil god himself.

What Ye Xiaozhen really wanted was to expose the deity hiding behind the scenes.

"An underground lake?"

Dekari stroked his chin. "Is it that strange lake you mentioned earlier, the one at the foot of a mountain village?"

"Yes, that's the place you went to with your brother Reinaldo before."

After returning to the city, Ye Xiao briefly explained the situation to Dekari, so Dekari knew about it.

“Hey, I’m not familiar with that guy at all,”

Decali waved his hand, "What a bastard."

"What, you're very averse to him?"

"During the Holy Trial, he called me an idiot for turning down Lady Theresa's offer and going after Lady Agnes instead."

"To be fair, he was right to criticize."

Ye Xiao nodded.

"Tsk."

Decari pursed his lips. "Lady Theresa already has enough powerful subordinates. I was thinking of finding a master with untapped potential, so that I would have a better chance of advancement... Who would have thought that people would change? Lady Agnes wasn't so strange before."

"Is it possible that he's always been like that, and you just haven't seen through him yet?"

"You still have the nerve to say it."

Decali's lips twitched. "You're telling me you're a Templar Knight? This is the first time I've ever seen a Templar Knight chanting the name of a demon god of hell while casting a spell."

"What do you know? You need to try other faiths to strengthen your resolve in the Holy Light."

As Ye Xiao spoke, Greta peeked out from his collar and nuzzled against his face.

Ye Xiao picked up the kitten and rubbed it, "But you don't seem to mind that much."

"After all, I'm not as rigid as Reinaldo,"

Dekari chuckled. "If it were that idiot, he wouldn't be waiting until now to discuss what's going on with you; he'd probably be fighting you to the death in the fortress hall."

Ye Xiao shrugged. That's indeed true.

Chapter Sixty-Eight: The Emergence of Sects

As Ye Xiao and Decale were talking quietly, Henry Morgan finally arrived slowly with Francis.

"What brings you two here?" Ye Xiao asked first, noticing Henry Morgan's hesitant expression.

Island Morgan nodded slightly, then pointed to his burly orc companion beside him, "This one believes we should ask you about your next course of action."

"Although the Aslans have stopped their pursuit, our scouts report that they have joined forces with the Freeport army to blockade the surrounding waters. What do you think? What should we do?"

"You're asking me this question too?" Ye Xiao was slightly surprised.

“We have indeed devised some strategies,” Henry Morgan and Francis exchanged a glance, “but we feel it is most appropriate for you to make the final decision.”

"After all, you are our leader now."

Francis echoed.

"leader?"

"You defeated Edward in front of everyone, repelled the Aslans, and gained the approval of the former leader's second-in-command, Ravenheim. After discussions between Francis and me, according to the rules established by Boss Vann, we should all be loyal to you."

"Therefore, you are now our new Pirate King."

Henry Morgan made this announcement, and Francis nodded in agreement. At that moment, all the pirates in the cave focused their attention on this spot.

For a moment, the cave became unusually quiet, as everyone awaited Ye Xiao's decision.

"Huh?"

Ye Xiao placed his hands on his knees and pondered for a moment.

According to Big Tooth Brother, there is indeed such a saying, but the fact that these two guys came up so honestly to acknowledge him as their elder brother made Ye Xiao a little suspicious.

After all, these two were renowned pirates who were used to giving orders. If the situation hadn't been urgent and Edward hadn't forced them to obey, they wouldn't have been willing to submit to someone else.

Now that Ye Xiao has resolved the issue for Edward, he is nominally qualified to take over the title of Pirate King. However, the problem is that he is not familiar with this group of pirates. Once the day is over, everyone will disperse and go their separate ways. Ye Xiao will no longer be able to care about these guys.

The pirates' oaths are not like those of the Templars, where loyalty is absolute once sworn. Putting everything else aside, if Ye Xiao were to ask Henry Morgan to hand over all the wealth he had amassed over the years, the latter would certainly refuse.

But if it were a follower of the Holy See under Ella, such as Orfindo who is currently serving as her bodyguard, let alone asking him to pay money, he probably wouldn't hesitate for a second even if he were asked to give up his life.

Therefore, from a general perspective, Ella's forces are quite numerous and of high quality.

Not to mention Loren's two most important ministers, Isaac and Furman, Duke Hevil and Empress Skadi can also be considered her people. When special missions are needed, there are also the Septian Society and the Loren Sanctuary.

Although it's not explicitly shown, Ella's network of influence is already quite extensive.

But there is another problem: these people, to be precise, all belong to forces with their own essential beliefs and responsibilities.

Simply put, if Isaac's intelligence agency really wants him to do something, he'll definitely do it without question.

However, from the perspective of the Loren Empire, Isaac also has to be responsible for the country of Loren.

Even in a feudal society where imperial power was paramount, if Ella relied on this to simply make others serve her without considering the impact on the country and its people, then what difference would there be between her and the "tyrant witch" she criticized in her previous life?

The same principle applies to the Septim, the Heville family, and even the Loren Sanctuary. With great power comes great responsibility. Ella has the right to command them, but she must also be responsible for the fundamental principles they uphold, because that is precisely why they chose Ella.

Considering this, cultivating a force that is ideologically and exclusively loyal to oneself might indeed be much easier.

Pirates roam the seas year-round, so their range of activities and intelligence sources are undoubtedly vast. If they could be recruited, they would certainly be useful.

Ella had considered cultivating such a force before, but had not yet found suitable personnel.

But now that Ye Xiao has sent over a batch, perhaps we can give it a try.

However, the first issue that needs to be addressed here is loyalty.

After much thought, Ye Xiao realized that given the pirates' organizational structure, it would be difficult to guarantee their loyalty. Their profession was inherently free-spirited and undisciplined. Even if Ye Xiao gave an order to stop attacking innocent merchant ships, there were probably very few who would strictly obey his command.

That won't do. It's one thing to not be able to manage the lowest-level henchmen, but there must be sufficient control over the core members.

In terms of loyalty, the most steadfast organizational structure should be... religion.

Perhaps, this opportunity could be used to establish a sect that belongs exclusively to Ella.

It is not a sect that believes in the Holy Light, but in the Holy Maiden.

Originally, not to mention the God of Light, Greta also had her own Society of Original Sin, and even that fake evil god who used the name of Lydia had a group of Dark Shepherds under his command.

Everyone else has it, how can our Holy Maiden not have it?

So, when Ye Xiao looked at Henry Morgan, the orc Francis, and the group of pirates behind them who were looking at him, he revealed a chilling smile that seemed to indicate he had spotted a group of prey.

"That's good, I do need some manpower to do things."

Ye Xiao placed his hands on Henry Morgan and Francis's shoulders. "But before that, you two must decide that once you join the church, there's no turning back."

"Join the religion?"

Henry Morgan noticed the subtlety in Ye Xiao's choice of words.

"Look back?"

Francis the orc scratched his head sheepishly, feeling a little itchy.

Ye Xiao did not directly respond to their questions, but instead took out a stack of papyrus paper from the spatial door that quietly opened in front of him.

Thanks to my good buddy Li Cheng for that promotional post he made out of nothing better to do; it's finally coming in handy one day.

"Come, gentlemen, I'll tentatively agree to the Pirate King's request, and I'll also take responsibility for leading everyone to break through. However, there's one condition: I hope you can give me some time so I can introduce our savior and deity to you..."

"Huh, isn't it?"

Decali watched as Ye Xiao, with his arm around Henry Morgan and Francis, led them aside, and felt inexplicably at a loss.

He thought he heard Ye Xiao preaching just now? But it didn't sound like the Holy Light doctrine. Could this guy be spreading some kind of cult? As a Templar Knight, shouldn't he stop him from doing this?

Dekari's remaining conscience made him hesitate for a moment, then he leaned back against the wall, crossed his legs, and rested. "Forget it, I can't beat him anyway."

Chapter Sixty-Nine: Welcome to the Club