The Villain Saint is my secondary account

The black-robed priest, in the form of a rat, trembled as he leaped over the fence along the base of the wall, then vanished in a blur as he desperately ran up the stairs.

After going up a few floors, he saw a Templar Knight patrolling the corridor in silver armor. He was so moved, as if he had seen a family member, that he turned into a wisp of black smoke and disappeared into the Knight's armor.

Whatever, I'll just wait for the Templars to change shifts and leave this godforsaken place...

No, we can't let our guard down yet. The entire Loren Sanctuary might have become that monster's lair... Oh, thinking about it that way, the Sanctuary, the Loren Sanctuary, is probably already damned and doomed.

This country is probably going to collapse soon.

This thing might even become the Lord of the Holy Temple in Morningstar Ridge... God, they're all doomed sooner or later.

The black-robed priest felt increasingly terrified as he thought about it, and after leaving, he quickly applied for leave from the religious order.

He wanted to leave this country, sail out to sea from Stormport, to the Tedeh Federation, or to the Eastern Sun Continent, or anywhere else—as far away from this place as possible.

He had already foreseen the boundless darkness that lay ahead for this continent.

……

"Ah chirp~"

What happened? Ella touched her nose; this was the first time her body had ever sneezed.

"May the great God of Light protect you," the High Priest Holmes whispered from the side.

"Thank you, High Priest." Ella nodded slightly.

Here, there's also a custom of offering a blessing when someone sneezes, which subtly overlaps with the customs of the West on Earth.

The insane black-robed priest had been detained in another part of the dungeon by Ella's orders. Because she didn't know what kind of chemical reaction would occur if she put him and the former high priest Evans together, Ella didn't let them be roommates, just in case.

However, for some unknown reason, that guy went completely insane, constantly babbling incoherently about "holy light" and "tentacles." Even after taking a version of "healing holy light" from Ella, his symptoms didn't improve at all, which resulted in him being there but unable to get anything out of him.

It's really strange... Ella asked herself if she had done anything to that guy, since she was the one who got beaten up.

Further information could only be obtained by the Inquisition. Ella tried to probe the black-robed priest's soul by reading Evans's soul, but the priest appeared to be dying after only a few touches of her soul tentacles, which made Ella dare not make any more rash moves.

High Priest Evans was enhanced with some unknown magic, and an ordinary person's mental strength simply couldn't withstand Ella's soul probing through the connection with her followers.

Therefore, all Ella knows so far is that the guy seems to have two hearts, which is a very unscientific physiological structure. She hasn't discovered any other information yet.

Another regrettable point is that although this guy is a priest who serves the moon goddess and seems to be able to use some unique abilities bestowed by the moon goddess, I can't find any new powers from him.

She recalled the only two times she had ever gained divine power: once when she "contaminated" Wengerman, who had been implanted with the goddess Cynthia, and once when she healed Lilia, the chosen one of the Sunfire God. In theory, both of them possessed the complete divine power of their respective gods, while this black-robed priest was only blessed to use a portion of that power. Perhaps that was the difference.

Furthermore, Ella's method of acquiring divine authority is more like copying than "seizing" it. She will generate a special version of the corresponding divine authority that is unique to her on the skill tree, such as the white wolf claw that appears when she transforms into a beast, or the black "holy flame", just like the way she initially learned the "healing holy light" spell in the sanctuary course.

Ella had also asked Lilia, who was still the chosen one of the Sunfire God. The fact that Ella possessed the "Holy Flame" did not prevent her from using Osmon's divine authority. However, the knowledgeable Lilia herself did not understand how Ella's power prevented her bloodline from being burned by the blessing of the Sun God, and Ella, a brute who practiced swordsmanship, understood even less.

They even conducted a comparative experiment at the princess's residence, summoning golden and black holy flames together.

The same wall, the parts burned by Lilia will turn to ashes, while the parts burned by Ella, upon closer inspection, will look as if they have been corroded by something, which is chilling to look at.

However, this is not unexpected. After all, in theory, Ella's "Healing Light" spell is also derived from the "Light" divine authority of the God of Light. However, the real Healing Light is a holy pillar of light that appears in a magic circle, while Ella's is a cluster of tentacles. The reason for this may be the same.

“Things have become increasingly numerous lately, I’m troubling you, Saintess.” While Ella was lost in thought, Holmes handed her a neatly organized scroll. “I’ve done a quick screening of the information the Holy Church has collected about the Full Moon Order and Lingfeng Valley, and I’ve copied it here using the library’s copying technique. If you need the original, you can refer to the library index based on the markings on it, or you can contact Elder Glen, who is familiar with the location of all the scrolls.”

"Furthermore, it seems Your Excellency is setting off tomorrow?" After handing over the scroll, High Priest Holmes gave Ella a text message crystal. "Although there is a branch of the Holy Church in the area, you can use this text message crystal if you need to contact us here."

“Yes, thank you, High Priest. May the great God of Light bless you.” Ella accepted the crystal and thanked him politely.

Holmes watched the silver-haired girl leave the room with a kind expression, but there was some worry in his eyes.

Perhaps it's because the strange events at the Ocean Sanctuary are still unresolved, or perhaps it's because of the undercurrents swirling in the Imperial City.

Suddenly, a white snowflake drifted in through the window, landed among the stacks of books on the desk, and disappeared without a trace.

Oh, Holmes realized that Pilgrimage Day was a celebration at the Loren Church and also marked the transition from autumn to winter.

So, winter should be approaching in Vallond soon.

Deep down, the elderly priest had a premonition... that this winter might be colder than usual.

"Ah..." He couldn't help but close his eyes and whispered, "May the light guide your way, Your Majesty."

End of volume remarks

Thank you all for reading! That concludes Volume Two! (ˊ?ˋ)

I never imagined that this book, which had fewer than 100 orders on its first day of release, would almost reach 1,000 orders in less than two months! It's an unbelievable medical miracle, hahaha! ヾ(≧▽≦*)o

Of course, this wouldn't have been possible without the support of everyone. Whether it's donations, comments, or donations, or the quiet dedication of those who have been following along, it's all been the driving force that keeps the author writing and striving.

Whenever I struggle through those quiet, creatively barren nights, exhausted from a long day of work, even just seeing a recommendation vote or a simple increase in subscriptions makes me feel that my persistence is still meaningful—there are readers who love this book supporting me, and how can I let them down?

Therefore, I would like to express my sincere gratitude once again for everyone's continued support; the author is truly touched! ?·°(??﹏??)°·?

I saw some readers commenting that they were curious about what happened in the other timeline where the Second Prince wasn't killed. The initial concept for the second volume was actually based on that timeline. Because it was a rather depressing story, I decided to put it in a storyline that had already been twisted. This would both simplify the reading experience and avoid causing too much stomach pain, hahaha.

As for the message Ye Xiao initially sent to his friends, the impact of this plot will also surface in the third volume—the protagonist will eventually have to step into the pit he dug himself, hahaha. Don't worry, since it was a group message, it means that his good friends before he transmigrated were obviously not just Li Cheng (and although the author didn't explicitly say that one of the protagonist's "other friends" had already appeared subtly in the plot, hahaha).

The reason why the first two volumes didn't go into detail about the other friends is simply because there are too many characters related to the main storyline, so characters who are not so closely related to the current main plot development are simplified as much as possible—but in the third volume, the players' roles will be greatly expanded.

Unlike the undercurrents of the imperial city and the decadent lifestyle of the upper class, Storm Harbor is more characterized by lawlessness and fierce gang warfare. The male protagonist and his friends, as members of an outside guild, and the female protagonist, as an envoy of the religious order, will experience a "passionate" adventure in this port city.

However, this book isn't a traditional monster-slaying and leveling-up story where you clear one map and move on to the next. After Stormport ends, there will definitely be stories set in the Imperial City and Howling Mountains. Don't worry about characters or events you encountered in the story suddenly disappearing. To avoid making the story too long, their roles will be simplified when they're not part of the main plot, and they might only be mentioned in small details derived from these characters at certain times.

As for the update time, it will still be the same as always, 9 a.m. every day. I'm sure everyone is already used to this time, hahaha o(*≧▽≦)ツ!

Because of the set update time for the new chapter of Volume 3, the postscript written later had a bug and could not be posted before 9:00 AM on this day, which is why everyone is only now seeing the postscript for Volume 2 (つдつ).

So, I look forward to your continued guidance in the next chapter!

Basic settings

Since I've seen many experienced readers asking questions in the comments, and given that this book is getting longer, I've compiled some settings already mentioned in the book here for your reference. (This is also for the author's own reference so they don't forget, hahaha ヾ(≧▽≦*)o)

The setting may seem a bit complicated, but don't worry, the narration and description in this book are all based on the actual story. This setting collection is just for interested readers to make a simple reference, but not understanding it at all will not cause any reading difficulties.

The reason this setting is placed here in the second volume is because placing such a complex setting at the beginning might be discouraging, haha. Also, it serves as a summary, not prior knowledge. The author will continue to summarize the relevant settings and some more complex plot points at the end of each volume to facilitate reader comprehension.

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World background:

Millions of players from Earth were transported to a fantastical world where gods and magic existed because of a game.

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World Tree System:

Character System:

Name: The player's name. This can be changed once a month after version 1.1 (after Volume 2) by spending Universal Points.

Character's base stats:

Health Points (100%): Health points indicate the player's health level, presented as a 0-100% value for reference only. Health will never exceed 100%, and typically fluctuates between 85% and 95% (no one is absolutely healthy). A fatal blow will reduce health from 100% to 0. If the player is not completely dead, they will retain 1% health. A significant drop in health will negatively impact mental and physical stamina.

Mental Strength (100%): Mental Strength indicates the player's mental strength. It is provided as a numerical value from 0 to 100% for the player's reference. It may exceed 100%, and usually fluctuates between 85% and 95%. A significant drop will affect health.

Stamina (100%): Stamina indicates the player's stamina. It is only provided as a numerical value from 0 to 100% for the player's reference. It may exceed 100%, and usually fluctuates between 85% and 95%. A significant drop will affect health.

The character's basic attributes:

Strength (The average adult male has a strength rating of 10, which can provide a bonus to combat skills).

Agility (A normal adult male has an agility of 10, which can provide a bonus to combat skills).

Spirit (A normal adult male has a spirit of 10, which can provide a bonus to spells and affects the spirit capacity).

Constitution (The constitution of an average adult male is 10, which affects health and stamina).

There are no character rankings, but you can have a rating agency assess your character's rank in a particular profession.

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Skill System:

The system in this book does not have character levels, only skill levels, and the skill levels are information provided by the World Tree system, with a unified evaluation standard.

Skills are generally divided into combat skills and spells. Combat skills consume physical strength, while spells consume mental strength (but this is only a general rule; some special skills may have other consumption methods, such as certain skills that consume life force).

Skill proficiency levels are divided into: Beginner -> Apprentice -> Common -> Skilled -> Expert -> Master -> Grandmaster -> Transcendent -> Saint -> Mythical

Beginner (Can barely use the skill) -> Apprentice (Uses it less severely) -> Ordinary (Can unleash the skill's full potential) -> Skilled (Uses it proficiently and occasionally achieves surprising results (critical hits)) -> Master (Has a unique understanding of the skill and can achieve a level beyond its original effect (e.g., casting becomes instant, stronger penetration, more concealed release) -> Expert (This skill has become the foundation of one's skill set and can be combined with other skills) -> Master (Has created one's own style based on the skill) -> Grandmaster (This skill has become unrelated to its original form and can be renamed) -> Transcendent (Has reached a level of skill application incomprehensible to mortals, such as a fireball that can be hidden in one's hair) -> Saint (Can use this skill to contend with gods) -> Myth (You are the god of this skill)

Skill proficiency can only be improved through practice or certain special events; it cannot be improved using system-wide points. The proficiency of some related skills or skills of different ranks will influence each other. For example, mastering the Fan of Fire and the Fireball spell will improve one's understanding of the Fireball spell.

Skills whose proficiency has increased can have their corresponding attributes improved by spending Universal Points (for example, improving from Beginner Draw Sword practice to Apprentice Draw Sword level, after spending Universal Points, will increase Strength and Agility).

Skills themselves do not have levels, but spells are divided into rings. Spells of higher rings are theoretically more powerful, but due to differences in proficiency, special cases may occur. For example, a master-level, third-ring fireball spell can penetrate a normal-level, fifth-ring fire spear spell.

Among the native inhabitants of this other world, the method of determining a person's rank mainly relies on specialized assessment institutions, such as the Adventurers' Guild, the Sanctuary, the Academy, the Assassin's Guild, the Mage Guild, and so on. This assessment does not have a unified standard, and each institution will give its own qualification certification. Furthermore, the assessments of these institutions and forces include both comprehensive considerations and assessments of specific skills.

You can think of it like modern professional level assessments. For example, you can take the IELTS test to assess your English level or the TOEFL test. They will both give you a qualification, but they are not necessarily the same (due to differences in your performance, IELTS may think you are an English master, while TOEFL may think you are just an English expert). However, IELTS will not help assess your math level, just like a thief cannot ask the Mage Guild to assess his rank.

Furthermore, certifications from different organizations are not necessarily entirely accurate (the Adventurer Guild's certification will be assessed more highly if you pay more money, but this also makes its qualification certification less credible). The assessment also has conditions and limitations, such as an upper limit (unfortunately, the Mage Guild does not know what level a Mythic Mage should be) and a lower limit (the Mage Guild does not know what level it is to skillfully issue four A's).

Skill Tree:

Players can learn individual skills through the in-game store or quests, or they can acquire a complete skill tree through class inheritance.

A complete skill tree exists within the complete skill system of this style. As proficiency increases and universal points are consumed, branches of the skill tree can be continuously unlocked, and individual skills can also be integrated into the skill tree.

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Other miscellaneous systems:

E-commerce system:

You can use universal points to purchase equipment, items, and skills. The available options vary from player to player, are unlocked based on quests, and may be limited in quantity. Because the main character doesn't rely heavily on this system, it doesn't play a significant role in gameplay.

Community System (v1.1, appears in Volume 2):

Friend Communication: Players can add each other as friends and send messages through the communication system. Messages within the same main city are free, while messages between different main cities consume universal points based on the distance. Messages cannot be sent or received in the wild; only messages can be left.

(Friend limit is 100. Use general points to increase the limit.)

Forums (Baidu Tieba): Players can search, browse, and create posts on public forums. Posts can be tagged with search terms and regions, and users can choose whether to spend general points to view them. Anonymous functionality is not available in version 1.1.

Guild System (v1.1, introduced in Volume 2):

Players can form guilds, and guild members can communicate even when they are in the wild and within a certain distance. Guild members who team up to complete tasks receive a higher bonus to universal points.

Indigenous people can also join guilds by registering as members through the guild's registration authority.

Arena System (v1.1, introduced in Volume 2):

The arena divides players into seven ranks, from lowest to highest: Novice, Normal, Elite, Special, Top, Hero, and Legendary.

Unlike skill proficiency levels, this classification relies purely on the player's relative ranking based on their score, so a player's rank will fluctuate frequently.

At the end of each month, players with a rank of "Elite" or higher will receive rewards directly from the system, with higher rank players receiving more generous rewards.

In addition, there is a generalized professional ranking list, which is settled every six months. The top 100 players on the professional ranking list will also receive system rewards based on their ranking.

In version 1.1, the Arena mode only has the standard team 3v3, where two teams directly compete against each other in a random environment.

Memory System (present in the initial version, but its role doesn't appear until the second volume):

Enter a character's memories and complete corresponding synchronized tasks to obtain information and improve skills.

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The clearly identified factions are:

The Temple of Light: Holy City (Headquarters), Loren Temple (a branch of the Temple of Light located in the Loren Empire), and Ocean Temple (a collection of temples under the Temple of Light, distributed along the coast).

The Loren Empire (one of the three great human empires, a feudal empire that reveres knights and magic): the Loren Royal Family, the Guild of the Severed Finger (a famous assassin guild), the Society of Crafts (a cult that follows alchemy to achieve the evolution of life), Duke Hevil (Ella's family), and Earl Maltz (the ruling family of Stormport, the family to which Eileen belongs).

Kingdom of Valen (promotes steam power and mechanical engineering): Full Moon Order (subordinate organization - Plague Hunters)

The Aslan Empire (one of the three great human empires, which promotes rune magic and alchemy and seals spacetime magic): The Hyde family (a family that once served the God of Life, but was later suppressed).

The Principality of Tedeh (one of the three major human empires, a human nation with a parliamentary system)

Hell: The Society of Original Sin (originating from a cult founded by the Demon God)

Player: Seven Stars Guild (The player guild the main character belongs to)

Blue Star: Caesar Corporation (the game development company that caused the Great Time Travel)

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