Chapter 350: The Saintess’s Trait

Chapter 350: The Saintess’s Trait

The current Magic Arms had been upgraded by Irene, their internal Magical Structures perfected to the extreme, including Apophis. Since Magic Arms were the foundation of the Evil God, any changes to them would greatly affect the Magic Weapon Evil God as well. In other words, if a real fight broke out, he would be lifting a stone only to drop it on his own foot!

“The Evil God’s method of growing stronger is different from yours. All of its followers are fuel for its strength, while you are alone,” Loris said calmly. “Because of this, even though it hasn’t existed for long, in terms of pure power , you are completely unable to compare without using the Magic Weapon Summoning Book. In a sense, your Magic Weapon Summoning Book… is similar to the accumulated strength of an Evil God. Do you want my help?”

“Uh, it’s better if you don’t make a move. The aftereffects would be too lasting,” Zheng Yichen shook his head. When Witches didn’t act, they were fine, but once they did, they would definitely be exposed! Witches were powerful, but not so powerful that they could ignore the general situation. Didn’t Loris also say that if he didn’t use the Magic Weapon Summoning Book, he would be killed? Using it was a different story. Besides, that thing was originally his, so why not use it? What reason was there not to use it?

Hadn’t he planned for it for so long precisely to use it at critical moments?

Speaking of the Magic Weapon Summoning Book, the power of its main form was now formidable. Just by simply activating the contained Mana and throwing it like a brick, it could produce the force of a cannonball. With a bit more effort, comparing it to a missile was no problem. The book had grown to its current level because tens of thousands of people provided it with Mana every day for its growth.

Since things were stable, he should go back and observe the situation secretly. Up to now, he still didn’t know where the Evil God ‘Apophis’ actually was.

He originally thought this group of Demon Sword Cultists would waste some time, but they reached their destination that very night!

“Uh… is this ‘hiding in plain sight’? No one would have thought the Evil God’s main body would be in a place like this, right?”

Carlin looked at the small Town ahead, hesitated for a moment, disguised himself, and walked in. From the expressions on the faces of the people in the group, he could tell this place was their final destination. The reason Carlin hesitated about whether to enter was simple: what if everyone in the entire Town was a Demon Sword Cultist? He might not walk out alive.

But if he didn’t go in, he wouldn’t be able to understand the situation… Fortunately, after entering, he saw many outsiders in the Town, like Adventurers or Mercenaries, so it probably wasn’t a place completely controlled by the Demon Sword Sect.

“A Tavern… you can only see these in underdeveloped small Towns like this,” Carlin muttered to himself softly as he watched the group disperse and enter a Tavern. Currently, in Towns that had developed somewhat well, under the operation of the Purple Vine Guild, Taverns had transformed into Bars. Regardless of size, when everyone else had Bars, if you were still running a Tavern, your prestige would drop. This wasn’t Earth.

In a situation where Bars were everywhere, a retro-styled Tavern appearing suddenly would indeed seem uniquely popular. However, this world hadn’t developed to that level yet.

“This is getting tricky…” Inside the Tavern, Carlin noticed the Tavern’s Boss was in cahoots with these Demon Sword Cultists. The entire Tavern wasn’t very big, making it impossible to continue trailing them without being noticed. “But don’t think this can stop me!”

Carlin curled his lip. Seeing a female server in the Tavern temporarily leave, he immediately followed her. Not long after, the server walked back. Carlin covered his face in his Mind Sea, feeling a bit distressed. The server’s revealing outfit wasn’t his doing, so why did his older sister slap him during the transformation… Even though both of them felt the pain, he was the one who mainly suffered.

In a built-in room inside the Tavern, a person clad entirely in black robes looked at Lily sitting before them, their face hidden in shadow, which put a lot of pressure on Lily. She gently touched the Magic Weapon Summoning Book she carried with her, and only then did her heart relax a little. As long as this thing existed, it meant Dragon Dragon was by her side.

Zheng Yichen, who was secretly observing, also felt a headache. Why did this perfectly fine Cult have to set up their base inside a Town? Shouldn’t it be in some remote corner, or some underground place that looked extremely eerie, gloomy, and evil?

Why be so down-to-earth?

It made it hard for him to take action. With so many people around, how many would witness it if he brought down divine justice? Would he have to silence everyone afterwards? He was still Human, after all… Even though his body was like this now, he still maintained a Human heart. If he ever showed bias in certain matters, it would firmly be on the side of Humans.

The Dragon Clan? Hah, if they met in the future, they would definitely have to clash. Right now, his strength was insufficient, so he had to keep a low profile and live quietly. Flying high sometimes… truly, being weak could make things very troublesome! Causing trouble recklessly when weak would only push things to the worst possible level!

Maybe the Dragon Clan showed no mercy towards Cursed Dragons, but was anything absolute? If he kept a low profile now and avoided conflict during his weak stage, then in the future, when he became powerful and awesome, even if the Dragon Clan learned his identity, the possibility of a vendetta could be resolved directly. But if he clashed with them while weak, it would absolutely become an irreconcilable vendetta—not on the Dragon Clan’s side, but on his. If the Dragon Clan came at him relentlessly, Zheng Yichen, if he didn’t die…

In the future, once he truly became powerful, how could he be magnanimous enough not to seek trouble with the Dragon Clan? Conversely, if Zheng Yichen had strength equal to the entire Dragon Clan from the start, it would be harder for things to escalate into such a vendetta. No one was a fool. When people said something was absolute, it was because conditions were insufficient. With sufficient conditions, absolutes? They didn’t exist.

Strength really could determine the course of many things. In short, places with many people were truly inconvenient for taking action.

Karin, who had infiltrated the interior of the Tavern, frowned slightly and turned to leave without hesitation, decisively enough that Carlin didn’t even have time to notice anything.

“Older sister, this is troublesome…”

“Hmm…” Karin said gravely. Even though everyone in the Tavern acted normally, she was still sure she had been exposed based on some details. It wasn’t because of the Tavern server disguise she was using; Carlin had confirmed she was just an ordinary person, not a Demon Sword Cultist.

Confirming a Demon Sword Cultist’s identity in detail was relatively easy. They could use the power of Blood Essence, so their blood characteristics differed from others’, making them easy to identify. What had truly exposed them was something else. What exactly it was, there was no time to figure out. Karin had already noticed several figures rushing toward her, each with extremely powerful auras. Shedding the revealing server outfit, she quickly melted into the night.

Infiltrators weren’t very suited for direct confrontational combat. Fighting head-on with those rushing over was too disadvantageous for her. If she struck from the shadows, she had a chance to take them down one by one.

“Is this our first real conflict with powerful Demon Sword Cultists?” Carlin grumbled. They had dealt with Demon Sword Cultists before. The Cultists’ way of doing things was unconventional, but that didn’t mean there were no bad people among them. However, the ones he had dealt with were generally very weak, basically defeated before they could display any power.

These Demon Sword Cultists were different; each one was a tough opponent.

“Very troublesome…” Karin silently communicated with Carlin. The Demon Sword Cultists who had arrived nearby were all surrounded by a faint blood mist. It didn’t obscure their appearance or their vision. That blood mist seemed like an early warning system… Karin judged that the blood mist not only could provide warnings but also handle sudden crises. These people were very cautious, which was precisely what made it troublesome.

The more cautious people were, the harder they were to deal with. When everyone was cautious and their strength was decent, even if they could take down one enemy, they would be helpless against the rest. And now wasn’t the time to drag things out. The situation with Lily over there was unclear. The more time wasted here, the more unexpected events could occur!

“We need to take the initiative. Pay attention and switch with me,” Karin said. When transformed, her speed was faster. However, due to body structure, when Carlin was in control, strength was greater and constitution was better. Therefore, during battle, they could quickly switch to compensate for each other’s shortcomings. For example, when taking damage, having Carlin come out to withstand it was much more effective than her doing it. Even if injured, she would still get hurt when switching again.

But the proportion of injury would shrink equally, appearing much lighter on her. This precise operation allowed them to gradually gain an advantage in battle.

“Who are you… the god of the Demon Sword Sect?” Lily asked nervously, looking at the man before her, somewhat uncertain. The person in black robes nodded slightly and looked at the large pocket on Lily’s clothes that held the Magic Weapon Summoning Book. Although his face was hidden in shadow, the meaning of his gaze was clear.

Lily hesitated for a moment, then took out the Magic Weapon Summoning Book. The person in black robes extended his hand—a thin, skeletal palm. One of his fingers pressed down on the Magic Weapon Summoning Book and gently rubbed it. After a long while, he pushed the book back. “From today onward, you are the Saintess of the Demon Sword Sect. Do not doubt or be surprised. You have the qualifications for this.”

“Ah?” Lily blinked in confusion. What was going on? Out of nowhere, she had gained such an identity. Saintess… it sounded strangely embarrassing…

“Huh?” Zheng Yichen, secretly observing, was also a bit stunned. What was this about? Beings like Saintesses, in an age where gods had vanished, no longer symbolized special existence connected to gods or blessed by them. More often, it referred to the extremely few women who could wield special powers others couldn’t master, belonging to organizations like The Church. Then they were Saintesses. And this special power was definitely something others couldn’t easily master. For males? Saint, then… The reason such terms remained was that the current explanation was it was the world’s blessing.

Otherwise, how could they wield powers the vast majority couldn’t?

As for whether The Church had a reason to exist after gods vanished? This world didn’t have rules saying The Church must believe in any specific god; believing in certain tenets was also possible.