The Evil God Summoned by the Saintess

"First, the use of the Purification Skill is strictly forbidden."

As soon as these words were spoken, the students of the Divine Magic Academy immediately began to whisper among themselves, all expressing surprise.

Only the members of the Law Enforcement Knight Order remained unfazed, as if they were used to this sort of thing.

The voices were all very quiet, but together, they became quite noisy.

Melina’s voice rang in everyone’s ears: "Silence!"

The noise gradually died down.

Melina continued: "The contamination during the Era of Calamity is different from the pollution we see now. Even the gods were troubled by it. When it mixes with Chaotic Magic Power, it reacts intensely with the Purification Skill. Using Purification will cause the pollution to surge violently, and the chaotic magic inside will boil. If you don’t have the ability to resist Chaotic Magic Power, don’t even try."

After finishing her explanation, Melina went on:

"Second, do not absorb any magic power inside the Golden Apple Stone Forest. The Chaotic Magic Power there contains a type of mysterious energy that will destroy your inner magic if it enters your body. Even if you are cured, you’ll become an ordinary person. Don’t try it."

Rose’s voice sounded beside Hilia’s ear: "That mysterious energy is Divine Power. The Chaotic Magic Power in the Golden Apple Stone Forest is caused by residual Divine Power. Absorbing it will cause you to lose your tier—that’s what happened to your friend after she sought revenge."

Hilia suddenly understood.

"Third, the Holy Court will issue everyone a Pollution Warning Badge. Its purpose is to absorb pollution, up to Tier Three level. Once it issues a warning, evacuate immediately and return to camp for treatment."

"Fourth, in principle, no actions are permitted at night. Nightfall causes many dormant demons to appear. Whether or not the base has been dealt with, it’s best to return by dusk."

"Fifth..."

Melina listed off many precautions.

But aside from the first three, the rest were all ’in principle’ prohibitions; only the first three demanded strict attention.

After speaking for quite some time, Melina finally waved her hand for dismissal.

After leaving the crowd, Hilia went to find Alina.

"Ms. Alina, I want to ask, can the pollution and Chaotic Magic Power be collected?"

Alina was a bit taken aback, then smiled: "Hilia, do you want to research Chaotic Magic Power?"

Hilia nodded.

"I’m not too sure. I’ll take you to ask Ms. Melina."

"Okay!"

Following Alina, Hilia found Melina at a part of the camp, who was currently giving the Law Enforcement Knight Order an extra briefing.

They waited for quite a while. When Melina finished, Alina brought Hilia over.

"Excuse me, Ms. Melina, Hilia has something she’d like to ask you."

Melina turned around, saw Hilia behind Alina, and smiled, "What is it? Go ahead."

Of the five Holy Daughter candidates, Hilia was the one who fit her idea of the role best.

After all, Melina’s Law Enforcement Knight Order was created specifically to deal with the sects, and Hilia spent all her time opposing them, often destroying their bases—she was even more efficient than the Knights themselves.

If not for the Holy Master’s objections, she would have liked to have Hilia join the Law Enforcement Knight Order for ’training’ already.

Hilia stepped forward, and asked directly: "Ms. Melina, I want to ask, can the Chaotic Magic Power and pollution in the Golden Apple Stone Forest be collected? I want to gather a little for research."

Melina said, "They can be collected. The Holy Court has been collecting and researching them for years, but unfortunately, we’ve gotten nowhere. With your lower tier, the mysterious force within the Chaotic Magic Power will have a huge effect on you. Don’t tinker with it unless you have to."

Hilia asked curiously, "So it’s been researched all along? Is there any collected sample I could look at? I don’t mean anything else, I’m just really curious..."

Melina was just about to refuse when a voice came from the side.

"Oh, it’s Hilia? Hahaha, sure! I’ll take you to see it."

Everyone looked up and saw that it was Mr. Blake, the principal.

Melina frowned, and said speechlessly, "Mr. Blake, do you realize what you’re agreeing to? The Chaotic Magic Power is so dangerous, how can you let Hilia anywhere near it?"

Blake laughed, "It’ll be fine as long as she doesn’t take any into her body. Why can’t she get close? Tomorrow, when they go into the Golden Apple Stone Forest, won’t they be close to it anyway?"

Melina said, "Observing and passing by are not the same thing, Mr. Blake. You know that before, someone from the Holy Court just observed that mysterious energy, then, who knows what got into them, drew it into their body, then started losing their power—and that was not a one-time event."

Blake replied, "It’s fine, we’ll be watching. Hilia is a Holy Daughter blessed by a God; what if she really does discover something?"

Melina shook her head helplessly, "Fine, follow me."

Melina knew Blake’s temperament—always keen on adventure, always willing to give people chances, always hoping for a miracle.

But after so many years, only a handful had succeeded.

Most attempts had been in vain, and plenty had just been attempts to scam funding.

Still, Blake was always happy to give people a chance.

Melina didn’t quite understand, but since it wouldn’t hurt to take a look, and Hilia might be the future Holy Daughter, she decided to bring her along anyway.

With Melina leading the way, the group headed for the back of the camp, into an enormous building.

"This is where we study Chaotic Magic Power and pollution. Only mages of Tier Four and above can enter. If you want to go in, you’ll need Mr. Shuoen’s approval as the supervisor."

As they entered the hall, a white-bearded old man walked out with a frown, sizing up Hilia.

Melina introduced them: "This is Mr. Shuoen, the bishop."

She looked at Shuoen, "Mr. Shuoen, this is Hilia, and she wants to see the Chaotic Magic and special contamination."

Shuoen said, "I’ve heard of what you’ve done. Accomplished quite a bit, even resolved the Abyss Gate in the Northern Alliance. But this place is not like the Abyss, you’d best just take a look."

With that, he turned and walked inside. "Follow me."

Hilia said, "Thank you, Grandpa Shuoen."

Shuoen said nothing, his face still expressionless, but his tone softened a bit. Apparently, he enjoyed the honorific.

The room where they stored Chaotic Magic Power wasn’t at ground level, but deep underground—they rode an ’elevator’ far down to reach it.

Shuoen explained, "Chaotic Magic Power mixed with contamination will riot as soon as the Purification Skill triggers it. It’s extremely aggressive, so all research is done deep underground to avoid affecting the outside."

"Our research focus is solving the contamination and calming the magic, but progress is minimal. However, studies on capturing Chaotic Magic Power and the mysterious energy have matured."

Blake asked, "Can it be used?"

"No."

"Then isn’t that the same as not having research at all?"

Shuoen glanced back and pointed outside, "If you don’t like it, you can leave."

Blake laughed, "Old man, trying to kick me out? If it weren’t for me, the Holy Master would have torn down your research lab ages ago."

"Go ahead and tear it down, I’ve never wanted to study this disgusting stuff anyway."

As the two exchanged barbs, the group slowly approached the chamber where the Chaotic Magic Power and contamination were stored.