The Evil God Summoned by the Saintess

After digesting what Melina said, Hilia thought of what Melina mentioned at the beginning and couldn’t help but ask, "Earlier, did Ms Melina say that the conservatives were planning to act? What are they going to do?"

"They’re trying to put the brakes on you. Like us, they’ve requested that you stay put for the time being... I mean, not to venture into other empires. On this, they’re aligned with us."

"I see."

Hilia felt that Melina hadn’t told her everything, but since Melina wasn’t saying more, she felt it was futile to ask further.

Not going out was one thing...

"The catastrophe in the Elf Forest hasn’t been resolved yet. Even if I don’t leave Ista, we should at least wait until the Elf Forest disaster is handled before discussing it, right?"

Thinking of the pollution beneath the Elf Forest and all the chaotic matters it implies, as an insider, Hilia felt a strong sense of urgency, like back during the Golden Apple Stone Forest incident. If it’s not resolved with Rose, it leaves her unsettled.

"The disaster in the Elf Forest, with just Hilia alone... no, that’s not right."

Melina was about to say that with Hilia’s strength alone, she probably couldn’t do much, but she quickly realized that Hilia’s actions had brought invaluable intelligence and made a significant impact that boosted the public’s favor towards the Holy Court by +5.

Claiming she couldn’t accomplish anything would be a slap in her own face.

Melina was glad she hadn’t said it aloud.

"Hilia might be able to accelerate the resolution of the disaster. However, the Elf Race is also a powerful... uh, powerful empire. They have a skilled unit of Elf Mages, and a few demons are mostly no match for them. There’s no need for Hilia to worry excessively."

What I’m worried about is never whether the Elf Race can handle the demons, but the chain reaction caused by the Recovery Temple secretly reviving the God of Life and Death.

Hilia wanted to speak out, but Rose wouldn’t let her say anything.

She could only cry out in her heart.

"Ms Melina, I think, at least, at least keep me grounded until after this matter is resolved. I can promise you that when it’s over, I’ll stay in Huijin City and not go out... for a period."

Melina couldn’t help but chuckle.

"No need, Hilia. It shouldn’t be long before the Phoenix Kingdom sends their mage troops. Let’s first see how the Phoenix Kingdom handles it."

"Alright then."

Hilia couldn’t help but mutter.

If I had known, I wouldn’t have returned.

Elina didn’t get ’caught,’ yet I’ve already been ’caught.’

Hilia didn’t take it to heart.

If she truly wanted to leave, the Law Enforcement Knight Order might not be able to stop her.

Of course, she’d also have to see what Melina planned to do.

If they called people to ’protect’ her like the Elf Royal Court did with Elina, imposing restrictions here and there, she would definitely find a way to leave and might not return for some time.

After chatting about various matters in Melina’s room, Hilia bid her farewell and left, accompanied by Benovia.

Seeing Benovia, holding a book and following by her side, Hilia recalled how Benovia seemed to understand everything earlier and couldn’t help but ask, "Benovia, what does your family do?"

Benovia tilted her head and looked over, "My family? We’re nobles."

"Just nobles?"

Hilia recalled the records of various noble families, but couldn’t find a match for Benovia.

Noticing her thoughts, Benovia smiled, "There’s no need to look into my background, Hilia."

"Alright, I’ll wait for the day you choose to reveal it."

Hilia didn’t dwell on it.

Her curiosity wasn’t as strong as Benovia’s, and knowing that digging further might annoy Benovia, she decided to drop the matter.

"In the future, Hilia will know," Benovia said earnestly.

Hilia nodded.

"By the way, I’m curious about how you separate and purify the pollution. Can you show me?" Hilia requested.

"Sure."

Benovia readily agreed and then took Hilia outside the camp, facing the direction of the Elf Race’s border.

There, one light beam after another appeared, stretching towards the border line, unceasing.

Hilia took a closer look and found that beneath those light beams was a simple Mage Tower.

The tower tops were glowing. These glowing Mage Towers seemed to form some kind of resonance. Any pollution reaching here couldn’t proceed further and remained distinct from this side.

Hilia recalled that the Elf Race hadn’t used Mage Towers; they had employed other methods to block pollution from entering the city.

"These towers form a pollution containment array, allowing the pollution to settle in place. It needs to be cleared after accumulating enough, or the array will fail... Um, with Hilia’s proficiency in arrays, it should be evident, right?"

Hilia nodded.

"Then I won’t go on explaining."

Benovia tossed the book aside, letting it float in the air, then raised her hand to summon a Magic Puppet.

The Magic Puppet then entered the containment area, emitting a green glow.

Hilia was slightly surprised and asked, "Is your Magic Puppet’s Heart of the Magic Puppet life-based?"

"No, it’s holy-based," Benovia casually replied, her eyes not on the puppet or the pollution but on the floating book.

"Holy-based?"

Hilia mused thoughtfully.

"Holy and life-based are somewhat related, so they can use life magic without reduction, although without enhancement either."

Benovia continued to read her book with interest while answering Hilia’s question.

"I’ve been purifying for so long that I’m very familiar with the process. I let the puppet do it instead of personally controlling it. The puppet does it better than I do."

Hilia looked at the puppet, then at Benovia, and couldn’t help but retort, "Do you choose this moment to read so your puppet gets a magic boost from your reading?"

"No, I just find it thrilling to read at times like this. It feels like slacking off at work."

Hilia: "..."

Hilia couldn’t commend Benovia’s mindset.

She opted not to look at Benovia and instead carefully observed how the puppet purified the pollution.

It seemed no different from Elina’s method, using life magic to pierce and separate the pollution’s life-element membrane, then allowing the puppet to use the Purification Skill to cleanse the pollution.

The puppet’s Heart of the Magic Puppet had holy attributes, giving the Purification Skill a special boost, making its efficiency comparable to Hilia’s manual purification.

"It looks pretty good. But with such a long border, do you run around cleaning pollution every day?"

"No." Benovia glanced at the purification progress, then lowered her head back to her book, "I just wait for others to bring the pollution over."

"Alright then."

Hilia was somewhat envious of Benovia’s ease.