The Evil God Summoned by the Saintess

"Lord Rose, could you think of a way to persuade them to go back first?"

Hilia looked eagerly at Rose, who was all smiles.

At this time, she and Benovia, along with others, had already left the castle and were strolling around Letes City.

She said she wouldn’t tell the others to go back; it was as if they knew what she intended to do, and they flat-out refused to leave.

In the end, none of the five of them went back, wandering together on the streets.

To avoid attracting too much attention, they all disguised themselves; except for Hilia, the others donned oversized mage robes, covering their figures in black, hooded mage robes.

Hilia chose to pray to the Gods.

However, Rose provided no guidance, just watched and laughed, saying, "I think it’s great. How could one person’s power match five? If you want to investigate the Array, it’s better to have five people investigating together."

Hilia: "..."

Since Rose said so, Hilia could only agree begrudgingly.

It’s just...

Hilia looked at the black robes of the other four, wanting to say something but hesitated.

"Don’t you think this outfit actually makes us more suspicious?"

Benovia said, "If Hilia wears it too, then it won’t seem suspicious."

Hilia firmly refused, "I don’t want to. Even if I did wear one, it should be white. Who suggested black?"

Phil timidly raised his hand, "Me."

"How did you come up with the idea of wearing a black mage robe?"

"Black suits night action better..."

Of course, Phil wouldn’t admit that it was because he thought of the black robe Rose wore, that he specifically searched for a similar one.

Just as Hilia was about to say something, a voice came from the side, "You there, stop immediately and lift your hoods."

Hilia looked up and saw a squad of guards approaching.

They were very cautious and didn’t come close, maintaining a distance, weapons in hand charging with magic power, ready to fight at any moment.

Phil lifted his hood, "It’s me."

"Miss Phil?"

The guards were startled, then relaxed, and all the concentrated magic power dissipated.

The guard captain saluted respectfully, "Sorry to disturb you, Miss Phil. The Duke ordered us to intensify our patrols."

"No worries, you go about your duties," Phil waved them off.

"Alright."

The guard squad left, and Hilia rolled her eyes, "See? The downside of the black robes. Your father knows the cultists are setting up Arrays in Letes City and will definitely ramp up patrols. Investigating the Arrays, those robes are more eye-catching than wearing nothing."

Phil embarrassedly took off the black robe, "Then I’ll just not wear it."

The others followed suit, taking off their black robes as well.

Benovia said, "If we can’t wear black, then let’s wear white."

She took out five identical white mage robes, complete with orange edging, and two small horns on the hoods, making them look like cat girls.

Compared to the black robes, Hilia found the white ones more acceptable and put one on.

Hilia formed an ice crystal mirror to examine herself closely, discovering that the white mage robe, with the cat-eared hood, looked rather cute.

Encore asked curiously, "Why do you carry so many ordinary mage robes with you?"

Benovia laughed, "So we can all wear them together, of course. That way, it feels right."

It turned out it was premeditated.

Hilia internally criticized.

"Acting together isn’t much different from acting alone. If we want to figure out the cultists’ setup in Letes City, I think we should split up."

The others nodded in agreement.

Hilia added, "How about this: I’ll give you the deduced points, and you can check around those areas. The Array nodes are usually fragments of an unknown material with faint traces of corruption that require careful sensing to detect."

After saying this, Hilia hesitated a moment, then shook her head, "Maybe it’s better to stick together. Acting alone could be too dangerous; I worry you all might not handle it."

Doris objected, annoyed, "Hilia, do you think we’re a burden? Humph, while you’re improving, we are too, you know. You might not even be able to beat me!"

Hilia didn’t answer, just rolled her eyes.

Benovia blinked and said, "Hilia often says, blessed by the Gods, we’re also Holy Daughters, blessed by the Gods."

Hilia sensed something implicit in Benovia’s words and pretended not to hear, saying, "Since you’re confident, let’s split up."

Hilia took out a map of Letes City she bought in the daytime and circled four areas.

"This area in the middle is near the Divine Hall and the castle. Phil, you go there. The rest of you choose a place yourselves."

"Yes, Captain!" Benovia replied.

"Doris is the captain," Hilia emphasized.

Doris stared at her silently.

In the end, they did act alone.

Hilia arrived near the lighthouse.

"Generally, iconic structures are key areas. This might be the core of the Array, surely there’s some clues to find."

Rose’s apparition appeared beside her, saying, "Then you must enter the lighthouse; you probably won’t find anything outside."

"Enter the lighthouse..."

Hilia looked up at the lighthouse towering hundreds of meters high.

"Normally, aren’t people not allowed in?"

Hilia pondered, deciding to go check it out.

Reaching the lighthouse, Hilia crossed the fence to the entrance.

Looking up from here, the lighthouse seemed even grander, like a mighty "Sea God’s needle" piercing the sky.

Getting closer, Hilia immediately sensed faint traces of corruption emanating from within the lighthouse.

"There’s definitely something inside."

Hilia moved forward and knocked on the door.

The lighthouse serves its biggest purpose at night, so there should be a Tower Guard on duty.

But no matter how Hilia knocked, there was no response from inside.

"Could it be the wrong timing, and the Tower Guard isn’t here yet?" Hilia muttered.

Rose chimed in sarcastically, "Is it possible the Tower Guard is upstairs and can’t hear the knocking?"

"Oh? Right..."

Hilia blushed slightly.

"What do I do?"

Hilia fell into contemplation.

After a moment, she eagerly resolved, "How about just charging in?"

The lighthouse door didn’t have a Rune Array; there was just an overall Array to stabilize the structure against wind, rain, and sea waves, without defensive or counterattack capabilities.

After all, it’s just a lighthouse, not a turret or mage tower.

Hilia didn’t know how to pick locks.

However, she was an Ice Mage.

Ice element magic can freeze everything, making things brittle.

Of course, even without magic, a kick could probably shatter the lighthouse’s wooden door.

Just as Hilia was about to apply an ice magic buff to open the door, a series of violent explosions erupted over the sea.

Then, urgent alarms sounded from the lighthouse above.

Hilia remained calm, unsurprised, "I knew it."