The Evil God Summoned by the Saintess

The height of the underground cave was not very tall, maybe around four or five meters.

Phil landed steadily and first sensed the surrounding pollution situation.

Faint traces of pollution were gathering towards the depths of the cave.

She felt that this pollution had a tendency to become stronger gradually.

"Is it because of the invasion by Deep Sea Demons?"

Deep Sea Demons originated from the Era of Calamity, a realm humans struggled to resolve; the Era of Calamity only addressed land, but not the deep sea.

Even now, people’s understanding of the deep sea remains very limited.

Maybe it has already taken the shape of the Abyss.

Phil looked towards the direction the pollution was coming from, and it was indeed the deep sea.

The girl furrowed her brows.

"Did the array Hilia discovered attract Deep Sea Demons, and after being killed, the resultant pollution quietly gathers here?"

Phil thought this possibility was very high.

She didn’t know what the Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association intended, but it definitely caused chaos.

"The pollution is gathering, indicating the ritual on the altar has just started."

Phil summoned a Magic Puppet and quickly walked towards the depths of the cave.

The cave was very deep, continuously descending with corners, seemingly presenting a quadrilateral spiral downwards.

After walking for about ten minutes, Phil saw an expansive underground space opening up ahead.

This place resembled the cultists’ stronghold within the Golden Apple Stone Forest; a central altar surrounded by rune patterns of arrays.

At this moment, the array had been activated, various colored patterns rendering the entire underground space magnificently beautiful.

Phil didn’t have time to admire the magical beauty constructed by the array; she ordered the Magic Puppet to charge towards the altar.

There was a person kneeling on the altar, in an extremely strange posture, facing the sea, strands of pollution slowly gathering onto him through the array’s patterns.

Besides that, there was an inexplicable mysterious force Phil couldn’t comprehend, but based on information she acquired from Hilia earlier, she knew it was soul energy.

"Is this cultist secretly absorbing ordinary people’s soul energy?"

Phil was furious.

Apart from the ’sacrificial offering’ on the altar, there were many people kneeling around the altar, muttering incantations, facing the offering, with pollution flying from their bodies, merging into the offering’s body.

Even Phil’s arrival did not interrupt them.

Seeing this, Phil acted decisively; intense purifying light burst from both her and the Magic Puppet.

She naturally had learned the Purification Skill from Hilia.

This purification skill specifically targeting cultists immediately elicited shrill screams from those kneeling below the altar.

Even the chosen sacrificial offering, the cultist kneeling on the altar, showed signs of pain.

It was as if waking from a dream that they noticed Phil’s presence.

However, these low-level cultists could do nothing against the Purification Skill.

Ultimately, under the strong dispersal of the Purification Skill, the people below the altar collapsed and fainted, uncertain whether they were dead or alive.

Phil looked towards the altar.

The defense from the array was activated, blocking the infiltration of the Purification Skill.

Although still effective, it had minimal effect—the offering absorbed more pollution than Phil’s Purification Skill, and if this continued, he would complete the ritual, transforming into a false Tier Four cultist in no time.

Phil wouldn’t let that happen; Holy Word Skill burst forth from her Magic Staff, colliding hard against the array’s barrier.

Though she wasn’t skilled at combat, it didn’t mean she couldn’t fight.

She also knew some Attack Magic skills.

Every Holy Word Skill she could cast was unleashed without reserve.

The spells didn’t form a strong combo, so their power wasn’t significant, but under the abundant magic power supplied by the deep-level Divine Realm, the array’s defense still fluctuated and slowly dimmed.

It seemed the sacrificial offering sensed something, slowly lifted his head, and opened his eyes.

He saw Phil bombing outside and moved his lips, emitting an ear-piercing sound akin to nails on a chalkboard:

"Stop... I order you, stop!"

A burst of energy mixed with magic power and pollution exploded from him, piercing the array’s defense and rushing towards Phil, merely... blowing her hair.

Phil’s expression did not change; she continued her assault.

"Still at Tier Three level, I need to hurry."

Phil’s attacks became more frenzied, yet...

The effect was negligible.

The girl grew anxious inside.

Not being skilled at combat, the proficiency of her Attack Magic skills barely reached a competent level, not only weak in power but consuming much magic power.

A simple calculation.

Could she break the array’s defense and attack the offering before he completed forming, exhausting her magic power?

The answer was no.

Attacking the array’s defense essentially meant attacking the array itself; once the defense broke, the array would also shatter, halting the sacrifice automatically.

Evidently, this large-scale array had sufficient strength; Phil’s attack power was comparable to a regular Tier Three Mage, unable to break it before the ritual completed.

The girl felt anxious but had no solution.

"I should have known better than to come down here directly; I should have informed Father or Hilia first."

She glanced at her bracelet, discovering they were deep underground, unable to connect to the Star Spirit Network.

Should she retreat and let him form?

Phil hesitated for a moment, gritted her teeth: "No, I can solve this."

She stopped casting spells, quickly approached the altar, intending to sense the array’s defense. Less than one second after touching it, the defense rippled and subsequently let her through.

She paused for a moment, "This array only affects magic, allowing people to move freely in and out?"

No time to think further, she stepped onto the altar, holding her Magic Staff.

The sacrificial offering was stunned, incredulously looking at her: "No... how... can you come up?"

Of course, Phil wouldn’t explain; taking advantage of his restricted movement by the ritual, she struck his forehead with the Magic Staff, releasing purifying light.

"Ah—!"

The offering screamed miserably, howling in pain as the pollution on him rapidly purified, partially absorbed into Phil’s body.

She intended to determine the distinction between deep-sea pollution and land pollution.

As the purification continued, the offering’s strength plummeted quickly, soon dropping below the Tier Three threshold, then Tier Two, Tier One.

Once all pollution was cleansed from him, he rolled his eyes and collapsed to the ground.

Phil breathed a sigh of relief.

"It’s over."

Just as she prepared to instruct the Magic Puppet to carry him down to the Divine Hall for rescue with Holy Word Skill, she suddenly noticed the offering’s body slowly disintegrating into sand-like particles, dissipating into the air.

Additionally, the cultists who had collapsed around the altar were also vanishing in the same fashion.

This situation caught Phil off guard, but she wasn’t overly surprised.

Yet, just as she was about to leave, the array’s defense reappeared.

A voice echoed from the entrance.

"What a perfect offering, delivering itself here, haha, nice."

Phil’s expression changed.

Before she could react, a vast amount of pollution and soul energy surged from all directions, pouring into her body.

Bang!

Her Magic Staff dropped to the ground.

The girl was in extreme pain, enduring the massive infusion of pollution.

She hadn’t realized, nor had the cultist who briefly spoke and left discovered, that the runes hidden within her slowly emerged on her skin, with the Crystal Stone emanating a faint light.