Just became an evil god and was summoned by the saint.

Chapter 206 City Lord: The destruction of the castle has nothing to do with Celia

Vanessa noticed Celia's unusual expression and a thought popped into her head; she asked in a low voice, "Celia, could that strange puppet be related to you?"

Faced with what she had done, Celia decided to confess.

"Yes, I did indeed lure that strange puppet."

Although it was said to be guided by the gods, it was ultimately Celia who carried it out, so Celia's words weren't exactly a lie.

Vanessa was taken aback and was about to say something when Lord Punil laughed and said, "This matter has nothing to do with Miss Celia. On the contrary, it was our negligence that almost caused Miss Celia to get hurt. It is our fault."

Vanessa recalled Celia's explanation at the hotel and said, "That shadow mage is skilled in assassination. Even I, if I were on guard, could fall for his tricks. If you lured him here, why didn't he just come after you?"

Punil nodded in agreement. "Yes, that's why the bishop was injured and is still lying in bed. If it was Miss Celia who brought it here, we wouldn't be seeing the lively Miss Celia now, but a corpse."

"Cults have always been known for their strangeness. Perhaps they discovered something and used this as a pretext to lure us out of the city, leaving that sorcerer waiting for us outside. Otherwise, they wouldn't have rushed back to Southern City and attacked me after we returned via emergency teleportation."

Vanessa nodded.

After the battle ended last night, she asked Punil about the details of the fight and learned the specific process.

That strange 'puppet' was outside the city meeting up with the two sorcerer couple, and then together they fought against Punil and the bishop. It didn't seem like it was after Celia at all.

After a moment of silence, Celia said somewhat embarrassedly, "The place where you fought outside the city is not far away. You should be able to see many heretics who died there. If there are no corpses, there should be signs of battle or something."

Punil smiled slightly. "We did find some heretics' corpses nearby, and quite a few heretics were collecting the bodies. After our people subdued them, we learned from a few of the still conscious heretics that they were fighting a mystic, but that mystic was not Miss Celia."

As he spoke, Punil activated his bracelet and displayed a battle scene.

That picture shows the disguised Celia battling the heretics.

To avoid being identified by heretics through subtle details, Celia's disguise was always thorough; the packages she used to carry her belongings were all newly purchased, and her puppets were also disguised.

Therefore, the image on the light screen that Punil presented was of an unfamiliar sorcerer.

The image cannot perceive the opponent's strength; it can only be judged from the manifestation of their spells.

Vanessa immediately assessed: "This sorceress's purification spell is different from the one used by the Holy Court. Judging from her displayed strength, she is at least close to the fourth rank."

The video was short, only five seconds long, and it did not show the shadow mage taking action.

Aside from the use of holy light spells, all that could be seen was the puppet's figure flashing as it reaped the heretics; there was no footage of the puppet using magic.

Celia recognized that this was when she had just fought the heretics, and she was using purification magic to add negative effects to the heretics, before the puppet started using the scrolls.

Celia fell silent.

Punil laughed and said, "It cannot be ruled out that this sorcerer used a shadow-based disguise spell, but this performance could not possibly be Miss Celia."

“A couple of days ago I heard that an elven royal lady had infiltrated the Southern City. She was acting suspiciously, so I sent someone to keep an eye on her. But last night, while we were chasing the heretics, the person I was keeping an eye on told me that the elven royal lady had disappeared. I think she must have killed those heretics.”

Vanessa nodded in agreement. Celia thought of the elven girl who had stumbled into the concealment circle and been corrupted.

When they carried her in last night, the uncle who was digging the tunnel seemed to say... she was an elven royal?
Could the city lord be referring to her?

No, it's definitely her.

Celia muttered to herself, "How could someone like her possibly do that?"

The two fourth-tier mages had very sharp ears and immediately heard Celia's mutterings.

"Miss Celia knows that elven royal lady?" Punil asked in surprise.

"I wouldn't say I know her, she's in my room right now."

An unfamiliar elven girl, or even royalty? Who knows what she's up to? As the future Holy Maiden of the Holy Court, there's no need to hide such a suspicious person. It's better to tell Punil directly and receive her with diplomatic courtesy.

Hearing her words, Punil understood. "After I heal those two puppeteers, I would appreciate it if Miss Celia could introduce me to them."

"Okay, wrap it up on me."

As they spoke, the group had already passed through the castle ruins and arrived at a side hall.

"Miss Celia, the two puppeteers are inside. Thank you for your help."

"You're welcome."

Celia entered the palace and saw two people lying in a room on one side.

The other person was in very poor condition; their lips were already pale. Although their physical and mental strength were stable, there was a feeling that their life force was rapidly slipping away.

Seeing this, Celia didn't delay. She sat down in front of one of them and, following Ross's instructions, took out a fragment of the Sea God's divine essence, placed it on her fingertip, and began to resonate with the divine essence.

Upon seeing the fragment of Celia's divine essence, Punil's eyes widened suddenly, and he pointed at the fragment with a look of utter shock.

Vanessa noticed his expression and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"

After a long pause, Punil whispered, "The puppet heart that Miss Celia used is very similar to the one we dug out of that puppet, no, it's exactly the same! However, the quality it reveals is a bit weaker than that puppet heart. Could it be... that Miss Celia really attracted it?"

Vanessa looked at her strangely and shook her head, saying, "This is a high-quality puppet heart that Celia brought out from the heretical stronghold where you obtained the pure magic crystal. She said that high-quality puppet hearts have the problem of impacting the soul and she wouldn't let me touch it."

"The similarity of the Puppet Heart does not prove that the 'Puppet Man' was brought by Celia. It only proves that there are many such high-quality Puppet Hearts in the Deep Sea Aid Society, and some of them have been used and turned into monsters that are neither human nor puppet, like that 'Puppet Man'."

Vanessa laughed as she spoke: "The destruction of the Star Ash Town temple was caused by those heretics who came to me for treatment. They discovered that Celia had this Puppet Heart, which led to the conflict. I think I understand why the 'Puppet Man' rushed towards Celia at the end."

"He has clearly discovered the high-quality puppet heart that Celia carries."

Punil suddenly realized: "That indeed has nothing to do with Miss Celia."

(End of this chapter)