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

Chapter 262 Polar Blood Alliance

Celia fell silent.

"It can't be... such a coincidence, can it?"

Although that's what she said, she had actually already confirmed it.

This is a stronghold of heretics.

The strange pollution was something she had never encountered before; it was a heresy she had never seen before.

"I don't know what kind of religion it is... but I just came here to practice my spells, how did I end up in a heretical stronghold?"

Ross chuckled and said, "That just means you have a connection with heretics; you can find their lair just by wandering around."

Celia: "...Is this what you call fate?"

Why did the Southern City Temple search for so long in the Star Spirit Forbidden Land before finally finding a hideout revealed by someone, even though she was just there to learn magic?

Of course, what Celia found even more absurd was that the cave was far too obvious. Shouldn't it have been easy to find?
Ross chuckled, "Imagine if you weren't here to practice spells, but out of curiosity about the direwolves' 'den,' would you have entered this cave?"

Celia thought for a moment, "I think I will."

"If you were the city lord of Southern Border City, and knew about the direwolf and knew this was its lair, would you have come here specifically to investigate? At the same time, you also know that heretical strongholds are hidden and not in such obvious caves, just like you only thought this was a direwolf's lair and not a heretical stronghold."

Celia was silent for a moment, then shook her head: "I really didn't expect this to be a heretical stronghold. If it weren't for the Mage's Hand sensing the traces of a magic circle..."

Ross said, "Being able to sense and detect traces of magic arrays from the outside is a characteristic of a mage's hand. It is very difficult for a mage who does not know this spell to detect them unless he is a magic array master."

Celia nodded: "That's true."

"Even the unusual demonic pollution you noticed was only because of your high level of divine covenant."

"Can even a high level of divine affinity detect it?" This was knowledge that Celia was completely unaware of.

"Normally not, but the pollution is different because it carries a trace of divine power. People with a high level of divine affinity perceive it differently; in fact, they are perceiving the power of the gods."

Celia suddenly realized, "So there's a god behind this heretical stronghold, just like in Southern City before... Wait, a god?!"

She looked into the depths of the cave and immediately felt the urge to retreat.

"Don't be afraid. There are no gods here. If there are, it's just a little bit of power bestowed by the gods. The heretics in this place have combined corruption with divine power."

Celia was relieved.

Ross tempted, "Since you're already here, why not go in and take a look, and while you're at it, wipe out the stronghold? Are you really willing to go back?"

"..." Celia suspected that she had been bewitched by Ross, which led her to come here, and then 'coincidentally' discovered this seemingly undisguised and extremely bold heretical stronghold.

Ross sensed what Celia was thinking and said calmly, "Don't blame everything on me. This is just your luck."

"luck……"

Celia immediately thought of what Ross had said: once the Mercury Retrograde Dispel skill is mastered to the highest level, you can get a +1 Luck effect, and her eyes lit up.

"Don't think about it anymore. This isn't the effect of Mercury retrograde being dispelled; it's your natural luck, something you were born with."

Celia: "..."

The girl gave up on discussing this topic with Ross.

Using her mage's hand, she sensed the hidden magic array patterns within the cave walls and asked, "Lord Ross, may I hack into this magic array? I feel very uneasy entering the heretical stronghold without hacking into it."

Ross smiled slightly. "Sure, give it a try. If you have any questions, just ask me." "Okay!"

Celia nodded.

The spiritual tendrils slowly made contact with the runes of the magic array, attempting to break it.

A moment later, Celia withdrew her hand.

"This place is too far out to connect to the core of the magic array. Let's go in and take a look."

Celia disguised herself first before walking inside.

Be vigilant with every step you take, and watch out for any signs of infidelity ahead.

A moment later, she ventured deeper into the cave and stopped in front of an unremarkable cave recess.

"There seems to be a hidden door here..."

Celia hid herself in the recess, using a disguise spell to make herself look like a stone, and began to continue the unfinished deciphering.

The cracking process went much more smoothly this time.

An hour later, the stone in front of them slowly faded and disappeared.

Celia breathed a sigh of relief, rubbed her forehead, and found that she was sweating.

"This outpost looks daring, but it's actually more secretive than the Deep Sea Aid Society's outpost. If you don't go in from here, you'll end up in the Ice Wolf's lair... But why didn't they dare to come in just now?"

Celia was somewhat puzzled.

Judging from the structure of the magic circle, if she didn't break the magic circle through this ordinary cave recess, she wouldn't be able to enter the real stronghold and continue deeper; she would only go to the deepest part of the cave.

Through the magic circle, Celia could sense that there was a grass mat there, with a lot of wolf fur on it. The wolf fur faintly emitted fluctuations of ice element, just like the fluctuations of the wolf king outside.

"No wonder no one noticed, they're really good at hiding it."

Celia recalled the records of the twelve heretics within the Holy See, and after eliminating some, she narrowed it down to one.

"Polar Blood Alliance".

Ross asked with interest, "The Polar Blood Alliance?"

Celia nodded: "The Holy Court's Compendium of Heretics says that this is a heretical sect active in the far north. They are usually very secretive, unlike the Twilight Cult or the Deep Sea Aid Society, which are very high-profile. Their strongholds are hidden very well, and in hundreds of years, they have only destroyed two or three strongholds."

"What they plot is similar to most heretics. They say that the world should be filled with iron and blood, and that coldness is the keynote of the world. Every time they appear, they can start wars in some places. I heard that they were behind the independence of the Northern Alliance, but I don't know if it's true."

"One thing is certain: whenever war breaks out, they will be active around the battlefield, and they may even be the culprits who instigate war."

As she spoke, Celia paused, as if she had thought of something, and said, "Lord Ross, do you think this Arctic Blood Alliance could be related to the 'Ashgar' that Mr. Jonathan mentioned?"

Ashgard, one of the twelve apostles that Jonathan mentioned is still alive. Before leaving, Ashgard said he would fight against the gods to the end, and Jonathan didn't know where he went.

“Ashgard…” Ross pondered for a moment and said, “It’s still unclear. Of the twelve apostles, he is the commander of the legion. He has been fighting alongside me all his life. He might go wherever there is a war, but he won’t start a pointless war.”

Celia said, "Mr. Jonathan said that Mr. Ashgard wanted to fight against the gods to the end, and the Northern Alliance's independence from the Holy Court's rule is very much in line with his goal."

Ross smiled slightly: "That's possible, but you'll know for sure once you find the core spirit artifact of the stronghold."

"Okay! I'll go right away!"

(End of this chapter)