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

Chapter 56: Is it a mistake that a bunch of experts are waiting for a newbie to decipher the runes?

Celia hadn't been this nervous in a long time.

It wasn't the tension of facing a powerful enemy that made her feel nervous, but rather the pressure from the group of high-ranking knights of the Holy Court, school instructors, and principals who were eyeing her with predatory intent, even though they hadn't shown themselves.

They were currently on their way to another base with Eric.

"Mr. Ross, do you think we might all be wiped out?"

“It’s you guys, not me,” Ross corrected.

"But with the principal in charge, it shouldn't be too difficult... You can't say things like that carelessly." Celia withdrew one flag, then added another: "More worrying than this is the Crimson Spring. Everyone's rushed over here, so there's no one there, right?"

Ross chuckled: "There's nothing to care about in that lousy place. There's no point in guarding it; it's just bait to distract us."

"Is it also a decoy with the same magic circle traces found around the school?"

"Pretty much. Your teachers have probably found out, so they've stopped guarding you."

This time, Celia didn't hide the puppet; instead, she had it follow her and carry her things.

Given that Eric does not have a flying vehicle and only has ordinary Tier 1 combat strength, his progress is not fast.

If it weren't for the fact that we weren't heading deep into the mountains, Celia would have rented him a carriage.

They continued their slow, leisurely advance until nightfall, finally arriving near the stronghold Eric had mentioned.

Nothing happened along the way.

They didn't even see any low-level magical beasts.

I don't know if they were scared by the many powerful figures hiding behind them, or if something else happened.

There were no attacks during that time, and it was very peaceful.

It was eerily quiet.

There is no Protoss network here, so it's impossible to contact Principal Black and the others via the bracelet. They haven't been seen along the way either, and Celia doesn't even know if they've come or not.

"Could it be that they couldn't wait any longer and went back for dinner?" Celia wondered to herself.

She hesitated for a moment before asking Ross, "Lord Ross, are Principal Black and Instructor Elena nearby?"

"They are scattered within a kilometer of you, searching for strongholds and heretics, so it's normal that you can't see them."

How many people are there?

"12 of them, all of them are at least level four."

"Huh? So many?"

Three question marks appeared above Celia's head.

"???"

What are all these big shots trying to do?
Using a cannon to kill a mosquito?

We're not afraid of being wiped out in one fell swoop.

The girl grumbled inwardly, while Eric had already found the entrance to the stronghold.

This time it wasn't on a rock, but under a huge tree that would take ten people to hug.

This tree was the tallest and largest in the area, and it was very conspicuous. Celia couldn't help but say, "How could such a conspicuous tree have been hidden for so long? What have the knights of the Holy Court been doing?"

The thought that there were twelve powerful knights around, and that they had failed to find the heretical stronghold, leaving only her, a novice sorceress, to rely on, filled Celia with a sense of absurdity.

I wanted to say something like, "Are they all just sitting around doing nothing?" but I was afraid of being overheard, so I could only mutter it to myself.

"The gates to the base have been opened. I hope you will keep your promise and take me back for a look."

"Don't worry, I will."

Celia stopped at the entrance to the tree hole.

She did not choose to rush in.

She was waiting for Blake and the others, and also for Ross to scout out the surrounding area.

“Too smooth, Lord Ross. Do you think this could be a trap?” “It is a trap,” Ross said. “A self-destruct rune has been added to the magic circle of this stronghold. The self-destruct rune is already triggered and is just waiting for the last condition to be met.”

"What's the last condition?"

"Fighting within the magic circle will cause chaotic magic to instantly activate the circle's self-destruct runes, burying everyone underground."

Celia, who was surveying her surroundings, suddenly narrowed her eyes. "So Eric deliberately leaked this to me, so that I could lead Principal Blake and the others into the base and then bury us all?"

"No, that kid is a pure 50... cough, a pure traitor. The one who activated the self-destruct array was that fleeing shark. He ran away quickly; once one stronghold was discovered, he abandoned the others."

Even Rose was somewhat impressed.

Such a cautious person, why not do something else but become a heretic?

Just as Celia was hesitating about whether to go in, Blake and the others noticed their situation and rushed over.

"Where's the shark? Why hasn't it appeared?" Elena asked, looking at Eric behind Celia with a puzzled expression.

“I don’t know,” Eric answered honestly.

"You don't know?" Elena frowned and reached out to press her hand on his head from a distance.

After a long pause, she put her hand down. "The pollution has penetrated to the bone marrow. There's no saving her. Just wait to die."

"That bastard, he didn't even know how to take advantage of such a good opportunity. There's no other way but to go in and find him." Principal Blake said, holding a Holy Light spell and examining the entrance to the tree hole.

Celia quickly said, "Don't rush in. That shark has already activated the self-destruct rune of this stronghold's magic circle. If you go in, you'll be buried alive."

"What?" The knights and Eric were taken aback.

"That bastard is too cunning! Did they know we were coming all along?"

"Could there be a traitor among us?"

"Really? I don't believe the cave can self-destruct. I want to go in and see."

"..."

Blake turned around and looked at Celia. "How did you know?"

"I...I know a little about magic arrays."

Celia lowered her head slightly.

When she said she had some knowledge of magic arrays in front of a group of fourth-tier experts, Celia's cheeks turned bright red.

How embarrassing! I'll be laughed at, won't I?
To everyone's surprise, Blake didn't say anything, and none of the other knights raised any objections; they just looked at each other, seemingly lost in thought.

Finally, Blake spoke up: "So, none of you specialize in magic arrays?"

The knights lowered their heads in shame.

As knights, they only believed in the sword in their hands; they had no time to study magic circles.

Let alone magic arrays, even with magic puppets, people only know how to use them but not their principles or how they are made.

This is normal, though, because it's like they're all good at programming, but none of them know how to build a computer.

The higher the level of the rune, the more complex it is. Apart from puppeteers, sorcerers, and array masters who specialize in runes, very few other people can understand magic circles.

Finally, Blake had no choice but to look at Celia again.

"Let's have our Saintess handle this. You said the magic circle at this base has activated a self-destruct rune. Is there any way to remove the self-destruct rune?"

Celia remained silent for a long time, seemingly doing nothing.

However, everyone present was very patient, and no one urged her.

Knights who only know how to fight have always respected the support-oriented mage profession, because their armor, swords, puppets, and even magic were all developed by those people.

After a long while, Celia finally asked Ross to help her resolve the self-destruct rune, and she looked up with a smile that said, "I've worked so hard."

"Phew~ I prayed to the gods and got a way to get rid of the self-destruct rune. Watch 'my' work!"

(End of this chapter)