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

Chapter 744 Who would have thought this? (6k)

Ruins requiring entry at level four or higher are highly valued by all major empires, and this one is no exception, receiving great attention from both the Holy Court and the Royal Family.

As the exploration progressed, the explorers discovered that this special ruin was very likely related to the gods, and they even sent a sixth-level mage to supervise it and be ready to deal with any emergencies.

All expedition teams are required to report upon completion of their expeditions, including the Saintess Squad. However, they generally only need to report to Catherine.

However, the Saintess and the others unanimously agreed that what happened today should also be reported to the Holy Court.

So, at the Holy Magic Academy's camp, Celia met Archbishop August, the conservative leader Melina had mentioned.

August's distinctive beard and barrel-like physique, coupled with his amiable smile, made him seem nothing like the radical opponent Melina had described.

He smiled kindly at the members of the Saintess Squad, without showing any other expression.

"...That's the situation. We conducted a trial test, but unfortunately we didn't find anything."

August nodded and couldn't help but sigh, "It has to be you guys. Other teams explored for ten days or half a month and found nothing. They were just wandering around like headless flies. You guys found this information as soon as you went in."

Doris smiled, revealing a hint of pride, but she didn't show it off. Instead, she said modestly, "It was all thanks to Miss Aimo's help that we were able to discover this."

Phil asked, "Archbishop August, have you figured out a way to rescue Miss Amor?"

August coughed and said, "We are missing a lot of crucial information. When you encounter Aymo, please ask her for this information so that we can proceed with the next step of our research."

Katherine nodded and then took out a list of questions that needed to be asked of Amor.

This includes the feeling one experiences when activating the teleportation badge, as well as the feeling of time and space within the ruins.

The questions are very detailed, and they are all related to space.

Considering that this relic is related to dreams, it specifically asks some questions related to dreams and provides some basic methods to get rid of dreams.

Celia felt that the methods to leave the dream were mostly useless, but she figured she might as well give it a try.

August continued, "Besides you, the Holy Court has another team exploring Giant City. Would you be able to share information with them?"

Celia asked curiously, "One? Aren't you going to split into five teams and explore simultaneously?"

Katherine said, "This team was formed by the Holy Court hiring one of the successful players from the team that entered Giant City at great expense."

Celia suddenly realized, "I see."

Doris said smugly, "You don't know this, do you, Celia? The first stage only has a 10% success rate. Every team that can clear the first stage is highly sought after. No team chooses to disband and reorganize in the second stage after clearing it."

"After entering the second phase, we'll be in Giant City. There will only be one team there, while the others will enter other areas with lower danger levels. Of course, we'll be the second team."

August nodded: "The team that entered this area was an expedition hired by the royal family. It took us a lot of effort to get a 'pass' from them. They only agreed because the Giant City area had been stagnant for a long time and was quite difficult."

As he spoke, August paused, looked at Katherine, then at Doris, and smiled, "Doris, would you be interested in leading a team alone?"

Doris was taken aback: "Leading a team alone?"

"Okay, you will all be reorganized into five new teams, each of you will be a captain, and you will enter the Giant City area to explore."

“This…” Doris looked at the others, her face showing extreme reluctance.

"Is there any difficulty?" August asked.

Doris said, "There are no difficulties, but the exploration efficiency of others is not as high as that of Celia and the others. With Celia, I think we can conquer the ruins before the end of the holiday trial. With others... I can't guarantee it."

"Oh? So confident?" August was somewhat surprised.

“This isn’t confidence,” Doris said honestly. “It’s that the others really aren’t good enough… Bishop August, do you think it’s better to assemble an elite raiding team to conquer the ruins in two months, or to assemble five mediocre teams and waste half a day’s effort on useless work?”

August laughed heartily, "Good, as expected of one of the most talented people in the Empire, I like this confidence. Since that's the case, then I won't separate you. I hope you can bring more surprises to the Holy Court. If you can obtain the relics of the gods from the ruins, that would be even better."

After offering a few words of encouragement to the Saintess Squad, Auguste left.

As Celia watched the other person's retreating figure, a question suddenly occurred to her.

"Speaking of which, what exactly is the attitude of the Holy Court's higher-ups towards the gods?"

She always felt that the Holy Court's higher-ups had an ambiguous and unclear attitude towards the gods.

They lacked the fanaticism of believers towards the divine, and sometimes it was even observed that some high-ranking members disliked the divine... However, they firmly believed in their claims of 'divine revelation' and supported the actions of these candidates for sainthood.

However, it seems that no one denies the existence of gods at present.

Celia muttered to herself, suppressing her thoughts.

Just as they were about to leave, Katherine said, "By the way, there's someone in the royal family you should keep an eye on: Emilia, a student at the Royal Magic Academy. She's a year ahead of you, and although she only recently advanced to the fourth rank, she was sent here to explore the ruins, so she shouldn't be underestimated. She knows you, so just in case, be careful outside and try to avoid running into her."

“Emilia,” Doris said nonchalantly, “we saw her when we went there this morning, and she saw us too. You’re too late.”

“I see. That works too. The other party is also exploring Giant City. Although you're unlikely to encounter her in the ruins, you should still keep an eye on her. She was born into a treacherous royal family and is skilled at manipulating people's hearts. Don't be fooled by her.”

As she spoke, Katherine glanced at Benovia.

"Hmph, she thinks she can fool us? Don't underestimate us, Professor Catherine."

"Of course, I'm just reminding you. I trust you. Alright, do whatever you want from now on, just don't cause trouble in the royal camp area."

Benovia rolled her eyes.

Why would anyone cause trouble for no reason?

Celia always felt that Katherine was hinting at something to her, but she had no proof.

"Then I'll just stay home," Celia muttered to herself.

If you go out, you'll always run into trouble; it's better to stay home.

Unlike last time, she didn't need to disguise herself as an elf. This time, she only disguised herself when leaving the camp. Emilia could tell it was her when she saw the five saintesses and Emilia was the only stranger among them.

In short, just stay in the camp.

Since Celia stayed quietly at the camp just like Benovia, nothing happened that night, and the next day quickly arrived.

The Saintess Squad was fully prepared and, urged on impatiently by Doris, returned to the underground.

Today, they encountered Emilia's team again. The other party also saw the Saintess team members. When Celia looked over, she also looked over and smiled and nodded at the girls.

Celia nodded and, at Doris's invitation, entered the ruins.

The place where it reappeared was exactly the same as before. On the railing of the observation deck, you could see three horses in the distance and look back at the huge city behind you.

The moment they appeared, before the monsters even began their attack, the entire Saintess Squad flew towards the streetlights.

There was nothing inside.

There was no food left by Phil, nor was there any sign of Aymo.

"It seems that Aimo is like a flash in the pan; once you encounter him, it's hard to find him again," Celia sighed.

Phil said, "Although I haven't encountered it... I have a feeling that there are enough things here, and Miss Amore will definitely be able to receive them."

Celia suggested, "Besides this streetlight, why don't we try putting it on some other streetlights?"

"That's one way to see if other streetlights are experiencing the same issue."

The others agreed with Celia's suggestion.

Looking around, you can see a total of twelve streetlights with designs that are more unique than those in the city on this seaside square.

Seeing this number, Celia felt relieved.

Hmm, it's twelve again, not surprising at all.

Escorted by the others, Phil flew to the outside of one of the streetlights and, without hesitation, flew straight in.

Then it crashed hard into the glass lampshade of the street lamp.

Boom!
"Ouch!"

The girl rubbed her forehead in pain, her head swaying slightly, looking pitiful.

"Uh, so we can't go in through these streetlights after all." The others looked at each other in bewilderment.

"How about forget it."

“No, we must find a way to put it in,” Doris said.

Phil shook his head to dispel the dizziness and said, "Yeah, we have to find a way to get it in. Hitting the glass was just an accident."

"Let me do it." Benovia stepped forward, drew a circle on the glass lampshade with her hand, and directly opened up the inside and outside of the lampshade.

"Thank you, Benovia!"

"You're welcome, it's just a simple spatial spell." Benovia smiled slightly.

After successfully placing the supplies inside, the group repeated their previous method, with Phil placing some food on each of the twelve streetlights before the Saintess Squad regrouped.

Doris said, "The first exploration task is to confirm whether the mechanical ball we got yesterday is still in its original position."

Everyone nodded and, at Doris's call, quickly rushed towards the location of the third ball—it was the closest.

Soon, the girls returned, and Doris was furious, her face flushed red: "There's nothing there? Damn ruins."

Benovia comforted her, "This is a high-level ruin after all, and it's related to the gods, so it definitely won't be easy to pass."

Celia looked thoughtfully at the creeping fungus that was spreading after they killed the monster. It was a peculiar contamination that seemed to be made of mycelium and turf.

She said, "Perhaps it's not that it doesn't exist, but rather that this mirrored world isn't constructed of spheres."

Doris paused for a moment, then followed Celia's gaze. Upon seeing the mycelium, she understood Celia's guess: "You mean, each type of contamination corresponds to a unique special item? That's possible."

Benovia nodded: "That's very likely. Let's follow yesterday's idea, observe these mycelia, and then look for the special props for this mirror world."

"Let's do it this way." Doris began to observe carefully.

In this respect, she has a good sense of color and observes more carefully. After spending some time, she found the difference in color of the mycelium, successfully found the corresponding place, and obtained something similar to a small metal ball, a square metal block.

This cube is about the same size as a round metal ball; the only difference is that one is a sphere and the other is a cube.

Looking at the runes on the metal cube, the girls sensed the malice of the ruins.

"Could this ruin be trying to make us find all these items at once, figure out how to use them, and clear the game in one go?"

"It's hard to say. These things can't be taken out. They were moved to a different location after they came in... Ugh, how disgusting."

Even Celia was starting to lose her composure.

“Lord Ross, I think the person who designed this ruin… is more malicious than Jonathan.”

Ross chuckled, "That's because I'm helping you clear Jonathan's Ruins, otherwise you wouldn't think that way."

"Uh, okay."

Celia then remembered Jonathan's ruins, which were designed to be far more gruesome than this underworld.

Without Ross's help, it would probably have taken months of suffering to find anything just to get to the second floor, unlike this guy who found the anomaly in just two days.

Looking at the metal cube, Celia couldn't help but ask, "Could these little balls also be twelve? We need to find twelve little balls, and then find the places where they're set in..."

Just thinking about that number sent chills down Celia's spine.

It's not particularly difficult; you can find them if you put your mind to it. But the sheer number of them, coupled with the unique pollution spread mechanism here, can deter countless teams.

If you didn't know that streetlights could reduce pollution, there would be no way to pass through customs!

Celia thought of what Emilia's team did: they left when the pollution was about to reach a critical point, rested, and then came back in.

For safety reasons, there's nothing wrong with that, but there's simply not enough time to find those little mechanical things, let alone complete the level.

Who would have thought that each of these ruins would have a different scene!
When Celia told everyone that there might be twelve of these small balls, Doris blushed instantly.

"This is outrageous."

Celia glanced at her. "Didn't you clear a lot of ruins? Why are you making such a fuss? You get angry so easily."

"What does passing through the ruins have to do with personality?" Doris asked, hands on her hips.

"Uh...no?"

Doris snorted: "If that's the case, then our exploration plan needs to be changed."

"Tell me in detail." The girls perked up their ears.

Doris looked at the monsters that were attacking her from all sides but were being blocked by the puppets, and said, "Let's go to the streetlights first. The mycelium has spread enough. We can discuss things there and also check on the things Phil put out."

The others had no objections and quickly returned to the streetlights.

Looking around, it's clear that, apart from the streetlight that can 'refresh' the pollution, the supplies inside the other streetlights are still in place. Only in that special streetlight, the supplies have disappeared.

“Looking at it this way, perhaps it’s not that something stole the supplies, but rather that this streetlight has some kind of special ability that can teleport the supplies away,” Benovia said.

Celia looked at the food inside the other streetlights: "But there's also a possibility that the guy who took the supplies can't get into the other streetlights."

"...That's also possible."

After Phil and Benovia collected the materials from the other streetlights, they decided to do it again while waiting for the pollution to recede.

This time, however, instead of using a small spatial spell to put supplies into the streetlights, the items are placed outside the streetlights, on the lampshade, or hung on the hooks at the four corners of the lampshade.

"Why don't we hang this streetlight up too?" Benovia suggested with a smile.

Phil nodded and flew to the lamppost where they were resting, where he hung some supplies.

These streetlights are exquisitely decorated, even when magnified many times.

The streetlights are inverted trapezoids, with square quadrilaterals at the bottom and on the lampshade, wider at the top and narrower at the bottom. On the black lampshade, the four corners are carved with the shapes of creatures that Phil does not recognize.

The creatures resemble both goats and lions. They stand at the four corners of a street lamp, looking in four directions with their mouths slightly open, as if baring their teeth. Each sculpture is about the size of an adult.

Phil glanced at it and felt like she was being watched. After hanging the supplies up, she returned to the streetlight and told everyone how she felt.

"A feeling of being watched?" Doris immediately stood up, hurriedly flew up, and flew down a moment later, saying, "No, although those sculptures are lifelike, the feeling of being watched that Phil described didn't appear... Phil, come with me to take another look."

"okay."

The others exchanged glances, and Celia said, "Why don't we go too?"

Benovia and Anko nodded and followed Phil and Doris to the lampshade of the street lamp, pointing at the sculpture of the magical creature.

"This statue is truly remarkable. For a giant, this statue is practically a miniature sculpture, isn't it?" Anke exclaimed.

"Do you feel that way?" Doris asked Phil, who only wanted to conquer the ruins.

Phil looked intently into the sculpture's eyes, and after a moment nodded. "Yes."

“I’ll give it a try.” Celia went over and stared at the sculpture for a moment, then shook her head: “No.”

Others tried it, but unfortunately none of them succeeded.

Celia couldn't help but look at Ross, who had been watching silently, and hesitated to speak.

Ross looked at her, smiled, but didn't say anything.

The girl pouted and snorted inwardly, "Hmph, hold back. We agreed that we could clear the game without Lord Ross's help, so how can I give up halfway!"

The girls returned, and Doris noted down this suspicious detail.

"I don't know if it's Phil's imagination or if there's something suspicious about the statue on this street lamp, but I'll make a note of it for now."

Next was the second item disappearance test. After the creep had mostly receded, the girls came out again and continued to look for the second metal cube.

Two hours later, the second metal block was taken down, and the Saintess Squad returned.

Upon arriving at the square where the streetlights are located, one can immediately see that everything hanging on the lampshades is still in its original place.

Only inside the streetlight where they rested, the object disappeared, while the object hanging on that streetlight remained.

"In other words, only things inside this streetlight will disappear."

Now we can be sure it wasn't something from the ruins that took it.

Benovia said, "There might be some special teleportation device inside this street lamp, but it might be quite peculiar. It only activates when no one is watching, sending the contents of the lamp to another location."

This city wasn't big for the giants, but it wasn't small for them either.

Finding the lost supplies in this place is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

It's all up to fate.

“This is a bit troublesome,” Doris said, frowning. “The teleportation mechanism of this street lamp might be closely related to clearing the game. We need to figure out how this thing works.”

While the girls were discussing, Ross noticed that Emilia had re-entered the ruins. He raised his hand to project her image into Celia's mind, but hesitated and didn't, because he saw Emilia and the others fly towards the street lamp as soon as they entered.

They found something in the streetlight.

Ross hesitated for a moment, then said, "Celia, Emilia's team has finished resting and is coming in. Would you like to see them?"

"Not interested in."

"That's what Celia said casually."

They were discussing the connection between this teleportation mechanism and singularities like metal cubes and metal spheres; how could they possibly be interested in watching others kill monsters?

Not to mention now, even yesterday, at the beginning, Celia watched with great interest, but later she saw that they were similar to the Saintess Squad, just killing and looting, which was very boring, so she stopped watching.

“Okay.” Ross nodded.

Just as Celia was about to continue her discussion with Doris and the others, she suddenly sensed something was wrong. She immediately focused her attention on her mental space and said, "Wait, Lord Ross, I need to see."

"Oh? Why do you suddenly want to watch it?" Ross asked with interest.

“Mr. Ross never asked me about the footage of Emilia and the others before, he just released it without asking. There must be something wrong with him asking me now,” Celia said.

"Quite perceptive." Ross smiled slightly and showed the footage of Emilia and the others. "Although it might seem like you're helping to add clues, consider this as a clue you found yourself."

Celia quickly understood what Ross meant.

She saw Emilia manipulating the puppet, taking out some simple supplies from the streetlight.

She recognized those supplies; they were the very supplies Phil had placed inside the streetlights and then disappeared.

The girl's eyes widened, "This..."

In an instant, she understood.

Celia suddenly looked up at the girl who was still discussing, and said excitedly, "Stop discussing it, I know what's going on."

Girls, look here.

Doris immediately asked, "What happened?"

"Yes……"

Celia opened her mouth, but suddenly stopped.

Oh no, how do I explain this?

(End of this chapter)