The victory of a religion in another world is so easy?

Rand stepped out of the sacrificial chamber and found that many of the cultists who had rushed outside were paralyzed, as if the light was suppressing the power of the Mother Goddess.

After careful observation, Rand discovered that both Blessing 1: Black Goat Mother's Thirst and Blessing 2: Thirst Sharing had been weakened to some extent, but not by much.

There are even tools specifically designed to deal with cultists? He used to think that the Torch Church's ritual implements could at most detect the presence of cultists, but now it seems that's not the case.

Rand frowned. He would have to be more careful not to expose the fact that this place was a cult hideout, or the trouble would be bigger than he imagined.

Although the hideout was founded by cultists, cultists now make up a minority. The white light even woke up the sleeping villagers in place of Rand.

Olena was plunged into despair. A bright green arrow was stuck in front of her, which meant that an elven ranger was watching her from the shadows, and that he was at least of superior rank.

Just as she stopped, a paladin dressed in black armor with silver accents in some areas stood before her, his imposing figure towering like a mountain.

Tanl was now wearing a helmet, the rubies embedded in it reflecting the torchlight in the darkness.

Although they hadn't actually fought, the paladin's mere presence gave the impression of being a superior.

Even in a fair fight, Olena wasn't sure if she had a chance of winning, not to mention that not only was there a ranger lurking in the shadows, but she also had to protect Ellie.

This is almost a dead end.

Tanl was actually hesitating whether to let the two go, as these two adventurers, who appeared to be from the North, were clearly on the good side.

Tan'er isn't sure if the current situation constitutes a misunderstanding.

This is indeed a cult hideout, but a non-evil one. If Tanl hadn't come as an undercover agent, he would likely have shared the same thoughts as these two elegantly dressed adventurers who clearly came from noble backgrounds.

If it's a cult den, how could it not be evil?

But now there is no chance to explain.

Tanl shook his head. He absolutely could not let these two adventurers go. If they escaped and were reported to the Torch Church, their hideout would be erased from the map.

Thera and Thers will die, Rand will die, the tauren Shasa will die, and even Taran, who has just surrendered, will die.

Your position determines your thinking; a person's stance will influence their way of thinking.

At this moment, Tanl stood firmly on the side of the hideout, and he absolutely could not tolerate the fact that everyone in the hideout was killed unjustly and shamefully.

The people in the hideout just wanted to survive; they absolutely couldn't be wiped out as evil cultists.

If reported, the Torch Church's actions would certainly be deemed "wrong."

Therefore, Tanll will not allow such a mistake to occur.

Olena bit her lip so hard that her tender lips were bleeding, but she was completely unaware of it.

Bright red blood flowed from the side of his lips.

“Ellie, it seems we have no way to leave,” Olena said painfully.

The light emitted by the exploding ritual object seemed to have no effect on the two cultists.

This means that the evil of these two high-level professionals may have exceeded the sum of all she had ever seen.

Olena sheathed the one-handed sword she had drawn. Now she still had a chance to escape on her own, but there was no way she could take Ellie with her.

If she had to abandon Ellie and run away alone, she might as well choose to die.

“Let us go, and I can guarantee we will never, ever reveal any information about this hideout. I swear, whatever kind of oath you can find in the world,” Olena said, struggling to think of a way out.

She forced herself to calm down; if she couldn't calm down, there was no way she could leave with Ellie.

"Do you think it's possible?" Rand sat down in the chair that Thurs had cleverly moved over with a gloomy look on his face. This little trick for getting a promotion and a raise had now been taught to Thurs and Serai by Tanl.

However, it seems that Thurs is more clever now.

Rand had no desire to get involved with these two troublesome people, but letting them go now and gambling that they would keep their oath was like betting the lives of 61 people in the hideout, including himself, on the table. If he won, he would get nothing; if he lost, he would die.

Letting them go is absolutely impossible.

Rand twisted his hair in anguish, unable to think of any way to resolve the situation.

However, Rand is good at diverting attention; the most dangerous person right now is not him, but these two beauties.

This seemingly naive Ellie is actually the brains of the main group.

"Try to think of a way. It's impossible to let you go. If you can come up with a way that satisfies both sides, maybe you won't have to die," Rand said with a hint of helplessness, crossing his legs.

“You know us?” Ellie asked.

“Yes.” Rand nodded slightly, his handsome face appearing calm in the torchlight. “A blood relative of the White King.”

Ellie wasn't surprised that a cultist from a remote mountain village knew her identity, after all, the level of evil here was enough to crush the high-level ritual artifacts that the Torch Church had specially given to the White King.

The Rand in front of me looks like a human, but who knows what he actually is.

There are also the hidden rangers who have not yet shown themselves, and are probably at the highest level.

Hidden in a small mountain valley are two top-level professionals and an unknown, powerful, and evil creature.

This is incredibly unlucky. I just randomly came to a place and ran into this level of evil forces. It seems there's no chance of thwarting their evil plans now.

“Let one of us go, and the other will stay as a hostage,” Ellie said.

This is certainly much safer, but it's not very meaningful because the trust issue hasn't been fundamentally resolved. Rand continued, "And then?"

“If you treat the hostage well, the White King will exchange him for items of sufficient value,” Ellie said. “Then we’ll be even.”

"How can you guarantee that the White King won't just come and wipe us out?" Rand rolled his eyes.

“As long as you treat the hostages well,” Ellie said. “We don’t really have any grudges against each other.”

"Whether or not you treat them well is not up to you to decide," Rand still objected, adding that the greatest enmity lies in the opposition between the two camps.

“You must believe me,” Ellie continued to argue. “Killing us will not only bring you no benefit, but will also invite the White King’s pursuit. It’s better to trust us. As long as we don’t do anything excessive, the White King isn’t an unreasonable person.”

Rand smiled, knowing he couldn't afford to gamble: "Not enough."

At that moment, the elf Lysa emerged from the shadows, holding a dull crystal in her hand: "This is a memory crystal."

The elf blinked her beautiful eyes, looked at Olena, who was pursing her lips, and Ellie, who was being stubborn, and stuck out her bright red tongue to lick it.

Strictly speaking, she was also on the side of good, so she didn't want these two beautiful lives to disappear.

So she used her wisdom to come up with a brilliant idea: "Sir, you should know how to use it for the best effect."

"Ahem." Rand coughed awkwardly.

Chapter 23 Although the methods were shameless, I, Rand, am still an upright person.

Rand looked at the image crystal in Lysa's hand, and then at her knowing look.

What do I know?! What do you want me to do?!

Rand felt that the image he was about to salvage was about to collapse again.

Rand stroked his chin and decided to hand over the decision to these two beauties who might be the main characters.

Looking at their smooth brown hair, Rand held up the recording crystal and showed it to them: "This is a recording crystal. Are you okay with it?"

Upon hearing Rand's words, Ellie and Olena were both taken aback, clearly not understanding what the divine messenger was thinking.

A brief silence fell over the scene; Rand was now drenched in sweat.

No, these two people can't understand what I mean, right? Is everyone this innocent?

He discovered that it seemed normal people couldn't understand the thought process of this freakish elf. Damn it, could this Lysa be some kind of ancient god who has corrupted him, a pure former male college student?

Rand gestured for the surrounding cultists to step back, then led the elves to herd Ellie and Olenna back to their previous house, saying, "Ahem, as long as you leave behind enough shocking dark history, I think that White King still has some shame."

A flicker of sadness crossed Ellie's eyes. She understood what Rand meant. This evil dark creature planned to have them kill innocent people indiscriminately, then film it as evidence. If they dared to retaliate later, it could be released to damage the White King's reputation.

It's a good idea, but the thought of her killing an innocent person is painful.

She never imagined that she would kill an innocent person in order to survive; to be precise, she never even imagined that she would be in such a predicament.

She had always been well protected by her sister, but this time, it seems she has to face the harsh reality herself.

Her lips trembled slightly, and she lacked the courage to say no, even though she knew very well that she was about to end the life of an innocent stranger.

The moral principles she had always adhered to now seem insignificant in the face of survival.

If she survives this trip, she may never have the courage to call herself an upright person again, or even the courage to take risks again.

Seeing that Ellie and Olena didn't object, Rand's mental burden was slightly relieved. Since it was their own choice, they couldn't blame him, Rand.

Rand coughed lightly: "Take it off!"

"Huh?" Ellie and Olena were stunned once again.

Seeing the two men's bewildered expressions, Rand realized that they seemed to have misunderstood him. What were you thinking before? Could there be anything more perverse than his thoughts?

Olena was clearly more mature than Ellie and reacted first, shielding Ellie behind her while looking at Rand with a panicked expression.

“Please spare her, my lord, I can handle this.” She stammered, “If it’s just a scandal, my lineage and status are not inferior, I alone am enough, there’s no need to hurt Ellie.”

As she spoke, she crawled to Rand, grabbed his trouser leg with her fair hand, and pleaded, "Just come at me, I'll do whatever you want."

Rand covered his face, feeling like he was the biggest villain, looking at this normally aloof beauty with a pitiful expression.

But Rand's original intention was not to actually do anything to them; making them take off their clothes was actually to protect them from chafing.

However, Rand could not reveal this at this moment, lest it damage his evil image. The elves were watching, and it would be very dangerous to expose his weakness. He had to always remember that he was an evil messenger of the gods.

Therefore, Rand remained aloof and said, "Take it off."

Olena tried to stop Rand by grabbing his hand. She realized that she and Ellie were doomed this time, and returned to Ellie's side with a bitter smile.

But no matter what, it's good to be alive. As long as you're alive, the scars of the past will eventually be healed by time.

I never imagined that the White King's blood relative would lose such a precious thing in such a remote mountain valley.

As for herself, she didn't value her that much; to her, everything about Ellie was more precious than herself.

Olena slowly took off her outer clothes, indicating that she would go first.

Rand raised an eyebrow and shook his head: "You have to take them all off."

Olena's expression grew even more bitter as she looked at Ellie, who was gradually coming to her senses, and helped her remove her luxurious outer garment and the high-quality protective lining underneath.

Ellie looked at Rand standing there, and the elf leaning against the wall with the image crystal in her hand, and knew that there was no way she could escape this time.

She looked at Olena, whose face was contorted in pain, and comforted her, "It's alright, Olena. I'm not a child anymore, and I should take responsibility for my own affairs. I'm sorry for dragging you into this."

This adventure was her idea. Olena, her swordsmanship teacher, came along out of concern. Little did she know that her first time running away from home on an adventure would lead to such a situation. Now, she seems to understand her sister's usual discipline and care for her.