The Evil God Summoned by the Saintess-Chapter 75 - 73: Suna

Following the road forward, the pollution grows thicker.

The dense pollution even drives away some of the deathly aura, making it much thinner.

There aren’t any ghosts wandering nearby, either.

Ghosts are just too weak; they simply can’t spread enough deathly aura to grow stronger.

About an hour later, a village comes into view in the distance. Beck immediately says, "Up ahead is the investigation team’s camp. We’ve investigated here for so many years, the camp has basically developed into a small village."

When she senses the camp’s pollution—so thick it rivals a Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association base—Hilia is absolutely certain: this is a heretic stronghold.

Only the Dusk Sect is active in this area. It’s obvious, this is their base.

"This is the first time I’ve seen a base that isn’t hidden in a cave or cavern. These Dusk weirdos are getting cocky, huh?"

Gazing at the camp that looked just like a village, Hilia recalls the smirk on Wagner’s face before he left.

But looking closely, there aren’t any signs of destruction here—inside, people go about their lives like normal villagers; coming and going, doing their own things.

On the surface, you can’t see a thing wrong at all.

"No problem is the biggest problem!"

Being able to live normally under such heavy pollution—no matter how you think about it, that’s not normal!

Who are you trying to fool here?

Still, thinking it over, ordinary mages don’t have Hilia’s sensitivity to pollution; at most, they’d just feel the "village" is unusually cold, unsettling.

Given the circumstances here, that feeling could easily be brushed off and no one would suspect a heretic base.

"They sure know how to hide."

So Hilia thinks.

As they enter the village, Beck grows even more enthusiastic.

He starts telling Hilia about the camp’s beginnings and growth, and all sorts of hardships they faced along the way.

Hilia isn’t listening—she’s following Rose’s instructions, secretly using Mage’s Hand to plant a backdoor in the magic array enveloping the entire village.

"This magic array is almost identical to the one at the Deep Sea Mutual Aid Association’s base—even the self-destruct device is the same."

"What’s different is, this array is buried underground, with no dedicated maintenance access. But it isn’t buried deep; your Spiritual Power can easily reach into it and edit the array..."

Hilia’s talent with Arrays is pretty solid. With Rose’s guidance, she turns Mage’s Hand into a carving tool, plunges it into the underground Array, and quietly makes her modifications—without triggering alerts.

"Besides self-destruction, this array has a fully sealed external barrier. It’s strong—impressive." Hilia can’t help but be amazed.

Rose says, "Try to stall for time. Don’t meet their leader too soon. Their leader is a Tier Four Mage—she’ll spot your Mage’s Hand easily."

"Okay."

Hilia agrees, then interrupts Beck’s explanations: "Your camp really is set up like a village. Does it actually have a blacksmith and a magic puppet repair shop?"

Beck laughs, "Of course. Magic puppet maintenance is crucial. For a standard investigation base, it’s a must."

"Where is it?"

Beck points in one direction: "Over there—see that shop with a magic puppet at the door? That’s it."

"Thanks. My magic puppet got damaged fighting the ghosts earlier. I’ll get it fixed first, so it won’t delay the investigation." Without another word, Hilia heads that way.

Beck reflexively reaches out to block her, but thinking of how she fed the boatman to the fish and walked freely through the ghost district, he decides better and lets it slide.

Still, not wanting others to take credit, he has no choice but to follow Hilia to the Magic Puppet Repair Shop. From outside, he watches her ask the shopkeeper for tools and remove the armor from the magic puppet’s chest to begin repairs. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Beck stares at the complex rune patterns and the Arcane Furnace within the puppet’s chest, then gulps.

Once I hand her over to Lady Suna, I don’t want anything else—just give me that magic puppet!

Beck envisions a glorious future, owning a super-powered puppet, all the while Hilia takes her sweet time making repairs.

And at the same time, she finishes modifying the magic array.

When she looks up to see Beck and company waiting eagerly, Hilia deliberately asks, "Why are you all still here?"

Beck forces a laugh: "Chief Suna is eager to meet you. Until I’ve made introductions, if I leave on my own she’ll have my hide."

"Oh, really? Then I suppose we’d better go meet this Lady Suna you mentioned."

Having altered the array, Hilia is overflowing with confidence. Meeting a Tier Four Mage? Bring it on.

Heh, Tier Four? Hardly worth mentioning!

The girl’s ego swells to the sky.

This time, nothing goes wrong—Beck finally introduces "Mier" to Suna.

At the very moment he sees Suna, Beck is so moved he could cry.

"Chief Suna, this is the powerful new investigator. He crossed the Nether River and didn’t even give the boatman the time of day!"

Suna nods, eyeing Hilia. Hilia sizes her up in return.

This woman gives Hilia an immediate chill: she’s got long, draped hair, but it has the eerie vibe of a ghost. Her face is long, deathly pale—scary pale.

She’s wearing a black, custom mage robe, and by her side is a cane—her Magic Staff.

Feeling the heavy pollution and magic power rolling off her, Hilia grows a bit nervous.

She can’t help but use Mage’s Hand, drawing fine threads around herself—ready to trigger the array for protection at the first sign of trouble.

"You are very pure."

Suna finally speaks.

"Your Spiritual Power is... fluctuating. Friend, I sense you’re hiding something. Almost like you’re being deceitful."

She slowly closes in on Hilia.

"Is this your true form, friend?"

As Suna approaches, Hilia backs away, her Spiritual Power now tightly linked to the base’s array.

She nervously asks Rose, "Master Rose, didn’t you say no one could see through your Disguise Skill?"

"The tier gap is too big. Noticing signs of a disguise is normal," Rose replies.

"So what now?"

"Activate the defensive segment of the array. Make sure she doesn’t get any closer—or I’ll trigger the attack sequence."

"Lady Suna, please stop. You’re getting too close."

Suna pauses, looks down, then back up. "Oh? But we’re a good five meters apart. How is that close?"

She takes another step forward, "Don’t be afraid—once you join us, you’re family. I just want to check if this is your real face. You’re a man, aren’t you? What, scared of a little lady like me?"

A female leader—something almost unheard of among the heretics. Tier Four Mage or not, there’s nothing "frail" about her.

"I am Miller Deville—my name never changes, no matter where I go. If Ms. Suna comes any closer, I’ll take it as a threat and respond in kind."

Hilia raises her Magic Staff, aiming it at Suna.

Suna looks at her the way one might look at a kitten acting tough, squinting and smiling.

"Hehehe... Adorable. Are you going to tickle me with magic, little one?"

"Earthspike!" Hilia calls out, pretending to cast but actually activating the array’s attack pattern, targeting Suna.

"Tickling my feet with spikes, are you? Hehe... Hm?"

Suna, all smiles, suddenly senses something amiss.

The strength of this earthspike...

"Wait—that’s not right!"