Witch, Fireball and the Evil God of Steam-Chapter 955 - 208: Another Puppet

Is the Evil God brought into this world by True Gods and Middle-Level Gods?

Everyone was immersed in Carlo's nearly mad speech. If it had been anyone else, they would have immediately been regarded as a baseless lunatic.

But Carlo?

Although he was indeed somewhat eccentric, he was the current Pope of the Life Divine Teachings and the actual ruler of the Far West. He had once been closely connected with Julius, and no one present dared to claim they understood the Goddess of Life, let alone other True Gods, better than Carlo.

Moreover, even if they wanted to refute Carlo, they simply couldn't provide any tangible evidence.

However, this was incredibly difficult to accept emotionally.

Those deities who had been regarded as the world's guardians for six long epochs, worshipped as spiritual totems, were actually the culprits who plunged the world into the grasp of the Evil God?

Mary's expression shifted between light and dark. She fell into deep thought, meticulously considering Carlo's wild claims.

As a former Saint of the Church Court, her understanding of the Goddess of Life's power naturally surpassed that of other believers. It was precisely because of this that she noticed a faint yet unnerving connection when examining Bazatous' body.

If the Goddess of Life and the powers they possessed shared the same root with the Evil God, or were two sides of the same coin...

Suddenly, thousands of spells surged into Mary's mind. The more she understood the Scarlet Plague and the worshippers of Bazatous, the more she realized the degree of similarity between the two. If one ignored the visual effects, the techniques of flesh and limb regeneration mastered by Bazatous' believers were astonishingly similar in effect to the blessings and healing spells mastered by High-tier Priests.

Even their methods of combat... had subtle connections.

The believers of the Life Divine Teachings infused their magic power into vegetation, making vines and thorns their conventional means of combat, while Bazatous' believers were more aggressive, seeking to infuse magic power into human bodies, resulting in the creation of those twisted flesh creatures.

So, what if she injected the same degree of magic power into a human body?

The sudden thought made Mary's heart shudder.

The reason their spells could heal the body and regenerate limbs was that "Magic Power Control" was the first lesson every priest learned in healing magic. Only after passing this course with a satisfactory assessment could a Church Court priest gain the qualification to treat patients.

And in this course, almost every High-tier Priest would convey to their students the same principle—healing magic could also become a dangerous means of killing. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

An uncontrolled infusion of magic power would quickly overload the human body beyond its tolerance limit, the most likely result being that the patient would explode and die. Such cases were not uncommon in Church Court history, with careless priests accidentally killing their patients every year.

But the crucial question is... what happens afterward?

In the past, Mary had never contemplated this issue.

Because causing a patient to explode and die during the healing process was an unforgivable error, signaling the end of their priestly career, not only that, they would also be arrested by law enforcement and judged within the Church Court.

But what if the process continued just a bit further, for instance through some means restoring balance between the patient's soul and body after the explosion, although this would undoubtedly disfigure the patient, it would allow them to survive in another form.

Just like... those infected by the Scarlet Plague, twisted to the point where their human form couldn't be recognized, those flesh creatures.

Those twisted beings still lived, but lost their cognitive abilities.

This thought filled Mary with cold sweat.

No wonder from the moment she joined the Church Court and first came into contact with healing magic, the stern High-tier Priests would solemnly use their authoritative voices to warn them that no one was ever allowed to violate this one rule, they must strictly adhere to every guideline on using healing magic, leaving no room for "free exploration" of these spells.

This rule had existed since the First Epoch when the Life Divine Teachings were founded.

If unchecked, should any Saint of the Church Court attempt to "go further," they would discover the secret within.

As for why some might want to go further, perhaps it was to cover up their wrongdoing, or simply to satisfy their curiosity, or maybe...

Mary's face turned pale.

To maintain her composure, she gripped her arm tightly, her right fingernails digging into her flesh. Only pain and the scent of blood could help her maintain her dignity under the gaze of so many jurors.

The truth revealed by Carlo wasn't enough to unsettle her heart; what truly terrified her was another unfamiliar yet familiar image that emerged among her countless thoughts.

It was the Third Epoch, during the days when the Scarlet Plague raged.

She and a team of Church Court priests were constantly on the move between different cities, dealing with countless infected individuals and monsters every day. She had thought her heart had become impervious, until one day, she received a letter from the Church Court headquarters.

The letter, using the shortest language, conveyed horrible news to her:

Her sister had been infected with the plague.

This happened during an operation distributing supplies to disaster victims.

She was the last remaining relative she had in this world.