Why must the devil be Defeated?
Chapter 371: Just find someone to blame-shift onto directly.

Chapter 371: Just find someone to blame-shift onto directly.

As the goddess in charge of evil and chaos, Evil God Lilith’s authority was to make others lose their sanity, lash out in frenzy, and fall into madness, all without any preconditions.

This seemed like a type of mental dominance ability, but in fact, it was a soul-penetrating power, incomparable to ordinary mental control.

In other words, Lilith’s evil energy didn’t interfere with the spirit, affecting the inner hearts of creatures. Instead, it directly infiltrated the soul, injecting "poison" of evil and chaos.

Even the Life Goddess might not be able to save a victim of this "poison." In the past, it left the God and Demon Clans powerless, and in the end, the Divine Race could only seal away Lilith and the myriad of crazed creatures she had corrupted, restoring peace to the world.

Under such circumstances, Mafi hadn’t expected that Shane could actually heal her.

"Don’t look at me like that."

Seeing Mafi’s startled look, Shane curled his lip.

"I can save you because you have not yet fallen into full berserk. As for these ancient creatures here, I can’t save any of them."

That was the truth.

Although the "Star-Blowing Breath" was extremely powerful, revered as a nearly omnipotent Legendary Grade recovery magic, to expect it to counteract the strongest Evil God’s power was undeniably a stretch.

For someone like Mafi, who had not been completely corrupted or had just been corrupted for a short time, there might still be a chance of rescue. However, for those who had been in a berserk state for too long and had even lost their sense of self, Shane was utterly helpless.

Otherwise, Shane wouldn’t have just granted those ancient beings release.

"...Thank you."

Mafi fell silent for a moment, then reluctantly thanked Shane.

"Thanks?" Shane raised an eyebrow with a smile that was not quite a smile, "I kidnapped your Holy Daughter. I’m definitely a part of why this is happening. Are you really thanking me?"

Wasn’t it the case?

The weakening of Lilith’s seal happened because of Shane, which allowed the evil energy to escape, and ancient beings broke free from their seals to the outside world.

Given Mafi’s current state, it was probable that the Beastman Priests guarding the Temple had also been affected by the evil energy and had fallen into a berserk state.

Plus, since Shane had also taken Iris, those Beastman Priests would probably loathe him, right?

So, even though Shane had saved Mafi, he was already prepared to be held accountable by her.

Who would have thought...

"...It wasn’t the weakening of the seal that let the evil energy and creatures out."

Mafi was silent for a while and then, clenching her teeth, spat out such words.

"It wasn’t the weakening of the seal?" Shane was slightly startled, then frowned and looked at Mafi, asking, "What do you mean by that?"

The meaning was actually quite simple.

"The evil energy and creatures came out because of the Old Demon Clan Faction," Mafi took a deep breath and said, "It was the people from the Old Demon Clan Faction who tampered with the seal, causing the evil energy to leak ahead of Lilith’s breaking free, and the evil creatures to be let loose into the world."

Mafi told Shane the whole story.

It turned out that when Shane kidnapped Iris, and the Beastman Priests were at their wits’ end because of her, the Old Demon Clan faction launched another attack.

This time, they didn’t invade blatantly, but took advantage of the chaos among the Beastman Priests over Iris to sneak into the Dark Temple collectively, getting access to Lilith’s seal.

"Their goal must have been to free Evil God Lilith, but it seems they were unable to break the seal directly as you did; they could only tamper with the seal, gradually decoding it."

Mafi said while looking at Shane.

"So, to take over the Dark Temple and gradually dissolve the seal, the people from the Old Demon Clan Faction released the evil energy and creatures sealed within."

"They planned to use the power of the evil energy and creatures to eliminate anyone attempting to approach the Temple or staying nearby."

"We discovered this, but it was a step too late to attack the Temple in time and reclaim it, and were thus scattered by the attack of the evil creatures."

Speaking up to this point, Mafi couldn’t help showing a worried expression.

She was concerned about her companions, unsure of how her now-separated allies were faring.

Shane, however, could guess: Those Beastman Priests had either been influenced by the evil energy, slipping into madness just like Mafi had, or they’d been attacked by the corrupted creatures, which likely boded ill.

"Where’s the Holy Daughter?"

Mafi pressed down the concern in her heart and looked intently at Shane.

"Please return Lady Iris to us."

When Mafi said these words, her tone carried a hint of pleading.

At this juncture, she could only hope that Shane would be merciful and return their Holy Daughter, who was essential to their survival.

Shane sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

"Unfortunately, Iris is not with me," Shane said to Mafi truthfully. "After detecting the evil energy, the Holy Maiden went berserk and charged out, and I ended up chasing her here."

"What?" Mafi’s eyes widened, and she hastily said, "Does that mean Lady Iris...!?"

"Exactly," Shane nodded and stated straightforwardly, "It’s very likely she has already run in here, and might even have entered the Temple, coming into contact with people from the Old Demon Clan Faction."

Hearing this, Mafi suddenly turned and rushed toward the Temple at top speed.

However, Mafi had barely covered a short distance when a hand pulled her back.

"Let go of me!"

Mafi struggled and glared at Shane.

"Calm down, girl," Shane said, holding onto the back of Mafi’s collar without changing his expression. "Setting aside the question of whether you could make it past the Old Demon Clan Faction guarding the Temple on your own, what about all these evil creatures around and the evil energy that permeates this place at all times? Aren’t you afraid you might go mad before you even have a chance to reach the Temple?"

In the presence of this evil energy, an ordinary person certainly wouldn’t be able to effectively resist; they would quickly be influenced and fall into a berserk state.

Mafi was still lively and kicking primarily because her level wasn’t low—she was only a step away from Level 90—and her resistance to abnormal states was, to some extent, higher than that of an average person. On the other hand, even Evil God Lillith, for all her might, hadn’t completely broken free of the Sealing. The evil energy now being released was merely a minuscule portion of her authority’s residue, its effects still not very strong.

Indeed, the evil energy now released was nothing more than the residue of Evil God Lillith’s authority from before she was sealed.

Ai Yi had also said that, even before being sealed, Evil God Lillith’s evil energy had spread across the ground, even shrouding an entire continent. Presumably, this evil energy was from that time, just like those evil creatures, all sealed by the Divine Race within the Temple.

After nearly ten thousand years of sealing, this evil energy had already been greatly weakened.

If Evil God Lillith herself had released the evil energy, by now, the entire Duke’s Domain of Sterling would likely have been shrouded in evil energy, and everyone would have instantly fallen into madness, beyond help.

Shane, however, had a feeling.

(The authority released by Evil God Lillith herself, I don’t have to be afraid of...)

Although he didn’t know why he felt this way, Shane knew that others certainly wouldn’t be able to cope like he could.

The same was true for Mafi.

"You can still barely maintain your sanity now, but if you stayed here longer or approached the Temple—the center of the evil energy—then you’d probably be done for."

Shane said this, but it did not persuade Mafi at all.

"That’s all the more reason I should go!" Mafi exclaimed loudly. "The Temple is so dangerous, if Lady Iris has gone there, then she must...!"

"She must what?" Shane interrupted Mafi’s words with a scoff. "She must be in trouble, right? Then, aren’t you underestimating the Envoy of the Life Goddess a little too much?"

The comment made Mafi regain some composure.

"Do you understand now?" Shane continued, "Unlike you Priests, that Holy Daughter is indeed under the Life Goddess’s divine protection. Even without having received the Life Goddess’s Blessing, she can use the power of the Life Goddess to protect herself, ensuring she’s not affected by the evil energy."

Having said that, Shane let go of Mafi.

"Provided she’s not directly discovered by people from the Old Demon Clan Faction or attacked by evil creatures, Iris should be out of trouble. And it appears she might be able to use the power of the Life Goddess to glimpse into things. Avoiding evil creatures and the Old Demon Clan Faction’s eyes shouldn’t be hard."

Shane spoke confidently.

"Right now, the situation of the Holy Maiden is probably much better than yours. You might want to worry about your own safety before worrying about her."

Listening to Shane’s words, Mafi calmed down and began to ponder.

Meanwhile, Shane couldn’t help but sigh internally.

By nature, he wasn’t the type to waste so many words on a group of people who might not even be allies.

But there was no helping it; about seventy percent of this disaster was his doing—he couldn’t just walk away without a care.

True, even without him, given the Old Demon Clan Faction and that mysterious mastermind behind the scenes’ intentions, the seal in the Temple would likely have been broken, leading to all this. But that was just a matter of outcome.

In fact, it was Shane himself who loosened Evil God Lillith’s seal, not someone else. Shane was aware of this.

As such, he was naturally obliged to shoulder the consequences of the chaos he had caused.

"I really wish I could just find someone to blame-shift onto, like in the old days."

Shane longed for the carefree days of the past.

Unfortunately, that was clearly not an option now.

And so...

"Let’s go."

Shane said to Mafi.

"Show me the way."