If the Church were to find out, it would unleash a slaughter upon this land. Everyone, Heretic or not, would become nourishment for the Old Ancestor's growth.
Moreover, these were merely randomly recruited ordinary believers. Their deaths meant little; with only one-way communication, the Church could not unearth their superiors, posing no significant threat to the organization's core.
If undetected, they would gradually erode and even seize control of the entire settlement, then rapidly expand by leveraging this foothold.
It was a brutal selection process: only those who survived were truly qualified to join the Ascension Sect.
They exploited the Church's power to create bloodshed and strengthen themselves, while also screening for capable and qualified believers to enhance the evil cult itself.
What a cunning ploy, reaping two benefits from a single act.
One could only say the Old Ancestor truly lived up to his reputation, winning twice over.
