The two young women were both very familiar to the Saintess.
Elsa and Tina.
Elsa was originally the captain of the First Knight Order of the Holy Knight Order.
Later, she was promoted to overall captain and Grand Commander.
She was the highest-ranking knight among humans, holding supreme authority to command all knights—a status comparable to the Church’s archbishop.
Tina was a knight personally bestowed the title 【Ice Saint】 by the Holy Queen.
She was invincible within the Church, an elite among humans.
Although the Saintess had long anticipated what they would face after entering the Demon King’s Castle and refusing to return, she had never imagined their fall would be this swift.
“Defying the Church is defying the gods, defying the prophecy of the Heavenly Hammer Sage, defying the majesty of the Goddess.”
The Saintess clutched the cross on her chest. She knew this would be a fierce battle.
Yet the two young women before her seemed to lack any fighting spirit.
In the Saintess’s impression, if the two of them joined forces, they could at least fight her to a draw.
If Philina were there as well, unless she gave her all, even she—as the Saintess—would feel strained and gradually fall back.
But she did not think so now.
“Get out of the way.”
She said coldly.
At the beginning, the Saintess had not believed the Holy Queen would face any danger.
Humanity’s preparations were extremely thorough.
Once the Evil Tree revived, the knight orders and priests would swarm out from the fortress.
This time, with additional knights supplementing their forces, even without Elsa, they still possessed considerable combat strength.
More importantly, there were the priest corps and the 【Four Saints】.
These mage teams were not skilled in guerrilla or individual combat, but in group warfare, they could unleash extremely powerful strength.
They were also the core pillar of the Church’s fighting force.
As for the Four Saints, they were a powerful group capable of collectively reproducing the power of the Silver-White Sword Empress when the four joined hands.
If this were the Demon King’s army from eight years ago, humanity would have crushed them overwhelmingly and achieved total victory.
Yet the Saintess found herself unable to muster any excitement.
She wanted Gabriella.
She had a premonition: if she lost the chance to see Gabriella, she would surely spend the remainder of her soon-to-end life in regret.
For a moment, the world before the Saintess’s eyes dimmed, and fragments of past memories surfaced in her mind.
But she had no mood to reminisce here.
“Giant.”
As the magic rapidly took shape, a massive golden statue appeared behind the Saintess.
No—it was less a statue and more a giant clad in exoskeletal armor.
The golden giant wore a long robe that likewise gleamed with golden light, yet it bore a strange helmet.
It did not resemble the Church at all; it looked more like a gas mask—trapezoidal at the bottom and hemispherical at the top.
The giant had no legs and floated in the air, grasping a cylindrical handle in its hand.
“Illumination.”
The Saintess silently chanted once more.
Then, the top of the handle erupted with a violent surge of energy that quickly stabilized, forming the shape of a blade.
“Destruction.”
The Saintess chanted again.
The golden giant charged power behind its back, then slashed fiercely.
Accompanied by a destructive shockwave, the rock wall was torn in two.
Massive boulders tumbled downward, rolling toward Tina and Elsa’s position.
“Conclusion.”
The Saintess chanted once more.
The giant charged another strike, slashing toward where Elsa and Tina had originally stood.
This slash unleashed fifty percent of the Saintess’s power.
Golden radiance pierced through the entire mountain range.
The golden light broke through the rock wall, tearing the sky and blooming into a beautiful golden lotus in the air.
Upon witnessing this sight, the corners of the Saintess’s mouth curved upward for a moment, as if immersing herself in wonderful memories.
“This is something you once idly drew on paper. I still remember…”
“I remember it all. I still remember everything… If only you were still here.”
“I would personally show it to you.”
Then, the giant behind her vanished.
She leaped onto the ruins, intending to go straight to Her Majesty the Holy Queen.
Because that direction was surely where Lady Gabriella was.
But just before that, an ice wall blocked her path.
The ice wall was extraordinarily bizarre—like a barrier composed of countless deep-blue crystals.
She reached out to destroy it, only to discover she could not break it in a short time.
Looking up, she saw the ice wall extending thousands of meters into the sky.
“Tina.”
The Saintess knew the source of this power was her.
She had grown far stronger than before, and the power released by that bow was also rooted in the Ice Saint.
It was as if, every moment, she maintained the 【Adjudicator】 operating at full capacity.
Turning around, the two maids stood on the rock ledges on either side, looking down at her as if waiting for something.
“You two are actually still alive. If this were a few weeks ago, you would already be dead.”
Tina tilted her head.
“Lady Gabriella bestowed upon us 【Shadow】. It’s strong, isn’t it?”
“This is Big Sister’s power~” Elsa also replied.
The matter traced back to several hours earlier.
After Tina learned of the Saintess’s actions, she used the polluted power of the Adjudicator within her body for the first time—Big Sister’s power.
Elsa comforted the injured Tina, but it could not resolve the root problem.
Thus, they planned to head to the front lines where the Demon King’s army was stationed.
She wanted to help Tina untie her emotional knot.
But on the way, they encountered Lady Gabriella.
They had originally thought the gentle Lady Gabriella would try to persuade them to leave, yet unexpectedly, she directly involved them in the subsequent plan~
Her and Tina’s task was to unleash a single attack with the 【Adjudicator】—whether it injured the humans or not… it had to be spectacular, making the humans believe they were doomed.
To accomplish this, Elsa voluntarily transferred the vast majority of her power to Tina.
The plan was reasonably successful.
Next, their objective was to prevent anyone from passing through the canyon.
In fact, many elite demons were already stationed near the Black Stone Mountains, but against an enemy of the Saintess’s level, they chose to handle it personally.
“Philina—what did you do to her?”
Tina’s voice was cold.
Ice-crystal wings unfolded behind her, ice spikes grew on her waist and legs, making her resemble a goddess of winter.
The black triangle on her forehead continuously released shadow power, signifying that the 【Adjudicator】 was constantly supplying strength to her body.
The Saintess sensed something amiss.
All of the Four Saints had already fused with their weapons, their strength formidable—including Tina, who had betrayed humanity.
The 【Adjudicator】 was a charge-based weapon.
With sufficient energy, it could briefly enhance her body and magic circuits, unleashing even stronger magic—but this generally lasted only a few minutes.
But none of that mattered now.
Killing intent surged in the Saintess’s eyes, as if it would transform into countless blades piercing through Tina and Elsa’s bodies.
“Where is Gabriella?”