“How dare they show their face to me at a time like this?!”
The Abyss Demon Soros barely got a single word out before being blasted to bits from afar by the Goddess of Life.
The goddess was absolutely furious right now.
She’d already been irritated enough when she’d reported the troublesome King Rank Demon situation to the Order God and the Sea God, only to be mocked in return.
And now these Original Demons had the audacity to openly collude with the Blood Demon right before her eyes…
This was utterly outrageous!
Earlier, after the Goddess of Life had informed the Order God and the Sea God about the existence of the King Rank Blood Demon, the Order God—though somewhat puzzled—couldn’t help but mock her:
“A King Rank Demon? Have you been fighting demons for a few hundred years and gotten your intelligence assimilated down to their level?”
The Order God could perceive “rules” and “order,” so He could accurately see the rule that had been imposed upon demons in this world: demon levels could never break past ninety-nine, making it impossible for them to ever reach the King Rank at level one hundred!
So the Order God questioned the very existence of this so-called “King Rank Demon,” leaning more toward the conclusion that it was a Blasphemer disguised in a costume…
The Goddess of Life scoffed at this reasoning. But Soros’s blatant appearance and his call to the Blood Demon actually proved one thing—the Original Demons had no idea who this King Rank Blood Demon was! This seemed to support the possibility of a Blasphemer disguise?
Still, the goddess leaned toward the judgment that “the Blood Demon truly exists.” Because the pure demonic power she’d felt in combat exceeded that of nearly all demons. Could Blasphemers really mimic something to that degree?
In the end, the Goddess of Life made her private determination: The Blood Demon is eighty percent real, twenty percent fake!
After confirming Soros wouldn’t dare show his face again, the goddess turned her gaze back to Truth and Di Lisha, who were sitting on a park bench beside the cathedral, both staring up curiously at the sky phenomenon…
‘Just relaxing in the park and catching some fresh air during her recovery? At least she’s being well-behaved…’
The Goddess of Life then issued orders to the two Shadow Guards hidden within the cathedral:
“Nimrod, Sera, heighten your vigilance. If you encounter the Blood Demon again, do not engage in prolonged combat. Prioritize the Ninth Saintess’s safety above all!”
The heavy armor knight Nimrod and the Nine-Rank Summoner Sera received the divine decree and nodded simultaneously:
“Understood!”
At the small park beside the cathedral, after the anomaly caused by Soros had completely dissipated, Truth finally rose and began walking toward the cathedral.
Without looking back, she said to Di Lisha:
“Time’s up, Di Lisha. We should go.”
“Huh? Go where?” Di Lisha was stunned. Where could they possibly go?
But seeing Truth heading toward the cathedral, she hurriedly followed—only to run straight into Chief Priest Kashan, who had been coming to look for Truth:
“Saintess, you’re back? Perfect timing. Your guests have finished their private discussion and wish to continue with you—”
“Whoa?! You’re really… the Saint… Saintess?!”
Di Lisha’s shocked voice rang through the cathedral, cutting off Kashan’s words. Shortly after, Di Lun and the others hurriedly appeared as well:
“Di Lisha, don’t be rude in front of the Saintess!”
“Ugh…” Still shaken inside, Di Lisha quickly stepped back a couple of paces to compose herself. ‘I never imagined the legendary Life Saintess would be like this. Truly unexpected.’
Having spent time with the Ninth Saintess so far, Di Lisha only felt comfortable—no pressure at all.
It was a stark contrast to all the terrible things she’d heard about the Saintess growing up, and she didn’t know what to make of it.
‘They said the Ninth Saintess was a terrifying tool used by the Goddess of Life to brainwash the people? I don’t feel that at all. And the Ninth Saintess didn’t want to tell me her name earlier… could it be she was afraid I’d feel constrained knowing her identity?’
‘No matter how I look at it, she seems like a good person…’
Di Lun gave Kashan a slight nod: “My apologies, Chief Priest. Di Lisha has always been headstrong since childhood. Please bear with her.”
Then Di Lun bowed solemnly to Truth and said:
“Saintess, would it be possible for you to first show us the Mist of Calamity you mentioned?”
After a lengthy discussion, Di Lun and the others had debated for quite some time without reaching a conclusion—after all, Truth’s demand was a Legendary Grade weapon.
They decided to personally inspect the Mist first to confirm its value before discussing any transaction.
“No problem. Please, follow me.” Truth nodded with a smile, then looked at Di Lisha. “Di Lisha, you should come along too.”
“Huh? I’m coming too?”
“Yes. Didn’t you say you wanted to be friends with me? And the trial I mentioned… it’s inside the Mist.” Truth gave Di Lisha a knowing smile.
Di Lisha was still a bit dazed, but Di Lun’s eyes lit up at the words.
He caught a key word: “friend.” He immediately shot his daughter an approving look: ‘Well done! So while we were having our private discussion, you’ve been working hard all along!’
‘Why hesitate? Go strengthen your bond with the Ninth Saintess!’
“Saintess, should I come with you? Your injuries…” Kashan asked.
“No need.” Truth put on a priest’s hood that concealed her hair color and face, responding:
“I’m in acceptable condition right now. Don’t worry about my safety. Tia is at Fog Gate Plaza—if anything comes up, I’ll go find her. Besides, I still have two Shadow Guards protecting me.”
“Two Saint’s Shadow Guards?!” Di Lun and the others were shocked once again. ‘Doesn’t every Saintess only get one Shadow Guard? Why does the Ninth Saintess have two? Could her status within the Church of the Goddess of Life be… far higher than imagined?’
“Shh—This kind of information isn’t meant to be spoken aloud!” Kashan quickly cautioned. ‘Shadow Guard matters are top secret—you can’t just blurt that out!’
“Alright, alright. I’ll be careful.” Truth waved her hand dismissively, unconcerned, then said to the group behind her:
“Follow me. The front entrance of the cathedral has too many eyes. Let’s leave through the back door.”
Truth guided everyone quietly out from the rear of the cathedral, boarded a carriage that had been prepared in advance, and bypassed the cathedral’s front entrance.
They passed by Reg and the others who were searching for demonic aura outside the city, and slowly drove out of Deya City…
……
“Reg, those guys are still following you around. What exactly did you do?” The Four Rank Demon Hunter Weierda beside Reg asked timidly.
Their current task was to inspect demon activity on West Street, but during this time he’d noticed a group of people tailing them.
He later found out they were looking for Reg.
But Reg didn’t want to deal with them at all. He just kept working single-mindedly:
“They’re looking for a friend of mine. But I don’t know where that friend is right now. They think I do.”
“So they want to interrogate you privately? Forget that—don’t go losing face for Demon Hunters. Beat the hell out of them!”
“No!” Reg lowered his voice. “From what I know, the backer behind that group is a Great Family from the capital!”
“What’s there to panic about? This place is far from the queen’s reach. I doubt they’d call in High-Rank enforcers from the capital just to punish us for a beating. And haven’t you noticed? They haven’t dared make a move this whole time—they’re afraid of our Demon Hunter status!”
“Plus, the fact they won’t go public means whatever they want to know definitely can’t be brought into the open!”
“True…” Reg pondered for a moment, then looked at Weierda:
“You’re sure they won’t dare blow this up?”
“Absolutely sure!”
“Alright then, beat the hell out of them!”
Weierda then turned to the other Demon Hunter companions behind them and asked:
“What do you brothers say?”
“What do we say? Heh. We just noticed a few suspected Blasphemers secretly following us!”
With that, everyone exchanged knowing nods and, as if they had silently agreed beforehand, turned into an alley together…