The miracle had descended.
The people could feel it—their heartfelt prayers reaching the saintess candidates on the altar and onward to paradise.
This was the rite of Saint Prayer Day.
The saintesses gathered the wishes of the masses, conveying them to the omnipotent Divine Lord through sacred prayer rituals, all to beseech peace and prosperity for the nation.
“Divine Lord, please hear our prayers…!”
Some devout believers were already in tears, kneeling on the ground and paying homage to the divine statue at the center of the square.
The other civilians were deeply moved as well. Though they weren’t as fervent as the Holy Land’s faithful, every eye now held profound recognition for the inheritors of Sylvia’s bloodline.
“Senior Sophie is… just too amazing…”
Lucy couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.
As a noble, she had heard plenty about the saintess candidate Sophie.
But hearing about it a hundred times was no match for seeing it once.
No matter how many stories she’d heard, they hadn’t felt real—until today, witnessing Sophie’s Saint Prayer firsthand. She truly felt the inheritance of the sacred bloodline.
It looks like Sophie becoming the next saintess is all but guaranteed.
Ole was convinced in his heart. He resolved to have his daughter build a good relationship with Via, no matter what.
They absolutely had to curry favor with the next saintess—even if it meant cozying up to the notoriously ill-reputed Via. It would be worth it.
Sigh.
Amid the entire central square of Kado City, only one person let out a sigh in her heart.
That was Via.
Unlike the excited masses, she felt profoundly uncomfortable at this moment.
As for the reason…
She was the Demon King, after all—yet here she was, forced to worship the god of the holy clerics?
What an utter joke.
Demon Kings of old either rejected gods entirely or worshipped the Abyss God.
None of them would bow to the clerics’ deity.
If the demonkin ever found out what she was doing, the Demon King’s dignity would be utterly shattered.
But, fortunately…
For now, no one knew that Demon King Ville had been reborn as the saintess candidate Via.
“Divine Lord, please hear the prayers of Your people. Bestow Your grace upon the Saint Luo Empire and safeguard the human race—”
Sophie continued her prayer.
Via was doing the same as Sophie, offering prayers before the altar.
However, lacking any holy power, she couldn’t manifest a single sacred phenomenon.
Standing beside Sophie, she was little more than a freeloader.
As long as she stayed close enough to Sophie, it would be hard for others to tell whose presence was triggering the sacred visions—it would look like the two of them were accomplishing it together.
This was precisely the Holy Land’s intent.
Sophie was an outstanding saintess candidate who could achieve this on her own, with or without assistance.
But Via was different.
If she had to handle the Saint Prayer ceremony alone, the people nearby would see absolutely nothing.
Dispatching such an utterly inept saintess candidate—one who couldn’t even perform a Saint Prayer—would undoubtedly tarnish the Holy Land’s reputation across all sectors, even eroding its credibility.
No matter what, the Holy Land would never let Via handle any city by herself. Having Sophie come along with her was, without question, the right call.
The Saint Prayer ceremony has to last the whole day. I hope it goes off without a hitch.
That was what Via thought to herself.
Kado City, the gates.
“Sigh, I really wanna head to the central square and catch a glimpse of the Saint Prayer ceremony!” A young gate guard spotted the pillar of light descending from the sky and let out a complaint.
He envied everyone who got to attend the Saint Prayer ceremony.
“Forget about it. We can’t leave our posts until the shift ends. Keep watch here,” an older soldier who’d served in the ranks for many years reminded him. “The civilians might not get paid for slacking off, but we sure as hell could lose our jobs.”
“Uh… fine.”
The young soldier felt helpless at his senior’s buzzkill of a remark.
“Don’t underestimate our duty. Focus up—today’s Saint Prayer Day. We can’t afford any screw-ups,” the veteran soldier cautioned.
“What trouble could there even be today? Besides our empire’s soldiers, we’ve got tons of Holy Land holy knights and priests here. Who’d be crazy enough to stir up chaos?”
“That’s true, but we still need to stay on high alert…”
“Hey, got any wishes of your own? How about we improvise a little right here—pray, and let Sophie pass ’em on to the Divine Lord for us? The gate’s dead quiet anyway.”
“You’re really letting your imagination run wild…”
“You in or not?”
The young soldier leaned his weapon against the wall. He clasped his hands together and gazed up at the light pillar piercing the sky.
“Come on, come on.”
The older soldier didn’t want to miss the chance either. Mimicking the Holy Land’s faithful, he closed his eyes toward the light pillar, focusing his mind on prayer.
Before the veteran could even voice his wish in his heart, an utterly jarring sound rang out.
Plop.
The older soldier’s eyes snapped open. He snatched up his weapon from the wall and aimed it toward the noise.
But the next instant, that mysterious man’s figure seemed to teleport, materializing right in front of the young soldier and blocking his path.
“What do you—”
The young soldier didn’t even finish his question before his head was seized by the other man.
Then, a bone-chilling aura surged forth.
The tall, burly man squeezed hard, effortlessly crushing the young soldier’s skull. Crimson blood splattered across his body.
“Ah!”
Terror flashed in the older soldier’s eyes. He barely managed to stagger back a few steps before a slender hand pierced straight through his chest.
He didn’t even have time to scream before life left him.
“Let’s make this quick, Cora.”
Zak, an elite member of Abyssal Eye, licked the blood from his lips, a cruel arc twisting his mouth.
“I’m about to lose it—I can’t wait to slaughter those saintess candidates and make the Holy Land pay a bloody price!”