In the long history of the Yanglight Continent, the Holy Light Church has always been the sole orthodox faith, yet it was not the only existing sect.
Just as the Holy Light Church worships the Goddess Fara, there naturally existed other sects on the continent that revered different deities.
For example, the Witch Coven of the Black Rose Empire were devout followers of the Goddess of Night.
In the eyes of the Holy Light Church, such groups were undoubtedly heretics, and upon discovery, they were sentenced to be burned, hanged, or crucified.
However, no member of the Witch Coven was an easy target.
Most of their transcendent practitioners specialized in mental and dark arts; their combat abilities might not have been outstanding, but their capacity to sow chaos was second to none.
This caused considerable headaches for various nations.
After all, while open confrontations could be guarded against, covert attacks were far more difficult to defend, and no one could guard against thieves a thousand days in a row.
Thus, experts equally versed in darkness were required to counter the Witch Coven—these were the heretics of the highest echelon within the Holy Light Church, known as the Heretic Tribunal.
Transcendent practitioners dispatched by the Heretic Tribunal suppressed the Witch Coven in both quality and quantity, becoming the greatest fear for the Coven across the continent.
In a sense, the Heretic Tribunal could be called the Coven’s nemesis.
Yet the Witch Coven harbored forces even the Heretic Tribunal feared—besides the High Priestess, there were seven witches within the Coven.
Based on multiple recorded encounters, it was clear that although their numbers did not match the Heretic Tribunal’s Twelve Apostles, their transcendent abilities were comparable in quality.
In this world ruled by transcendent practitioners, as long as the top-tier combat power between two organizations did not differ drastically, the gap in between could be managed.
This led the Witch Coven to inevitably infiltrate the Human Empire on a large scale.
Aside from Saint City Osiris, no one knew how many noble ladies on the surface were actually members of the Coven in secret.
Saint City Osiris, home of the Saint Key Knight Order.
It was already deep into the night.
Even the various celebratory diplomatic events had long since ended, and the brightly lit city was gradually returning to its usual calm.
However, a certain room within the Saint Key Knight Order shone with an unusually bright candlelight.
Inside, Rosetta sat upright in her office chair, silently flipping through the documents before her.
Her golden eyes were meticulous, showing no hint of fatigue.
Having shed her armor for a maiden’s dress, she momentarily let down her ironclad knightly demeanor, revealing a rare softness.
The ponytail she usually tied was undone, and her snowy white hair cascaded over her shoulders.
A closer look revealed a hairpin still holding a lock of hair on Roman’s forehead, making one suspect her true age all the more.
“Tania Desmon has ties to the Witch Coven?”
Rosetta scrutinized this memory.
Her normally gentle expression stiffened instantly.
Though the sentence appeared straightforward, its real implication was that the entire Desmon Family was involved with the Coven.
She had long been curious about how the Desmons rose to power through the Magical Pollen from the Obscure Mountains.
Those creatures were no gentlefolk—how could the modest Desmon Family have the strength to sustain such a dangerous trade?
At the time, Rosetta hadn’t taken the spice seriously, and with the Heretic Tribunal monitoring anomalies there, she had simply set the matter aside.
Now, however, she had to reconsider this information carefully.
“The Seventh Witch was active within the Desmon Territory.”
Rosetta was familiar with the Seventh Witch.
Her transcendent ability was the Supreme Saint Seal Dream Tapir—an extraordinarily insidious power.
Should one’s mental fortitude be weaker than hers and the caster’s mind fragile, they would be tamed into obedient puppets.
Besides this, her combat strength was average, hence her position as the Seventh Witch.
Rosetta’s mind gradually pieced the puzzle together: the Desmon Family’s spice came from dealings with the Seventh Witch, and it was even laced with additional ingredients.
The spice not only destroyed people’s bodies and wills but also fed off their flesh to grow into filthy monsters.
Such malignant phenomena were increasing across the continent. Even dukes and princes had perished because of it.
This was inevitable.
Though the Holy Throne had publicly banned such substances, private transactions never ceased.
The Heretic Tribunal dispatched agents to suppress and seize the contraband, but some individuals were beyond even their reach and were left to their own devices.
Among the information on Tania, Rosetta’s eyes suddenly narrowed as she focused on a particular entry.
“Tania Desmon once tried to interfere with slaves bought at an auction held by the Lily Countess and was imprisoned by the Countess, only to be later expelled by the Holy Child and taken away.”
To the uninformed, Roman’s name might not even be worth recording, but Rosetta knew well—he was the Saint Son.
As for why a member of the Saint Key Knight Order had access to Heretic Tribunal information, it was because Rosetta was not only the Order’s Captain but also indisputably the second most powerful figure under the Holy See, far above the Heretic Tribunal’s Director and the Silver Guard’s Legion Commander, who were all her subordinates.
Her role as Captain was, in a sense, only part-time.
So the Saint Son had nearly fallen into the clutches of a Desmon woman?
Rosetta frowned.
Her expression quickly turned uneasy.
If that witch truly had deep contact with Tania, her cunning nature would have surely noticed that Lord Roman’s Holy Throne still had not brought the Saint Son back.
Rosetta rose anxiously, wanting to contact the Holy Throne immediately.
***
Lily Territory’s Chapel.
“Where did you send him?”
Sylvia asked.
“Heh…”
Only a cold sneer answered her.
Before Sylvia could react, Lady Catherine suddenly broke free from her grasp.
Leaving the Law World behind, she reconnected with the stars, her pale body marked with red seals once again covered by a faint blue hue.
Lady Catherine had returned to her peak state within the Law Domain.
“…”
Sylvia silently spread her fingers, but before she could unfold her world again, her brows twitched anxiously.
As if stepping into a trap, a dark blue starry vortex erupted beneath Sylvia’s feet without the slightest warning.
Few things in the world resisted being torn apart by space—the stars were one of them.
A wise person would never be defeated twice by the same trick.
Lady Catherine’s undignified collapse moments ago and Sylvia grabbing her by the throat were all because Lady Catherine had secretly laid out “stars” within the Star Chart inside Sylvia’s mind.
The Star Chart unfolded clearly in her thoughts. Lady Catherine had prepared ample “stars,” silently buying time against Sylvia.