Both sides seemed highly dissatisfied.
Throughout the all-day meeting, Aililan had demanded troops, money, and grain, but those people looked completely unwilling to provide anything.
Conversely, they felt that Aililan was being too idealistic and was disregarding reality.
As they walked out the doors of the meeting hall, the crowd cast contemptuous glances at those who had supported Aililan.
“Bah, a group of people who only know how to wag their tails and beg for mercy.”
A woman dressed luxuriously, dripping in jewels and possessing an aura that stood out from the crowd, waved her hand to soothe everyone.
“Do not concern yourselves, everyone. The Saint of Chastity is young, after all. There are many things she hasn’t considered properly, and her ideas are somewhat naive.”
The Bishop of the Second Feather Region, who had been asked to leave the meeting hall earlier, hurried forward and said respectfully, “Archbishop Libium, please, you must speak up for us regarding this matter.”
More people swarmed around her.
“Archbishop Libium, you are our backbone. Please, go and admonish the Saintess.”
“I said it long ago; the Saintess’s ideas are immature. I believe Archbishop Libium will stand up for us.”
“No one needs to worry. Archbishop Libium can surely resolve this.”
“We all believe in Archbishop Libium.”
Archbishop Libium listened to the crowd’s compliments, a satisfied expression appearing on her face. As a regional Archbishop, she was a figure akin to a powerful provincial governor.
When facing Aililan, she inevitably maintained the mindset of an elder looking at a junior.
She pressed her hands down to signal for silence and said confidently, “Rest assured, I have some influence in the Holy Land. I will handle the negotiations regarding this matter, and I will certainly give everyone an explanation.”
Before her voice could fade, someone suddenly walked quickly toward them from outside the hall.
The person nodded to the crowd in greeting but only bowed slightly when facing Libium. “Archbishop Libium, the Seven Regents request your presence.”
Libium was startled, but then she became incredibly excited. ‘What? The Seven Regents are summoning me? Good, good. I will go at once.’
She could not help but straighten her back, feeling as though she had suddenly become more than a dozen years younger.
The surrounding crowd gasped in surprise, followed by another round of compliments.
The summons from the Seven Regents seemed to confirm Libium’s words—she truly had connections in the Holy Land. The expressions of the crowd as they looked at her became even more reverent.
—
On the other side, the few people who had previously supported Aililan looked increasingly dejected, feeling nothing but bitterness.
Someone asked in a low voice, “Were we really wrong?”
“Lord, we—”
“Shut up.”
“I said, shut up.”
The group left in a hurry, unwilling to listen to the others’ taunts any longer, but they missed a great show because of it.
Shortly after they left, a group of people completely shrouded in white robes walked over quickly. When the people on the streets of the Holy Land saw them, their faces changed instantly, and they scrambled out of the way, fearing they might be too slow.
This was because they were the most terrifying and notorious existence in the Church—the Heresy Inquisition Guards.
People often called them madmen, paranoiacs, or seekers. They were the ones with the purest faith.
When the Heresy Inquisition Guards arrived in front of the meeting hall, even the previously majestic Golden Armored Guards nearly felt their legs go weak.
On the spot, they mentally reviewed every bad thing they had done in their lives.
A white-robed man pointed at the crowd and asked, as if reciting a menu, “Are you the people from the First, Second, and Fifth Feathers of the Fifth Wing Region?”
The people’s scalps tingled as they stammered, “Wh… what do you want?”
the white-robed Heresy Inquisition Guard smiled slightly, his tone gentle. “There is no need to be nervous. We are merely inviting you to the Heresy Examination Hall to have some tea.”
In just a few moments, the people who had been gossiping about the Saint of Chastity were all taken away.
The Golden Armored Guards in front of the meeting hall wiped away cold sweat beneath their armor and whispered, “Drinking tea? That means they’re being processed as heretics…”
Soon, they resumed their guard duties. It was best to stay out of trouble when it didn’t concern them.
Moreover, no one wanted to be invited to “drink tea” for “neglect of duty” right after the Heresy Inquisition Guards had left.
As for those who were taken away? The Golden Armored Guards could only silently wish them luck in their hearts.
—
Meanwhile, Libium was led to a temple. Her heart was racing with excitement as she hurriedly straightened her clothes before respectfully entering the hall.
‘This is the temple of one of the Seven Regents who is still active today,’ she thought.
The moment Libium stepped through the doors, an illusory yet solid Sword of Damocles suddenly appeared above her head.
The sword radiated wisps of divine aura, weighing down like a mountain and rendering her unable to move.
The person standing before her was Isiphlan.
Libium’s first reaction was confusion. Her second reaction was to immediately kneel on the ground, looking up at the one-armed woman on the high platform.
No one would ever mock Isiphlan’s missing arm because it was the proof of her many battles and slaughters. No one would doubt her strength, either, because everyone who had doubted it was already dead.
It was said that her arm was lost during the suppression of the restoration of The Fallen Kingdom. When the remnants of that kingdom summoned an Outer God to descend, she had personally banished it.
“I pay my respects to… the Seven Regents,” Libium said, her voice trembling as she knelt, wondering where she had offended the other party.
On the high platform, Isiphlan, who had been chatting and laughing with the Saintesses about the performance at the meeting, felt her expression darken slightly.
“Are you Libium?”
“Lady Isiphlan, I… I am.”
“I remember you. You were the housekeeper for the Saint of Generosity of our generation. I didn’t expect so many years to pass in the blink of an eye.”
“Yes, yes… I still miss my master, the Saint of Generosity, immensely.”
“Then do you know why you were chosen to be her chief housekeeper back then?”
“It was… because of the incident where the Saint of Humility was bullied by servants when she was young…”
Before Libium could finish her sentence, she was already dripping with cold sweat.
The incident of the Saint of Humility being bullied by servants had always been a taboo within the Church. After the matter was exposed, nearly 1,000 people from top to bottom were killed before the storm was suppressed.
And what was the difference between her current actions and those of those servants?
*Thud, thud, thud—*
Libium knocked her head against the floor frantically, tears and snot streaming down her face. “Please, Lady Isiphlan, for the sake of my nineteen years of service to the previous Saint of Generosity, spare my life!”
Those who came from the center of the Holy Land, especially the close subordinates of a Saintess, often became powerful regional officials.
Isiphlan seemed to be lost in thought, as if she were reminiscing about the Saintesses of the past. Finally, she let out a soft sigh.
Libium felt a surge of joy. ‘It seems this disaster is about to pass.’
After all, she had been the housekeeper of the previous Saintess’s manor. Out of respect for the past, the other party wouldn’t be too hard on her.
However, after Isiphlan sighed, she said indifferently, “Precisely because of our past connection, and because you once served the Saint of Generosity of our generation with all your heart, I am informing you of the reason for your death.”
The Sword of Damocles suddenly fell, carrying her fury.
“No matter how young a Saintess is, she is not someone you can gossip about or insult.”
Under the terrifying pressure of the sword, Libium’s flesh and blood exploded inch by inch. Not even a single drop of blood remained to pollute the great hall; she was completely turned to dust.
As for whether the death of a high-ranking official would cause unrest in the Fifth Wing Region?
Isiphlan did not care.