Chapter 165: Qualified

“Lord Demon King, if you’ve decided to go to the Thousand Sea Abyss, then I’ll go with you too!” Melu declared.

“Melu…”

Via was surprised, and at the same time a warm feeling rose in her heart.

Even in her current fallen state, Melu was still willing to support her.

“Ah! Melu, you’re so sneaky! Trying to win Lord Demon King’s favor at a time like this!!” Kurei exclaimed when she saw this. “Lord Demon King, I support you too! I’ll go to the Thousand Sea Abyss with you as well! Even though your decision looks very dangerous, I believe… you might be able to turn misfortune into fortune!”

“Meow meow meow!”

Little Ha also cried out twice, as if backing up Kurei.

“Thank you, all of you.”

Via glanced at Little Ha in the corner and couldn’t help but smile.

“In that case, it’s decided. We’ll cross the Desolate Fallen Continent together and head for the Thousand Sea Abyss.”

“Energy replenishment complete.”

Via stood before the magic array, watching the armlet floating in mid-air emit a rich blue glow brimming with energy. A satisfied expression appeared on her face.

The Demon King Armament’s energy had finally been fully replenished.

Last time, she and Kurei had gone to the Demon King’s Castle ruins and brought back some sellable items. On the way back, they had also taken some money from a group of bandits.

After returning to town, Kurei went to the market and sold everything, exchanging it all for a good amount of magic stones.

Via had then set up a simple temporary magic workshop in Kurei’s house. She extracted all the mana from the magic stones, converted it into energy, and infused it into the Demon King Armament.

The process had taken quite a bit of time and effort.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly, and it was finally complete.

“Come back.”

Via raised her hand.

The Demon King Armament’s armlet responded to her command, returning to her wrist and entering standby mode.

As long as she wished, she could activate the Demon King Armament at any time.

Once activated and going all out, she would possess Transcendent-tier strength.

While not top-tier, it was more than enough for self-protection.

“Lord Demon King, should we set out today?”

A green head poked in from outside the room door. It was Kurei.

Via turned around and nodded. “Mm, I’m ready. We can leave anytime.”

“Great! Please put this on then!”

Kurei took out a set of maid clothing.

“Sigh, do I really have to wear… this?” Via looked a bit reluctant.

“Yes. We’ll travel south under the pretense of looking for work. This way it’ll be easier to deal with other people. Otherwise, you’d stand out way too much.”

In addition to the maid outfit, Kurei had also brought a green wig, colored contact lenses to change her eye color, and black horns for a demonkin disguise.

“Alright.”

Via thought for a moment and eventually agreed.

After all, the last group of bandits had immediately recognized her as human. Traveling through the Desolate Fallen Continent as a human would indeed cause a lot of trouble.

Keeping a low profile wouldn’t hurt.

“Come on, come on, let me help you change!” Kurei said enthusiastically.

“N-no need, I can do it myself!”

Via quickly took the clothes from Kurei’s hands before the maid could do anything.

She went to the changing room. After spending some time inside, she finally finished changing.

A demonkin girl with long green hair, wearing a black-and-white maid outfit, appeared before Kurei.

No matter how one looked at her, she seemed like a fellow countrywoman of Kurei and Melu.

“Lord Demon King, you’re so cute!” Kurei praised.

Via felt a little uncomfortable.

The dignified Demon King was now temporarily pretending to be a maid?

Whatever. A true man can bend and stretch. I’ll endure it for now.

“Lord Demon King, Melu has already prepared everything. She’s waiting downstairs. We can set off,” Kurei said.

“Alright,” Via nodded. “Then let’s go.”

Saint Luo Empire, Holy Land.

Inside the palace, Gustav watched the red-haired girl in saintess robes bow to him.

“Greetings, Your Majesty.”

Sophie displayed excellent etiquette. Her movements and the holy aura she emanated were already very similar to Sylvia’s back in the day.

“She’s so alike. Very much alike.”

Gustav nodded in satisfaction, then turned to the Pope of the Holy Land sitting beside him.

“Pope Altes, has the Holy Land decided to let Sophie inherit Sylvia’s position as Saintess?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Altes said with a nod. “What is your assessment of Sophie?”

“Sophie is indeed very much like Sylvia, and the people hold her in high regard. However… popular support alone is not enough.”

“Of course, Your Majesty. Please follow me.”

Altes stood up first and made an inviting gesture.

Gustav followed him. Together with Altes and Sophie, he temporarily left the palace and arrived at a secret location within the Holy Land.

There, the Emperor of the Saint Luo Empire saw a cage containing a ferocious magical beast that emanated an extremely terrifying aura.

“This is…?”

“Your Majesty, please do not get too close. This is a magical creature infected with abyssal aura,” Altes stopped Gustav. “Just watch from here. What comes next is the miracle of the Saintess.”

“Oh?”

Gustav raised an eyebrow.

He watched Sophie with great interest, ready to witness this so-called “miracle.”

Sophie walked up to the cage. A faint glow appeared around her body as she began to pray.

Sacred golden light seemed to descend from heaven, passing through the walls to envelop the cage and bathe the abyssal-infected magical beast in holy radiance.

The originally frenzied magical beast gradually dissipated within the scorching light. The ominous aura grew calm.

A shocking scene unfolded.

Had Sophie already mastered such outstanding purification abilities?

In the past, Gustav had only witnessed this extraordinary level of purification power from Sylvia.

Turning a corrupted magical creature back into a normal magical beast.

This was truly worthy of being called a miracle.

During the war between demonkin and humans, the Perfect Saintess Sylvia had used this unparalleled power to strip many magical beasts within the demon army of their combat effectiveness.

“Yes, Sophie has successfully broken through and reached the Transcendent tier.”

A gentle smile appeared on Altes’s kind face.

“Your Majesty, do you now believe that Sophie is qualified to inherit Sylvia’s position and take on the important duty of Saintess for the human world?”