Plan C: Make a big scene, then take a self-inflicted blow!
……
Half an hour later, in the church prayer hall, under Ze’en’s report, Kashan finally learned of the major incident in the southern part of the plateau, and her expression began to tense up.
“So many demons? Could someone have blown up that largest demon gathering place in the Southern Swamp?”
The Thousand Lakes City Ruins had actually always been under the surveillance of Water Marsh City.
After all, the number of demons there was so great that even a Second Rank Demon Hunter could smell the thick demonic aura upon entering.
However, the friction between the demons and Water Marsh City was minimal, and there had been no major conflicts for a long time.
It was mostly minor incidents like someone being tempted by a demon, so as long as the demons didn’t make any big moves, Water Marsh City wouldn’t actively take down the Thousand Lakes Arena.
Moreover, there were rumors that a powerful demon was stationed there.
……
But now the demons had all come pouring out in a flash, and even the Demon Hunters didn’t know what was going on.
The top priority was to quickly capture a demon alive for interrogation.
“It looks like our return to Wangdu will be delayed. The current military strength of the entire Dea Plateau simply cannot stop so many demons. The casualties will be horrific.”
For the safety of the plateau’s soldiers and common people, Kashan felt it necessary to stay and guard.
A Sixth Rank Chief Priest plus a Fourth Rank High Priest could basically handle more than ninety percent of casualty scenarios.
As for the Saintess, forget it—Kashan had personally seen her get so exhausted after treating just a few people.
And she was only Second Rank anyway, so it would be better for her not to go to the front lines and instead stabilize people’s morale in the rear.
“I’ll also do everything I can. As long as the demon mentioned in the intelligence doesn’t appear, I can completely intimidate the other demons into not daring to step foot in Deya City,” Ze’en replied.
If supplies and time allowed, then he, an eighty-level Ranger, could single-handedly take on all the demons in the Thousand Lakes Arena except the Elemental Demon at once without issue.
Plus, there was an elite Demon Hunter squad in the city. Other cities aside, Deya City could be considered solidly…
“Alright, let’s leave it at that arrangement. I have important matters to attend to. Do as you please, and notify me if anything important comes up. Let the Demon Hunters handle the small things.”
After chatting for a few more minutes, Kashan quickly left, but not out of the church—instead, she slipped back to the rear of the church.
Soon, the sound of rapid footsteps going upstairs reached Ze’en’s ears.
Ze’en: “……”
‘Going to see the Saintess again? All I can say is that circle is really messy. Looks like the rumors about those Saintesses in the capital aren’t groundless… Sigh.’
‘That being the case, I have to keep my mouth shut too, or else the Church Assassins will come for a home visit tonight.’
The Church of the Goddess of Life always denied the existence of Church Assassins, after all, killing people was completely against the church’s doctrine.
But anyone who had struggled in the Kingdom of Sylvia for years knew that Church Assassins were real…
“Truth, are you in the room? I want to continue talking!”
Gently knocking on the locked room, Kashan called out from outside Truth’s temporary second-floor room.
During the rest, Truth had grown increasingly annoyed because Kashan’s teachings kept interrupting her thoughts, so she directly turned and ran back into the second-floor room.
‘She just ran away? Looks like the blow of being rejected for a confession is quite significant for her, but this behavior is normal enough to understand.’
Kashan had been confessed to by other young priests before.
She remembered one little priest who said he loved being scolded by Kashan because it gave him a strange sense of pleasure.
That left Kashan speechless. Not lecturing was not an option, but continuing to lecture seemed only to make her more and more pleased…
So now she found Truth’s behavior normal. As a Chief Priest, dealing with the troubles of an ordinary young priest was the simplest thing for her.
Now it just depended on whether Truth’s personality was the particularly stubborn type or the more emotional one—she had to suit the remedy to the case.
But now the “remedy” was blocked at the door. Kashan had been knocking for a while, but there was still no response from the bedroom.
“I’m also at fault here. I wanted to sincerely apologize to you.”
“Don’t overthink it. I don’t mean to dislike you. I can understand your feelings. Come talk to me—it’s just a chat between friends.”
“Truth, please open the door, okay?”
Kashan continued to persist relentlessly. She wanted to resolve this matter before heading to the capital, as it would be better for both of them.
Meanwhile, inside the bedroom.
Little Mist, sitting by the bed, looked timidly toward the door and dared not make a move, because Truth was lying at the head of the bed, legs crossed, staring at her expressionlessly.
Originally, Little Mist wanted to get off the bed and open the door, but the moment her feet touched the floor, Truth coldly said,
“If you dare to open the door, I’ll let you know what other moves I have besides Great Whirlwind.”
Then Little Mist froze in place, and did nothing else until Kashan sighed and went downstairs.
“Alas, seems she’s the stubborn type. A bit troublesome. Now I’ll have to spend more time…”
Faced with a stubborn type, Kashan knew that haste makes waste. Better to let time wash over Truth’s mood for now.
“Hmm, she’s finally gone.” After sensing Kashan’s presence fading away, Truth rolled over twice on the bed and came directly behind Little Mist.
She placed her hands on Little Mist’s shoulders and said softly,
“Dear little sister, listen carefully to what I’m about to say. This is about your freedom.”
“You… are you going to lock me up?!”
“Of course not. You haven’t done anything wrong, why would I lock you up? I mean you don’t have to be a Saintess anymore!”
“Really? You aren’t lying to me?”
“I never lie!” Truth said, lifting her head, but soon she felt guilty:
“At least I haven’t lied to you yet…”
“That sentence makes me really uneasy,” Little Mist said with a slight pout, then immediately lowered her head after Truth glared at her.
It seems it’s really not something good…
……
Because the Demon Hunters had issued a curfew, the afternoon in Deya City was very quiet.
Unlike big cities like the capital, according to past experience, the Demon-Hunting Campaign had minimal impact on almost all cities in the Dea Plateau.
At most, some posters were put up to let people know the campaign had started, and then the rewards for hunting demons were announced.
But in the end, the rewards ended up in the pockets of various nobles, which made Adventurers even less motivated.
Over time, the Demon-Hunting Campaign basically lost its appeal to Adventurers, but the gangsters and criminals were extremely excited.
Because during the campaign, most of the plateau’s garrison troops would go to attack demon gathering places, many cities and forts were left undermanned, with only Enforcers maintaining order—it was a perfect opportunity for crime!
But in this Demon-Hunting Campaign, people were horrified to find that the scale of demon and Blasphemer activities had far exceeded previous levels.
Blowing up major buildings, large numbers of demons heading north to the plateau—it felt like something was forcing them to act…
Could it be the Ninth Saintess?
If there was anything different about the Dea Plateau now compared to before, it was that there was one more Saintess.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.