Falling into the multi-layered trap conspired by Philip and Marcus, the members of the personal guard were ultimately captured by the Pope’s resistance army. Naturally, they were led away with great reluctance.
“You despicable cowards! You’ve defiled the honor of the knights!”
Catherine and her squad members had their hands tied behind their backs. As the captain, she continued to rant incessantly along the way. No one paid any attention to her shouts, which only frustrated her further.
The lower-ranking soldiers of the resistance army were indeed irritated by such words, but the knight squires serving as their squad leaders had already instructed them to exercise restraint.
Eventually, Catherine and her team were brought before Marcus’s tent. Inside, Marcus sat in the iconic pose of a certain commander, chin resting atop his interlaced fingers. The table in front of him was covered with maps marked with various cultist strongholds.
“I am Marcus Parisiio. I am very pleased to see the friends of Christina here. George, untie these ladies.”
The knight squire followed Marcus’s orders. Catherine stood frozen before Marcus, her eyes wide with absolute, incredible shock.
“You are… there’s no mistake! Those eyes are just like the Lady Knight Princess’s, and that greatsword behind you… This is wonderful! Lord Marcus, you’re still alive!”
As the first person chosen by Christina to be a member of the personal guard, Catherine had actually met Marcus once when she was young. Nearly ten years had passed, but Marcus was as handsome as ever. No traces of time could be seen on the face of this 40-year-old middle-aged man.
“Catherine, it is a pleasure to see you. It has been a long time. Is Chris doing well…?” Marcus couldn’t help but ask about his family.
“The Lady Knight Princess is in good physical health, but her mental state is not very good. She… she doesn’t smile anymore…” Upon seeing Marcus, Catherine anxiously began to describe Christina’s recent circumstances.
“Lord Marcus, it seems you are doing well. Please, you must see Lady Christina! I beg of you! She needs your company right now!”
Marcus had come this time for two reasons: on one hand, to eliminate the threat of the increasingly active cultists around Heliwood; on the other, to make contact with Christina.
Marcus reached into his pocket and pulled out the elven tool the dwarf Black had given him earlier, which was meant to lift a certain restriction on Christina. After a moment of thought, he shoved the tool back into his pocket and sighed deeply toward the sky.
He owed Christina far too much over the years. It was the guilt of a father who had failed in his duty.
“Catherine, in time, I will explain everything to Chris. Rest assured.” Marcus continued, “Also, would you and your squad be willing to submit to me and assist me in what comes next?”
Marcus then told them about the major incident at the Peak of Phantoms and the horrific tragedy in Sindar Town. Catherine, Elsa, Elli, and the others were first stunned and horrified, then overcome with grief for the dead civilians. Finally, they expressed deep-seated hatred and condemnation for the Pope’s genocidal actions against commoners.
—
Later, Catherine and the others followed Marcus to a refugee camp. This place was filled with villagers from various regions who had recently suffered from the Pope’s necromancy and were forced to flee their homes.
They had all witnessed the terror of necromancy and the arrogance of the cultists. During these operations, the Pope had deliberately bypassed the Knight Princess and her personal guard, stretching his demonic claws toward remote mountainous areas and border towns instead.
Watching the devastated civilians here, Catherine and her squad felt their hearts ache. Like the other members of the personal guard, she came from a poor, low-class family and had been trained and promoted by Christina. They all knew how the people at the bottom lived.
Seeing these suffering people, they were moved by the scene, thinking of their own families. Their families had been saved by Christina, but who would save these people?
Just as she was walking toward the center of the refugee camp, she saw Elliris healing the masses.
The candlelight of the camp cast a soft glow on Elliris’s silhouette. She was asking an elderly man about his condition in a gentle tone.
“Sir, please don’t worry. Take your time.” Elliris then channeled light element particles from her fingertips. A healing magic imbued with the aura of holy light enveloped the old man, and after a short while, his spirit was restored.
Wearing a wizard hat decorated with a large blue butterfly, the Divine Mark was gradually emerging on Elliris’s forehead. She was no terrifying witch; these great feats of holy healing magic told a different story.
“Catherine, look. Isn’t that…?” Elsa whispered from the side.
“Wait, I know who that is.” Catherine placed her index finger to her lips in a “shush” gesture, signaling the other members to keep watching.
“All of you who suffer, do not worry. The Lawful Good Goddess Althea will not abandon you!” Elliris began to cast [Holy Hymn] in coordination with [Dispel Disease]. A holy light radiated from her body and spread outward. Every refugee gathered there looked toward the sky as countless pure white angel feathers drifted down. When the feathers touched those eroded by necromancy, they instantly burst into dazzling light.
The traces of necromancy on the refugees were completely cleared, and their bodies and minds became incredibly light in that moment.
“Praise the Goddess Althea! Praise the Lady Saint!” The refugees showered Elliris with words of utmost gratitude. At that moment, Catherine felt a powerful resonance in her heart.
“Everyone, having seen such a miracle, do you still believe she is an unpardonable witch?”
The other squad members remained silent. That silence was their affirmation of Elliris’s identity and power.
Catherine’s heart was in turmoil. Her family had owned a portrait of Lady Felicitala since she was a child. At 14, Elliris’s appearance was almost identical to Felicitala’s, save for her height.
Educated by her parents from a young age, Catherine felt a deep-seated respect and longing for the God Race. The acts of capturing God Race women had indeed been forced upon them by Christina’s orders, but she was still an accomplice. She could not evade her responsibility.
However, she could guarantee that those imprisoned God Race women were currently safe; she had checked on their condition more than once. Whatever the future held, she was willing to bear the weight of her crimes.
But at this moment, she only wanted to follow the Elliris before her. ‘This is another way to atone for my sins,’ she thought. ‘If I follow the Saint, the Lady Knight Princess will surely agree.’
Catherine believed that if the Knight Princess could understand, she would also follow such a Saint who looked like a descending deity. If Christina knew Marcus was alive and well, her behavior wouldn’t be so extreme. These past few years, Christina’s actions had felt foreign and cold.
As she watched Elliris perform the miracle, the warmth that did not belong to divinity and the soft beauty radiating from between her brows caused Catherine’s heartbeat to suddenly accelerate.
The holy, compassionate warmth of the Lady Saint before her seemed to spread through her very gaze. It made the heartbeat in her chest go wild, like a warhorse losing control on a battlefield.
At that moment, the expression on Catherine’s face toward Elliris was one of clear, unmistakable love at first sight.