Chapter 54: East Capital, West Capital

Mingguang City is a rather magical place.

Legend has it that long, long ago, this was the true capital of the Holy Empire, back when the Goddess Church didn’t have such a complicated hierarchical structure, and there was no position of Pope or seats in the Holy Church, only the three Saintesses led by the Saint of Bright Light, executing the will of the Light.

But gradually, things began to change.

It is well known that the artifact, the Crown of Uncrowned, held by the Saint of Bright Light, has the most stringent requirements among the three sacred artifacts of the Holy Nation, practically only manageable by the divine Summerfield Family. However, families can pass down through generations, and unexpected events do happen occasionally.

About three hundred years ago, the then Saint of Bright Light tragically perished in a massive demon attack while trying to protect the people, and her proposed successor was still very young, far from being able to take on her predecessor’s position, nor inherit the Crown of Uncrowned.

Thus, in order to stabilize the situation swiftly and continue the struggle against the demons ravaging the land, a dozen historical religious families banded together, with the Lambert Family, one of the three divine families, at the helm, forming the acting legislative Holy Church, and elected a Speaker—the Pope, as the divine representative, to manage the chaos caused by the loss of the Saint of Bright Light.

I must admit, this move played a crucial role at that time, preventing the true foundations of the Goddess Church from being eroded by demons, and after more than ten years of effort, through several large-scale battles, the demonic forces infiltrating this world were finally repelled once again.

That decade-long war was dubbed the Third Demon War by the Holy Nation’s historians, alongside two previous large-scale invasions.

However, afterward, the Holy Church did not disband as the next Saint of Bright Light gradually grew up; their victory against the demons earned them immense prestige among the populace, eventually overshadowing the relatively low profile of the Saint of Bright Light during this time.

The Holy Empire is a religious nation without a royal family or absolute rulers, where leadership positions have always belonged to the capable. Thus, the structure of the Pope and the Holy Church gradually became the main controllers of the Holy Nation, replacing the three Saintesses, and based on the Lambert Family’s stronghold—City of Angels, forming the appearance of the East and West Capitals.

To this day, while the position of the three Saintesses still exists and the three sacred artifacts remain powerful, the authority they represent, especially that of the Judging Saintess and the Redeeming Saintess, which do not have stable inheritances, has been significantly weakened, becoming more like “mascots” and certain symbolic representatives.

In fact, even the succession of the Saintess position is now to some extent hindered by the Holy Church led by the Pope, becoming much more complicated.

“I see… so that’s why that Holy Church was able to forcefully elect you as the next Judging Saintess candidate through voting while discarding the previous Fleidetrika Cecelia, right?”

In a quiet chamber, the Priestess, having removed the Mask of the God Fox, was facing the shimmering ghostly figure of a girl, responding with a hint of contemplation in her tone.

“Indeed, Miss Vilyric, you should understand the structure of the Holy Empire; those guys are simply afraid that I would awaken my bloodline and become too close to the Light, leading the Cecelia Family in the Holy Church and taking away the leadership position belonging to the Lambert Family. These fellows are completely ignoring the bigger picture!”

Edwina’s projection spoke with a hint of indignation, and even from thousands of miles away, Vilyric could clearly feel and understand the source of her anger through the image.

After all, the current Judging Saintess’ elder sister, the contemporary Judging Saintess, was still missing without a trace on the western battlefield, and her life hung in the balance. The church’s higher-ups, situated far behind the front lines, not only failed to consider support but also intended to strip her of her Saintess title and artifact under the pretext of her negligence, aiming to suppress the Cecelia Family.

Such flagrant betrayal, even Vilyric, who only had a fleeting acquaintance with Fleidetrika Cecelia and wasn’t very familiar with her, felt a tinge of disgust, let alone her younger sister Edwina!

However, merely being angry didn’t solve much; the key was to address the problem.

“Don’t rush; tell me the specifics again.”

As one of the two most important cities in the Holy Empire, Mingguang City naturally had a branch of the Cecelia Merchant Association, and in terms of scale, it was hardly any less than the main hall in the City of Angels.

Following the planned agenda, upon reaching Mingguang City, Vilyric quickly located the Cecelia Merchant Association here using the token left by the Judging Saintess before her departure and earned their trust, gaining permission to use their communication chamber designated for internal family correspondence.

Meanwhile, Edwina in the City of Angels was already well-prepared and immediately connected with Vilyric, sharing all the current circumstances from her side.

It seemed that, perhaps due to the time since receiving the message having been a while, leaving enough buffer, or perhaps some Judging Saintess had indeed matured during her trials, Edwina quickly calmed down after a brief moment of anger, nodding her head as she began to explain the situation.

“Originally, the succession ceremony of the three Saintesses was very solemn, requiring at least a year for various preparations and assessments. However, due to the ongoing disturbances caused by demons in the east, which were expanding rapidly, the pressure on the front lines became severe, urgently needing support. Therefore, the Holy Church decided to simplify everything, and on the Day of Coming, which is the first day of the upcoming year, I will inherit the position of Judging Saintess and the Arbitration Divine Sword.”

“Then I will probably set out to lead the Judgment Scales of the four Holy Knight Legions in the City of Angels, along with her healing priest team, to assist the Judging Hands on the front lines and once and for all suppress and drive out the demons wreaking havoc in the east.”

“Hmm… so the reason the Holy Church is letting you inherit the Saintess position is likely due to the dire situation and the urgent need for the power of the Judging Saintess… right?”

Edwina’s projection nodded in agreement.

“Just as expected from Miss Vilyric; you’ve easily seen through the tricks they used. Indeed, but also precisely because what they said was true, and the mysterious disappearance on the battlefield also somewhat falls back on my sister’s own issues, so even though the Cecelia family occupies some seats in the Holy Church, it’s difficult for us to voice opposing opinions, at least not against the mainstream.”

“The time is… the Day of Coming, huh…”

In this world, the calendar differs among various races, but to be honest, they are generally quite similar, mainly dividing by the changing of the seasons in March. The Day of Coming mentioned by Edwina is the conventional January 1st.

Because, in the doctrine of the Goddess Church, in the distant past, the Light Goddess Aurora brought the first ray of light to the world, ushering in the era of life, thus the day of her arrival is known as the Day of Coming.

It is now late winter, around mid-December, which means there are just over half a month left until Edwina inherits the position of the Judging Saintess and leads the clergy to battle.

From this, it is evident that the higher-ups of the church are indeed tightening the timeline; perhaps they are planning something else, or maybe the situation on the front lines is indeed not optimistic.

Not making unilateral decisions, the Priestess chose to consult the opinion of the person involved first.

“With only half a month left, according to the original plan, we probably won’t be able to reach the City of Angels. So, Edwina, what do you think we should do~?”

   

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