Chapter 193: What Is a Believer, What Is Faith

And now, Xī must endure the first wave of this vile backlash.

Although it was expected, and she had prepared herself for it, when faced with the reality, the girl, as a member of the divine race, couldn’t help but feel a twinge of helplessness and annoyance in her indifferent heart.

“Actually…”

“Enough.”

A chilling stop, one that would make anyone’s skin crawl, interrupted the words ready to spill from Miss White Fox’s lips.

The one who spoke was a gentle woman, crowned with the name of Bright Light, representing pure and unblemished brilliance.

Turning her head in slight surprise, from the corner of her eye, the White Fox Girl noticed that Yuna Summerfield’s pale blue gaze was not directed at her, yet it was laced with an almost murderous chill.

“Rudolph, I never want to hear such words again. You better understand that the existence of the Goddess, her grace and gifts are honors, and will never become responsibilities or obligations. We praise and pray because of her exalted nature, not as a bargaining chip for help in times of trouble.”

“I ask you, what… do you take faith for?”

A third silence fell over the room.

Not to mention Vilyric, it seemed even the high-ranking bishops and holy knights who had been working alongside Yuna for a long time were witnessing the Bright Saintess showing such demeanor for the first time.

Undoubtedly, this was an emotion named anger, something that only devout clergy could exhibit when facing extreme blasphemy.

Almost instantly, the high bishop named Rudolph Longber, who had just tried to seek assistance from Miss White Fox, was drenched in cold sweat, trembling under the undisguised pressure of the Saintess and her overwhelming authority, nearly unable to stand straight.

“I… I I I…”

In fact, Yuna was not wrong; according to the doctrines of the Church of the Goddess, believers indeed could only pray to the divine for her gaze, having no right to impose demands on the Goddess.

Rather, outside of the long-standing blessings of faith-based magic, the miracles and divine power displayed by the Light Goddess across the globe in the past year or two had already far surpassed the total of the past thousand years.

Moreover, the appearances of Xī, angels, and that holy white dragon, though not officially recognized, were likely to be considered the Goddess’s favorites.

This high bishop named Rudolph had indeed spoken thoughtlessly; no matter what he or many others truly thought in their hearts, just voicing such words about the mysterious Miss White Fox was enough for the discerning to seize upon and accuse him of “great disrespect and blasphemy against the divine.”

Upon realizing this, many clergy who had intended to continue the discussion quickly fell silent, fearing they would be the next targets of the Bright Saintess’s wrath.

Just when the atmosphere turned inexplicably tense, almost no one daring to even glance at the enraged Bright Saintess, Holy Knight Claycius, who had likewise been rebuking his peers, unexpectedly spoke up.

“Ahem, Bishop Rudolph spoke out of concern and misspoke. Your Highness, the war is about to begin; it would be wiser for us to focus our attention on what truly needs addressing, don’t you agree?”

“Ha…”

Whether it was the Holy Knight’s words having an effect or Miss White Fox tugging gently at her skirt beneath the table, the Saintess took a deep breath, her beautiful eyes slightly closing. When she opened them again, the previously striking cold pressure had dissipated into nothingness.

“Very well, the situation is special; I will let you off this time… Rudolph Longber, you need not attend the upcoming meetings and war any longer. Stay in the Holy Capital and handle what you are supposed to do.”

“Ah? This…?”

It was clear that Rudolph, the four-winged high bishop belonging to a family of interest to Miss Vilyric, wanted to say something. After all, the Bright Saintess, while revered, was merely the leader of one of the three military divisions. Even though she was nominally the commander, she didn’t have the authority to directly replace the high-ranking officers from the Eastern Capital without notifying the Pope.

After all, it was still a bit away from the time when “orders in military operations can be disregarded,” and the army had not yet left the Holy Capital.

However, given the previous scene, especially after feeling the Saintess’s barely concealed anger and murderous intent, no one dared to say anything further in this situation.

Moreover, this matter itself was Rudolph’s fault for speaking out of turn, so it could be argued that it was significant enough.

Ultimately, the high bishop clearly affiliated with the Holy See chose to back down temporarily.

“Very well, I shall take my leave…”

With Rudolph gone, under the overwhelming intimidation of the Saintess, no one dared to cast their attention toward the White Fox Girl, and they could only obediently discuss strategies against the demonic onslaught.

Finally, the military meeting, under the unification of the Bright Saintess and Edwina, decided not to delay any further. They would immediately send troops to the Province of Fran to balance the continued encroachment of demonic forces to the west.

At any cost.

The specific military strategies were fervently discussed, orders rapidly issued, transmitted to various armies and the Holy City, resources allocated, troops mobilized…

The colossal entity known as the Holy Empire was getting serious and springing back into action after a three-hundred-year hiatus.

Time was of the essence. After the meeting, stationed on the outskirts of the Holy Capital, the main forces of over one hundred thousand, comprising the Western Expeditionary Army, the Holy Capital’s “Judgment Scale” Holy Knight Order, and elite temple knight units from other eastern regions, were immediately mobilized and began marching east.

It seemed that the Redeeming Saintess also received urgent communication, intending to accelerate her progress and slightly adjust her route, bypassing the Holy Capital, intending to join up with the necessary responding troops outside the Province of Fran in a few days to ultimately support the frontline.

This was the most reasonable arrangement that the Holy Kingdom could muster under emergency circumstances.

Although such a change had somewhat disrupted Vilyric’s recent plans, causing her many arrangements, like visiting the Holy See and perhaps meeting the renowned Pope Augustus, or other various intentions… to be temporarily shelved.

Fortunately, that did not affect her too much.

Including a few companions like Eudora, Vilyric planned to bring them all to the east, while she had already arranged for the Light Tribe scholar named Ella Light, whom she had encountered by chance at the Holy Academy, to perform as she liked; there shouldn’t be any problems.

As for the Blood Clan, from Vilyric’s observations over the past few days, those two princes and one duchess lurking within the city appeared to have no intention of stirring up trouble, merely going out occasionally to stealthily feed, which wouldn’t cause too much commotion or casualties.

Other Blood Clans seemed not to have contacted them either; it was uncertain what was going on.

Unfortunately, since the Holy Capital was far away, her spiritual manifestations had to be retracted, and there would be no further time for observation.

The peculiar doll girl who once associated with the Blood Clan duchess named Afalyj Constans also hadn’t shown any signs of appearing in these past days.

As for the demons, there was even less to discuss.

Given all this, the Holy City should still be relatively stable at present; other matters could wait until after the war concludes or temporarily settles down to handle.

Oh, right, she also needed to give a heads-up to the Lingyin Merchant Association and Edwina here to pay some attention to arranging care for Ella.

…This war came faster than expected.

   

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