Chapter 832


Chapter 262: Speculation About “Her”

Although I couldn’t help but secretly complain in my heart, at least on the surface, Miss White Fox was certainly not going to let Fleidetrika show any change in her expression.

After a brief moment of reflection, the Saintess quickly concealed the guilt on her face and returned to her initial calm and composed demeanor.

“It seems that little Nana and… both trust Miss Xī very much. This level of confidential information is something ordinary people could never obtain. Since that’s the case, there’s no need for hesitation. If Miss Xī wants to know anything, she can speak frankly.”

Now that the other party was prepared, Vilyric was too lazy to say anything superfluous to test the waters, so she simply nodded.

“If we’re talking about the most interesting topic, it’s undoubtedly the circumstances surrounding your disappearance on the battlefield, as well as the reasons and processes that led you to be in your current state.”

“The battlefield, huh…”

Nodding knowingly, the Saintess pondered for a moment, seemingly recalling and organizing her words.

Soon, she began to speak.

“Actually, there’s nothing too convoluted about the process.”

“After being ambushed in the City of Saint Sanos… I realized the situation was out of control. The odds of winning this battle were slim, so I had to muster all my strength, despite being heavily injured, to unleash the true power of the [Judging Sacred Sword] and trade blows with the high-level demons who attacked me jointly, then I ordered a retreat.”

“At first, I wanted to lead the troops to temporarily withdraw from the City of Saint Sanos, treat my wounds, and then find an opportunity to reclaim the city. However, the demons seemed to have plotted this in advance, relentlessly pursuing me and setting up traps along the way, continuously splitting our lines.”

“The number of warriors around me dwindled, and by then I was already gravely injured, barely able to move. As I saw capture drawing near… a substitute guard trained by my family resolutely chose to switch places with me, sacrificing themselves for my escape, and it was only with the protection of a few remaining loyalists that I managed to break through the encirclement.”

When mentioning the substitute who had died in her place, Fleidetrika couldn’t help but quietly clench her fists, and her lovely face darkened with a hint of gloom, but this didn’t stop her from continuing her narrative.

“After escaping the City of Saint Sanos, I initially planned to head to other nearby cities to recuperate and try to regroup the scattered forces. But a wise personal guard reminded me at that moment that if there were already traitors like Sibelle Roland among the high-ranking priests of the City of Saint Sanos, other cities in the Sanos Province would likely be no safer.”

“Given my condition at the time, recklessly returning to the cities might have been equivalent to walking into a trap.”

“I suddenly realized this, so I made a risky decision to let them take me to the remote forests and hilly swamps of the eastern regions, finding a safe place to hide first.”

“After that, I lost consciousness due to my severe injuries.”

“…that was indeed a wise choice. Otherwise, you would have probably long become a captive of the demons by now.”

Seeing her speak continuously, Miss White Fox filled Fleidetrika’s teacup, which the latter drank in one go, nodding in agreement.

“Yes, later I found out that the demons’ infiltration of the Sanos Province and the Keller Province was far more terrifying than imagined. They had already begun actions long ago, controlling many mechanisms and high-ups both openly and secretly, and they could easily take those two provinces without even drawing swords.”

“And the outbreak of the battle in the City of Saint Sanos was a carefully planned trap specifically aimed at me, or rather… at the [Judging Sacred Sword].”

The blonde girl suddenly raised her head, and the light in her clear eyes had inexplicably turned exceptionally serious.

“Miss Xī, there are traitors within the church, and they hold a very high position, at least at the level of the Six-Winged Holy Emblem.”

“A traitor, huh…”

Hearing Miss White Fox murmur absentmindedly, though unsure of what the other party was thinking, Fleidetrika quickly nodded in affirmation.

“That’s absolutely right. If it weren’t for some high-level insiders helping to obscure the truth, it would have been impossible for the demons to secretly corrupt the two provinces right under our noses. But… I still can’t determine who that traitor is, so I haven’t returned to the church, instead lying low and observing in the shadows.”

“Of course…”

Fleidetrika smiled slightly.

“But you definitely can’t be considered the outsider here, so Miss Xī is one of the least suspicious individuals at present.”

“Oh, no wonder you chose to appear and meet with me.”

The Saintess sighed lightly and nodded.

“The Church of the Goddess is no longer safe. Although I’m not entirely clear on the motives of those demons and the traitor within the church in their attempts to entrap me and seize the [Judging Sacred Sword], the more I don’t understand, the more I can’t allow them to succeed.”

As the conversation naturally led to this point, Vilyric thought for a moment and casually asked.

“By the way, do you still have the genuine [Judging Sacred Sword] with you?”

“I do, but… what do you mean by ‘genuine’?”

“Well, actually…”

After taking some time, Vilyric described the various situations they had encountered in the City of Saint Sanos, serving as an exchange of information.

Of course, in front of this Saintess, she certainly wouldn’t mention Eudora’s identity as a succubus, merely glossing over it.

After listening, Fleidetrika quickly fell into thought.

“Are you saying someone has faked the [Judging Sacred Sword] and intentionally guided thieves to excavate it, creating a false impression of the artifact being unearthed?”

Exchanging glances with the now-silent Miss White Fox, the Saintess showed a puzzled expression.

“What’s the special significance of this?”

“Um, significance, huh…”

Her pale fingertips rhythmically tapped on the table, creating a regular “du du” sound; this was a habitual gesture of Vilyric when pondering problems.

After a moment, she pondered and said.

“I wasn’t entirely sure of the intention behind this behavior either, but since Miss Fleidetrika believes there is a high-ranking traitor within the Church of the Goddess, and given that the party in question has deliberately plotted to seize the [Judging Sacred Sword], we might as well make a hypothesis based on that premise.”

Miss White Fox raised one finger.

“Let’s suppose that the objective is indeed to obtain the [Judging Sacred Sword]. First and foremost, it is crucial to ensure that you, the Judging Saintess, leave the Saint Capital alone, creating an environment conducive to their actions.”

“Moreover, no matter what happens on your end, they absolutely cannot let the church in the Saint Capital initiate the artifact recall ritual to bring the Holy Sword back to the base of the Church of the Goddess; otherwise, everything becomes impossible.”

With the frown on Fleidetrika’s brow deepening, Vilyric continued to speculate.

“In fact, both points have already been accomplished. You are hiding in the remote area of the eastern Sanos Province, and the ritual the church intended to initiate has also been obstructed. While there are many powers intervening in this situation, the result is simply the result.”

Then, another delicate, slender finger was raised into the air.

“Next, to ensure that the Holy Nation has no time to focus on retrieving you, the missing Saintess and the artifact, that traitor must raise a more serious issue to distract the Holy Empire and the Church of the Goddess… thus, the fall of the Sacred Holy City, leading to a holy war erupting under extremely disadvantageous circumstances.”

Ultimately, Vilyric made a “three” gesture with her fingers.

“Once the first two points proceeded smoothly as planned, next, during the battle between the two sides when almost no one would pay attention to the remote area in the eastern Sanos Province, which is the demon’s domain, they would find the opportunity to locate you, the Saintess who fled with the Holy Sword, either to forcibly seize or trick you, achieving their ultimate objective.”

“But since this traitor is a high-ranking member of the Church of the Goddess, it would definitely be inconvenient for her to come here personally to search at this moment; hence, she needs to leverage others, be it demons, the remnants of the Holy Nation, or even someone like me, who doesn’t belong to either side…”

“She needs to identify the specific location of you, Fleidetrika Cecelia, to lay the groundwork for her next move.”

“So, she organized the false discovery of the Holy Sword and its subsequent ‘disappearance’ to signal to everyone— the [Judging Sacred Sword] is currently hidden somewhere in the Sanos Province, enticing all those with ulterior motives to search for it and stir up a storm, thus forcing the true Holy Sword… to reveal itself.”