Chapter 287: Guests of the Holy Court

The Holy Court.

Covering over sixty million square meters, it is the largest temple in the world, no exceptions.

Its maximum east-west span reaches ten kilometers, capable of accommodating nearly one hundred thousand clergy members, including four fully organized holy knight regiments.

Once led by the Judging Saintess Fleidetrika Cecelia in the campaign against the east, the current acting group commander, her sister Edwina Cecelia, is now fighting alongside the Judgement Scale on the front lines, which is one of those four holy knight regiments.

Due to the sacred war, more than half of the Holy Court’s defensive forces have been redeployed, leaving only the remaining two knight regiments, the Light of Mercy and the Graceful Gospel, guarding this ultimate stronghold of the Church of the Goddess.

By the way, the names of these four knight regiments weren’t chosen randomly; with a little attention, one can notice that the Judging Hand, the Light of Mercy, and the Judgement Scale correspond to the three national artifacts of the holy nation that have been passed down for millennia.

And the Graceful Gospel, which is even more elite and holds the position at the top of the four holy knight regiments, directly protects the Holy Church and the Pope, symbolizing the supreme divine authority above the three saintesses.

This naming convention, in a certain sense, reflects the overall structure of the Holy Empire.

That night, the White Fox Girl gracefully descended from the sky, crossing the boundary between the core area of the Holy Court and the inner city, arriving at the grand entrance of this majestic building.

Of course, a place like the Holy Court has more than just one or two entrances, so Vilyric casually looked for a knight guard and threw a stone to ask for directions at a spot that looked somewhat like an entrance.

As expected, she was stopped.

“Please stop, this is a crucial area of the Holy Court, and visits can only be requested during the day…”

Before the words were even finished, a magnificent badge, adorned with a brilliant ring and depicting a girl bathed in light, appeared in front of the blocking temple knight, interrupting the latter’s words.

“Uh…”

“Uh what? Can’t you tell who I am? You must be a knight of the Graceful Gospel, right? Didn’t August tell you guys someone would be coming to look for him soon?”

The faint authority leaking from her words, coupled with an unmistakably divine aura akin to that of a god, shook the hearts of all the temple knights who noticed this scene.

Added to that was the white fox mask and the iconic priestess robe, so the identity of the person before them was naturally evident.

While feeling incredulous and lacking clear regulations, the knights still did not hesitate to kneel on one knee before Vilyric.

“Glory to the Goddess, I pay my respects to Miss White Fox!”

The leader set the example, and the rest of the troops naturally followed suit, kneeling in droves outside the Holy Court.

“Glory to the Goddess! I pay my respects to Miss White Fox!!!”

“Ha… what’s going on? Can’t shake off this ridiculous title, can I… Forget it, forget it, everyone rise. No need for such grand formalities.”

Helplessly mumbling about it, Miss White Fox eventually accepted this inexplicable title that had been placed upon her at some unknown time, retracting the badge that was originally gifted to her as a representative of the future Redeeming Saintess identity, and then looked toward the knight captain who had just expressed his respect.

“What’s your name?”

“Reporting to Your Highness, I am Tirrent Ped, the captain of the seventh platoon of the Graceful Gospel!”

So it really is the Graceful Gospel…

That means he should be able to report directly to the Holy Pope.

“Go tell August Lambert that Xi is here to ask for people; he’ll understand what that means.”

“Uh… Yes!”

Although feeling puzzled by the assertive attitude and the presence of Xi, who should be on the battlefield at this moment, the token of the Redeeming Saintess wasn’t fake.

Having confirmed that she was indeed the famous Miss Xi, Tirrent no longer hesitated and quickly turned to instruct his deputy before hastily running into the Holy Court.

Noticing that the White Fox Girl was simply waiting in silence, the temple knights guarding the Holy Court naturally didn’t dare to casually speak with such an important figure. They simply stood up, glancing at Vilyric with curiosity and respect, waiting for the captain’s reply.

The interior of the Holy Court is vast, and since it was now nighttime, there were no visitors left. As Vilyric turned her gaze around, she saw the nuns and priests stopping to bow in greeting to her in the manner of the Church, and then her eyes strayed to the passage leading deeper inside.

As the largest temple in the world, capable of accommodating nearly one hundred thousand people, the internal structure of the Great Holy Court is naturally labyrinthine.

Though large, the front hall is by no means the entirety of the Holy Court; if it were just Vilyric, under normal circumstances, it would surely be difficult to locate the Holy Pope dwelling deep within, and it seems he was aware of this as well and had sent a messenger to guide her.

It wasn’t the previous knight captain but a different man whom Vilyric had met once before.

He rushed from deeper inside, and when he reached the White Fox Girl’s side, he revealed a helpless yet warm smile.

“I am the deputy supervisor of the Holy Court, Archbishop Ian Nois. Glory to the Goddess, Miss Xi, it’s finally nice to see you again.”

   

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