Chapter 303: Breakup

“Little Seven… there are two?”

“Hey hey, what’s going on here?”

As the Redeeming Saintess stood in stunned disbelief, attracted by the commotion, a group of powerful individuals led by Edwina and Leila quickly approached the scene.

Seeing the Holy Knight draw her sacred sword, everyone instinctively took out their weapons, but to be honest, they clearly still didn’t know who the real enemy was.

After all, the attacker was a confidant of the Saint of Bright Light, while the maid who was being attacked had appeared by the Redeeming Saintess’s side more than once, indicating a close relationship.

A situation resembling infighting is usually the most difficult to navigate.

And these two maids…

“These aren’t some sort of duplicates; they should be two independently existing individuals from the start.”

After simply scanning the identical dolls in Philomina’s arms and behind her, the well-experienced Edwina made this judgment immediately, though no one noticed a brief moment of strangeness in her eyes that quickly vanished.

The Holy Knight glanced at the composed Saint of Bright Light, frowning slightly.

“Yuna, what’s going on here?”

“What’s happening… should we be asking her?”

Yuna pointed at the doll maid with a formal and serious tone.

“Gentlemen, the background of this matter has been made very clear by Yuna before we came here. The current state of the Holy Kingdom and the impending God of Killing, we wish to change everything, alter the doomed outcome, and that’s why we have gathered here to face the final battle together.”

“To say something somewhat proud, everyone is here because they believe in me or have some understanding of the truth. If that’s the case, then we shouldn’t doubt each other anymore and create discord at such a crucial moment.”

“I have already said that the origin and belief of the Church of the Goddess have been distorted by outsiders; this is the source of everything, the evil root pushing the Holy Kingdom towards destruction. So… those who still wish to obstruct our actions, or even question my position as the leader, what are their true intentions?”

The Saintess pointed her finger at the still expressionless Little Seven, her face stern.

“I dare swear by the Source of Light, everything I have done until now has been for the Holy Empire, for the welfare and peace of the majority. What about her? Will she dare to declare her true position and intentions?”

“Is she… and everything behind her, merely seeing the citizens of our Holy Empire and our future as offerings for some grand ritual?”

Under the blood-red sky, everyone naturally turned their gaze to the expressionless doll maid. Even Philomina just vacantly shifted her attention between the two, gradually calming down from her shock and anger.

“Little Seven…”

Thus, the doll spoke, her voice still calm and indifferent, seemingly devoid of any emotion.

“Princess Philomina, you cannot hand the Ring of Salvation over to her. Her ultimate goal will lead to the complete collapse of the faith-based magic that sustains the Holy Kingdom, and there is no direct evidence to suggest that doing so would be effective against the power of the God of Killing.”

Yuna rebutted without hesitation.

“Relying on the effects of drugs to prolong existence will ultimately lead to inevitable destruction, whereas decisively breaking the addiction, though it comes at a cost, offers a chance for rebirth… smart people should be able to figure out which side to choose, right?”

Upon such words, both sides, clearly divided, fell silent.

No further words were needed; all present were high-ranking or powerful individuals who could naturally see much that wasn’t explicitly revealed.

Since the cards were laid out on the table, next came the time to position themselves.

No matter which side they supported, the impending actions could not proceed with two parties disagreeing.

In other words… combat was unavoidable.

“…Ah, sorry. If I’m to say anything, I suppose I should give it a try.”

Exchanging glances with the two white-feathered maidens beside her, the Holy Knight was the first to raise her sword, usually opposing Yuna and preferring to challenge her…

This time, however, she pointed her sword at the enemy of the Saint of Bright Light.

Her declaration came swiftly, almost as if she had anticipated such a dispute and had prepared for it in advance.

“That’s right. If that Lord were here, they would surely support us doing this.”

“Ugh, how annoying… why do we have to fight our own people? Can we end this quickly…?”

Leila angled her spear, and Renée, while complaining, gripped her staff, readying herself for battle.

Following suit, the powerful individuals all took similar actions.

As Yuna said, any smart person in such a situation would understand… what needs to be done to survive.

The only one not taking a clear action was the young girl with powder-pink hair dressed in an elegant saintess robe.

She stood in the middle of the clearly divided factions, hesitatingly raising and lowering her short staff several times, her expression shifting, ultimately just gritting her teeth.

“I… also feel we can’t just sit and wait. Little Seven, Yuna may indeed have made some plans I’m not fully aware of, which makes me a bit uneasy…”

“You might be considering my safety, but as the Redeeming Saintess, as the heir to the Ring of Salvation, as a divine offspring, at this critical juncture, I must take responsibility; I must do something, even if I’m just an ordinary, unremarkable Saint…”

She looked at the still expressionless maid with an expectant gaze.

“Little Seven, come with us. I’m pleading with you. I believe in Yuna’s character; no matter what cost we may incur afterwards, at least… let’s first overcome the impending disaster, alright?”

The air momentarily fell silent.

Ultimately, the doll simply shook her head, her voice devoid of any fluctuations, delivering a chilling proclamation that sent Philomina into an icy abyss.

“Negotiation failed. According to the source directive code, [Battle Maid Specialization Model 00007] will initiate the final plan, forcibly execute military intervention, and maintain the smooth operation of the [Divine Network] plan. Combat power index assessment in progress…”

“Detecting enemy combat power index too high, one natural disaster-level enemy, four calamity-level enemies, eleven high-risk enemies, one person needing protection. The combat power differential exceeds one hundred percent compared to [Battle Maid Specialization Model 00007]. Authorization to use reserve individuals is advised — Princess Philomina, please remain stationary to avoid friendly fire.”

“Shua shua shua shua shua shua shua…”

Little Seven raised her hand, and suddenly, from thin air where there was initially no one, over twenty identical maid dolls emerged as if performing a magic trick, uniformly pulling out bizarre metallic firearms longer than their arms, aiming at everyone present.

“Little Seven…”

“Open fire.”

“Everyone, be careful!”

“Da da da da da da da da da da da!!!!!!”

At the cold command, flames of battle erupted.

   

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