---

Chapter 45: An Unfavorable Situation

Unlike the tense standoff moments ago, after a brief clash, the warm young man and the aloof young girl stopped talking and concealed their sharpness.

From beginning to end, neither the Intelligent Angel nor the Sword Saint showed any intention to intervene. Losing interest in the farce, Roy turned to follow Alice.

The only one unwilling to back down was Levi, whose head was dripping with wine and had been pushed back publicly: “Sang! Are you just going to let it slide like this?!”

“When the Trial officially starts, the winner will naturally emerge. No need to rush,” Sang replied leisurely.

As the words fell, a barely noticeable ripple of Holy Light smoothed Levi’s emotions.

“……That’s true,” Levi smirked, throwing a disdainful glance at the direction the two had gone: “Forget the official Trial; those halfway-trained Holy Extraordinary Beings won’t even pass the Saint Selection stage.”

Sang remained silent.

The Saint Selection was a voting process before the Trial began.

The results of the vote reflected the level of support from various factions, and were also a prediction of the official results.

Theoretically, those without the backing of the church are not on the same level as the elites from the Eastern Continent.

However, recalling the scene where all factions firmly stood behind the young man, Sang found it hard to agree with Levi’s viewpoint.

“Those two are probably not as simple as you think.”

“Are you scared?” Levi retorted.

Sang smiled and shook his head, showing a hint of detachment: “Not at all. No matter who the opponent is, we shall fulfill the goddess’s will.”

The welcoming banquet concluded on a sour note.

No one expected that upon meeting, the candidates for Saint from the East and West Continent would confront each other so passionately at the dinner.

This tension quickly spread to every corner of the East and West Continent, making discussions about the Saint candidates even more thrilling.

The Holy Light believers in the East were filled with rage.

To them, White Harbor participating in the Saint Trial was already a blessing from the goddess.

They publicly criticized the candidates and guards from White Harbor and disrespected the noble Sword Saint and the Son of Light. It was nothing short of treachery and betrayal!

Both White Harbor and Western Road were filled with uncivilized buffoons who didn’t understand proper respect for the Holy Light!

Meanwhile, in the West, everyone was initially just amused by the Holy Light Trial.

Who cares about a Saint, anyway?

But after the betting agreement circulated, people’s attitudes began to shift subtly.

“These Eastern Continent bastards are too arrogant!”

“What Holy Light nonsense, a bunch of broke idiots, I’ll throw money at them to shut them up!”

“Right? They look down on us? If it comes to blows, our princess is definitely stronger!”

Of course, these words were just hot air.

The East and West Continent were merely rubbing elbows, not really thinking of actual combat. Thus, all the grumbling and irritation landed on Roy and Alice, with everyone hoping they would give the Western Continent a good bout of revenge.

From the perspective of various factions, the trend of gravitating towards Roy was even more apparent than the blind emotions of the populace.

At a certain inn, the princes of the two countries were up all night discussing.

“The Holy Light Church is up to no good; clearly, the alliance Roy formed is to counter the threats from the East!”

This time, Jason couldn’t dismiss Douglas as just wildly imagining things.

Levi might have just been spewing off, but Jason couldn’t help but think.

Today the church targeted Roy and Alice; tomorrow they could aim at any faction. And no faction in the West could take on the Church alone.

It’s as simple as the saying goes: when the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold.

Jason massaged his temples and resignedly sighed: “I’d like to hear more about Roy’s alliance.”

Later on, Karl, Charlotte, and the others had no objections to Roy’s actions.

Rolyn died in the East. While there was no evidence linking the Church to her death, Karl had already grown wary of the Church.

Charlotte and the others were fully supportive of Roy’s actions without a doubt.

The only one Roy felt a bit sorry for was the Holy Light Church in White Harbor.

To express this, Roy made a special trip to meet with Teresa to offer his apologies.

From the perspective of the White Harbor Church, caught between the six major powers of the West Continent and the Holy Light Church, they were truly in a bind.

On one hand was the hope for White Harbor’s future, an extraordinary candidate for Saint, and on the other was the top boss of the Church. It was a no-win situation no matter which side they leaned toward.

Just as Roy imagined, several priests and nuns complained repeatedly, looking as grim as if they’d all lost their families.

“Mr. Roy, confronting the Holy Light Church isn’t wise! If you act this way, you’ll only make you a target for the collective wrath of the several candidates for Saint, diminishing your already slim chances!”

Yet, even if they backed down now, wouldn’t the Eastern candidates show any mercy?

Looking at the pale faces around him, Roy silently scorned but refrained from saying anything, fearing that it would give the elderly a heart attack.

However, Teresa was an exception.

“Never mind, I’ve long been fed up with the East Continent… they’re not that friendly. A little proper adjustment to their arrogance won’t hurt.”

Teresa sat upright, trying hard to maintain a dignified demeanor, but the uplift in her tone clearly indicated her good mood.

It’s been said that White Harbor was inferior to the East Continent; the higher-ups of the main church had always looked down on them.

Teresa wasn’t interested in power, just didn’t want to fuss, but that didn’t mean she had a genuinely good temperament.

As a high-tier extraordinary being, bounded by her status, she couldn’t confront the Eastern Continent directly; today, Roy stepping up was actually a relief for her.

“However, the upcoming Trial might be quite tricky.”

Acknowledgment given, Teresa quickly composed herself and made a reminder.

“Like I just said, the candidates for Saint from the East Continent might team up against you two.”

“Not to mention the official Trial; the upcoming Saint Selection is going to be a hassle.”

When it came to this topic, Roy also showed a serious expression.

The Saint Selection was essentially a publicity stunt, and a way to showcase how much support each faction had.

Within a day, voting would take place in every church across the world.

The higher the number of votes, the more prestige and winning potential one had, leading to greater support from factions in the subsequent official Trial. A very low vote count wouldn’t just lead to adverse media scrutiny; if it dipped too low, it could even be interpreted as a lack of prestige, resulting in being stripped of the qualification for the Trial.

For those who had grown up being groomed as candidates for Saint, it was merely a formality.

After years of campaigns, the faithful in the church had long idolized them; they wouldn’t choose anyone else.

But for Alice, it posed a significant challenge.

Even in the original story, the little maid barely scraped by for a spot in the Trial.

Teresa’s explanation aligned perfectly with the original material, and she raised the same concerns as in the story.

“Miss Alice has great talent, but she lacks both prestige and connections, and even her supporters in White Harbor are quite limited.”

“Now that you’ve offended the Holy Light Church, they are bound to exploit this weakness, making your situation quite unfavorable.”