Volume 4, Chapter 42 – Interlude – An Evil God Strolling in the Maretide Kingdom

Meanwhile, in Grutrelle.

In this border city of the Maretide Kingdom, countless military personnel and civilians in tattered clothing, looking exhausted and weary, were gathering in the suburban square.

As a western border city of the Maretide Kingdom, this place was close to the sea, close to the territory of the Vassals of Sea.

Therefore, Grutrelle was obviously not a peaceful city. It had been constantly harassed by the Vassals of Sea for years, and could be considered the frontline of the struggle between the Maretide Kingdom and the Vassals of Sea. With recent waves of attacks by Vassal Tier monsters, Grutrelle had nearly been razed to the ground and disappeared from the map entirely.

Although they had ultimately weathered the crisis, the city had already suffered devastating damage, countless military personnel and civilians had perished, and morale had plummeted to rock bottom.

Thus, to restore the confidence of the military and civilians, the government of the Maretide Kingdom had invested heavily to invite Pope Akshi-Valen of the Divine Faith to pray for the dead and bestow blessings upon the military and civilians in the affected area, removing the cursed aura from their bodies.

Regarding such a formal invitation from the government of the Maretide Kingdom, the Divine Faith naturally did not refuse.

To demonstrate the importance placed on the Grutrelle region, Akshi, as the Pope, had personally come to this place.

At this moment, under the devout and expectant gazes of countless military personnel and civilians, a well-dressed white-haired elderly man radiating an aura of compassion walked step by step toward the prayer platform. This elderly man, whose temperament and aura intensity transcended the mundane world, was the current supreme leader of the Divine Faith.

The head of the Valen family, Akshi-Valen.

“Poor children.”

Looking at the wounded and weak-looking military personnel and civilians below, as well as the battle-scarred city in the distance that had endured multiple rounds of warfare, Akshi shook his head with a pained expression.

Of course, His Holiness the Pope was merely putting on a show in front of the crowd and cameras. After all, this was an excellent opportunity to enhance the Divine Faith’s reputation.

Citizens harmed by the Abyssal Lord’s vassals and trapped in curses being reborn under the Lord’s radiance.

What perfect propaganda material this was~

Not only could they gain publicity opportunities, but they could also receive substantial sponsorship funds provided by the Maretide Kingdom.

This trip to the Maretide Kingdom was truly killing two birds with one stone.

Moreover, feeling these people’s worshipful gazes wasn’t bad either.

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However, the content these people were saying…

Eyes narrowing slightly, Akshi thoughtfully scanned the devoutly-faced crowd below.

“His Holiness the Pope! His Holiness the Pope has come to see us!”

“The Divine Faith is so great! Not only did they help us drive away the evil god’s vassals, now they’ve specially come to bless us!”

“Praise the Lord.”

“We will never forget His Holiness the Pope’s kindness.”

“This is His Holiness the Pope! This is the great man who defeated the Abyssal Lord’s vassals and saved us!”

“I heard it was the Sacred Warriors who took action?”

“What’s the difference? Weren’t they all from the Divine Faith helping us? Anyway, we should praise the Divine Faith. If they hadn’t intervened, we would have all died long ago.”

“True. Besides the Divine Faith, who else has the ability to defeat ten Abyssal Lord vassals?”

“Praise…”

As a Peak Divine Departure Realm expert, Akshi’s senses were naturally keen, able to clearly capture the information he needed in this noisy square.

As someone who had dominated the Divine Faith for nearly a century, Akshi had seen similar scenes many times.

But this time… His Holiness the Pope felt something odd.

Strange.

In these recent major battles, the Abyssal Lord’s vassals were all desperately defeated by the Maretide Kingdom’s own army, right? Although the Divine Faith’s branch stationed in the Maretide Kingdom had also sent a Sacred Warrior, they hadn’t played too significant a role.

So why were the people now attributing all the achievements to the Divine Faith?

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Hehe, interesting.

The elderly man stroked his long beard and chuckled quietly to himself.

“Your Holiness, what exactly is this…”

A Sacred Warrior following behind Akshi asked in confusion. Obviously, he had also heard the believers’ discussions below.

“Don’t mind it.”

Akshi said indifferently.

Although he wasn’t quite clear on what exactly had happened, Akshi had no intention of clarifying for the time being.

There was no harm in having more achievements for eliminating evil god vassals.

It’s just…

Just as Akshi was smiling and half-kneeling before the divine statue to begin his prayers, this Pope of the Divine Faith inexplicably trembled all over.

A chill suddenly struck his body without warning.

Why…

“Why do I suddenly have this spine-chilling feeling?”

Glancing back at the sea of believers on the platform below, Akshi muttered to himself in confusion.

Meanwhile, in the crowd below,

After listening to the surrounding people’s expressions of gratitude to the Divine Faith, a certain hooded figure wrapped entirely in a raincoat began to tremble uncontrollably.

After taking several deep breaths and desperately stabilizing her emotions, the hooded figure extended her hand and gently poked the back of a soldier in front of her with her finger.

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—”Excuse me, is what you’re saying true?”

?!

Upon hearing this, the soldier who was suddenly disturbed couldn’t help but tremble, turning around quite displeased to look behind him.

You must know that not everyone had the opportunity to see the Pope of the Divine Faith with their own eyes.

He had wanted to take advantage of this rare opportunity to properly admire His Holiness’s sacred appearance, but someone had inconsiderately interrupted him?

How truly annoying.

“Hey, don’t bother me, I’m currently… Huh?!!”

However, before he could finish speaking.

The moment he was stared at by those eerie violet eyes beneath the other party’s hood, the soldier involuntarily swallowed back the words he was about to say. His intuition told him it was best not to provoke the person before him, even though they appeared quite frail…

“Little miss, what you’re saying is true? About what matter?”

“Little? Little you…”

Hearing this form of address, the hooded figure’s pupils trembled, and an eerie chill quietly emanated. Obviously, she was not satisfied with this designation.

However, her current goal was not to correct the form of address, but rather…

—”I’m asking whether the vassals of the Vassals of Sea were killed by these people?”

“What do you mean ‘these people’! They are the great… uh.”

Although he wanted to angrily rebuke the other party, considering that the hooded girl’s gaze was too eerie, the soldier still suppressed his inner impulse and solemnly nodded.

“Yes, of course they were dealt with by the members of the Divine Faith! Who else but the Sacred Warriors blessed by the Lord could eliminate ten damned Vassal Tier monsters at once?”

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Speaking of this, the soldier’s gaze toward the people on the prayer platform became increasingly devout and excited.

—”Are you certain??”—

The voice was clear and pleasant, but contained a forest-like chill that seemed on the verge of eruption, causing the soldier to instinctively suck in a breath of cold air.

“Of, of course! I saw it with my own eyes! Those Sacred Warriors dressed in white easily eliminated the Abyssal Lord’s vassals! Really, I saw it with my own eyes!”

Under the gaze of those eyes, the soldier dared not lie.

After receiving this answer, the hooded girl slowly withdrew her hand, and eerie laughter gradually emanated from beneath her hood.

Cold, eerie, and spine-chilling.

“Heh, hehehe, hehehehe…”

While laughing coldly, the hooded girl pushed past the soldier and walked toward the prayer platform with an ominous gait.

One head, two heads, three heads—I endured it.

Now? Killing ten of mine at once… Do you really think I’m a soft persimmon?

It’s one thing for that old hag to treat me this way…

But you? What are you supposed to be?!

Staring at the clergy on the prayer platform, the hooded girl clenched her fists.

Just as the hooded girl pushed through the military personnel and civilians, walking step by step toward the prayer platform, angry rebukes from the clergy came directly from ahead.

—”This is the VIP seating that directly receives the Lord’s grace! It’s not a place for beggars like you to come!! Get away immediately! Otherwise don’t blame us for being impolite!”

Hooded girl: Huh??