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Luminous Theocracy capital, Aeria.

A tower that bathed this world with the purest of light. In the tower’s front was a massive public plaza that could fit hundreds of thousands of people, Right across it was a majestic construct that appeared just like an ancient palace.

In a certain room within the majestic construct, a tall and big old man was currently seated cross-legged before a window. With his massive physique, coupled with the luxurious and elegant robes he was wearing, he could single-handedly obstruct all the light streaming in from outside.

At this moment, present within the old man’s shadow was a woman in a respectful, half-kneeling position dressed in dark blue tight-fitting soft armor.

“Have you investigated the matter about Harbor City?”

“Yes, your Holiness.” the woman raised her head, revealing a pair of calm and pure looking eyes, “the owner of the underground auction house is Kenlov Wilkis. He was previously an ordinary low-life from the slums. This person was greedy and gutless. However, because of him having some minor martial talent, he had somehow received some guidance, allowing him to call the shots in the slums.”

“Wilkis then disappeared for a period, before reappearing as the owner of this underground auction house, which he continued to control for the next 30 years. During this period, massive amounts of slaves were being sold, with most of them being young virgin girls. He had also amassed a few vagrant criminals and orphans. They used those criminals as guards for the auction house, while the orphans…” the woman paused slightly, before continuing, “were all sent to train to become death soldiers that wouldn’t live past 20.”

The Pope rapped the table; the gentle knocking sounds filling up this gloomy and quiet room. Lowering his head to ponder, he remained silent for a while before saying: “Kenlov Wilkis shouldn’t be the true owner of that auction house.”

“Yes. However, because of the auction house being blown ‌apart, this subordinate truly could not search for any signs of the true owner. However, from the words of Harbor City’s City Lord, Emona Callanster seemed to have fought with some big figure from our Theocracy for a period after the auction house had exploded.”

“Some big figure? Ah, is it one of those few restless fellows? However, I never imagined that it would involve even Emona in this.”
“Emona Callanster claimed to have come over to bring his daughter back.”
“Bring his daughter back?”

“That’s right.” A network of glowing lines appeared in front of the woman, before transforming into a few images of Carol, Durango, Eleanor, and Lilith. Present below their images were small words of their names, descriptions, and origins, “These people appear to be the masterminds behind the auction house explosion. Callanster’s daughter is one of them.”

The Pope’s eyes narrowed slightly: “A few kids?”

“This subordinate also thinks ‌it is hard to believe, but under the testimonies of those young girls that were rescued from there, they had confirmed that it was those people who infiltrated the auction house and caused this whole matter.”

“30 years of deployment, only to be destroyed by a few kids. Even I feel a bit of sympathy for the so-called big figure behind the auction house.” Suddenly, the Pope thought about something. Patting his head, he asked, “That’s right. I almost forgot about it. How’s the casualty report? Were there any civilians affected?”

After hearing the questions, the woman hesitated for an instant before replying: “There weren’t any civilians affected. However, the aristocrats involved in this matter…”

Hearing that, the Pope waved his hand to show his nonchalance, “It’s a good thing that they died. Those rotten fellows should all be sent to hell. The more the merrier. That way, there will be fewer obstructions that Thea would need to face.”

“This subordinate naturally understands this. However, the aristocrats that died hailed not only from the Theocracy. Duke Carterbell from the Shadow Theocracy, Count Alister and Marquis Lucille from the Macedonia Empire had all perished within the auction house. This matter has blown into an international incident. Just now, these two countries have already sent people to seek an explanation from us.”

“Eh? Are they saying that they want me to hand a duke’s daughter and marquis’ son of the Holy Dragon Empire, and a dead person to them?”

“Naturally, they understand that it would be an impossibility, therefore…” a few of the images before her disappeared, leaving behind an image of a petite figure with golden hair, “they just want us to hand this person over.”

A frown appeared on the Pope’s face: “Lilith? There isn’t even a surname?”

“This subordinate apologizes for her uselessness. The name, Lilith, is the only thing that we’ve got so far. This person appeared like a phantom. After searching all the boat and carriage records in the surrounding area, and information from all the checkpoints, there was not even a single one showing that a girl by the name of Lilith had entered Harbor City. She isn’t one of Harbor City’s residents. This person seems to be the biggest reason behind the explosion of the auction house. Through our investigations, we discovered remnant traces of over a thousand magic spells being used within the wreckage of the auction house. With all of them ‌coming from her.”

“A dubious identity, possessing a massive number of magic scrolls, and killing off a quarter of our Theocracy’s aristocrats in one move…” the Pope’s eyes narrowed, while a stern expression appeared on his face, “This person is very dangerous.”

“Ramiele Xoey, here are your orders.”
“Yes, your holiness.”

“I order you to personally investigate the origin and identity of this Lilith girl. If the need arises…” killing intent burst forth from the Pope, “there’s no need to keep her alive.”

“Yes, your holiness! This subordinate will carry out your orders with her life.”

Xoey stood up and turned around to leave, only to be called back by the Pope: “Is Thea…back yet?”

“The esteemed Saintess is estimated to arrive here in the late afternoon. Please do not worry, your holiness.”

Upon the mention of Saintess Thea, the solemn aura radiating from the Pope immediately vanished‌. Relaxing as he reclined on a spacious chair, he said, “How can I not worry? She didn’t even bring any Saint Realm guards with her.”

With a faint smile, Xoey replied: “That’s not a problem. There shouldn’t be anyone within the Theocracy that would dare to ambush the esteemed Saintess.”

“This old man’s not worried about her being ambushed, but her losing control over her own emotions.”

Xoey’s smiling expression turned sluggish. She also understood his words. After a moment of hesitation, she replied, “Erm…your holiness, I heard that the esteemed Saintess can cause the destruction of the world if she cries for 7 days. Is…that ‌true?”

“What a load of garbage!” the Pope exhaled deeply as he stared at her, “Although Thea’s ‌capable of continuously causing disasters because of her emotional fluctuations, it’s impossible for her to cause something like the destruction of the world. It’s ‌beneath you to actually believe in such baseless rumors! If I hear such words from you again, there will be no need for you to continue being the Leader of the Adjudicators!”

“Yes.” Xoey hastily knelt down on the ground, “This subordinate understands.”
“Okay. It’s good that you know your mistakes. You can go now.”
“Yes.”

As the voice disappeared, the entire room descended back into silence. The Pope’s eyes glazed over as he looked blankly into the distance, before muttering:

“As if she needs 7 days. As long as Thea’s emotional well-being collapses, it’ll only take 3 days for her to destroy the world.”