Chapter Twenty-Four: The Saintess

This was a cathedral of grand and imposing architecture, displaying to the fullest the solemnity and wealth of the Church of Light. It served as the place where the Sacred Order of Knights trained and rested, and it was also the military power center of the Light God Nation.

Within the Light God Nation, the Pope was responsible for governing affairs, but it was the Grand Master of the Sacred Order of Knights who held the true military authority. On the surface, their statuses seemed equal, but any ruler on the continent of Europa, apart from the common folk, knew well that the Pope was nothing more than a puppet of the Grand Master. The Pope held administrative power only because each Grand Master was a fanatic devoted to cultivation, having neither the interest nor the energy to manage the state. With the formidable Sacred Order behind them, the Pope and his subordinates brazenly exploited the people, indulging in unparalleled luxury. As long as the Sacred Order’s logistics were ensured, these zealous fanatics had no time to concern themselves with the church’s parasites.

Having witnessed the feeble private armies of the nobles in the Light God Nation, Sun Li naturally wanted to see the Sacred Order of Knights—a force from the age of chivalry that even industrialized nations regarded with apprehension. It must be said, those fanatics sometimes exhibited combat prowess surpassing that of regular trained armies, provided they had a battlefield hero capable enough to instill confidence in them.

After Sun Li’s audience with the Pope, he unsurprisingly received an invitation from the Holy Maiden of the Church of Light—for a dinner together, no less.

The Holy Maiden, Anna. Warhammer, daughter of the Grand Master of the Sacred Order, wielded even greater actual power than the Pope. Upon meeting her, Sun Li couldn’t help but sigh: truly, those in high positions always wed beautiful women, and their daughters are never ordinary.

She stood upon the stone steps, sleeves fluttering in the wind, hair dancing, her whole bearing cold and remote. Deep within her eyes gleamed a distant light; her long, curled lashes seemed touched with frost. The courtyard was filled with pear blossoms, their white petals drifting like snow, enfolding her alabaster skin in ethereal allure.

If Victoria exuded warmth and intimacy upon first meeting, the Holy Maiden Anna radiated an air of inviolable distance.

“To invite you here is my honor, Lord Sun Li. You are the first in three hundred years to reach the rank of Grand Knight through your own talent. Outsiders know only the might of a Grand Knight, but they cannot fathom how rare and terrifying it is in this era to cultivate to such a level—let alone someone like you, who has relied solely on his own gift. Such a thing is almost unheard of in centuries!” Though the Holy Maiden appeared cold, she was adept at social exchanges, immediately showering Sun Li with praise. Anyone hearing their proudest achievements lauded so highly would feel favorably disposed toward the speaker, and Sun Li was no exception. It seemed that fulfilling the task Victoria had mentioned would not be so difficult after all.

Unlike Duchess Victoria, the Holy Maiden was less generous with gifts or tokens of beauty upon their first meeting. Instead, she introduced Sun Li to several of the Order’s Guardian Commanders—four of the five Grand Knights, save for the Grand Master, who was said to be engrossed in affairs and cultivation. Through his exchanges with these peers, Sun Li gained much; as a Grand Knight forced to this level by his system and sheer vitality, his battle technique was still a bit lacking compared to these true Grand Knights forged by years of ascetic training.

During his months with the Church of Light, Sun Li greatly improved his combat skills through sparring with the Sacred Order’s experts, naturally owing them a debt of gratitude. He reciprocated by expressing a desire to join the Church—a place that offered not only cultivation but also feudal luxuries in abundance. If he became a Guardian Commander, the adulation and service of the zealous faithful would be intoxicating—much like the fervor his system’s soldiers showed him. The admiration of thousands had its appeal.

Throughout, Sun Li displayed the natural greed of an ordinary man, and thus grew closer to the Holy Maiden’s circle. By the beginning of his second year on Europa, Anna seemed to have discerned his preferences and spoke with him privately for a whole day. The rewards she offered were generous, but all contingent upon success, shattering Sun Li’s hope for immediate gains.

After coordinating with others, Sun Li followed three Guardian Commanders of the Church and over a hundred Sacred Order experts on a secret mission into the Empire of Morris.

No sooner had Sun Li’s party left the Light God Nation than Duchess Victoria of the English Empire received the intelligence. Orders flew, and the English Empire mobilized for war, soon followed by the Franknia Empire, which began frequent troop movements that month.

As Victoria dispatched envoys to the Empire of Morris and the Empire of Madrid, a full-blown human civil war on the continent seemed inevitable. Yet, while Victoria and her allies exchanged messages and prepared to make their move, the Light God Nation’s envoys had already arrived at the Elven and Dwarven Empires. Rather than expelling these human emissaries, the two races received them with secrecy and ceremony. It seemed these great non-human empires were no longer content with obscurity, and the Church of Light had reached its limit of patience with the rebellious new human nations.

Grand Master of the Sacred Order, Orleans Warhammer, had a simple belief: only those under the radiance of the God of Light could be considered truly human. As for those who betrayed the God of Light, let them be wiped out—traitors were more detestable even than non-humans!

While the nations of Europa sharpened their claws in secret, Sun Li and his group infiltrated the Morris Empire. There, Sun Li parted ways with his companions and went alone to offer birthday congratulations to the Emperor of Morris—a move agreed upon with the Church. The three Guardian Commanders and their elite subordinates hid within the capital, while at the border between the Morris Empire and the Light God Nation, another Guardian Commander waited with ten thousand Sacred Knights, ready to respond.

The Grand Master remained in the heart of the Light God Nation to deal with possible upheaval. With all the nation’s power brought to bear, the Morris Empire remained oblivious, and everything seemed to be progressing toward a perfect outcome. Would the Light God Nation succeed?