Chapter 32: Storm on the Horizon

At the main entrance of the church, the carriage belonging to Lilith was ready.
Bai Jin pulled open the carriage door, and Lilith was about to lift her skirt and step onto the footboard.

“Your Highness, please wait.”

Two tall figures appeared silently beside the carriage.
It was Abraham and Cain.

Cain crossed his sturdy arms, his bronze face scarred, and grinned, revealing his stark white teeth.

“Is Her Holiness the Saintess going to town? It’s not peaceful outside. The rats of the God-Burying Society haven’t been cleaned up yet. I have been ordered to protect your safety.”

Abraham also chimed in, “Your Highness’s safety concerns the foundation of the Holy Blood. Please allow us to accompany and guard you. This is our Lord’s will.”

Lilith’s small face instantly darkened.
She hated this feeling of being watched the most!

“Not needed!”
Her voice rose, with the unique crispness of a young girl, yet her tone was filled with anger.

“Twilight Town is my jurisdiction! It’s none of your business what I do! Get back! Go do what you’re supposed to do!”

Lilith waved her small hand, pointing inside the church, her posture arrogant.

However, in the face of the Saintess’s anger, the two men stood like two cold statues, blocking Lilith’s way without moving a muscle.

Abraham bowed slightly, his posture respectful.
“Please forgive me, Your Highness. The duty of guarding is above all else. Our Lord’s will is the meaning of my existence.”

“If you insist on driving us away, I can only remonstrate with my death and report everything that happens here to the Royal Court’s cardinals.”

Cain also chuckled, his voice like muffled thunder, “Your Highness, don’t make things difficult for us who are just following orders. The higher-ups have given us a direct order.”

“If anything happens to you, our heads will have to roll. Please be kind and just let us follow from a distance. We will absolutely not disturb your business!”

Although his words were crude, the meaning was equally clear.
They were determined to follow Lilith.

Lilith’s small face was red with anger, her chest heaving slightly.
She knew that these two were not weak, they were the top fighters of the Royal Court.
A direct confrontation would definitely not end well.

She could be willful, she could scold a bishop like Carlos, but everything had to be backed by strength.
They were all beings who couldn’t be killed, and no one could do anything to the other.

She bit her lower lip hard, glaring at the two stubborn and unyielding stones in front of her.
Finally, she squeezed out a sentence from between her teeth.

“…Do as you please! But get far away from me! Don’t let me see your faces!”

After speaking, she stomped her foot hard, pushed aside the hand blocking her way, and angrily got into the carriage, slamming the door shut with force.

With a muffled “thump!”, Her Holiness the Saintess was in an extremely bad mood.

Bai Jin silently followed, got into the carriage, and closed the door.

Through the carriage window, she saw Abraham and Cain mount two fine horses without a change in expression, and followed the carriage from a short distance.

The atmosphere in the carriage was a bit stagnant.
Lilith crossed her arms, looking out the window with a pout, her long golden hair swaying slightly with the bumps of the carriage.

Bai Jin sighed.
“They are also just doing their duty…”

“Duty?”
Lilith sneered, tapping her fingers on the window frame in frustration.
“This is a shackle! The eyes and ears of the Holy Blood!”

The carriage left the church area and set out on the road to Twilight Town.

Outside the window, the cordoned-off land, the piled-up Alliance goods, and the figures of patrolling Holy Blood Knights constantly flashed by, making the originally quiet country road crowded and unfamiliar.

Lilith drew the curtains, blocking the view from outside, and turned to look at Bai Jin, finding her fiddling with a roll of Merchant’s Contract.

“Louise is really crazy for performance. What kind of return can you bring her?”
Lilith was in a bad mood, and her words were also quite aggressive.

Bai Jin put away the Merchant’s Contract and scratched her head in embarrassment.

‘That’s true. I’m penniless, and I can’t use any of the functions in the Merchant’s Contract. I can only browse a few modules.’

Lilith squeezed in next to Bai Jin and took out her own Merchant’s Contract.
“Anyway, since we’re idle on the road, let’s look at the latest news.”

Bai Jin watched as Lilith opened a module called “Alchemy Bird Newspaper.”
At the very top was a picture of a colosseum, with large characters for a shocking headline.

“Shocking! The Old King of the Holy War Empire has fallen! A New King has ascended the throne!”

Lilith also became interested in this report and clicked on it.
After a pop-up window prompted the deduction of a few dozen Copper Contracts, the content unfolded.

“Oh? Their old Lion King died in the dueling arena.”
Lilith moved the Merchant’s Contract towards Bai Jin, sharing the information.

“He even sacrificed his own beast soul in this battle, but in the end, his throat was torn out by a little-known challenger. How ironic.”

“How could something like this happen? What happened to the challenger?”
Bai Jin was a little shocked.
‘Could such explosive news be bought so casually?’

“What else could happen? Of course, he became the new king. Those barbarians of the Holy War only follow the strong.”

“The new one is a hyena cub, with sinister methods, but their rule is that the winner is king.”

Lilith continued to browse down and let out another sound of surprise.

“Eh? So soon, there’s a new spectacle from the new king? He’s actually pursuing the former king’s daughter, the Saintess of the Holy War~”

Bai Jin instantly felt that this plot had become a soap opera.
‘What kind of pursuit requires killing the father-in-law!’

“Now it’s great. The Saintess of the Holy War has disappeared, and the entire empire is turning over every stone to find her.”

Bai Jin asked with some curiosity, “What kind of power is the Holy War Empire?”

A trace of disdain flashed in Lilith’s azure eyes.
“They are a pile of disgusting, writhing maggots! The entire empire is rotten from top to bottom. The class system is even more rigid than the Holy Blood Royal Court’s, yet they claim to be the glorious descendants.”

“The so-called Holy War Contract, they trade human reason for the power and talent of beasts. The price is becoming a half-human, half-beast monster, and even their brains are becoming more and more like beasts.”

Bai Jin’s heart sank slightly as she listened.
‘The Holy War Empire, a change of royal power, the disappearance of the Saintess…’

‘All this sounds full of turmoil and bloodshed. The world is probably not peaceful…’

“Not just the Holy War Empire.”
Lilith continued to scroll down.
“There’s also news from the Sea of Evolution.”

“Their former Saintess is said to have exhausted her potential and has retired. Now, the Sea People are fighting tooth and nail for the selection of the next Saintess.”

“Besides, the once-in-twenty-years wind disaster is brewing on the sea. This is a disaster that the entire continent has to resist.”

She withdrew her gaze and looked at Bai Jin, her eyes solemn.
“And on our side, the God-Burying Society is like maggots clinging to bone, and the Holy Blood Royal Court is also full of undercurrents.”

“A character like Carlos is just a pawn on the surface… Abraham and Cain, the forces they represent behind the scenes are more worthy of vigilance.”

The carriage jolted slightly, and Lilith’s body swayed with it, leaning against Bai Jin.

She felt the warmth on the other side of the cloth, closed her eyes, and her long golden eyelashes cast shadows on her cheeks.

“Bai Jin, this world is about to become turbulent again, just like five hundred years ago…”

“No, perhaps, even more chaotic than then.”

Bai Jin looked at this girl before her, who held a lofty position in the Holy Blood Royal Court, yet was bound by layer after layer of shackles.

Looking at the heavy weight between her brows that wouldn’t dissipate, when would the freedom she truly wanted come…

‘The storm is coming, and no one can stay out of it.’

“Then… let’s live on together!”
Bai Jin’s voice was very soft, yet it gave Lilith an inexplicable sense of peace.

The light and shadow from outside the window streamed through the curtains, flowing over her delicate profile.
The carriage moved towards the center of Twilight Town in silence.