Chapter 41: The Saintess’s Trail

“Lady Saintess, we have searched the surrounding area; all twelve villages here have been destroyed, with no survivors.”

“…”

Upon hearing this, Monet’s expression turned solemn. Twelve villages—at two to three hundred people each, that meant at least two thousand lives had been lost.

“Do you know who did this?”

“We found a large number of Greenskin footprints at the scene.”

“As expected…”

Qin Yu’s intel was correct; the Greenskins were rampaging. If she hadn’t come here, they would never have known the eastern region had suffered such a catastrophe. The Holy See’s power was concentrated primarily in the southwest of the Central Continent, leaving the east weak and largely ignored.

“Where is the nearest church?”

“To the north.”

“Let’s head there first.”

Monet could only hope that the church had not yet been attacked by the Greenskins.

Night fell over a church in the east.

“Bishop! It’s terrible! The Greenskins have appeared around the church in great numbers!”

A priest ran in, panicked, to report the situation.

“Greenskins? Those bastards dare to attack a holy site protected by the Light!”

The elderly Bishop rose in a rage.

“Bishop, our church only has a garrison of two hundred; it won’t be enough to handle so many Greenskins.”

“Are you saying I’m already dead?!”

The Bishop’s voice rose several octaves, snapping the terrified priest back to his senses.

“Forgive me, Bishop. I was just too afraid.”

Seeing the priest recover, the Bishop softened his harsh expression. “Prepare for battle.”

“Yes!”

Priests, nuns, and knights mobilized, preparing to face the Greenskin horde.

The sentry posts had already been wiped out, and the Greenskins were advancing, using the dying patrol soldiers and stripped nuns as human shields.

Within the Greenskin army, the Goblin Emperor sat on a war chariot, resting his head on one hand as he watched the battle from afar. Beside him, Daisie stood, watching the church with a blank expression.

The Holy Light she had once worshipped so fervently was now hers to destroy.

“It’s terrible, Bishop! The Greenskins are using our knights and nuns as human shields to advance!”

“Vile creatures!”

The Bishop donned his vestments and took to the field himself. He had braced himself for the worst, but seeing the scene, he couldn’t suppress the rage in his heart.

“Ugly creatures, the Holy Light shall grant you divine punishment!”

As the Bishop raised his scepter, a massive white magic circle manifested beneath his feet, surging upward. High above the Greenskin army, a colossal holy magic array materialized.

Though only Tier 6, this Bishop was no ordinary cleric—he was an elite commander, or he wouldn’t have been in charge of a district church.

“Divine Punishment…”

Seeing the array, Daisie felt a strange sense of familiarity; it was an old friend.

The Greenskin army panicked at the sight of the array. Daisie raised her scepter and chanted a spell.

“Shatter!”

Purple lightning erupted from Daisie’s scepter, striking the holy array in the sky.

Crack!

The array shattered. The Bishop spat out a mouthful of blood, collapsing to his knees, barely kept upright by his scepter.

“Bishop!”

Priests and nuns rushed to support him.

“How… how could they have someone capable of breaking my attack within their ranks…”

The failure of the spell was something the Bishop never expected. He had intended to bolster his side’s morale and crush the enemy’s, but it had backfired, leaving him severely wounded and his men demoralized.

A large-scale spell of that magnitude usually required several bishops to cast in unison; he had risked casting it alone, and now he suffered the full backlash.

He was gravely injured, and even healing magic could only mitigate the pain.

As night deepened, the Greenskin army pressed forward layer by layer. The Church forces were pushed to the brink of combat, but they couldn’t bring themselves to strike at their own fallen companions.

This gave the Greenskins their opening. The Church forces were caught in a trap from the start. The severely wounded Bishop retreated into the church with the remaining priests and nuns to seek refuge as the sounds of battle drew closer.

“Bishop, what are we to do!”

Some of the newer priests and nuns were already sobbing. They were surrounded and isolated; if they fell into the hands of the Greenskins, their fate would be worse than death.

“I won’t let us be captured by those damned Greenskins!”

A nun, driven to despair, drew her sword and drove it into her own neck. Blood stained the white walls of the cathedral.

“No!”

The Bishop tried to stop her, but it was too late. He closed his eyes, unable to bear the sight.

The other nuns collapsed to the floor in terror. Outside, the last remaining knights were cut down by the Greenskins.

Slowly, the sounds of battle outside died down until total silence fell over the church.

Clang.

The cathedral doors swung open. A figure appeared in the doorway, dressed in black monastic robes. Beneath the pure moonlight, she looked holy, yet the tight-fitting black robes accentuated her beautiful silhouette. For a moment, the priests and nuns thought their rescue had arrived.

The Bishop’s vision was blurred; he couldn’t quite make out who the figure was.

As the figure approached, the priests and nuns started to rise to welcome her, but then, the Greenskins swarmed in from behind her.

The Bishop felt the world go silent again. He couldn’t hear the wails of the priests and nuns; all his attention was fixed on the familiar figure walking toward him.

“You are…”

When the figure drew close, the Bishop’s eyes widened in shock.

“Long time no see, Teacher…”

Daisie raised her scepter and leveled it at the dying Bishop…

****

The next morning, outside the church.

Monet and her men reached their destination, but they were greeted only by ruins.

“How could this be…”

As a follower of the Holy Light, Monet was overcome with grief and fury. She walked into the church with her men and found the Bishop’s corpse.

With heavy steps, Monet walked toward the body. She didn’t know what to say; her heart was filled only with rage—unimaginable rage.

“Lady Saintess, it appears this happened last night. There are Greenskin footprints everywhere…”

Monet closed her eyes and reached out to gently close the Bishop’s lids.

“Report the situation to the Holy See immediately.”

“Yes!”

Monet rose and looked up at the broken crucifix high above the cathedral, remaining silent for a long, long time…