Joen hadn’t expected this outcome either.
He shrank his hand back, staring at his index finger in slight bewilderment.
The Sacrificial Gate closed slowly before him, and the Flame Demon Emperor inside was fuming.
“You damn bug! Just you wait! This isn’t over! I’ll find you—”
The voice cut off abruptly as the Sacrificial Gate suddenly vanished into thin air.
Finally, even the Altar collapsed with a roar, as if losing its source of power.
“Why are my Divine Arts so different from everyone else’s?”
Joen racked his brain but couldn’t figure it out.
The Goddess had responded to him with enthusiasm beyond imagination, causing the effects to mutate.
According to Church Doctrine, such Grace was only bestowed upon the most devout individuals.
But Joen knew himself all too well.
His devotion to the Goddess was like Bishop Icot’s compassion for the Commoners—maybe there was some, but definitely not much.
A ridiculous suspicion gradually formed in his mind…
Could it be that the power summoned by “Divine Arts” had nothing to do with piety, or even sanctity, but only depended on casting conditions like “total Magic Power,” “caster talent,” and “Divine Arts affinity?”
In other words, whoever prayed the loudest in the Goddess’s ear received the most power?
If that was truly the case, then what was the moral and ethical foundation of the Goddess’s Heritage?
What was the Church even worth?
Delving deeper into this question was endlessly intriguing, enough to make all of Joen’s past fantasies and respect for the deities dissipate like floodwaters bursting a dam.
Fortunately, the Flame Demon-modified Lage let out a roar and lunged at Joen, interrupting his thoughts.
He sidestepped slightly, dodging with ease, and grabbed the madman by the scruff of his neck like a chicken.
The searing heat that could melt even rock didn’t leave so much as a scorch mark on his fingertips.
“Lily, how do we deal with him?”
Joen turned to ask Liya.
“Just get rid of him! Let Lily pretend to be him!”
Liya sat on the collapsed stone pillar of the Altar, not approaching Joen, who was restraining Lage.
Pupu’s instincts made her hate those hot things.
“Alright.”
Joen turned back and gave Lage a deep look.
By now, this guy could no longer be called a human; he had become as grotesque as the Fire Imps Joen had seen in the Demon Realm.
Flames burned and replaced his internal organs and eyes.
Taking a deep breath, Joen drew all the Blaze Demon Fire into himself, and the remains were frozen by frost.
Joen dug a pit on the spot and buried the lifeless remains.
He even carved a simple tombstone with his finger.
His movements were swift, but he handled everything with utmost seriousness.
Liya watched him, finding that he looked more and more like a diligent, hardworking God of Death.
“Is this really okay?”
Midway, Joen looked up and asked, his tone a bit uneasy.
Deep down, he was nervous that his impulsive decision to save someone this time would mess up Lily’s plans.
By then, the flames inside the remains had died out, and the air returned to the dank cold of an underground space.
Liya climbed back onto Joen’s shoulder, acting very affectionate.
“Relax, it’s fine,” she comforted, her tone casual.
As for the impact, of course it would alert the enemy.
If that Flame Demon Emperor had deep connections with these people in the Imperial Capital, Lage’s death would quickly spread throughout the entire gang circle.
But in Liya’s view, that possibility was slim.
Flame Demons liked hot places.
A person’s hiding place must be deep underground—at that distance, micro-management was basically out of the question.
Judging from the magma on the other side of the Sacrificial Gate earlier, that Flame Demon likely followed demon tradition, cultivating a large number of Black Magician Believers and using them to remote-control everything.
That left plenty of room for manipulation.
“For now, it looks like this involves demons. Those people who were bought off are probably also being sent to the demons,” Joen summarized today’s Intelligence.
“It seems the matter also involves the Royal Family,” Liya added casually.
“I heard them say there’s a girl that some big figure in the palace specifically requested.”
“Who?”
Joen froze.
“The younger sister of that brother-and-sister pair… Seems she has something special about her that caught their attention?”
Liya frowned slightly.
The palace, the Royal Family…
What exactly were they buying these people adapted to the Demon God’s Power for?
There was no answer.
Everything still seemed shrouded in dark clouds.
Elsewhere.
Old City District Church, Stable.
Icot, who had just regained his footing, was diligently teaching Pika Divine Arts.
He had put his full effort into this “Holy Light Technique” mount that would help his nephew establish a foothold in the future.
Almost all his spare time was spent training it.
[Holy Light Technique]
[Holy Shield Technique]
[Holy Storm]
For a Magical Beast, casting a non-racial magic was extremely difficult.
It required both high intelligence to understand the essence of Magic Power and a skilled caster to personally guide the beast in how to cast spells.
Pupu’s [Link] skill could only connect consciousness, enabling real-time communication and efficient command.
It could not make Pupus cast magic that Liya could but they couldn’t.
As for teaching them magic…
That was even more troublesome, troublesome enough that Liya couldn’t be bothered to do it.
So seeing someone else take over as Pika’s teacher, Liya was happy to let it happen and didn’t stop it.
With her tacit approval, the first ever Holy Knight Pupu was beginning to emerge.
“Huff… I’m exhausted.”
Icot wiped away his hot sweat.
As one grew older, getting tired and sweaty became easier.
Each day, he felt death approaching more vividly, and each day, he valued the family bonds he once dismissed.
Looking at Pika, he marveled:
“This Magical Beast really is smart. I wonder what race that electric rabbit is. In texture, it’s like a Pupu, but in appearance, it looks like—”
“Uncle! Uncle! Uncle!”
The voice of some useless little brat rang out again, piercing his ears.
“I know! Stop screaming my name! Don’t shout nonsense—call me by my title during work!”
Icot answered impatiently, a hint of helplessness in his heart.
After all these years, that brat still hadn’t understood that the word “uncle” couldn’t be yelled casually, especially in front of others.
Every time he said it, he emphasized their nepotistic relationship and diminished his own authority and dignity.
He thought shouting like that would make others fear him, but in reality, it only made them look down on him.
“Uncle! I just found out—why did you throw all those thousand Gold Coins away? And invest in some fundraising project? That’s too strange! Our Church still needs that money to fill the hole!”
Wen Sen rushed in frantically, his words like rapid fire.
“Shut up!”
Icot scolded sternly.
“Do you want the whole Church to know about this little mess? Are you a loudspeaker? Wen Sen, keep your voice down!”
Then, Icot turned around, feeding Pika the Holy Milk infused with Light Magic Power, and said slowly:
“Remember, the more steps and the less clear a project is, the more room there is to manipulate things. That money will go away and come back around—we won’t be able to intercept much.”
“Don’t worry about the financial hole. I have my ways.”
“Now, I want you to do one thing right away—in your name, reward Qiao Yin, Lebron, and Scottie. Promote them to full Holy Knights, and give each of them ten Gold Coins. Hold a commendation ceremony for them. Also, prepare a small gift for every Holy Knight, worth about five Silver Coins.”
Wen Sen showed reluctance:
“Huh? More money? And giving it to others is one thing, but why give money to that Joen?”
Icot glared at his useless nephew.
“Reward and punishment must be clear. If you give everyone a good life, they will support you. If you want to make big money, don’t be stingy about sharing.”
Seeing the idle, slack-jawed expression on his nephew’s face, Icot sighed deeply, full of helplessness.
“Ah, forget it. Just do as I say.”
“Fine.”
Wen Sen, following his uncle’s instructions, immediately set off to the Basement Vault to withdraw money.
His only good point was that he obeyed orders.
Since his uncle said to hold a commendation ceremony for Joen and the others, setting aside his personal grudges, he would make sure the ceremony was done properly and beautifully.