Although most of the demon race’s trust in the Demon Lord was strong enough to make them overlook the danger posed by the former Saint joining their ranks, the elite demon generals carefully selected by these demon lords were relatively more rational.
For the Demon Lord to simply accept the Saint so easily was a potential threat to the demon race.
The Saint’s power was obvious to all present demons, and none of them wished to gamble their lives.
“I will ensure she stands with us, Ulis,” Viya said with a smile, reassuring him.
“As you’ve seen, even if the Saint returns to the humans, she won’t have any good outcome. She wouldn’t do anything that harms herself.”
“Demon Lord, the Saint cannot be judged by normal human logic. You say she won’t do things that harm herself, but in truth, she has already done so many times.”
Ulis spoke, then slowly approached Cecilia.
His once gentle and delicate hand suddenly twisted into a grotesque and menacing form, revealing his demonic nature—his fingers were unnaturally long, rough with scales, and tipped with sharp, blade-like nails, all signs of his danger.
His claws nearly pierced Cecilia’s eyes.
The sharp tips were only a few centimeters from her eyeballs.
Cecilia calmly watched his movements, not flinching or even blinking involuntarily.
“Are you going to kill the person I promised to protect right before my eyes?”
Viya’s voice turned cold.
The succubi clan was never a powerful race, but in demon legends, a serious succubus was the most terrifying of all.
Once these creatures got serious, they truly devoured their prey without leaving a bone.
Therefore, when Viya’s tone turned hostile, even Ulis’s pupils twitched.
“I have no such intention, Demon Lord, but I still don’t understand why you care so much for a human. Even if you want to take her in, you shouldn’t have given her such lenient shelter.”
Ulis’s words were somewhat rhetorical.
The generals all knew where this succubus Demon Lord had come from.
Ulis’s remarks were a challenge to Viya’s current stance as a Demon Lord who was once human herself.
“You should ask the Demon King himself this question, not question me here.”
Viya sneered, then raised the sword in her hand.
“I will explain the reason to you, but before that, I’ll give you three seconds to withdraw your disrespectful behavior.”
Ulis hesitated.
He didn’t fully understand this demon’s temperament.
In fact, he was only temporarily assigned as Viya’s subordinate. Faced with the Demon Lord’s order, he paused, unsure how to respond.
While he was still pondering, Viya raised her wrist.
In an instant, Ulis’s claw was completely severed, blood spraying out as the severed limb fell to the ground.
Everything happened so fast that Ulis didn’t feel the pain immediately.
“I told you, three seconds only.”
There was a clear kill intent in Viya’s calm voice now.
Most high-ranking demons could regenerate, and some specific races could regenerate regardless of rank. Ulis was no exception.
Via was not worried about losing a demon general’s fighting strength by doing this.
However, if he still failed to distinguish ranks next time, there might be no regeneration for him.
“…My deepest apologies, Demon Lord. It was my disrespect.”
Ulis finally regained his senses, respectfully bowing and apologizing to Via.
Even though blood still flowed from the broken arm, he seemed to pay it no mind.
“I don’t want to see this happen again. You’re not a newly born demon. You should understand the rules within our race.”
Among demons, the strong dominate the weak.
Low-ranking demons must not be disrespectful to higher-ranking ones.
Although the demon race was becoming more enlightened internally, it did not mean that when the Demon Lord officially gave an order to a general, they could delay or resist.
Without looking at Ulis anymore, Via turned to the other generals present.
“I know you’re all confused, and some of you may be suspicious of me. That’s understandable. But I have my reasons for accepting the Saint into our ranks. Our war with humans is currently at a stalemate. The arrival of Saint Cecilia will allow us to gain more intelligence on the humans. Besides, whether or not the Church recognizes her now, as long as she’s in our hands, she’s a huge blow to the human Church.”
Even if the Church did not acknowledge her now, the fact that Cecilia was once a Saint was undeniable.
Every word she uttered against the Church could pry open cracks in the towering institution and shake its foundations.
“I have told you countless times that I thirst for revenge. Now that the Saint is in our hands, I don’t want any of you to become an obstacle on my path of vengeance. Do you understand?”
“Understood.”
Having addressed the matter of the Saint, Via turned to the map before her.
“The frontline troops are experiencing a decline in morale since the Saint defected to us. In fact, morale started dropping the moment the Church stripped her of her status.”
The Church had made a blunder, though in Via’s eyes, it was a necessary one.
The frontline morale drop was only temporary.
The Saint’s threat to Church authority was far greater.
These old bastards always calculated everything carefully, weighing benefits to maximize their gain.
They knew what they were doing very well.
“Should we launch an immediate assault? If we strike now, everything could improve.”
Ulis’s voice rang out.
His arm had stopped bleeding and was slowly regenerating.
When it came to frontline matters, he never mixed personal feelings.
“We can try, but don’t push too deep. Advance a few kilometers and take that stinking Fish Town.”
Viya pointed to a town on the map.
“Make that our center, expand our position, and hold firm. Fish Town is surrounded by rivers on three sides. If we capture it, we’ll secure a foothold on the river’s opposite bank.”
“That’s no problem. I can personally lead the troops to take it. The enemy won’t have time to react.”
“I’m not worried about your ability, General Ulis.”
Viya lounged in her seat, crossing her legs as she lazily observed the terrain on the map.
“But after you capture it, you must expand quickly. The humans’ morale may be low, but their magic crystal artillery shells don’t lose power because of morale. If we can’t break through the depth, we’ll have to take their artillery fire head-on.”
“I won’t let that happen.”
“Good. Cecilia, I want to take that town for another reason as well. Want to know what it is?”
“Yes.”
“Alright, the other reason is that the Church’s elite forces who want to kill you are currently gathering there.”
Viya gave a strange smile.
The Church’s response had been quick.
They were now assembling entire units of Paladins and Inquisitors—war machines formed into full formations, with a single objective: to find the right moment to storm Saint Anselm’s City and kill the Saint.
Compared to the threat of the Demon Lord, the Saint’s existence was what truly shook the Church’s foundation.
They were willing to pay any price to wipe Cecilia out completely.
As for how Viya obtained this information…
It was simply because the human coalition’s multinational composition, while strengthening their resistance, also brought chaos in management.
For example, they were quite poor at keeping secrets.
“My dear Saint, now that you’re with me, you are a delicious bait. Those big fish in the Church are all vying to devour you.”
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