Her? She’s Dead

“Saint... Saintess!”

Modi rushed forward, his wrinkled face instantly filling with relief.

“You’ve finally returned! Goddess be praised. After you pursued them yesterday, this place turned into complete chaos. Yesterday, the woman Elizabeth you chased and...”

“The blasphemer and her maid,” Sophie said.

“How did it go with the blasphemer and her maid you pursued yesterday?” Modi asked hurriedly.

Her words were light, yet they struck everyone’s hearts like a heavy blow.

Especially Elizabeth’s followers.

They exchanged glances.

The mage with the monocle raised an eyebrow.

See? I told you. We should have made our move long ago. Now, we can only wait for the meeting to end and then...

Sophie pressed a finger to her cheek, looking indifferent.

“Her?”

“She’s dead.”

A heavy silence fell over the room.

Aside from the missing and fleeing Bennis, this was the first time a candidate for the position of Bishop had died.

The cultists’ eyes widened in shock.

“Also, there is something I believe is necessary to clarify to the Bishop, as well as to all the fellow believers present.”

Sophie looked up, her crimson eyes sweeping across the hall as her tone suddenly turned cold.

“Elizabeth was neither a noble lady from a distinguished family nor a lost lamb.”

“She was a monster.”

“To be precise, she was a high-tier vampire wearing a human skin mask, intending to dismantle our sect from within.”

The moment those words were spoken, the entire theater erupted into an uproar.

“A monster?!”

“Impossible! Lady Elizabeth was a noble who donated large sums of Gold Sun coins to us every month!”

“How can that be? The monsters in Solitude should have been purged long ago.”

The cultists turned pale with shock.

In this land blessed and protected by the Goddess, a monster had actually mingled among them so brazenly, even nearly becoming a Bishop?

“She betrayed humanity and she betrayed the Goddess; therefore, she was executed.”

Sophie ignored the clamor. She lowered her head slightly and spoke in a steady, unhurried voice.

“What truly chills my heart is the internal state of our New Moon Sect.”

“Since a monster could infiltrate us so easily and even gain a following, who can guarantee that among those who stood behind her, provided her with resources, and conspired with her to steal the sect’s power, there aren't other hidden monsters or traitors bewitched by them?”

“Saintess, what do you mean?” Modi hadn't fully processed the previous topic before being startled by Sophie’s next words.

Without noble sponsorship, what would the sect eat?

Lady Elizabeth’s people were all...

“Kill them,” Sophie said.

“B-but...” Modi said hesitantly, “Perhaps we should detain them first, apply the Brand of Truth, and investigate them one by one.”

“Kill them all, grind their bones to ash, and do it right now,” Sophie said, tilting her head. “Under the witness of the New Moon.”

“But...”

Before Modi could finish, a beam of moonlight suddenly lit up behind Sophie.

“My Saintess, what do you want me to witness?” Miaoyue asked, poking her head out curiously.

Modi: “...”

Then what else was there to say?

Heaven birthed all things to nourish man, yet man gives nothing back to Heaven.

Unbeknownst to all, blood bats hid beneath the altar, devouring the incense like royal ministers.

The faith of men has truth and lies; the true shall long receive the Moon’s grace.

Honor, disgrace, life, and death all belong to the Moon; the slaying of traitors is no mere divine punishment.

Suddenly, the Saintess sharpens her blade by night, beneath the Red Moon and the rising Omen Star.

Purifying the altar and the sect begins today; why spare any effort in the slaughter?

Kill the disloyal!

Kill the disrespectful!

Kill the impure!

Kill the unbelieving!

For those who colluded with monsters, defiled the Moon, and brought chaos to the sect—the Saintess commands: Kill! Kill! Kill!

Modi let out a sharp roar, slamming his iron-bottomed cane heavily against the floor.

“Lock down the theater! Slay every last one of those heretics who colluded with Elizabeth!”

Whether it was Bennis’s faction, Modi’s faction, or the neutrals, the moment they saw Miaoyue descend, any thought of defiance vanished.

Before a deity, they had no status; they were all merely subjects of the god.

“Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!!!”

They roared at the top of their lungs.