After Tina passed out, Sathya held her and gently descended from the miasma-filled sky. With a wave of her hand, the miasma and light began to dissipate over time.
A few beams of sunlight pierced the darkness, forming slanted pillars of light over the ruined walls. Dust and rubble filled the air, floating and falling with the eerie energy, turning into black tornadoes in the whirlwind. It felt less like land and more like the bottom of a deep sea burying a dead civilization.
However, the students of the Holy Academy and the paladins suffered almost no casualties. Once the battle ended, they stood up one after another, looking up at Saintess Sathya as she gradually drifted down within the pillar of light, loudly chanting her name.
“Sathya! Saintess Sathya!”
“Oh, long live Lady Sathya!”
“The world won! Humanity won! Humanity has triumphed over magical beasts once again!”
“What a nightmare...”
Even the knights who had followed Aether and the Cardinals Black Lotus and Blood Lotus cast aside their doubts about the Saintess. They merged with the students of the Saintess Faction, forming a massive crowd.
By now, more and more light pierced the darkness, and the sun appeared. It was sunset, painting the horizon in hues of orange.
Golden wings unfolded behind Sathya, making her look like a deity who had put an end to all sin.
Yet she did not spare a single look of pity for the cheering humans. Her eyes held affection only for the dragon girl in her arms. The dragon girl's tail curled in Sathya's embrace, her horns resting against Sathya's lovely lower abdomen. Carried in a bridal style, she did not look like a defeated magical beast at all, but rather the Saintess's closest friend—or perhaps, her lover.
By now, some people had also noticed that something was not quite right...
After all, wasn't the dragon girl in Sathya's arms the very Dragon Magical Beast that had just brought down this calamity?
But there was no way Sathya could be an accomplice to a magical beast; her radiant, holy appearance was practically that of a legendary god.
And so, the cheering did not stop.
As Sathya touched down on the ground, she noticed a faint breath not far away.
Stepping forward, she discovered two girls lying in the ruins.
Their tattered Church robes left their petite, doll-like bodies exposed to the air. With only a few stray rags covering their vital areas, they looked incredibly pitiful and miserable. Yet, the two sisters were actually Cardinals who had lived for hundreds of years—one named Black Lotus, and the other Blood Lotus.
Even in their unconscious state, they still held hands, as if sharing the same dream.
But Sathya remembered that Black Lotus's heart had been crushed by Sister Tina, yet there was no wound on her chest at all.
Instead, she could sense that where her heart should have been, there was actually... a magic core?!
A magic core had been stuffed into a human body.
What she found even harder to believe was that Black Lotus's physical condition was actually better than Blood Lotus's. Despite being a Cardinal killed by the Dragon Magical Beast's own hands, she was now twitching her fingers, as if she would wake up very soon.
Looking closely, she noticed a light blue mark on their necks. It was the mark of the Demon King's authority.
This seemed to foreshadow something.
Could it be that the Demon King could control more than just magical beasts?
At this moment, Aether, the bishop who had been hiding outside the city, stepped forward. He walked up to Sathya, but the hatred that had previously filled his eyes was gone.
This Cardinal, who had planned alongside the Sword God Elcalan to assassinate Sathya, this leader who had fled in panic, now suddenly dropped to one knee and said:
“Lady Saintess Sathya, on behalf of the Church forces of the Southern and Western Continents, I pledge my loyalty to you. You truly are our savior.”
Yet Sathya did not even spare him a glance. That this hypocrite was still alive was entirely due to Sister Tina being in a good mood.
“His Holiness the Pope has already explained the situation to me. From now on, I will serve you just like the rest of the clergy,” Aether said. “Furthermore, I deeply regret my own presumption. Please forgive us, great Saintess.”
As he spoke, several high-ranking Inquisitors and bishops also walked over, kneeling before Sathya.
“However, please hand over the creature in your arms for us to deal with. This magical beast is already the strongest existence in history. If it hurts you...”
“Do you have an objection?”
Sathya suddenly asked in return.
None of the bishops dared to utter a single word.
...
Only Aether stepped forward and continued, “This magical beast is likely the culprit behind everything. I understand your compassion, and I also understand that your knowledge of magical beasts might not be deep. These monsters only seek to destroy the world. They are no longer humans who can truly empathize with you.”
But Sathya remained entirely unmoved. She continued walking forward. “Get lost.”
At this point, some bishops intended to rise and step forward to continue persuading her, but Aether seemed to sense something and stopped them with a look.
Isobel, disguised as the Pope, now reconstructed a golden bridge and walked over from Sathya's side.
She placed a golden crown upon Sathya's head. At this very moment, even more people gathered around.
“Today, I announce that Sathya shall lead us, humanity, as the Saintess. Does anyone have any objections?”
“Long live Her Majesty the Saintess!”
“Long live Her Majesty the Saintess!”
“Long live!”
...
The moment the Saintess's crown was placed upon her head was forever recorded by image crystals, later finding its way onto newspapers and posters in every street and alley.
Sathya's name spread across the four continents, and everywhere the Church stood, people began to write hymns to the Saintess.
The terrifying pressure unleashed by the dreadful Dragon of Calamity was also recorded in various stories, depicted as increasingly vivid and horrifying. No one knew how much of a price the Saintess had paid that day to subdue this unprecedentedly powerful magical beast.
As the same sunlight streamed through an old window, illuminating the ink on a letter, a young girl spun a fountain pen in her hand. She stretched, twirling a strand of her purplish-red hair that hung over the desk.
She crossed her pale thighs, her sexy, soft curves subtly showing beneath her cheongsam. Her full hips supported her slender waist, wrapped messily in black silk. Even through the hollow folds of the silk, her flawless skin peeked through, adding a touch of allure to her petite frame.
“Lady Roserosa, what do you think about the Saintess's situation?”
A man named Magnar pushed open the door and stepped into the cramped little room on the edge of the bustling street, bowing slightly to the beautiful girl.
“Where is Tina?”
“Word is she has been imprisoned by Saintess Sathya. After all, for some reason, she actually turned out to be a magical beast.”
“So you're saying the person who saved me was actually a magical beast?”
“Yes. I have met her a few times myself, and I never expected things to end this way...” Grief grew increasingly evident on Magnar's dusty face.
But the corners of Roserosa's mouth curled upward, and she even giggled.
“Well, that's just perfect~”
“Chief, what do you mean by that?”
Roserosa did not explain her amusement. After Magnar left, the hand spinning her pen came to a halt.
She clasped her hands together, a mixture of delight and madness surfacing in her purplish-red eyes.
She muttered some strange, incantation-like words under her breath.
“God blesses the pure heavens, the vessel holds the fettered wine. When the abyss returns once more, the day of apocalypse...”
“...shall also be the day the Demon King walks the earth.”
“Foolish Elcalan, isn't that right?”
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