Charles did not speak, and the knight beside him drew his sword first, glaring furiously as he pointed the blade at him.

"What a blasphemy... Do you think I would believe your nonsense?"

"You don't have to believe, you just need to answer me, if the murderer you were chasing was right, why was the ritual of Chaos still completed."

Luo Yan did not look at the knight but turned his gaze to the Combat Priest holding the mallet.

Based on his understanding of human society on the surface, most of these priests had received professional education at the Divinity School.

Even if the human churches might not teach them exactly what a ritual of Chaos is, they would at least tell them the underlying principles.

The evil spirits in charge of destruction and slaughter require the bloodiest massacres to please them, while those in charge of conspiracy naturally need conspiracies and lies as offerings...

Obviously.

If they had been on the right path from the start, Novel would not have had the chance to descend, and the residents of Mist Town wouldn't have to bear the cost of corruption.

As Luo Yan had predicted, a look of astonishment indeed appeared on Charles's face.

Without stopping, Luo Yan pressed on while the iron was hot.

"If I'm not mistaken, you killed eleven suspects during the interrogation."

"Suspects?! They were not just any suspects! We saw with our own eyes the aura of evil spirits emanating from them—" the hot-headed knight pointing the sword at him tried to interrupt again, but this time Charles stopped him.

Charles stared intently at Luo Yan, his tone serious as he asked.

"How do you know?"

Luo Yan spoke calmly.

"Because I saw twelve offerings flying into the air, they were the souls of the wrongfully deceased, and the twelfth offering was Miranda herself, the one who broke the window and escaped... Unfortunately, she was just killed by your Knight Commander."

As he spoke, Luo Yan disdainfully glanced at the forest outside the city gate.

"This coward... I didn't even mind that he ambushed me and even pulled him back from the brink of death, but he just had to run away without a trace."

Facing the undeniable truth, faces of the knights present, including the hot-headed one who had drawn his sword at him, showed wavering expressions...

Luo Yan could tell that they were truly devout believers.

If it weren't for a trace of reverence, they would not have shown signs of wavering or remorse for their momentary confusion.

Charles took a deep breath, suppressing his emotions deep inside.

Instead of confessing in front of the cross, there was something more important now—

"I don't believe that Knight Commander Mel would betray Saint Sis, but I admit what you say makes some sense, we might have been deceived by the Deceitful Fog, unwittingly becoming accomplices to the evil spirits... I will take him and everyone to the church in Thunder City to confess."

Pausing for a moment, he looked at Luo Yan and continued.

"That is for later, for now... I want to know, who exactly are you?"

Luo Yan looked directly into his eyes.

"You might guess who I am, but I'm certain, if I say it here, we will have no chance of cooperating."

Charles frowned.

"Cooperate?"

"Yes," Luo Yan looked up at the deep red blood column, and the faceless head emerging from the crack, "just this once, the true lord of Mist Town wants to join forces with you."

...

Elsewhere, in the center of Mist Town, Knight Commander Mel, covered in disarray, staggered out of an alley.

A deep red fog enveloped everything.

Looking at the scarlet egg sacs on the street, an enthusiastic, almost maniacal laugh gradually appeared on his face.

"The kingdom stands here! The Gate of Truth is opening up to me! The eggs of angels... What else could prove that this place is indeed heaven!"

"Hahaha... I was right! Only I discovered... the secret that neither the Pope nor the Chosen Emperor ever realized!"

"I must—tell more people!"

Quick footsteps were heard in the distance, as eleven knights ran along the corrupted street, the leader being his deputy.

Looking at the Knight Commander who had sprouted four arms, his hands could not help but tremble slightly as he stared wide-eyed with astonishment filling his pupils.

Was that...

Their commanding officer?!

"Mel White..." he called out unconsciously, trying to awaken him, "Can you hear me speak?"

As he spoke, his right hand was already on the hilt of his sword.

"Ah, Verne... you've come," looking at his beloved subordinates, a pleased smile spread across Mel's face as he enthusiastically opened his arms to greet the group, "You've come at just the right time. I've discovered an incredible secret I was about to share with you...guess what happened?"

"Saint Sis and Novel are actually the same person, such an obvious truth and yet no one guessed it, indeed truth is only grasped by the truly clever——"

"What blasphemy!!"

Before he could finish his sentence, the Knight standing next to Verne had already drawn his sword, roaring as he charged toward Mel Knight Commander.

This was the last dignity he could preserve for his commander—killing him before he blasphemed the great Saint Sis.

However, he had underestimated the power of the chosen one.

That supernatural force, even the Demon King had chosen to temporarily avoid.

A crimson light flickered, the charging Knight hadn't even managed to swing his sword when he turned into a blood rain, merging into the red mist.

Dead silence on the streets.

All the Knights, including Verne, stared at him intently.

So fast—

They hadn't even seen clearly what had happened!

And just then, the pods filling the streets underwent a new change, the first cocoon to solidify was also the first to sprout crimson tendrils.

"Aah—!"

A piercing shriek accompanied the emergence of robust arms breaking through the shell, what crawled out from that pod was a four-armed, two-legged monster.

It had no head.

Or rather, its body was its head.

A huge mouth opened at the position of its belly button, a two-meter long tongue like a python protruded, dancing in the crimson mist along with the flailing long arms.

"...Heart-devourer."

A look of despair appeared on every face.

Watching his ashen-faced subordinates, Mel let out a delighted laugh again.

"Do you see? My angels are thriving, how beautiful their wings are... do you want me to get you a pair as well?"

"Prepare for battle!!!" Verne issued a desperate shout, drawing his long sword and charging toward his former commander.

He knew it was meaningless.

But he had no other choice!

Looking at this group of ants unable to accept reality, a genuine disgust surfaced on Mel's face.

"Tsk... fools who overestimate themselves."

So be it.

Let these fools' flesh and blood feed his hungry servants then.

"Kill them all!"

"Aah—!"

The shrieking Heart-devourers swarmed forward, and within just a few breaths, the remaining ten Knights were overwhelmed in the flesh-red sea.

Looking at his dismembered former subordinates, a cruel smile appeared on Mel's face, his gaze shifting beyond the blood sea towards the northern city gates.

Novel was craving more sacrifices—

He had to feed that superior.

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