No brains.

Doro, Lisidorwei, Rose, Ah Xion.

In general, among the people in the mansion, apart from the Demon King Mohe himself, everyone is intelligent but not skilled at using strategies. Of course, Mohe first placed a question mark on the Hero's downfall; she was willing to give this Hero the highest degree of respect.

So let's assume Doro has brains for now.

The others don't need much attention. When creating Lisidorwei, Mohe endowed her with clever wisdom, but judging from her past behavior, she doesn't use it at all!

This Vampire Queen has done a lot of foolish things, proving she lacks foresight and the composure to think carefully. If described in human terms, she is "not deep" but "quick-tempered." Always thinking herself superior—if possible, she should really go to a human noble for some genuine training, to see how someone with depth of character lives.

As for Rose?

The original Frodonick, putting it less kindly, was "a country bumpkin. What kind of upbringing can you expect from her?"

The only one with a truly noble background is Ah Xion—though Frodonick was also accepted by a prestigious family, it's clear Ah Xion never taught her anything beyond swordsmanship. And Ah Xion herself is…just a little girl who understands nothing.

Therefore, Mohe doesn't think this group can figure out what she's plotting. Even though she knows Lisidorwei is listening, she doesn't care. Let her guess! How could they possibly play this game?

Now, having established a facade of pure innocence, how can she get Charlette and her group to kill Lisidorwei?

Mohe's face gradually broke into a smile.

I wonder if they still remember.

Rose placed a sculpture of Charlette at the White Church!

Mohe can sense that sculpture.

The White Church didn't destroy it.

It was precisely the item used to deal with Charlette back then.

...

The formation of the alliance takes time, often just getting all the different corps in place, inspecting troops and officers, can take more than half a month, not to mention preparing provisions and supplies. Despite various assistive measures, from the day of that meeting to the official departure of the allied army, it still took roughly a whole month.

Since the United Legion has been officially established—

Charlette will serve as the formal commander of the legion.

This itself can be seen as a shift in church authority. Despite Charlette's immense strength, according to church conventions, the Saintess does not participate in war decisions, nor does she command troops.

She has already broken such a convention, and the price is a pair of arms. She cannot regrow her own arms, even though it's almost like a show.

Those old folks will become more wary of Charlette, and a backstab isn't impossible at any time. Charlette is naturally aware of this. This war is particularly crucial for her.

"Mr. Bai Lushi, what do you think?"

Bai Lushi looked at Charlette, dressed in what was called "Holy Armor." Though he was already an old man, in the past he had been vigorous. Now, however, it was as if all his energy had been drained; he was more acutely aware than anyone else—due to his own issues, due to his own rudeness, internal changes had occurred within the church.

"Lady Saint, why do you want a sinner like me to come and supervise the battle?"

Bai Lushi didn't understand.

Charlette merely smiled: "Mr. Bai Lushi, a single mistake doesn't change your loyalty to the church. I insisted on punishing you because it's essential for our many believers to know that mistakes must be atoned for. However, I also remember your contributions to the church—your wisdom will make this campaign much smoother."

This indeed was not the truth...

Bai Lushi instinctively thought so. If someone else had said these words, he would certainly have thought it was some kind of trap, some kind of seductive speech, but these words came from Charlette.

Saintess Charlette.

She is "Saint."

She is the closest person in the world to a God, and Bai Lushi's faith did not permit him to entertain such sordid speculations about Charlette. He could only feel gratitude: "Lady Saint, if there is any use for my old bones, please command me freely. If this can atone for my certain sins, if it can earn a bit of divine pardon for my guilt, it would be the greatest honor of my life!"

"God will forgive you. I will report your merits to God."

My achievements...

Bai Lushi dared not harbor any illusions. He could only offer his loyalty.

—Charlette is, of course, lying!

With Bai Lushi's aim not being to save this old man, in reality, this troublesome old man was rather unpleasant. Had it not been for his problems in the Royal Capital, he could have easily taken down the Demon King and Gedora together... it forced him to abandon Nalune's chapel, causing the faith accumulated over many years there to disperse, even shaking the city's own belief—it couldn't be accounted for fully.

However, Bai Lushi's status was undeniable.

His ability to stay inside the grand cathedral of the Human Central Empire as a bishop sufficiently demonstrated his status within the church and among humans in the Empire. In fact, the world had quite a few tales about Bai Lushi's younger days. Those stories seemed almost like miracles—after all, that man was quite weak.

No matter if those stories were Bai Lushi's own fabrications or due to various reasons, Charlette, as the Saintess, had to embody the "Saintess's compassion." The demand for punishment was such, bringing out Bai Lushi to redeem himself was also such. This was also meant to let the power flow smoothly into her hands and give those old folks some reassurance, making them believe she wouldn't genuinely turn against them and still relied on their favor, hence having to bring Bai Lushi out from his soft confinement, offering them a way out.

Of course, perhaps someone would think her intentions were impure, but this was a choice beneficial for everyone, so no one would oppose it.

However, speaking from her own perspective, the only purpose of bringing Bai Lushi was to make him take the blame.

Just as everyone tacitly knew, this war was not initiated solely for the Demon King and the former Hero.

Why is the Human Central Empire called the Central Empire?

Naturally, because there are several scattered small countries around, various races, and some human kingdoms unwilling to submit to the Central Empire—in such a war, the task was to annex these various small countries. She had already discussed the annexation plan with the Wise King beforehand.

The war's excuse was, of course, "suspected traces of the Demon King," "suspected appearances of the Hero," "connections with the Bloody Queen"... As for whether these existed, in the presence of such a Holy Legion, it had already lost significance.

After all, if these small countries claimed there's no sign, would they dare let us in to check?

Once my army enters the territory, it's no longer for these small countries to decide whether these exist. As for whether these small countries might unite and form a great army to confront the Human Central Empire and the White Church, along with the legion formed by Mage Union, Alchemist Association, and Curse Master Alliance?

Don't be ridiculous.

This lineup could go and fight a conventional war with the Elves and Dwarves.

Those are other two major races.

Refusing them entry is clearly suspicious, aiding the Demon King and the former Hero in their concealment.

Therefore, the method of entry needs changing.

So—even though Charlette knew that the Demon King and Gedora very likely were at some remote place within the Human Central Empire, her army marched directly toward the border.

Of course, she was not without goals. At least she needed to do something substantial, achieving some conquests. The Demon King had certain communications through that sculpture, testing her as she tested the Demon King.

In her current direction of advance, west of the Human Central Empire, there existed a small "Lizardman" Kingdom.

This kingdom, with its land largely deserts, held no actual worth for governance. Simply put, the Wise King looked down upon this land.

However, the place held a very critical figure.

In past days, someone betrayed the Demon Race, choosing to stand by humanity like Lisidorwei, correspondingly there were those loyal to the Demon King, who chose to hide themselves with plans to one day overthrow human dominance.

Within the Lizardman Kingdom, there was such a presence—this was discovered by the church approximately seven or eight years ago, but the church had taken no action, just for usage at such time.

The first battle would be fought here.

To prove to the world that we were not messing around, if it were for territory, why attack the barren Lizardman Kingdom? We mobilized armies, not hesitating to expend much—all for the world! To prevent the resurgence of the Demon Race! With such an example, subsequent actions become legitimate.

Then, might the Demon King take action? She herself perhaps didn't know she had loyal followers within the Lizardman Kingdom... followers who hid themselves for her, staying hidden, unnamed... If she knew, what would the Demon King do?

The last meeting made Charlette realize the Demon King had changed entirely. She must reconstruct her cognition of the Demon King.

The communication through the sculpture was very straightforward, some matters had mutual understanding, the final result just needed consensus, as for how the process unfolded, how much anticipated benefits everyone could obtain in such transitions, wasn't that up to individual capabilities?

"Let me see which old acquaintance is hiding over there."

The mighty army marched toward the Lizardman Kingdom.

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