The crimson glow swept across numerous cells, putting the imprisoned monsters all into "sleep."

It was a dream of death woven by Charlotte with blood divine power; they would find eternal rest in a blissful dream.

Having dealt with all the "Blood Demons," Charlotte felt somewhat heavy-hearted.

However, she did not stop her steps.

Although the underground base of the Sun Divine Palace had been destroyed, the true altar was not here.

Sebastian and Nisi were right; the Sun Divine Palace indeed planned to summon the Blood Demon Duke. Although there was no "container" here, some remaining arrays and runes still revealed a few things.

The "container" was only the last step. From the runes on the sacrificial altar and the surrounding arrangements, it could be inferred that this was indeed part of the summoning ritual or rather, 99% of it.

But now it seemed that perhaps the commotion from Charlotte's previous divine descent ritual was too great, prompting the Sun Divine Palace to clearly relocate the final summoning altar.

Of course, although the summoning altar was relocated, the evidence left in the underground cave was more than enough to declare the enemy's doom, becoming a sharp sword for Charlotte against the Chief High Priest.

"Master, we found numerous secret documents of the Judgement Court in a nearby palace, including experimental records on collecting source blood of the Bloodline through dark rituals, and even some decrees from the Chief High Priest."

"We also discovered their plan, which was initially to sacrifice the entire Holy Capital to summon the Blood Demon Duke in its complete form!"

Sebastian said with an ugly expression.

A complete form of the Blood Demon Duke?

Charlotte frowned slightly.

"Pack it all up. There was a big commotion just now, and according to the timing, the Guardian's Staff and others should arrive soon."

She said.

As soon as she finished speaking, she sensed a large number of priests and church knights at the entrance of the underground palace complex, led by the Guardian's Staff disguised as Charlotte.

...

The Church Authority Country experienced another "earthquake."

No one expected such a massive underground palace complex beneath the Holy Capital, nor could anyone imagine that the headquarters of the esteemed Holy Royal Court would host such a large-scale evil sacrifice.

When Grand Commander of the Holy Hall Knight Order Angus, Chief Demon Hunting Cardinal Selena, and many cardinal bishops arrived at the underground cave, they were all shocked.

And when the church knights conducted further investigations and identified participants in the ritual from the Judgement Court's documents, the entire Holy Royal Court was thrown into an uproar.

Included were Chief High Priest Gregory XII, thirteen cardinal priests, and nearly a hundred clergy above the Great Priest level, all of whom participated in the evil ritual, betraying the Creator God!

This incident caused an uproar, making it impossible for the church hierarchy to suppress it.

Even the church's leadership turned apostate, with fallen high-tier priests constituting almost one-third of the Holy Capital, becoming the greatest scandal since the Holy Royal Court's establishment.

Grand Commander of the Holy Hall Knight Order Angus and Demon Hunting Cardinal Selena immediately declared a state of emergency in the Holy Capital, while the Cardinal Priest Team announced they would excommunicate all apostates, including Chief High Priest Gregory XII, and issued arrest warrants against them.

In an instant, the Holy Capital became bustling again, with the Holy Hall Knight Order and Demon Hunting Institute knights fully mobilized, embarking on a campaign to hunt and purge the apostates.

In the following days, nearly every day saw the arrest of a clergy member, causing anxiety among the populace of the Holy Capital, where the celebratory atmosphere was replaced by tension and suppression.

Holy Palace, main hall.

Charlotte sat at the desk belonging to the Chief High Priest, browsing through the confessions of apostates brought by the Holy Hall Knight Order.

Beside her stood Sebastian, restored to his butler form, and the Guardian's Staff, transformed into human shape and exuding a gentle holy light.

"Your Highness the Saintess, these are all the confessions from today."

Holy Hall Knight Deputy Commander Fabio said respectfully.

While speaking, he curiously glanced at the "elder" beside Charlotte.

"Still no whereabouts of those high-tier clergy?"

Charlotte asked.

Fabio shook his head:

"Not yet. Demon Hunting Cardinal Selena has found some traces and is currently pursuing them, but there's no result yet."

Charlotte nodded slightly.

When Chief High Priest Gregory XII was excommunicated by the Cardinal Group, Charlotte, being the Saintess and having invoked a divine miracle under public scrutiny, temporarily became the de facto leader of the Church Authority Country.

Of course, this didn't mean that all clergy submitted to Charlotte, but at a time when nearly one-third of high-tier clergy were exposed as apostates, only someone like Charlotte, with "Divine Lord Certification" and formidable strength, could stabilize the situation.

Charlotte simply emerged amid the Church Authority Country's leaderless state, garnering support from both the Holy Hall Knight Order and the Demon Hunting Institute, naturally becoming the temporary leader.

In this process, the Guardian's Staff naturally moved to the forefront as well. Its original goal was to topple the traitors of the church. Now that Charlotte controlled the situation, it no longer needed to hide, and supported Charlotte publicly as the Wisdom Divine Artifact of the Creator God.

It even acknowledged the battle in the underground cave on Charlotte's behalf. All clergy believed it was the Guardian's Staff that appeared and defeated the underground cave's apostates, with the appearance of the Guardian's Staff described as assistance sent down by the Creator God due to Charlotte's devotion.

In any case, it smoothed over Charlotte's involvement.

There was no other way, with nearly a third of the higher-ups betraying, in any organization, such an event would lead to its immediate collapse and dissolution. Even if it didn't dissolve, it would likely lead to direct conflict.

In this chaotic moment, the "attention" and "gifts" from the Creator God would undoubtedly greatly comfort the minds of the believers. This is the significance of publicly revealing the identity of the Guardian's Staff as a Divine Artifact.

Of course, with such a significant event, the fact that the Holy Royal Court could still function without internal chaos was mainly due to Charlotte's revelation of the apostates. Afterward, every high-ranking apostate, including Gregory XII, vanished like melting snow.

Regarding this, Charlotte had some speculations, estimating that they were frightened by the power she displayed in the underground cave.

Although the magic power concentration of the Mireya Continent could temporarily only support up to the peak of the Legendary level, and the strength of a Demigod could not fully erupt across the continent, in the underground cave, the power unleashed by Charlotte, amplified by Holy Power, was enough to instill fear in all beings below a Demigod.

However, this did not mean Gregory XII and others escaped. It felt more like the calm before the storm. The disappearance of the apostates was likely brewing a bigger conspiracy, or more accurately, somewhere in the Holy Capital, there was probably a plan by the Sun Divine Palace still underway targeting Charlotte.

"How many divine artifacts were taken by the apostates?"

Charlotte put down the dossier and asked.

The Deputy Commander of the Holy Hall Knight Order, Fabio, hesitated for a moment and said:

"Except for the divine artifact 'Holy Hand' directly under the Chief High Priest and the divine artifact 'Mirick's Shrine' belonging to the Judgement Court, all other divine artifacts have been found, but..."

"But what?"

"However, all the divine artifacts have lost their spirituality, and the divine power stored within them has nearly drained away, as if it was drawn out."

Fabio answered.

Spirituality and divine power were drawn away?

Charlotte slightly frowned.

Spirituality and divine power are the essence of a divine artifact.

If they lose their spirituality and divine power, they can no longer be called divine artifacts. At best, they would only be holy artifacts with the foundation of a divine artifact, and without any wisdom.

As for the Holy Hand and Mirick's Shrine, Charlotte had done her homework in advance. These two divine artifacts were among the more powerful ones owned by the Holy Royal Court.

The Holy Hand is a scepter owned by successive Chief High Priests, also the highest symbol of power in the Holy Royal Court, possessing the power to amplify various magic forms, including Divine Arts, Magic, curses, and blessings.

As for Mirick's Shrine, it is a divine artifact confiscated by the Holy Royal Court, originating from an ancient god named Mirick from the Southern Continent. It is a rare space-related divine artifact, said to have a separate world inside, used specifically to imprison High Tier Transcendents and even previously housed a Demigod.

With this thought, an idea struck Charlotte.

Could it be... Gregory XII and others hid inside Mirick's Shrine?

"Have the Bloodline's transcendent items been found?"

Charlotte asked again.

Fabio shook his head:

"No, the curse parchment and the divine statue, scheduled to be destroyed at the ceremony, are all missing."

Charlotte nodded slightly:

"Continue the investigation, they shouldn't have gone too far, no... they are probably still in the Holy Capital! Search carefully for the whereabouts of Mirick's Shrine, perhaps they have hidden inside the shrine!"

"Understood!"

Fabio stood at attention and saluted.

Then, he hesitated again.

"What is it? Lord Fabio, do you have something else to say?"

Charlotte noticed his expression.

Fabio hesitated for a moment, then said:

"I do have a question..."

Saying this, he looked at Charlotte and asked seriously:

"Your Highness Saintess, may I ask... is the Dark Night God truly a sub-god of the Divine Lord?"

Charlotte paused for a moment, thought about it, and replied:

"He is indeed a deity recognized by the Holy, and he has a close relationship with the Divine Lord Haral."

Fabio pondered this and respectfully saluted:

"I... understand."

With that, he withdrew.

Shortly after Fabio withdrew, a Demon Hunting Knight hurriedly came to see Charlotte.

As soon as he saw Charlotte, he brought her an important message:

"Your Highness Saintess! Lord Serena found a space-time rift in District 3 of the Holy Capital, tentatively judged to be the entrance that opens from the divine artifact Mirick's Shrine!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.