I, the Holy Maiden of Light, tear apart the Outer Gods.

Pope Jelinena sat beneath the statue, her eyes half-closed as she stared at the elders and two chief judges below.

"Three months have passed, and there's still no sign of the Holy Maiden... How should I evaluate you?"

The unprecedentedly cold tone revealed Pope Jelinek's anger. The elders below exchanged glances but could not utter a word.

Three months ago, Pope Jelinek and three chief judges were invited to the palace to attend the coronation ceremony of the new king.

Therefore, the responsibility of taking care of the Holy Maiden naturally fell on the Elders' Council, but they never expected that the once obedient and sensible Holy Maiden would run away!

By the time they realized it, it was too late.

The disappearance of the saint was a very serious matter for the church.

To avoid unnecessary trouble, the church decided to keep the matter a secret and shift its investigative efforts to the shadows, focusing all its resources on finding Ange's whereabouts.

But after three months of searching, they still found nothing...

Jeline took a deep breath and looked at the two chief referees. "Where's Joan?"

The Holy Church of the Royal Capital has three chief judges: Joan Kazimir of the Law, Gaya Kimberly of Faith, and Emir Valand of Power.

This meeting was notably missing Joan.

Chief Judge Gaya adjusted her monocle, looked directly into Pope Jelena's eyes, and said elegantly, "She's probably still looking for Ange. After all... given her relationship with that child, Ange's disappearance is something she'd be most anxious about."

Pope Jelinena paused for a moment, then stared at Gaya in silence.

An invisible spark ignited where their eyes met.

"I remember Joan can sense the location of the Saintess, so why haven't we heard anything for so long?" Jeline continued to press.

However, before Gaya could reply, another judge, Emil, stepped forward and sneered, "You do know Saintess Ange's identity, so why did you agree to the royal marriage without her consent?"

“Emir!” Gaya snapped at Emil, interrupting his relentless questioning.

Emil glanced at Pope Jeremiah again, snorted coldly, turned and walked out of the council hall, completely ignoring the gazes of the elders around him.

After leaving the council chamber, Emil felt terrible. He clenched his fist as he looked at the setting sun.

"Feeling down? Let's go wipe out a few cultists to relax."

Section 38, Chapter Thirty-Seven: Lena's Abilities

Snapped--

"What! The lab has been destroyed!?"

The Space Witch angrily smashed the wine glass on the ground. The flying shards of glass cut one of the witches' cheeks, but she only dared to lower her head and not even breathe loudly, for fear of angering the capricious Space Witch.

"Oh dear, I didn't expect you to be so bad at being a watchdog. Tsk tsk tsk. And you even have the nerve to complain to the [Chairman] about being beaten by the chief judge of the Church of Light."

A voluptuous witch with red hair and red eyes sneered and glanced disdainfully at the enraged Space Witch.

"Heh, Purgatory, don't be too happy. Don't forget, this laboratory mission was assigned to both of us by the [Chairman]. If anything goes wrong, you won't escape punishment either." The Space Witch sneered, staring menacingly at the Red-Haired Witch.

This witch is Purgatory, one of the four principle witches of the Witch Gathering. Due to her personality, she has always been at odds with the Space Witch.

I don't know why the [Chairman] sent the two of them out to carry out the mission together.

But in any case, the destruction of the laboratory is now a done deal.

The Infernal Witch swirled the wine in her goblet, the clear wine reflecting a mysterious luster under the hazy light. "The laboratory is gone, but what's more important is the experimental subject inside. You see, that subject was a hard-won success story. We searched for so many subjects, and now only that one still has vital signs."

Upon hearing this question, the witches below exchanged glances, and finally replied in a deep voice, "The experiment... is gone."

"Gone?" The Infernal Witch narrowed her eyes. "What about that abominable monster that guarded the experimental subjects?"

"...vital signs completely disappeared, and even the soul was annihilated by the powerful force."

When we arrived at the valley through the teleportation array... it looked like it had been ravaged by a natural disaster; towering trees were uprooted, lakes had dried up, and the ground was riddled with huge craters and remnants of terrifying energy...

The witches reported in a low voice, and after they finished speaking, seeing that the expression on the face of the Infernal Witch was also somewhat unpleasant, they quickly added, "But, but we have discovered a person who is suspected to be an experimental subject."

The Infernal Witch and the Space Witch exchanged a glance and asked in unison, "Where?"

"...in...the Church of Light in the town of Isa."

Upon hearing the familiar place name, the Space Witch paused, "The Church of Light... wait, wasn't Joan Casimir staying there temporarily? Could it be that she destroyed our laboratory!?"

The Infernal Witch also had a solemn expression. "If that's the case, then it's going to be difficult... Forcibly taking it is out of the question."

After a moment's thought, the Infernal Witch seemed to have an idea. "Since the open approach doesn't work, let's try the covert one."

"Space, didn't you cast a curse on that girl who was supposed to be a princess? Let's throw Aisa Town into chaos first, and then take advantage of the confusion to have that princess bring back the experimental subject,"

Space Witch: "Make chaos? What do you plan to do?"

The Hellfire Witch sneered, "The Black Goat Cult wants to use us as pawns, but they'll definitely have to pay the price."

Just then, I learned from some clandestine sources that the current Holy Maiden of the Church of Light seems to have disappeared. We spread the word that the Black Goat Cult near the town of Aisa had kidnapped the Holy Maiden of Light.

Those old fogies in the capital will definitely rush here without stopping. Moreover, most of the forces that have learned of this news will come to Aisa Town, whether to curry favor with the Church of Light, to coerce the Church, or simply for fame; they won't miss this good show.

The Space Witch frowned. "How could the Holy Maiden possibly appear in such a dilapidated and remote town? Do you think those old fogies in the capital would fall for that?"

"Heh, they had no choice but to fall for it."

...

"Chief Judge Joan, has Lily's facial injury healed?" Ange blinked her big eyes and leaned closer to Joan.

It's been two days since I returned from Rum City.

Since she didn't know healing magic, Ange decisively passed the problem of healing Lily's facial injury to Joan.

At first, Joan refused, but in the end she couldn't resist Ange's charming, cute, and shameless advances and agreed.

Lily's situation was somewhat special; even Joan took almost two days to recover her.

Joan rolled her eyes. "Nonsense, I'm the chief referee. Even if your face is ripped off, or your head is cut off, as long as your soul isn't destroyed and your body isn't turned to ash, I can bring you back to life."

After saying that, Joan seemed to remember something, reached out and pinched Ange's cheek and pulled hard, "So you have to be a good girl and listen to me from now on, otherwise I'll make you feel like you're being cut in half and then resurrected all the time."

Anjie: "Judge Joan, I think you are more suited to be the leader of a cult than a believer in the Church of Light."

"Hey! You must be asking for a beating again, come here!"

"Hehehe~"

Anjie quickly ran out of Qiong's room and disappeared in a flash.

When Angela arrived at the church's front courtyard, she saw Lena squatting on the ground, staring intently at the grass beneath her feet, seemingly looking at something.

Ange stepped forward and ruffled Lena's long, silver-gray hair. "What are you looking at?"

Lena looked up and, upon recognizing Angela, immediately hugged her waist, nuzzling against her like a kitten. "Angela, Lena just discovered something really interesting!"

Anjie asked, "What's wrong?"

During this time, Ange was completely captivated by the innocent and adorable Lena.

Who could resist a cute, clingy, well-behaved, and affectionate little girl?

Lena released Ange and presented a clump of withered grass to Ange like a treasure. "Look, Ange's mom! I discovered that these little grasses turn like this when they touch me. Isn't Lena amazing!?"

"..."

Looking at the withered grass in Lena's hand, Ange's gaze shifted from blank to serious.

"Lena, who else knows about this?" Angela took a deep breath and asked in a low voice.

Lena blinked blankly, seemingly not understanding why Angela was suddenly so strict, but she still obediently replied, "I only told you, Angela's mom."

Ange breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. You play here for now and don't run around. I'm going to talk to Novia and the others about something. Oh, and don't tell anyone about this. From now on, this will be a little secret between you and Mommy, okay?"

Little secrets shouldn't be known by other people.

Lena nodded happily, "Okay~"

Ange gently patted Lena's head, picked up the withered blade of grass from Lena's hand, and turned back to the church.

A strange necromancy...

Is this the power that Lena was given by that evil machine...?

P.S.: I'm so confused... The chapter I posted at 11 PM didn't get approved and released until 11 AM the next day.

Section 39, Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Angel of Death

Inside the room, Ange, Novia, and Joan sat around a small round table, all frowning as they looked at a clump of withered grass placed on the table.

"Is this the child's power?" Joan picked up a blade of grass, examined it carefully for a moment, and asked in a deep voice.

Ange nodded. "That's right. Lena doesn't even know that she has awakened necromantic power... and such a strong necromantic power at that. Without any deliberate release or chanting, she caused plants to wither simply through unconscious dissipation... It's hard to imagine just how vast the necromantic power within Lena is."

Unlike Ange and Joan's serious expressions, Novia's eyes were full of worry. "Won't this harm Lena's health?"

Joan paused for a moment, then slowly shook her head. "Uncertain. This necromantic power is very peculiar; it not only possesses the withering and decaying characteristics of necromantic power, but also the healing and gentle power of light."

"Your power is not strong enough. To you, this little blade of grass is merely withered and dead, but in my eyes, it is still alive, sustained by a strange and peculiar energy."

As Joan spoke, a gray magic circle enveloped the grass.

Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, the withered grass revived and even grew much faster than normal grass.

The scene before them stunned Ange and Novia.

To give life to inanimate objects... such a power has always been something only the power of light can achieve.

But now, even the necromantic power, which symbolizes death, has gained this authority!?

Joan took a deep breath and stood up. "Take me to see Lena. There's something I need to confirm for myself."

Ange quickly stood up and grabbed Joan's arm, "Chief Judge Joan, Lena, she..."

"Don't worry, since I've already told you, I won't do anything to her." Qiong ruffled Ange's hair. "Don't be nervous, I'm just going to check on the state of her internal power."

Ange and Novia finally breathed a sigh of relief.