Raise Joan of Arc to be an empress, then discard her.

The dark shadow slowly rose from the cell. This was the man's eerie ability. Joan of Arc stared indifferently at the shadow before her, only to find that it had the same appearance as her, but with a strange and evil look on its face and an ominous aura emanating from it.

Chapter 52 The Knight King's Hunt Order

Esgard, the Royal Palace.

Enzo walked up the steps, and the people who had just been crowding around him quickly moved away, as if the area above was an inviolable sacred place.

Enzo's expression was solemn; this was indeed an inviolable holy site. Ahead lay the royal palace, the throne of the King of Lucerne.

Before Enzo was summoned, he already knew that something very serious had happened that day, which is why he was summoned by the king overnight.

A candle was lit every ten meters, stretching forward to the throne at the end of the throne, where the elderly king sat.

Enzo soon learned that he had been summoned for this mission.

"The Obsidian Knight has betrayed us?" Enzo instinctively looked up.

"Yes, MI7 has gathered solid evidence that there are traitors among the Obsidian Knights."

Although Enzo couldn't believe it, he immediately knelt down. The king's judgment could not be wrong, because the king was a god who possessed the Book of Omniscience, and Aurelia was sick at home. He was the actual controller of the Knights. The Obsidian Knights had a traitor, and as the vice-captain, he could not escape the blame.

“There’s no need to act guilty,” said the priest beside the king. “If it weren’t for His Majesty’s Book of Omniscience, we wouldn’t have discovered the traitor among the Obsidian Knights. The fault is not yours. Get up.”

Enzo knew these were just words of comfort from the priest, but he remained kneeling and asked, "What does Your Majesty think should be done?"

“According to tradition, if a traitor appears within the Knights, the Grand Master should handle the matter personally,” the King said slowly.

"But the Grand Master of the Obsidian Knights, Alleria, is bedridden at home and unable to carry out her mission. According to tradition, this duty should be passed on to the Vice Grand Master of the Obsidian Knights, but..."

The young priest looked at Enzo: "But His Majesty and I both believe that the vice-commander of the Obsidian Knights is not the kind of person who can be ruthless in dealing with traitors."

"Therefore, according to tradition, the responsibility should continue to be handled by Aaron Brando, the third seat of the Obsidian Knights, but unfortunately, he is not in Asgard at the moment, so..."

The young priest wore a gentle smile, and at that moment, the king, seated on his throne, spoke.

"Since the Obsidian Knights cannot clean house on their own, let's simply return to the tradition of a thousand years ago."

“In the past, all rebellious knights in the kingdom would be dealt with by the Knight King, also known as the All-Knowing Sword.”

In other words...

“The Sword of Omniscience…?” Enzo looked up in shock. “Your Majesty, please allow me to fulfill my duty. The traitor should be dealt with personally by me, the vice-captain…”

“No need, there’s no need to worry anymore, Lord Enzo. I summoned you here only to inform you of this matter,” the young priest replied. “Our All-Knowing Sword has been deployed, and he should be able to handle things soon.”

Seeing the priest's faint smile, Enzo's pupils slowly shrank to a small dot, realizing that things were beyond repair.

The so-called all-knowing sword is actually the emperor among knights. When the emperor decides to do something, how can these knights, who have already submitted to him, resist?

*

In Esgard, on the lower level of the palace, in a huge pool, knights stood by the pool, holding clothes in their hands. They looked like maids helping a noblewoman change clothes by the pool, but what they held in their hands was not silk or satin. Instead, they held pieces of armor that had been disassembled into pieces.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

In the huge pool, the man slowly walked out of the pool. Everyone stood in silence, and some people knelt down, raising their helmets high as if they were some kind of divine object.

The man who emerged from the pool was naked. His body was as beautiful as a work of art, with well-defined muscles. Water flowed down his muscles like a stream through a crisscrossing valley.

Despite his robust physique, his skin had a porcelain-like texture and a slightly feminine quality. What was surprising, however, was his long, white hair that reached his waist. Although he was a man, his hair was longer and more beautiful than that of many women.

Above his snow-white long hair and porcelain-like skin was a handsome face sculpted by a chisel. His appearance alone was enough to make him famous throughout Asgard. It was hard to imagine that such a person was the legendary King of Knights.

The man stepped onto the pool, dried himself off, and spread his arms like an emperor. The people standing beside him began to put on his armor.

The plate armor he wore required six people to change it for him at the same time. These people were like precise machines, assembling the plate armor piece by piece onto the Knight King's body. When the shoulder armor fell off and the breastplate was fastened in front of his chest, the man seemed to merge with the entire armor as one.

“One last thing is missing. Step aside,” said the Knight King.

All the attendants who had been armoring him consciously dispersed from his side. The Knight King reached out to the side, and a giant longsword appeared in his hand. Finally, at this moment, the Omniscient Sword appeared fully armed.

"Tell me the list."

Seeing this man, who had suddenly grown taller and looked like an emperor in his armor, those around him couldn't help but feel fear. The Sword of Omniscience also strode out; as the emperor among knights, he had to fulfill his duty.

*

police station.

The man, holding up his pocket watch, said:

"I've set a time limit of about three minutes. You just play with her for now, and I'll come back in three minutes. No, one minute should be enough."

The man in black turned around, and behind him, a shadowy figure that looked exactly like Joan of Arc slowly approached her.

The shadowy figure standing in front of Joan of Arc exuded a spiritual power very similar to Joan of Arc's, looking like two sides of a mirror, practically a perfect replica.

The ability to create clones with the same or even greater strength as oneself indicates that the other party's strength is indeed superior to one's own.

Joan of Arc's gaze returned to the shadowy figure. Although the spiritual energy emanating from it was the same, their combat techniques were likely different. Defeating the shadowy figure wasn't impossible, but the process would be very troublesome. Perhaps—

Joan of Arc took the black chess piece she had been hiding on her person and aimed it at the man who was about to disappear from sight.

"attack."

Before he could react, five stringed notes, like lightning, pierced straight through the man's body like five sharp claws. The man's face showed a shocked expression of utter bewilderment as he crashed into the end of the corridor. With a deafening explosion, smoke and dust shot everywhere, and a huge tremor shook the area. Not only were the iron bars in front of Joan of Arc destroyed, but she felt as if half of the police station had been destroyed.

As for the shadowy figure in front of her, having lost its supply of spiritual energy, it could no longer maintain the appearance of a perfect replica and quickly collapsed and disappeared. Just as Joan of Arc had thought, attacking the original would cause the replica to disappear.

Chapter 53 Traitors within the Obsidian Knights

"It was resolved so easily, it feels like cheating. But considering she only had one piece left, the price she paid was not small."

Joan of Arc arrived in the prison corridor, and when the smoke cleared, she saw the bodies of prison guards lying on the ground.

Just as she suspected, those people had killed the police to get in, meaning that no one else saw them except for her.

No, there's another person.

Joan of Arc looked toward the cell next door, where a girl was pressed against the wall, panting heavily. She seemed confused as to why the shadowy figure that had sneaked into her cell had suddenly vanished.

Joan of Arc took the key from the prison guard and opened the cell. The girl thought the guard had come to rescue her, but to her surprise, Joan of Arc grabbed her collar and lifted her into the air the moment she stepped in.

"Let me go!" the girl struggled.

"Although I had my suspicions from the beginning, I never had any solid evidence."

Joan of Arc looked into the girl's eyes and said, "They all came because of you, not because of me."

The girl didn't answer, but looked at Joan with the eyes of a wild beast. Joan looked at this dirty child, who looked like a wolf child, and wondered what she had gotten herself into that had led to so many people chasing after her.

But she knew she couldn't stay at the police station any longer. Everyone was dead, and with no way to verify the facts, she would inevitably become a suspect again. Joan of Arc couldn't afford to be in that passive position any longer. The best way now was to find someone she knew and get out of the current situation.

Jendral led the wolf child out of the police station. All they saw along the way were corpses. It has to be said that their operation was extremely clean and efficient, leaving no evidence of their crimes, just like people who were professionals at doing this kind of thing.

There was no thunder or lightning, only a torrential downpour. The night was pitch black, and Joan of Arc realized it was raining outside. While the raindrops were uncomfortable, they did provide some cover, which might be a good thing.

Just as Joan of Arc was trying to figure out the direction, a blinding flash of light suddenly appeared in the distance. Joan of Arc instinctively took out another white chess piece. There was only one chess piece left, but she didn't have time to cherish it, because the people who appeared were not one, but a group of them, and she had no choice.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t use the second piece,” someone whispered in her ear.

Joan of Arc was startled that someone could get so close to her without being noticed. Before she could react, the person had already dragged her into the darkness without saying a word.

A few seconds later, the firelight swept past where Joan of Arc had just stood. Joan of Arc was indeed lucky; the heavy rain masked their presence, and they did not notice her.

When the firelight had completely disappeared, Joan of Arc turned around and saw a pair of jewel-like eyes in the darkness—one red, one blue. The owner of those eyes looked Joan of Arc up and down and said:

"It seems you've been infected by its scent. Even I can smell it clearly. No wonder they wanted to kill you too."

"What aura?"

"Why don't you ask that guy next to you?"

The man looked at the girl trembling on the ground like a wild beast: "Haven't you noticed? Ever since you met her, you've been plagued by misfortune, and the calamities she caused are no longer limited to you; they've affected the entire kingdom, and even that man has been mobilized."

"Who are you, and what is going on here?"

“It’s best to address the questions one by one. I think you should introduce yourself before introducing us, as payment for saving you. Why did you release Aaron Brando’s aura just now? Wasn’t he not in Asgard?”

“Aaron Brando is my teacher,” Joan of Arc said.

"A teacher?" The man looked surprised. "That person actually takes on students."

Although he didn't want to believe it, Aaron's aura was indeed present on her. He looked troubled and said, "This is a problem. If you are his student, it would be better to let you live."

"Who are you? Why do you know the teacher?"

"If I had to say, I'd say I'm a friend of your teacher. Your teacher, aside from other things, is very easygoing and enjoys making friends. He never cares about a friend's background, and he's willing to befriend even believers in the Red God Church," the man said with a smile.

"You are... a member of the Red God Church..."

“Hello, my name is Brand. It seems your teacher doesn’t tell you everything.” The man seemed quite pleased to see Jeanne’s surprised expression.

It's no wonder Joan of Arc was surprised, because the Church of the Red God was a cult that was explicitly prohibited by the Lucerne government.

In fact, not only the Kingdom of Lucerne, but almost every country in the New World banned the Church of the Red God, because this world belonged to the Seven Gods, and the orthodox church also belonged to the Seven Gods. Therefore, any church that did not belong to the Seven Gods was considered a cult. Joan of Arc never expected that her master would become friends with them.

“Although we are heretics, I have spared your life, so there’s no need for you to look at me like that. But…” Brand offered a suggestion:

"How about this, you turn around and leave now, go back to Aurelia's house immediately, or go to the Obsidian Knights headquarters right away. Although these are extraordinary times and I can't do other things, I can still guarantee your safety. Once you get to those two places, you'll be safe, and these things will be none of your concern."

Joan of Arc did indeed have such a plan, and she judged that those two places were the safest places at the moment. Even if the other party did not say so, she was still going to do it.

"What? Not planning to leave? It seems you really have no idea about the current situation and don't realize the dangerous predicament you've found yourself in."

Seemingly sensing Joan's hesitation, another voice rang out. This time, Joan was prepared, but when she saw the figure appear in the darkness, she was still stunned. She saw that the person was wearing a black robe with familiar golden patterns engraved on it. It was an Obsidian Knight.

"Oh, Joan of Arc, it's been a long time." The Obsidian Knight greeted Joan of Arc first.

“You are… Uncle Lorraine…” Jeanne recognized him. Jeanne had been frequently visiting the headquarters of the Obsidian Knights for the past three years. Lorraine was one of her teacher’s subordinates.

“Not only am I an Obsidian Knight, but the little girl beside you is also an Obsidian Knight,” Lorraine said. “Jeanne, the little one beside you is a traitor to the Obsidian Knights, whom the kingdom is hunting down all over the world.”

"In order to capture this traitor, our Knight King, the Sword of Omniscience has been dispatched and is hunting her down all over the world. As soon as she reveals even the slightest trace of spiritual energy, the Sword of Omniscience will come."

*

Chapter 54 The Knight King

"traitor?"

Lorraine, as expected of the Obsidian Knight, explained the current situation to Jeanne in just a few words, but at the same time, he plunged Jeanne into great fear.