They are all characters I control.

The nun stood there, her face grim, but she did not give the order to attack. Mel stood beside her, his grey-blue eyes flickering in the torchlight.

The surrounding heretics remained standing, having surrounded several people, but did not make a move.

"And what about you? Aren't you going to side with them?" Claire retorted.

Upon hearing this, Dorothy smiled and said, "I don't get along with them. Have you forgotten that they attacked me along with them? Besides, even if they killed me, it wouldn't matter. This body of mine is just a substitute."

Sigh, even this 'Church of Life' isn't working.

Why are they all fighting amongst themselves? Even when Mel was with Dorothy, he was dissatisfied with her and preferred to stay with Claire and the church knights rather than go to Dorothy.

Dorothy is in the same boat now, though at least Mel and Mother Martha seem to have a close relationship.

"Really? Then why didn't she make a move? I don't think Sister Martha and Mel intend to kill me; they're just standing there without moving," Claire said leisurely.

Dorothy followed his gaze and saw Sister Martha looking at her, raising an eyebrow in return. "You're asking me? I don't know either."

"Anyway, it won't matter if I die; this is just a substitute."

"I only intended for this stand-in to keep an eye on the movements of the Church Knights, but I didn't expect to run into you."

“Following you, I’ve gained quite a bit. I know Martha’s location and that she’s keeping this old man captive, so whether I live or die doesn’t matter to me, but you’re in trouble.”

Looking at Dorothy, who seemed completely at ease and unperturbed, Claire calmly picked up the Philosopher's Stone and examined it.

"Why are you so eager for me to eat the Philosopher's Stone? That's interesting. You and that woman over there both want me to eat the Philosopher's Stone."

"So, after I eat this 'Philosopher's Stone,' I won't gain any power; instead, it will make me lose the ability to resist, right?"

“After all, if eating the Philosopher’s Stone could really pose a threat to you, you wouldn’t have given it to me, and Sister Martha over there wouldn’t have watched me eat it.”

"I remember you, Scarlet Witch, are also skilled in poisons and potions, right? That means there was something wrong with those weakening potions Sister Martha used when we were trying to escape the basement?"

As expected, nothing can fool her.

Dorothy looked at Claire, who showed absolutely no intention of consuming the Philosopher's Stone, and spread her hands.

Since the other party already knows, there's no need to keep pretending. It's better to lay it all out and say, "The potion that Sister Martha put out earlier was indeed problematic."

"As someone who also enjoys poisoning, I can tell you that those potions not only weaken your power, but can also cause you to fall into confusion, hallucinations, or even lose consciousness when you consume the Philosopher's Stone."

Since she couldn't fool her, Dorothy wasn't going to let Mother Martha get away with it.

Revealing the effects of Sister Martha's potion at this time would also benefit Eleanor.

Anyway, Dorothy isn't with Martha, and if things continue this way, Martha will only capture Elinor if she doesn't have any other solutions.

Martha capturing Eleanor is certainly a good thing, but Dorothy won't get any benefit from it.

It would be better to let 'Eleanor' run away, since this guy isn't falling for it and won't eat my 'Philosopher's Stone' at all.

“I see.” Claire nodded, then looked at Sister Martha and Mel.

The other party is too confident, actually standing here watching him.

Logically, shouldn't they have just grabbed him first and then forced him to drink the Philosopher's Stone potion?

The reason for their caution, besides their confidence, is probably also because William is there. They are unsure if the attack that destroyed the basement will happen again.

Or perhaps Mother Martha actually wanted to capture her alive?

Not wanting to hurt herself, this body actually held great value for Mother Martha.

Eleanor: ...

Claire didn't care about Eleanor's feelings at all; it was about time for this saintly knight to wake up.

"Even so, what way do you have to escape in this situation?" Dorothy's words interrupted Claire's thoughts.

Claire, however, was not worried at all. He turned to look at Megan behind him.

The cellmate, who was holding the dead cat's body, remained silently squatting there.

She only slightly raised her head when Claire walked up to her.

"Alright, now it's your turn to make a move, isn't it? If you don't, William won't be able to be saved. William is very valuable to you, isn't he? And to the Church of Goddess."

Claire's words successfully made Megan widen her eyes, which had been squinting the whole time.

Chapter 70 Teleportation! Activation

Claire knew perfectly well that there was no such thing as a truly innocent cellmate who could stay with her all the way.

Even when Megan was in the 'Holy Lance Knights' prison, she didn't take the initiative to talk to them.

Throughout the journey, Megan did nothing and said nothing.

It seemed as if Megan had no intention of being with him at all, and it was Grace and he who kept pulling her along.

However, such a person possesses a cry that can instantly cause apocalyptic knights excruciating headaches.

And the cat corpse in her arms, and her knowledge of holy magic was so vast that she could rattle it off effortlessly.

Megan did not help when fighting Mother Martha, but she was not afraid either.

It's hard to imagine that an ordinary woman wouldn't have any reaction at all, and when William used 'Light of Faith' to unleash that attack, Megan wasn't shocked at all.

Claire couldn't possibly miss the problem with such a calm reaction.

Megan paused for a moment after hearing what Claire said.

She raised her head, and her previously squinted, greyish-white eyes slowly opened. They weren't cloudy, lifeless greyish-white, but clear, sharp, and carrying a light Claire had never seen on her face before.

She looked at Claire for a while.

This was clearly an attempt to determine whether Claire was testing the waters or something else.

Finally, Megan's aura changed.

"When did you find out?" Her voice was soft and hoarse, as if she hadn't spoken in a long time.

At this moment, Claire was truly certain of her identity, and probably even knew that she was not only a member of the Church of Goddess, but also a member of the Inquisition.

Claire squatted down in front of her, looking her in the eye. "You noticed it a long time ago, didn't you? Anyway, I felt something was off about you."

After seeing Ophelia's information and learning about the situation in this 'Northern Kingdom', Claire realized that Megan was probably not one of Ophelia's people.

If that's the case, then it explains why Ophelia remained so calm even at this moment.

After all, it's not unusual for a black-robed nun from the Inquisition to be watching Dorothy's double.

“Is that so…” Megan lowered her head, looking at the dead cat in her arms.

The cat closed its eyes, curled up in a ball, like a delicate specimen.

She was seriously reflecting on where she might have fallen short.

It would be fine if only her identity was discovered, but if the other party also realized that she was a black-robed nun from the Inquisition, that would be a big problem.

“Impossible.” At this moment, Grace, who is also known as Dorothy the Scarlet Witch, came over from the side.

She frowned as she scrutinized Megan, appearing even more agitated than Megan herself. "She has absolutely no magic. I've seen so many church knights, none like her. If she were from the Church of the Goddess, I couldn't possibly not recognize her."

Dorothy never imagined that Megan could actually be a member of the Church of Goddess, since Megan was the one who had always been with her.

Doesn't this mean that the other party knows everything she did and said before?

She wasn't just an ordinary church member; she was from the Inquisition, the institution dedicated to killing traitors and heretics, and possessed the power of a saintly agent entrusted by the goddess.

“Of course you wouldn’t recognize her,” Claire said cheerfully, seemingly unconcerned. “Because she’s not an ordinary church knight.”

He deliberately didn't expose her directly, lest Megan find out and cause trouble.

Megan simply looked at the cat in her arms, gently stroking its withered back with her fingers.

"So she can get you out of here? You want the people from the Church of Goddess to help us escape? I don't mind." Dorothy glanced at Megan a few times.

Although the people of the Church of Goddess are terrifying, Dorothy's body is just a molted substitute.

It doesn't matter if we rely on the power of the Goddess Church.

Dorothy preferred spending time with the Holy Knights rather than with Sister Martha and Mel.

"It's possible, but there are just too many people..."

Megan glanced at the group: Claire (Eleanor), Dorothy, and William.

Although she has a way to escape, the effect will be reduced if there are too many people.

Upon hearing this, Claire and Dorothy were surprised that Megan actually had a way to escape, while William was more concerned about the escape itself.

“I’m worthless.” William’s voice came from beside the tree trunk, hoarse and weary. “You don’t need to worry about me. Take Eleanor and go.”

"You have no value?" Claire turned around and helped the old knight to his feet. "Your life is your greatest value."

William paused for a moment, then gave a wry smile.

He never imagined that when he was a church knight, he often fought and clashed with Claire, and they were always enemies. Yet, at this moment, it was Claire who was helping him up.

Claire stood up, took a step back, and gave Megan some space.

“Meghan, if you don’t act now, William really won’t survive.” His voice was soft. “His life is important to you, isn’t it? And it’s important to the Church of Goddess as well.”

Megan's eyelashes fluttered.

She looked up at Claire, then at William, and finally at the cat in her arms.

Then, she slowly stood up.

The nun, who had been following them like a burden the whole way, stood up. Her movements were slow, as if her bones were rusty and she needed to loosen them up one joint at a time.

But the moment she stood up straight, an invisible pressure emanated from her.

She gently pressed her finger on the cat's back.

The dead cat opened its eyes.

Its eyes were grey-blue, exactly like Megan's. It stood up from Megan's arms, shook off the grey, and then opened its mouth, letting out a very soft, thin cry that seemed to come from a very, very far place.

"Meow."

It wasn't the sound of an ordinary cat. The sound carried a kind of magic—a pure, refined magic, imbued with a sacred aura.

Unlike the holy light Claire felt from Isabelle, this magic was deeper and thicker, like the water of a deep pool that had accumulated for hundreds of years.

A halo of light appeared beneath Megan's feet.

The aperture spreads outward, outlining intricate patterns on the ground.

That's not an ordinary magic circle; it's a teleportation circle.

"This..." Dorothy's eyes widened. "This is the Goddess's Church's teleportation array?!"

“Come on,” Megan said softly. “Come in.”

Without hesitation, Claire stepped into the light circle. Grace followed, and William was dragged in by Claire.

"Wait—!" Sister Martha's voice came from the hillside, filled with anger, "Stop them!"

The bowstring twanged, and arrows rained down.

But when the arrows reached the edge of the light circle, they were deflected by a transparent, water-like light curtain.

"Shoot! Shoot!" Mother Martha's voice grew increasingly shrill.

Mel stood beside her, his grey-blue eyes fixed on the teleportation array. He pulled a scroll from his pocket and tore it open.

A dark red light burst from the scroll, like a knife, slashing at the light screen of the teleportation array.

The light screen shook violently.

However, the teleportation array was already complete, and Claire and the others instantly disappeared from the heretics' sight.

Chapter 71 The Trial of Sister Megan

The white light of the teleportation magic dissipated.

The first thing Claire felt when she opened her eyes wasn't the grass or the moonlight, but the cold.

The biting cold felt like being dragged from a warm bed and thrown into an ice cellar. Although they were in the northern kingdom, their location was colder than anywhere else.

Looking down, he saw that he was standing on snow, not mud, not grass, but snow. The moonlight was bright, but not the cool, clear light of the hillside; it was a pale, deathly light.

"Where is this? Is this the teleportation magic of the Goddess Church? It seems to be quite effective. No wonder you guys can keep popping up everywhere, and we can't kill you all." Grace's voice came from beside her, tinged with a hint of amazement.