They are all characters I control.

Eleanor: I don't want him to die...

[Claire: Ha! So the Knight of Our Lady of Christ has finally developed feelings? Not considering things like faith and justice anymore?]

[Eleanor: I don't want to hear such things from you, the evil emperor.]

[Claire: It seems you have improved somewhat, but even without you saying so, I don't want William to die.]

Claire looked at William and remained silent for a moment. "If you want to die, I won't stop you. But have you thought about what will happen to Eleanor if you die? She'll feel guilty for your death and will feel guilty for the rest of her life."

William's lips trembled slightly.

“I understand you don’t want to live anymore. But you should at least let her know that you’re not dying for her. You’re dying for yourself.”

Claire's voice was cold as she spoke. "You are William Redgrave. You are a knight of the Church. You are her father. You deserve to die with dignity."

William stared at him, a complex light flashing in his eyes.

“Let’s go.” Claire released his arm. “Take her with you. I’ll cover your retreat.”

"you--"

"I am the Evil God Emperor, and I naturally have my own ways to deal with these heretics," Claire said calmly. "They can't kill me, and I won't so easily let go of Eleanor, a controllable tool."

William stared at him for a long time. Then he laughed. "You're still as awful as ever."

Although Claire says Eleanor is a prop, it's actually quite clear that Claire has been helping Eleanor all along.

He had also heard about Claire's previous control over Eleanor and knew what crisis Eleanor had encountered.

If Eleanor were to think for herself, she would probably have been executed by the apostate knights and those bishops who were unaware of the truth by now.

Even before that, they had already been killed by disguised heretics.

Even if Claire truly uses Eleanor as a tool, it's Eleanor's good fortune. William, who has fought against the evil god emperor several times, knows very well that Claire is not the type to discard used tools without a second thought.

But William is the same; he wouldn't easily let his woman take risks.

Just then, a voice came from behind.

"Leave? None of you will be leaving."

Mother Martha stood on the snow not far away.

Her nun's robes fluttered in the wind, her hair fell loose over her shoulders, and the smile on her face had vanished, replaced by a cold, condescending indifference.

She pulled a dark red crystal from her bosom. It was no ordinary Philosopher's Stone; the stone was engraved with fine runes and gleamed eerily in the snow.

Claire's pupils contracted slightly.

"What do you think is the reason William has survived until now? Luck? The favor of the goddess?" Sister Martha's voice was soft, but every word was clear.

"He should have died long ago. No matter how much he was nourished by the magic of the light element, no matter how powerful he was, he would have been drained of his blood long ago."

"They can't really believe he's still alive because of his own power, can they?"

"How foolish. He's only alive because I let him live."

As soon as she finished speaking, Sister Martha crushed the crystal.

William's body stiffened abruptly. His eyes instantly turned pure black, the veins beneath his skin bulged, and dark red lines spread across his body like snakes.

His body began to swell, his muscles bulged, his bones cracked, and his bluish-gray skin turned dark red, as if it had been burned.

“Father—!!!” Eleanor’s shout exploded in Claire’s mind.

Claire didn't move; he stared at William.

No, staring at the old man who was turning into a monster. His face was contorted, his features squeezed together, and fangs protruding from the corners of his mouth.

His fingers turned into claws, bone spurs grew on his back, and his clothes were torn by his expanding body.

This is undoubtedly a reaction to consuming the 'Philosopher's Stone'.

Chapter 113: Which Villain to Trust?

No one expected that Claire had not yet consumed the Philosopher's Stone at this moment.

It was William who turned the Philosopher's Stone into a monster; this man, who had always upheld the code of chivalry, had now become a blasphemer.

However, even a fool could see that William's current state was not voluntary.

"What did you do to him?" Claire's voice was as cold as ice as he stared at Sister Martha before him.

At this moment, there is no doubt that his anger has been provoked.

No one should humiliate a morally upright opponent, as long as the opponent is clean enough in the fight and does not resort to any underhanded means.

Using underhanded methods to deal with him, frame him, or humiliate him is an extremely shameful thing.

At least that's how Claire sees it.

Even though the Church of Goddess condemned them, it didn't stop Claire from acknowledging William.

But now, looking at William, who had lost his mind after being so schemed against by Sister Martha, Claire truly had the urge to kill him.

It is because many good men like William sacrificed themselves in the wars of the Church of Goddess that so many apostate knights have emerged in the 'Holy Lance Knights' of this northern kingdom.

Brave church knights always died on the front lines, while cowardly and treacherous church knights continued to tear down walls and roofs in the rear.

This was true for the archbishops at the top of the church, and also for the apostate knights at the bottom.

“Feed her.” Sister Martha’s voice was calm; she was completely unconcerned about Claire’s anger at this moment.

Or rather, Claire's anger was unimportant to her at that moment.

Sister Martha was not entirely unmoved as she watched William's body continue to swell and grow larger, his physique becoming increasingly terrifying.

At least she had some regrets at this moment, because this meant that William would no longer be able to provide blood with that high purity of light element magic.

“I used the Philosopher’s Stone. A second-rate, inferior stone, the kind that turns ordinary people into monsters. I fed him a little every day for over twenty years.”

"Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to hold on until now, no matter what, he would have been bleeding out all this time."

"Even though he was a highly respected knight in the Order of the Church, he couldn't have survived until now; his body had long been corrupted by the Philosopher's Stone."

“Those powers lay dormant within him, like seeds, waiting to sprout.” She looked at William, a flicker of pity in her eyes, but it vanished quickly. “Now, the seeds have sprouted.”

While taking blood, they replenished William with the 'Philosopher's Stone,' made from the blood of other church knights using the light elemental magic.

This is why William is still alive at this moment.

Even though such feeding would reduce the concentration of light element magic in William's blood, it still contained more light element magic than the blood of some church knights.

Therefore, secretly giving William the Philosopher's Stone was quite worthwhile, and it was also partly intended to control William.

The reason I didn't do that back in my hometown was simply because I didn't expect William to be able to unleash such a powerful attack with a rusty broken sword.

And they also didn't expect that among the people who came to this old home with Claire, someone could use teleportation magic.

This time, however, Sister Martha was fully prepared.

She will no longer allow William and 'Eleanor' to escape. Only then will the effect of the 'Philosopher's Stone' within William be triggered, completely transforming him into his current form.

But this also means that William will no longer be able to be used to create the Philosopher's Stone.

Once the power of the Philosopher's Stone is used, the blood in the body will change, and at that time, even if it returns to normal, it will be of no use.

Claire gripped the hilt of her sword, a surge of anger rising within her as she listened to Sister Martha's words. "You're insane, a truly madwoman, and a heretic at that?"

“Mad?” Sister Martha laughed. “I just don’t want to die. In this world where power and talent are everything, everyone is pursuing greater power. What right do you have to say that to me?”

Claire didn't want to lecture Mother Martha; he looked at William at that moment.

The knight who once wore silver armor, shouted "bonds" and "friendship," and was stronger the more people he had, has now become a monster with a dark red body, exposed fangs, and pitch-black eyes.

Due to the painful physical changes, William's body no longer showed any trace of its former familiarity.

“William!” Claire called out.

William looked up, his pure black eyes devoid of warmth, filled only with emptiness and madness.

He opened his mouth and let out a roar that was not human, then lunged at Claire.

Claire dodged to the side, the blade slicing towards William's arm. The blade grazed his dark red skin, leaving a faint white mark.

There was no blood, no wound, not even a broken skin.

Without a doubt, William, activated by the power of the Philosopher's Stone, possessed power that did not originally belong to him, even exceeding the scope of a church knight, and was no longer a normal human being.

William swung his claw back, and Claire parried with her sword. The immense impact sent him staggering back several steps, leaving his hand numb.

Mel stood beside Sister Martha, watching this scene, a slight smile playing on her lips. "This is the true power of the Primal Blood. It doesn't make people stronger, it turns them into the strongest monsters."

“You’re not after Eleanor,” Claire said, staring at Sister Martha. “You’re after William. You’ve raised him for over twenty years just to turn him into this.”

Mother Martha did not deny it.

“Eleanor is just a backup plan.” Claire’s voice was cold. “Her body can perfectly absorb the Philosopher’s Stone because you have studied her blood. You raise her not to use her blood to make medicine, but so that you can control her when she eats the Philosopher’s Stone.”

Mother Martha's pupils contracted slightly.

Claire had clearly anticipated this. This was also why she hadn't turned William into a monster upon their first meeting—because that would have exposed her true intentions.

After receiving confirmation, Claire gripped her sword tightly, facing the charging William.

[Eleanor: ...Is it true?]

[Eleanor: Did she raise me to turn me into a monster?]

[Claire: Now is not the time to discuss this, but you must remember that you yourself cannot consume the Philosopher's Stone.]

[Eleanor: And what about you? Didn't you just say you'd eat the Philosopher's Stone?]

Claire gritted her teeth and parried William's claws with her sword, but was forced back three steps by the impact.

[Claire: Because I am not your consciousness to begin with. Even if I am controlled after consuming you, I can still transfer control of my body to you. Besides, I am the immortal and indestructible evil god emperor.]

Eleanor: ...

He knew perfectly well that the evil emperor was now controlling his body.

But at this moment, Eleanor unexpectedly felt a sense of security.

It's unclear whether it was because this evil god-emperor had been protecting her all along, or because Sister Martha was even more evil than the evil god-emperor.

Chapter 114 You can just watch.

The battle at this point was no longer Claire's battle against the heretics.

Instead, he became William, who was driven mad by the Philosopher's Stone and was completely controlled by Mother Martha.

Having completed his transformation, William stared with his beast-like eyes, turned to look at Claire, and pounced with astonishing speed.

Claire dodged to the side, her weapon unable to inflict much damage on William at that moment.

William's body is no longer human.

Its dark red skin resembled a layer of armor, its muscles bulged, and bone spurs protruded from its shoulder blades and elbows. Each claw strike was accompanied by a shrill screech that tore through the air.

Claire took three steps back, her hand going numb.

[Eleanor: Can you win?]

Claire: Shut up and watch.

William lunged again.

Claire didn't try to take the hit head-on. As she dodged to the side, she conjured an arc of electricity in her left hand and wrapped it around William's wrist.

An electric current spread along William's dark red skin, causing him to hesitate for a moment.

But this only lasted for a moment. William grabbed the arcing tentacles with his backhand and ripped them off. The current hissed in his palm, but he didn't even flinch.

At that moment, Megan made a move.

She crouched in the snow, letting out a low, animalistic whine.

It wasn't an attack, it was interference. The sound directly affected the mental level; William's pupils contracted slightly, and his movements slowed down a beat.

Dorothy rushed up from the side, picked up a short knife from the ground, and plunged it into William's lower back.

The knife tip pierced half an inch before getting stuck in the muscle and refusing to go any further. William swung his claw back, sending Dorothy flying. She crashed into a tree and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Dorothy!" Eleanor's comment exploded in the chat.