They are all characters I control.

It is essential for apostate knights to know who is most loyal within the Church Knights.

It's also because they've been undercover in the Knights for so long, diligently working on what they're doing.

After all, distinguishing between friend and foe, and figuring out who is the most important person to be wary of and eliminate, is the issue that apostates care about most, so as to avoid being exposed by the loyalists.

Of course, the result was that Eleanor was an unquestionable loyalist.

Regardless of whether she was raised by Mother Martha, one of the high priests of the Church of Life, or was the result of deliberate cultivation, at least in Eleanor's view, the Church must be protected with one's life.

Only someone like that would return to the Knights even knowing they would be suspected.

Naturally, Karl, the apostate, seized the opportunity to shift the blame onto Eleanor, making her the scapegoat for everything Karl had done.

Elinor must still want to return to the Knights and clear her name, right?

But all those previous events could be questioned, because the only witnesses were Karl, the apostate, and the terrified civilians.

But if Eleanor strangles herself now, she will have no hope of clearing herself of suspicion as a heretic.

At this moment, Karl thought he had Eleanor under control, but he did not feel the hand that was gripping his neck loosen at all.

Things didn't seem to be going as he'd hoped, and his crisis showed no signs of abating.

"Uh...uh...you...you're crazy?"

"Hey! Ellie, Eleanor, are you crazy? Didn't you hear what I just said... uh...? Let go..."

"Damn it! You're completely... cough..."

In Karl's eyes, the previous composure and control were gone; now he finally knew fear.

The Eleanor in front of him was not the Eleanor he knew.

Without a doubt, Eleanor's eyes at this moment were eyes that wanted to kill him.

"How ridiculous! Is this how you beg for mercy? Do you think you're so superior and have the upper hand? Do you think you get all the good things?" Claire looked at the apostate knight with a mocking expression.

If it were before, he wouldn't have thought that this apostate Karl was such a foolish person.

After all, he was able to deceive Knight Commander Will and himself along the way, and so many church knights did not find anything wrong with it, nor did they suspect him.

But now, is it out of fear or overconfidence? This guy is foolish enough to threaten someone when he's about to die.

"So what makes you think I'll be sentenced to death after being imprisoned, and that you apostates will plan to silence me?"

"By now, the Order of the Church must have been infiltrated quite a bit by you, right? I'll die whether I go back or not, so I might as well kill you first."

"As long as I kill you, why should I care about going back to the church? Killing you is also doing my best for the church."

"Perhaps you don't have much faith, but don't ignore the faith of others. When did you, a heretic, dare to be so arrogant in front of a church knight?"

Claire's words silenced Eleanor, who was watching this scene through the system.

Yes, if it's true, as Karl, the apostate knight, claims, that he still wants to return to the church, then the result is that he's now being threatened by them.

Any hesitation, any wavering in the face of this apostate knight, would be a disrespect to one's own faith. At this moment, Claire, the evil god emperor, was teaching Eleanor this very lesson.

"You, you're insane..." Karl was now feeling the fear of death.

Fortunately, just when he was about to suffocate to death, and Carlisle was about to break his neck, he was saved.

The church knights appeared at the door.

"Let him go!" The knight at the door rushed in, his longsword drawn.

Claire didn't let go. He stared into Carl's eyes, his voice as calm as if he were commenting on the weather. "Be careful, don't try to fight me to the death, I have ways to kill you."

It wasn't until the surrounding church knights arrived that Claire's hand, which was gripping Karl's neck, was pried off.

Carl, who had survived the ordeal, looked at Claire with eyes full of fear.

Chapter 122 The Emperor's Teachings

The prison van started moving again just as dawn was breaking.

Having learned his lesson yesterday, Carl didn't try to show off in front of Claire again.

The other church knights also had some reservations about Karl's unauthorized contact with the imprisoned prisoners, so the night passed quite quietly.

Claire leaned against the wooden plank of the carriage, looking out at the gray sky through the iron bars.

The snow had stopped, but the wind was strong, rustling the bare branches of the roadside trees. Dorothy was curled up in a corner, dozing, while Megan lay motionless, clutching the dead cat, like a statue.

As for William, he remained motionless in the prison cart, still in that monstrous posture.

Although on the surface it seems no different from a dead person, a closer look reveals that his chest is rising and falling, clearly indicating that he is still alive.

However, none of them knew what their destination was.

Although Claire wasn't flustered at all, and Megan and Dorothy were also acting like they were giving up, there were still people who were more impatient than them.

Eleanor's thoughts popped into my head.

[Eleanor: Aren't you worried at all? Still sitting here doing nothing? Aren't you afraid of being tried and executed?]

[Claire: What? So you're finally afraid of dying? You used to be so fearless, even showing concern for your opponents like a saint.]

Eleanor: ...

These are very unpleasant words, especially since they came from the mouth of the evil god emperor Claire.

However, Eleanor was unable to defend herself.

She used to believe that the church must be upright and honest, and that any misunderstandings and slanders she suffered would be cleared up.

But in reality, he almost got executed.

He was captured by Karl, the apostate knight, and became his prisoner, being escorted along with other church knights.

As it turns out, the Knights of the Cleric were not always so righteous and correct.

[Eleanor: So what you said before... were you serious?]

Claire was a little confused. Had he just said something?

Does that mean Eleanor is a saint?

[Eleanor: It was what you said to Karl last night.] His gaze fell on the increasingly close silhouette of the town outside the window.

[Eleanor: Regarding faith, you said not to underestimate one's own faith?]

[Claire: Did you listen?]

[Eleanor: ...I didn't expect you to say something like that. You are the evil emperor, the one whom the Church of the Goddess is meant to punish.]

Eleanor: You killed civilians, you killed church knights, you controlled my body to do those things.

[Eleanor: I thought you didn't care about faith at all.]

Claire: Compared to a church knight like you, I certainly don't have much faith, but I have goals.

[Eleanor: Goal? What is your goal?]

Claire: My understanding is that all people in the world should be happy.

[Eleanor: ...You're the evil emperor, aren't you?]

Claire: So this is how your church evaluates me? Why should I care what others call me? I just need to keep walking my own path. Even if I fail or encounter trouble, it doesn't matter; I'll try my best to solve it.

[Claire: Even if I were the Evil God Emperor, couldn't I have my own goals, my own beliefs? How foolish.]

[Claire: Besides, what have I done? Can you name a few heinous crimes I've committed? Not against nobles and the church, but against ordinary people?]

Eleanor: ...

For the time being, I really couldn't think of anything Claire had done to the common people.

Although the church has always recounted that historical memory, there are many records and texts.

Without exception, none of them described Claire's crimes in much detail; at least, there were no crimes committed against civilians.

The reasons given by the Church of Goddess for attacking Claire were the massacre of nobles, the war against neighboring countries, and the attempt to belittle and suppress the archbishops of the Imperial diocese.

As a result, after the Goddess Church launched a war against the evil god emperor, the archbishop was killed, and the evil god emperor Claire himself was purified by the saintess.

However, everyone had some doubts about the fact that Claire was completely erased by the saint, because there were many rumors in the church that Claire was just sealed away.

If the person currently controlling her body is this evil god emperor, then Claire is indeed not dead.

By now, Eleanor's observations of this 'evil god' have indeed made her increasingly believe what her father William said: that this 'evil god' is Claire.

What's particularly striking is that Claire's ruthless words at this moment are very much in line with the personality of the Evil God Emperor.

[Eleanor: So you also have your own beliefs?]

Claire: I don't believe in goddesses. But I believe that what I'm doing is right. That's enough.

Claire: Then for people like you, you must also believe in yourselves and follow the path you've chosen without hesitation.

Claire: Those apostates don't need any words; just take action.

[Claire: Now that you've already been branded a heretic, why not go and kill those real heretics who slandered you? Isn't that a path to take? Or rather, do you still want to be coerced by the heretics?]

Eleanor's comments paused for a moment.

[Eleanor: So when you killed those civilians, you thought it was right?]

This isn't condemnation; it's more like a feeling of confusion.

This female knight of the church was deliberately educated by Sister Martha into her current form and personality, which was naturally to make it easier for her to manipulate Eleanor.

In raising Eleanor, Sister Martha also feared that Eleanor would kill her, so it was necessary to educate Eleanor to be so naive and innocent in her faith in the Church of Goddess.

Claire: They stood in my way. They turned their swords on good people, and I won't show them any mercy. Everyone who is your enemy is evil, and you are justice.

Claire: Can you do that? If you can't, then you're not righteous, because you yourself doubt your own sense of justice.

Claire: True justice is about resolving problems regardless of the cost, using appropriate methods and weighing the pros and cons, and not being disturbed or influenced by any distractions. If someone gets in your way, just do justice. It's a simple yet difficult thing.

Eleanor was processing his words.

No one had ever discussed this issue in such depth before, and Eleanor was deeply shocked at this moment.

Especially since the person reprimanding her at this moment was none other than the evil god Claire.

This emperor, who was recorded as a brutal evil god, now appears more rational than anyone else.

Chapter 123 The Collapse of Order in the Northern Kingdom

Eleanor, a church knight, never imagined that she would one day be taught by the evil god emperor.

However, this evil god emperor did indeed have some unexpected aspects.

However, for Eleanor, Claire's ideas were still too radical. If the two were face to face, Eleanor would probably just keep her distance from Claire.

Anyway, Claire is the church's recognized evil god emperor, and that identity will not change.

The problem is, however, that this evil god-emperor is now in control of his own body.

This put Eleanor in a dilemma. If she couldn't persuade this evil god emperor, she feared she would go against her own will and arbitrarily attack the common people.

It wasn't just because of his own beliefs, but also to avoid being blamed again.

So Eleanor still spoke up, trying to change the mind of the evil god emperor in front of her.

Eleanor: I'm not good at taking action against people who are being threatened; they are victims too.

[Claire: So, after being threatened by heretics, they attacked me, an innocent bystander, and I'm just supposed to take it? Where did the Knights of the Church teach you to stand when you yourself were about to be killed?]

[Eleanor: ...We are stronger and can control the extent of our injuries. Even if we pay a price, it's possible to resolve the issue.]

[Claire: So while you were still communicating with those people, I had already ended the fight and resolved the trouble. While you were befriending that person, the infidels had already stabbed you in the back.]

[Eleanor: So, is killing those people the only option...?]

Claire: There might be other options, but taking direct action to deal with the other party is the easiest and simplest method. It's important to understand what you're doing and the importance of what you're doing.

[Claire: Do you feel you should save one person? Or a group of people? And even more? If you had to kill an innocent person to save a large group of people, what would you choose?]

Claire: Noble knight of the church, are you hesitating? Well, let me tell you, what would you do if you killed an innocent person to save a group of criminals?

[Claire: Right? Are you thinking about these questions now? Then let me ask you again, if killing someone incited by a heretic could save a group of kind, compassionate people fighting for justice, what would you choose?]

[Claire: You don't need to tell me the answer, nor do you need to give me any ideas. You've already figured out the answer in your own head, right?]