They are all characters I control.

"Who are you?" Knight Commander Karl's voice was not loud, but clear enough to cut through the noise of the flames.

The woman did not answer.

She turned her head slightly to look at the still-burning street outline in the distance, as if checking the time or the progress of the other black-robed figures.

It seems we can't delay any longer.

Carl didn't ask any more questions. The other person was clearly neither a fool nor an arrogant individual. Even if he asked more questions, the other person wouldn't reveal a single useful piece of information.

It's better to get the other person to speak by taking action rather than by talking.

Taking two steps forward, Knight Commander Karl shifted his sword grip from defensive to offensive. He pressed closer, raising his sword and charging straight at the female leader.

The speed of this sword strike was extremely fast, and as a knight commander, Karl's combat skills were naturally beyond question.

Almost instantly, the longsword in his hand pierced straight towards the female leader's ribs. The female leader shifted her body backward, but not by much, just avoiding the tip of the sword. She leaned forward, and the short blade drew an arc in the firelight.

Not daring to be careless, Knight Commander Karl raised his sword to parry, the short blade grazing the spine of the blade with a crisp, sharp sound.

The female leader caught his force, used her short blade to pull it to the side, and adjusted her center of gravity the moment her heels landed, leaving no obvious gap.

This exchange shocked Knight Commander Karl even more.

It seems the other party is not a magician, and is not simply someone who can use magic; their swordsmanship is also extremely superb.

Who exactly is this opponent? There doesn't seem to be such a figure in the Empire.

Knight Commander Karl sheathed his sword and, without pausing, launched another attack, thrusting out from a different angle. This time, the strike was more steady, aiming directly for the gap where the female leader's shoulder armor was joined.

The female leader dodged to the side, but not by much. Her short blade parried the sword tip at a very short distance, then she lowered it, the tip pointing at his wrist.

Karl gave her no room to adjust her rhythm, taking a step forward and delivering three consecutive sword strikes from different angles.

The female leader retreated three times, each step landing precisely where she avoided the tip of the sword, as if using distance rather than force to counter his pressure.

As she retreated for the third time, the tip of Karl's sword grazed the edge of her cloak, slicing off a piece of fabric.

She glanced down at the cut, then looked up at him. His lips under the mask didn't show any obvious change in expression, but his aura had changed.

Seemingly annoyed by Knight Commander Karl's persistent pestering, the female leader raised her hand, palm down, and a dark red light condensed at her fingertips.

Was that the strange magical attack from earlier?

Karl didn't wait for her to finish condensing the light; he took a step forward, and his sword thrust straight at the female leader's wrist.

The female leader withdrew her hand to avoid the attack, the light dissipating from her fingertips, but as she retreated, the aftershock of the magic left a ring of fine cracks on the street.

He changed his strategy and no longer pursued accuracy, but instead blocked the female leader's movement path.

If such a magical attack had been unleashed, even Knight Commander Karl wouldn't dare say he would have emerged completely unscathed.

So Knight Commander Karl continued to wield his sword, keeping the female leader's attention focused on the front.

If they can continue to close the distance, they can restrain the opponent's magical abilities. Although this female leader's swordsmanship is also very strong, close combat is definitely advantageous for Knight Commander Karl.

The distance between them gradually shortened from several steps to within one step. In the brief moment of close proximity, Karl caught a faint mark on her wrist, a mark that was almost invisible in the firelight.

The next moment, the female leader's short blade was already pressed against the spine of his sword, pushing Knight Commander Karl back half a step.

The fire was still burning in the street, and shouts could be heard in the distance, sometimes near, sometimes far.

While Karl and the female leader were arguing, it was clear that the other men in black robes were not simply standing there watching.

Upon seeing several men in black robes leading Ronan, the Bookkeeper, Knight Commander Karl spoke up: "You've come specifically to take him away."

It is now clear that these men in black robes have not come to rescue the nobles or church members they captured earlier.

Instead, they came to rescue Ronan, the bookkeeper who had just been captured, which greatly surprised Knight Commander Karl.

Ronan, the Keeper of the Books, was not on his list, at least not on the list of those suspected of involvement in the Great Purge recommended by Knight Commander Karl. It was Rosemary and Bishop Augustine who made the decision.

So what did Rosemary and Bishop Augustine know that they didn't know?

Otherwise, why would these black-robed men attempting to break into the prison have come to the fore? Since they know that Ronan, the Keeper of the Books, has so many heretics behind him, it's a good thing for Knight Commander Karl.

No matter how many people were arrested before, whether they were nobles or church members, nothing was gained.

But these black-robed figures proved Knight Commander Karl's point: there were indeed heretics within the Empire.

"Ah……"

The female leader gave a cold laugh, neither answering nor denying.

Her silence spoke volumes more clearly than any answer; she had indeed come for Ronan.

Clearly, the Church of Goddess and the Church Knights did not truly understand who they had captured; Ronan, the Keeper of the Books, definitely possessed some secret unknown to the public.

Otherwise, there would be no way such a massive infidel attack on the capital could have been planned.

Despite having been hidden for so long, these heretics still managed to expose their existence.

Karl gripped the hilt of his sword, and just then, the sound of the church's side door being pushed open was exceptionally clear in the firelight.

Rosemary, the Marquis of Rost, and many church knights rushed out at this moment.

The situation had escalated from a one-on-one duel to a group battle.

Chapter 160 The Church's Loss

The moment Rosemary burst out of the side door of the church, the situation on the street had already been divided into several parts.

The firelight illuminated half of her profile, while the other half remained in shadow.

As the bishop's representative, Rosemary did not impulsively chase after Ronan, the stolen bookkeeper. Her gaze quickly swept across the entire battlefield.

Directly ahead, Knight Commander Karl was confronting a woman in black robes.

Without a doubt, since this woman in black robes was able to stand in front of Knight Commander Karl, she must be the leader of this group of men in black robes.

On the left, several church knights were engaged in a fierce battle with the men in black robes; on the right, another group of men in black robes were protecting a carriage as it attempted to turn around, and figures were being helped onto the carriage from its edge.

The figure being helped should be Ronan the Bookkeeper. Although capturing the woman in black robes is more important at the moment, Rosemary has no intention of letting Ronan go.

Originally, I just wanted to use Ronan the Bookkeeper to boost my performance a little, but I didn't expect to reap so many new credits.

If Ronan, the Keeper of the Book, is still in the hands of his church, then there will be opportunities to fish in the future in a planned manner, instead of being caught off guard and attacked by the other side this time.

"Marquis Rost, to the left!" Rosemary's voice wasn't loud, but it was clear enough to cut through the noise of the battlefield. "Don't let them get close to the carriage! Don't let the carriage leave!"

Although the Marquis of Rost had been injured earlier, he couldn't care less about that at this crucial moment.

"Understood, Miss Rosemary!" Without asking any further questions, he drew his short sword and charged toward the chaotic area on the left.

His swordsmanship wasn't top-notch, but he was still a nobleman.

He quickly replaced a knight who had been knocked back, and Marquis Rost blocked the black-robed man who was trying to break through the defenses.

The movements of those black-robed men had become less swift and powerful than before, and instead appeared somewhat heavy. However, Marquis Rost did not engage in a direct confrontation, but instead created an opportunity for the other knights to regroup and encircle them.

Rosemary didn't stop to assess the situation; instead, she crossed the burning street and moved in the direction the carriage had gone. Instead of immediately joining the fray, she circled around to the flank and stopped beside a stone pillar illuminated by the firelight.

It was about twenty paces from the carriage and about ten paces from the black-robed men's defensive line.

Just then, a strange noise came from the side where the Marquis of Rost was.

A man in black robes broke through the defenses and rushed towards the carriage, but was stopped by Marquis Rost.

Marquis Rost's short sword clashed with his opponent's dagger. In that brief exchange, the man in black swung his hand back at Rost's abdomen. The Marquis dodged backward and crashed into a low wall by the roadside with a thud.

With gritted teeth, the Marquis of Rost braced himself against the stone wall to regain his footing, but there was already a cut on his shoulder that had been torn from the edge of his shoulder guard.

This was more than enough for the Marquis of Rost.

A gap appeared in the left flank. Two more church knights tried to fill it, but there were more black-robed figures than they had anticipated. One of them attacked with a noticeable magical aftershock, knocking a knight and his shield back several steps.

Rosemary raised her hand, and a pale golden holy magic shot from her palm, forming a thin but sturdy barrier between the knight and the man in black, briefly separating her from him.

However, just as she completed the barrier, she heard an unusual sound.

It came from the direction of the church. It wasn't the sound of flames burning, nor the sound of the building expanding under high temperatures, but a deeper, muffled sound, like something long suppressed was being released from within.

Carl heard it too.

He turned his head, his gaze momentarily shifting from the female leader to the direction of the church.

The female leader lowered her short blade slightly, as if using the brief moment of the muffled thud to adjust her posture, but she neither retreated nor continued her attack. Instead, it was as if she had moved to a better spectator's seat to watch what was about to happen.

Then the explosion occurred.

The east wall of the church was torn apart from the inside, and the rubble and dust formed a sloping, grayish-white curtain that tilted and extended toward the street, shattering several windows around it with the shockwave.

A brief tremor ran through the ground, and the shockwave spread outwards along the ground, knocking the nearest people to the ground.

The areas that had not yet been illuminated by the firelight were suddenly covered by smoke and dust, and visibility became blurred for a short time.

Rosemary had taken two steps back before the explosion occurred.

The sound of rubble hitting the ground continued, like an earthquake rapidly subsiding. Dust quickly spread outwards, covering the steps in front of the church and the nearby streets.

She steadied herself amidst the smoke and dust, raised her hand to cover her mouth and nose, and turned to look in the direction of the carriage.

The carriage was moving. Dust and darkness provided natural cover for it, and its silhouette was gradually fading as it headed towards the other end of the street.

The figure in black robes also shrank, converging in the same direction, as if using the brief chaos created by the explosion to complete the evacuation.

The female leader who had been standing in front of Knight Commander Karl was nowhere to be found.

Knight Commander Karl stood at the street corner, his gaze passing over the dissipating smoke and dust, and looking at the distant church, where the damaged gaps were reappearing in the night.

He turned back to the direction in which the carriage had disappeared, but its outline was no longer visible.

As for the female leader, whose strength was no less than his own, it was impossible to find her now.

Rosemary lowered her hand; the dust was gradually settling, but it was still suspended in the air. She stood there for a moment before speaking: "That explosion didn't seem like an accident."

“Someone buried it beforehand.” Knight Commander Karl slowly walked to Rosemary’s side.

Rosemary looked toward the church, where the crack was still clearly visible in the moonlight, the bricks at the edges still warm, and a few small flames that had not yet been completely extinguished were still leaping around.

"Do you know who she is? That female leader actually managed to stop even you, a knight commander?"

“I don’t know.” Karl’s tone remained unchanged. “But she’s different from those ordinary heretics. She uses runic magic, and quite special runic magic at that. I’ve seen it mentioned a few times in the reports from the North.”

Rosemary's heart sank. The North?

That means those who dared to attack the church were not infidels from the empire, but infidels from the northern kingdom.

Unexpectedly, their original intention to seize credit and create opportunities for the Nolan family and Bishop Augustine instead provoked the infidels from the Northern Kingdom to invade the empire—or perhaps to rescue those they had captured?

Rosemary shook her head: "Let's go back to the church first. Ronan has already been taken away, so there's nothing we can do about it. Let's check the damage to the church first."

She paused, then uttered a meaningful remark: "This incident is likely to be a major problem, but it may not be entirely a problem."

She turned and walked toward the church, leaving Sir Karl, Marquis Rost, and the church knights bewildered.

However, since this is the bishop's spokesperson...

That probably means something even bigger is about to happen.

Chapter 161 Heretic Riot

The explosion and chaos at the church were unprecedented.

This is the first time since the defeat of the evil god emperor Claire that an attack on the church has occurred.

Many people find it hard to imagine who could have done such a thing.

But there is no doubt that heretics did attack the Church of the Goddess and even rescued Ronan, a prisoner who was originally imprisoned.

Such an event instantly threw the previously relatively peaceful empire into chaos. Needless to say, the various factions that had been secretly vying for power were forced to sit down at the same table.

The meeting was held in a small hall in the side wing of the church that had not yet been affected by the fire, and there were several thin cracks on the wall that had been transmitted from the next room.

It is indeed rare to see such cracks in the Church of the Goddess, which truly controls the empire. At the very least, this is definitely not because the Church of the Goddess is poor; it is entirely because the church has been severely damaged.

Sitting in this church, everyone could feel that the atmosphere had become extremely heavy.

Bishop Augustine, His Majesty Darian, and Bishop Simon sat on either side of the long table. Rosemary stood slightly behind Bishop Augustine, while Knight Commander Karl stood against the wall.

The candlelight from a few lampstands flickered slightly in the lingering smoke, dividing the faces of the three people into different areas of light and shadow.

Bishop Augustine spoke first, his voice calm and unhurried: "Last night's attack has been confirmed to be the work of the Church of Life. The carriage disappeared in the suburbs, and the investigation is still ongoing."

"The Church of Life?" His Majesty Darian looked up at him. "When did the Church of Life begin to exist in my capital?"