The story of the black silk female knight

"What they said was—Be careful! She's a demon-slaying ninja from that prince's side! Her presence here means that prince is likely nearby, and we must return to report to the sect leader as soon as possible!"

"Your Highness? They're talking about Your Highness?"

Valensa raised an eyebrow; it was indeed a rather strange title.

Valensa is now widely known as the Sunflower Duchess and a High Paladin. She can be addressed as "Your Excellency" or "Your Highness," or, as a woman, "Miss," but by any measure, she doesn't belong to the rank of "Your Highness."

Those who can be addressed as "Your Highness" are either first-rank nobles, like Princess Elseris and the Crown Prince, or saints of the Church of the Sun, like Velenkasa, who was always addressed as "Your Highness" by Valensa.

Valensa is neither a saint nor a queen... which is very strange.

...No, it's not surprising at all.

Valensa suddenly realized that there were indeed people in this world who would call her Your Highness.

In any religion, whether it is a cult or a legitimate one, the god worshipped is supreme and is generally referred to as His Majesty by the believers.

What about God's children?

The status of a divine child in religion is never lower than that of a saint, and it is perfectly normal for her to be addressed as Your Highness.

In other words, the two suspicious individuals that Qianyecao encountered earlier were likely remnants of the Yuanling Society, who worshipped the evil god Yuanling. Only they could address the current Valensa as Your Highness and had sufficient motive to secretly collect Valensa's blood to cause trouble!

We can't let them get away with this!

"Let's go, let's look in the north!"

Valensa immediately decided to take Dreigan and Thousand Leaf Grass to search and see if they could find any remnants of the Abyss Spirit Society.

Valensa might have been more cautious with other enemies, sending a message to the Church of the Sun to gather more people, but there was no need to be so cautious with the remnants of the Abyss Spirit Society.

The source of power for the Abyss Spirit cultists is the Abyss Spirit Evil God. When Valensa fights the Abyss Spirit cult, it's like a father beating his son, leaving the other side with no chance to fight back.

Chapter 20 Succubus Saintess

After passing through the area where the clergy trained daily, the surroundings became noticeably quieter, and the hushed chants of the priests and nuns and the clash of swords and shields of the paladins could no longer be heard.

In the quiet corridor, only the sunlight accompanied us, and even the footsteps of the cat-eared maid leading the way were so light that they completely disappeared, as if the whole world had been muted.

But it's hard to feel fear, because the sunlight that shines through the dome and the layers of buildings is a comfort that can make people feel warmth and love from the depths of their souls.

Her soul was further purified, and her thoughts involuntarily became noble... Now, even if a group of hot beauties wearing only pantyhose danced in front of Valensa, she wouldn't have any thoughts.

At the end of the corridor lies Valensa's destination—the Grace Chapel of the core temple.

The space and layout of the chapel may not seem much different from the grace chapels of other cathedrals, but the quality is worlds apart.

Valensa could clearly sense that almost everything in the Hall of Divine Grace was a divine artifact... From the statue in the center of the hall and the chandelier on the ceiling to the plates on the altar in front of the statue, everything contained immense divine power.

After Valensa entered the Hall of Grace, the cat-eared maid silently bowed and retreated, while the church leaders and spectators had already gathered below the huge goddess statue in the center of the hall.

Standing in the very center were a man and a woman. The man was the Grand Master of the Holy Knights, the kind-looking uncle Valensa had seen in the picture book before. He wore full-body armor the same color as the sunlight, with a two-handed greatsword with a cross hilt on his back. His visor covered his seemingly kind face, giving him an air of heroism and majesty.

Next to the Grand Master of the Holy Knights is the host of Valensa's inauguration ceremony, and also the owner of the cat-eared maid—the saintess Zero Asbufit, who has succubus blood.

Zero's outfit was similar to what Valensa had seen on the projector yesterday. Her upper body was covered in a white dress resembling a bunny girl outfit, except for a golden sun symbolizing her status below the chest. The dress was also made of top-quality material, combining the characteristics of cotton, leather, and vinyl—comfortable, form-fitting, and glossy.

Her lower body was still wearing that peculiar white pantyhose—with golden circular patterns above and below the knees on both legs, and a gradient pink near the waist. The entire white pantyhose also exuded an incredibly powerful divine energy, making it difficult for anyone to stare at it for too long.

She was still barefoot, her small, slightly sheer white silk-clad feet floating above the floor... The only difference from the projection last night was that Zero was wearing a cloak behind her.

Valensa recognizes this cloak... It's clearly the same style as the one she's carrying, just with a different color scheme. It's probably another artifact that grants immunity to certain elemental damage and has a large storage capacity.

I didn't see the succubus's signature heart-shaped tail; it's probably hidden under her cloak.

Only Zero and the captain stood directly beneath the statue of the goddess. The other saintesses, vice-captains, and reserve saintesses stood on either side as spectators. The saintesses would stand at the front; for example, Velenkasa stood at the first position in the queue to Valensa's left and even winked at her when Valensa looked over.

In any other setting, Valensa would have greeted Velenkasa with a smile, but this time she was the protagonist of the ceremony and had to be serious and not act foolishly.

Beneath the silver skirt armor, her long legs in black stockings were taut and straight. Her beautiful face was unsmiling, her azure eyes held a solemn gaze, and her upright chest bore the weight of responsibility.

Taking steps with the exact same distance at each step, Valensa walked to the statue of the goddess. Following the procedure taught to her by the cat-eared maid, she first knelt down, clasped her hands in front of her, closed her eyes slightly, and prayed devoutly for about half a minute before opening her eyes and bowing to Saintess Zero and the Commander of the Holy Knights in turn.

"Greetings, Your Highness; greetings, Commander."

The Paladin Commander simply removed his visor and nodded kindly to Valensa without saying a word.

Saint Zero, with her succubus tail peeking out from under her cloak and swaying it gently twice, stepped forward, placed her hand on Valensa's shoulder, and began the ritual.

The process was nothing special; Saint Zero asked Valensa various questions, to which Valensa solemnly answered "yes" or "I do." After that, she took an oath similar to that of the US president during his inauguration, and that was the end of the process.

The last step is special: Saint Zero, acting on behalf of the Sun Goddess herself, bestows upon Valensa the Holy Seal of the Inner Temple Knights.

If the cross-hilted lightsaber is to the Inner Temple Knights what the emperor's dragon robe is to the emperor, then the Holy Seal of Truth is to the emperor's imperial seal... With the Holy Seal of Truth, Valensa can truly fulfill the duties and powers of the Inner Temple Knights. From now on, all the clergy in Fran will be under her command. Rika, Fran, and Shira will all become her subordinates. Even when Velenkasa carries out church missions within Fran, she must fully consult Valensa's opinions.

Such an important sacred seal of truth, Saintess Zero naturally wanted to keep it in a safe place... She chose to keep it in her mouth, under her tongue.

When transferring the Holy Seal of Truth to Valensa, Saint Zero kissed Valensa's forehead deeply and stamped her tongue on Valensa's forehead like a seal, thus completing the transfer of the Holy Seal of Truth.

As a golden sun mark, resembling Erlang Shen, appeared on Valensa's forehead and gradually faded, the entire inauguration process of the Inner Temple Knights was finally completed. The spectators on both sides applauded and offered their blessings to Valensa in turn.

"it is finally over."

Saintess Zero finally breathed a long sigh of relief, her serious aura vanished instantly, and the succubus tail with its heart-shaped tip spun merrily behind her like a propeller.

"Thank you for your hard work, Your Highness."

Valensa quickly expressed her gratitude.

This wasn't just polite talk; it's true that Saintess Zero was the one who worked the hardest during the entire inauguration ceremony.

The spectators simply stood by and watched, while the Grand Master of the Holy Knights was essentially a mascot standing in the center of the stage. Even Valencia, the main character, spent most of her time kneeling and answering questions with simple words.

Only Saint Zero had to be responsible for managing the entire ceremony, which was indeed a lot of work and effort.

"No need to be so polite~~"

Zero himself didn't seem to care, and while gently patting Valensa's shoulder, he lightly poked Valensa's leg with the tip of his succubus tail.

“Although this is probably the first time you’ve met me, I know you very well… I’ve been inaugurating the inner sanctum knights of your Baldr family since your great-great-grandfather’s generation. Rika and Fran, who have always been by your side, are also my students. Whenever you achieve something amazing over there, they report directly to me… I actually know you quite well!”

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness..." Valensa said again.

"Oh dear, I've told you not to be so polite with me!"

Zero suddenly became somewhat dissatisfied. The succubus tail that had been secretly poking Valensa's leg suddenly wrapped around one of Valensa's legs, and hooked an arm around Valensa's shoulder as well.

"Your father, your grandfather, your grandfather's father, and your grandfather's grandfather all called me Sister Ling. You can call me that too! There's no need to worry about status or seniority. We're all children of the goddess, and we're good sisters."

“...Uh, okay, Zero-neechan.”

Sensing the forceful threat of "If you dare to be polite to me again, I'll eat you up on the spot," Valensa immediately became obedient.

"Yes, that's right~~"

Zero then released his paws and tail, puffed out his chest, and stretched.

"It was already dark when you arrived at the Sanctuary yesterday, right? What happened after that? Did you go straight to sleep, or did Velenkasa take you around the Sanctuary for a bit?"

After speaking, he lowered his head again... For the first time, his chest blocked his view of the ground. Then he leaned forward slightly before pointing curiously at Valensa's shadow at her feet and asking:

"Is that the great witch in your shadow who has been sealed away for over 1700 years? She doesn't seem that powerful... she even seems quite weak. I could subdue her myself."

"...That's because my magic power is less than 0.1% right now!"

Being mocked like this, Frieda could not tolerate it any longer and immediately poked her head out of Valensa's shadow to loudly retort:

"A little succubus saintess like you, I could easily take on dozens of you back in the day! If it weren't for the Sun Goddess helping you out, how could I have been sealed away?"

Without giving Zero a chance to retort, Friedeja quickly shrank back, hiding in Valensa's shadow and pretending not to exist, refusing to come out no matter how Zero mocked her.

However, after this commotion, Valensa did relax a lot and could truly treat Saint Zero as a friend, rather than as a female boss and senior colleague.

She then answered Zero's previous question, briefly recounting her experience of being taken to a football match and casino by Velenkasa the previous night.

"How was it? That ball was really cool, wasn't it?"

Hearing Valencia's effusive praise for the game, Zero became even more smug, shaking his head and wagging his tail high in the air.

"That's an entertainment project I've been thinking about and perfecting for a long time. Even Her Majesty the Goddess enjoys watching it and rewarded me handsomely for it!"

"What? You invented that ball game, Zero-nee? Zero-nee is so amazing!"

Valensa seized the opportunity to shower Zero with compliments, making Zero even happier.

"Hehe, it's nothing... Unlike you paladins, the most important thing for a saintess is to know how to please Her Majesty the Goddess~~"

Zero smugly twirled the succubus tail twice more. Seeing that everyone else in the Divine Grace Hall had already left to attend to their own work, leaving only herself, Valensa, Velenkasa, and Ilana and Thousand Leaf Grass, who were there as Valensa's friends and family to observe the ceremony, she pondered for a moment and said:

"Well then... Sister Valencia, it's a rare treat for you to come to the Divine Continent. As your host, I'll personally treat you to a couple of days of fun. Your father's accident happened so suddenly back then, there must be many things he didn't have time to tell you... If you still have any questions about our church, feel free to ask me these two days, and I'll tell you everything I know."

"Alright, then I'll gladly accept your offer, Sister Zero."

Valensa nodded obediently and readily in agreement.

The inauguration ceremony took quite a while, and it was already noon. The group decided to stay in the temple for lunch and then go to the sanctuary to have some fun in the afternoon.

Compared to the various delicious and colorful dishes in the Sanctuary Restaurant, the lunch in the temple seemed quite simple, just a regular chicken rice bowl.

However, only when you actually taste it can you feel that every bite of chicken and every grain of rice is a concentrated essence of divine power, and one meal is equivalent to nearly half a year of cultivation for a priest.

Clearly, even the core temple wouldn't serve this kind of meal every day, and it must have been specially arranged by Zero to entertain Valensa.

Qianyecao benefited greatly this time. She only ate a small bowl of rice and a chicken wing, and the divine power flowing through her skin glowed faintly, making her life force visibly stronger.

Thousand Leaf Grass, who had already made considerable progress in her arduous cultivation in the Misty Mountains, stabilized her strength at the peak of the Lighthouse after receiving this wave of divine power... As long as she could digest and absorb this divine power, she could immediately go into seclusion to attempt to advance to the Radiant Rank.

Ilana also benefited greatly... Her strength had remained at the Star Glory level for almost 20 years, and this journey to the Holy Realm further improved her divine magic skills. She would probably be able to reach the threshold of the Moon Glory level soon.

"How is it? This chicken rice is delicious, isn't it?"

Zero, resting his chin on his hands, watched Valensa wolf down her food and smiled with satisfaction.

“Valenza, you must have already discovered the truth about this Holy Communion… It can actually transform into any kind of delicious food. Do you know why I chose chicken rice?”

"I know...I know that legend!"

Valensa nodded and swallowed the chicken leg, bone and all.

"It is said that the world's first sun believers made a wish to the goddess that everyone could eat delicious chicken rice at every meal, which triggered the first divine grace... Our church often distributes chicken rice as free food to believers, which seems to be because of this."

"Is this the version of the legend you heard...? Well, it's about the same."

Zero smiled and shrugged:

"The truth is not as complicated as the rumors say... Even the continent favored by the gods suffered many disasters when civilization was first born. Many people didn't even have tree bark and grass to eat and could only eat dirt... Chicken rice, a delicacy, only existed in dreams."

The first time Her Majesty the Goddess bestowed divine grace here was when all the starving humans on the continent were able to enjoy a delicious chicken rice meal... The church's rapid development only began after that.

Chicken rice has acquired various legends in order to commemorate this first communion in history... but there's really no need to make it so sacred; you can eat whatever you want.

"Hmm... I actually think this chicken rice is quite delicious!"

As Valensa spoke, she chewed up and swallowed the chicken head, ate a lot of rice, and in the blink of an eye, she had cleaned up another plate.

"Watching you eat, Valencia, makes me feel hungry too."

Zero smiled, then took out two more crystal glasses, conjured two steaming cups of milk tea using a miracle, and pushed one of them in front of Valensa:

"Don't rush, eat slowly... This is the continent favored by the gods. No matter how rare the ingredients are, you can eat as much as you want. You don't have to risk hunting powerful monsters. You just need to pray sincerely."

"Yeah... the Divine Continent is really great... *slurp*"

Valensa took a satisfied sip of her hot milk tea, hesitated slightly, and then tentatively looked at Zero, whose face was beaming with smiles:

"Speaking of which, I do have a question I'd like to ask Sister Zero."

"What's the problem? Tell me," Zero said.

"Well... why not make the continents of Frenoia and the East as beautiful as the continent of God's Blessing? With the capabilities of our church, it's actually quite simple, isn't it?"

Valensa asked the question that she hadn't been able to get an answer from Friggia the night before.

"...This question...um."

Zero's smile indeed became complicated.

It seems that Friggia was right last night; this matter may very well be related to the Church's dark history.

Just as Valensa hesitated about whether to give up asking, Zero sighed:

"In fact, even now, there are still quite a few brothers and sisters in the church who have this idea. And one of our duties as saints is to suppress this idea among our brothers and sisters... The rule that the Church of the Sun must never interfere in the internal affairs of human nations was born out of this."

"Why?" Valensa asked, puzzled.