As the intense light flashed, Viscount Fink completely lost all signs of life.

On the surface, it looked like he had been purified by Holy Light, but in reality, Velian had directly crushed him to death.

The old knight’s heart trembled, lowering his head even further.

“Thank you for your mercy, Saintess.” His voice was respectful and low.

“Suri Fink committed such atrocities because he was corrupted by the power of Corruption and lost his sanity… I humbly request Your Highness to allow me to bring his remains back to the family for proper burial, as a final act of loyalty.”

“As you wish.”

With that person dealt with, Anlis’s crisis was temporarily resolved, and Velian had no interest in concerning herself with anything else.

‘Heh heh~’

Now that she had eliminated Anlis’s growth opportunity and wiped out a key turning point from the original plot, her growth speed would surely be weakened.

After all, a Hero’s growth often depended on tempering through hardship and crisis, without that driving force, it would be far more difficult for Anlis to grow into someone capable of opposing her.

The mind ultimately needed great upheaval to mature.

In the end, she had outplayed everything.

The old knight bowed respectfully, stood up, and gathered several knights willing to follow him, carefully collecting the remains of Viscount Fink before preparing to return to the castle.

At the same time, the villagers crowded around, their faces filled with reverence and gratitude.

However, hearing them repeatedly call her “Saintess” made Velian feel a wave of helplessness.

She was a Demon Lord, how could she be worshipped as a Saintess?

Moreover, the identity of a Saintess was far more prestigious and conspicuous than that of a nun.

If this matter spread, it would inevitably attract the attention of the upper ranks of the Holy Church, and when that happened, this “Saintess” with no records or background would certainly be exposed and investigated thoroughly.

Velian quickly waved her hand, wearing a gentle smile as she explained sincerely.

“You’ve misunderstood, my name is Velian, I’m not a Saintess, just an ordinary little nun of the Holy Church, I only know a bit of Holy Light magic.”

The villagers all nodded as if they understood.

“Oh, we understand, we understand.”

‘What do you even understand?!’

“Sigh, I really am not a Saintess.”

Just as she was about to argue further, Velian’s smile suddenly froze, her expression turning serious.

She sensed two extremely pure and powerful holy auras rapidly approaching Kachi Village.

Before long, two figures appeared in an open area nearby.

Judging by their distinctive attire, they were clearly two archbishops.

One was Archbishop Gran, who governed this region, and the other... seemed to be Archbishop Meli, sent by the central church for inspection.

The two exchanged glances, both somewhat surprised.

They had intended to ask the villagers what had happened, why they could sense both Holy Light and Corruption, but a nervous villager excitedly spoke first.

“Nun Velian really is the Saintess! Look everyone, even two archbishops have come personally to meet her!”

““Saintess?””

The two exchanged another look, their eyes filled with disbelief.

Archbishop Gran appeared puzzled, but as always calm, his face showed no reaction.

‘A Saintess?’

He pondered, in fact, when he first saw Meli, he had already found it strange.

With Meli’s proud personality, why would she lower herself to come to such a small village?

As for him, he was simply nearby, recently investigating a corrupted being dressed in a tailcoat.

He had sensed a strong Corruption aura here and came to check it out, only to unexpectedly run into Meli.

To be honest, the two didn’t get along very well.

Meli was extremely arrogant, always looking down on everything.

He remembered his disciple had once trained under her, constantly writing letters complaining about her arrogance, saying she would push anything she deemed “simple” onto her subordinates under the excuse of “training.”

He never expected to meet her in such a remote village.

However, he had heard rumors that Meli had recently been assigned to this region, searching for someone from a prophecy, acting low-key.

Could it be that the one she was searching for was this girl the villagers called the “Saintess”?

Gran calmly scanned the surroundings, sensing the dense Holy Light lingering in the air, something no ordinary person could produce, his suspicion deepening.

Archbishop Meli was also puzzled, though she was skilled at hiding her emotions, her face remained cold and proud without change.

‘A Saintess?’

She too found it strange, when she saw Gran, she had been surprised.

That lazy man who only wandered around all day, what was he doing here?

She came to Kachi Village because a prophet in the church had foretold that a newly born Hero would appear in this region, so she had been searching tirelessly.

The central church was concerned that the Hero might be attacked by corrupted beings before growing stronger, so they sent her to temporarily protect the Hero.

Yet after searching for so long, she had found nothing, only to run into Gran here.

She didn’t get along with him either.

If Gran found out she had failed her mission, he would surely mock her mercilessly.

Gran was unbelievably lazy, always careless in his duties.

She recalled her disciple had once trained under him and wrote daily complaints about how he dumped all his work onto his disciples while wandering aimlessly.

She never expected to meet him here today.

Still, she had heard rumors that Gran was secretly searching for someone, and might have already found a lead.

Could it be that this lazy man had already found the Hero... and even this so-called Saintess?

Meli raised her gaze slightly, sensing the overwhelming Holy Light in the air, almost like a divine realm descending, becoming more convinced.

Velian was even more confused, but her years of acting kept her expression perfectly calm and gentle, without any flaws.

She had expected the butterfly effect to cause some deviation in the story, but she never imagined it would go this far.

Had her disguise been exposed?

Did they detect her Demon Lord aura and come to eliminate her?

Her fingers twitched slightly, demonic energy instinctively gathering around her, a cold glint flashing in her eyes.

As she watched the two archbishops approach, she had already planned to instantly eliminate them, then immediately find Anlis and imprison her in the Demon Lord’s castle dungeon.

But just as she prepared to act, the two archbishops stopped not far from her.

Then, in unison, they slightly bowed, their expressions respectful, their tone solemn.

““Saintess, we have arrived late.””

“…Huh?”