Chapter 303: Exorcism of Peta Sieri (5)

Ahildern Salina sat at the seat of honor of the Council of Elders with her mouth firmly shut. The elders of the Council of Elders twitched their wrinkled ears, watching Salina with displeased eyes. Their brows were heavily furrowed in deep scowls, as if the proposal Salina had put forward this time was not to their liking at all. One of the elders obtained the right to speak and opened his mouth.

"Queen. I cannot understand your current proposal. To defend Peta Lucius? I would like you to explain this matter in greater detail."

The atmosphere in the Council of Elders was in turmoil. It was because Ahildern Salina had signaled her intent to issue a public statement of support defending Peta Lucius amidst his resignation from the Archdeity Church. Since this affair was deeply entwined with the Archdeity Church, the dominant faith in the Human Kingdom, the prevailing consensus among the Council of Elders had been to 'watch the situation unfold.'

Salina curled her dainty lips slightly as her eyes swept over the elves of the Council of Elders. She then opened her mouth and spoke.

"The more chaotic the Human Kingdom becomes, the easier it is for us to profit. As a result of the recent Church of Love Subjugation Operation, the human vanguard suffered heavy losses. While expressing our clear condolences over this matter and praising the kingdom's merit in subjugating the Church of Love, I intend to incite internal division within the Human Kingdom by placing heavy pressure on the Archdeity Church for their passive stance during the Church of Love Subjugation Operation."

The members of the Council of Elders exchanged glances. It seemed she intended to use this incident as an excuse to undermine the standing of the Archdeity Church. Another elf voiced their opposition to Salina's stance.

"It may provoke resistance instead."

"The kingdom is not one and the same with the Archdeity Church, and this affair lies strictly between Peta Lucius and the Archdeity Church. Even if Lucius was granted a territory by the human king, his blood belongs to Ahildern, and denouncing a subject of Ahildern as a demon's stooge is unquestionably a matter warranting our intervention. Remember that Peta Sirius, Peta Lucius's father, sacrificed his very life to strike down the Demon King. How could we possibly turn a blind eye to the disgrace brought upon his child? Even if they do not fracture, no arrows will fly in our direction."

The members of the Council of Elders began whispering among themselves again with grave faces. Salina toyed with the letter tucked inside her collar, a faint smile on her lips. A letter steeped in Peta Lucius's body scent. She wished Lucius would come as soon as possible and hold her in his arms.

****

The stern warnings from the Grand Duke of the North and Marquis Barba appeared to have unleashed a colossal storm upon the Archdeity Church Central Branch. In the chillingly frozen downtown of the church, many priests began feeling disillusioned with the faith they had upheld their entire lives upon seeing the doctrine they believed in wavering before secular power.

The church's core leadership, led by General Overseeing Priest Nelson, began convening daily to discuss what on earth they should do about this crisis. General Overseeing Priest Nelson raised his voice, brandishing a missive.

"The kingdom has dispatched a missive to the Archdeity Church Headquarters. It informs us that Ahildern has sent a letter expressing that they are 'deeply regretful' over this incident, where the Peta Family—who defeated the Demon King across two generations—has been disparaged as demon worshipers. We must reconsider deploying troops. The kingdom does not wish for this matter to escalate into a major conflict. The further we stir up trouble, the greater the backlash will grow."

Another priest countered Priest Nelson's words.

"We are an independent religious organization recognized by law, and never in history has the kingdom criticized or dictated the direction of our Archdeity Church. If we set a bad precedent through this affair, we will no longer be able to safeguard the transparency and neutrality the Archdeity Church has maintained until now. This is a question concerning the very foundation of our doctrine. Why have we guarded this place? It was out of our singular resolve that we could never surrender our continent to those filthy demons! We came here solely for that purpose. That a single small demon does not matter? Who cares about that? What kind of talk is that?! A single small gap is bound to swell into an uncontrollable disaster. We must never back down!"

Pope Urobo sat at the seat of honor wearing the Papal Crown. As the one who decided all policy directions of the Archdeity Church, he kept his mouth shut with a heavy expression. Faced with a dire crisis unlike anything any former pope had ever experienced, he too had nothing to say.

Yet another high priest spoke up.

"The Magic Tower has approached the Archdeity Church with a deal regarding this incident. They stated that if we merely grant their requirements, they will endorse Peta Sieri's execution and actively support the Archdeity Church."

"What is it?"

"They asked us to support the slavery system for other species, which is strictly forbidden by Archdeity Church doctrine. They claim it is an absolute necessity for their experiments."

"Beast bastards."

One of the priests spat out a harsh curse. In this situation, not a single person genuinely cared about the safety of the continent. The council chamber was thick with disillusionment among the priests. It was because the people of the world were merely pursuing their own face and justifications rather than the greater cause of humanity. The priest spoke with a solemn face.

"If we do not secure even the Magic Tower's support, we will have to endure all this pressure on our own. It is out of the question that the dwarves would support us, and public opinion in the kingdom is currently unfavorable as well."

"Are you saying we should endorse the slavery system then?"

It was like pulling a stone from the bottom to patch the top. Moreover, Peta Lucius was an exceptionally staunch anti-slavery figure even within the Archdeity Church. In the southern territory he governed, the slavery system itself was outlawed, and he even had a track record of taking matters to court to have a mermaid recognized as a person. Professing support for the slavery of other species just to gain the Magic Tower's backing against such a man was sheer madness.

Furthermore, right after the Church of Love Subjugation Operation occurred not long ago, voices of self-reflection had emerged even in the eastern region, leading to an increasing number of territories abolishing the slavery system for other species. It was a fight where they stood to lose far too much with a single wrong word.

"There must be another method. We may have pushed things in too extreme of a direction."

Priest Nelson spoke. Having personally met Marquis Barba and the Grand Duke, his will to drag this matter out any longer was completely shattered. Another priest retorted to his statement.

"What are you proposing we do?"

"There must be a compromise plan. According to my investigation, Peta Sieri was a highly respected nun within the southern Peta Territory. Even after becoming the lady of the territory, she never indulged her greed or treated others disrespectfully on account of her status; on the contrary, she led worship services as a nun and dedicated her entire being to charity work. Furthermore, within the Peta Territory, Peta Lucius is agitating the people by claiming, 'Sieri was cursed and turned into a demon, yet the Archdeity Church is trying to slaughter an innocent person without considering this,' sending the Archdeity Church's reputation in the south plummeting to the worst levels imaginable."

"Are you telling us to retreat? We will only invite greater mockery."

"There must surely be a way for both sides to save face. The southern region has the largest congregation of believers in the Archdeity Church. Losing public sentiment in the south would be fatal. I believe we must swallow our pride and make concessions, even if it begins now."

"You are telling us to bow before a demon."

"We are bowing before Peta Lucius."

"That bastard is the demon! How is he any different? We should have cast him out long ago when he indulged in carnality and openly wed a half-mermaid! Look at him swaggering like a common ruffian on the back of his father's prestige! We must march down immediately, tear Sister Peta Sieri away from that heinous demon, and pass judgment! We must deploy the Holy Knight Order and..."

"Priest."

The priest, having delivered his impassioned tirade, gasped for breath. Troubled stares bore into him from all directions. The priest felt the acute weight of the phrase that gazes could pierce like arrows. Quite literally, gazes as sharp as arrows were pricking his chest. Priest Nelson spoke.

"You must accept it. We have lost."

A heavy silence fell over the single word that they had lost. No path out of the crisis could be seen. There were many things they could do, yet none seemed to be the right answer. If they led a heavily armed Holy Knight Order to the southern territory, they would be mocked for mobilizing an army to beat a frail woman to death when they hadn't even contributed soldiers to the subjugation of the Church of Love, yet they could not simply drag things out endlessly like this either.

Yet the mere thought of bowing their heads in apology to Peta Lucius made the priests feel as though their innards were twisting inside out. They could hardly stomach the fact that, even at this very moment, he was riling up the south by alleging that the Archdeity Church was banishing a nun through barbaric methods.

Yet at the same time, calculating the enormous financial support flowing from the north and the contributions sent by their followers in the south made it utterly impossible not to bow their heads. Their skepticism and sense of loss were the harsh aftermath of an inescapable, pragmatic decision.

"I would believe it even if someone told me that bastard Lucius was the Demon King."

A priest murmured. At those words, the other priests nodded. It was because he had won. An organization established to hold back demons and pursue the unity of humanity was crumbling before a single man, Peta Lucius.

"Mind your words, Priest Bison. From this moment forth, we shall dedicate our time to deliberating what wording to include in our compromise plan."

The council showed no signs of ending all through the night. With eyes closed, the Pope prayed to his ancestors in heaven. He begged them to grant wisdom to these fragile lambs, and to bring salvation to this world that was being shaken to its core by demons.

And among the priests gathered outside the council chamber, endless sighs lamenting the future of the Archdeity Church echoed through the halls. Those studying doctrine in the library, the guards, and the Holy Knight Order unable to vanquish the demon—all were sinking into a bottomless morass.

Once the drafting of the written agreement was finalized, General Overseeing Priest Nelson completed his preparations to head south on behalf of the Pope. By his side stood ten holy knights. Their negotiation counterpart was Peta Lucius. And the mediator was Hero AA, who had rushed there directly from Ahildern.