"Sally, let's go."
After Flora and the others had all left, Lu Minghao lightly moved his body, jumped out of Sally's arms, transformed into his teenage form in mid-air, and finally looked at Sally with a gentle smile.
"Minghao, where are we going?"
"Of course, to join the punitive expedition! We are kind slimes, after all."
Lu Minghao's lips curled up slightly as he turned his head to look at Sally, who was tilting her head. He, Lu Minghao, was the kindest slime. Of course, he had to join the Western nations' army to punish the evil monsters, and also see what powerful individuals they had.
Across from him, Sally's eyes lit up when she heard Lu Minghao's words. She quickly walked to Lu Minghao's side, and then the two of them gradually sank into the shadows. After Lu Minghao and Sally had completely disappeared, the entire cave began to wriggle continuously. The walls on both sides kept approaching each other, and finally the entire cave completely disappeared without leaving any trace.
.....
On the other side, outside the royal capital of the Saint Vis Kingdom, Angelica's figure slowly approached from afar. Before long, Angelica stopped in front of the towering city walls, her holy and exquisite face wearing an eerie smile as she looked at everything before her.
"You are... Holy Maiden!"
At that moment, the soldiers at the city gate also noticed Angelica in the distance. The pure white, sacred Holy Maiden's robes, coupled with her holy aura, instantly allowed the soldiers to recognize Angelica's identity. They quickly stepped forward and asked cautiously.
Their eyes were full of disbelief. Just a few days ago, the entire kingdom had received news of the hero and holy maiden's deaths, and adventurers had also brought back news of the entire border city being reduced to ruins. For a time, the entire kingdom was in a state of panic, but now Angelica, who was originally thought to be dead by everyone, had reappeared.
"Yes, I'm back."
Hearing the soldier's voice behind her, Angelica's eerie smile instantly became gentle and kind. She turned around and gave the soldier a friendly smile as she replied. The soldier opposite her, looking at Angelica like this, felt as if his body and mind had been purified, his eyes staring blankly at Angelica.
"Th-that... Welcome back, Holy Maiden!"
A few seconds later, the soldier who had regained his senses quickly saluted Angelica, his face flushed slightly as he stammered.
"Um... Holy Maiden, where is the hero?"
From the side, another soldier cautiously leaned in and asked, his eyes involuntarily looking behind Angelica, wanting to find the hero who had once saved the kingdom.
"The hero..."
Facing the soldier's question, the originally kind smile on Angelica's face turned sad. She had just opened her mouth to speak, but then fell silent, biting her lip hard, her large eyes filled with tears.
"...That, Holy Maiden, please don't be sad, the hero..."
The soldier who had just asked Angelica, looking at Angelica's tearful, sad face, instantly became at a loss. He waved his hands不停地想想要解释什么，即使已经从安杰丽卡 的 表情 中 知道 了 勇者 的 结果，但此时却再也顾不上.
He only wanted to comfort the crying, sad Angelica in front of him.
Pa!
"Holy Maiden, it's enough that you've returned. I believe you must be very tired. Please go back and rest!"
Just then, another soldier next to him slapped his companion hard, interrupting his words. Then, he respectfully saluted Angelica and stepped aside to let Angelica return to rest first.
"Mm! Thank you!"
Opposite him, Angelica nodded, her eyes full of sadness and apology, as if she felt sorry for the soldiers in front of her who had been looking forward to their victorious return because of the hero's death. She lowered her head and returned to the royal capital.
After the soldiers watched Angelica enter the royal capital, they turned around and looked at their companion with a serious expression.
"You idiot, can't you see that the Holy Maiden is very sad? You even mentioned the hero in front of her. Don't you know that the Holy Maiden is so kind and gentle? Now that the hero is dead, she must be the saddest!"
"I'm sorry, I just wanted to ask about the hero. I didn't expect it to turn out like this."
The other soldier stammered, trying to explain. In fact, he simply wanted to ask about the hero, after all, he was the hero who protected the kingdom, but he didn't expect it to end up like this.
"Alright, remember not to do this in front of the Holy Maiden next time. After all, the Holy Maiden is so gentle and kind, and she's also the hero's lover. Now that the hero has died in battle, the Holy Maiden must be the saddest!"
"Yes!"
Looking at his companion's serious expression, the soldier recalled the Holy Maiden's past actions. No matter who it was, she was always so gentle and kind. Throughout the entire kingdom, from the royal family to the commoners, the Holy Maiden would always greet them with a smile. No matter who was injured, the Holy Maiden would treat them with a smile.
Today, it was the first time he had seen the Holy Maiden, who always had a smiling, gentle face, show a sad, crying expression.
"Alright, quickly report the Holy Maiden's return."
With that, the two soldiers began to return to the city gate, and then used magical tools to report the Holy Maiden's return to the royal capital to their superiors. What they didn't know was that Angelica, who was smiling and greeting everyone she passed on the streets of the royal capital, surrounded by many children with admiring smiles on their faces, cracked a terrifying arc at the corner of her mouth when she heard them report her return.
Half an hour later, surrounded by the crowd, Angelica arrived at a magnificent church in the center of the royal capital. In the golden sunlight, the entire church exuded a faint glow, looking so sacred and solemn.
At the entrance of the church, a row of knights wearing silver-white armor and holding longswords, upon seeing the Holy Maiden walking over surrounded by the crowd, revealed a hint of shock. However, they did not directly leave their positions, but remained in place.
Only the captain of the knights took heavy steps out of the line and came before the crowd. The people surrounding the Holy Maiden, upon seeing the approaching captain of the knights, revealed expressions of fear and quickly left the Holy Maiden's side.
The captain of the knights, upon seeing those who had left, revealed eyes full of disdain and disgust through the gaps in his armor. In his view, these commoners would only defile the sacred church by coming here. However, considering that the Holy Maiden was here, he did not directly judge all of these dirty beings who had defiled the church.
"Holy Maiden, you're back?"
Looking at Angelica, who was wearing a kind smile and exuding a sacred aura, the captain of the knights raised his hand and tapped his heart, performing a knight's salute, but his voice was full of questioning, as if asking Angelica why she had returned, and where the hero was.
"Sir Odes, do you have any questions?"
Angelica raised her head and looked at the captain of the knights, Odes, who was questioning her, with a kind smile on her face, asking in a gentle tone. Facing Angelica like this, Odes felt a burst of fear for some reason, and subconsciously took a few steps back.
"Since Sir Odes has no questions, then I'll go back first."
Looking at Odes, who had taken a few steps back and stopped speaking, Angelica smiled gently, turned around, said goodbye to the others, and walked directly into the church.
"Damn it!"
Looking at Angelica entering the church, Odes's face became extremely gloomy. Then, he turned his head and looked at the commoners who had left with a hint of red light in his eyes, planning to go and judge all of these lowly people who had defiled the church and, most importantly, seen him make a fool of himself tonight.
"Captain, only Angelica has returned. It seems the hero is already..."
At that moment, a knight walked to Odes's side and said softly. From his tone, it could be seen that he had no respect for Angelica's so-called Holy Maiden status. Even when he looked at Angelica's back, his eyes were full of greed.
"Alright, don't act rashly for now."
Odes glanced at the knight beside him, waved his hand to let him return to his original position, and then turned and walked into the church. After passing through the magnificent and sacred hall, Odes arrived at an incomparably luxurious room.
Here, there were all kinds of human girls, monster girls, and even succubi, each wearing thin clothes and wearing charming smiles as they served various clergy members. In the center of the room, the pope, who was originally the most devout servant of God, was doing something extremely absurd, even blasphemous.
"Your Holiness, Angelica has returned."
Odes looked at everything before him with a blank expression. He could be said to be turning a blind eye to what the pope was doing, or it could be said that he was already used to it. After all, this so-called pope was something that their royal family and nobles had created in order to rule the kingdom.
The purpose was to better rule and exploit those lowly people. As for the god they worshiped, that was something only the lowly people who didn't know the inside story of the church and joined the church would believe.
"Angelica has returned. What about the hero?"
The pope slowly raised his head and looked at Odes in front of him, throwing the girl who had already died under him aside with a hypocritical, gentle smile on his face. Then, he sat on the statue of the god and looked at Odes. That's right, the pope was sitting on the statue of the god the church worshiped, and even doing blasphemous things on the statue.
What's more, in order to satisfy his perverted and twisted hobby, he would kill the girl during the blasphemous process, so that the girl would look at him with fear and despair at the moment of death. That expression could give the pope an incomparable feeling of satisfaction.
"Only Angelica has returned. The hero should already be dead."
"Oh, that's a pity."
Hearing that the hero was already dead, the pope said it was a pity, but in reality, there was no trace of regret in his tone or expression. It was as if the one who had died was not the hero that their kingdom and church had always promoted.
"It seems we have to summon a hero again. I wonder if this hero will like the Holy Maiden. If he doesn't, then we can only..."
The next moment, the hypocritical smile on the pope's face became even gentler. He turned his head to look at Angelica's room in the depths of the church, and the perverted look in his eyes became even more twisted.
