Hel carefully examined the necklace in her hand. The front showed a staff wrapped by four pairs of angel wings, while the back had a small line of handwriting:
[Gifted by: Saint of the Holy Judgment Church, Knight Irina, may the Lord of Light bless you.]
"Knight Irina, huh?" Hel softly murmured the name.
"This really puts me in her debt, but having this should reduce a lot of my troubles."
Just then, a communication interface popped up. It was Witt, who had gone out to gather information.
"Witt, you're just in time. I have something I need to ask you."
"Young master, the situation is urgent. Please allow me to explain first."
Witt sent over several visual screenshots, showing a pass buried under rubble.
"The stationed army of the Sacrifice Kingdom detonated the cliffs near Mandrake Pass overnight. The entire Mandrake Duchy is now completely cut off by the collapsed mountains."
"Blowing up the mountain? Looks like there are no troops from the Empire nearby."
Hel frowned as she studied the pass, now blocked entirely. According to the images, anyone from the Sacrifice Kingdom wanting to reach Mandrake Duchy would have to climb the towering Seraphis Mountains.
For ordinary people, climbing such steep terrain would be extremely difficult. Even extraordinary individuals would expend considerable effort.
This demolition effectively cut off the route from the Sacrifice Kingdom to Mandrake Duchy.
If the other side spent so much just to destroy the pass, there was only one possibility: the authorities believed they couldn't gather enough troops to confront the beastmen before the Sacrifice Kingdom fell.
Hel wondered what expression the person issuing the orders would make upon learning that 180,000 beastmen had already been wiped out.
"It seems this order came from the Empire's Marshal, executed by the kingdom's Third Princess, Aistherin. This princess is the powerful figure secretly supporting Brenda."
"Brenda, huh…"
Hearing the name again, Hel felt as if she'd gone back in time. The last time she'd heard it was the day she succeeded the Duchy of Mandrake. She hadn't expected so much to happen in just over a month.
"I almost forgot about her."
"Previously, Bishop Orad's rise was aided considerably by Brenda. I even suspect her main goal was to use Orad against you, young master."
"No need to suspect—it's exactly what she wants. But Brenda alone doesn't have the strength to achieve all this; the Third Princess must have contributed as well."
"I will continue investigating. Recently, rumors about you have started spreading in the capital. I suspect Brenda is behind this. Should I take countermeasures?"
"Go ahead, but protect yourself first. I don't want my organization to suffer losses over such minor trouble."
"Yes, understood."
"By the way, there's something else I need you to investigate."
Hel sent Witt a screenshot of the necklace she held.
"Do you know who Knight Irina actually is?"
"Ah… this… this is the token of the Radiant Knight Irina?!"
Even through Witt's messages, Hel could feel his shock.
Shortly after, new information came through.
"Radiant Knight Irina is the niece of Holy Knight Roland and one of twelve honorary commanders of the Church's Protector Knights. She is also the youngest Saint-tier practitioner in the history of the Knight Empire. She reached Saint-tier ten years ago, reportedly at the age of only 88."
"88 years old?!"
Hel looked at the knight maiden's youthful face and could hardly believe she was old enough to be a grandmother's generation. Then she remembered: in a magical world, this made sense.
"Young master, you may not know, but ordinary people's lifespans increase dramatically after becoming extraordinary. Fifth-tier can live to 600 years, sixth-tier to 1,000, and Saint-tier practitioners can live up to 3,000 years. So even though the Radiant Knight appears young, she isn't technically an adult yet."
"Underground child…" Hel thought, amazed at Witt's logic.
"By the way, who is Holy Knight Roland?"
"He was the former Emperor of the Empire. He single-handedly entered beastmen territory, personally ended the plague witch causing havoc, and assisted the Church in sealing the Death Witch who unleashed the undead catastrophe across the continent."
Ah, so this ties back to the Death Witch. That must have been the unlucky one before Youming, who unleashed the undead disaster across the land.
"Beyond that, he accomplished many feats, earning the title of Holy Knight—the first ever since the Empire's founding."
So the obsessive being Hel encountered earlier once had such legendary achievements in life. Unfortunately, his soul no longer exists, and all his abilities and traits are gone. Otherwise, Hel might have tried to recruit him.
"All right, you may get back to your tasks."
Hel ended the communication with Witt.
At that moment, her spatial ring trembled. She took out her Destiny Cards and noticed a sudden message appearing on the previously calm card:
[The War Witch has disconnected from the Witches' Court, suspected of encountering misfortune.]
"Oh? Got news this fast. Must be thanks to the Destiny Witch."
Meanwhile, in a secret cellar in the northern mountains of the Great Black Mountain, Morrigan frowned as she watched the card that had flown out from Nikki and slowly transformed into starlight.
It seemed her master had gotten herself into some trouble.