The Villain Saint is my secondary account

Tobias understood all too well that these old families, who held sway at the highest levels of power, were different from himself, and it was questionable how much genuine faith in the Holy Light they still possessed.

Therefore, the vampire unrest happening in Valen is nothing more than a small country's own security issue to them. What they are most concerned about is whether they can kick the Holy Maiden off the table before the Holy Maiden is officially crowned as queen and takes control of the Holy Maiden next year.

"Hehehe, calm down, I was just asking casually."

Lazirus's gaze swept over the crowd below the stage. Three cardinals were present, while the rest of the high-ranking officials of the various churches sat upright with solemn expressions.

Apart from him, who was the patriarch of one of the three major families, almost no one else dared to speak on this occasion.

"In fact, I share the same thoughts as you, Lord Tobias. But it is precisely because the records of that public trial at the Church of Loren are still being questioned in the Holy City that I entrusted my younger brother to make these preparations."

"This will not only dispel such doubts, but also give you all a direct understanding of the Holy Maiden who will soon lead us, won't it?"

Chapter 134 The Hot-Tempered Saintess

“Holy Maiden, let me repeat the fourth question: Did the magic you used last night come from the forbidden God of Life, Haiye?”

The scene returns to the Judgment Hall of the Sanctuary of the Mist, where Grantham's solemn voice echoes.

"I'm not quite sure, Your Excellency. What taboo are you referring to?"

“Your Holiness, I can explain this to you later, but for now, please answer 'yes' or 'no'?”

"...I'm sorry, but I cannot answer this question until I understand its meaning."

Ella lowered her eyes slightly.

"Your Majesty,"

Bishop Grantham lowered his gaze, meeting Ella's bright red eyes. "Avoiding the issue is not a good thing for you."

Although the elderly bishop remained outwardly composed, he inwardly regretted his habitual use of the word "taboo" in his question, which had given the other party an excuse to delay.

Ella remained silent for a moment, but her eyes quickly scanned the strange floor runes she had first noticed, trying to think about the situation as fast as possible.

Bishop Lazius's question was too strange; an impulsive answer would definitely lead to trouble.

But where exactly is the trap? If the God of Life is not an evil god to the God of Light, then why is He a forbidden existence to the Holy Temple?

No, this problem is too broad, and it's hard to come up with an answer in a short time. I need to focus on the solution in front of me.

His purpose was clearly to prove my relationship with the God of Life...

The runes on the ground were slightly different in arrangement from the usual soundproofing arrays. Hiss, this is…

However, the bishop's mental magic resistance was very high, and he couldn't be fooled by the Moon Goddess Illusion...

However, the essence of the Moon Goddess Illusion is to establish a channel for transmitting divine power through a medium, which can be applied not only to people, but theoretically also to objects...

Ella's gaze swept almost imperceptibly over the people at the table, and a bold idea inadvertently surfaced in her mind.

Hmm, I need to get into the swing of things now. Let me think about what the real Ella Havie would do...

After a brief stalemate.

“Your Holiness, silence is meaningless.”

Grantham frowned slightly and broke the silence, "As believers in the Holy Light, you and I should understand that this trial cannot end without a result."

"Pfft... Hahahahahaha!"

The response to Grantham's serious words was Ella's light, melodious laughter, like the tinkling of silver bells.

The silver-haired girl in the black dress rested her hands on the wooden railing in front of her. Her fair face no longer had the holy and solemn expression it had before. Instead, her red eyes, which revealed a playful expression, and her grinning mouth made her look somewhat eerie.

"Your Holiness, the Court of Judgment is a solemn and dignified place! As a role model for us citizens of the Holy Tang Dynasty, how can you behave so frivolously!"

While Grantham verbally condemned the actions, a surge of excitement rose within him.

Go ahead and act recklessly, I've finally caught you red-handed!

Let those of you atop the White Tower in the Holy City see your true colors!

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Bishop Grantham,”

Ella slightly raised her hand, which was covered by a black gauze glove, to cover the corners of her mouth, which couldn't help but laugh. "I just think you're a little ridiculous."

"Your Holiness, the statue of my Lord is watching over you. Please remain solemn!"

"How can I be serious about this?"

Ella slumped against the railing, her hand supporting her slightly tilted cheek. "A bishop who brazenly ignores the escalating conflict between believers and vampires outside, and the city where evil is brewing a conspiracy, is wasting such precious time now on interrogating his own saintess who saved thousands of citizens last night for his own selfish gain."

"And yet such people call themselves faithful followers of the Holy Light—is there anything more ridiculous than that?"

"Saintess of Light!"

Grantham's voice was deep. "This is my duty as a church bishop. What personal desire could this be?"

"Then tell me, what does your question have to do with the current predicament faced by the citizens of this foggy city?"

"That's not something you need to worry about. You just need to answer the questions..."

Grantham said coldly.

“Grantham, I suggest you reconsider the tone of your voice when you speak to me.”

A dangerous glint flashed in Ella's eyes. "You keep calling me 'Saintess,' but it seems you don't consider me your superior at all. What, are you questioning my qualifications as a chosen one? Or are you questioning my Lord, the God of Light?"

"Your Holiness, you are exaggerating."

Grantham quickly corrected himself, "I was just fulfilling my duty as a bishop."

"Then I hereby declare that you have neither the obligation nor the right to interrogate me."

Ella gave a contemptuous and arrogant laugh. "Accompanying you during the interrogation was merely out of courtesy, but my polite actions have been met with a mere regional bishop daring to ride roughshod over me and spout nonsense. Isn't that a bit too disrespectful of me?"

“Your Holiness…you can’t say that. My qualifications as a bishop also come from the will of my Lord…”

"Strange, as the chosen one of the God of Light, how come I didn't know that my Lord had issued such a decree?"

"This...is not all the decrees that you should know..."

"Oh, you mean you know more about my Lord than I do?"

"That's not entirely true. It's just that in some minor details, the chosen ones naturally won't always be the ones to convey the message..."

"Now you know you're just a nobody? Then where do you get the audacity to talk to me like that?"

Grantham's forehead began to bead with sweat. How could this saintess suddenly seem like a completely different person? He wondered what the people in the Holy City were thinking now that they saw this scene.

However, the fact that the saintess has a bad personality is actually the least of her worries, because personality has nothing to do with faith and cannot shake the foundation of the saintess as God's chosen one.

"Your Holiness, please answer carefully..."

"Can't you understand me?! Give me a damn answer! I command you to get over here and kneel down right now, you slave!"

Ella's roar completely drowned out Grantham's voice, "Who gave you the right to look down on me like that?!"

Damn it, there's absolutely no way to communicate with them now.

Grantham felt a chill run down his spine. Their argument had shifted from whether Ella should answer the question to whether Grantham should kneel before Ella.

In theory... a regional bishop is indeed not allowed to disobey God's will, even if he has not yet been crowned.

While there are certainly many nuances to this as a human relationship, Grantham really couldn't do anything about it since Ella brought it up publicly.

Well, since this girl doesn't dare to answer the question directly, she has already shown her guilty conscience. The high-ranking officials in the Holy City must already know what's going on.

Grantham gritted his teeth and gently patted the Codex. "Since Your Grace has no intention of answering, then this interrogation shall end here."

"Who gave you permission to stop here!?"

Ella raised an eyebrow.

"Um, Your Majesty, you..."

“Get over here, you old bastard who dares to blaspheme my Lord! Your disrespect for my Lord and for me makes me doubt your faith as a member of the church!”

“Grisham Razirus, I now declare that I will put you on trial for heresy!”

Chapter 135 If Our Roles Were Switched

"Your Holiness, this..."

Grantham's face turned ashen; he never expected the saintess before him to turn the tables in this way.

"What, you're allowed to interrogate me, but I'm not allowed to interrogate you?"

A sly smile played on Ella's lips, but her voice carried a chilling undercurrent.

“I declare one last time that I, in the name of the Holy Maiden of Light, heresy trial you, Grantham.”

“If you dare to rebel again, I will consider you a heretic and execute you on the spot in the name of the Holy Light.”

The girl with the eerie red eyes was clearly not just talking; as her words fell, a powerful and chilling divine force began to gather beneath her feet.

The bright sunlight streaming through the surrounding stained-glass windows began to dim, and flocks of crows circled above the steeple of the church, their ominous cries ringing out incessantly.

The high-ranking members of the Holy Church on the jury also began to get restless. Since they were with Bishop Grantham, they naturally understood the potential strength and resources hidden within the saintess.

"Alright...alright, I understand. Then let's do as the Holy Maiden says."

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Grantham's forehead.

This saintess has gone completely mad.

Although he knew that everything here would be projected in real time to the holy city thousands of miles away, the problem was that the holy maiden didn't know that.

If this guy really thought there were only a few people here and suddenly went berserk and killed them all, then that would be incredibly stupid.

Grantham wanted to extract information about the saintess and make it public in the Holy City so that his family could benefit, but he wasn't about to die for it.

So in the end, he chose to keep the saintess calm—to prevent this guy from going crazy, he would interrogate him if necessary. Once the matter was settled, his own safe escape was the most important thing.

Therefore, the next extremely subtle scene unfolded in this vast courtroom.

Under the watchful gaze of the solemn statue, the saint and the bishop exchanged positions along the aisle, much like the judge and defendant switching roles in court—a magical scene never before witnessed in the church for hundreds of thousands of years.

The elder priests on the jury watched silently, not daring to breathe.

They were all a bit confused, and didn't know what to do in this situation.

"Hey."

Just then, Ella, who was standing by the podium, suddenly spoke to one of the elders.

"What...what are your orders, Your Majesty?"

"Didn't you see that this stage is too high?"

A moment later, Ella stepped onto the tiptoe box that the elder had brought, picked up the Codex, and began the second round of judgment.

“Grantham Razirus, Bishop of the Sanctuary of the Mist, are you ready to face judgment?”

"...Ready, Your Holiness."

As she said this, the saint suddenly adopted a calm tone.

The light in the entire hall returned to its previous warm and bright state, as if nothing had ever happened.

This sudden shift from movement to stillness left Grantham somewhat bewildered. The other party's arrogant and cold demeanor just now didn't seem like an act, so why did it suddenly revert to its previous state?

“I, Grantham Razirus, Archbishop of the Sanctuary of the Mist, a member of the Razirus family, swear before the Father of the Gods, the God of Light, in the name of the Holy Light, that everything I say from this moment forth is the truth, and there shall be not a single falsehood in it.”

The same prayer, this time uttered by the very bishop who had just been interrogating them, felt strangely ironic.

Seeing the beam of light fall from the scepter in the statue's hand, and Ella's calm and holy demeanor, Grantham suddenly felt as if he had been tricked.

But it was too late. The moment the prayer took effect, those who did not wish to be punished by the holy light had to wait for the officiant to end the ceremony.

"First question, Grantham, are you a follower of the Dark Cult?"

"No."

Grantham answered in a low voice, and naturally, nothing happened.

He was certainly not a follower of the Dark Cult, and the saintess's first question made him realize that his earlier tension seemed somewhat unnecessary.

Yes, he didn't have anything he was afraid of being asked.

Ella's murderous aura was indeed frightening just now, but as long as we go through the process according to the saintess's temperament, it shouldn't be a big deal.

"The second question, Grantham, is your faith in the Holy Light more important to you, or the interests of your family?"