"Lord Ilius, can a mage who hasn't even reached Tier 2 really be of any help to us?"
Although they respected every decision Lord Ilius made, many clerics still doubted Chen Yi's strength.
Ilius's smile remained as gentle as ever. "Having one more friend never hurts, does it?"
After all, they had not paid anything, had they? How could a verbal promise possibly be taken seriously?
And if some Hero took it seriously, wouldn't that be even better?
Chen Yi's outrageous demands displeased Ilius somewhat. If he were not still useful, she might have kept him in the Mage Association forever.
One million Gold Coins—enough to keep the church running for a year—how could she possibly give that to a mere pawn?
Within the Imperial Palace, the king, so obese he could barely move, slumped upon his throne. Princess Anna stood beside him as always.
"Priest Marin, has the Healing Hero left the Mage Association?"
Priest Marin bowed slightly. "Your Majesty, the Healing Hero is still in the Mage Association."
"Keep him under surveillance. He cannot be allowed to ruin the plan."
Just those few words had exhausted the king, sweat beading across his bloated face.
Anna took out a handkerchief and wiped his face for him.
After receiving his orders, Marin lowered his head and withdrew from the palace.
Only the king and Princess Anna remained in the vast hall.
Then, a vigorous voice suddenly came from the king's mouth. "Anna, find a way to contact the Healing Hero and win him over as much as possible."
Anna froze for a moment. "Father King, didn't you say the Healing Hero was still in the Mage Association?"
"Anna... you should not underestimate your opponent."
"The church possesses the ability to control Divine Weapons. That is no secret among the royal family."
Anna nodded. There were countless things an heir to the royal family needed to learn, and among the most important were the information and contingencies left behind by generations of kings.
All for the day when imperial authority could rise above divine authority.
"Then if you were the Bishop, would you give up the Healing Staff, which possesses large-scale healing?"
This only deepened Anna's confusion. "Then shouldn't we kill the Healing Hero as soon as possible?"
But Anna quickly rejected her own thought. "No, the plan has not reached that stage yet. None of the Heroes can die, so we should prevent the Healing Hero from growing stronger."
The king's fat was no illusion. He struggled to rise, and Anna hurriedly went to support him.
"Prevent him? Why prevent him? The Healing Hero has never said he would help the church."
"As long as he is human, he will have weaknesses. Money, power, beauty, knowledge—whatever he desires, I can give it to him."
"The wishes left behind by our ancestors will surely be realized in my hands."
At the beginning of the month, three more cities of the empire fell to the Demon Race. No one even knew how many villages had been caught in the flames of war.
The commoners' calls for the church grew louder and louder. They believed the empire was useless and incapable of protecting them from the Demon Race.
The church took the opportunity to frantically build its reputation. Priests rushed throughout the empire, treating the wounded and using hymns to comfort the people.
The Imperial Palace tried to reverse the situation by strengthening the defenses of each city and distributing large amounts of Gold Coins and food to displaced commoners.
But it was all futile. The church's reputation among the commoners soared ever higher.
Their hopes of defeating the Demon King were placed upon the church. Wherever the three Heroes went, they received an enthusiastic welcome.
This only made the three, who had already begun to fall into decadence, grow even more depraved.
The young Archer, dressed like an adventurer, knocked on the door helplessly. It was already noon, yet the Sword Hero had not gotten out of bed.
According to the original plan, they were supposed to rescue a city occupied by the Demon Race today.
The other team members had long grown accustomed to such behavior.
Inside the room, the Sword Hero slept with three beautiful women in his arms. After a long Fierce Battle last night, if he did not sleep for a while, he might die of exhaustion.
"Knock, knock..."
"Hero, are we setting out today?"
Half-asleep, Jianyi answered casually, "Not today. We'll go tomorrow."
The Bow Hero had fallen for a woman, and a lily romance was blossoming.
The Night Hero was busy building his young-boy harem and had no time to save the world.
When Ilius received this news, her vision went dark. Something seemed seriously wrong with this generation of Heroes. Compared to those predecessors who had been filled with justice, they were practically not from the Same World.
So she hurriedly ordered the local clergy to urge them along.
Who would have thought that the clerics sent there would be killed directly by the Heroes, leaving behind only one sentence: "Are you teaching a Hero how to do things?"
Power, praise, false strength—the mindsets of those boys and girls from Neon had undergone a drastic change.
I'm a Hero who saves the world. Instead of begging me, you dare tell me what to do?!
Ilius nearly grabbed her staff and went to kill those Heroes herself, but barely restrained the impulse through sheer willpower.
"What has the Imperial Palace been doing lately?"
A missionary smiled disdainfully. "The same old things. Those commoners will not accept them anyway."
Another nun asked curiously, "Don't they know how to change?"
The missionary replied proudly, "Change? How could they change? So many cities being breached by the Demon Race is a fact. So many people being driven from their homes is also a fact. Those whose hearts are filled with hatred cannot hear any other voices. Only by believing in our Deity can they find salvation."
The other clergy all showed expressions of agreement.
"Lord Ilius, what worries you is merely the fear that the Heroes will fail to defeat the Demon King."
"Even without those three useless fools, with the church's foundations alone, dealing with a Demon King that was only recently born would be easy."
Naturally, Ilius knew that. The Divine Weapons were simply a more reliable safeguard.
Fine. Hadn't their predecessors collected these things precisely to deal with unexpected situations?
At that moment, Ilius thought of Chen Yi again. "Have you discovered the Healing Hero's location?"
This time, no one spoke. Tracking a mage proficient in so many spells was likely too difficult.
The specialists they sent out always said that the scent abruptly vanished somewhere, leaving them unable to determine his subsequent direction. After this happened repeatedly, they gave up tracking Chen Yi.
Ilius rubbed her temples. For some reason, that bad feeling from before had returned.
It was precisely because of that feeling that she had activated Chen Yi, this Wild Card.
The church was clearly developing in a positive direction, yet that feeling had appeared again.
Could this be a Divine Revelation?
She immediately shook her head with a self-mocking smile. The Deity had never even communicated with her, the Bishop.
If her teacher had not firmly believed in the Deity's existence, Ilius would have long since begun to doubt her faith.
"Forget the Healing Hero's location for now. Urge the Heroes to complete their missions as soon as possible. If the Demon King is discovered, report it to me. We will strive to kill him in one blow!"
"Yes!"
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