"Sidney, you really came here to throw yourself into the trap."
A slightly stern voice echoed blandly through the hall of Fusha Sanctuary. At some point, two more people had appeared in the hall. One of them was the speaker, while the priest who had lectured Father Yolfor earlier now stood respectfully behind him alongside another unfamiliar face. The man appeared to be in his forties or fifties. He wore a holy robe almost identical in style to Sidney's, had a slightly balding head, and was rather stout.
In fact, this man was Roderick, the sixth-ranked among the Eleven Grand Holy Seats—the "Chanter of Praises." Roderick Barbarossa came from a scholarly family in Cloak Bay. When he was young, he had won the favor of Mejori, the previous generation's High Priest and bishop of the Cloak Bay diocese. Later, he rose into the upper echelons of the sanctum and became famous for his hymns of praise. He had once suppressed Cultists in Ambroli with no mercy whatsoever, earning the title of Iron Bishop. After returning to the sanctum's central authority, he entered the core of power among the Eleven Grand Holy Seats in one decisive rise. He looked quite young on the outside, but in truth, he was scarcely younger than Vala.
But Sidney did not even lift her eyelids to look at him. She seemed too lazy to speak as well. Her gaze shifted toward the altar, where the Gate of Flames had already vanished without a trace. It was obvious that this place was a trap, waiting for her to come here. She was not surprised in the least that they knew she would come. When she escaped Lion Sanctuary Palace, she had taken the fragments of the Sacred Sword Odephys with her. If the Silver Queen could