As soon as Shade finished speaking, not only Miss Teresa but even the six maids and Miss Violet were startled. The Witch Emperor immediately reached out and covered Shade's mouth, then looked uneasily toward the tower. Only after confirming that nothing else unusual had happened did she lower her voice and rebuke him:
"Shade, you must not speak so carelessly. Even if you do not worship this Great One, you must still show reverence to a deity."
Because gods truly existed in this world, and there were miracles in the truest sense of the word, people's reverence for the divine was innate and heartfelt, rather than something drilled into them over years by charlatans and frauds.
Shade also knew he should not say such things lightly, but he did not think his concern was groundless:
"We should still bring this sword."
He still did not put down the weapon:
"We do not yet know what the Third Trial will be like. I do not think the god dwelling in the tower will mind if I bring this."
Miss Violet frowned prettily as she looked at Shade:
"Sir, you must promise me that you will never use this weapon, no matter what happens."
"What do you think I would do?"
Shade knew she had misunderstood. This lady probably thought he was a lunatic:
"Let Miss Teresa hold it."
He stuffed the sword into the hands of Serkses's Tenth Order Witch. She looked somewhat uneasily at the Witch Emperor, and only gripped the sword tightly after seeing the latter nod. Extremely nervous, she said:
"Mr. Hamilton, unless absolutely necessary, I will not give this sword back to you."
It seemed that she, too, had misunderstood Shade's intentions.
In any case, there was little time left, and Shade had no time to explain