The young, handsome Cleric watched the brutal scene nearby without expression. Then he slowly turned and vanished into the darkness of the night.
At the same time, similar scenes unfolded across Fidix City. The Holy Light Church had dispatched more than a dozen elite squads. Before the remnants of the Palma Kingdom could launch their uprising, the squads struck like thunder and wiped them out. More than thirty thousand people were killed that night.
Before that, the army of over twenty thousand that old Ma En had painstakingly assembled and trained in secret was completely destroyed. Most of its soldiers had no idea what was happening before the Holy Light Church's long-range firepower wiped them out...
By dawn, the operation was over. The smell of gunpowder and blood hung over all of Fidix City. Anyone who didn't know better might have thought the Divine Eagle Empire's vanguard had reached it.
A small town over a hundred kilometers from Fidix City.
Inside a country villa near the town, Saintess Xiweina Ye stood by a second-floor window, gazing out at the open fields. Her face was expressionless, and she said nothing.
The door opened, and a Nun in a Holy Light robe entered. She bowed respectfully to Saintess Xiweina Ye. "Your Highness, the cleanup in Fidix City is complete. We've confirmed thirty-one thousand four hundred and twenty-three dead, including Ma En. There were no survivors."
"Mm." Saintess Xiweina Ye answered faintly, as though the killing of more than thirty thousand people in a single night were a trivial matter. "Any reaction from the City of Light?"
The Nun knew Saintess Xiweina Ye meant Archbishop Link. She lowered her head a little further. "I'm sorry, Your Highness. All our agents in the City of Light have been rooted out. Our intelligence network there...