Chapter 403: The Mysterious Lady (Begging for Tickets)

"She…"

In the cathedral at the highest point of Radiant Shengcheng, the white-haired, white-bearded elderly Pope narrowed his eyes slightly.

That 【Lady】 has appeared again.

"……"

The old Pope was silent for a moment, lowered his crimson eyes that resembled the setting sun of the blazing day, looked at the middle-aged man standing with bowed head below the cathedral steps reporting to him, and asked softly:

"This time, how many people saw her?"

The tall middle-aged knight, kneeling on one knee below the cathedral steps, now raised his head and answered in a deep voice: "At present, only one priest has caught a glimpse of her shadow for an instant, but we don't know how many more people will notice her going forward."

The knight's expression was also somewhat grim, his brows tightly furrowed.

In this world, there are many mysterious legends that cannot be explained by common sense—some involve magic, some are tied to the roots of the world, and most are the handiwork of the gods…

And in Solantis, the Radiant Shengcheng where the Sun Church resides, there is a little-known secret legend.

【The Wandering Lady】, or 【The Lost Lady】.

Legend has it that only a very small number of priests could, by chance, see a translucent female apparition wandering through the Shengcheng.

At first, those priests merely thought they were suffering from hallucinations, didn't take it seriously, and even assumed the visions appeared after their devout prayers.

But as more and more people witnessed this phenomenon, they finally realized something was wrong.

The Church combed through the handwritten notes of every priest across the generations and ultimately arrived at a startling conclusion—over the course of several hundred years, this mysterious female apparition had appeared in the Shengcheng dozens of times.

That "Lady," like a lost ghost drifting beneath the blazing sun, had been wandering all over Solantis, occasionally revealing traces of herself.

The Lost Lady simply walked about at will, then vanished into thin air at some moment.

No one knew how she appeared, and no one knew how she disappeared.

After realizing something was amiss, the Sun Church immediately sealed off the Shengcheng and conducted a sweeping three-month investigation, attempting to root the Lost Lady out of her hiding places.

But in the end, apart from catching dozens of heretic spies, it was a complete wash.

Strictly speaking, however, the Sun Church wasn't entirely without gains.

At the very least, they figured out one thing—the Lost Lady could, for the time being, be considered harmless.

She wandered through every corner of the Shengcheng, but never made contact with anyone, nor caused harm to any person or thing.

She truly just strolled through every corner of the Shengcheng, as if taking a walk.

In the end, once the storm passed, this secret legend was gradually forgotten, and the great investigation of that time was regarded by the outside world as nothing more than the Church's great purge of heretic spies.

Nowadays, few people know of this secret, and few would believe it.

In the Sun Church's Shengcheng—this place closest to the Lord of the Blazing Sun, shrouded by His divine might—such a bizarre situation could actually occur.

And if it were only that, it wouldn't be especially strange.

After all, in a world where supernatural powers exist, anything is possible.

But the real problem was—the Sun Church knew absolutely nothing about her.

It wasn't that the Sun Church didn't know of her, nor that they hadn't tried to investigate her, nor that they hadn't striven to block and drive her away.

But no matter what they did, no matter how much effort they put in, they ultimately achieved not the slightest result.

Forget Legends—even Epics, even Saints had stepped in!

But the result was still the same.

Useless.

She wouldn't react to them at all, wouldn't be reflected in her eyes, and couldn't be interfered with in any way.

That mysterious Lady was like a projection from a higher plane, a phantom cast upon this place, completely ignoring their existence.

In the end, after nearly a hundred years of effort and attempts, the Sun Church chose to give up, letting her wander as she pleased and no longer attempting any interference.

As long as she posed no threat, the Sun Church would no longer interfere with her affairs.

As for her identity, the Sun Church had entertained many speculations.

First, her race.

Although she appeared as a spectral phantom, she couldn't possibly be a true undead.

Radiant Shengcheng housed the Sun God's main cathedral, and could almost be regarded as an extension of His mortal divine kingdom—a true earthly divine kingdom.

Then, what kind of undead could wander unscathed through the Sun God's earthly divine kingdom?

And since she wasn't rejected by the Shengcheng, there was a strong chance she was a friend rather than a foe.

She was either an existence tied to the Sun Church itself, or to the Sun God, or to an ally of the Sun God.

An angel? A holy spirit? A subordinate god?

Or even… a god?

Based on inference, all of these were possible.

But what puzzled the Sun Church was that they had combed through every scripture and found not the slightest trace of her.

No scripture made any mention of information related to her.

Her strength was a mystery, her identity a mystery, her purpose a mystery.

This enigmatic Lady, though she hadn't caused the Sun Church much trouble, had long left the upper echelons of every generation deeply perplexed.

Who was she, really? What did she actually want?

So the Sun Church's attitude toward her had always been one of laissez-faire, yet without daring to let their guard down—any problem would be dealt with.

The Shengcheng Guard Captain before them was no exception.

The Shengcheng Guard Captain, who appeared to have just passed middle age, said in a deep voice: "Your Holiness, should we temporarily seal off that area and forbid anyone from entering on their own initiative?

This was his first encounter with the Lost Lady since taking up the post of Shengcheng Guard Captain, and he still didn't know how to handle this troublesome matter.

After the Lieri Pope finished listening, he gently shook his head and said softly: "…No, there's no need to do that."

"You must remember, as for that Lady, you must not interfere with her in any way—just have people keep a closer eye out and pay attention to her movements, and that will be enough."

The Lieri Pope knew that blocking her was useless.

You cannot stop her.

Even if you seem to succeed in blocking her, next time she will randomly appear somewhere else.

There is no way to stop her.

It's better to channel than to block, and besides, blocking is impossible anyway.

If that's the case, then better to simply ignore her existence.

We'll deal with any problems when they arise.

Besides, it's very likely nothing will happen.

To the outside world, the Lieri Sect has always been seen as fierce and brainless, mindless brutes who charge at evil with weapons raised and roaring—this is not a stereotype; they have always acted this way.

When encountering evil, strike immediately, regardless of whether you can win—just fight.

If you win, you successfully eliminate evil—profit.

If you lose, you sacrifice and ascend to the Divine Realm—still profit.

Either way, you win big.

Thus, the warriors of the Lieri Sect have long been famed for their fearless courage.

But that was merely the Lieri Sect's modus operandi; the high leadership was not the kind of Bai Chi who lacked adaptability.

When it wasn't time to be reckless, they would still choose cautious, steady tactics.

"Yes, I understand!"

Upon hearing this, the Guard Captain nodded seriously and exhaled slightly after the matter was resolved.

Then, unable to suppress his curiosity, he asked: "Your Holiness, what… exactly is she?"

Does the Sect truly have no discoveries regarding the Lady of Confusion?

Not even a single clue?

I don't believe it.

He felt that if the Sect had truly no knowledge at all, it would never allow this unknown, extraordinary being to act so brazenly.

They must know something—but are unable to reveal it to the outside, which is why they react this way.

And now that he had successfully reached the peak of Legend and been promoted to Guard Captain of the Shengcheng, he was truly among the Lieri Sect's high leadership.

Shouldn't he now have the right to know?

He lifted his head slightly, full of anticipation, hoping the Lieri Pope would enlighten him.

He didn't need the full truth—just a small hint would suffice.

But the Lieri Pope did not answer; he lowered his gaze and stared into the Guard Captain's eyes.

"Do you truly wish to know?"

"Yes, I want to know…"

Only when the Guard Captain instinctively averted his gaze did the Pope slowly shake his head and gesture for him to leave.

"Go, my child. You must fulfill your duty."

"... Yes!"

The middle-aged knight immediately fell silent, rose, donned his helmet again, bowed deeply, and turned away decisively.

He did not press further, nor did he linger.

Begging and whining at elders is the privilege of the young; at his age, he had long lost such ability.

He seemed to have failed the test just now—he had looked away.

And since His Holiness chose not to speak, there must be his reasons; he was not yet worthy to know.

"Indeed, I still need to strive harder!"

"I wonder when I'll advance to Epic and become a Saint… then, perhaps I'll finally have the right?"

"But it feels like it will take forever…"

The Guard Captain sighed inwardly, respectfully pushed open the door, and slipped away quietly.

Click.

When the door closed and the vast hall was left with only the Lieri Pope, the old man let out a long breath.

"Huh… what is she?"

The old man, whom the Guard Captain believed knew everything, gently shook his head and murmured to himself: "Yes… what exactly is she?"

The Guard Captain assumed the Lieri Pope knew the truth but refused to tell him—but in reality, he truly did not know.

The old Pope shook his head, walked through the hall, and finally bowed before the towering statue, whispering inwardly.

"My Lord…"

"Please enlighten me."

He asked devoutly, seeking an answer from the Divine.

But as always, he received no response.

Yet even so, the Pope remained in his listening posture, and after a long while, slowly nodded.

"I understand…"

The Lieri Pope raised his head; his gaze first settled on the statue's face, then rose higher, toward the hall's dome.

He looked at the mural depicting the Divine Realm of the Sun God, its patterns exquisitely ornate.

And at the center of the dome, the empty space beside the Deity.

In every Lieri Sect scripture, this mural had always appeared this way.

But perhaps only the Lieri Pope knew—and remembered—that this space had not always been empty; it had once been a "gap" that had been erased.

"……"

He thought for a long while, and finally slowly withdrew his gaze.

"Could it be this one?"

After finally shaking off the strange female knight who kept thanking him, Herbert brought the Angel Battle Armor back to the Third Commandery.

Although according to Bishop Rusty Nail's thinking, Herbert should set out right now — it was just showing up, slacking off, a quick in-and-out, wouldn't take much time.

But Herbert still decided not to be so impatient, to arrange matters in hand first before speaking further.

Although it felt like the two sides couldn't fight, but... what if?

Right?

Although Herbert had never thought of himself as a walking natural disaster, not the kind of grim-reaper grade-schooler who wherever he went, problems arose.

But he still decided to prepare a bit more, plan before acting.

Herbert, through Bishop Rusty Nail, submitted an application report to the Daodazhu Sect for taking a monster girl out.

Regarding this request, Bishop Rusty Nail was initially against it.

The reason was none other than that Herbert this time was going to Radiant Shengcheng, the headquarters of the Sun Church.

For those of the Justice faction, there were few places in this world that could be safer than there.

And as allies, the Sun Church certainly would not make a move against Herbert; him bringing a monster girl captive as a bodyguard on the trip would instead be seen as a provocation.

Although one of Herbert's purposes this time itself was to express the monastery's dissatisfaction, doing it this way — would it be a bit too much?

But unexpectedly, the Daodazhu Sect approved Herbert's request without even thinking about it.

Even Bishop Rusty Nail, who was always rigid by nature, after receiving the Daodazhu Sect's easy answer, couldn't help but feel envious.

Time and again he felt Bishop Ashes's and the Daodazhu Sect's favoritism toward Herbert.

It had to be said, this was truly enviable!

Sour.

Whether Bishop Rusty Nail had turned into a sour lemon, Herbert did not know.

Overjoyed, he brought the permit back to the Third Commandery, cheerfully preparing to deploy his forces.

The choice of companions this time, he had long since made his plans.

Since they were going to a place like Radiant Shengcheng where the light power was dense to the extreme, they certainly had to pick suitable Pokémon.

So, the answer was already very clear.

"I choose you! Come with me to Radiant Shengcheng for a trip!"

"Mm?"

Flora blinked and pointed at herself.

Me, me?

Herbert looked at the succubus Young Lady who had widened her eyes and pointed at herself, nodded firmly, and laughed: "Flora, you heard right, it's you."

Before Flora could speak, Kratie at the side couldn't hold it in first.

She laughed uproariously, slapping her thigh in merriment: "Pwahahaha! A demon, going to the Sun God's holy city, hahaha! Good, good, good, too interesting!"

Then, while Kratie was laughing hard, Herbert instead smiled at her with a very subtle expression.

"Heh."

"Hahaha... uh, mm?" Kratie's smile stiffened.

She suddenly had a bad premonition.

Could it be that...

Herbert glanced sideways at the uneasy devil and laughed cheerfully, playfully saying: "What are you laughing at? You're coming with me too."

"Rather, why would you think you could get away?"

(End of chapter)