Chapter 432: The Mysterious Lady (Requesting Votes)

「She…」

In the highest temple of the Holy City of Light, the ancient Pope, his beard and hair white as snow, slightly narrowed his eyes.

The [Lady] has appeared again.

「…」

The old Pope fell silent for a moment, lowering his crimson eyes, like the last glow of a setting sun, to gaze at the middle-aged man bowing before him on the temple steps, and asked softly:

「This time, how many saw her?」

The tall middle-aged knight knelt on the temple steps, now lifting his head to reply solemnly: 「So far, only one priest caught a fleeting glimpse of her shadow, but we don’t know how many more will notice yet.」

The knight’s expression was grim, his brows tightly furrowed.

In this world, many mysterious legends defy common sense—some tied to magic, others to the world’s origins, most to the hands of gods…

In the Holy City of Solanthis, home of the Sun Church, there exists a secret legend known to very few.

The [Wandering Lady], or as some call her, the [Lost Lady].

Legend says only a tiny fraction of priests have ever glimpsed a translucent female phantom drifting through the Holy City.

At first, those priests thought they were hallucinating, dismissed it, even believed it was a vision granted after devout prayer.

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

The Church combed through every priest’s journal across centuries and reached a shocking conclusion—over hundreds of years, this mysterious female phantom had appeared dozens of times within the Holy City.

That “Lady” wandered like a lost spirit beneath the blazing sun, drifting through Solanthis, occasionally revealing her presence.

She simply walked freely, then vanished into thin air at some moment.

No one knew how she appeared, nor how she disappeared.

Once they realized the anomaly, the Sun Church immediately sealed the Holy City and launched a three-month manhunt to find the Lost Lady in every corner.

But in the end, aside from uncovering dozens of heretical spies, they gained nothing of value.

Strictly speaking, however, the Sun Church did not come away empty-handed.

At least they learned one thing—the Lost Lady is, for now, harmless.

She drifts through every corner of the Holy City, yet never interacts with anyone, never harms any person or thing.

She merely walks, like a casual stroll, through every corner of the Holy City.

Eventually, after the uproar faded, this secret legend was gradually forgotten; the great search was dismissed by outsiders as the Church’s purge of heretical spies.

Today, few know of this secret, and fewer still believe it.

In the Sun Church’s Holy City—the place closest to the Lord of the Sun, bathed in His divine might—such a strange phenomenon exists.

But if that were all, it wouldn’t be especially strange.

After all, in a world where transcendent power exists, anything is possible.

But the real problem is this—the Sun Church knows nothing about her.

The Sun Church doesn’t ignore her; they’ve tried investigating her, they’ve tried stopping and driving her away.

Yet no matter what they do, no matter how hard they try, they gain not a single scrap of success.

Not even Epics, not even Saints, have intervened!

And the result remains the same.

Useless.

She shows no reaction, reflects nothing in her gaze, cannot be interfered with in any way.

The mysterious Lady is like a projection from a higher plane, utterly oblivious to their existence.

After nearly a century of futile attempts, the Sun Church chose to abandon all efforts, letting her wander freely, refusing further interference.

As long as she makes no threat, the Sun Church will not interfere.

The Sun Church has made many guesses about her identity.

First, her race.

Though she appears as a spectral phantom, she cannot be a true undead.

The Holy City of Light houses the Sun God’s main temple, effectively an extension of His divine realm on earth—a true terrestrial god-kingdom.

Then, what kind of undead could wander unharmed within the Sun God’s terrestrial god-kingdom?

Since she is not repelled by the Holy City, she is very likely an ally, not an enemy.

She is either connected to the Sun Church, or to the Sun God Himself, or to one of His allies.

An angel? A holy spirit? A lesser deity?

Or even… a god?

According to speculation, all these are possible.

But what confounds the Sun Church is this: they scoured every scripture and found not a single trace of her.

No scripture mentions anything related to her.

Her power is a mystery. Her identity is a mystery. Her purpose is a mystery.

This enigmatic Lady, though causing the Sun Church little trouble, has long puzzled every generation of its high ranks.

Who is she? What does she truly want?

Thus, the Sun Church has always left her alone—but never lowered its guard.

The current Guardian of the Holy City felt the same.

The Guardian, appearing just past middle age, spoke solemnly: 「Your Holiness, should we temporarily seal off that area and forbid anyone from entering?」

This was his first encounter with the Lost Lady since becoming Guardian—he had no idea how to handle this problem.

After hearing this, the Solar Pope shook his head slightly and said softly: 「…No, do not do that.」

「Remember: do not interfere with the Lady in any way. Simply increase vigilance, track her movements.」

The Solar Pope knew resistance was useless.

You cannot stop her.

Even if you seem to block her once, next time she will appear randomly elsewhere.

Impossible to block.

Better to let flow than to dam—especially since damming won’t work anyway.

If so, better to simply ignore her existence.

Deal with problems only when they arise.

Besides, it’s very likely no problem will arise.

To the outside world, the Sun Church always appears as brute, mindless warriors—charging headlong at evil with weapons raised, roaring—this is no stereotype; they have always acted this way.

Encounter evil? Charge. Don’t care if you can win—just fight.

Win? You destroy evil—profit.

Lose? You die and ascend to the divine realm—still profit.

Either way, you win big.

Thus, Sun Church warriors have always been famed for their fearless courage.

But that is merely their public style—their high ranks are not ignorant fools.

When it’s not time to charge, they choose cautious, steady tactics.

「Yes, I understand!」

The Guardian nodded seriously, exhaling slightly as the matter was resolved.

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

Has the Church truly found nothing about the Lost Lady?

Not even a single clue?

I don’t believe it.

He felt that if the Church had truly discovered nothing, it would never allow such an unknown entity to roam so freely.

They must know something—but cannot reveal it publicly, hence their reaction.

He had just reached the peak of Epic realm and been appointed Guardian of the Holy City—he was now truly among the Sun Church’s high ranks.

Shouldn’t he be entitled to know?

He lifted his head expectantly, hoping the Solar Pope would offer some insight.

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

But the Solar Pope did not answer. He gazed silently into the Guardian’s eyes.

「Do you truly wish to know?」

「Yes… I wish to know.」

Only when the Guardian instinctively averted his gaze did the Pope shake his head slightly and wave him away.

「Go, my child. Fulfill your duty.」

「…Yes.」

The middle-aged knight fell silent, rose, donned his helmet, bowed deeply, and turned away without hesitation.

He did not press further, nor linger a moment.

Begging and pestering elders for answers is the privilege of the young—by his age, such ability was long gone.

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

And since the Pope would not speak, there must be a reason—he was not yet worthy to know.

「Indeed, I must keep striving.」

I wonder when I’ll ever advance to Shi Shi and become a Saint… Then, I should finally qualify, right?

But it still feels like it’ll take forever…

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

Click.

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

“Phew… What is she?”

The old man, whom the guards believed knew everything, shook his head gently and murmured, “Yes… what exactly is she?”

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

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

“My Lord…”

“Please grant me understanding.”

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 Sun Pope raised his head, his gaze first falling upon the statue’s face, then rising higher, toward the hall’s dome.

He looked at the mural depicting the Sun God’s divine realm—its patterns were exquisitely ornate.

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

In every scripture of the Sun Church, the mural had always looked this way.

But perhaps only the Sun Pope knew—and remembered—that it had not always been empty; there had once been a “gap” that had been erased.

“…”

He pondered for a long time, then slowly withdrew his gaze.

“Could it be her?”

After finally shaking off the strange female knight who kept thanking him, Herbert returned to the Third Obedience Hall with the Angelic Battle Armor.

According to Rust Nail Bishop’s thinking, Herbert should have left immediately—just show his face, slack off, come back fast, no time needed.

But Herbert decided not to be hasty; he would first settle his current affairs.

Though it seemed the two sides wouldn’t fight… but what if they did?

Right?

Herbert never thought of himself as a walking disaster, not some death-bringing schoolboy whose presence triggered calamity wherever he went.

Still, he decided to prepare more thoroughly—plan carefully before acting.

Through Rust Nail Bishop, Herbert submitted an application to the Grand Archbishop requesting permission to take a demon girl outside.

At first, Rust Nail Bishop refused.

The reason was simple: Herbert was going to Radiant Shengcheng, the Sun Church’s headquarters.

For the forces of justice, there were few places safer than that.

As allies, the Sun Church would never attack Herbert—yet bringing a demon prisoner as a bodyguard would be seen as provocation.

Though Herbert’s own goal was to express the monastery’s discontent, wouldn’t this go too far?

Yet surprisingly, the Grand Archbishop approved Herbert’s request without hesitation.

Even the traditionally rigid Rust Nail Bishop, upon hearing the Grand Archbishop’s casual reply, couldn’t help but feel envy.

He repeatedly felt the favoritism Ash Bishop and the Grand Archbishop showed Herbert.

It truly was enviable!

So jealous.

Herbert didn’t know if Rust Nail Bishop had turned into a sour lemon.

Delighted, Herbert returned to the Third Obedience Hall with the Xu Kequan and prepared cheerfully to mobilize his forces.

He had already decided who would accompany him.

Since they were going to Radiant Shengcheng—a place saturated with pure light energy—they needed suitable Pokémon.

So the answer was clear.

“It’s you I choose! Come with me to Radiant Shengcheng!”

“Hm?”

Flora blinked, pointing at herself.

Me? Me?

Herbert looked at the succubus lady, eyes wide as she pointed at herself, and nodded firmly, smiling: “Flora, you heard right—it’s you.”

Before Flora could speak, Crete burst out laughing.

She laughed uncontrollably, slapping her knees: “Puhahaha! A demon going to the Sun God’s holy city, hahaha! Perfect, perfect—this is hilarious!”

Yet as Crete laughed, Herbert gave her a peculiar smile.

“Heh.”

“Hahaha… uh, hmm?” Crete’s laughter froze.

A bad feeling suddenly came over her.

Could it be…?

Herbert glanced sidelong at the nervous devil and grinned playfully: “What are you laughing at? You’re coming with me too.”

“Come to think of it—why did you think you could escape?”

(End of Chapter)