The Holy City

Over the next period of time, Ye Chuan set off with Kalisia. Whenever they encountered a pasture, they dealt with it, but they didn't go out of their way to look for them if they didn't.

According to the Duke of Storms, there was an enormous number of pastures. Without the locations of all of them, it would be impossible to clear them all out.

However, having searched Kassiel's soul, Ye Chuan had a rough idea of the pastures in the eastern region.

It wouldn't be too late to come back and clear them all out after retrieving the Brave's Sword from the Holy Mountain.

On the horizon, the dark purple sky was gradually diluted by a faint golden light. The smell of sulfur and rotten blood that permeated the air disappeared, replaced by gentle light magic.

Flying over a mountain range, the view suddenly opened up.

Endless holy snow-capped mountains stood between the heavens and the earth in the east. The main peak pierced the clouds, its summit covered in eternal snow, yet enveloped by a warm golden barrier of light. Even from thousands of miles away, one could feel that gentle yet majestic holy aura.

At the foot of the mountain lay a grand white city.

The city walls were pristine white, completely different from the bloodstained walls of the Storm Territory that were filled with a grim atmosphere. The walls here felt more like a protective barrier than a fortress of slaughter.

After all, the Storm Territory was surrounded by fallen zones, whereas this place was more like a safe zone.

Under the protection of the Pope and the Holy Mountain, the human race could live safely for the time being.

Spired churches could be seen everywhere within the city, their golden crosses sparkling in the sunlight. The pedestrians coming and going did not have the numbness and panic common in the fallen zones; their faces showed only peace.

Occasionally, holy knights riding platinum unicorns would patrol past, their armor gleaming and their postures upright.

This was the core of the Holy See, the heartland of the Kingdom of Light, and the last pure land for the entire human race.

Compared to the scorched wastelands and living hells they had seen along the way, this was simply another world.

"We're finally at the Holy Mountain!" Kalisia looked at the white city before her, her eyes lighting up with excitement.

"Lord Xi Xi, we've arrived! This is Vanta City. His Holiness the Pope and the Brave's Sword are both here!"

Ye Chuan directly released his divine sense to cover the area. He found that the city exuded a special power of light everywhere, which was clearly the power of the Brave. However, he wasn't exactly sure of the specific location of the Brave's Sword.

"Let's go. We'll head into the city and take a look." Ye Chuan smiled and, taking Kalisia with him, slowly descended toward the city gates.

At the main city gate, two holy knights clad in silver-white armor were meticulously inspecting every pedestrian entering the city.

As this was the final bastion of the human race, the inspections at the gates were extremely strict. Any entity carrying demonic aura would be stopped immediately, or even killed on the spot.

When Ye Chuan and Kalisia walked up to the city gate, they immediately attracted the guards' attention.

Kalisia was wearing an exquisite noble magic robe, clearly showing she was no ordinary child.

Ye Chuan's attire, on the other hand, was completely out of place with the clothing of this world. Although he looked unremarkable, he exuded an indescribable eeriness.

"Halt." The leading holy knight immediately took a step forward and raised his hand to stop them. His tone was polite but carried an unquestionable vigilance.

"According to the rules of the Holy See, all outsiders entering the city must undergo an inspection. Please cooperate."

Kalisia immediately stepped forward, lifted her chin, and pulled the family crest of the Duke of Storms from her robes. She then revealed the magical mark on her wrist and said loudly,

"I am the only daughter of Samuel, the Duke of the Storm Territory, Kalisia! This is my accompanying mentor. We have urgent matters and request an audience with His Holiness the Pope!"

"The Duke of Storms' daughter?" The holy knight was momentarily stunned.

It wasn't that he was unaware of the situation in the Storm Territory, but most of that region had already been occupied by the demon race. Furthermore, many messages from the Storm Territory had not been transmitted over.

Many people even believed that the Storm Territory had already fallen.

The holy knight took the crest and carefully verified it. After confirming it was genuine, the vigilance on his face relaxed a bit.

He then looked at Ye Chuan standing to the side. "Lady Duke, we can allow you to enter the city, but this gentleman... we need to verify his identity and conduct a demonic aura test. After all, incidents of demons disguising themselves and infiltrating occur from time to time."

Kalisia immediately frowned. Just as she was about to retort, Ye Chuan smiled and waved his hand, stopping her.

Ye Chuan raised his hand and lightly tapped a finger toward the two holy knights.

As if controlled by invisible strings, the two holy knights simultaneously took two steps back and bowed to Ye Chuan. Their previously vigilant eyes turned vacant as they spoke in unison:

"Please enter, sir."

Kalisia froze for a moment, then hurriedly tugged at Ye Chuan's sleeve and asked in a low voice,

"Lord Xi Xi, what... what did you just do? Why did they suddenly let us in?"

"It's nothing," Ye Chuan smiled and withdrew his hand, leading Kalisia in great strides through the city gates.

"After killing Kassiel, I conveniently took his ability. It allows me to control entities with lower magic power than my own. I originally thought it would be useless, but I didn't expect it to work quite well when I tried it."

Although it had a cooldown, it was better than nothing.

The Demon King's authority that Kassiel had been so proud of was nothing more than a little toy in Ye Chuan's eyes.

Controlling others and ignoring low-level damage held little meaning for Ye Chuan. After all, low-level entities would explode just from being glanced at by him.

Just kidding, high-level ones explode too.

Kalisia listened, completely dumbfounded.

Lord Xi Xi could actually take the Demon Lord's ability and use it?

Was this the power of a legendary mage?

...

Walking into the city, the sight on the streets made Ye Chuan raise an eyebrow.

The streets inside the city were clean and tidy. The pedestrians wore peaceful smiles on their faces, and children chased and played in the streets. It was a picture of tranquil days, a world apart from the living hell outside.

What surprised Ye Chuan was that demonic auras could be felt everywhere on the streets.

There were quite a few demons conversing with ordinary residents, acting just like local citizens.

Ye Chuan stopped in his tracks.

He had just witnessed too much of the demons' cruelty in the fallen zones and seen too many humans kept like livestock in pastures, suffering endless torment. Turning around to see humans and demons living together peacefully in the last holy land of humanity simply felt incredibly absurd.

What was going on?

Were they all spies?

"What is going on here?" Ye Chuan looked at Kalisia beside him. "Isn't the Holy Mountain the core of the Holy See of Light? Why are there so many demons here?"

Kalisia quickly tugged at his arm and explained in a whisper,

"Lord Xi Xi, please don't be angry. This matter was personally decided by His Holiness the Pope. Ever since the war began, some demons grew disgusted with the war and slaughter. Unwilling to obey the Demon King's orders any longer, they chose to leave the abyss and believe in the Goddess of Light."

"His Holiness the Pope said that the radiance of the Goddess of Light shines upon all living beings willing to turn to goodness."

"As long as these demons are willing to forsake their power, worship the Goddess, and do no harm to humans, they are allowed to settle within the city. They are granted the same rights to live freely as humans and are known as Demon Citizens."

Hearing this, Ye Chuan let out a scoff.

Once a demon, always a demon.

It was a bit absurd, but he couldn't be bothered to care.

He had only one purpose for coming here: the Hero's Sword.

Whether these demons had truly turned to the light or were merely sleeper agents had absolutely nothing to do with him.

"Alright, let's drop the subject," Ye Chuan said, waving his hand dismissively. "To the Holy Temple. We need to find the Pope."

"Okay!" Kalisia nodded immediately, leading Ye Chuan toward the Holy Temple situated at the peak of the snowy mountain.

As the only daughter of the Duke of Storms, she was part of the core nobility of the Human Principality and inherently possessed the right to request a direct audience with the Pope in Vanta City.

Coupled with the fact that she had traveled all the way from the fallen territories bringing the latest intel from the Eastern Front, the temple guards didn't dare stand in their way. They merely went to announce their arrival, and within moments, word returned that the Pope had agreed to see them.