Chapter 783: Chapter 404: Grace’s Anti-Magic Blessing

It was night.

The moon was bright with few stars.

In Louis’s Lokeshi courtyard, he met the young girl he hadn’t seen for a long time.

Perhaps with the ongoing candidate saint ceremony, Grace now increasingly resembles the Libra Saintess in his memory.

"Welcome back, Mr. Caesar."

The girl’s voice carried an indescribable joy, her originally cool demeanor broke into a radiant smile the moment she saw Louis.

Despite feeling a chill down his neck, Louis still ruffled her hair and said:

"It seems the saint ceremony is indeed tiring; you look weary."

Grace shook her head and said, "It’s not really tiring, but Lokeshi has been getting more chaotic lately. Although most of the populace and even the priests coming to support here don’t really understand the situation, the atmosphere of war can be felt even if it’s invisible and intangible."

Louis looked deeply at Grace, and after a moment, he said gravely:

"Isn’t the Church of Glory and Justice sending too many priests over?"

Unlike his own light approach, the Church of Glory was truly heavily armed.

Their preparations were so thorough that Louis could not help but question what they were really intending to do.

Many events in this world seemed to have hit the fast-forward button compared to the IF timeline, with so many things happening prematurely.

The war with the Giant Demon Tribe was accelerated by three years, and its conclusion was five years earlier.

The Gate of the Abyss at the Pirate Islands was discovered seven years earlier, resulting in a fierce battle, which is now being suppressed by allied forces from various nations, primarily led by the previously battered Mermaid Empire.

As for Demon King Helmer, it goes without saying.

In every timeline, Helmer had never invaded the Star Continent at this current point in time.

Even the invasion location was completely off-target.

Frankly, Secluded Forest Sea was not an appropriate choice.

Though Ense’s brain trust suspected Helmer was heading towards suppressing the Golden Land of Destruction at Secluded Forest Sea, many believed otherwise.

After all, the Golden Land of Destruction housed a massive number of fairies.

These fairies, accompanied by the demise of the God of Growth and Forest and the whispers of the Abyss, had become a powder keg.

A sort of self-propelled threat that would crash into any living person they saw, shouting "Lucky you!"

Moreover, not all fairies in the Golden Land had lost their minds.

The last time he went there, he found that there were still quite a number of legendary and even demigod-level fairies.

They should not have gone mad, at least not entirely lost their sanity.

Using the absolute command of higher individuals over lower ones, they controlled a considerable group of fairies.

That’s probably why the Golden Land of Destruction has yet to completely erupt.

But Louis recalled the mental whispers he felt upon entering the Golden Land at the time, and had to admit that if given the chance, he couldn’t show mercy to the Elf Race.

The pollution was directly aimed at the soul, and even those at the demigod level couldn’t withstand it well.

Even the Elf Emperor, having stayed in the Golden Land for so long, was half-crazy and half-foolish.

It’s no surprise they’re only a step away from collapse.

"Mr. Caesar is very anxious today," Grace confidently said, "If you’re worried about the Underground City, there’s really no need. The Church of Glory brought everything this time."

"I know." Louis looked at her deeply and said, "The top-level priests in this city are just too many. Then, I guessed that you brought everything you had."

"Hehe."

"Hehe about what, that’s not a compliment."

Louis said with some distress: "Has the church internally told you any news? I feel like you’re planning to wage a Saint War. With this number of top-level priests and Holy Knights, you must have brought most of the powerful figures you can muster."

Grace nodded and said, "It should be the case. Although I haven’t received any news on my end, the deployment of such personnel, as I’ve been told by other senior priests, has never been seen before."

"Maybe you actually should know, but because of your identity, they don’t want to tell you for the time being."

Louis shook his head.

By identity, he referred to Grace’s origin from the Ense Empire.

Of course, throughout history, most saintesses of the church weren’t native-born in the holy lands.

But the problem was that it was clear to everyone that Grace’s loyalty leaned towards Ense or, rather, towards Louis.

Under such circumstances, the church still allowed her to know so much instead of making her a saintess in name only. He had to commend the openness of the Church of Glory and Justice.

Of course, even openness has its limits.

Facing some areas where the church permits no mistakes, they are likely still withholding from Grace, the candidate saintess.

—At least until she actually becomes a saintess, they won’t say much to her.

As for the "Saint War" Louis mentioned, he genuinely believed that a Saint War might erupt on the soil of the Lokeshi Empire.

If the proportion of priests and strong individuals sent by other churches this time is considered 1, then the Church of Glory and Justice sent at least 7 priests and as many as 10 top-level strong individuals.

In previous situations, before Louis reached the threshold of the Divine Realm, he didn’t understand much.

But now, with one thought, he perceives far too much.

To some extent, he has already surpassed the limits of demigods within human understanding, even solely in terms of soul and spiritual power.