On the day when two letters were sent to Dibiles, the envoy group that came to take away the Holy Maiden had already decided to return home.

Originally, by this time yesterday, the envoy group should have taken the Holy Maiden back home, but the delay until today was mainly due to Chou's reasons.

Chou, based on her status, managed to extend her time to leave the country with the envoy group, although it was only for a day, but maybe it was enough.

Procrastination was not Chou's ultimate goal. She didn't really care that much, it was just because of her, she had fought hard to gain an extra day;

Her real goal was to wait, wait for someone going to the Beastkin Kingdom to appear at the critical moment.

This was a wait based solely on intuition!

Before this, Wang Xiaole, who stayed in the Beastkin Kingdom, had not indicated in advance that she would definitely be back today.

There were also no signs of her return. The reason why Chou delayed for a day was purely because she believed in the other person.

Just like she did hundreds of years ago, believing that she would definitely reunite with her loved one in the future;

Now Chou, too, would unconditionally believe in certain things without basis!

But what happens after the awaited person arrives?

Chou planned to wait for Wang Xiaole to return. After confronting him face to face and making things clear, she would leave with the envoy group.

Chou had not changed; her feelings were still the same as before:

She didn't want to leave the master!

Past experiences had made Chou uneasy about parting, making her deeply averse to "leaving," a sentiment that remained unchanged to this day.

Therefore, "leaving" was just a façade.

Chou's true intention had not been revealed to the second person, and only she understood it until now.

That intention was related to the decision of whether to return to the Holy See.

But at least on the surface, Chou seemed to truly want to return to the Holy See; her acting skills had successfully deceived Lucia.

If Lucia hadn't somewhat believed the facade and had already left Dibiles yesterday to attend the "Seven Demon Conference," she wouldn't have repeatedly warned Chou before leaving:

"Don't sneak away while I'm away! If you're not here, dear will be sad when he returns."

All along, Chou understood that the "Lady Mother" did not like her because they were rivals in love.

However, "disliking" did not mean "having malice."

Regardless of how long they had known each other, the reason Lucia advised Chou was simply to prevent someone from feeling sad.

What about Lucia herself?

If Chou left, would the Demon Lord be upset?

Actually, Chou had long understood this answer in her heart, but just like the "Lady Mother" never said anything superfluous, she never voiced it either.

It was quite remarkable;

Staying in Dibiles for personal feelings, Holy Maiden found it increasingly difficult to leave the place as time went by.

In a place unwilling to leave, she encountered at least two people unwilling to part with;

Whenever she noticed this feeling, Chou felt more convinced that living longer was a good thing.

If a one-sided choice could be made, then there would be no need to worry.

Because of the friendship (or fate) established with Lucia, Chou's memories of the distant past gradually became clearer.

In hundreds of lonely years, there was only one person she wanted to cherish;

That woman had passed away years ago.

Before leaving this world, that woman had entrusted Holy Maiden with supporting the Holy See as a friend.

If the warmth in her heart was forgotten, Chou would not hesitate to ignore the promise;

But ultimately, she could not truly forget.

Hadn't Wang Xiaole mentioned it before? He didn't want Chou to break her previous promises!

Reluctant to leave, unable to renounce her allegiance;

Caught between a friend's trust and the position of love, Chou found herself in a delicate dilemma;

In this case, she could only use a compromise to simultaneously consider both sides.

However, even though the strategy was clear in her mind, Chou could not make it a reality, at least not on her own;

The responsibility for executing the strategy lay with the master, and the key to her staying or leaving was in Wang Xiaole's hands.

Chou didn’t need to pray, believing that the loved one would not abandon her as a god; even in this critical situation, she trusted she would not be forsaken.

Unfortunately, such confidence only stabilized her own mind and had no effect on Freya.

"Why do you want to leave? I can't explain it, but just don't go!"

Freya was not smart enough to see through the acting and mistook the illusion for reality, struggling with her own brain on how to keep Chou from leaving.

The goddess's enthusiasm had reasons behind it, including emotions.

Freya was enemies with Lucia, had an average relationship with Isabella, treated Bai Meow as a cute pet, and regarded Wang Xiaole as the master;

Only when facing Chou did she feel like she found someone "on her side," who respected her (specifically by praising her) and cared for her (never stealing snacks).

Such a confidante was precious, more valuable than a limited edition cream puff package.

Out of the protective instinct for her companions, Freya went to great lengths to stop Chou and was ready to battle the envoy group.

"Holy Maiden, we should leave. The driver has been on standby since last night and is ready to take you on your journey."

At noon that day, the Cardinal in red came to urge Chou again.

This red was not the same as the previous one; the Cardinal who harbored illicit intentions towards Isabella had long gone to paradise (or perhaps hell).

The Cardinal who urged Chou to depart as soon as possible was the successor to the previous one, and roughly on the same afternoon that his predecessor's death was confirmed, he took the seat of the "Four Cardinals."

The position of a Cardinal was prestigious but not hard to find, the difference between the Holy Maiden and them was like mass-production and limited edition products;

Let alone just one Cardinal passing away, even if this black-skinned male, who replaced his predecessor, tragically died on any day, it wouldn't take the Holy See more than three days to find his replacement.

Compared to his predecessor, the successor might have more noble morals, devoid of the desires that ordinary people generally have, strict with themselves;

To put it bluntly:

Apart from lacking humanity, he was nearly a saint in every aspect!

"We've been waiting for you, 30,000 of us. Please don't waste everyone's time and depart sooner; when we escort you back, we can get on with other tasks."

Even facing the Holy Maiden whose status far surpassed his, the new Cardinal's attitude was stern.

"I know, but could you wait for me a little longer... I've been here for so long and there's too much I need to sort out."

Chou continued to delay, but she had a feeling:

This time it was going to be impossible to delay any longer.

Later, her terrible premonition unfortunately came true when she heard the Cardinal reply:

"If the Holy Maiden continues to delay, we 30,000 will have to go pester the Queen of that country to urge you to return sooner."

A disturbance by 30,000 people could only bring to mind one thing: war, not a party or celebration, and the first word that came to mind was:

War!

The Cardinal's intentions were clear:

If communication failed, violence would be used!

In the Cardinal's eyes, perhaps the reason the Holy Maiden was reluctant to return was because she had developed feelings for the Queen of Dibiles.

Thinking their relationship was good, the Cardinal planned to make trouble for Isabella, intending to use coercion to force the Holy Maiden into compliance.

Unfortunately, he was mistaken; Chou's level of dislike for Isabella was enough to make her wish she had met her sooner.

Normally, Chou wouldn't have any emotional fluctuation about the troubles Isabella might encounter;

However, this time was different. She didn't want to cause trouble for the detestable woman in this way.

Although she disliked her, she didn't want to owe her anything.

Even though the Cardinal's idea was wrong, such coercion methods were indeed effective.

Chou's delay had come to an end.

At that moment, nearby Freya immediately jumped in front of Chou and launched a series of attacks towards the Cardinal.

"Watch my fists, watch my flying kick, I'm hitting!"

In a matter of moments, Freya had attacked the Cardinal twenty to thirty times, striking so quickly that it was dizzying to watch.

But even after enduring dozens of attacks, the Cardinal remained unfazed.

Even as Freya continued to kick his knees, he didn't even furrow his brow, and the explanation was simple:

Freya's special moves seemed unable to penetrate the Cardinal's defenses.

Unfortunately, the current Freya was basically a battle noob...

"Holy Maiden, what is your answer?"

"I—will go with you!"

Chou had done all she could, and now it was up to the master.

"Don't go!"

Freya hadn't given up and decided to use the "self-sacrifice attack" at all costs, determined to knock the Cardinal down.

Stomp stomp stomp!

Like a bumbling calf, Freya's left leg kept kicking backward, continuously scratching at the ground as if imitating a calf digging before charging.

After maintaining this action for ten seconds, it reached the moment of complete eruption.

The next moment, Freya locked onto the Cardinal leading Chou out of the city, charging towards him with full force on a straight attack trajectory.

"Please be aware, there's a puddle ahead, so we'll take a detour."

Not intentionally, the Cardinal just led the Holy Maiden in a different direction, and Freya maintained her original course and crashed into him.

Crashing was like life, often it was impossible to stop...

Boom!

A second, or maybe two seconds passed?

In any case, at that moment, Freya was lying face up on the ground, having crashed into a large tree ahead.