When she saw this familiar city again, Isabella couldn't help but feel a sense of emotion.

She never thought that in just over a year, the Church would have gone from being the only hope for humanity to defeat the demons to an obstacle in the Battle of Divine Will.

Although she had lived here for a long time, she didn't have much affection for the Church. His Eminence O'Brien's daily teachings made her understand that the result was always more important than the process. If the demons could not be stopped, all gains and losses would be meaningless.

She implemented this teaching, chose Jie Luo, who Archbishop Mayne believed had more hope, and then served Roland Wimbledon after Jie Luo's defeat. If there was a leader with more potential than Roland, she would still make a similar choice.

Because this was the greater good.

Compared to personal interests, she put the continuation and inheritance of humanity first.

However, even so, Isabella still felt a lingering regret in her heart—she couldn't figure out what was wrong. It wasn't until she returned to the old Holy City that she understood.

She felt sorry for Jie Luo.

As a Pure One who had experienced a long life, Jie Luo should have been separated from her by a wide gap; many Pure Ones had also complained about the mind-taker's unpredictable temper, but unexpectedly, she found the other party surprisingly easy to get along with. Compared to those Pure Ones who each harbored selfish intentions and mixed other demands into the Battle of Divine Will, Jie Luo's thoughts were simply undisguised, and her beliefs were far beyond what others could achieve.

Isabella realized that Jie Luo and she were not much different in reality. The only difference was that she was more accustomed to standing in the position of an assistant, while Jie Luo was a leader.

This probably had nothing to do with innate nature, but was simply an inevitable choice after the other party had lived for more than two hundred years.

If she had met Roland ten years earlier, the Holy City would not have become what it is today.

Unfortunately, everything happened a little too late.

After circling twice, Maisie landed steadily in the camp outside the city.

"We're here, let's go down," Agatha said from behind.

Isabella nodded and jumped off the giant beast. Soldiers immediately came to greet her. "Lady Edith is waiting in the tent. Please come with me."

In addition to her, His Majesty Roland had also asked Maisie to bring the Ice Witch, and directly told her that she was still "serving her sentence" and needed to act under the supervision of other witches. Isabella didn't care about such a "straightforward" statement at all. She was not wearing the God's Punishment Stone, and her hands and feet were not shackled. Even her clothes were brand new. This was already a preferential treatment she hadn't expected.

Walking into the tent, a woman smiled and stood up from behind the table. "I am Edith Kant, a member of the Defense Department, and the temporary person in charge of the battle against the Holy City."

A mortal with outstanding appearance, Isabella thought. "I thought you would control the Hermes Plateau first, and then move west to recover the old Holy City."

"That was the plan, but the Dawn people came a little too fast." Edith explained the situation in general terms, "His Majesty's order is to ensure the safety of the monastery. This is not a problem, but the difficulty lies in how to transfer the orphans inside safely and orderly—if I remember correctly, they all grew up receiving church education, right? If we force them away, I'm afraid it will have the opposite effect, so I thought you might have a solution. After all, before the expedition, His Majesty specifically assigned this task to you."

Isabella couldn't help frowning. "Wait...you came from the Cloud Ladder?"

"What's wrong with that?"

"That is a key passage that the Church is closely watching. In theory, it shouldn't be unguarded."

"Is that so?" Edith also lowered her voice, "But the merchants believe that it is a little-known secret passage, and Sylvie has not found anything unusual either."

"The Church has been operating in this area for hundreds of years, and they know every blade of grass and stone clearly. How could they let go of such a small road that is not controlled by the city walls?" Isabella shook her head. "Allowing smugglers to pass through is just intentional by those people. It was originally prepared to deal with the Evil Moon coalition forces of the Four Kingdoms. Its outposts are set up in natural caves in the mountains, so it is normal to be overlooked."

"Could it be because of the collapse of order in the Holy City?"

"The Cloud Ladder's alert level is still higher than that of the outer city wall. In theory, it is difficult for such a situation to occur," Isabella felt quite surprised. Where does this look like a collapse of order? It's almost like abandoning the city and fleeing. "If possible, it would be best if I could go to Hermes in person to take a look."

"Let's solve the monastery matter first," Agatha reminded, "You should be able to see the situation in the courtyard from the air, right?"

"Indeed, Lightning xiaojie has checked all three main monasteries and discovered a big trouble—the orphans inside seem to have been organized and are preparing to defend the courtyard to the death. This is also one of the reasons why we have not taken action." Edith spread her hands, "I don't want the soldiers to defeat the Dawn army unscathed, but end up losing here."

"Someone organized?" Isabella pondered for a moment, "Let me go in and talk to them."

"You alone?"

She originally wanted to say that one person was enough, but she took it back when the words reached her lips, "No, Agatha will come with me."

...

"I, Isabella-sama!" Seeing Isabella, Maggie immediately stood up straight, and her right hand subconsciously pressed against her chest.

"I've said it many times, you don't need to add honorifics, just call me by my name," she said expressionlessly, "We are no longer Pure Ones."

"Yes, milady!" Maggie nodded hurriedly.

Isabella sighed secretly. Although His Majesty stipulated her range of activities, he did not restrict Maggie, Vanilla, and others. Later, they would occasionally run to the diplomatic building to find her and chat about the new things in the Witch Union. It's just that they still have the habits from the monastery and have not completely changed it yet... Fortunately, Agatha doesn't mind these details.

"Take us in." She pointed to the city not far away.

"Isn't the First Army going?" Maggie summoned the Magic Ark and glanced at Edith, who was seeing them off behind her.

"They will not enter the old Holy City until safety is ensured."

The ark quickly sank into the ground, leaving only a transparent ceiling—through the soil above her head, she could see Lightning guiding the direction in the air.

Although there are four monasteries in the old Holy City, they can actually be regarded as one. They are built around the Inverted Shadow Cathedral, and there are underground passages connecting them, as well as a secret passage directly leading to the Secret Sacred Hall on the mountain, mainly to facilitate the delivery of new witches to the transformation ceremony. However, since the Awakening of the Extraordinary event caused a monastery to be forced to burn down, the connecting passages have been closed.

The Magic Ark silently infiltrated the western monastery closest to the outer ring. As Lightning said, the large courtyard was empty, and two sallow and thin girls stood at the entrance of the hall, holding long spears that were taller than them.

"Float up, it's enough to send us here," Isabella said.

"Don't you want to sneak in and take a look first?" Maggie asked in surprise.

"There are too many hidden divine stones inside. There's no need to take this risk." Important places like monasteries often have giant divine stones placed, with a coverage range of more than a hundred steps, far beyond her elimination range.

The ark quickly jumped out of the ground, causing a burst of panic among the guards—in their eyes, the two of them almost suddenly appeared in the courtyard.

A sharp whistle immediately sounded, and the closed doors and windows were opened one after another. A group of orphans, led by a dozen nuns, swarmed out, holding swords, wooden shields, short bows, and crossbows, and rushed towards the two of them. Agatha's hand had already condensed ice. As long as the other party released an arrow, she could wrap Isabella in it at any time.

"W-wait! Everyone stop!" Suddenly, the leading nun shouted loudly.

"Are you... are you Isabella-sama from His Holiness the Pope?" Another nun asked in a trembling voice.

With this question, everyone stopped in their tracks.

"It's me." Isabella nodded calmly.

It seems they haven't forgotten her. In this case, the task entrusted by His Majesty should be completed more satisfactorily.

However, the reaction of the crowd that followed caught her somewhat off guard.

"It's really Isabella-sama! Great, we're saved!"

"No... it's Isabella-sama! Milady, please save us!"

"His Holiness the Pope! Please don't abandon us!"

More and more people dropped their weapons and knelt down on the ground with their heads buried. The cries of "Milady" resounded throughout the courtyard for a time.