A Demon's Journey

As Pope Andrew tightly gripped the staff given to him by Yrellea, a sinister grin slowly spread across his face, his eyes gleaming with a newfound sense of power. He began to mutter in an inaudible voice, careful not to let Yrellea detect what he was doing. His hands trembled slightly as he focused his energy, channeling the holy magic of the staff.

Yrellea had her back turned towards Pope Andrew and initially didn't sense anything. However, an intense Holy Ardor suddenly flooded the site, and she was caught off-guard.

She turned around to see the Pope Andrew with a sinister grin and the staff shining with Holy Ardor.

The Holy Ardor moved and created something akin to a portal above the Pope Andrew's head.

"Ha ha ha! How naive you are, Yrellea. Your conditions didn't mention that I cannot harm you," Pope Andrew sneered with a twisted grin on his face.

Yrellea's heart sank as she realized her mistake. This was a huge blunder on her part. She was far too arrogant and had lowered her guard after he signed the Blood Contract.

Pope Andrew's grin grew even wider as he revealed his plan. "I have already recited the chant to summon a Celestial Angel. And when she arrives, I will command her to kill you!" he declared, his voice dripping with malice.

He took a step closer to Yrellea, his eyes glowing with wicked glee. "And don't worry, I won't let your death be in vain. Due to you, I have already discovered several traitors in my midst, and they will pay dearly for their disloyalty."

"...Do you really believe this to be your victory?" Yrellea asked with a frighteningly calm voice.

"Well then, let me break this illusion for you. Your first order is that you can never harm me," Yrellea spat while glaring at Pope Andrew.

"The command you've given is utterly meaningless now. As soon as the Celestial Angel descends upon us, she'll extinguish your life, and it'll have nothing to do with me. Even if you were to command me to halt the portal's opening, it would be a futile attempt. Once the ritual commences, there is no going back," Pope Andrew scoffed, relishing in Yrellea's despair.

Yrellea rolled her eyes as she responded, "You shouldn't be so overconfident. Even the Celestial Angels are not invincible."

Just as Pope Andrew was about to respond to her words, an intense Holy Ardor emerged from the portal.

Yrellea realized that the Celestial Angel was about to emerge. And sure enough, a beautiful figure heading towards the portal was seen.

Yrellea raised her Mystical Spiritual Connection Ring and pointed it towards the portal. This ring was flashing with a bright violet shade.

"I wonder what happens after an Angel's death, but the result should be entertaining, right?" Yrellea inquired with a disdainful grin.

"W-What are you saying?" Pope Andrew stared at Yrellea in horror.

With a scoff, Yrellea responded, "You will see soon enough."

Once the Celestial Angel was close enough, Yrellea activated her Mystical Spiritual Connection Ring.

As if a divine force had been unleashed, a brilliant white blade of pure sword qi materialized from Yrellea's ring. The very presence of this otherworldly qi caused the Holy Ardor in the surrounding area to be subdued, replaced by an overwhelming surge of power and sharpness.

The sword qi seemed to emanate an aura of unmatched intensity, as if it could slice through the very fabric of reality itself. Its edges glimmered with a radiant light that seemed to pierce through the darkness like a beacon of hope, inspiring a sense of awe and fear in all who beheld it.

With a fierce cry, she launched the white blade of pure sword qi towards the Celestial Angel with all her might.

As the blade flew through the air, it left behind a trail of sparkling white light that illuminated the entire area. The power of the sword qi was so great that it sliced through the air like butter, leaving a sonic boom in its wake.

The blade collided with the Celestial Angel in a burst of blinding light.

The Celestial Angel's eyes widened in shock as the blade of pure sword qi sliced through her effortlessly. The force of the blow shattered her insides, rupturing her organs and celestial core, leaving her gasping for breath as she clutched at her wounds.

As the portal began to close, Yrellea summoned the white blade back to her ring, dragging the Celestial Angel's corpse along with it. The impact of the lifeless body hitting the ground echoed through the site, sending chills down Pope Andrew's spine.

He stared in disbelief at the corpse, his mind reeling from the gruesome display of power before him. When he finally looked up at Yrellea, he saw a glint of something in her eyes that chilled him to the bone - a sense of otherworldly strength and confidence that made him realize he had severely underestimated her.

"Now then, I should first give educate you properly to prevent such a thing from occurring again," Yrellea spoke, her eyes gleaming with rage.

Pope Andrew knew that he was done for now and earnestly surrendered. This was a wise decision on his part.

After a day of torture, Yrellea allowed Pope Andrew to return.

Pope Andrew's guardians had awoken and were fed with a big fat lie that stated they were given rest in the Misty Flower Pavilion's estate and were given a change of clothing to prevent them from figuring out that they were ambushed and stabbed with arrows.

Naturally, the guardians had no choice but to accept this lie as Pope Andrew personally testified it.

Once Pope Andrew was gone, Yrellea recollected her thoughts and analyzed her gains.

'Alright. The Church of Mubesni is under me, and I can use them to mobilize the entire Pinhian Republic whenever I want. The step one of expanding the Misty Flower Pavilion is complete. I should shift my focus to searching for talents and recruiting them. I need talented array masters, alchemists, blacksmiths, armoursmiths, explorers, and a team of powerful warriors.'

Before this deal with Pope Andrew and having the entire Church of Mubesni under her, Yrellea couldn't work on these objectives openly.

The Church of Mubesni would have never tolerated Yrellea's ambitious expansion and the establishment of such a formidable and influential organization.

They would have used their own influence and the authority of the parliament to prevent Yrellea from succeeding her ambitions.

However, the situation has transformed now. The majority of the parliament's power rested in Yrellea's hands. She could easily acquire permissions for all sorts of illegal matters without any issue.

In fact, the government of the Pinhian Republic itself would provide her with resources and manpower to realize her ambitions.

Naturally, Yrellea had to restrain herself from blatantly harming the public's interests, as there was still one person who could change the entire situation singlehandedly.

The Vicious Lightning Paragon. His supreme power and prestige could easily put all her schemes to rest.

But this was manageable. According to what Yrellea had observed and heard of, the Vicious Lightning Paragon wouldn't interfere in the politics or the decisions of the parliament unless they threatened to destroy the Pinhian Republic entirely.

And this was something Yrellea could handle.

Once she had reorganized her thoughts, Yrellea decided to take a hot steamy bath to calm down.

As Yrellea slipped into the hot pool, she couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. The warm water enveloped her body, relaxing her muscles and soothing her mind. It was the perfect way to unwind after a long day of scheming and plotting.

As she closed her eyes and leaned her head back, Yrellea allowed herself to sink deeper into the water, feeling the tension slowly seep out of her body. The steam rising from the pool filled her senses, and she couldn't help but sigh.

Her gaze fixed on the ceiling, sorrowful tears streamed down her face as she whispered, 'If only Master Azaroth were here...'