So I'm a sheep.

Muttering to herself, the girl returned to her seat.

"Your Excellencies, let's continue the meeting."

"The church is not in a good situation right now, and we need to get through this together."

The meeting resumed, and with Sasha as their pillar of support, the bishops were finally able to face the predicament with composure.

"The most important thing now is to elect a new pope."

"Lord Leonard is gone, but the Church cannot be without a leader for even a day!"

Many bishops looked at the little girl, who quickly shook her head: "I'll just be a messenger; the Pope has no experience at all, it won't work."

Sasha really didn't want to be the pope. The hard work was one thing, but more importantly, she didn't want to be tied down by the position.

'Being a messenger of God is good; you don't have to deal with miscellaneous church affairs, and you have a say on key issues.'

"Hmm, Lady Sasha, which one of you do you think would be the best candidate to succeed to the papacy?"

"Zorn"

The little girl immediately said, "Bishop Zorn was already acting as pope, so his succession as pope is perfectly legitimate."

The bishops exchanged glances, but none of them voiced any objections.

At this critical juncture, the most suitable person is indeed Zorn.

"Lady Sasha, I can't do it!"

Seeing that everyone seemed to be forcing him into a position, Zorn hurriedly stood up.

"I have no talent whatsoever; I am utterly incapable of the position of Pope!"

"Don't refuse, Bishop Zorn, it's time for you to serve the goddess!"

The little girl's words immediately shut Zorn up.

Although Zorn was a high-ranking member of the church, he actually had little faith in the goddess.

But now...

If angels have appeared, does the goddess really not exist?

'My Lord, from this day forward, Zorn is your devout follower.'

Zorn silently muttered to himself, then forced a nod.

"Lady Sasha, I will do my best."

There was no other way; although I felt I was not up to the task, the angel had spoken.

If I say you can do it, you can, even if you can't.

"The Pope's problem is solved, let's continue."

"About the curse of the demon..."

A bishop looked at the little girl expectantly: "Lady Sasha, do you have any ideas?"

"If it really is a curse, there's nothing I can do for now."

The little girl honestly replied, "I'm just a little angel. Apart from being protected by the goddess and not easily falling in the trials, I'm not particularly powerful."

Although it might lower the bishops' expectations of her, the little girl will never act arrogantly!

If you're making such a big promise now, it'll be a real mess if you can't handle it later.

"Lady Sasha, may we ask the heavens for help?" a bishop asked cautiously.

"I have a teacher in the upper realm. She's incredibly powerful; she has two pairs of wings!"

"Unfortunately, I can't get in touch with her now."

The little girl stretched out her right hand and pointed to the teleportation mark on the back of her hand, saying, "Only after I stop the gates of purgatory from opening and complete this trial can I return to the upper realm through the teleportation gate."

Lady Sasha

At this moment, the bishops suddenly realized a very serious problem.

"What exactly is this 'Gate of Purgatory' you speak of...?"

"Everyone should know about the Black Hand Brotherhood's 'Gates of Purgatory' plan."

"That is, the evil plan to sacrifice nine cities and then summon an army of demons."

"..."

"......"

"Is Simon really going to summon the demon army?"

The bishops were dumbfounded; they knew about Simon's 'Gates of Purgatory' plan.

I used to treat it as a joke, and even secretly mocked him for being mentally unstable.

But that guy was serious!?

"Yes, he definitely wants to summon the demon army, and he definitely can."

The little girl said very seriously, "Otherwise, my trial mission wouldn't be 'to stop the Black Hand Brotherhood from opening the Gates of Purgatory'."

"Oh my god, by the goddess!"

"Those villains have already slaughtered six cities!"

"A madman, Simon is a madman!"

"Ahem, so everyone must work together to defeat the Black Hand Brotherhood. Then, everyone here will be a hero who saves the world!"

"Lady Sasha, this is truly a difficult task."

Everyone looked worried. With the church's current strength, it was barely enough to protect itself, so how could it possibly defeat the powerful Black Hand Brotherhood?

"Black Knight, what are the Punishers' losses?"

Zorn forced himself to stay alert: "There will be another fierce battle between the Church and the Black Hand Brotherhood soon. How many of us will be able to go to the battlefield?"

"All non-magical weapon users have perished, and there are four magical weapon users left, including myself."

The Black Knight tried to move his right wrist: "As for me, I can also wield a sword with my left hand. But my combat power will definitely be affected; I can probably only block one weapon user."

"Only four artifact wielders remain..."

Zorn felt a heavy weight in his heart: "It seems we have no choice but to conscript soldiers."

"Your Holiness the Pope."

The bishop, who had previously strongly opposed conscription, spoke up again: "If we continue conscription, we'll have to fight a civil war first."

"But we're in a desperate situation now! Didn't you hear what Lady Sasha said? We have to defeat the Black Hand Brotherhood and stop the Gates of Purgatory from opening!"

"Forcibly conscripting soldiers is really reckless; we can't win this way."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

"..."

"Zorn, what about those people in the neutral zone?"

The little girl asked, "Now is a critical moment for the church's survival. If they don't want to submit to the demon believers, they must provide us with strong support."

Volume 1: Chapter 32 The Demon

"The people in the neutral zone will definitely lend a helping hand to the church, but..."

Zorn hesitated for a moment before saying, "Lady Sasha, you can ask for money and food, but if those people want to send soldiers to support us, please refuse."

'Aren't you the Pope? Why does it sound like I'm the one who should make the decisions?' the girl thought to herself.

"Zorn, we are currently severely lacking in manpower. If they want to support the church in this regard, why refuse?"

“Lady Sasha, Pope Leonard once suspected that several gentlemen from the neutral zone were followers of the devil.”

"The church once wanted to conduct a thorough investigation, but due to various obstacles, it ultimately came to nothing."

"If we let them send troops to support us, those soldiers' swords might end up hitting the church's warriors."

This is indeed a problem, but it doesn't matter, Sasha has a perspective based on faith.

She had met with the leaders of the neutral zones with Leonard before, and she already knew which ones were demon cultists.

"Willing, Macchiato, Hopes."

The little girl said earnestly, "I am a little angel, and evil believers have nowhere to hide in my eyes."

“I met with the high-ranking officials of the neutral zone with Professor Leonard before. The three people I just mentioned are the demon cultists you are worried about.”

The bishops were speechless for a moment, staring blankly at the little girl.

"Haha, although I'm just a little angel, I also have a little bit of special power."

“Lady Sasha, if you can confirm that those three people are all followers of the demons, then the church will not be too passive in seeking support from the neutral zone.”

"I'm certain those three people are followers of the devil."

Hearing the little girl's resolute answer, Zorn nodded slowly.

"I understand"

This important meeting lasted a very long time, and Zorn's proposal to conscript soldiers was ultimately rejected due to strong opposition from the bishops.

Everyone reached a consensus to gather forces and fight the Black Hand Brotherhood to the death.

Zorn is in charge of requesting aid from the neutral zone. As for the 'demon's curse'...

Aside from publicly denying the rumors and issuing numerous clarifications, the church doesn't have many other effective solutions.

................................................................

With the death of Pope Leonard, the battle, in which both sides fought with all their might, ended in a crushing defeat for the Church.

The original balance of power between the two powers has been completely broken, and the church is now at a critical juncture of life and death!

The Black Hand Brotherhood showed no sign of giving their opponents a break. After a brief rest, their army marched directly toward the headquarters of the Church of Dawn.

As a powerful enemy approaches and the church is in turmoil, rumors of a 'demon's curse' begin to circulate.