The defeated saint is also on the way to tame the evil god today

　This bridge also left an impression in Isis's memory... She remembered herself crossing the bridge under the control of the steering wheel, sitting in a seat in the pavilion in the lake, and then numbly following the instructions and throwing out her badge.

　She was once a pawn of the Supreme Praiser, and became a pawn of the Chosen One as an Architect.

　But this time, she didn't cross the bridge to become a pawn.

　No... maybe it's still just a chess piece... Isis smiled bitterly in her heart.

　But at least do the right thing.

　""

　After entering the pavilion in the lake, Isis immediately saw Letes Agomont sitting at the round table.

　The great artist looked lost and listless, as if he had been beaten by a giant.

　Seeing the culprit who pushed her off the platform, Isis's heart trembled slightly, and the speed of the steam core increased a lot for a while.

　Leiters saw her almost at the same time. The great artist raised his head and forced a smile:

　Isis...

　Isis did not respond to him, but sat down at the round table with Minister Zarun.

　But her eyes remained fixed on Letes, like a dead doll.

　Lights immediately avoided his gaze, lowered his head, looked timid, and the corners of his mouth twitched from time to time.

　He must have heard the news that I woke up from the castle...Is he scared?

　So, he always knew...

　He knew that pushing me off the platform would mean planting a curse on me, and that I would become a puppet to be manipulated at will...

　He knows everything...

　As Isis thought this, the steam core suddenly calmed down a lot.

　She knew that she would have to take revenge one day, but not today, not now.

　At this moment, the balance of the world lies on the round table in front of you with a diameter of only two meters, and it can tilt at any time because of an inadvertent breath.

　""

　One after another, high-ranking officials crossed the marble bridge and entered the pavilion in the lake. Some of them looked solemn, some yawned, and some looked extremely nervous.

　Finally, Isis waited for Ahmed Tut.

　The Ocean Archon wore the same uniform he had worn on the Voice of the Dead, and the armor on his body gleamed with a cold light, like the scales of a dragon.

　There seemed to be flames in his eyes, and Isis subconsciously avoided looking at him.

　Ahmed's aura is particularly intimidating.

　He pulled a chair over to the table, sat down, and placed the two badges directly on the table:

　"Don't waste time," he whispered. "The sandstorm will blow to the other side."

　Everyone's eyes were focused on the two badges he placed on the table: one of them had the breath of the ocean, and a light blue light slowly spread out; while the other one was flashing with golden light.

　Most people instantly recognized the owner of the extra badge: it was the badge of the Great Sage.

　The flamboyant scholar placed the sun's rays on his badge, claiming to be "driven by faith," but in reality, this was to help his followers in parliament better determine who to vote for.

　"Why didn't the great sage attend the meeting in person?" asked a bearded scholar.

　"He remains busy in the Lord's service, my dear clerk," Ahmed said. "I will do his bidding."

　"The name of the Chosen One should not be represented by others!" Zaruen said confidently, "This is against the rules."

　"That's not up to you, Lord Zarun," Ahmed smiled. "God's choice is the only criterion, and the emblem is just a symbol."

　"How can we know the great sage's true attitude?" A thin old lady asked solemnly.

　"Are you trying to accuse me of taking the Great Sage's badge, ma'am?" Ahmed raised his voice.

　"We need a sufficiently strong guarantee..." the withered old man said, "The desert wind has blown for hundreds of years... its direction shouldn't change because of... a single... meeting..."

　"Who will guarantee this?" Zaruun looked around. "The Emperor is behind closed doors, and he himself has never issued an order for war. Isn't this precisely why we should maintain the status quo?"

　"The Golden People have never been a cowardly people, Zarun," Ahmed retorted. "We have tolerated the infidels for a hundred years!"

　"Being brave is not being reckless, and seeking peace is not being cowardly!" said Zaruun.

　Ahmed curled his lips in disdain:

　"Oh? Prince Austin is imprisoned in that pagan city right now, imprisoned beneath the Goddess's church! He could be executed at any moment!"

　"That's your prince, the emperor's sworn brother, and we've stood by and watched!"

　"Tell me, Zaroun," Ahmed placed his hands on the table, leaning forward slightly, "if this isn't cowardice, then what is it?"

　When Prince Austin's name was mentioned, the atmosphere around the round table suddenly changed a lot.

　Zarun frowned slightly, pondered for a moment, and then spoke:

　"Prince Austin was accused of being responsible for a large-scale massacre. For this, the Empire should not take extreme war actions, but should

　Should..."

　"You want peace with those pagans?" Ahmed roared. "The Folk of Mist have taken our lands, the lands bathed in the blazing sun! They even claim their gods are real!"

　"And now, you want to negotiate with the followers of a false god! This is not only cowardly! It's blasphemous!"

　Following Ahmed's powerful voice, the chosen ones around the round table were momentarily shaken.

　Zarun did not speak. Ahmed shifted the blame to religion. If he spoke rudely at this time, he might be held responsible in the future.

　Just as he was considering this, a calm female voice suddenly spoke:

　"So, using the power of the curse to manipulate the Chosen Council is considered blasphemy?"

　Everyone turned their attention to the person who had spoken, and they were surprised to find that it was Isis Elbella.

　This puppet lady, who had never spoken in previous meetings, now stood with her back straight and looked bravely at Ahmed.

　Ahmed was stunned for a moment, then the corners of his mouth curled up slightly:

　"Puppet, do you realize how serious a false accusation you are making?"

　"No, I'm alleging facts."

　Isis said this, raising her head, a slight crack opening from her neck to her upper chest.

　Everyone's eyes immediately focused on the crack beneath the girl's fair skin: a steam core was spinning rapidly, driving countless gears to rotate.

　And as the core rotates...a faint black gas emerges!

　"You carry a curse!" an elder shouted.

　"I'm not carrying it. This is part of a string ritual, engraved within me, constituting the logic of this body's operation," Isis said calmly. "If this were a curse filled with malice, the Flame Gate wouldn't have let me pass, let alone reach you."

　"She's telling the truth. The Gate of Flame won't let malice pass through it," the thin lady said calmly.

　"Go on," Zaruen frowned, "Tell them why you need to rely on the power of darkness to survive."

　Isis took a deep breath and scanned the edges of the round table, scanning every pair of eyes.

　She saw doubt, guilt, and indifference in those eyes.

　Those emotions are just a few reflections between their lenses, but they reflect the position they represent.

　Finally, Isis's eyes fell on Letes' face.

　She saw a pair of frightened eyes. The fear seemed to have been frozen in his eyes for a long time, and only surfaced not long ago.

　Isis held her breath, then raised her hand—

　——pointed at Leites.

　She slowly recounted everything she had experienced, from the moment Leites took away her chance to sing to Singara, to the shadow behind her, and finally to the moment she was pushed down the garden.

　She told it all in a flat tone, including the jackal's whispers behind her and the years when she fell in the shadows.

　Once, Isis thought she would never be able to face all this.

　But when she actually stood in the pavilion in the lake, facing the sinner who caused her to lose her limbs, she found that she had no emotion at all.

　Perhaps, that steam core is who she is today?

　""

　As Isis spoke, Letts kept his head down and his hands on the edge of the table.

　Cold sweat continued to seep out of his forehead, drop after drop, dripping onto the ground.

　He didn't dare look Isis in the eye, but it seemed that he was not avoiding Isis.

　But his hands.

　"...At this point, I woke up with the help of the pacifists and escaped their control."

　After Isis finished speaking, she turned her sharp gaze towards Ahmed:

　"For so many years, I have always played the role of a pawn in the God's Chosen Council, and the power that restrains me comes from the curse."

　Seeing this, Ahmed organized his words and said:

　"That power originates from... the invisible fog. As we all know, the power of the fog god has always been our aid. He is the subordinate god of the Golden Sun, and the leader of the darkness of New Gara..."

　"From the God?" Isis interrupted Ahmed. "Then why did the Followers of the God allow His followers to endanger the city-state during the curse eruption a few days ago?"

　"That day, many people saw Death Song attacking the Empire's soldiers. If I remember correctly, they seemed to be your soldiers, right?"

　At this moment, Isis caught a glimpse of fear in the depths of Ahmed's pupils.

　And she didn't budge:

　"Don't change the subject, Your Excellency, Archon. You used the evil god's curse to control me and endanger the safety of the residents of New Garo."

　"The Golden Sun protects the sacred continent of Vesta and guards God's chosen people. Please tell me—isn't an evil god who endangers the safety of God's chosen people a blasphemous force?"

Chapter 223 Stranded Fish (Part 9) -4k- (Double Update in One)

　Following Isis's words, the atmosphere in the pavilion in the lake suddenly became quiet.

　Everyone chewed over the conversation carefully: the Invisible Mist was accused of being an evil god, and everything Ahmed did was accused of blasphemy.

　In fact, most people present knew the nature of the invisible mist:

　It was an evil god born from the spiritual remnants of the Golden Sun after its fall, but it had been providing assistance to the upper echelons of the empire for a hundred years and

　And there is a certain degree of interdependence.

　As long as this evil god has not yet harmed the interests of the people of the empire, most of the high-ranking officials will turn a blind eye.

　To the extent that, most of them pretended not to see what the great sage did in the desert.

　After all, the interests of the empire are of paramount importance. As a vested interest holder, why should we interfere with those tall men who stand tall and make deals with the devil?

　However, now that things have come to this, it seems that it is no longer so easy to "pretend not to see".

　The deep well in the desert camp erupted, and countless evil gods' followers tore through the cracks and came into reality, launching an indiscriminate attack on the empire's soldiers.

　In fact, it doesn’t matter whether those Death Songs attacked the imperial soldiers. What matters is that the process was seen by the people of the empire.

　In addition, the peace faction's propaganda that the Song of Death is a follower of the Invisible Mist will make Garden's position very difficult.

　If they denied the Invisible Mist's identity as an evil god, wouldn't that undermine the official credibility? After all, everyone saw the black cloud during the deep well eruption.

　Of course, there are many lies that can be fabricated in this process, and there are many ways to suppress those voices.

　But the problem is that the various factions within the garden themselves do not have a unified stance on this matter.

　The peace faction led by Zarun does not want war, so they will naturally prevent other factions from calming down public opinion about the invisible fog.

　"In fact, as far as I know, besides using the power of the curse to manipulate Miss Isis, you have done many other things."

　Zarun said, unfolding a scroll he had with him and placing it on the table:

　"Through an examination of the spirits of the soldiers who survived the desert camp incident, we have concluded that the unexpected well eruption originated from an order from Archon Ahmed."

　"The exact contents of this order are difficult to reconstruct, but from the few fragments we have, we infer that you intend to use the substance known as the cursed fluid in the deep wells of the camp as a weapon of war, releasing it on a large scale into the coast of Faru and the waters surrounding the Citadel."

　"According to the truth pieced together from the soldiers' memories, the liquid will be dumped into the sea just as the fleet is about to arrive at the Academy City, directly polluting the entire coastal waters and contaminating the Academy City's fleet."

　"At the same time, a large number of Death Songs will emerge from the sea and attack the Academy first."

　"You believe that such a strategy can offset the damage inflicted on the fleet by the Citadel's storm beacon, thus allowing us to maintain an advantage when a direct battle begins."