Things about the female knight in black stockings

Tia was also speechless. She wasn't angry, and even chimed in with her own complaints:

"There's nothing we can do. Some people just value face above all else, especially those big shots who have been famous for a long time. The more famous they are, the more they care about face... So, what's the situation now?"

"...While the joint operations team was setting up the trap, the Sage's Tower secretly dispatched three squads to directly confront Carlos's squad, intending to eliminate Savat Langdon, but..."

Ai Lei sighed helplessly:

"I'm not entirely sure what exactly happened. According to the Sage Tower, the three squads lost contact with Carlos's squad almost immediately after they made contact."

At first, the sages didn't pay much attention, thinking that there was just some special circumstance that temporarily interrupted the magic communication... After all, it was three teams against one team, how could they lose three against one?

Two whole days passed, and the sages, still without receiving any reply, could no longer sit still and told the Pursuit Alliance about it.

The alliance naturally gave a scathing critique of those sages who had acted on their own initiative, and quickly gathered its main force to head towards Carlos's team's location, but it was already too late.

Now, Savat Langdon has dropped his pretense. He commands an undead army, has seized a city in northeastern America near the ice plains, and is holding its more than 100,000 inhabitants hostage in a direct confrontation with us.

Chapters 133-135 The Witch of Destruction

"The city in the northeasternmost part of the ice sheet...with a population of about 100,000..."

Tia immediately activated the magical projection of the America map, observed it briefly, and then pointed to a point on the map and asked:

Is it Polyland?

"Yes, that's right there."

Ai Lei nodded and continued to explain the situation:

"Because of its proximity to the ice plains, Poliland City needs to be on guard against the Netherworld Clan. Therefore, not only was its location chosen on a high ground that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, but its city defenses are also much stronger than most cities... Of course, it cannot compare with the border fortresses in northern France, but its city defenses should not be underestimated."

"They say it has formidable city defenses, but didn't Savat Landon still easily take control of the city?"

Valensa sighed:

"However, it's not hard to guess how Savat Landon took over Poliland... He must have disguised himself as someone from the Sage's Tower, entered the city openly, and then used his high-end combat power to take over the city... tsk."

After sighing, Valensa thought for a moment and then asked:

"Has the alliance never tried sending out a pure-rank squad for a decapitation strike?"

"Of course I tried, but I failed."

Aileen smiled wryly:

"The team responsible for the decapitation operation was discovered before they even entered the city. Then, that bastard Savat Langdon executed more than 1000 hostages as a deterrent and remotely projected the magical images of his hostage executions to several nearby cities."

The decapitation operation failed. To prevent Savat Langdon from harming the hostages again, our men dared not approach Poliland again and could only gather 50 kilometers outside the city.

Although the Chamber of Commerce tried its best to block the news, various rumors still spread... It is said that several cities near Poliland have become chaotic, and many people think that the Netherworld Clan has brought an army of undead to attack.

Now the rich people in those cities are fleeing south, while the poor are looting almost all the shops in the city, stealing supplies, and then taking the supplies to hide in the basement shelters of their homes..."

"That's a really bad situation..."

Valensa touched her chin:

"A city has been taken over by that ruthless Savat Langdon, and nearby cities have completely lost order due to panic... Tsk, America is going to suffer heavy losses this time."

"Yes."

Eresh sighed deeply:

“America hasn’t seen such a disaster in decades… The last time something like this happened was when revelers and cultists went on a rampage and completely burned down a city about the size of Poliland. More than two-thirds of the city’s inhabitants were sacrificed to the evil god, and almost all of our church’s brothers and sisters in that city perished in the line of duty… It was after that incident that I was transferred here from the continent of God’s Blessing from headquarters.”

After sighing, Ereshkigal regained her composure:

"It is precisely because the situation is extremely critical that Lord [Moon Cluster] has ordered his brothers and sisters to temporarily put aside all other work and prioritize resolving this incident."

At this point, Ai Lei's expression became somewhat strange again:

"Actually, I'm quite curious. Have you all been staying in your rooms these past few days? We've had all sorts of rumors about Poliland City since last night..."

"Tia and I haven't left the house these past few days; we've been doing research in our room."

Valensa didn't immediately understand the meaning behind Ellie's strange expression, and answered naturally.

"You've been doing research in your room the whole time...tsk tsk."

Ai Lei's expression became even stranger, and she even sighed:

"It's so good to be young, it's so good to be young."

Only then did Ereshkigal become serious again:

"As I just said, America needs every available force to save Poliland. I hope you can join this operation, Valencia."

"Protecting believers is the inescapable responsibility of a paladin."

Valensa agreed without much hesitation:

"Please wait a few minutes, Sister Ailei. Tia and I will pack up and then we'll set off with you."

Witnessing Savat Landon's demise was one of Valensa's purposes in coming to America, and the fact that Savat Landon was likely backed by the Sin Angel also needed to be investigated. Asakura Mai also had a request to personally participate in the campaign against Savat Landon, so it was almost impossible for Valensa to refuse this summons.

This is a joint operation involving the Church of the Sun, the Council of Sages, and the Witch Forest, along with the country of America.

Savart Langdon was indeed troublesome when he was lurking in the shadows, but now that he has emerged, his defeat is a foregone conclusion. Even if he kidnaps a city, it is merely a slow suicide.

Valensa and Tia didn't think Savat Langdon could escape this time. After packing their luggage and tidying their clothes, they set off with Ereshkigal.

Mosantina City also responded to the call of the [Moon Cluster], with more than a dozen paladins. Led by Ereshkigal, they first took the holy path to the city closest to Poliland, and then walked from the cathedral of that city to the gathering point.

When Valensa and her team arrived, it was already noon that day, nearly 15 hours after Savat Langdon executed the more than 1000 hostages.

By this time, there were already quite a few people at the assembly point. In addition to several hundred paladins and people from the Sage's Tower, there was also a regular army of America, estimated to number between twenty and thirty thousand. They had already set up a temporary military camp at the assembly point using simple sheds.

Eresh temporarily arranged for the other dozen or so paladins to wait in a small military shed, while she, along with Valensa and Tia, entered the largest shed in the military camp.

In the middle of this large shed was an oval table, surrounded by a number of people, each exuding a strong aura; they were all powerful experts at the Shining Rank.

Valensa recognized many familiar faces among them... Ilana from Gangdia City, and the paladin captain from Arant City who had fought alongside her against the Mist Demon Girl tsunami, were among them.

When Ilana saw Valensa and Tia, she smiled and waved to them.

However, neither Elana nor the paladin captain were the leaders of the clergy. The leader was a square-faced, bearded man who looked righteous, wearing silver armor with a sword at his waist and a long red cloak with gold trim on his back.

Ereshkigal clearly recognized the paladin, and quickly pulled Valensa forward, bowing respectfully to him in a knightly salute.

"Ailee greets the Vice Commander."

Deputy Head?

Valensa's eyes lit up, and she curiously sized up the man a few more times before bowing under Ellie's somewhat annoyed urging gaze.

"Greetings, Deputy Commander."

Valensa didn't actually need to bow to that man, because the Inner Templar Knights were of equal rank to the Vice Grand Master of the Holy Knights.

However, Ellie was unaware of Valensa's true identity, and Valensa herself did not want to be too high-profile, so she followed suit and bowed as well.

But this man seemed to know Valensa and was aware of her identity.

He merely nodded slightly at Irene's bow, but returned Valensa's bow earnestly.

Not only that, this man only allowed Ereshkigal to stand behind him and listen, but pulled Valensa to his side, clearly indicating that he wanted Valensa to participate directly in the high-level meetings of the entire Joint Task Force.

The uncle's action immediately left Ellie puzzled, and her gaze towards Valensa became strange, as if she suspected that Valensa was the illegitimate daughter of some important figure in the church headquarters.

Fortunately, Ilana came over in time and whispered a few words in Ellie's ear, which made Ellie look enlightened.

While Eresh was puzzled, Valensa, who had been pulled to the man's side, was also immediately subjected to the gazes of the others around the oval table.

Those gazes were full of doubt—we were having a meeting to discuss the next steps, and even ordinary Stars weren't qualified to participate directly; they could only listen in. What right did you, a little girl from the Lighthouse, have to join in the fun?

Doubts quickly turned into questions, and those questions, in turn, put pressure on Valensa... The gaze of a Star Glory expert can intimidate ordinary people, and these people are not ordinary Star Glory experts; almost all of them are at the peak of Star Glory, like Aileen!

When several such pressures act on a person at the same time, an ordinary lighthouse would probably be terrified and collapse to the ground, and might even wet themselves.

Valensa never expected to receive this treatment. Caught off guard, she was intimidated by the questioning gazes of several top-tier Star Glory experts, and her legs went weak and she broke out in a cold sweat.

Before she could even use the power of the evil god within her to fight against these intimidating gazes, a very warm power appeared out of nowhere, instantly dispelling all of Valensa's discomfort and making her feel refreshed and invigorated. She wanted to shout out loud.

The people who were giving Valensa questioning looks felt the complete opposite – almost all of them looked away, and some even covered their eyes, tears welling up as if stung by the intense sunlight.

Despite suffering a great loss, none of these people expressed anger. Instead, they all showed a look of realization and no longer dared to underestimate Valensa.

"God's Favored One..."

An elderly man who looked like a wise man chuckled bitterly and muttered to himself.

This is not the official name of the Church of the Sun, but rather a more appropriate way for non-church members to refer to certain special clergy members.

These special priests may not be very strong, but they are especially favored by the Sun Goddess. Anyone who dares to bully them should be prepared to face divine punishment.

Of course, the Sun Goddess favors many people and cannot always pay attention to a particular believer. There are also stories of the Goddess's favorites being defeated by monsters and suffering humiliation. However, people who know of the existence of the Goddess's favorites generally will not deliberately cause trouble for them. What if the Sun Goddess happens to see them bullying the Goddess's favorites?

Moreover, those favored by the gods are basically destined to become high-ranking members of the Church of the Sun. Even though Valensa is currently just a small beacon in the eyes of a powerful rank, she is still qualified to attend the meeting.

Valensa herself was still in a daze. The square-faced, bearded man who had pulled her to the table remained tight-lipped and showed no intention of explaining anything. However, he was not at all surprised that Valensa would be blessed by a miracle.

What the hell is this?

Just as Valensa was about to break the silence and ask a question, a hand patted her. It was Ilana, who had taken the opportunity to walk behind her earlier.

Ilana's action, seemingly just a reminder to Valensa not to act impulsively, actually packaged a lot of information into a divine spell, which was then injected into Valensa's body with the pat on the shoulder.

Valensa quickly received the information after the package was unpacked and finally understood what was going on, as well as who the people standing around the oval table were.

First, there was the square-faced, bearded man. He was indeed one of the vice-commanders of the Holy Knights from the Sun Church headquarters on the Divine Continent. His name was Gamona, and he had always been the Sun Church's representative in the Savat Landon Joint Pursuit Team.

On the other side of Gamona, the three people dressed in magnificent sage robes, two men and one woman, were all important figures in the top 20 of the Sage Council. The slightly younger middle-aged man and woman held the 17th and 18th seats respectively, while the old sage who had previously revealed Valensa's identity as a chosen one of the gods held the 15th seat.

The middle-aged man in seat 17 was originally the head of the Sage Tower in the joint pursuit team. However, because the Sage Tower suffered heavy losses this time, losing four pursuit teams at once, seat 15 and seat 18 were also sent to provide support.

Standing on the other side of the female sage at the 18th seat of the Sage's Tower were three rugged middle-aged men dressed in similar styles. Their aura was noticeably weaker than the others, but extremely sharp.

All three were dressed in America's military uniforms; they were all top-notch military personnel from the Merchant Alliance and commanders of the America army in the camp.

To the right of the three military experts, and to Valensa's left, sat the last person at the oval table.

It was a young woman with an extremely beautiful face and a very hot figure. She was wearing a scarlet sleeveless dress with a very low neckline, and a rather peculiar necklace could be seen in the snow valley.

The necklace's chain appears to be made of some kind of bone, with exquisite craftsmanship; each section of the chain is engraved with different patterns, all remarkably lifelike.

At the top of the chain is a blood-red rhombus-shaped gemstone, its color so vibrant that, against the backdrop of the delicate bone chain and the woman's snow-white breasts, it resembles a corpse that has died tragically in the snow, its blood splattered everywhere.

Unlike the tense atmosphere of the others at the table, this woman appeared quite relaxed, even sipping her tea and eating snacks... Apart from giving Valencia a curious glance earlier, she seemed indifferent to what the others were discussing.

Moreover, behind the vice-commander of the Holy Knights, Gamona, the three sages who ranked in the top 20 of the Sage Tower, and the three military experts, there were many other people standing, including many Radiant-rank powerhouses. Their strength was not much weaker than those around the table, only their status differed.

There was no one behind this beautiful woman.

But Valencia dared not underestimate this beautiful woman in the slightest. In fact, after glancing at the people around the table, she focused all her attention on the beautiful woman.

The reason is simple: the beautiful woman sitting alone at the oval table drinking tea is from the Witch's Forest.

In its pursuit of Savat Langdon, the Witch Forest only sent this beautiful woman.

Although the beautiful woman came alone, no one dared to underestimate her, nor would they look down on the Witch Forest just because she was the only one there.

Because this beautiful woman is the only Moon-level powerhouse present, and also the strongest. She is one of the nine witches with the highest status in the Witch Forest, with a status equivalent to that of a saintess of the Church of the Sun.

Her combat prowess alone is likely greater than that of everyone else in the shack combined; she is the ace and ultimate weapon of the Joint Operations Team.

Witches... they're really amazing.

Valensa sighed inwardly, staring at the witch's necklace pendant for a long while until the witch put down her teacup and looked over with amusement. Only then did Valensa quickly look away.

This time, she didn't look at the person at the table, but instead looked at the tabletop.

On the table was a huge magical projection, showing the situation in Poliland in real time.

Judging from the perspective and field of view of the magical projection, it seems that the joint action team was using some kind of magic to monitor the enemy's movements from high above. They couldn't see the interiors and corners of the city, but could only roughly see some of the situation on the streets.

The situation can be said to be very bad.

Savat Langdon clearly knew that the Joint Operations Team was watching that area in some way, so he deliberately concentrated all the city's residents in some squares and wide streets, with each gathering point having anywhere from a thousand to nearly ten thousand people.

Around those gathering points, various ferocious undead creatures guard the hostages, ready to kill these innocent residents at any moment.

Rather, the killing never stopped.

During her observation, Valensa happened to see a seven or eight-year-old boy burst into tears out of fear.