The Villain Saint is my secondary account

She playfully stuck out her tongue and held the round pen tip to Ella's forehead, whose eyes were closed. "Hehehehe, you naughty woman, you've finally met your match..."

Ye Xiao was speechless, so he gently asked Ella to open her eyes.

With the pen still suspended in mid-air, Greta's large, round face met the gaze of her golden pupils and her suddenly opened crimson eyes.

Ella was speechless at this idiot. She reached out and pinched the kitten's cheek. "Is it fun, little Greta?"

The kitten was startled at first, then let out a strange meow in fright, almost falling off Ye Xiao's lap.

"Oh dear, Sister Ella, you've misunderstood me! I was just worried about you and wanted to get closer to check on you!"

Greta grabbed Ella's slender yet strong hand and began to ramble incoherently, "Ye Xiao, save me!"

"Okay, I won't tease you anymore."

Ella released the cat's head and gently flicked Greta's head with her small hand instead. "This time, since you've helped a lot, I won't hold it against you."

Greta felt like she had been granted a pardon, stuck out her tongue, and "whoosh" jumped back onto Ye Xiao's shoulder.

"How are you feeling? Can you walk?"

Ye Xiao looked at the girl in his arms. Of course, there was no need to ask, but with Greta and Encia beside him, he still had to pretend to go through the motions.

Chapter Seventy: The Council of Ten

"Okay, let me down."

Ella, supporting Ye Xiao's arm, dismounted.

She had actually been awake for a while, but she was still feeling physically and mentally exhausted, so she thought she would lie down a little longer. After all, it was all on her own, and Ye Xiao wouldn't mind being tired.

But Greta, that idiot, liked to mess around, so she had no choice but to "wake up" early.

Now that Ella has awakened, everyone can leave the Western Frontier through the portal. Holman will handle the aftermath. The Duchy's army has retreated to the Kingdom of Doom and is not capable of attacking back anytime soon.

Although she is still suffering from the backlash, Ella can still use some divine spells to a limited extent, such as spatial portals, or even small-scale spatial slashes, black fire, and red lightning. As long as the output is controlled within the extraordinary level, she can activate them.

However, powerful divine spells beyond this level cannot be used casually, otherwise the next wave might regress them to the level of an infant.

As for how long the backlash would last, Ella could only vaguely feel that the unfamiliar sense of rejection was slowly fading, but she wasn't sure exactly when it would end completely.

……

Besides Greta and Encia, before leaving, Ye Xiao also went to another castle behind Sandbar Castle to find Freya, intending to send her back to rest as well.

Freya declined Ye Xiao's offer. After the war, many wounded soldiers remained in the castle, and she decided to stay with some of the Loren priests who had come to support the front lines to treat the soldiers' wounds.

"Then don't push yourself too hard, Miss Freya."

Ye Xiao had no choice but to remind him.

"It's alright. Holy Light spells are not evolutionary divine spells, so they won't cause me to suffer the backlash from the Threads of Fate."

Freya smiled gently, "Miss Ella's divine power is currently limited, and the soldiers are in dire need of treatment."

"Alright, thank you for your trouble... When you need to return to Valond, just contact Ella through the Divine Kingdom."

Ye Xiao scratched his head and then said goodbye to the kind girl.

Ella first sent Greta and Encia back to Valond, then went back to the Duke's mansion to change out of their oversized dresses. After that, she opened a portal and went to Strøms.

At this moment, half of Strømsgod's walls were destroyed, smoke filled the buildings, and a giant ship radiating golden light floated in the sky.

This was Julius, the First Knight of the Holy Temple, riding his Pegasus atop the wall. He was stunned when he saw the younger version of Ella emerge from the portal.

Fortunately, he quickly recognized the distinctive silver hair and red eyes, immediately dismounted, and bowed to the other person.

"Your Holiness, Strom is now under our control."

The Duchy of Strømsgods never expected that such a powerful army of Templar Knights would suddenly appear above them while they were fighting on the front lines.

In order to deal with Ella, most of the Duchy's high-end combat forces were deployed to the Sandsburg front. Naturally, no one could stop Julius, the first swordsman of the Holy Temple, let alone with the help of the Pegasus Knights.

This is why Ella wasn't in Sandbar Fortress when the defensive battle first began. In order to transport so many people, including that ship, from the Holy City, Ella spent a lot of time building a sufficiently large portal in the wasteland outside the battlefield.

The reason for not doing it in advance was mainly to avoid intelligence leaks that would alert the Duchy's army.

Although the duchy's generals knew that Ella had the ability to use spatial portals, they were only capable of small-scale teleportation. They were completely unprepared for this legion-level spatial transfer.

She learned all this information from secret reports. It can be said that when the Duchy's intelligence system was taken into account, the loopholes in their military deployment were also exposed.

"Good. How's the battle going?"

Ella's voice became even more childlike than Greta's. Because she hadn't expected her body to change, the Duke's tailors didn't have time to make her a well-fitting dress. So Ella was wearing the noble dress she wore when she was a child.

It was a red and white Lolita dress, more beautiful than a budding rose, and her temperament was more elegant and graceful than that of a wealthy young lady compared to her usual purity.

However, none of this affected Julius's respect. He humbly knelt down and slowly recounted to Ella the results of the conquest of Strøms.

The Duchy's garrison in Strøms only numbered 50,000, with about a dozen magic cannons deployed on the city walls, along with a small number of steam tanks and airships on standby.

This small force was no match for the golden fleet that appeared from the sky. Julius and his Pegasus Knights broke through the city's defenses with almost no effort, annihilating half of their 50,000 troops.

However, before launching the attack, Julius noticed that several airships had left the landing field. Since they were still far away and the mission was to attack the city, he did not lead the main force to pursue the airships, but only sent a small team.

However, according to the team members, they couldn't find those airships after they took off, as if they had vanished into the night.

Based on Julius's description, Ella could roughly guess who did it.

"Based on the intelligence we have obtained from the interrogation of the duchy nobles captured in Strøms, those airships may be carrying important figures from the duchy. This is a dereliction of duty on my part."

Julius sounded somewhat apologetic. The Holy Maiden hadn't let him participate in the main battle, and had given him such a simple sneak attack mission, which he hadn't even completed properly. He had truly lost some of the dignity of a Templar Knight.

"Hey, this isn't your fault."

Ella patted Julius on the shoulder with an air of maturity.

The people on the airship were undoubtedly Tyrone Windsor and her group of noble followers. Although it was unclear why the Dream God had helped those guys escape, they were certainly not people Julius could capture.

In any case, with Strombo in hand, the Duchy's attack was a complete failure. Not only did they fail to capture Sandbar Castle, but they were also driven out of the Loren border.

As for the next step…

Young Ella walked to the wall with her back to Julius, looking down at the vast city, and began to slowly make plans in her mind.

……

three days later.

The Principality of Tedeh, Lionheart City, Upper House Parliament Hall.

Ten well-dressed nobles were sitting around the outer edge of a long circular table, discussing something in a loud voice.

These ten people included men and women, as well as older and younger individuals. They wore different family crests, but without exception, their luxurious clothing indicated that they were all of extraordinary status.

"I have heard the latest news about the Eastern Expeditionary Force's battles in the western frontier of Loren, and it seems that things are not as clear as expected."

The one who spoke was a woman with long, reddish-brown hair and an expensive mink coat. Perhaps due to good maintenance, although she had a mature demeanor, her face still retained a remarkable beauty.

Her voice was gentle, but her words were directed at the middle-aged man sitting at the other end of the table: "Congressman Tyron, can you give everyone a reasonable explanation for this dismal outcome?"

Chapter Seventy-One: The Ambitious

As soon as he finished speaking, the atmosphere at the scene became more tense and tense.

All eyes were on Congressman Tyron, as if waiting for his answer.

The nobleman councilor, with his chiseled features, remained calm, even casually straightening his collar before speaking in a deep voice.

"Lord Cassandra, war is always unpredictable, and any military action is accompanied by risks and uncertainties. Although I was the main proponent of the Eastern Expedition plan, the decision to wage war against Loren should have been made with the approval of Parliament."

So you mean the problem lies with the rest of us?

Senator Cassandra, who had launched the attack, frowned.

"What I mean is that decision-making is a collective effort. As the leaders of the principality, when the country encounters setbacks, we should consider how to solve the problems, rather than shirking responsibility based on personal likes and dislikes."

Representative Tyron's lips curled up slightly.

"As the main initiator of the decision-making process, you don't even have the courage to take responsibility for the problems, so how can you talk about solving them?"

"I never said I wasn't going to take responsibility."

Congressman Tyrone spread out one hand, and a gold coin rolled between his fingers. "Admittedly, we did suffer some setbacks in the Western Frontier, but there were no problems with the overall strategic deployment and military budget. It's just that Saintess Ella Heviel's strength exceeded our initial expectations."

"'only'?"

Cassandra slammed a stack of parchment on the table. "According to statistics, the Duchy's direct losses in this defeat have exceeded twenty million gold pounds."

"You're trying to justify such enormous losses by saying you didn't expect the enemy to be stronger than you imagined, and then you're going to brush it all off so easily?"

Congressman Tyron raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so you have a more sophisticated argument? Then tell me, where do you think the problem lies within our own ranks?"

"I think the problem lies in the war itself, and this foolish behavior should stop here."

Cassandra scoffed, "The entire continent is in turmoil right now. What we should be doing is maintaining our military strength and protecting our own land, not crossing thousands of miles to launch an expedition against an empire that is also human."

“You still don’t understand, Cassandra. No wonder the Montforts, as the oldest noble family here, are still not among the top families.”

A hint of disdain flashed in Councilor Tyron's eyes as the gold coin that had been rolling in his hand stopped on his index finger. "Everyone talks about the three great human nations, but to this day, only our duchy still relies on Aslan for magic crystal mines, and we still have to import gold, silver, iron, and copper from Loren."

"You think that you can protect yourself by curling up in your shell like a turtle when the world is in turmoil, but when the world is at peace, we will still be sinners trapped in this barren land."

"No matter how well we dress, compared to Aslan and Loren, we are just a bubble built up with trade and gold pounds. The real resources are always in their hands, understand?"

"Today, we can only be listed alongside their names by relying on short-term vision and technological development, but in the long run, the principality must keep running to be qualified to keep up with them."

“Cassandra, your proposal may indeed allow the duchy to continue its lingering existence into the next era, but I would like to ask everyone present, are you truly content with that?”

"Loren possesses tens of millions of square miles of land, yet its nobles don't even have flush toilets; Aslan has the most abundant magical energy mines on the entire continent, yet it still follows a bloodline rule that even the beastmen despise."

"The Duchy cannot remain technologically advanced forever, but Loren and Aslan will always have rich lands and abundant resources."

"Our ancestors were criminals exiled by these two countries. They struggled and fought their way to this day. We, who have inherited their will, finally see an opportunity to turn the tide. And yet you, because of a defeat in a battle, say you want to be a coward?"

Congressman Tyron's eyes shifted from Kassandra to the assembled members of parliament. "Colleagues," he said, "if we don't seize the opportunity to expand while we're at our peak, how much longer, how many more decades, will we have to wait? Loren and Aslan are two lumbering elephants, but once they learn to turn around, do you think our names will still be on the list of the most powerful nations in human history?"

A calm and powerful speech clearly swayed the group of councilors around the round table.

Ambition is something deeply embedded in the genes of every politician, and as Congressman Tyran said, with the continent in turmoil and the Principality of Tedeh taking the lead in technology, it is the perfect time for them to rise.

If war is to break out after the unrest has ended, Tedeh will have to be prepared to fight two against one.

Although the two great empires of Loren and Aslan are not exactly friendly to each other, they both know that only by joining forces can they maintain their long-term status as old empires and become a common barrier for resource-rich countries.

The Principality of Tedeh is merely a latecomer to prosperity. Unless these two powerful forces are removed, it will eventually fade into obscurity and become just another ripple in history.

“What Congressman Tyron said is indeed correct.”

Then, another councilor, who appeared to be the oldest among those present, spoke up to express his opinion.

"The principality is at its peak, and we cannot deny this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because of a temporary setback."

Then someone else chimed in.

"Everyone here has overcome numerous obstacles and hardships to be able to sit here."

"Yeah, I think so too."

Seeing that the other members of parliament had all expressed their opinions, Cassandra's tone became somewhat anxious.

"Colleagues, we cannot just look at the opportunities; we must also understand the enormous risks involved."

"Loren's protector saintess, Ella Heviel, commands the military power of half the Holy Temple and is also blessed with divine power. The battle in the Western Frontier has already shown that we cannot gain anything by going head-to-head with her!"

“Ah, Lord Cassandra,”

Congressman Tyrone glanced at the noblewoman whose face was beginning to show signs of anxiety. “The gods have their own power to deal with them. The fact that we are able to seek their support now is precisely because we are reaping the benefits of a strong nation. We may never have such an opportunity again.”

“You inherited the family business under the Marquis of Montfort, and I understand that you lack the charisma of a leader. However, when it is time to restrain your shallow opinions, please do not let your personal emotions sway you and bring shame to the Marquis's name.”

"What did you say!?"

Cassandra's face flushed with anger, and she slammed her hand on the table. "My right to inherit the family is none of your business!"

“I didn’t say you weren’t qualified. After all, the Montfort family hasn’t produced many outstanding talents over the years.”

Congressman Tyrone sneered and began toying with the gold coin in his hand again. "So, you might actually be the most qualified one."

"But that's all, Cassandra. The war will continue; that is our goal and the Duchy's long-cherished wish."

Chapter Seventy-Two Contact Person