The Court of Radiance

The three began traveling along a secluded path,

heading toward the distant holy city that even in the night faintly radiated a majestic halo—[Court of Radiant Light].

It had to be said, as expected of a key heartland of the Rhine Holy Church,

religious decorations were everywhere along the way.

Even after night fell,

the air remained permeated with a not-insignificant concentration of holy light power.

The closer they got to the Court of Radiant Light,

the more pronounced the changes in the surrounding environment became.

The villages and towns they passed through

had miniature holy emblems or symbolic, ever-burning flames of sanctity hanging at nearly every doorstep or windowsill.

Crude yet devoutly carved small shrines stood in the fields.

The concentration of holy light power in the air noticeably increased,

like an omnipresent thin mist.

Though it hadn’t reached the level of directly harming demons,

it still gave Vivian and the others a faint sense of repulsion, as if wading through shallow water.

They had to divert a portion of their attention to resist this ever-present “purification.”

Occasionally, they encountered travelers hurrying at night or local militia on patrol.

Whenever this happened, Vivian would step forward proactively,

using pre-prepared excuses about pilgrimaging to the Court of Radiant Light or seeking advanced studies at the academy,

her tone gentle and courteous.

“Syl” would immediately lower his head,

wishing he could bury his face in his collar.

His body stiffened like a block of wood.

The newcomer curiously looked around,

showing great interest in anything reflective—like militia armor or carriage ornaments.

Several times, he nearly reached out to touch them,

only to be fiercely glared back by Vivian’s eyes.

After a day and a night of travel,

and taking advantage of the darkness to cross the final stretch of hills,

the view suddenly opened up.

At last, they clearly saw one of the holy sanctuaries of the Holy Church—[Court of Radiant Light].

Even in the dead of night,

the entire city seemed bathed in a soft, self-illuminating milky-white glow.

The towering pure-white walls were not built from ordinary stone

but appeared constructed from enormous blocks of special jade infused with holy light power,

their surfaces faintly flowing with pale golden divine script.

At the city’s center, several extremely grand spired cathedrals pierced the clouds,

their pinnacles embedded with massive holy crystals

that sprinkled pure radiance in all directions like miniature suns,

illuminating the night’s sky as if it were daylight.

“…Don’t these people sleep at night?

Those massive lighthouses are still on?”

Vivian stared at the scene before her, somewhat dumbfounded.

A visible, condensed, substance-like massive holy light barrier,

like an inverted bowl, tightly enveloped the entire Court of Radiant Light.

The barrier’s surface shimmered with flowing colors,

emanating a pressure that made demons’ hearts palpitate.

Merely gazing at it from afar

caused a faint stinging sensation on the skin of Vivian and the others.

Outside the holy city lay vast附属 towns and markets.

Even though it was late at night,

they remained brightly lit and bustling with noise,

filled with devout pilgrims and shuttling merchants and mercenaries.

Multiple checkpoints were set at the roads leading to the main city gates.

Holy Church soldiers in gleaming silver armor and pure white capes patrolled with sharp eyes.

Low-tier priests in clerical robes held staves, maintaining order

and conducting preliminary inspections and simple holy light sensitivity tests on all intending to enter.

“…”

Gulp.

Molly instinctively shrank her neck.

The immense pressure of the holy light made

Tagel feel extremely

radiant.

Her body trembled slightly, as if ready to find a crack in the ground to hide in at any moment.

Even Vivian felt her breathing hitch slightly, her brows furrowing tightly.

Even with a Demon Lord’s strength, infiltrating would be far more difficult than imagined.

This holy city itself was a massive holy light weapon targeted at dark creatures.

…Damn it, if only we could have obtained intelligence on Charles sooner.

Vivian thought with some headache.

Now that the guy had hidden inside this holy light fortress,

killing him was truly as hard as ascending to heaven.

If Ash Territory had sent back intelligence on Charles with the light attribute right at the start,

then perhaps the Demon Lords could have intercepted and killed him on the way before he escaped back into the holy light fortress.

But now…

Gazing at the shimmering Court of Radiant Light,

Vivian sighed helplessly in her heart.

“Let’s go.”

Vivian took a deep breath, suppressing the heaviness in her heart,

and said softly to her two companions, “Remember our identities, restrain all your power—we must complete our mission.”

She took the first step,

walking step by step toward the brightly lit, holy light-entwined outer checkpoints of the Court of Radiant Light, which seemed to tolerate not the slightest impurity.

Syl and Molly exchanged a glance—one with terrified eyes, the other with irritated ones—but they could only steel themselves

and follow their temporary captain’s footsteps, blending into the flow of people heading to the holy city.

Vivian, Syl, and Molly discreetly mixed into the crowd.

All around were various faces—dust-covered, devout-eyed pilgrims;

loudly chanting, shrewdly calculating merchants;

escorting goods, scholars or low-tier mages;

and a few hurried figures in simple robes.

The air mixed with sweat, dust, spices,

and that omnipresent, faint holy light aura,

forming a unique atmosphere that made demons uncomfortable.

Vivian kept her head slightly lowered,

letting her deep brown hair fall to partially conceal her face,

walking steadily ahead.

The surrounding pilgrims and clergy noticed not a trace of demonic aura—

who could imagine that among this dense crowd of pilgrims,

three Demon Lords were mixed in?

However, while Vivian herself was fine,

the other two Demon Lords were particularly unadapted.

Sylvester had practically shrunk into a ball,

clinging half a step behind Vivian,

his head drooping, black hair covering most of his pale face.

His body was rigid like a marionette,

and even the slightest brush with a stranger

would make him tremble slightly,

then try even harder to minimize his presence.

The dense holy aura and environment

were all-around torment for a pure shadow creature like him, who could even be called socially anxious.

Molly, on the other hand, seemed far more irritable—

she had retracted her wings,

feeling her balance somewhat unsteady,

her walking posture slightly awkward.

Those eyes, barely changed to a light gold, darted around restlessly,

filled with crow-like curiosity about everything.

From her throat occasionally came extremely faint, suppressed “coo coo” sounds,

expressing great dissatisfaction.