Chapter 366: Slow poison
While Eren had taken his first step towards completely controlling the Holy Empire,
Zia was pacing back and forth in her room, unsure of how she ended up in this
situation.
She knew she had to act, but felt
embarrassed even though she had already
done it once before.
Inwardly, she cursed Eren’s name as she began undressing, stripping down completely before getting into bed.
Zia started the act, which was not entirely an act. As she feigned moans, her mind kept returning to the thoughts of Eren. She wondered if she would sound the same if
he was above her and it was not just an act.
The moment she realized what she was thinking, Zia’s face flushed slightly. What nonsense was she even considering? She wondered.
Yet, even as she tried, she couldn’t shake Eren from her mind. Without even realizing it, her fingers began to wander downwards.
“Traitors from the Necromancer Tower? That’s impossible. With the Holy Barrier’s existence, how can it happen?”
“That is right. The Necromancer Tower can’t infiltrate the Holy City! So that’s impossible.”
“Even if they somehow managed to get in contact with people of the Western
Continent, no one would listen to them!
Everyone knows what kind of monsters they are!”
One after another, the ministers expressed their shock at Eren’s words. Even though these were the words of the Holy Emperor, they found it difficult for them to accept.
While most of the dissenting voices belonged to ministers loyal to the Holy Priestess, a few were from those loyal to the Holy Emperor.
Even for them, the idea of someone from the Holy Empire siding with the evil people
from the North was unthinkable.
The hatred towards the Necromancer
Tower ran deep, even among the ordinary
citizens of the Holy Empire, let alone those living in the Holy City.
Even if one assumed that the Necromancer
Tower used dark magic to manipulate people outside the Holy City, it didn’t make
sense.
Once someone passed through the Holy Barrier and entered the Holy City, all manipulation or evil magic was supposed to be cleansed.
Therefore, it was impossible for people inside the Holy City to be manipulated by magic, unless those from the Necromancer Tower had passed through the barrier and used their magic within the city itself.
If that happened, wouldn’t they have been detected by the Holy Church? Saying there were traitors here was indirectly saying that the Holy Church had failed in preventing the spread of the Necromancer
Tower’s influence in the Royal City.
“Even though I don’t want to believe it, I
have seen the evidence myself. The
Minister of War is also one of those traitors,” Eren told the Ministers, who were
even more taken aback. “This problem is more widespread than many of you
imagine.”
“Even amongst you, there might be a few people who have turned to the side of the Necromancer Tower, betraying our homeland!” he further added.
He didn’t know exactly who was on his side
and who was a traitor for the Holy Church. However, this was the perfect opportunity to weed the traitors out.
From the moment Eren had entered the
Grand Hall, he had been observing even the more minute fluctuations in the expressions of the Ministers. By now, he
had gained quite a good understanding of what he was dealing with.
Even he couldn’t believe how widespread
this infestation actually was. Amongst the fifteen ministers present here, eleven were those who sided with the Holy Priestess.
“You say that you have seen the evidence. May I ask what that evidence might be?” One of the Ministers asked, being one who was siding with the Holy Priestess.
He wanted to know just how much the Holy
Emperor found out and if there was a need to take any drastic steps. For now, it didn’t feel like he doubted the Holy Priestess but he wanted to be sure.
“The Minister of War used dark mana to
assassinate the envoys of the Demon Sect. I’m sure you can assume who benefits the most if that had happened? If our potential alliance with the Demon Sect falls apart, who does it benefit the most?”
“Fortunately, the envoys were strong and
weren’t harmed. They have also seen the Minister of War use dark mana. The Royal Guards were also able to witness it. I’m
sure that is enough evidence about this infestation.”
Hearing his words, the entire hall became
silent. Even those who didn’t support the Emperor couldn’t question him. There were just too many witnesses this time. Not only did the Emperor see it but the Royal Guards and the envoys have done the same. If it was just guards, they could have turned them to their side and made them lie but the involvement of the Great Elders of Demon Sect made things more complicated.
‘Can you make it any more obvious?’ Eren
thought, observing the flustered and angry expressions of the eleven traitorous Ministers who were at a loss of words.
Some were looking at the Minister of War with hostility, wondering how he could fail to this extent. He had one job to do and he even failed in that.
As if to poke the traitors even more, Eren sympathetically said, “Although I don’t want to accept it, it seems that the Holy Church has failed this time.’
‘You…’
The majority of Elders grew pale, looking at
the Holy Emperor with a stunned look on
their faces.
Did he already find out that the Holy
Church was behind it and they had failed
this time? They couldn’t let the Holy
Emperor live. Although it was problematic, they had to kill him.
“They failed in stopping the influence of the Necromancer Tower from reaching the Holy City. However, I am sure that together, we can solve this problem. The
Holy Church is still our greatest shield,”
Eren further explained, having enough of messing with the traitors.
Although he knew what the Holy Church
wanted, he still couldn’t afford to expose them. Instead of making it a blunt attack on the Holy Church, he wanted to be a slow poison that devoured the Holy Church from within.
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