บท 23: Lumina Family's Dark Secrets

Two hours after the incident at Luponia Magic Academy died down, the demonic cultivators were sentenced to death. However, dozens of rumors and information soon spread about the city lord and his family's dark-related business.

Residents became restless because several cases and incidents that occurred in recent years were terror, which has not been resolved to date.

Monthly cases of missing children, secret dealings with demons, legalized slave trading, human trafficking, and the city lord's dark secrets were exposed to the public.

The Lumina Marquess Family tried to calm everyone's anxiety and emphasized those rumors were just baseless accusations.

Unfortunately, the Guardian of Dream had made their move to handle that family that very day. All that news spread to make the iron even hotter when they strike it at the right time.

"We shall strike while the iron is hot. Move ahead of time according to plan." Gabriella ended the briefing with the other Apostles.

"Roger." The other nine core disciples answered in unison.

"???" Ely just watched from the side with an innocent expression. Her core disciples led the Guardian of Dream to take actions she didn't expect.

They would take care of the Lumina Family right now. The information they gathered overnight was also equipped with undeniable evidence to bring down and destroy the city lord's family.

The first thing they did was demerit the Lumina Family with ill rumors, incite people to demand the city lord an explanation, and even cause chaos to make the atmosphere even noisier. Furthermore, they had engaged the Chivalric Order and Holy Church to act.

The Imperial Prince and Princess came to this city with more than a dozen representatives from various prominent backgrounds. So, the new and old variables would be combined to overthrow the city lord's reign.

'As expected of my disciples... They are indeed reliable in various matters. I don't even have to do anything.' Ely opened her grimoire again to check the urgent quest from the Constellation of Fate. Unfortunately, that quest was still hanging without further notice.

'So, the Demon God isn't dead yet, but we managed to prevent his descent, right? Could he have managed to descend to the mortal world by other means? But, the quest will be declared failed if so. What really happened?' Ely asked in wonder.

It might be a bug or a malfunction, but she could only hope that a bad situation would never happen. She didn't want to face the Demon God's revenge. It would be better if the other party died for good and she never saw him again.

Her only consolation was the nice number of VIT growths since it was so arduous to get it.

[Ely (???) | 0th Rank]

[HP: 4,500/100 | MP: 4.63M/4,500 | SP: 91,511/4,500]

[Talent: 6 Stars | Legendary]

'HP, CONS and PER are still a mystery. What do I need to do to get those stats increased? HP may be Health Point, but what about the other two? No, wait... Maybe, it's Constellation and Perception, right?' Ely tapped her chin as she wasn't sure the Constellation was the correct answer. It wouldn't even make sense for it in her personal stats. After all, she was not the stars in the sky.

"Master, everything went according to your plan. Is it too much if we expect your presence in the scene?" Rafaela asked with an expectant gaze.

Ely blinked her eyes in bewilderment. Her disciples clearly arranged the plans, but why was the responsibility suddenly thrown at her? Even so, she behaved like a good leader and gave her approval. It was only her presence before the public, but she would do nothing.

It was what she initially thought.

---

"..." Ely sat in a luxurious horse-drawn carriage escorted by knights from the Chivalric Order and Holy Church.

They moved as if they were about to wage war. Regardless, an order from higher-ups had already been issued that they would conduct an in-depth investigation into the city lord's mansion to check the validity of all the information suddenly circulating.

"Hmm?" Ely glanced sideways, staring out the window. Her eyes met with the princess from earlier. Several elders from the magic academy and some other important figures were also there.

The Imperial Princess gasped and immediately rushed to stop the entourage. She asked what had happened to the nearby Commander.

'They planned this too?' Ely felt like a pawn at the moment, but she had no complaints because her presence was necessary.

*Knock* *Knock*

Someone knocked on the door from outside, and the door opened. Ely prayed something to her grimoire to ask for some information about the Imperial Family.

"We meet again, Lady Miko. I am honestly surprised to see you involved in this matter. The Holy Church even dispatched their radiant holy knights." Princess Yan Fei greeted the holy saintess with a friendly smile. Yet, she stayed outside as she didn't dare enter before getting permission.

"Mm, yes. The circulating information isn't as simple as people have heard. We received some shocking information and evidence a few hours ago. Please have a seat." Ely invited the guests to enter.

"If you'll excuse us." Princess Yan Fei entered and sat on the seat next to the holy saintess. Then, the prince and the old gentleman sat on opposite seats.

Several people wanted to enter too, but the radiant knight prevented them. They couldn't help but join the entourage on foot. They also wanted to know what happened to the city lord's family to have this kind of force come as an investigation team.

Ely observed this Imperial Princess more closely. This girl was around twenty years old with pale skin, shoulder-length pink hair, green feline-like eyes, and blessed with an athletic build. At a glance, Yan Fei's appearance resembled a young General with muscles in all the right places.

At that time, Ely felt that the appearance of a female cultivator should be like Princess Yan Fei. It was unreasonable for a fragile-looking, slender, and tender woman to have such great physical force.

The other person was the prince with an appearance somewhat similar to his sister, but more muscular and with short hair. This pair of siblings were at the 4th Rank Peak Stage and SR talent.

For the last person on the carriage, it was the same 7th Rank old gentleman who stood like a statue in the corner of the dean's room yesterday.

"Good day to you, mister. This is our third meeting, is it?" Ely greeted the old gentleman as a courtesy.

"My apologies, but this is our second meeting, Lady Miko. My name is Cao Yazhu. Please allow me to express my deepest gratitude. You saved this city, this world, from the Demon God of the upper realm." The old gentleman bowed respectfully.

At that moment, he realized the holy saintess had said something between the lines. This was their third meeting, but he spontaneously didn't want to admit it.

The first was yesterday in the dean's room, the second was when she healed him a few hours ago, and the third was the current event. So, she could see past his invisibility disguise perfectly? She wanted to say that it was useless and rude to disguise himself in invisibility before her presence!?

"It's not worth mentioning." Ely raised her palm. She already got enough appreciation.

"Lady Miko, regarding the current event involving the Lumina Family..." Princess Yan Fei was concerned because the situation would require extra action if a holy saintess were involved.

"A few other people and I suddenly got this classified information. Please have a look at this, and you will understand." Ely handed over an envelope of documents to Princess Yan Fei.

"..." Princess Yan Fei received it, but her gaze glued to the silver-gold grimoire on the holy saintess' lap. It was a high-grade holy artifact, for sure.

She opened the envelope and checked the documents. Her complexion turned pale, and her anger accumulated as she read further. "This, beasts!"

Prince Yan Hui sought a chance to talk to the holy saintess, but his sister suddenly growled like a wild beast. She even unconsciously crumpled those papers. "What happened, seventh sister?"

"See for yourself, and you will know why the Holy Church and Chivalric Order immediately dispatched this kind of powerful force. Holy saintess is even here to handle this matter." Princess Yan Fei covered her eyes and gave the papers to her brother.

"Hmm..." Prince Yan Hui also felt that this powerful force was enough for a small-scale war, but the situation was alright, right? They had just finished with the demonic cultivators and the Demon God...

He checked the information in the documents and immediately became furious. Lumina Family was involved in demonic acts, cruel experiments, human trafficking, corruption, and many more inhumane acts!

"This... The person or group that sent this wanted to destroy the Lumina Family with borrowed power. But, could it be that family is also involved with the demonic cultivators from the Xuehui Blood Society?" The old gentleman stroked his beard. He went out to investigate things, but another big event happened in a relatively short period of time.

"Lady Miko, forgive me for asking this suddenly, but what is your view of humans now?" Princess Yan Fei was worried the holy saintess would be disappointed with humans. Even though they were both human, the other party was the holy one beyond mortality.

"Nothing has changed. It's the same as demons, beasts, and other races. There are good and evil. Whether to satisfy their greed, fulfill their desires, or follow the natural flow. The beast is not necessarily a monster, white is not necessarily good, and black is not necessarily evil."

After saying that, Ely paused momentarily, then looked at the princess and the prince. She had to drag this imperial siblings to handle this matter for her. "Since you are here, will you involve yourself as a representative of the Imperial Family to punish your evil subjects?"

"It goes without saying. Since this kind of force has already been dispatched, things will become even more chaotic if the Imperial Family doesn't intervene. Not to mention the previous incident... After this event, I will send an urgent letter to the Emperor to handle the aftermath." Princess Yan Fei responded with a solemn expression, but she felt relieved and enlightened after hearing the holy saintess' reply.