4. “Nothing”
Originally, to prevent any issues, Reina had specifically asked the Saintess to prepare a church where she could be undisturbed.
After all, every time Reina prayed, it was somehow related to darkness.
This was the very purpose of her prayers.
If this scene of “purifying her body” were to be discovered, Reina feared she would be immediately branded as a human traitor, a spy sent by the demon race. Reina could only shake her head and deny being a member of the demon race, and even after her dragon tail was revealed due to a power leak, she would still stubbornly argue that she was “loyal at heart despite being in the enemy’s camp”…
—I don’t want to be discovered by humans!
This was the reason why Reina sought a quiet church to pray in.
But judging by the current situation, Reina’s greatest fear had come true.
Although everyone, including the Cardinals, had been strictly forbidden by the Saintess from entering, Reina never expected that the Saintess herself, the one who had provided the location, would personally “check in”!
For the Saintess, not having the right to enter the church she had gifted was somewhat unreasonable. Reina couldn’t act like a guest taking over the host’s place.
But even so, she shouldn’t have come at such a coincidental time!
Her clone’s power could be recalled at any time.
Reina wanted to immediately recall her Light Clone, but doing so would not only cause her to lose a massive amount of pure light magic, but also destroy all the progress she had made in the theocratic nation.
Without this identity, Reina would truly be a “dragon person”!
At that time, forget about resisting Calysia’s affections.
She would probably just give in and have a dozen cute little dragon offspring with the Dragon King!
“*Mmph…*♡ Ah~”
Reina shifted a bit of her consciousness to her clone, and the clone let out a shy sound, in sync with her main body.
“Lei?”
At the same time, Saintess Agnes’s voice was filled with question.
I’ve been discovered!
Reina was mortified—she had originally wanted to feign absence and get away with it, but the sound she had just made undoubtedly exposed the fact that she was praying!
She really wanted to push Calysia away and then send the Saintess away.
But pushing the Dragon King away for the sake of work was still too shameful.
—Damn dragons.
So, Reina had no choice but to stop praying. While her main body was still being toyed with by Calysia, she controlled her clone to stand up. But even the clone began to feel hot, unable to hide her shyness and shame.
Honestly, Reina really wanted to make a good impression on the Saintess.
After all, she was a genuine human.
In the future, her foundation in the human world would depend on connections and status, and she still felt a sense of belonging and affection.
But Calysia had ruined everything.
Every subtle movement of hers seemed to remind Reina that “you belong to the dragon race,” distracting her.
But Reina didn’t panic.
She knew that resisting Calysia was a decision that went against her heart, but she didn’t want to give up on the Saintess, on her human identity.
—You’ve underestimated my willpower!
Reina stopped trembling, took a deep breath, walked to the church door, and pushed it open.
A holy maiden appeared before her.
Beneath her pristine holy robe was a black and white dress.
This attire was strictly speaking similar to a maid’s uniform.
The latter had white lace, while the former was covered in golden, sacred patterns.
Her long golden hair was covered by a veil, her sacred yet youthful eyes hiding a hint of worry. Hearing Reina’s somewhat “indecent” voice, this Saintess had no idea what was happening.
“Saintess… mmph…”
Reina tried to control her voice, but she still let a little slip.
“Lei, are you… not feeling well?”
The Saintess’s voice was filled with concern.
She had specifically used the formal “you,” but still addressed Reina as “Lei.”
She was closing the distance while also hinting at Reina’s identity.
Although she was the current leader of the theocratic nation, she acted like a subordinate in front of Reina. Reina could see the shadow of Liya in her loyal gaze. The only difference was that the Saintess, as an important NPC in the game, had already been figured out by Reina.
—A true “phoenix” character.
If this game didn’t have a protagonist, then this Saintess would be the protagonist.
Born into poverty, her parents died when she was five. After being taken in by an orphanage, she was identified as having a “high affinity for the light attribute” and was taken in by the Church. Then, with her overwhelming strength and astonishing progress, she climbed all the way to the top of the Church, becoming a being above the Cardinals and below the Pope.
In the original story, she fought for many years, always in direct conflict with the Four Realms, and accompanied the “strongest human,” the Pope, providing guidance and combat support to the protagonist.
But this NPC’s faith was so ridiculously high that she couldn’t be recruited by the protagonist as a subordinate.
Unless the Church was destroyed.
Ever since Reina had an unspeakable relationship with Calysia, she had been trying to recall the so-called hidden ending, why Calysia was so obsessed with her, and why she could be so certain that Reina was the protagonist.
But in the process of thinking about this, Reina had a mischievous idea:
What would the Saintess’s expression be like if she saw that the Goddess of Light was dead?
Of course, these were just thoughts.
Reina didn’t want the Saintess—the only competent leader in the theocratic nation at the moment—to fall. If there really was a day when the Saintess abandoned the light and gave up on herself, humanity would probably be doomed.
“Nothing.”
Reina forced herself to endure the murky, love-filled sensations from her main body.
—Calysia was kissing her, and now Reina’s main body could feel the Dragon King’s heat and the burning sensation from the Dragon Mark on her belly and chest.
“I’m fine.”
After a difficult struggle, Reina only managed to utter these two short sentences.
The Saintess lowered her head, her hands clasped in a prayer-like gesture, as if performing some strange ritual.
“Yes, I understand.”
“Lei, I came to find you because I have a favor to ask of you.”
“Regarding the research on demonification, we’ve made a new discovery.”
So soon?
Reina originally wanted to give the Saintess a gentle smile, to ease the awkward atmosphere created by the Saintess, and to say a few words of encouragement, otherwise it would seem a bit presumptuous. But now, because of the spasms in her main body, she could only maintain a serious expression to prevent any accidents.
“We imprisoned the demonified humans and conducted… research…”
The Saintess’s expression was a little ashamed, as if admitting a mistake.
“Finally, I discovered…”
“Demonification is an irreversible process that changes the soul, and our current magic is absolutely incapable of reaching the soul level.”
—Isn’t that completely unsolved?
Reina was a little speechless. This Saintess told her everything in her letters, and now…
You don’t have to report everything—!
But how could the Saintess know Reina’s thoughts?
She tilted her head, trying her best to appear competent in front of the Goddess of Light:
“Lady Lei, do you have any suggestions?”
But Reina suddenly felt a warmth in her belly. It was her main body being infused with magic power, followed by an irresistible pleasure.
“Calysia~, mmph~”
“Who is Calysia?”
The Saintess’s small eyes were filled with great confusion.
