Chapter 146: William’s Rebellion Part 2

There’s something just perfect for guys like that.

They’re stupid beyond belief and strut around trusting only William.

A little personal insult and they’ll flare right up.

‘Alright then, how should I start the attack?’

‘Hmm. Looking closely… their faces look like they stopped developing halfway.’

“Who are you trying to threaten with those half-formed mugs? Know your place. Looking at your face… I don’t know who you resemble, but judging by that expression, I bet your parents aren’t any better-looking either.”

“What… what did you just say?”

“What, surprised? Think a saintess wouldn’t talk like this? I seriously hate ugly things more than anything in the world. They pollute my eyes. Even good-looking guys piss me off if they stare at me like that. So just having you half-formed, hideous orc bastards near me makes me sick.”

“Do you really think, with those kinds of faces, you have the right to talk to me? Huh? If I weren’t in pain, I’d gouge out my eyes, scrub them clean, and stick them back in just to get the image of you out of my sight.”

Like an elf firing off spirit arrows using the wind, she unleashed an endless barrage of insults.

As expected, all their eyes turned bloodshot and their faces flushed red.

Looks like they’re mad.

But I don’t plan on letting this go.

‘This won’t do.’

“You’re famous in the Empire, huh? Probably just because of the Ashtar family’s influence. Well, let me carve the fear of holy knights into that body of yours.”

The holy knights surrounded me.

Tightly, with no way out.

‘Good. Now it’s getting interesting.’

‘I’m glad I’m Olivia.’

The rank, the family, the status, and even the gender—all perfect for this kind of situation.

“You guys drew your swords first, didn’t you?”

“Stupid imperial wench! We were letting you off easy!”

Crack!

One of the so-called holy knights swung his sword, so I grabbed it and smashed his nose with my fist.

‘Wow. Are guys this weak seriously called holy knights of the Church?’

‘No, wait. He was one of William’s men?’

‘Then he doesn’t count as a proper holy knight.’

“You think you can run your mouths just because you trust that meathead?

“Well, I’m a mage!”

Bang bang bang bang!

Magic bullets pierced through their armor.

The half-baked knights, armor torn through, collapsed on the spot.

And I didn’t stop there.

[–What’s that noise upstairs?]

[–Isn’t it the saintess going wild?]

[–Let’s go catch her!]

“Catch who?”

“Who do they think they’re dealing with?”

‘Is William so obsessed with the Pope’s position that he even hired these lowlife thugs?’

Even if the Church is a rigid institution, their holy knights shouldn’t be underestimated.

The ones who joined the Ashtar expedition were elites.

Even the priests who tagged along weren’t pushovers.

Maybe William’s men are just outside hires.

“Yeah, I get it. That Pope position must be tempting. After all, it’s an absolute seat of power. Unlike other countries, there’s no bloody power struggle, no nation on the continent dares mess with the Church, and no one can pull any weird tricks on them.”

“Plus, it’s a rich country too, with all kinds of goods flowing in from every direction. Still though… Was he really that desperate for his grandfather’s seat?”

“Ugh… Catch the saintess!”

I don’t mind that part.

Honestly, other than the Lily incident, being in this body has been nothing but beneficial.

Much better than living as Noah.

But still…

Because of how I look, people seem to see me as weak.

“Looks like Olivia—me—is being underestimated.”

I suppose that makes sense.

Especially from trash like these guys.

So no, I’m not going easy here.

Unlike Noah, who had to consider all sorts of stuff with the hero’s party,

I won’t be showing any mercy.

“Hehehe… Saintess, you’d better behave yourself.”

“Yeah… if you want…”

Bang!

“GAAAAAH! AAAAAARGH!”

“What?! What happened?”

One of the self-proclaimed knights who charged at me—

I shot him straight in the groin with a magic bullet.

Self-defense, obviously.

As the Imperial Saintess ambushed by Church holy knights—rebels, at that—it’s completely justified.

If my hunch is right, the mage corps should be moving now.

And that man, the Pope, probably ran off—he’d care more about the Goddess Church than a backstabbing grandson.

Which means the mage corps will naturally head this way.

And if we make it back to the Empire like this, the Goddess Church will naturally gain a foothold.

Though… I still need to think through that part.

But since I’m here, might as well claim a reward or two.

‘Thanks to William, things are going smoothly.’

I should’ve reformed him instead of just beating him up and kicking him out back when I was Noah.

But if I couldn’t do that, this works too.

“Damn it, you bitch!”

“See? Told you not to run your mouths.”

The sight of him bleeding and collapsing was strangely satisfying.

“You’ll pay for this!”

“Pay? You? In your condition?”

Wham!

With just one kick, he rolled down the corridor.

“And you think you’re a match?”

These holy knights are way too weak.

‘So what on earth was William thinking?’

‘Raising a rebellion with guys like this?’

“Ah seriously, you guys are unbelievable. What were you thinking, doing something like this?”

“Grrrgh…”

“He must have some backup.

They’re even fighting the cardinal leading the holy knights.

‘How?’

Looks like they’ve already secured this area.

Something’s definitely fishy.

‘These guys beat holy knights?’ That makes no sense.

Even that idiot William isn’t brain-dead.

He should know this level of force isn’t enough to take over the Church.

There’s got to be something else.

“Damn it. We have no choice. Let’s just keep it from Lord William. This saintess isn’t normal—we have to kill her!”

‘So now they’re openly talking about killing me.’

‘Hmm. Good.’

So there is something more.

Of course you had something up your sleeve.

“Did you take some drug? Something that makes your mana go berserk?”

“Saintess… this is all your fault.”

The holy knights’ bodies suddenly turned black.

No wonder they were wearing such heavy armor.

Even their muscles were bulging like crazy.

‘Demonization?’

‘Is that dark energy they’re using?’

***

A drug.

A drug that makes a person’s mana go out of control.

Normally, something like that would put a burden on the body.

But to use it so easily like that… maybe that’s why they tried to keep it hidden.

Either way, it doesn’t matter.

For now, I smell the stink of the Four Heavenly Kings.

“Die!”

“You got beaten by the Saintess. Can’t win without drugs now, huh?”

I effortlessly caught the punch that was clearly meant to kill.

‘Did I look weak to you? Huh?’

‘Too bad for you. Did I really seem that fragile?’

“What the— How did you catch that?”

“Wow. First, you get humiliated by words, then lose in a fistfight, and now you’re even gonna lose to the drugs?”

“You’re pathetic.”

“There’s no point in using words to hurt you when you’re so weak.”

“You tried to show off, but then lost to a punch, and now you’re relying on drugs. It’s almost laughable.”

So, now let’s finish this.

At first glance, it looks like the Holy Knights ambushed the inn.

Anyone would think it was us who got ambushed first.

Crack!

I immediately shattered the arm of the Holy Knight right in front of me.

“I don’t know what you’re imagining, but I’m the expert here.”

“What… What are you doing?”

“What am I doing? I just lightly crushed it.”

“I told you, I’m the expert here.”

Crack! Crack!

The bodies of the Holy Knights who had taken the drugs began to twist before exploding with a boom!

It wasn’t particularly grotesque.

Since they were demons already, the mana inside their bodies exploded and killed them, with just liquid-type demons spilling out.

“But how dare you think you can do anything to me?”

Gasp “What is this… this power? Is it… a demon?”

No, this is something else entirely!

Oh, looks like they’re pretty stunned.

I can see why.

‘They never imagined that the Saintess could be like this.’

‘Honestly, it’s like trying to impress a caterpillar in front of a butterfly, isn’t it?’

“How dare you act so cocky when you don’t even know who I am? You should die for what you’ve done.”

“If you’ve done something deserving of death, whether human or demon, you should die.”

“How… How could a Saintess…”

“Yeah, I know. You’re surprised. You never expected someone worse than you.”

“But that’s what happens when you push your luck too far.”

“Now that you’ve seen it, you should die too.”

Crack! Crunch!

It’s always best to instill fear and terror in your enemies before killing them.

Rather than just killing them with brute force, it’s better to make them realize who they dared to challenge right before they die.

And after catching all of them, I became curious about what was happening outside.

“I bet there’s some fighting going on outside.”

I glanced out the window and saw the Holy Knights being subdued by our nuns.

‘Yeah, yeah. If they were real Holy Knights, they might have been able to do something. But seeing them get defeated like that by nuns means they weren’t the real deal.’

They were caught even before using magic.

By now, the church people must have figured out that it was William who was behind all this.

“Olivia-sama!”

Syria arrived just in time.

‘Did she deal with Kise?’

“What happened?”

“Kise and the Mage Corps went to escort the Pope. What should we do?”

‘She’s asking what to do about the church.’

“I’m not sure.”

***

“Isn’t it dangerous to get too involved in the church’s matters?”

“Mm. You’re right. It is dangerous.”

“Interfering in another country’s internal affairs is an act of interference. I’m not interested in that.”

“Right now, it’s an emergency, but we’re here as representatives of the Empire. If we end up fighting William, the Empire will know about it too.”

“That’s true. If we can’t deal with William properly, it’ll be dangerous.”

“But this is something that can be turned around. We can temporarily evacuate the Pope to the Empire and then eliminate William. And if the church gets involved, the kingdom will have no choice but to step in.”

One of the Pope’s unique powers is calling upon the kingdom’s army.

If the Empire, as an ally of the kingdom, gets involved, William will have a serious headache.

The Pope probably didn’t see this coming.

There’s no way she thought William would go this far.

For William to secure victory, he needs to capture the Pope first.

But there’s the Mage Corps and the Pope’s loyal Cardinal.

“For now, I’m Ashtar’s young lady.”

“Yes.”

“And the heir to the Taesa family.”

“Right.”

“That body was just attacked by William’s Holy Knights.”

“Wait, no way.”

I’ve already built up all the justification I need.

I’m ready to take action against the church.

Specifically, to deal with William and anyone behind him.

“We’ve already gathered all the justification we need. Whether we escort the Pope back to the Empire or eliminate William, it’s already over.”

“You’re really amazing at foreign relations and politics. But Olivia-sama, you hate this kind of thing, don’t you? You’re the one who only cares about the Four Heavenly Kings, after all.”

‘That’s why I didn’t protest when the Emperor told me to stay out of the war.’

‘They said they’d handle it, and if I wanted to get involved, I’d have to publicly announce that I’m Noah, which would give me some authority.’

‘That’s why I only need to deal with the Four Heavenly Kings, the enemies of humanity.’

In other words, this is all connected to the Four Heavenly Kings.