“You are our collaborator, why would we shackle you?” Nisha answered. “We’re bad, but not that bad.”

Just as Nisha had said before they attacked the Palace of Light, they had already made preparations.

Chloee had talked to Celeste through the connection they had, and divulged to her the plans of the Pope of attacking the Ainsworth Empire. She also said that they planned to launch a counterattack and infiltrate the Palace of Light when their strongest fighters were away.

Chloee asked for Celeste’s cooperation in getting Audrey to her, so that she could bring her back to the Floor of Asgard.

Of course, Celeste had no obligation to agree to Chloee’s plan. The Virtuous Lady of Chastity could have divulged her familiar’s strategy to the Pope and allow the old lady to create a trap for William’s forces, but she didn’t do that.

The reason was simple.

Chloee told her that William went to the Underworld to rescue his wives, as well as her pregnant sister, Celine, in order to bring them back to the World of Hestia.

This discovery made Celeste have a change of heart. In truth, she was getting tired of the war. After Felix and Ahriman were defeated, she believed that the Church should have stopped then and there.

However, after the Pope gained the help of the Pseudo-Gods, she became too greedy. Instead of pacifying and helping the people who had lost their homes and loved ones to the Heir of Darkness, and the God he served, the Pope took this opportunity to gain swaths of territories for her organization instead.

This act had made Celeste very irritated, and since then, she already had the notion of leaving the Palace of Light. She refused to be used as a tool to further the Pope’s ambition.

However, before she could do that, Chloee had reached out to her and told her about the Pope’s plan to capture, and perhaps kill, William in order to gain the Ainsworth Empire, as well as conquer the Demon Continent.

Only the Half-Elf stood in the Pope’s way. 

Even the Kings and the Emperors of the Central Continent didn’t have the power to stop the Holy Order of Light once the Prince of Darkness was taken out of the picture. For them, William’s presence created the perfect counter for the Pope’s ambition and held her at bay.

Because of this reason, they refused to send any men, or give the Holy Order any resources that would help them overcome the first, and last, line of defense that blocked the Pope’s path to world conquest.

“What will become of my sisters?” Celeste asked.

“Well, William isn’t around, so they won’t become his playthings… at least for now,” Nisha answered. “Also, you already know that he is not that kind of person. You are a very beautiful lady, and his Bride of Darkness, but… did he ever make you feel as if your life and Chastity were in danger?”

Nisha chuckled before glancing at the two unconscious girls who had now been bound by the bracelets of Darkness. “As beautiful as you and your sisters may be, that is not enough to entice our Lord to take you girls to his bedroom.”

The veiled-lady walked towards Celeste until her face was only a foot away from her.

“My Lord doesn’t lack beautiful ladies to warm his bed,” Nisha stated. “Even you, my dear, who was prophesied to become his Bride doesn’t interest him. So, you don’t have to worry about your sisters, or your precious Chastity. All of them are safe.”

Just as Celeste was about to give a reply, a beam of light descended beside them.

When the light receded, a blue-haired beauty appeared in front of everyone with a smile on her face.

“Oh, so Cherry and Audrey were caught?” Shana arched an eyebrow. “You’re not wearing those black bracelets. Did Chloee ask you to help them capture our sisters?”

Celeste blinked in confusion as she looked at her other sister, who was supposed to be escaping at this moment. “Shana? What are you doing here? Are you with them, too?”

“Well, the answer to your question is Yesn’t,” Shana replied. “I came here to ‘volunteer’ as a hostage to ensure that any of my captured sisters will be safe. But, seeing that there’s already three of you here, having me around is unnecessary. Can I go back now?”

Shana who had glanced in Nisha’s direction asked.

Nisha didn’t answer right away, but after a minute of pondering, she finally nodded her head.

“Three Virtues is good enough, for now, since losing more would greatly cripple the church and might make it so the Pope continues to hide. As long as she remains at large, we will always have a hidden threat in our midst. You can return,” Nisha replied. “Make sure to send my regards to your other sisters.”

“Good.” Shana nodded. “I wouldn’t have minded to stay, but since Wiliam isn’t here, there’s no point in staying. Hah… I still need some credits in order to buy more clothes. When will he be back?”

Nisha shrugged. She didn’t have any idea on when William would return. The only thing that the Half-Elf had asked of her was to look after his territories, and make sure that the Pope gets a good spanking if she went overboard, while he was away.

“Look after our sisters for us, Celeste,” Shana said. “I’ll drop by again once William returns. Till then, be safe always.”

The blue-haired beauty waved her hand at Celeste in a mischievous manner before disappearing from the Floor of Asgard.

Celeste wasn’t too surprised with this outcome because her familiar, Claire, had already told her the things she saw when she went to follow Cherry, after the little girl left the Palace of Light in order to look for traces of her sisters in the Central Continent.

She just didn’t know that even Shana, whom she thought was the most level-headed among them, and didn’t bear the mark of William’s crest in her womb, would support the plan of William’s subordinates attacking the Palace of Light.

With her powers, Celeste had long known who among her sisters had become William’s secret lovers. Since Shana was still a chaste maiden, she thought that she still thought of the Half-Elf as her enemy, but contrary to what she expected, it seemed that the blue-haired beauty had joined his side even before she returned to the Palace of Light.

“You look surprised, but not too surprised,” Nisha was paying close attention to Celeste’s reaction after seeing Shana. She had seen the brief expression of shock appear on the beautiful elf’s face before it was replaced by an understanding look. 

Clearly, Celeste already had an understanding of what was going on.

Celeste didn’t reply to Nisha’s comment because she knew that the latter wasn’t expecting a clarification. The only thing that was on her mind right now was…

What now?

As if able to read her thoughts, Nisha waved her hand and the projection of the Palace of Light appeared in front of her.

“Although it is a lot of work, we kept our promise,” Nisha said as images of what was happening inside the Palace of Light flashed into the projection. “We didn’t kill anyone, and only left them knocked out. Right now, all our forces are pulling out of the Palace of Light.”

A look of understanding now appeared in Celeste’s face after she had glimpsed the grand plan that Nisha had made for their counterattack.

“I see,” Celeste commented. “So, you plan to take the Virtues who are not on William’s side, and leave those that are on his side in the Palace of Light. Doing so will allow you to have hostages, as well as spies within its inner circle. A well thought out plan. As expected of the Supreme Pontifex of Deus.”

“Oh? So, you know who I am?”

“The Pope has spoken a lot about you. She would often call you a sly-veiled-woman who didn’t dare to show her face to anyone due to how hideous it was.”

Nisha giggled after hearing Celeste’s words.

She only found this ignorant description of her very funny. 

“Well, I guess you can say that my face is only meant for one person to see,” Nisha replied. “Also, I have a different position now.”

Celeste nodded. “I’ve heard that you are now the steward of the Ainsworth Empire as well as the Demon Continent. Must be nice being you.”

“Mmm,” Nisha pursed her lips together. “Well, I have one more position that I don’t mind telling you about.”

“And that is?” Celeste asked in a challenging tone.

The corner of Nisha’s lips curled up into a smirk before she turned around and walked away. However, just as she was about to disappear from sight, Celeste heard her words as clearly as if she was standing beside her.

“My other job is the caretaker of William’s harem,” Nisha stated. “As to whether you will be part of that harem or not, we will have to wait until he returns from the Underworld. However, don’t get your hopes up. Like I mentioned earlier, William has no shortage of beautiful women, and this Hideous Lady, that your Pope calls so fondly, is one of them.”

Celeste glanced at Nisha’s retreating back with a complicated expression on her face. She didn’t expect that even the proud leader of Deus had become one of his women, making her feel as if her title as Bride of Darkness, was an empty label that held no value whatsoever.

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