Adeline spent the next days sorting everything out with Fronza always next to her. This was profoundly annoying to Adeline, but she let it be. Risin had been spending a lot of his time with the blindfolded woman. The two set up a support center at the church as they distributed provisions to the homeless and those who remained. The woman also requested that the homeless take over the now abandoned houses and also take up the work left by others. Adeline accepted this; in truth, that was her plan all along. Fangs and the other orcs made quick work of the mercenaries who were hiding and bandits hiding on the mountains, completely securing Joma. Adeline made the last arrangements as the big birds came down to take her and the orcs to their next destination, the Holy Kingdom of Ragnar. Fronza was there to see her off, together with the blindfolded woman.

“Fronza, if I come back and this place is a fucking mess, I will hang you by your ass.”

“I will work diligently, I swear,” Fronza protested himself in front of Adeline.

“Make sure you don’t forget to attend the meeting in a few weeks time.”

“Of course, I won’t forget.” Fronza bowed once more.

“What about you? Made your mind up yet?” Adeline turned to the blindfolded woman.

“I am still unsure about many things, but Sir Risin has been helping me come to terms with this reality.”

“So that’s what you two have been doing. Anyway, you need a name, so from today, you are called Clara.” Adeline spoke as her black wings unfolded. Clara was surrounded by a red and purple light as she grew slightly taller and her hair turned white as snow. She removed her blindfold, revealing one red eye while the other was purple.

“I accept the name Clara, but I have a request, Your Highness.” Clara knelt as Adeline stared at her, then put on her visor and called for the red moon, which came flying towards her.

“I will only spare them if they surrender. At the end of the day, I will do what is right for my people. I hope you can understand that.” Adeline spoke as her wings flapped, catapulting her to the sky. Risin passed Clara with a slight nod as he mounted one of the big birds which Fangs and other orcs were riding, then departed. The sight of ten huge birds soaring into the air with their roars was a sight to behold as more people gathered and watched on.

Adeline soared through the sky at great speeds as she followed the rows of mountains. She could see other interesting life forms running about, but that would be an adventure for a later time. Right now, her mind was set on the final destination. She flew for three hours straight until she finally saw the golden city, which was surrounded by a wall with a huge building stretching out to the sky. The building was all white with bright gold lines extending from the roof down the sides; big mosaic windows could be seen. It looked like a huge, elegant but medieval church. Outside the wall, residential buildings could be seen which spread out over the entire area, with some even being perched up on the mountains. Adeline was relatively high up as she scanned the entire area. From afar, she could see other buildings and what seemed to be farmland. The rest of the birds finally caught up with Adeline as they circled above, waiting for her.

“Spear.” Adeline called out as one of the orcs threw her one. She caught it and aimed it at the base of the building, then threw it with all her might. A small shockwave could be heard as the spear soared through the air; it suddenly hit a barrier, which created a booming sound. A golden wave spread out, revealing a magical barrier. Adeline was starting to hate these barriers. Something caught her eye as she slightly descended for a better view; she could see a knight on a white horse galloping at full speed. The person disappeared into the walls, likely heading for the church.

“What will we do, Master?” Fangs screamed from above.

A hawk appeared flying in her direction with a piece of golden cloth attached to its leg. It circled her, then landed on her shoulder while still flapping its wings, looking for balance. She took the golden cloth as the hawk flew back. She took a minute to read the contents, then let go of the cloth.

“Fangs, find a nearby place to land and wait. If you hear a commotion, you’re free to act as you please. Risin, you are with me.”

Adeline spoke as she slowly descended to the gate leading into the golden city. Her heavy armor left an impression on the stone pathway. Risin was next, but he had normal armor. Adeline looked around the well-kept and clean streets, which looked abandoned. The large gates opened, revealing a squad of paladins who wore gold armor.

“In order to enter the golden city of faith, you must leave your weapons with us. We assure you no harm will come to you, even if you’re a demon.” The paladin spoke. Adeline let out a small laugh as she extended red moon to the paladin who reached out to accept it. The paladin stared at the menacing weapon as he slightly held it and already felt the immense weight. She suddenly let go as the sword dragged the paladin to the ground. Adeline passed the struggling paladin as Risin handed his weapons and followed her behind.

Clerics could be seen on their knees praying, with Bishops directly staring at Adeline while they threw holy water. This version of holy water was actually a dangerous poison to demons, which she had experienced during her fight with Jack. Luckily, she was now immune to its effects, so she was not bothered by it. After an hour of this senseless harassment, they finally reached the doors leading into the church. The paladins stared at Adeline for a moment as the doors opened. For the first time in human history, a demon was walking into the church of light. Adeline entered, then the doors closed behind her, barring Risin from entering. The first thing which caught her eyes was six large statues on the pedestal; she slowly approached them and stared.

“So these people are the ones responsible for all this death. Isn’t that right, priest?” Adeline slightly turned to her right as a man wearing a religious gown knelt in front of the statues.

“We saw it as the day of deliverance from the gods.” The man slowly got up and faced Adeline. She removed her visor, then walked to the nearby benches and took a seat. The sheer weight of Adeline broke the bench, but she did not mind as she placed her visor next to her.

“Drop the act, why am I here?”

“We have suffered major losses at the hands of Queen Melora. She also stated that you were coming here to effectively destroy us. As the head of the church, I do not wish for that.”

“Then surrender and dismantle your religion.”

“I also wish for us to keep our freedom and to practice our religion.”

“So you’re wasting my time, and I should just rip your heart out.” Adeline released her red mist, which quickly filled up the room.

“Wait, don’t be hasty. We will do a trade. We have vital information regarding the death of Queen Melora’s mother.” The man pleaded as Adeline retracted her red mist.

“I will be the judge of that, so stop wasting my time and spit it out.”

“She was poisoned by a noble from the far eastern continent. It had something to do with her bloodline.”

“I will need proof.” Adeline got up and approached the grand bishop, who fell over. Deon and Florence appeared carrying documents in their hands.

“Here is the proof.” Florence quickly walked over as they handed over the documents. Adeline took a look at the documents, which looked like manifests for a ship that came two decades ago. It listed the Empire of Bedillion charter ship. It seemed that they came to perform some spiritual mission with the church. She returned to the broken bench as she went through the other documents.

She turned her attention to the cargo, which contained the usual luggage such as clothes, food, and potions. One thing did look out of place; she couldn’t make out the name, but based on the drawing, it was a plant of some sort. They carried a small quantity of this plant, which didn’t seem out of place. She looked for the return inspection, and her suspicion was founded. The weird plant was no longer there. She rapidly went through the documents, looking for a pattern. The Empire of Bedillion always returned every five years with the same cargo, and the plant was always missing when they left. This stopped around ten years ago when they came and left soon after, to never return, citing their mission was now complete. This lined with when Melora’s mother became critical and was bedridden. Adeline raised her head and stared at the trio in front of her.

“Tell me everything you know.”