The Supreme One headed into an underground passageway after entering the secret passageway and eventually appeared outside a building fifteen kilometers away from the City Lord Manor. He then found three more trails, making him pause for a moment before taking out a messaging talisman.
"Did you find anything?"
"No," Venerable Knight Lussandra immediately responded, "There are no trails here."
"I found three more trails here. It’s unlikely he would’ve gone to the Saint since the latter’s already being protected by heavy forces. So more than likely, one of these trails is the true one and would likely lead to him."
"What happened?"
"Let’s visit near the Saint’s place. I’ll tell you."
"..." Venerable Knight Lussandra paused before acknowledging.
Shortly, they met near the Saint’s place, and Venerable Knight Lussandra asked straightforwardly, "Why isn’t Jillian Hayden with you?"
"I told you. Saving people is the most difficult thing. By the time you reach them, they’ve already accepted their fate and adapted to their miserable situation."
The Supreme One answered before letting out a quiet sigh.
Venerable Knight Lussandra remained silent for a moment. Although she didn’t have the chance to properly interact with Jillian Hayden, she could vaguely understand what he meant. A woman who had been taken from her family, imprisoned, and left with no hope of rescue for so long would inevitably change.
Whether willingly or unwillingly, she would have to adapt if she wished to survive.
However, she still found it difficult to accept.
"If that’s the case, then why didn’t you forcefully take her away?" Venerable Knight Lussandra asked, "Even if she resented you for it now, she would’ve understood eventually."
The Supreme One shook his head, "It wasn’t that simple."
His gaze turned distant as he imagined the scene behind the curtains.
"When I revealed my identity, she wasn’t relieved. She wasn’t happy. The first thing she did was ask me where I had been."
A bitter smile appeared on his face, "She asked where I was when she was taken away from her family. Where I was when she was locked inside that dungeon."
Venerable Knight Lussandra lowered her gaze. Even she found those questions difficult to answer.
The Supreme One slowly continued, "By then, she had already convinced herself that nobody would come to save her. My appearance didn’t seem to be salvation in her eyes. Instead, it was merely a reminder that I had arrived too late, nearly causing her to spit to fall on me if it weren’t for the curtains separating us."
"What’s more incredulous was that she protected him."
Venerable Knight Lussandra raised her head.
"The City Lord?"
The Supreme One nodded, "She threw herself behind him and used herself as a shield. Then she warned me not to approach. The curtains around the bed were specially made for privacy. They blocked soul sense and vision. As long as I remained outside, I couldn’t see anything beyond them."
Venerable Knight Lussandra immediately understood where this was going while the Supreme One gave a helpless smile.
"She told me that she already belonged to that man. She said that if I moved the curtains and looked inside, then I would be looking upon another man’s woman. She even said that if I truly were the Supreme One, then I wouldn’t commit such a despicable act."
Venerable Knight Lussandra’s eyes widened slightly. She couldn’t help but ask in disbelief, "She used your own principles against you instead of understanding that you would definitely protect her?"
"Precisely." The Supreme One’s smile turned somewhat self-mocking, "She knew enough about me and the stories that spread in that era to know I wouldn’t force my way through. She knew I wouldn’t deliberately violate a woman’s dignity, regardless of my intentions. She even knew of the Poison Saintess Trivera who madly pursued me but died to my wife."
"In a sense, she was even willing to frame me as an adulterer. The moment I opened those curtains, my actions would’ve become impossible to explain, although it wouldn’t be my first time being framed. Whether I came to save her or not would no longer matter. Clearly, she intended to chase me away in order to protect her man."
Venerable Knight Lussandra frowned deeply, sadness swelling in her eyes. The more she heard, the more complicated the situation sounded. A woman who had fallen that deep might even bring trouble to the one who was trying to save her.
She knew there were plenty of women who tried to latch onto their saviors after escaping a miserable situation by offering themselves up. To them, surviving was the most important since they had already experienced abuse to a moral-breaking degree.
Still, she didn’t like to think of Jillian Hayden that way, as she still felt guilt for not decisively saving her the second time.
"You think she was genuinely protecting him?"
The Supreme One remained silent for a few seconds before shaking his head.
"No. This is for her own survival. She might even be pregnant with his child because of the City Lord’s meeting with the phony Saint. That’s why saving people is incredibly difficult. The complexities involved are beyond that of destruction like what we’re going to do now."
"Mhm?"
The Supreme One stood up as he threw a black hooded robe at her.
"Use it. We’re going to manhandle a Saint."
"..."
Venerable Knight Lussandra’s gaze flickered. So this was the reason why they met at the Saint’s place instead of following the trails to find the ghost.
They may not be able to kill the Saint due to mission constraints, but beating him up...?
She barely hesitated before wearing the robe woven with perception-interfering features and leaving with the Celestial Transcendent.
In a heartbeat, they snuck into the Saint’s accommodation.
Saint Riyal Mendez sat behind his desk with a brush in hand, his brows furrowed in concentration as he compared several ancient scrolls spread across the table. Candlelight illuminated his scholarly face while countless notes filled the room.
He appeared every bit the image of a diligent saint.
Suddenly, the sound of a footstep echoed behind him.
"Wh-!?"
Before he could even react, a black-robed figure descended from above like divine retribution.
A fist crashed directly into his face.
His face nearly comically twisted as his teeth splattered, sending him flying down as the desk shattered and the chair reduced to smithereens.