CHAPTER 53: HOLY CITY’S CANDIDATE

Upon hearing Vironica ask whether she wanted to go and take care of the Holy Maiden, Losiya frowned slightly.

"Of course I want to go, why wouldn’t I?" she asked in return, puzzled.

Vironica looked at Losiya’s confident expression and reminded her with a frown, "Have you thought this through? About the consequences of winning or losing?"

"Of course I have."

Then Losiya shared all her thoughts with Vironica:

"Ultimately, I’m just a noble from a relatively exceptional family, a genius at most. But she is an extremely rare top-tier holy mark awakener, personally favored by Lord Farad, the Holy Maiden."

"The one who truly cannot afford to lose isn’t me. It’s her."

"If I lose, it just proves that even a genius like me has limits. But if the Holy Maiden loses..."

At this point, Losiya paused, finally revealing her ambition.

"Then she will become the greatest stepping stone I’ve ever had. Stepping over the strongest Holy Maiden in the Church to rise... don’t you think that’s fascinating?"

Vironica tapped Losiya on the forehead, hoping to sober her up a bit.

Only with enough benefit can people be mobilized to act. The reason Vironica even brought this up with Losiya was because of the massive potential value behind it.

First of all, if they could win the championship at this exchange event, they would be allowed to choose a Holy Realm-level divine artifact from the Church—this alone, in terms of material reward, would be enough to drive countless people mad with desire.

After all, there were many small nations that didn’t even possess a single Holy Realm-level divine artifact. Even the Duke of Kelden’s household—considered top-tier nobility in the Roland Empire—only had a few such items.

Beyond material benefits, what Vironica valued even more was the potential for prestige behind this exchange event.

For the upper echelons—nobles or clerics—once wealth and power reach a certain level, what they need most is further accumulation of reputation.

Like Catherine, Vironica, or even the Pope, they all had their current status not only because of their family or exceptional talent, but because they had all accomplished truly "great" deeds and amassed considerable prestige.

Catherine had mentored countless famous geniuses, some of whom had even become major bishops in the Church, and she had led campaigns to defeat numerous high-rank demonic creatures.

Vironica held her title in part because she had personally repelled a demonic invasion of the Roland Empire, helping the empire minimize civilian casualties and wiping out the demonic beasts at the border.

As for Pope Sylvia, her actions were even more legendary.

There was once a recorded incident where demonic creatures from the Dark Realm invaded deep into the heart of the Radiance Continent. Many small nations were completely destroyed before they could even react.

In the end, it took a full mobilization of Church knights and mages to finally quell the chaos.

No one knows how those creatures managed to penetrate so deeply into the continent, as if they had just fallen from the sky like a miracle—or a nightmare.

It was Sylvia who discovered the truth. She crossed the mountain range separating the Radiance Continent and the Dark Continent alone and went straight to the capital of the Black Rose Empire.

There, she single-handedly annihilated all the Mirror Demons on the spot, completely eradicating the entire demonic bloodline. She then calmly departed in front of the emperor of the Black Rose Empire and numerous high-level demonic beings.

To this day, no one knows what Sylvia’s holy mark truly is. All records and those who once fought her have long since been reduced to ashes, leaving nothing behind.

This is the foundation upon which the Church’s supreme prestige is built today. If the Pope can kill Mirror Demons right in front of the emperor, she could just as easily kill a king—or even an emperor—in front of an entire nation.

Calling her a walking nuclear weapon would be an understatement. The authority of the Holy See is far beyond that. Sylvia’s prestige stems entirely from this.

As for Losiya, although she had already made a name for herself on the continent, she had yet to establish the kind of overwhelming prestige she needed. What she lacked was an opportunity.

And now, such an opportunity—relatively low risk—had presented itself.

Competing in a martial contest with the Holy Maiden was certainly safer than hunting high-tier demonic creatures, yet the prestige to be gained was potentially far greater.

Even if Vironica wasn’t completely satisfied with her own daughter, she still had immense faith in her strength. Even against a so-called top-tier holy mark Holy Maiden, she believed Losiya had a good chance of winning.

After asking Losiya again and receiving a firm answer, Vironica finally nodded, deciding to go forward with this journey.

Catherine raised no objections. However, seeing that Losiya was still tightly holding onto Julian, she couldn’t help but ask,

"Julian is going too?"

Vironica immediately frowned again, clearly disapproving of the idea.

Losiya grew anxious and was about to say something when she suddenly recalled what Myris had told her.

If Julian truly was the person the Pope was searching for, wouldn’t bringing him to the Holy City be walking straight into a trap?

Thinking about the terrifying Pope, Losiya couldn’t help but feel a bit afraid. Even if Julian was thoroughly prepared, in front of that person, she instinctively felt that any deception would be meaningless.

If Julian’s identity were to be seen through in the Holy City, there would be no room left for negotiation. She would definitely lose Julian, and as for what kind of future he would face—she didn’t even dare imagine.

So Losiya made up her mind. She decided not to bring Julian this time and to leave him behind at the estate.

"Aunt, Julian doesn’t need to come. The journey is tiring—I’m afraid he won’t be able to handle it." Losiya smiled as she hugged Julian’s shoulders.

Julian glanced at her, understanding her good intentions. But he didn’t accept this excuse—was he really that weak?

Lady Catherine nodded, but then frowned again. "But leaving Julian alone at the estate doesn’t feel very safe to me."

Losiya had already planned for this. "Alice won’t be coming with me either. With her protecting Julian, I’m completely at ease."

Lady Catherine hesitated for a moment before saying, "Then I’ll stay at the estate too. In any case, there’s no real reason for me to go to the Holy City."

Originally, she had planned to go to the Holy City to try one last time, but now it seemed unnecessary. After all, the "antidote" was right here—why look far when it’s so close?

Vironica and Losiya immediately understood her reasoning and didn’t object. So this time, from the Lily Estate, only Losiya would travel with the Duke. Alice, Julian, and Catherine would remain behind.

After discussing everything, Vironica pulled Lady Catherine into a private room to talk about a few matters, while Julian was dragged away by Losiya, who said she wanted to show him something.

As for what it was, no matter how persistently Julian asked or pleaded, Losiya just firmly refused to say a single word.