After successfully accepting Albrecht, the dark apostle of the Blood Demon Order, as a blood servant, Charlotte stopped fussing and stayed in the manor, waiting for the convening of the central meeting.
However, the aftermath of the legendary battle in the night sky of Lutecia has only just begun.
That night, the city guards and demon-hunting knights sealed off the entire royal city and searched throughout the night. They arrested a large number of Blood Demon cultists across Lutesia and discovered several cult dens.
Especially after an in-depth investigation into the manor where the Dark Apostle appeared, a large-scale secret underground temple gradually emerged before the world.
According to news from within the church, the age of the temple may be traced back to nearly two thousand years ago.
As soon as the news came out, the entire royal capital was in shock.
Lutetia has a long history. The city has been destroyed and rebuilt many times over the past two thousand years. There are many ruins of the old city buried under the current city. These things are well known to everyone.
In fact, the current drainage system in Lutetia was built on the ruins of the previous old city.
That was still the heyday of the Yunet Empire. The old empire, which was popular in the construction of bathhouses, built an extremely large drainage system, criss-crossing it. Even today's Lutesia has benefited a lot and is still using it.
However, the complex and ancient drainage system has also created the complexity and mystery of the underground part of Lutecia. The twists and turns of the underground drainage system have also become a breeding ground for evil and darkness.
This ancient temple discovered is connected to the underground drainage system, but it goes deeper, and its depth is still under the drainage system.
After further identification by the high-ranking priests of the Holy Royal Court, this temple is likely to be the temple left by the ancestor of the vampires in the vampire era. It is also the ninth ancient temple of the vampires discovered in the Miria continent.
By the way, the temple discovered in the Castel Territory a month ago was the eighth, and the Holy Royal Court has also planned to send clerics to conduct an in-depth investigation. However, they cannot set off yet. There is another temple in Lutecia. Found one.
The God-Suppressing Bell, the Legendary Blood Demon, the Ancient Temple...
Even the most insensitive person senses an approaching storm.
And when more and more investigation news about the ancient temple came out from the church, it caused further earthquakes in Lutecia——
This temple... has actually become the stronghold of the Blood Demon Cult. The Blood Demon Cult even built a huge sacrificial circle in the temple, which is located directly under the Kingdom Council Hall!
After the identification of the church priests and the trial of the captured Blood Demon cultists by the trial knights, the Blood Demon Cult's plan in Lutecia gradually emerged...
The ambitious Blood Demon Order actually planned to take advantage of the Central Meeting of the Crescent Kingdom to kill all the nobles in the kingdom and sacrifice all the participating nobles!
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The review team composed of the First Guards Knights of the country, the Judgment Knights, and the Demon Hunter Knights conducted a comprehensive investigation of Lutecia. The subjects of the investigation included nobles, priests, chambers of commerce, mages’ associations, mercenary associations, and the majority of people in the inner and outer cities. Civilians, hunt down and try all degenerates suspected of dealing with the Blood Demon Order, or even joining the Blood Demon Order.
In particular, nobles are listed as key targets of the investigation, and those suspected of colluding with the Blood Demon Order will be dealt with in the most severe manner.
When the news came out, the entire king was in an uproar.
Including the nobles and priests, no one expected that the king and the church would be so decisive and move so quickly.
You must know that the entire population of Lutecia is close to one million. For such a large city, a direct order to close the city and conduct a comprehensive search is quite a big movement.
Not to mention that the power of Lutetia is intertwined. The power of the nobles is quite huge. Even the king's suppression of the nobles mostly relies on mutual checks and balances within the nobles. The king's own power is also composed of large and small nobles. composition.
The usual balance of power is just that. If you want to conduct a thorough investigation and trial, it will be even more difficult than Charlotte's review of Northland.
And many nobles themselves do have more or less contacts with the Blood Demon Order...
In this case, the opposition of the nobles was almost obvious.
And that's exactly what happened.
Shortly after the order was issued, the nobles of the kingdom gathered in Lutesia protested, believing that such strict review was a violation of the "Kingdom Contract", the work of a tyrant, a violation of the contract and not "legal". Some great nobles even blatantly refused to allow Guard knights and church knights to enter their families.
The central meeting has not yet opened, but the royal family and the nobles have begun to confront each other in advance.
Especially the Gaston family, a large family known for its neutral attitude in the kingdom, this time made a strong protest against the investigation by the royal family and the church. The head of the family, Duke Gaston, relied on his nearly legendary strength. Became the leader of the opposition.
In the words of Duke Gaston, it is important to judge evil, but the rights of the nobility are also protected by the "Kingdom Contract" and the "Sacred Code" and are sacred and inviolable.
Even the church cannot carry out such strict scrutiny on the nobles for no reason and just based on superficial things.
When Duke Gaston's remarks spread, they were approved by the vast majority of the nobles. For a while... the atmosphere in Lutecia became even more subtle.
It took less than a day from the time when the royal family and the church announced the closure of the city for investigation, to when the nobles were dissatisfied and chose to protest.
For a time, various rumors spread in Lutecia...
The royal family betrayed the nobles and turned to the church, etc.; the central meeting was a conspiracy by the king against the nobles, and so on.
Panic spread in the capital, and soon turned into anger.
The nobles refused to cooperate and there was a tendency to unite to fight the investigation.
However, the subsequent development of the matter exceeded many people's expectations...
Legend... strikes again.
Bernard, the Grand Judge of the Holy Court, and Cardinal Joseph the Demon Hunter personally led the team to launch an investigation into the Gaston family.
On the night when the investigation order was issued, terrifying energy fluctuations, or more accurately, battle fluctuations, erupted again in the inner city of Lutesia.
In this battle, the magic power fluctuations that broke out were far less than the legendary battle of the previous day, but its scope also covered a small half of the sky in the inner city.
This is a battle involving the Blazing Sun level.
The battle came and went quickly. Although the magic power was as strong as the blazing sun, when the dazzling sacred light fell like the wrath of the gods, the battle ended quickly.
And as the battle ended, there was more detailed news that shocked the nobles even more——
Duke Gaston, one of the nine great dukes of the Crescent Kingdom and the most promising next high-level transcendent in the kingdom to become a legend... died.
And the person who killed him was none other than the Divine
Bernard, the Grand Inquisitor of the Royal Crescent Parish.
Immediately, the Inquisition quickly investigated the Gaston family, found a large amount of evidence of collusion with the Blood Demon Cult, and arrested more than a dozen members of the Gaston family who had become Blood Demon Cultists.
This even includes Richard, the direct heir of the Gaston family.
When the news came out, the entire royal capital's nobles calmed down.
No one thought that the legendary priest of the church would actually take action, and no one thought that he would be merciless once he took action.
At the same time, such precise investigations and trials also made the nobles realize one thing, that is, the royal family and the church... already have a lot of information.
This is a well-prepared review!
Many people seem to have realized something.
For a time, the number of rebellious nobles quickly dropped, and some families even took the initiative to admit their mistakes and provided the church with a lot of information about the Blood Demon Order.
The review team composed of the church and the royal family did not sit idle, but continued to investigate, and every investigation was accurate.
As if they had a target in mind, the noble families who colluded with the Blood Demon Cult were discovered one after another and suppressed with thunderous force.
Even within the Holy Royal Court, more than a dozen priests were directly arrested and escorted to the trial center on charges of corruption.
For a time, the whole situation in Lutecia changed.
In the inner city, Charlotte's estate also faced scrutiny, but it was relatively relaxed.
Only the Castel family's shop has stricter inspections because of the precedent involving the Blood Demon cultists.
Of course, after the review, there were no problems, and all possible exposures were easily resolved under Charlotte's [Divine Countermeasures].
Charlotte didn't pay much attention to the church's review. As the initiator, she knew that the review of her family was probably just a formality.
With such a targeted investigation, the church should have obtained the list she left behind.
Charlotte specifically asked about it, and it matched the list she had written down...
Obviously, the investigation was still tentative at the beginning, but after it was confirmed that the list was true, it was not just an investigation, but arrests based on the list and then interrogated.
However, Charlotte also noticed that the nobles who were arrested for colluding with the Blood Demon Order were not only those recorded on the list, but also some well-known opponents among the nobles that even Charlotte had heard of. Pai, who has always been at odds with King Louis V.
Watching everything from the perspective of a bystander, and thinking about it based on her own intelligence, Charlotte quickly came back to her senses.
Thanks to the Blood Demon Order, the royal family and the church have indeed united this time.
The royal family supported the church's review and arrest of nobles who had dealings with the Blood Demon Order, and the church also acquiesced in the royal family's suppression of opposition nobles.
Although the Crescent Royal Family and the church have always been at odds, a tacit understanding has emerged at this time.
Charlotte clicked her tongue.
Speaking of which, this tacit understanding was fanned by her little butterfly.
However, based on what she had seen after arriving in the royal capital, and the church's undercover presence within the Blood Demon Order, she probably guessed that the royal family and the church might have plans to cooperate.
The third prince Philip... must have been abandoned by the royal family a long time ago.
The real purpose of this meeting... is probably not that the nobility and the church unite to weaken the royal power, but that the royal family and the church unite to suppress the nobility and strengthen centralization and religious belief!
However, maybe the royal family and the church originally planned to take action when the Blood Demon Order made a big move, or to be more precise, when the Central Council was convened, but her coquettish maneuvers exposed Albrecht and stripped him. He took off the pants of the Blood Demon Cult and directly brought everything forward...
It is foreseeable that after this crisis is over, King Louis V may be able to further centralize power, and the Holy Royal Court will have stronger control over the faith of Crescent Parish.
The only one injured should be Xinyue.
Nobles, and the Blood Demon Order causing trouble.
Of course, this has nothing to do with Charlotte.
As an emerging noble of the kingdom, Charlotte's interests have not yet directly conflicted with the royal family.
She has not shown hostility to the royal family. Under the premise that the royal family has clearly given up on the third prince, as long as she does not make the royal family feel threatened, she will not be suppressed for the time being.
As for Albrecht's subordinate forces, they were all messed up after this incident...
Honestly, Charlotte couldn't care less.
She knew very well who the Blood Demon Cult were. Even if Albrecht was allowed to infiltrate the Blood Demon Cult, she would not be willing to accept all the monsters.
Those evil and chaotic scum will be judged as soon as they are judged, and they will "clean up the door" with the help of the church.
The joint investigation between the royal family and the church is expected to continue for several days, and the chaos in Lutecia may not end for a while.
However, this has nothing to do with Charlotte.
Her goal had been achieved, all that was left was to attend the meeting after the storm had passed, then pack her bags and go home.
If her predictions were correct, this central meeting would probably be just a formality. Since the church cooperates with the royal family, the outcome of the third prince may have already been doomed, which is nothing more than the abolition of house arrest.
And what Charlotte really has to do is probably meet the king and discuss business with other nobles.
Not a bad thing either.
After this cleanup, the kingdom's aristocratic power will inevitably change, and a lot of power vacuum will be left.
Perhaps... this is also convenient for nobles of emerging kingdoms like Charlotte to expand their influence.
After figuring everything out, Charlotte no longer paid personal attention to the investigation. She only told Sebastian to collect relevant information and watch the excitement every day.
On the fourth day of this investigation, which can be called the "Great Purge", Charlotte finally received a call from Albrecht.
More precisely, a sacrifice.
