Chapter 72: A Brand New Saintess

“You dare—!”

After listening to Bishop Cardonnel’s lengthy speech, Lisa immediately wanted to charge at him and take him out. However, she was blocked by a barrier that appeared from nowhere.

Then Cardonnel raised his scepter, and the gem on it began to glow. A strange light enveloped the entire hall, causing Kiz and Lisa to suddenly feel their bodies grow heavy, and at the same time, their magic power rapidly drained away.

“This is!” Kiz’s expression shifted drastically.

“This is a seal from the Holy Grail~ The Holy Grail’s power can seal any power that is not of the Holy Light system. Naturally, it’s ineffective against the Lady Saint, since she is the incarnation of the Holy Light. But, Lady Saint, do you dare to act? If you use the Holy Sword, everyone here will be annihilated—including your friends, including that poor child.” Cardonnel said with a provocative look.

Elia’s hands clenched tight.

‘He’s right. She really didn’t dare use the Holy Sword.’

Cardonnel laughed loudly. “This is your greatest weakness~ Emotions. Having emotions means you have concerns.”

Then he turned to Lisa.

“Also, Prince of Lasombra, you should be thanking us instead. Because your daughter will become an enormously great existence. An existence even more powerful than the Saint Elia.”

“You’re dreaming!” Lisa yelled at Cardonnel in fury.

Ignoring the severe restriction on her magic power, she still drew the short sword at her waist and dashed rapidly toward Cardonnel.

Cardonnel gave a contemptuous smile. He waved his scepter, and several golden beams shot toward Lisa.

Lisa sidestepped to dodge one beam, but a second beam came right after.

Just then, Kiz rushed over.

Although her magic power was restricted, her body as a member of the Blood Race Imperial Family was still powerful. She used her Blood Abyss at her current top speed to block the incoming beams.

“Kiz!” Elia shouted loudly.

A trace of blood hung at the corner of Kiz’s mouth. She looked back at Elia and said, “Go save Lillian! Leave this to us!”

Elia glanced at her and Lisa, nodded, and said, “Hold on.”

Then she turned and rushed toward the cross.

Cardonnel tried to stop her, but before he could act, Lisa immediately used magic to intercept him.

Elia reached the cross and reached out to grab Lillian’s hand. But as soon as her hand touched Lillian, a powerful electric current instantly transmitted through her outstretched hand… Her hand was thrown back.

“Damn it!” She cursed at the chains.

The chains were covered with seal runes, specifically for binding the Blood Clan.

Then she released Holy Light, trying to forcibly break the runes. But the runes shone with even stronger light, canceling out her Holy Light.

“It’s useless. That seal is reinforced by the Holy Grail’s power. With your current strength, it’s very difficult to break it~” Cardonnel said from behind.

Elia turned around and saw Kiz and Lisa desperately occupying Cardonnel. Their magic power was nearly eighty percent sealed, so they could only rely on their physical bodies to endure. By now, Kiz had several wounds on her body, and blood was also trickling from the corner of Lisa’s mouth.

But neither of them backed down.

Elia gritted her teeth.

Then, she carefully examined those runes.

At that moment, she noticed a detail: although the runes were very complex, the core of their operation was a gem embedded at the top of the cross.

So she immediately jumped up, grabbed one of the chains, and despite the electric current, climbed to the top of the cross.

However, as soon as she reached the top and touched the gem, an even stronger electric current surged toward her.

She endured the pain and gripped the gem tightly.

Then a large amount of Holy Light gathered in her palm and instantly engulfed the gem.

Crack!

The gem shattered, and at the same time, the runes on the chains went dark.

Lillian’s body, which had been bound above, went limp and began to slide down.

Elia caught her and gently landed on the ground.

“Whew…” Lisa immediately felt relieved after seeing this.

But just then, Cardonnel suddenly exerted force, driving a golden light that knocked both Kiz and Lisa back.

He turned and looked at Lillian in Elia’s arms. “Foolish! Did you think that could stop the ritual? The ritual has already begun. Half of her soul has already been successfully sacrificed!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Lillian’s body suddenly began to glow.

It was an extremely eerie dark red light.

Then, Lillian opened her eyes.

And her eyes became hollow and lifeless.

“Lillian?” Elia called softly.

Lillian’s lips parted slightly, emitting a weak voice. “Mother…”

Upon hearing this, Lisa immediately rushed over, took Lillian from Elia’s arms, and shouted, “Lillian! Lillian! Look at me! I’m here!”

Lillian’s gaze slowly shifted to Lisa.

“It hurts… it hurts so much…”

She didn’t call her “Mother” formally, but used the more intimate term “Mom.”

Just then, Lillian’s body began to tremble violently, and the dark red light on her body grew brighter and brighter.

Then Cardonnel raised his scepter and chanted an ancient incantation: “With the soul of the sacrifice, open the Ancient Gate. With the blood of the sacrifice, awaken the Sleeping Core!”

“Shut up!” Kiz immediately tried to rush over and stop him.

But she was blocked by an invisible barrier.

Elia attacked it with Holy Light, but it didn’t budge.

“It’s useless… This is the Absolute Defense of the Holy Grail. With your current strength, you absolutely cannot break it.” Cardonnel shook his head and said.

Lillian’s body began to slowly rise, floating in the air.

However, when Lisa tried to grab her hand, her hand passed through Lillian’s body, catching nothing.

Deep within the hall, a violent tremor suddenly occurred.

Then, a huge crack split open in the floor.

From within that crack surged endless dark red light, and in the middle of it, an object slowly rose. It was a round, dark red object with strange glowing patterns flowing across its surface.

“So that’s the Ancient Core?” Elia swallowed.

Upon seeing this, Cardonnel immediately knelt and bowed to the Ancient Core. “Great Ancient Core! Please accept your sacrifice and grant us power!”

Then, the Ancient Core shot a beam of light onto Lillian.

This caused Lillian’s body to begin absorbing that light.

She… her aura was growing stronger and stronger…

“Not good!” Elia immediately rushed toward Lillian.

But as soon as she got close, she was knocked back several meters by an unknown force.

At that moment, two figures suddenly appeared in the hall.

“Bishop North! Bishop Fei Yue! You’re finally here!” Cardonnel looked at the two figures with surprise and said loudly.

“Cardon, you took too long to complete the mission,” North said calmly.

“Sorry about that, had a little trouble here.”

Fei Yue looked at Lillian in the air and nodded. “The soul has been sacrificed… and the body is intact. We can proceed to the next step.”

A very complex Magic Circle appeared in her palm.

Then the Magic Circle flew toward Lillian and merged into her body, causing Lillian’s body to tremble violently, while the light emitted by the Ancient Core grew stronger and stronger.

Finally, the Ancient Core transformed into a beam of light and shot into Lillian’s chest.

After the light and the Magic Circle disappeared, Lillian floated quietly in the air, completely still.

Then… she opened her eyes and looked down at the people below.

Her gaze was hollow and cold, devoid of any emotion, as if looking at a group of ants.

At that moment, the hall fell into dead silence.

North smiled slightly. “The ritual is complete… From now on, a new Saint has been born! We also have to thank you for your help… Without your stimulation, her soul wouldn’t have been sacrificed so smoothly.”

Elia’s pupils contracted sharply. “You… did this on purpose?”

“Of course. Lady Lillian’s will is too strong. A simple sacrifice is hard to succeed… But if the people she cares about most are present, her attention will be divided, making the sacrifice easier~” Fei Yue said excitedly.

“So we deliberately leaked the information to lure you here.”

“You bastards…” Kiz gritted her teeth, forcing the words out through clenched teeth.

Then, Lillian’s emotionless gaze locked onto Elia.