I'm a monster in Demon King's Castle

"This proves that the struggle for faith has entered a new stage," Wright responded.

"Old Goat, after controlling the Bone-Carriage Church, has already begun to engage with the Faceless Ones to some extent."

"Otherwise, so many altars wouldn't have been found in Riftgold Mountain." Wright's light flickered, concealing his expression.

"Actually, this may have been foreshadowed... After all, some of the Masks of the Faceless Ones originally escaped from the Great Altar..." Jesse said.

After becoming the official heir of the Kingston family, Jesse had the right to access more records about Demon King City and had a greater understanding of the distribution of demonic forces.

"But what I don't understand is, why did the Great Altar choose the Faceless Ones? The Faceless Ones have already been badly beaten by the New Church. Is it just because they are weaker, so they are easier to absorb?" Wright muttered to himself.

"Or is it because the Faceless Ones are more secretive? Is it easier to erode the New Church?" Wright pondered.

"This brings us to our new discovery." Jesse patted the report in his hand. "A large number of believers are gathered near the former mines of Riftgold Mountain, and the altars are also showing a tendency to spread towards the mines..."

"The Faceless Ones are cooperating with the Great Altar, eyeing the resources of Riftgold Mountain?" Wright's light suddenly brightened.

"That's right." Jesse nodded. "This also proves that the resources of Demon King City are not endless."

Wright was silent in thought.

"The Bone-Carriage Church is Old Goat's people. Old Goat is strengthening cooperation with the Faceless Ones, seizing mineral resources, and expanding the demon army," Jesse said, stating his conjecture.

"Indeed... We have discovered near the Sash River... the Bone-Carriage Church is destroying many bone-carriages, bone-tanks, and bone-constructs, piecing together new demons," Wright said softly.

"What demon?" Jesse hadn't heard of this news.

"A demon train... a kind of bone train that can travel quickly along our railways."

"It has already traveled near Red Oil Town, and is transporting red oil..." Wright handed out a light fragment from his orb.

The light fragment showed a blurry shadow of a bone train speeding along.

"Using our railways? Damn demons..." Jesse gritted his teeth.

The railways that the Empire had laid from the capital to the Mire were originally used to drain the resources of the Old Church and transport troops to Demon King City, but unexpectedly, they had become the demons' roads.

"If that's the case... it's actually good news." Wright's light billowed. "What troubles us the most is the endless resources of Demon King City. Without these fires, the demons wouldn't be so terrifying."

"Yes." Jesse's voice became impassioned. "Gathering the strength of the entire Tas Empire, and absorbing the strength of the Old Church, we can fight against Demon King City."

"Maybe I should share this news with our Minister of Creation as soon as possible." Wright joked. "That guy was the first to discover the anomaly, and he's still troubled by it."

But as soon as he thought of Woodson asking, "Why exactly did Demon King City lose its endless resources?", Wright already felt a headache coming on.

"So Old Goat is manipulating all of this behind the scenes, with the aim of acquiring the Empire's resources and more faith... Then how is Torsos doing? Has he caught up with Sistoleme?"

Since he had caught Wright with some free time, Jesse naturally wanted to ask a few more questions.

Involving the conflict between the New Church and the Old Church, to some extent, this victory or defeat will also affect the distribution of faith within the Empire.

If the New Church can wipe out the Old Church, it can put more strength into suppressing heresy within the country.

"Sistoleme's pilgrimage... is still in progress." Wright's voice was very soft. "On this point, Old Goat and the Sand Country have miscalculated. The Successor Pope is still walking north."

"Without the Holy Path Army and the absolute power of the Old Church, he can still live this long?" Jesse was surprised.

"It is because the Holy Path Army died under Demon King City that Sistoleme was given a brand new power..."

"Regarding faith... you may not understand it very well. It doesn't simply rely on the number of believers." Wright shook his head. "The faith of Sistoleme and the believers involved in the Old Church is too firm, and it is about to undergo a qualitative change."

"I really don't understand." Jesse admitted generously.

"In short, the struggle for the ownership of faith on the continent... has entered a white-hot stage." Wright looked up at the sky. "In places we can't see."

"So the Bone-Carriage Church, the Faceless Ones, the Burdened Sect, these heretics... have suddenly become so active."

Jesse clenched his fist.

"By the way, how is your army recruitment going? There isn't much time left for them." Wright asked Jesse, "If you want to use a war to complete the promotion ceremony of a Rank 9 Knight, the first battle with Demon King City is the best opportunity."

Although the knightly order has declined, after the deaths of Wallace and Gerald, the Empire urgently needs a new Holy Knight.

Jesse is the best choice.

And recruiting a hero party is a step for Jesse to expand her private army, purely to serve her promotion ceremony.

"Don't worry, they have already started training, and the training itself is also preparation for the ceremony." Jesse was very confident.

"This ceremony is not difficult, but it's not easy either. It's best to keep the casualty rate below two-thirds to ensure your promotion..." Wright took care of the execution details of the ceremony.

"We'll talk about it then. At least there is one person who can play a key role in my ceremony." Jesse thought of a white-haired hero.

"Is Sawyer doing well?" Wright's light flickered. "It's really strange, how exactly did he survive 'that war'? The scholars have no clue."

"Soon, the Bard Conference will be held, and the answer may be there." Jesse waved his hand, wanting to dispel Wright's wild thoughts, "I will leave Riftgold Mountain after the conference, take away the war preparations, and fully prepare for war."

"How about it? Are you going to participate? The day after tomorrow, at the town hall of Holy Mine Town." Jesse extended an invitation to Wright.

"We'll see. The royal family will send scholars, and I think I will be held back by Woodson..." Wright had a bit of a headache when he thought of this Minister of Creation.

"Then call him to come too? What, is the princess's bed too comfortable?" Jesse also had a vulgar side.

"I'd rather he lie in the princess's bed and not get up..." Wright shook his head, "He doesn't like listening to the poems of bards, saying they are very weak-minded and he can't understand them, so he probably won't attend."

"Then we'll talk about it later." Jesse waved his hand, and returned to the original topic, "As for the Faceless Ones on Riftgold Mountain..."

"Dealing with the Bone-Carriage Church has already taken up most of our strength, the movements of the Demon Train are uncertain, and Torsos and the people of the New Church are blocking Sistoleme's pilgrimage in the north..."

"So the Faceless Ones will have to rely on you yourselves." Wright clearly stated that he would not support Riftgold Mountain.

"That's no problem, but here..."

"Are you talking about the Shadow Demon?" Wright saw a section in the report about a traveler—everything in Riftgold Mountain started because of him.

"This person... could he be a trap of Demon King City?" Wright felt that this person's appearance was too coincidental.

"It's hard to say, but he's really hard to catch and hard to kill." Since the incident in Copper Mine Town, Jesse hasn't received any sighting reports about Li Yue.

"Even the New Church can't catch his shadow... that is indeed a bit tricky." Wright pondered.

"How about supporting some diviners? It's hard to catch him by following him, it's best to be able to predict where he will appear in advance." Jesse made a request.

"Diviners? Are you kidding me?" Wright was stunned.