Chapter 212: Chapter: 211 Executing the heretic.[3]

"My lord, we have captured the heretic."

Commander Cassian finally finished speaking. Even after saying those words, he remained kneeling before Uriel while the paladins continued holding Crypian down against the floor.

The entire chamber had already gone silent. Only Crypian’s rough breathing could still be heard.

Uriel stood calmly in front of everyone before finally speaking.

"An excellent job, Sir Cassian."

His voice was soft as always, yet after everything that had happened, it only made the atmosphere feel heavier.

"It is my duty to remove all filth that insults the Goddess," Cassian replied coldly.

Uriel slowly turned his head toward the chamber.

Though he could not see the people, the nervous breathing and uneasy movements inside the room were enough for him to understand everyone’s reactions.

"Your Highness," Uriel spoke.

"Yes?" Sebastian answered immediately, though his voice came out slightly stiff.

The first prince was still trying to understand what had just happened. Just moments ago, he had been discussing an alliance with Crypian peacefully, but now the Church had barged in and accused him of heresy.

"You all must be wondering why we captured this heretic... and what exactly his crime is." As he spoke, Uriel slowly reached inside his robe before pulling out a small object no larger than a matchbox.

Everyone’s eyes immediately turned toward it. "Your Holiness... is that a recording artifact?" Sebastian asked with a raised brow.

Uriel smiled faintly. "Yes," he answered calmly. "And inside this artifact... is the evidence of the heretic."

The last few words came out differently.

The calmness in his voice vanished completely, replaced by clear anger and disgust.

Even Sebastian flinched slightly at the sudden change.

Commander Cassian’s expression also darkened further as he looked toward Crypian.

"Your Holiness, this is a misunderstanding!" Crypian immediately protested while struggling against the paladins holding him down. "I have never insulted the holy scripture...."

"Shut up!" Uriel suddenly snapped.

The loud voice echoed across the chamber, instantly silencing everyone again.

"You evil devil worshipper!" Shock appeared across the nobles’ faces.

The Saint was known throughout the continent for being gentle and calm, yet right now his face was filled with anger and frustration.

Meanwhile, inside Uriel’s mind, the situation was completely different.

’Hoho...’ Uriel almost felt amused. ’My main body always wanted to say something like this before. It actually feels pretty amazing.’

The thoughts echoed inside Uriel’s mind as he continued acting.

"You filth," Uriel said coldly. "The one thing we cannot tolerate was deliberately done by you, and yet you call it a misunderstanding?"

His blindfolded face turned toward Crypian’s direction.

"You think we, the children of the Goddess, would misunderstand something like this?"

Crypian’s face had already turned pale from confusion and shock. Of course, everything Uriel was saying was false.

In reality, this entire situation had been planned from the start.

The goal was simple.

Destroy the first prince’s chances of taking the throne while also paying Crypian back for surviving when both his main body and his supposed mother had tried to kill him before.

Not that Uriel planned to truly kill him.

From the memories shared by his main body, Uriel already knew Crypian could regress. The ability could activate when Crypian was cornered with no way out.

Because of that, killing him carelessly was pointless. Tormenting him was enough.

"You are the heretic who insulted the holy scripture," Uriel declared firmly. "And you will face the consequences."

After saying that, Uriel slowly turned toward the first prince.

Unfortunately, he completely missed the direction and ended up facing the line of paladins instead.

"And your highness...."

"Excuse me," one of the paladins interrupted respectfully. "Your Holiness... my apologies for interrupting, but you are looking in the wrong direction."

"Ah..." Uriel immediately realized the mistake and calmly turned the opposite way.

He was already used to things like this, so there was no embarrassment on his face at all.

"And your highness," Uriel continued seriously, "the Church has received news regarding the agreement you were discussing with the Thorne clan."

He did not continue speaking about the heresy matter. Instead, he directly moved toward the topic he could fully control.

Sebastian visibly flinched for a brief moment, but he quickly forced himself to stay calm.

"May I know what Your Holiness means?" the prince asked carefully.

Uriel nodded slightly. "You were preparing to sign an agreement regarding TCL with the Thorne clan, were you not?"

The prince’s eyes widened immediately.

At the same time, several nobles exchanged confused glances among themselves.

"N-no, it’s...."

However, Uriel cut him off before he could finish.

"You are fully aware of the history of TCL," Uriel said coldly. "Yet you still intended to allow it into the empire."

His tone sharpened further. "Were you trying to ruin the empire, Your Highness?"

"It’s slander!" Duke Ryane Roseblade immediately stepped forward with a dark expression.

"Your Holiness, with all due respect, the prince never...."

"We have evidence." This time, it was Commander Cassian who spoke.

The moment those words were heard, Sebastian’s expression changed completely.

The proposal regarding TCL had only been discussed today. There should have been no possible way for the Church to already know about it.

Unless...A spy. And soon enough, the answer appeared.

Count Kalan slowly stepped forward before walking toward the Saint’s side.

Then, in front of everyone present, he lowered himself onto one knee.

"I am the evidence," he said heavily.

The entire chamber froze.

"I was present during the discussion from the very beginning. Despite my objections..." Count Kalan lowered his head slightly. "The prince still agreed to the proposal regarding TCL."

All eyes instantly turned toward him.

Sebastian’s expression darkened heavily while Duke Ryane clenched his fists tightly enough for his knuckles to turn pale.

Neither of them spoke. "Please, Your Holiness," Count Kalan continued in a trembling voice. "Bring justice to this matter."

He slowly lowered his head further.

"If TCL had entered our empire... then our empire would have been destroyed."

The surrounding nobles immediately began whispering among themselves again, and the atmosphere inside the chamber grew even heavier than before.