Forest.

Rustle.

Wayne walked out of the forest while adjusting his waistband, accompanied by an expressionless Mona. After the hands-on test, he concluded that Mona was still Mona; his secretary hadn’t changed.

The process wasn’t anything to write home about. She put her mouth to good use and then welcomed him in. The rest was history.

Although Wayne didn’t know angels much, he was pretty certain that Hesione, one of the four Śārim, wouldn’t be able to do all those things.

There was a minor interlude in which Hesione, cornered and unable to tolerate Mona’s absurd actions further, snarled at her ferociously, citing glory, honor, and purity until Mona had had enough. She stepped out of the spotlight and allowed Hesione to take charge. It took only around two minutes for Hesione to admit defeat.

Angels’ worst enemies weren’t demons, but other angels.

Mona hadn’t talked about that, so she didn’t know if Wayne had noticed. However, she did notice how hardworking Wayne had been during those two minutes.

“Mona, there are only seven reincarnated angels. The Papal State has found seven, one of whom is a fake. You must know who it is.” Wayne patted her on the bottom, about to expose the false reincarnated angel.

“Do you suspect Kael, Boss?”

“Of course not. Given his inhuman standard of beauty, I’d believe that he’d awakened his memories in Heaven since he was three.”

“Then there’s no one.” Mona shared her analysis. “While Heaven officially sent seven angels to the human world, there is an eighth one who was sent in secret. They won’t show themselves until the very end. It’s normal for there to be eight reincarnated angels.”

“What a sound argument. I almost bought it.” Wayne rolled his eyes. “Have you considered that I am the imposter?”

Mona shook her head. Wayne didn’t force the issue. He said, “Why don’t I break the contract and inform the Papal State?”

She shook her head again, emphasizing the importance of the contract. Without it, not only would Wayne lose his obedient, competent secretary, but she would also gradually lose herself. There was even less point in informing the Papal State.

She blinked thoughtfully. If Wayne was willing, she hoped that he would conceal the fact that she was a reincarnated angel; she was certain that it would be beneficial at a key moment.

“Alright. I’ve been so misunderstood that another misunderstanding isn’t much of an issue.” Wayne shrugged. He didn’t mind acting as Mona’s cover. He asked about the mission that the seven reincarnated angels were in the mortal realm for.

Seven angels had reincarnated, including one of the four Śārim. It was too much of a coincidence for there to be seven of them, corresponding to the Seven Demon Lords in Hell.

Tell me. Did you seven enter this world as part of Heaven’s crack-down operations against Hell?

“Boss, I only have access to limited memories, most of which are about battles. I’m not sure what mission the reincarnated angels are on.” Mona didn’t have an answer. She could ask Hesione, but Hesione always gave her the cold shoulder, considering her too dirty and impure.

“Is she giving you a lot of trouble?”

“Not that much. I have a plan, Boss.”

...I’m guessing it’s a plan that gets the blood pumping.

Wayne grinned, feeling a chill in his bones.

While they were busy, Mona had explained her relationship with Hesione and the fight for control between the two personalities and two sets of memories. For some reason, Hesione had lost the upper hand and didn’t fare well, perhaps due to the curse of Hell.

While Hesione was at a disadvantage, though, she would not disappear, and her great volume of memories would continue to influence Mona until Mona took in all her memories, and they became one.

Then, Hesione would change her name to Mona, regaining all of the Śār’s power.

Although Mona would undergo irreversible changes because of the memories, resembling Hesione more and more in reasoning, preferences, personality, and behavior, it was already the most ideal scenario. At least Mona would still be Mona, and she would still exist.

No one wanted to become someone else and allow someone else to be reborn through her. Mona hated Hesione. Though she once admired the Śār, she wanted nothing but to make Hesione fall with her whenever she got the chance.

Mona considered it the best way to maintain herself—simple, straightforward, and effective. Wayne knew everything, so while he felt like advising Mona to be more respectful to the head of angels, he decided it wasn’t necessary.

He didn’t know Hesione. All he cared about was his secretary.

Wayne shot Mona a look. He would be fine with taking some losses to make sure her plan was properly implemented. Then they would find out the reason that the angels had reincarnated in the human world and facilitate the war against crimes in Hell.

Mona nodded. It made sense. For justice, Heaven, and world peace, she suggested that Hesione give up on her pure heart and just fall—just tell the truth.

Between one blink and the next, the Śār was sold.

Mona felt no guilt, and neither did Wayne. Everyone knew that the Pope was the one to initiate the deal. Then, Archbishop Gunther of Saint Paul’s Cathedral executed it. All of the Church of Heavenly Father, from the top leadership to the staff, were involved.

Therefore, it was necessary to hide Mona’s identity as a reincarnated angel. Once it was exposed, the entirety of the church would be held responsible. His Horniness, especially, would need to be burned at the stake!

He gifted Wayne the cross pendant that could transform into different attire, and he had been the one to push Mona to make the first step in falling. In the end, the Śār lost her purity, which would make the Seven Demon Lords laugh to death if they heard.

Was the Pope actually Heaven’s spokesperson in the mortal realm? A spy that Hell had planted in the Church of Heavenly Father was more like it!

“Wait, he isn’t actually a mole, is he?” Wayne reached the edge of the barrier and spotted all the collapsed clergy members.

After exhausting her power, Umar had returned to Heaven, leaving behind the flat-chested clergywoman with a holy spirit constitution. She was in deep slumber, her chest heaving softly in breathing. Wayne subscribed to the belief that bigger was better, so he left her be after making sure that she was alright.

Among the rest of the clergy members, Archbishop Hodgson stood out the most. Staring at the traitor, Wayne debated whether he should take him out.

“Who do you suspect to be a mole, Boss?” Mona asked curiously.

“The Pope.”

Wayne listed his reasons while counting on his fingers. As the victim, Mona couldn’t help but nod along.

Truly, everything had lined up so perfectly that no matter if the Pope had done it intentionally, he was undoubtedly responsible.

Hesione was a Śār, so regular clergy members could not take responsibility for a sin that great. The Pope was the only one who could. Even if it had been an honest mistake, he would have to take the blame.

If even Mona was agreeing, it was obvious how Hesione reacted. Knowing that the Pope had singlehandedly caused the taint outside and inside her body, she lashed out and swore to make him pay.

“This guy...”

Wayne stared at Hodgson for a moment before pushing his hand down, telling Mona to take him out.

“He’s yours now, Boss.”

“That’s all the more reason that he has to be dealt with. I will not tolerate any traitor!”

Hodgson had voluntarily followed a demon lord from Hell and participated in the plan to open the Gate of Hell and destroy the world. Moreover, he was one of the key players in setting things in motion. If he had succeeded, all of the Republic of Erland would have been sacrificed by the evil gods. The consequences would be so dire that Wayne felt his scalp tingle just thinking about it.

If Hodgson had started as a demon’s minion, Wayne might have praised him for his loyalty. However, he was the Archbishop of Saint Patrick’s Cathedral and the Church of Heavenly Father’s top leader in Erland. Traitors should receive double the punishment, no matter where they were.

Hodgson had to die. Wayne would not spare him just because he had become Wayne’s follower. Everyone had to pay for their action; not even finding the right support would save them.

Hodgson’s betrayal had been reported to the Papal State. Since he had led the independence of the Republic of Erland and made a great contribution to the Church of Heavenly Father’s effort to suppress Windsor’s sovereignty, he wouldn’t be executed immediately. Instead, he would be taken to the Papal State to see if there was more useful information to be extracted from him.

The Papal State was known for its torture chambers. Worried that Hodgson would leak information on his Astral evolution, Wayne decided to kill Hodgson now.

In the fight between the angels and demons, the traitor, Archbishop Hodgson, died in the crossfire. Wouldn’t that be a nice story?

Since Wayne insisted on taking Hodgson out, Mona personally executed the traitor with sacred flames as a Śār. Afterwards, she washed away the remains with water, leaving no traces behind.

Wayne eyed her curiously. Based on what he knew about the Sacred Tome, the four Śārim each represented earth, fire, water, and wind. Hesione represented water, and as her reincarnated self, Mona had never used any water-based ability, despite her being quite moist.

She had great potential to tap into.

The secretary had suddenly gone from a Silver-ranked mage with mediocre talent to a Śār. There was no telling how far she could go in the future.

The greater her potential, the greater the pressure on Wayne. Not wanting to lose to his secretary, he decided to hasten his plan and look for the resources the Goddess of Darkness had pointed him to, improving the foundation of his evolution further.

***

Saint Patrick’s Cathedral.

The clergy members stumbled their way back. A fight between the celestials often left the mortals suffering. Their heads were still ringing.

Archbishop Hodgson was executed by an angel for helping the demons. There was no point crying over the death of a traitor. Just like how Windsor couldn’t go a day without the Lando family, though, the cathedral couldn’t go a day without an archbishop. The white-bearded old men looked to Wayne, hoping that the envoy from the Papal State would take charge.

Wayne was too busy to set fire to the warehouse with them. After asking for a seventy percent split, he pointed casually at one of the bearded old men to be acting archbishop.

Though he went about it casually, he hadn’t picked the old man at random. A leader always had their reasons, even absurd ones.

In this case, the leader didn’t remember the old man’s name, but he knew that the pious follower had paid the most when purchasing indulgences from Wayne.