Reborn as a Leader: King's Debauchery, SSS-Yandere Harem and Evolution-Chapter 36- Holy Artifact

"Your Majesty, given the high priest’s execution, several voices may rise now," Grace said, following behind him.

Further considering that the high priest was killed by him in front of other holy knights, she realized the gravity of the situation.

Even though she could order them to keep the fact hidden, one way or another, this news would soon circulate around the kingdom.

Once it reached the nobility, things would become messier.

Being a saintess, there was still a limit to how she could change the direction of the words.

It was not just any priest but the high priest himself who, even if he had committed crimes, should have been brought to the royal court for proper investigation instead of being executed on the spot.

This act may lead to consequences and opposition from the other three factions within the monastery.

Although the four factions that existed inside the Monastery of Goddess Agastasa had a rivalry with each other, they were trying to gain a better position.

She chose the current faction solely due to their alignment with King Lysandric.

After joining, she came to know that the reason they supported this king was only because of their ulterior motives.

Yet her involvement had indirectly elevated the status of this faction above the others in the monastery.

But even though it had raised their position, the reason it was higher was not just because of her presence, but also because of the high priest.

He may have been caught off guard by both of them in such a situation and was executed without having a chance to retaliate.

In the end, he possessed a significant amount of holy energy due to his own artifact being in Wisp Tier.

Both he and her presence had kept this faction at the highest level in the monastery compared to the other three.

Now that the high priest was dead, she would probably also lose a subtle amount of balance that was keeping her faction strong.

This would further weaken her ability to lawfully help him clear his name in the monastery.

"Does possessing a holy artifact make one eligible to be in the monastery?" Akhil remained focused while looking at the screen in front of him.

He observed the other artifacts he had extracted.

He considered sacrificing them initially to boost his artifact’s strength to Dim Tier, but knowing the upcoming situation required them, he hesitated.

[ 1. Eye of Charm (Shattered Tier), 2. Photographic Recorder (Shattered Tier), 3. Holy Staff (Wisp Tier) ]

He had a total of three artifacts which he had extracted from others.

He had extracted the artifact of the maid and the high priest before killing them.

Using the system, he was able to extract the artifact, but he also needed to kill the maid or the high priest so that his secret, which he wanted kept hidden from many people, would remain so.

Even though the saintess had seen him take out the photographic recorder artifact that he had extracted from that maid, he had intentionally shown it to her so she would understand the weight of his words.

His initial idea was to show the saintess that she could trust him and follow his lead while trying to show his advantageous side to her.

Now, after knowing her obsession points—though not to the extent of being considered insanely in love like those two—there were still hints of romantic feelings in her.

This assured him that the likelihood of betrayal from her side was very low.

"Yes, but...wait, don’t tell me?!" Grace, who had just nodded while walking beside him with folded hands and eyes closed, paused.

She realized the meaning of his words as she exclaimed before understanding what he meant.

"Here it is," Akhil also said, stretching his hand.

As he did, a golden light shimmered in the shape of a stick, more like a soft, brimming golden light with a cross at its end.

It suddenly materialized in his hand, clearly emitting a soothing presence as the whole area soon filled with divine energy.

Given that he did not possess dominion over it, he had little control over the expansion of its divine energy, making him just look at her.

"Th-this is the holy shaft?!" The saintess herself was taken aback, looking at the effect, which was clearly the one she remembered belonging to the high priest.

Considering its Wisp Tier, it was the reason the high priest possessed that large amount of holy energy, making him who he was.

Even she did not possess an artifact, as her status as saintess relied heavily on the presence of holy scriptures inside the monastery.

To be more specific, a dominion was like a space in which an artifact is stored.

The remnant energy leaking from that artifact boosts the attributed energy of that dominion.

This means if an artifact possesses fire-type energy, then the dominion would be filled with the fire-type ability attribute.

Essentially, the dominion contained residual energy emitted from artifacts.

Those who possessed dominions but not artifacts could still exhaust the residual energy inherent in them to fulfill their abilities by being near a particular energy or artifact.

For example, someone with a fire-type dominion would need to be near heat, fire, or a similar kind of artifact to recover their lost energy.

The same applied for mind-type abilities, where the mind needed to be calm and composed to recuperate in the absence of an artifact.

It was the same for divine energy, where one needed to be near divinity to recover their energy.

And it was a well-known truth that for a saintess—who doesn’t possess any artifact—she needs to heavily rely on the prayer to goddess Agastasa statue or inside the monastery to recover her holy energy.

Given her chastity provided the divinity needed as it was purity of her body.

It was simply like how passively her body’s purity was recovering her lost divine energy.

But now, seeing the artifact in his hand, there was a flicker in her eyes as she was clearly taken aback, turning towards him as their gazes met.