When Ethan returned to the Imperial Capital, the Judicial Court had already concluded its interrogation of the front-line Knight Order.

Ave, who hadn't slept the entire night, forced herself to be alert and welcomed a few people in the meeting hall of the Royal City. The situation she least wanted to see still occurred.

"Those front-line knights claim that the orders were given by the Knight Lord himself. They saw illusions instructing them to eliminate heretics from the Far West."

Sitting at the round table, she rubbed her forehead and revealed the results of the interrogation to Ethan, "Their emotions were very intense. When the Judicial Court's inner cabinet recalled them, those knights clashed fiercely with the accompanying personnel of the Judicial Court. A senior Judge was seriously injured and is currently receiving treatment at the Royal Hospital in the Imperial Capital."

Ave, as an observer, witnessed the entire interrogation process.

Those knights wore silver-white armor and were bathed in sacred light; however, their actions were indistinguishable from those of fanatic believers she had encountered. The heretics they were about to purge were not limited to the Expeditionary Army in the Far West but also included Julius's remnants, as well as many nobles and officials from various cities.

They insisted that this sacred list was personally bestowed upon them by the Knight Lord.

"Sister Bi'an is also on the list. She was attacked on her first day back at the Neseriel Sanctuary. Her assailant was a secret organization within the Holy Hall known as the Gray Knights, originally established by the Knight Lord himself, with the primary duty of purging those who violated the commandments in the sanctuary."

The table in front of Ave was piled with reports. Ever since the Knight Order had suddenly attacked the Expeditionary Army's logistics unit without warning, troubles had been continuous. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"The impact is not limited to the Neseriel Sanctuary. This morning, Yue sent a warning from the Western Continent, stating that some believers of the Steam Sect have suddenly gone mad, launched a rebellion, and occupied factories and shipyards. The rhetoric is similar; those who have gone mad claim they have received guidance from the Master of Steam and Machinery to judge the heretics... Yue has ordered a large batch of Magic Scrolls and magical weapons from us as a precaution."

Fortunately, the Astrologer's Guild, the academy, the Truth Society, and the Life Divine Teachings, these large organizations have been relatively trouble-free, without stirring up any major issues.

Otherwise, if each empire's main path were to encounter such a crisis, the major cities could very likely disintegrate overnight.

Yet despite this, these suddenly insane Neseriel Holy Hall Knights have created hidden dangers in the empire's major cities, with multiple incidents in just a few days of mad knights storming into city halls or nobles' residences and cutting people down on sight.

"This is just the beginning."

Lindong suddenly said, "These main paths all exist because of the True God, and His revival will bring about disruptive changes... Rather, it's surprising that only Neseriel Sanctuary and the Steam Sect have encountered issues now."

"Do you guys know something inside?"

Ave questioned doubtfully. In fact, when Ethan mentioned on the phone that these mad knights might have seen the Knight Lord himself, she already felt that something was off.

"We encountered Bazarian in the Far West."

"Bazarian... You mean the Goddess of Life, the deity herself?"

Ave rarely showed a stunned expression; Ethan's words were akin to claiming to have seen a ghost in broad daylight.

"Didn't your pen pal tell you about these things?"

"She only discussed with me the matter of how to establish the faith of the Truth Society's believers!"

Ave suddenly understood, "No wonder the Life Divine Teachings didn't stir up trouble this time!"

She figured that Senzi probably had managed Bazarian, so she didn't 'send dreams' for the priests of the Life Divine Teachings to go to the streets and barbecue people alive—this was the Life Divine Teachings believers' specialty during Julius's period.

With Ethan's words, Ave immediately summarized the pattern of this turmoil.

"The Astrologer's Guild consists of believers of the God of Trickery. The impostor Kadela stole the treasure of the God of Trickery, which was then passed to Rowena. The academy doesn't have a specific object of belief, and the God of Truth was just blown up by you... As for the followers of the Hunting Goddess, it's likely that Cynthia refrained from causing trouble out of consideration for her friendship with you."

While Ave breathed a sigh of relief, she couldn't help but feel a little afraid. It was lucky that Ethan generally had good relations; at critical moments, acquaintances were willing to give him favor; otherwise, in terms of danger level, the Hunting Goddess Cynthia was undoubtedly the most dangerous deity—regardless of inside or outside the empire, Her followers were the most numerous. If adventurers from various countries were driven mad, riots could very likely occur in various cities overnight.

"This is temporary."

Lindong poured cold water on Ave, "They will eventually throw your friendship aside, and as for Kadela, despite the loss of much important data due to Rowena's influence, those people will eventually find alternatives. I understand them; when they 'revive' the True God, they've already prepared all subsequent plans."

"What people?"

"The second seat, plus the fourth seat and all researchers subsequently granted seats by the council."

The more Lindong explained, the more confused Ave felt. Seeing Lindong after a long time, she felt that Lindong had undergone subtle changes—firstly, she didn't transform into a ragdoll cat as she used to, lazily perching on Ethan's shoulder, and in order to prevent falling asleep and slipping off, she would dazedly use her tail to entwine Ethan's neck.

Her gaze had also become much sharper; there was always a feeling of being completely seen through when making eye contact with Lindong now, along with that somewhat superior air, inexplicably giving Ave a sense of being looked at like monkeys by humans.