Gray held Vivian's hand tightly and looked at Belinda firmly without retreating.

Belinda was silent, all the angels were silent.

The wind blew gently.

Abold clenched his fists, and even felt a little at a loss.

...

Shelley was still waiting on the balcony of Buck Town.

In the cell, Andrew, whose mouth was blocked, gasped in despair.

Catherine curled up and sat quietly with her knees in her arms.

Bangmao was still in a daze, and there were also the bones of the Silver Moon Knight.

Jones and Dora are still plotting to save people.

Four first-class angels were scattered in the four corners of the house, and Li Wei stood on the balcony and waited quietly for Gray to appear.

...

On the mountain road to the north, Gene II was fleeing with Camilla.

...

On the streets of the Lion King Capital, children sleeping in the open are talking in their sleep because of hunger.

...

In the Principality of Besheir, Irene was trying hard to expand her army and prepare for war. Dean was presided over the establishment of the new church.

In every corner of the mainland, Gray's sympathizers were still rushing to the Principality of Besheir.

...

"He is forcing us to make a decision..."

There were some voices talking in the holy light.

"A demon has violated the agreement between us and hell, but he asks us to forgive her?"

"How can we identify her motivation for violating the agreement? Is it because she wants to save him, or because she wants to complete the task? Or both? If both are there, which side is more?"

"He is breaking the pattern of faith in the whole continent, and if we make a ruling in favor of him, it is conceivable that this storm will be even more violent."

"We are falling into a quagmire. A Lich Paladin brings too much uncertainty, even if we agree that his intention is good. But we may not be able to deal with the upheaval caused by him."

"Then what should we do? Will we terminate this trial? Our commitment to him remains valid, and we must keep it until his identity is revealed."

"For thousands of years, the Holy See has been deteriorating. Although it has been expanding, it has been deteriorating. Our indulgence in it has contributed to this deterioration. I think it is not the Lich Paladin who needs to be examined, but the Holy See."

"Pampering causes deterioration. Isn't we now pardon Vivian the succubus now? We have never pardoned any demon who violated the agreement."

"No, what should be examined is not the Holy See, nor the Lich Paladin. But we are ourselves, the Holy Spirit itself. If our beliefs are firm, what can we force us? Just like the Lich Paladin, we have hardly seen him confused. What we need to make a decision is whether to forgive Vivian, the succubus, but how many of you are just talking about is closely related to this issue? We are wandering. The long years, as if endless failures are making us confused and undecided. There is no original determination."

"But we had to do more considerations. Just like when we chose Lich to be a Paladin, we thought too little, and it led to the situation today."

"We have to take into account the situation of the church. Yes, we all know that the church will have problems, but we cannot completely ignore it. No one knows whether the Lich Paladin's experiment will be successful and whether it will be rewarded. But it is obvious that the weakening of the church's power is bringing our influence to a low point. It will take a long, long time before we can repair it."

"The bad thing is that hell is still eyeing him, and they will take action at any time. We pardon Vivian and support Gray are what they want to see. And if we refuse to pardon Vivian... how can we take Vivian away from Gray? This also requires the consequences."

An old voice said, "Why do you always think about affecting this and that, but you rarely consider justice itself? Justice is the core of our faith, isn't it? It is the most important. Why can't we simply make a just ruling? Just as we initially considered the Lich Paladin, we were worried that his identity would cause losses to us, but he was not exposed. On the contrary, he was very pious and even transformed into a saint. The result brought us to a more embarrassing situation. Is there any problem in the way we think about problems? Today's result is that when the Lich Paladin draws his sword for the sake of a child's justice, and we choose to watch. It is the result of our own choice, and no one can shirk responsibility. Just as we have done to the Holy See for thousands of years, it has led to its alienation."

Suddenly, all the voices fell silent.

...

Vivian tightened Gray's hand gently and looked at Gray carefully, tears radiating in her eyes.

Grey turned his face and looked at her.

In the breeze, a sweet smile appeared on Vivian's face. She was as sweet as a girl in love. She kept laughing, but tears kept flowing.

The angels were still waiting quietly.

...

After a long time, the voice of the ruling officer finally rang out.

"Now, we start voting for the pardon of Vivian, or against the pardon of Vivian, the succubus."

"be opposed to."

“Abstain.”

“Abstain.”

“Abstain.”

"be opposed to."

“Abstain.”

“Agree.”

...

"Wait, why do you all abstain from the vote?"

"Aren't you abstaining from the vote?"

"I thought you would agree or object."

“Do you want to change the vote?”

"No, I won't change it. Keep going."

"Then, one vote for it, two votes against it, sixteen abstentions. According to the rules of procedure, the resolution was rejected."

...

Belinda, wearing a mask, slowly opened her eyes and whispered: "Grey, unfortunately, the resolution you submitted was rejected by the Holy Spirit. Now, we must take her away."

Vivian was about to stand up, but Gray took the lead. He stopped Vivian and protected Vivian behind him.

"Grey..."

"I'm sorry, even the Holy Spirit's decision, I cannot obey." Gray stood firmly, looking at Belinda with righteous words, "According to the Knight's oath, I cannot watch my partner, being imprisoned for saving me. As a Knight, I have the obligation to fight for this."

The hand was already on the hilt of the sword.

Abold held his forehead helplessly.

This should be expected. The stubborn Lich Paladin does not understand what compromise is. The oath he made must be fulfilled.

"Grey." Belinda whispered: "I understand your mood, but... you cannot stop us. Even in its heyday, you cannot pose a threat to us, not to mention that you have little magic now. So, please get out of the way. We do not want to attack a Paladin, nor do we want to add a charge of attacking a judge for an upright and kind knight. This will not do you good."

"Grey, you can't stop them. Give up." Vivian choked and whispered: "I'm very happy, really. I'm very happy. As long as you don't forget me."

"Not only will I forget you, I will also keep you." Gray still stood in front of Vivian and stood still.

"Gray, it makes no sense for you to do this."

Gray stood still.

"Gray, don't force us. This will not do anyone's benefit."

Gray was still motionless, like a statue.

The two sides were in a stalemate.

Vivi stood quietly behind him.

Belinda sighed, "We have no choice, let's do it."

However, no one moved, and the angels just hovered quietly in the air. The eyes fro between Grey and Belinda.

Everyone was silent. For a long time, the atmosphere was so depressed that Vivian was breathless.

"What are you waiting for! Can you end soon?" Belinda shouted.

"I'll do it, I'll try not to hurt him."

Finally, an angel moved and moved forward one step.

It's Abold.

Looking at Abold, Gray whispered: "I thought there would be only talks about justice or not between the sacred camps, but I didn't expect that it would be decided by power in the end."

"Whether it is sacred or dark, justice or evil, it can only be determined by strength in the end."

"What is the difference between the sacred faith and the dark faith?"

"I don't know either."

This answer is enough to shame the angels. However, this is the reality.

Gray also slowly drew his sword: "So, if I were a lich over ten thousand years old, would things become different?"

"Yes." Abold reached out his hand and summoned the lightsaber.

"I get it. Tenidas!"
To be continued...