Elaphia's expression grew serious.
Evil Detection was a spell specialized by holy-attribute professionals.
The user could detect dark aura hidden beneath the surface. Those like followers of evil gods or black wizards who had long been in contact with dark creatures would easily reveal their true nature under Evil Detection.
But the most unreasonable aspect of this spell was that it did not discriminate at all.
Simply put, even an ordinary person, as long as they were tainted with a bit of dark aura, would be judged by Evil Detection as having evil intentions.
Among the top ten most annoying behaviors of holy knights circulating throughout the continent, casting Evil Detection on everyone ranked first.
Looking on the bright side, though...
At least they didn't cast Holy Slash on everyone they met, killing the wicked who hadn't broken their oaths and the good who had.
"As a holy knight, you should know that this approach is quite disrespectful to anyone, shouldn't you?" Elaphia said with an unchanged expression.
"Most benevolent beings don't need to worry about the casting of Evil Detection. Your resistance suggests you might have something to hide?"
The holy knight frowned vigilantly. Beside him, the war cleric took out an iron hammer from his waist, ready to throw a Holy Fire spell at the slightest provocation.
"Don't worry about us bullying the weak. We holy knights have all taken oaths under the gaze of the holy light. If we were to harm innocent ordinary people, even in the slightest action, the power of our oath would forsake us."
"And my oath is: never to bully the weak!" the holy knight proclaimed righteously.
"My lady, our time is limited. You may remain silent, but all your actions before Evil Detection will become evidence in court."
The moment she saw the holy knight appear, Elaphia knew the Evil Detection spell would certainly be cast on her.
Even though her disguise was perfect, the holy knight's perception of evil creatures was no joke. Even if they couldn't see any flaws, they would certainly have suspicions.
What to do? Think, what to do?
With holy knights ahead and a hero behind, she didn't want to take an Evil Detection and then follow it with a Holy Slash and the hero's holy sword.
She would die...
The kind where nothing would be left.
Compared to the increasingly nervous Elaphia, Loranhir seemed indifferent. After all, she was just an ordinary person no matter what, and she wasn't afraid of holy knights coming after her.
How could Holy Slash possibly be thrown at her head?
Impossible!
"Hurry up, we're in a rush to save the princess," Loranhir urged. For her, wasting even a minute or second here was being irresponsible to the princess.
"Then let's start with the great Hero first, heroes have priority."
Elaphia seized the opportunity to push the hero forward while pondering escape routes herself.
She had to get out of here no matter what.
"It doesn't matter, whoever goes first is the same."
Who went first or later made no difference to the holy knight. He snapped his fingers, and the spell's light brightened, falling upon Loranhir.
The holy knights of the Layang Empire didn't particularly recognize the heroes chosen by the gods of the Dawn Kingdom.
After all, no one understood holy light better than they did.
Spells like Evil Detection judged good and evil by the brightness of the emitted light. Ordinary people who had never had contact with evil beings would naturally emit a pure, unblemished white light.
But if they came into contact with dark aura, the spell's light would vary in darkness according to the strength of the dark aura the person was tainted with.
When the Evil Detection spell fell on Loranhir, a thick, impenetrable darkness spread, completely enveloping her entire person.
Loranhir: ???
Elaphia: Huh?
Holy Knight: !!!
Elaphia reacted the fastest, even quicker than the holy knight who was about to raise his sword.
She immediately pointed at Loranhir and said, "Well, well, well, I never thought you were an evil creature!"
"?"
Loranhir tilted her head, looking puzzled at the thick black mist suddenly spreading around her.
...This couldn't be right?
She was just an ordinary person!
"Undead!!!!!" The holy knight came at the scent.
He pointed at Loranhir and shouted loudly, "How dare you impersonate a hero, what audacity!"
If anything besides the thoroughly evil twelve-headed dragon lords could have such a thick aura under the effect of the Evil Detection spell, it could only be an undead disguised as a human.
Under Loranhir's inexplicably envious gaze, the long sword was instantly unsheathed, holy light gathering on the blade's edge.
Undoubtedly, it was the holy knight's most famous technique—Holy Slash.
With a "Dang," it would smash down, completely obliterating weak undead, leaving not even ashes behind.
Loranhir just couldn't understand it. Her head was full of big question marks.
Why would a simple Evil Detection spell have such a massive reaction?!
When and where had she ever come into contact with dark creatures??!
This spell must be faulty!
Although Elaphia didn't know why the hero would be detected with such a strong dark reaction, this didn't prevent her from using this opportunity to slip away.
Most likely, those crazy monks from the Layang Empire had developed some extreme detection method again.
With the powerful hero being engaged by the brash holy knight, if she didn't run now, when would she?
Elaphia disappeared in an instant.
Only Loranhir remained standing motionless on the spot, facing the holy knight raising his Holy Slash.
Looking at the sword wrapped in light, Loranhir felt an indescribable envy mixed with even more fear.
She had no idea what to do.
Her suffering was impossible to express.
The holy knight charged forward, swinging Holy Slash to eliminate the fake hero before him, but after taking just two steps, he stopped.
The oath... the power of the oath was fading.
The holy knight was shocked to see the light on his sword dimming slightly, as if warning him.
His oath was supposed to be only about not bullying the weak.
But why...
Why was the oath warning him?
If he truly launched an attack against the fake hero before him, the oath would directly forsake him.
Thump thump thump!
In the silent night, the Heart of the Red Queen began to beat violently.
The holy knight looked at the hero before him, an invisible majesty making her figure in the black mist appear immensely large.
It was as if the supreme evil had descended.
The holy knight had seen such terrifying majesty before, in scenes where legendary black dragon lords trampled kingdoms and abducted princesses.
Even just a glimpse from afar would spontaneously generate fear from within.
The holy knight knew that at this moment, there was only one explanation for his oath's withdrawal.
The undead before him had grown powerful enough to obscure the domain of holy light.
"Stop."
Loranhir stood before the holy knight, her heart thundering like lightning, yet she remained as immovable as a mountain.
"If you fight, someone will die," she said.