The Holy Knights came to aid the Kingdom of Falmuth.
In terms of being invaders, they were no different from Edmaris.
Rin's willingness to spare them was already an act of grace.
"Artoria, you don't need to concern yourself with this matter."
Rin's single sentence directly shut down Artoria's next words, leaving her no choice but to retreat helplessly.
"How naive, Artoria-sama..."
And after Artoria left, Diablo couldn't help but sigh.
"That Hinata, is she Shizue's student?"
Rimuru was a bit curious. "I heard she's currently the strongest human."
Rin had never met Hinata, nor did he immediately check on the Holy Knights' condition.
After being captured by Artoria, they were thrown directly into the Monster Nation's grand prison.
From there, it became Carrera's responsibility.
However, one thing Rin was sure of.
Hinata and the others would definitely not have an easy time under Carrera's supervision.
Rin could spare Hinata's life for Shizue's sake.
He could also spare the Holy Knights in order to subdue Luminous.
But the price to be paid absolutely could not be reduced.
"Rin-sama!"
After leaving the Demon Lords Castle, Rin headed directly to the grand prison, where Carrera had already been waiting for quite some time.
"Welcome to the grand prison. Please allow me to lead the way."
"Hmm."
Rin followed Carrera from the entrance, heading deeper inside.
Along the way, he passed by many imprisoned Holy Knights.
They had been stripped of their ornate armor, left wearing only black-and-white prison uniforms.
Now, slumped in their cells, faces ashen and eyes hollow, they looked completely broken.
"What did you do to them?"
"Just a few simple interrogations."
Carrera explained that she had used a soul-based mental illusion technique on them.
Since there were so many prisoners, she had to summon demons from the underworld to assist.
The strength of these demons was generally around A-Rank.
If they were granted names by Rin, reaching Special A-Rank would be no challenge at all.
And as luck would have it, Rin was right here.
"Call all the jailers over."
"Thank you for your grace, Rin-sama!"
Carrera was thrilled. She quickly used Demon Summoning to call all the jailers stationed in the prison.
Rin glanced around. There were about two hundred jailers in the Great Prison, all A-Rank demons.
Without much hesitation, Rin began naming them.
By now, this process was second nature to him.
"Watch them closely."
Rin said, "Before Luminous arrives, I don't want a single person escaping."
"Please rest assured."
"Mhm."
Rin gestured for Carrera to continue leading the way. He wanted to see Hinata and her Saints.
Speaking of Saints, they were actually a profession akin to Heroes.
And like Heroes, Saints were also divided into awakened and unawakened types, equivalent in level to Demon Lords.
For example, the Six Saints were unawakened Saints, with strength comparable to a Demon Lord.
As for Hinata...
The young woman had already completed her awakening. However, due to lacking the necessary opportunity, she had not yet obtained an Ultimate Skill.
"We've arrived, Rin-sama."
Soon, Carrera led Rin to the fifth floor of the Great Prison.
The Monster Nation's Great Prison had six total levels, corresponding to D-Rank, C-Rank, B-Rank, A-Rank, Special A-Rank, and True Demon Lord, respectively.
The ordinary Holy Knights, with average strength above B-Rank, were imprisoned on the third floor.
The 111 Temple Knights were located on the fourth floor.
Splat!
Clang! Splat!
The moment Rin stepped onto the fifth floor, he heard the sound of whips cracking.
This area was very spacious, with each cell fully independent and even equipped with complete living facilities.
But at this moment, the prisoners clearly had no energy to appreciate the builders' thoughtfulness.
Being whipped, especially when the wielder was a demon proficient in soul techniques...
The pain endured was simply unimaginable.
Cough, cough cough~
Having regained consciousness after fainting countless times, Leonard, the vice-captain of the Holy Knights was in a wretched state.
His golden hair was a tangled mess, his prison uniform in tatters, and his exposed skin was covered in gruesome scars.
Even more terrifying, those scars were healing automatically.
Of course, this wasn't Leonard's own ability.
With his magic sealed, he was now just an exceptionally strong ordinary human.
Unlike Rin's subordinates, who could still exert their original combat power even without using magic, thanks to the special skill Magicules Solidification.
"Rin-sama!"
The demon whipping Leonard looked somewhat like a minotaur.
Rin named him Minotaur.
Minotaur was also the guardian of the fifth floor of the Great Prison, tasked with overseeing operations on this floor.
Upon seeing Rin, Minotaur immediately dropped his whip and, with a thud, knelt before him.
This scene naturally fell into Leonard's view.
His pupils shrank slightly.
He wasn't shocked by Minotaur's reverence.
What Leonard truly paid attention to was Carrera, walking behind Rin like a servant.
It had only been about a day since he was captured.
In that time, Leonard had only caught a few glimpses of Carrera.
But even in those brief moments, Leonard had clearly felt the terror emanating from this golden-haired demon.
She was not someone he could ever hope to match.
Her magicules were comparable to the golden-haired knight (Artoria), and her entire being radiated an evil and bloodthirsty aura, like a bottomless black hole.
This woman...
Was definitely not a normal monster.
But that made it all the more terrifying.
Such a terrifying demon was now behaving so obediently and respectfully beside this man.
Leonard, who had witnessed Carrera's cruelty with his own eyes, suddenly felt a strange sense of unreality.
"How diligent, Minotaur."
Rin remembered that the minotaur before him had just been named, yet he was already back at work.
"Haha, well, I just wanted to show off a little in front of you, Rin-sama."
Minotaur didn't hide it. There was no need for pretense in front of his master.
Even demons, as long as they were sincere, would earn Rin's favor.
He admitted it outright.
Just like when the boss comes to inspect, employees will work harder than usual.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)