Zaratahan nodded, looking puzzled. After a pause, he continued, "One last thing, about those Mother Goddess cultists..."

Upon hearing the name "Cult of the Mother Goddess," Saladin rubbed his temples vigorously: "What do they want to do?"

"Their messenger asked me to tell you that the Mother Goddess Cult has shown the Empire sufficient sincerity in both the war against the Abbasid Empire and the war to reclaim the Holy City. Now, they are demanding a response from the Empire."

Saladin sneered, "Giveback? They just want to get a piece of the pie, don't they?!"

"Many of the Mother Goddess cultists possess demonic powers. If these people wreak havoc throughout the empire, it could be detrimental to us."

Saladin waved his hand dismissively: "Tell those shady cultists that I can give them a fiefdom and some nice-sounding noble titles. I won't care what they do in their fiefdom; but once they leave, it's God's territory, and any missionary work there will be considered blasphemy!"

Zhalatahan bowed his head and agreed.

Saladin rose from his throne and looked ahead.

Outside the main gate of the palace, attendants and servants were cleaning up the execution site.

The body was lifted onto a cart, and the blood was washed away with clean water.

Saladin inadvertently caught sight of the small, thin corpse being thrown onto a cart like trash. As he watched this, a sharp pain silently gripped his chest.

He bent down, rubbed his chest with his palm, and left the throne with a sigh.