Published: February 11, 2025
In the camp, the lights were bright, and although the fighting had stopped, the atmosphere was still charged with excitement, showing signs of increasing danger.
"Are we really going to pledge our loyalty to such a Holy Maiden?! To a woman who stabbed the Holy Father with her own weapon?!" A middle-aged man paced back and forth in the tent, his expression agitated, his voice reaching outside, where thousands of warriors listened silently.
"The Sanctuary is our faith. We fight to the death for the honor of the Sanctuary, not just for ourselves, but for our ancestors, and even our descendants will continue to do so." The man's voice was low yet powerful, resonating deeply.
"But we honor the Sanctuary's glory, and what is glory? Determination, fearlessness, bravery, sacrifice, unity!"
"We have upheld these values, fighting from our homeland to here. We've endured grueling marches and fierce battles, and countless comrades have perished. Now, back home, even more of our loved ones are waiting for us to return!"
"But look at what we are doing now!" The middle-aged man pointed around, and through the gaps between the tents, one could faintly see many posthumous children and Cloud Summit warriors patrolling in the distance, their gazes primarily focused on their camp.
"Have we been defeated? No! So why are we being made to wait here like prisoners? Why is this happening?!"
Looking at the intermediate officers in the tent, the man wore an expression of desperation.
"Because our Holy Father is dead!"
"Because our Holy Father was killed by our own people!"
"Because the woman who killed our Holy Father is about to surrender to our enemies!"
"Because this surrendering woman has completely lost her sense of the Sanctuary's glory; she is a disgrace and a traitor to our entire race!"
"Brothers, are we really going to obey her orders, to listen to the commands of someone who killed the Holy Father? To fraternize with those who killed our comrades during the days of falling sand?!"
"What are we then, if we’re still considered Temple Warriors? What honor remains?! How can we face our ancestors who bestowed upon us life and soul?"
The more the middle-aged man spoke, the more agitated he became, waving his arms energetically. The officers below and the soldiers outside were incited by his fervor. These troops were originally the most loyal to the Holy Father; they had resisted the Holy Maiden and the two giants' commands. Now, with the Holy Father's death, especially at the hands of the Holy Maiden, their dissatisfaction had already reached the brink of eruption.
Now, hearing that the representatives of the Holy Maiden were negotiating with the posthumous children and Cloud Summit coalition, the details that filtered back only shocked them further, making them feel that they were betraying the interests of the Temple of Dawn, as if it were a near-surrender compromise.
Moreover, some rumors spread within the military, claiming that the Holy Maiden had decided to marry the leader from another realm, becoming his woman, to secure better survival for herself and her close ones.
For the people of the Temple of Dawn who had been overlords in this realm for countless years, this was incomprehensible and unacceptable.
Yet, even though these people might not understand or even hate the Holy Maiden for killing the Holy Father, there remained certain inertia in their hearts—an inertia symbolizing another aspect of the Sanctuary.
Under this instinctive inertia, they could oppose the Holy Maiden but could not accept her doing anything they perceived as dishonorable to the Sanctuary.
"Brothers, we should not remain silent any longer; otherwise, we will lose our faith and soul, becoming walking corpses!"
"So what should we do?" A military officer stood up, clenching his fist and asking.
"Rebel!" The middle-aged man's eyes sparkled; he spoke firmly, "Only by rebelling can we have a glimmer of hope. Only by overthrowing the Holy Maiden's control over the Sanctuary can we win the future. How can someone who killed the Holy Father lead us?! What qualifications does she have to lead us?!"