Onowen, who had laid down his scripture and taken up a blade, soon became a powerful warrior. He followed Herzaken in founding the Gullad Empire, led armies to conquer one race and nation after another, and won countless glorious victories.
But to Onowen, this was not an honor, but a sin.
Because conquest was inevitably accompanied by slaughter.
Yet Onowen had never regretted it. Over thousands of years of warfare, he had personally witnessed the old hatreds between various races and nations gradually vanish beneath the stable order of the Gullad Empire.
His thinking had been correct.
If a powerful and stable empire could be established, those absurd wars of the past could be resolved at their root.
Thus, Onowen was willing to bear this sin.
But even so, Onowen had retained the kind heart of a priest who healed the wounded and saved the dying.
He governed his troops strictly, maintained iron discipline, and did everything he could to restrain the Gullad Army's violent and cruel nature—though that came at a cost.
But Onowen still succeeded.
Thus, although most lives conquered by the Gullad Empire were dissatisfied with or unaccustomed to its harsh and cold-blooded laws, there were rarely rebellions caused by the Gullad Army's cruelty and bloodlust.
After thousands of years, even though the Gullad Army's order had taken shape and could function without Onowen, he remained the spirit and symbol of the entire Gullad Army.
And his relationship with Emperor Herzaken was naturally not limited to that of ruler and subject; they were also friends and comrades.
That was why Onowen's attitude toward Herzaken was not one of fanatical, blind loyalty.
Of course.
Onowen had little interest in his own achievements, nor did he take pride in his relationship with Herzaken. He merely brushed over them in