The Glory of Glory Day

The first rays of dawn had barely fallen upon Nirose's city walls when the entire city erupted like a lit powder keg.

Bells rang out simultaneously from every corner of the city, from every church and every bell tower.

The sound pierced the heavy curtains of Kade's villa, burrowed into Xia Lin's ears, and violently jolted him awake.

"What's going on?!" Xia Lin shot upright in bed, instinctively reaching for the sword beside his pillow.

Then he heard the commotion outside.

"Glory Day..." Xia Lin rubbed his temples. "Right. Today is Glory Day."

He climbed out of bed, walked to the window, and pulled open the curtains.

The streets were already packed with people.

Everyone wore elaborate festival attire, waving Imperial flags and holy emblems of various gods. Many had red sword patterns representing Aomede painted on their faces, while others bore the marks of different deities.

Farther away, he could see ranks of paladins in silver-white armor marching in formation, sunlight reflecting dazzlingly from their armor.

"Tch..." Xia Lin whistled. "This is quite the spectacle... Much bigger than any festival in New Stefan."

He turned to wash up, but his door was suddenly flung open with a whoosh.

Kade stood in the doorway, fully armed.

No, more accurately, he was "fully armed, upgraded edition."

The paladin wore the Fine+ full plate armor he normally could not bear to wear. Every piece had been polished until it could serve as a mirror. The Iomedae Holy Emblem on his chest practically glowed.

His cloak was brand-new dark red velvet, embroidered with the Philimp Family crest in gold thread.

Even his boots had been polished to a shine.

"Xia Lin!" Kade's voice shook with barely concealed excitement. "Get up! Get ready! We leave in two hours!"

His hands trembled slightly.

Clearly, the