Reform (Part One)

There were three people in the Pope's room.

The Pope, Cardinal Archbishop Latran, and Chief Justice Selace.

The atmosphere was extremely heavy.

The black aura emanating from the Pope and Selace was almost visible to the naked eye.

As the only relatively calm person, Latran looked at the two of them, sighed, and asked:

"Is it confirmed by now? The fact that he Sin Annihilation."

"..."

These words made the atmosphere even more tense.

"This is a crushing defeat for us... We lost Bradwich, the Sin Annihilation, a large number of our mixed forces died, and what's worse, the enthusiasm of the Rebel Army in various places is rising steadily. Although I don't want to say it, I have to admit—we have fallen into a passive position."

"... Yes, that's right. Sin Annihilation's sudden defection was indeed something we didn't expect..." Selace said with a dark face.

Ever since Sin Annihilation's betrayal and rescue of Nid, Selace's emotions have been extremely unstable. His poor discipline led to Sin Annihilation's mental instability, which in turn caused this series of events—he bears at least half the responsibility for this major incident. Logically, he should have been executed long ago, but everyone understands that in this critical moment, the number of capable individuals cannot be reduced any further. Selace and Yang Yujie are both examples; they will soon be of great use.

"... snort..."

The Pope slowly raised his head, his eyes filled with a fierce light, a far cry from his usual glorious image as God's representative.

The sound was forced out by her wrinkled lips.

"With all our main forces concentrated in Gloria, there's no time left to proactively defeat them. In that case... let's settle this once and for all on the final battlefield!"

"--That's it. You and Tianlu will serve as Commander together, fighting against the Revolutionary Army."

The Fourth Seat Templar Knight spoke these words to the Chief through the iron bars.

Yang Yujie scratched his still sleepy head, and after a few seconds he realized what was happening, his eyes lit up.

"So... I can finally go out now? That's great! I haven't had a good cigarette in ages, and I can't even get chewing gum. I've been wanting to—"

"Not yet. Your release order will only be officially issued when we need you!"

"Hey----what is this? A bunch of stingy people. If you're men, show some magnanimity!"

"You... tsk!"

Saladin looked at Yu Jie, who was sprawled out in the corner of the cell with a look of disgust, his fist trembling slightly.

Why would someone like that become the Chief Templar Knight?!

He was lawless and always toyed with the other Templar Knight, causing me to lose the honor of being the Guardian Knight of the Goddess and forcing me to obey his weak father— the Cardinal Archbishop! Not to mention, this guy clearly fought the Rebel Army Leader in the Battle of Sadington but failed to capture him, while I captured him in the operation to wipe out the Bredwich Family. All of this proves that I am far superior to this good-for-nothing man!

Yu Jie rolled his eyes at Saladin's furious expression.

"Oh dear, that's why I hate top students like you the most. You're so obedient and arrogant, taking pride in your complacency. You get angry and frustrated when things get a little out of your control, thinking life is as smooth as your exams. But unfortunately, life isn't an exam, you idiot. Do you know why the Revolutionary Army is getting stronger and stronger, while the Papacy has not only failed to improve for hundreds of years but has actually regressed? That's the reason, kid!"

"And what do you know? If I were a top student with a high opinion of myself, who do you think you are, a mere child's Guardian Knight of the Goddess? You are not worthy of the High Priestess!"

"Huh?"

Yu Jie straightened up slightly and looked at Saladin with great interest.

"What are you looking at?"

"Although it's just my wild imagination, but..."

He gave a strange smile.

"You little rascal, you don't happen to like Spirit Sacrifice-chan, do you?"

"Varied--!?"

Saladin's handsome, fair face instantly turned bright red.

"Utterly rude! Your Highness is Goddess, how could I—"

"Hmm... I knew it! No wonder you're always targeting me, you're jealous, huh? How innocent. It reminds me of my first love... She was such a wonderful woman, big breasts, a curvy figure, and beautiful. What a pity..."

"Who wants to hear your first love story! Let me tell you, I have absolutely no filthy thoughts about the Spirit Master!"

"Yes, yes, I believe you won't use her for your own amusement tonight~"

"... What does that mean?"

"Damn, I suddenly realize that if people are too innocent, it's not very fun to play around with them..."

"What are you talking about? Anyway, the message has been delivered: you need to be ready to go into battle at any time. Until then, stay in the confessional hall and behave yourself!"

"Yes, sir~~"

Saladin clearly didn't want to linger a second longer in the confessional. He coldly pulled up his cloak and turned to leave under the guards' awe-inspiring gazes.

"Oh dear... are kids these days so slow to mature? When I was his age, I was already a virgin..."

In Yu Jie's opinion, compared to this self-important son of a high-ranking official who held the Fourth Seat, Nid was far superior.

"However, let's hope Nid doesn't go too far... That kid is basically a frozen flame; once he's freed from his long-standing constraints, who knows how far he'll spread..."

Thinking this, Yu Jie couldn't help but feel excited.

By the time of the final battle, how much will he have grown?

"--Oh right, the one surnamed Yang."

"Um?"

Saladin had already walked some distance away, suddenly asked without turning around:

"You mentioned your first love... what happened next?"

"Hey? What's up, kid? Want to use this as a life lesson?"

"You—tch! Enough nonsense! I was just asking casually! If you don't want to answer, then—"

"... I killed her."

"Nothing is needed either!?"

"She contracted a strange, incurable disease that caused her body to ulcerate from the skin to her internal organs, and as a result, she miscarried every time she became pregnant... We spent several years together, but in the end, unable to bear the pain any longer, she begged me to kill her."

"... Well..."

"By the way, the day after I buried her, an extremely powerful healing ability user happened to pass through my hometown. If I had refused that pathetic request back then... I would be the head of a family of three now."

"... sorry."

"Ha, it's nothing, so many years have passed."

The atmosphere suddenly became a bit heavy.

Saladin, somewhat embarrassed, adjusted his cloak and continued walking out.

"Me... I've been through a lot back then, and I have a lot of disgusting and messed-up memories. Later, I made up my mind that no matter what kind of mess I encounter, I must live on 'without regrets'."

"... so?"

"As someone who's been through a lot in life, let me offer you some advice: when you're faced with a dilemma, choose the option that you're least likely to regret."

Almost at the same time that Yu Jie was teasing Saladin, in a makeshift meeting hall outside Vandosa, the commanders of all the divisions of the Revolutionary Army —including the annihilated Seventh Division —gathered.

This was the last meeting before the decisive battle, the final pre-battle coordination.

"It's great that everyone arrived as scheduled; otherwise, we probably wouldn't have been able to complete the final coordination. Although there were some minor hiccups along the way, the biggest achievement was reaching a consensus on personnel allocation. Now that everything is settled, what we need to do is rest and recharge."

""""""... yes.""""""

Nid sat at one end of the long table organizing documents, his expression calm, while the other division commanders lined up along the table, each with... a unique expression.

Finally, the commander of the 14th Division could no longer sit still.

"I... I still can't accept it!"

"Unacceptable?" Nid raised an eyebrow. "I don't quite understand what you mean."

"Is that even a question? According to your plan, we—the tens of thousands of brothers in our 14th Division—wouldn't we all become cannon fodder!?"

"Cannon fodder? That's quite rude. I know your mission is difficult—after all, you have to draw the fire of high-level Divine Spellcaster —but who made you the most mobile division? This mission is perfect for you."

"But..."

"If you're going to say that 'difficult mission' is the same as 'being cannon fodder,' then it just shows that we've been spoiling you too much all along."

"... The Supreme Chief of Staff would never do anything that results in the mass sacrifice of comrades!"

"Sister Xue has always done this kind of thing," Nid frowned slightly, "But she does it very cleverly, spreading the sacrifices evenly across the various divisions so it's not easy to notice. Unfortunately, I can't be as tactful as her, so I can only make this seemingly unreasonable decision unilaterally. Please forgive me. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"... I see."

The commander of the 14th Division pursed his lips and sat down.

No, you don't understand.

Click! "--!?"

A gust of wind suddenly sliced through the air and struck the wall, leaving a clean cut.

It was only millimeters away from his throat.

The division commanders were completely stunned.

Nid put down the longsword that he had somehow gotten into his hand and sighed.

"You didn't understand what I meant... I could tell from your eyes that you hold a negative opinion deep down. If we let someone like you participate in the battle, it will only cause trouble later. For the sake of victory, eliminating destabilizing factors is absolutely necessary."

As the words fell,

Nid had already appeared behind him.

He didn't even see how Nid moved; it was too fast.

"Please don't misunderstand, Landini. I didn't mean any harm, nor did I intend to put you in danger..."

Nid bent down and gently pressed his lips to his ear.

"You have to give as much as you receive. I gave you challenging tasks out of absolute trust, and I didn't strip you of your posts or take back your military power out of trust as well. Now you have the opportunity to repay my trust with your actions—that's all, isn't it?"

"Nid!!!" the commander of the Second Division suddenly roared.

"What's wrong, Saleh?"

"I don't object to your decision—but isn't your method a bit too authoritarian? Without discussing it with us, without any compromise, you just abruptly send people into the fire without allowing any opposition. We are Revolutionary Army, representing the people! How is your approach any different from the despotism of the Papacy?"

"... The Vatican, a dictatorship? Ha..."

Nid shook his head helplessly.

"If we're talking about the difference between the Papacy and the Revolutionary Army, I'm afraid that kind of thing doesn't really exist in essence."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seeing the word "change" makes me think of Liu Jiang... I'm so unhappy.