The Mask of Mercy, Shien's choice

The Cleric leading the way carried a lantern that emitted a faint white light and walked in front.

Shien followed behind, wearing a dark black trench coat without any insignia, except for the emblem representing his status as the Long Night Lord pinned to the collar.

As the guiding Cleric pushed open the door at the end, the space in front of them suddenly opened up.

This is the Tear Knight Sacred Flame Tribunal Hall.

The hall's dome was hidden in darkness, while a hundred or so perpetually burning silver lamps were embedded in the black stone walls on both sides.

Each light still lit represents a territory on the Tear Knight Defense Line that has yet to be extinguished.

A huge Holy Emblem the Tear Knight Defense Line hangs on the wall, depicting the silhouette of a mother weeping.

The only sounds in the hall were the very faint creaking of the chains and the occasional crackling of the candlelight.

On either side of the passage leading to the black stone steps, a row of people stood solemnly.

On the left are elite Holy Knight clad in heavy Holy Silver armor, and on the right is Cleric holding a staff.

The two rows of people remained motionless, but their eyes were fixed on the person who had just arrived.

The ceremonial officer stood at the foot of the steps and announced in a cold voice, "Blackpine Fief Shien Graywood of the Graymist Defense Zone, has an audience with Governor Yasol."

Shien walked steadily to the Sacred Flame Lantern, stopped seven steps away from the black stone steps, and performed a standard oath.

Yasol sat upright in a high-backed Black Iron chair beside the Sacred Flame Lantern.

He had changed out of his old leather coat and was now wearing the purple-gold Sacred Flame fire robe that symbolized his status, with a short shawl adorned with silver teardrops over it.

The most striking feature was the Pure Silver mask covering the upper half of his face, Mask of Mercy.

The mask was etched with downcast eyes and two deep tear tracks.

He neither offered her a seat nor asked Shien to rise; he simply remained silent.

Shien knelt on one knee on the cold, black stone slab, the lamplight casting a long shadow over him. The entire hall was so quiet it was almost suffocating.

The gaze cast from behind that silver mask seemed to be peeling away layers of a person's soul, trying to see just how far he could endure.

Shien's back was ramrod straight, his icy blue eyes were lowered, his gaze fixed on the Holy Silver line in the crack in the stone in front of him, and his breathing was so steady that it was almost inaudible.

After a long silence, a voice finally came from behind the mask. "Too young—how did you manage to hold Blackpine Fief?"

Shien maintained his bowing posture, without raising his head, his tone so calm it was completely unwavering.

"The Governor's success was built on order. The Blackpine Fief was held not by any one person charging forward, but by everyone working together."

There was a moment of silence on the platform.

"If it happened again, could you still hold on?"

Shien slowly raised his head, his eyes meeting the cold, silver mask on the high platform across the empty hall. "I'm confident I can do better."

Yasol leaned forward slightly, his silver mask reflecting the platinum firelight, and his voice fell again.

"You did a fantastic job with Blood Moon Season Warmth this time. You'll receive the reward you deserve. What do you want? Money? Fame? Power?"

Shien gazed unflinchingly at the White-Gold Sacred Flame on the platform. "Live on, and let more people live on."

Yasol did not respond, but simply looked silently at Shien through the eyes beneath his mask, and the hall fell silent once more.

In the eyes of this Governor who had crawled out of piles of corpses, these empty words were cheaper than the Frozen Tundra of the wasteland.

Just then, two heavily armored Cleric emerged from the shadows and together lifted a huge, realistic Sand Table onto the platform.

On the Sand Table, faint platinum flags were scattered about, each flag representing a Long Night Fief within the Graymist Defense Zone.

Yasol stood up from the high-backed iron chair, slowly walked down the steps, and came to the Sand Table.

In front of Shien, he unhesitatingly pulled out several small platinum flags from the Sand Table that were still faintly glowing.

"Jingle bells, jingle bells----"

The small flag was casually tossed into the silver plate beside him, making a crisp, jarring clanging sound.

Yasol's muffled voice echoed in the empty hall, "The outer fortifications of the western and northern sections of the Graymist Defense Zone are completely destroyed. There is a severe shortage of manpower, and the repair speed cannot keep up with the speed at which the Magic Creature are demolishing the walls."

The quota for the Sacred Flame Grease was blocked, the inventory was depleted, and there were less than three hundred Mobile Holy Knight left that could be mobilized.

There are still four months until the second peak of Blood Moon Season; this is the mess you'll be taking on next.

Yasol doesn't mince words; he directly throws a real, Hell game at Shien's face.

By personally tearing down the flags that represented tens of thousands of living people, he was telling Shien that in his calculations, the flesh and blood on the periphery could be sacrificed at any time in order to protect the core defense line.

This is not only a test of tactical vision, but also a test of whether Shien is ruthless enough and whether he can make the right choices at the entire war zone level.

Shien's gaze slowly swept over the Sand Table, his icy blue eyes showing no sign of backing down.

"Governor Excellency, based on the situation on the Sand Table, once the Blood Moon reaches its maximum intensity, with the existing resources and troops in the Defense Zone, continuing to hold the Sacred Flame will only result in us being chewed up piece by piece by the Magic Creature."

He reached out and grabbed a handful of flags representing the outer territories, ruthlessly pulling them all out and casually tossing them into a silver dish beside him, making a jarring clanging sound.

"Abandon the outer wastelands proactively, and transfer all personnel, food, and supplies to the inner territory. Leave no defensive force on the outer lines, only decoys."

Shien picked up a charcoal pencil and drew several deep, inward-curving grooves along the outer edge of the Sand Table.

"We will use the terrain to teach those beasts how to walk, the first filter being the abandoned fortresses, the sting belts, and the dying Lesser Sacred Flame Altar."

The Magic Creature would instinctively follow the faint light and burrow into it, the acid pits along the way enough to turn the mindless cannon fodder at the front into mush.

The charcoal pencil was pushed along the deep groove, drawing several narrow bends.

"Once they squeeze into this pre-designed channel, there will be a second barrier: a controlled blasting zone formed by mud, Caltrops, and alchemical fire."

The massive main force will be held back by these terrible terrains, their formation will be forced to be squeezed and stretched, and finally they will be stuffed into the narrowest gap like a strip of meat.

When they are all packed together, the heavy crossbows, ballistae, and javelins on the third level can fire, unleashing a full-scale high-level crossfire.

At this point, Shien pushed the chess pieces representing military strength and Holy Silver to several key nodes at the rear of the Sand Table.

"Resources must never be distributed evenly. Wherever a route can be blocked, wherever heavy firepower can be deployed, that's where the firepower will be placed. These lethal points must be connected into an inescapable net."

He drew several straight short lines behind these key nodes.

"The enemy takes a long detour through the muddy outer perimeter, while we take a straight path inside, protected by the Sacred Flame."

By repairing short post roads and establishing horse-changing points and resupply routes, the Mobile Holy Knight no longer need to be used as targets on the city walls. They are the blade; wherever the pressure is heaviest, they can quickly penetrate along the inner lines, cutting directly in from the flanks and severing the Magic Creature's offensive in half.

Finally Shien pushed large quantities of rough wooden blocks, representing Refugees, craftsmen, and Auxiliary Soldier, into the shadows of the inner heartland.

"But for this war machine to keep running, it can't just rely on the people wielding swords on the front lines. Engineers are needed for repairs, food transport, rapid recovery of the wounded, and on-site stripping of Magic Creature materials."

While the front lines are bleeding out the enemy, the rear must immediately pull out the Magic Creature's tendons and bones to reinforce the defenses. These people must move with the battle line; they are the fuel for the entire system.

Shien threw down his worn-out charcoal pencil and summarized. "Shrink the line, gather troops, bleed them out in layers, penetrate the inside, and use the rotten ground that can't be defended to buy time for the Magic Creature."

Only the nodes that can truly crush their throats are worthy of burning our resources. It's a complete set of interlocking gears; if any link is missing, the whole game is a dead end.

Yasol sat upright in the high-backed iron chair, his expression unreadable, but his gaze remained fixed on Shien.

This Governor, who had crawled out of the bloodbath of Mount Hu, didn't think that everything Shien said was particularly new; most of the methods used by the Tear Knight Defense Line had been used before.

What truly silenced him was that the young man had reassembled these scattered old methods into a coherent and interconnected system.

Shien explained clearly how to do each step.

After a moment, Yasol's voice came through the mask. "I can tell you've thought this plan through carefully. As for whether it's usable, that depends on your ability to bring it from the Sand Table to reality."

Yasol leaned back slightly in his chair, and his oppressive coldness softened somewhat, revealing a genuine sincerity towards his junior.

"Staying in the Governor's Mansion and joining the war zone staff will give you direct access to top-level military deployments, and your promotion will be rapid."

He paused, lowering his voice further. "The most important thing is—staying in the Governor's Mansion will allow you to live longer."

Yasol genuinely admired this talent; he didn't want to see such a promising young man perish prematurely on the meat grinder-like front lines.

If he stays at the Governor's Mansion and is properly trained for a few years, this kid will definitely become a sharp blade in the Tear Knight Defense Line.

This promise would have driven any Long Night Lord mad, yet Shien showed not a trace of flattery on his face.

He knew his trump card better than anyone else.

The mechanism of the Canon of Grace and Righteousness dictates that only by becoming a chief official and controlling the life and death of a region can he quickly reap the Grace Value that are enough to allow him to achieve a leap in strength.

Staying at the Governor's Mansion as a trainee staff officer? Staring at maps and reports all day? Forget it.

Faced with the Governor's offer of a high-ranking position within the system and protection, Shien refused without hesitation.

"I will always remember the Governor's kindness, but what I desire is a defensive line that I can completely control."

Upon hearing this answer, Yasol was visibly taken aback.

"Oh."

The next moment, a low laugh came from beneath the silver mask.

Hahahaha!

The laughter grew louder and louder, eventually turning into a hearty, unrestrained laugh that echoed throughout the empty hall.

Yasol wasn't offended; he saw in this fourteen-year-old boy an ambition exactly like his own back then.