The Arrival at Tear Knight City and the Unification of the Registers

When Shien left Blackpine with the governor's main force, the cleanup of the Graymist Defense Zone was still unfinished.

The Tear Knight Expeditionary Army and reinforcements from the Holy City streamed out of Blackpine toward Tear Knight City. Shien rode beside the column with Ivan, watching the landscape pass.

The previous year, when he had followed Castian to Tear Knight City, he had seen a defense line worn down by years of neglect.

This time was far worse. Extinguished Sacred Flame Towers appeared again and again along the road, their lonely silhouettes standing in the wind and snow. The devastation was several times worse than the year before.

He had already read about it in the postwar reports. The intelligence compiled by the Governor's Mansion clearly recorded that more than sixty Sacred Flame Towers along the Tear Knight Defense Line had gone dark.

Defense zones tainted by Gray Blood cores had suffered especially badly. In the Graymist Defense Zone, only the Sacred Flames at Blackpine, Grasshawk, and Ashen were still burning.

But seeing it with his own eyes still left him silent. Rebuilding the defense line would be a long, hard road.

When the convoy reached the heart of the Blackrock Mountains, Tear Knight City came into view once more.

The mountain itself had been carved and reshaped, with Refined Steel and Holy Silver set into the rock. The White-Gold Sacred Flame emblem hung high on the cliff face, while a column of light from the immense Main Sacred Flame Tower still pierced the sky.

Even after the great battle, this colossal war city retained its overwhelming presence.

But Shien's position had changed. As the convoy passed through the outer gate, many eyes turned toward him.

Officers first checked his Blackpine crest, then looked down to verify his name against