The Imperium army always had a custom of holding pre-battle prayers before important battles.
That evening, the makeshift church within the Forbidden Wall was packed with officers.
The chaplain stood before the simple altar, holding aloft the Imperium Canon, and recited passages about sacrifice and loyalty.
The candlelight flickered, casting swaying shadows on everyone's faces.
Lynn stood in the front row, her eyes closed, as if in devout prayer.
But the Ripper in his sleeve was trembling slightly, emanating a sense of excitement.
Through the connection of consciousness, he learned that the Inquisitor Sorine Wimlot, whom Lictor was tracking, was waiting outside the church.
She was still keeping an eye on Lynn.
But a slight smile curved Lynn's lips.
"That's truly dedicated!"
"Then take a good look and see what you can discover."
After the prayers ended, the officers left one by one.
Lynn called out to Quinn was about to leave.
"Sir Quinn, may I speak with you in private?"
Quinn stopped and turned around.
He was dressed in the casual attire of a paladin, a white noble robe with gold trim, and the giant bear emblem on his chest was polished to a gleaming shine.
His face still wore the same expression, a half-smile, his eyes filled with condescending arrogance.
The two walked to a study behind the church, which was filled with all kinds of books.
"What are your orders, Governor?" Quinn asked first, his tone flippant.
"If it's about tomorrow's operation, I've already received the briefing."
Don't worry, I'll provide fire support from the rear if needed on the front lines.
"No," Lynn said. "I need you to follow orders strictly."
"Tomorrow's actions must be extremely precise in every step. If any link goes wrong, the entire plan will fail."
Quinn laughed. "Haha, Your Excellency is too kind."
He then bowed, the gesture somewhat exaggerated.
"I'm your subordinate now, and obeying orders is my most basic duty. If you tell me to go east, I will never go west."
He looked down at the floor, thinking that the new governor should be sensible enough to let him go.
But Lynn just stared at him quietly for a long time.
Lynn only started to laugh when Quinn's smile began to freeze.
But there was no warmth in that smile.
Rena analyzed Quinn's emotional fluctuations completely, figuring out exactly what he was thinking.
Lynn didn't know, but it certainly had nothing to do with what he had just said.
"Oh?" He took a step forward, closing the distance between them. "Then Quinn."
His voice was very soft, almost a whisper:
"I think Brevis will remember your efforts."
He emphasized the word "give" when he spoke it.
Quinn's pupils suddenly contracted; every human qualified to pilot a Knight Mech was an elite among elites.
He was no exception; having been raised as a paladin since childhood, he could take on a hundred enemies even without piloting a mecha.
He sensed Lynn's hostility the instant it appeared.
But something strange came even faster than Lynn's hostility.
Like cold tentacles, they crawled up the spine, wrapped around the brain, and choked the throat.
He wanted to back away, to draw his gun, to shout.
But the body wouldn't obey, or rather, it simply wouldn't move.
He completely lost control of his body; he couldn't even move his eyeballs.
Only his consciousness continued to frantically warn him to run, to escape from the human before him.
But Lynn had already walked up to him and gently placed her hand on his left shoulder.
It was very light, like an encouraging pat on the shoulder from a leader to a subordinate they value.
But Quinn saw a strange purple light flash in Lynn's eyes, and saw translucent tentacles appear in the air.
The tentacles, as thin as hair, danced in the air, extending from Lynn's sleeve and slowly reaching towards his left eye.
Quinn wanted to speak, but his lips seemed to be sealed shut.
He cast a pleading look at Lynn, his heart yearning for mercy.
But Lynn shook her head. "I've given you many chances already."
His voice was as calm as if he were discussing the weather. "At the banquet, at the war council, and just now."
"Every time, I hope you understand what time it is and what you should be doing."
"But you didn't." Lynn sighed, a sigh that seemed to carry a hint of regret.
"You always carry that knightly arrogance that belongs to your family."
He gripped Quinn's shoulder slightly, but quickly relaxed his grip.
"In the next life," Lynn said, her voice almost inaudible, "Don't be arrogant anymore."
As soon as he finished speaking, those transparent tentacles burrowed into the corner of his eye, and he could clearly feel them wriggling inside his brain.
Intense pain struck instantly, not just physical pain, but also the pain of nerves being torn apart and consciousness being reassembled.
Quinn's consciousness was screaming for help, but his body only trembled slightly.
He felt his memories churning, like an umbrella overturned by a storm.
Childhood training, the knighthood bestowed, the tension of the first battle against the Machine Spirit.
The thrill of successfully piloting the mecha, the disdain for the governor, and the jealousy towards Leo...
All his emotions were stripped away, like scraping paint off an oil painting to reveal the pale canvas underneath.
The subsequent violent repainting shaped a new consciousness and personality.
Pain comes quickly, and it goes quickly too.
It lasted for about three seconds.
But for Quinn, well, he lost consciousness in the very first second.
When he regained consciousness, he found himself standing at the church entrance.
The setting sun shone through the crack in the door, casting long shadows on the ground.
The officers had all left; only a few Servitor were sweeping the snow off the ground.
He blinked, his mind blank, as if he had just woken up.
But he remembered tomorrow's battle plan, remembered his mission: to pilot the knight mech, provide fire support from the inner wall, and obey all the governor's orders.
That makes perfect sense; he's a soldier, and obeying orders is his duty.
However, he always felt that he had forgotten something.
He shook his head and turned to leave the church.
His steps were steady, his expression calm, just as when he arrived.
Sorine, standing outside the church, was dumbfounded.
She stood outside the door for a full hour, from the beginning to the end of the prayer.
She didn't choose to enter the church where people were praying, as that would have made it too easy to expose herself.
During the process, she noticed some unusual Psychic Power fluctuations, which she initially thought indicated she had discovered a major clue about Lynn.
So she became extremely vigilant, carefully observing whether anyone was missing or if any officers were behaving strangely.
But she found nothing; even the last member of the Knight House to emerge seemed perfectly normal.
"Could it be that the Emperor has manifested his power again?"