The Holy City Surrenders

After the scene shifts, the narrative tone changes.

The girl, who lost both parents, and her brother were taken in by the church and entered the "Care Center". The initial scenes still carry a certain deliberately created gentleness - a clean courtyard, neat clothes, and benevolent clergy.

This warm atmosphere lasted only a short while before abruptly breaking.

The girl was found to possess assassin talent, which was followed by a memory erasure disguised as "treatment." She was then subjected to continuous indoctrination of faith, her emotions gradually erased, leaving only a singular, prescribed cognitive structure:

Cold and precise, obeying every command.

Once this process is complete, the girl is sent to a training camp to undergo intensive combat training.

The footage doesn't depict the brutality of the process, but five years later, less than a third of the girl's training class remained.

She officially became a member of the "Blade of Faith," tasked by the Holy See to maintain the ruling order of the Divine Covenant Faction and to eliminate anyone who dared to question or resist.

In every corner of the earth, the hidden members of the "Blade of Faith" are also looking up at the light beneath the clouds.

Their expressions remained largely unchanged; the long years of training had etched in them a ingrained discipline. Only their hands trembled as they gripped their weapons tighter and tighter.

"Blade of Faith | None of its members have any memories of their childhood."

The priest explained that they were children of God, not born of ordinary parents, which is why they were like this.

The idea that blood was flowing from their palms, cut by their fingertips, seemed strangely hollow at that moment.

The images on the screen continued to advance.

The girl's brother, who was not selected, was sent to the "Guangyou Cihui" base. Compared to the former, the treatment here was more thorough. He eventually lost his autonomy and became a puppet that could be manipulated by others, leaving only stiff movements, empty eyes, and mechanical reactions to commands.

The scene then cuts to real footage: Brown Gold Island, inside the main building of "Guangyou Cihui".

The enclosed space contained rows of children with blank, vacant expressions. The archives were piled high with cold, hard records of "training failures" and "already disposed of harmlessly."

In the files, some names were recognized by people in the city; they were children who had gone missing.

On the city wall, some people whispered one of the names, their voices very soft, yet they carried far and wide.

Augustus's expression became extremely eerie. He ordered the garrison to disperse the crowd and forbid them from looking up at the sky.

The Radiant Holy City is vast, with its streets crisscrossing. This is an extremely difficult task to complete, especially since even the soldiers carrying out orders can't help but look up at the sky.

Regardless of the content, this scene of looking up at the sky and gazing at a divine miracle is unprecedented in its magnificence and novelty.

****

One story ends, and a new one begins. With a slightly more relaxed interlude, a younger version of Augustus appears in the sky.

Augustus was puzzled, but the next moment, Queen Samanya of the Star Empire also appeared in the scene.

There is no god of harmony in this world, and the director's way of showing it is so straightforward that it's almost brutal: the two hug each other, undress, and then roll naked into the bed.

Now, everyone's eyes are glued to it.

Augustus coughed up blood on the spot. He already understood what Su Ming was about to announce.

With Princess Janet's true parentage revealed in this way, the city's soldiers could no longer obey her orders, and the command structure would collapse.

He glared fiercely at the Final Bone Mad Machines formation, gritted his teeth, and waved his hand, "Go!"

Augustus jumped off the city wall, mounted a griffin, and took off, followed by his confidants and a group of Council of Cardinals members.

The group flew swiftly outwards along the central avenue of the Radiant Holy City. Every now and then, they would stealthily turn their heads to look back at the sky, a scene of exciting action, but then, fearing that Augustus would see them, they would hesitate and reluctantly look away.

Suddenly, a figure appeared ahead, a white robe fluttering in the night wind.

Augustus's heart sank.

The newcomer was Valens, the leader of the "Fanatical Will" chapter. The members of this chapter were all extreme believers, also known as fanatics. Any act that challenged the "Path of Light" was regarded as Desecration and heresy by them.

Augustus subconsciously expanded his senses and, sure enough, found a large number of stable figures distributed in the shadows of the ground and buildings below, numbering around three hundred, clearly the entire "Fanatical Will" chapter.

Let alone the current infuriating situation, even under normal circumstances, once these fanatics get carried away with a certain idea, it's hard to predict what they'll do. And their formidable fighting power makes them both loved and hated by Augustus.

He calmed himself down and had the griffin stop in mid-air, so the two groups faced each other across the night sky.

Valens flew forward slightly, bowing politely. "Commander-in-Chief, good night."

"What do you mean by bringing these fanatics here?" Augustus's voice turned cold. "Have you also been taken in by those false gods' followers?"

"Rest assured, everyone, this mere illusion cannot shake our firm faith," Valens said with a peaceful smile. "But how can a place of light and purity tolerate the defilement of heretics!" His voice rose sharply as he said the last sentence.

"Our Radiant Jurisdiction is vast, with hundreds of millions of believers," a cardinal immediately replied. "We are merely temporarily avoiding confrontation, gathering our strength for a counterattack, waiting for dawn in the darkness."

Valens' smile remained calm. "I have a plan to kill the heretics and turn the tide of the war!" He looked intently at Augustus. "We, the ' Fanatical Will,' are willing to set an example. Commander-in-Chief, are you willing to risk your life for us?"

A strong wind swept across the night sky, causing everyone's robes and cloaks to billow.

Turn the tide of battle?

At this point, is it even possible for such an opportunity to still exist?

Augustus narrowed his eyes, stared at Valence for a moment, and then slowly said, "Tell me about it."

****

Meanwhile, the scene in the sky continued.

The AI-generated aesthetics of the human body had a devastating impact on the unsuspecting and innocent minds of the people from another world.

The camera work and action choreography, in particular, are almost ridiculously detailed.

The sadness and melancholy that had just permeated the surroundings were instantly swept away. Humans, Feather Race, and dragons alike watched with rapt attention, their faces flushed. As for a certain unicorn, its eyes shone as if filled with starlight.

Zijin pinched Su Ming's waist, leaned closer, and whispered, "What kind of nonsense is going on in your head?" She then gave him a slightly amused look, "This... it can't be some kind of 'different threshold,' can it?"

Su Ming really wanted to explain that he wasn't the creator of the short film, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he remembered that he had skimmed through it at several speeds during the review process and hadn't even noticed anything wrong with it at the time.

No, the producer must be held accountable!

Su Ming switched the focus of one eye to the Little Spiky Head on Earth and directly questioned the Dodder, "I say, do you guys have to be so repressed and suffocating?!"

"Sorry, it was indeed quite depressing," Dodder replied matter-of-factly. "The production team has never encountered a scene where they could disregard limitations and unleash their full potential."

"Yes," Fengshou chimed in, "Having the skill to slay dragons but having nowhere to use it... I can understand that feeling."

Helpless, Su Ming picked up the tablet and forcibly dragged the playback progress bar, causing the story to jump back to the "main topic".

Almost simultaneously, a sigh of regret echoed from all around.

Su Ming cursed inwardly at these otherworldly beings.

As the ruby base continued to develop, the variety and output of industrial products increased exponentially. However, the revenue share of the already dominant "special publishing industry" not only did not decrease, but actually increased—and this was clearly not without reason!

The scene in the sky reveals even more information. The couple's child is born, and the image transitions from an infant in swaddling clothes to a running child, before settling on a cold-faced noblewoman in a princess dress.

The girl's face finally came into full view—it was none other than the adult Princess Janet!

This narrative omits the complexities of Katharine and the deception of bloodlines. In the next scene, Xialike discovers Janet's unusual identity and vows revenge against Augustus.

A great commotion immediately erupted all around.

So this is the reason why the war with the Star Empire started out of nowhere!

Many soldiers angrily turned to look for their superiors, only to find they had vanished. Their intense emotions quickly turned into utter bewilderment: had they been abandoned?

The light screen in the air finally began playing the last scene of the entire short film.

The narrative returns to the first story. The two priests accept the money bag, land deed, and IOU offered by the girl's father, and with delight, they perform a ritual to heal the seriously ill mother.

"The God of Light will have mercy on the devout believer," the priest said gently, casting a dazzling white spell. "Your beloved will soon be healed."

But just after the family left the church, one of them clicked his tongue and said, "How foolish. With our level of magic, we can't cure this seriously ill woman."

"It's alright." The other person weighed the money bag in his hand, his tone nonchalant. "I overdrawn her life force to allow her to get out of bed and move around temporarily, to keep them happy for a while. I guess I've done my part."

The two priests exchanged a knowing glance.

And so, the story ends.

****

The crowd below remained stunned for a long while before finally snapping out of their daze, and then erupted in a cacophony of shouts, "Liar! Liar! It was a lie from the very beginning!"

"These demons disguised as messengers of God!"

The emotions of the people on one side of the Radiant Holy City were instantly ignited, and anger spread like wildfire among the crowd.

Something sped past beneath the clouds. In the path of the floodlight, a group of extremely fast shadows flashed by, and for the first time, people finally saw those elusive electromagnetic cannons that appeared and disappeared during the day.

Immediately afterwards, the fifteen shells slammed into the shield in succession, creating continuous ripples from the explosions. The next instant, fifty-four missiles, which had appeared above at some unknown time, also hit the shield simultaneously, exploding into large patches of bright and dazzling fire in the sky above the Holy City.

Even the most powerful colossal magical defense facility in the Taya Plane, after such relentless torment, finally reached the brink of collapse. With the most dazzling flash of light, "Angel's Protection" finally crumbled completely.

As the flash faded, the array of projection lights on this side of the sky also went out, and the entire world was swallowed up by darkness once again in an instant.

The world, which had just been illuminated by light, fire, and magic, vanished in the blink of an eye. Everyone was shaken to their core; the seemingly impregnable defenses of the Holy City had crumbled just like that.

The attackers' terrifying power was so overwhelming that there was no way to resist!

Moreover, why resist at all?

Should we die for the sake of these demons' exposed deception? This was a question that inevitably crossed everyone's mind.

*****

After the shield collapsed, order began to crumble on the city walls.

The first to notice the anomaly were the defenders near the outer defensive line. Some of them spotted the approaching army in the dim light and immediately shouted a warning.

The loud sound spread along the city wall and was quickly heard by more people, who all turned their heads.

Only at this moment did the soldiers belatedly realize that, as they looked up at the sky and were drawn in by its contents, the troops outside the city had already advanced to a sufficiently close distance.

In a sense, the color scheme is really useful.

In the darkness, the first thing to emerge was the giant dragon in the sky, its wings cutting through the wind. Next came the Bone Model weapons and undead troops on the ground, their White Bone bones a stark contrast to the surrounding landscape. Further back, there was an overwhelming horde of Feather Race soldiers.

This was not a charge, but a takeover with an oppressive force.

Zijin flew atop the city wall atop Can Xin's back, looking down upon all living beings below. She summoned the Divine Favor Staff, and its dazzling light enveloped her, like the arrival of a new sun.

With the help of amplification magic, Cao's loud voice drowned out the chaos on the city wall.

"I am the Holy Maiden of Light, the true embodiment of the God of Light!"

The girl's voice was clear, melodious, and steady, carrying with it the majesty of a true Saint Rank power.

"I come bearing the might of divine punishment, but God loves the world and will allow even the most sinful to awaken."

Immediately afterwards, Zijin's tone changed, and her words became sharper.

"Tonight is your last chance. Those who follow false cults will either return to the true light or die in their delusions."

Zijin's words echoed around the city walls. Can Xin, covered in golden scales, provided a beautiful backdrop for Cao Cao, shining brightly in the night sky.

In a location out of sight of the staff below, several assistants squatted at Zijin's feet, holding out reflectors to adjust the lighting and make the light shining on Zijin's face brighter.

Zijin's vision was completely obscured by this interference, leaving her with nothing but a white blur. Cao was slightly annoyed and raised his staff to try and block the light from the reflector.

This action, however, was quickly "misunderstood" by the defenders of the Radiant Holy City.

The officer at the front immediately knelt down, followed by many more kneeling in unison. The wave of kneeling spread and connected, and almost instantly, no one dared to stand on or off the city wall.

They prostrated themselves on the ground, trembling.

This beautiful young woman is undoubtedly a saint, but she's also a "Belladonna" who dares to smash anything!