The Beast Pack’s End

“I believe everyone here has already heard of my experience.”

Daphne clasped her hands together and closed her eyes, slipping into character almost instantly.

Her tone was filled with gratitude and piety.

“Thank you for Lady Vatitaya’s great kindness—she is merciful and magnificent!”

Faced with such a scene, the knights hurriedly lowered their heads and performed a prayer salute.

They pressed their index and middle fingers together, touching them in turn to the center of their forehead, their left shoulder, and their right shoulder.

Then they clasped their hands together and intoned solemnly, “Thank you, Lady Vatitaya. She is merciful and magnificent.”

A miracle born from the personal salvation of the Solar Goddess Vatitaya—if they were truly devout believers, what reason could they possibly have to refuse to listen to its tale?

Even Gregory, no matter how reluctant he was, had to follow the others in performing the prayer salute.

“First, I am honored to share the same thoughts as His Holiness the Pope—when I realized that the undead might become a threat to the Empire, I had not communicated with His Holiness in advance.”

“Almost all of you set out northward from your respective religious territories at the same time as I did.”

Daphne opened her eyes again.

Her emerald pupils were clear and crystalline, like gemstones.

She lightly swept her gaze across the seats, meeting the eyes of every knight who looked her way.

“I deeply regret the disappearance of His Holiness the Pope.”

“He was a devout follower of the goddess, a man who valued the common people, and a true philanthropist.”

“I sincerely hope that you will soon find His Holiness’s whereabouts.”

Carl and the knights beside him shook their heads in dejection.

Having just experienced failure, they had nearly lost all confidence in finding the Pope, and they were very sensitive to such topics.

“Perhaps some of you might think: why go to such great lengths to fight over such a remote, poor land?”

Daphne pointed at the ground beneath her feet.

“This is a barren land almost covered in wind and snow year-round.”

“They are not entirely wrong.”

“This place is neither as warm as the south, nor as fertile as the south.”

“The frost-covered mountain forests are like a single bubble in a vast ocean.”

“The taxes contributed each year are negligible.”

“The danger facing the Northmarch can be said to have nothing to do with us from the south.”

Everyone’s expressions turned strange.

The words were harsh to hear, yet every sentence was true.

There were indeed people among them who thought exactly that.

Gregory’s expression was the most remarkable.

He furrowed his brow and raised his head to look at Daphne on the podium, but then guiltily withdrew his gaze, lowering his head and continuing to tremble.

“But—”

Daphne suddenly changed her tone.

“To the people born on this land, the Nors Territory is their home, the place where their ancestors have lived for generations.”

“Other than this place, they have nowhere to return to.”

Many people silently turned to look at Carl in the back row.

The Shelley family ruled the Nors Territory, and this was Carl’s homeland.

Among the knights, there were actually several others who also came from the Nors Territory.

They had left their homeland for various reasons and gone to Salentz, and now they had followed the Pope back to this remembered native land.

Hearing Daphne’s speech, their emotions became complicated.

“The Nors Territory is the first, but the undead will not stop here.”

“They will continue south, killing every living person they see.”

“By then, no province of the Empire will be spared.”

Daphne continued to passionately deliver the arguments she had improvised on the spot.

“Then let me ask: whose homeland will that be?”

“Sir Gregory, forgive my impertinence, but may I ask where you come from?”

Gregory’s face turned red.

He glared at Daphne without speaking.

“A coward from Ian’s Territory.”

Valentine laughed loudly, answering on Gregory’s behalf.

“Very well, I mean no offense.”

“The seven great provinces are all part of the Empire, with no distinction of high or low, noble or base.”

“Everyone’s homeland is equally sacred.”

Daphne then pretended to look lost, hurt, and deeply pained, wiping the corner of her eye where there were no tears at all.

“But if that is the case, why should we exclude the Nors Territory?”

“This is the Empire’s first line of defense against Chaos and the undead, and it is also the homeland on which many people of the Nors Territory rely for survival.”

“It is just as important as the other six provinces.”

Before the knights could react, Daphne immediately continued.

“Of course, as members of the Blazing Sun Templar Order, all of you are naturally already well aware of such a simple truth without my needing to say it.”

She once again looked around the room, her gaze filled with yearning and admiration.

“To be willing to follow His Holiness the Pope across ten thousand miles to this land of ice and snow, all for the sake of protecting the people of a border town—what lofty morality and sense of justice must that require?”

“I cannot imagine it.”

“Everyone here, please accept my sincere respect.”

“You are all the most valiant and noble Blazing Sun warriors under Lady Vatitaya’s command.”

Receiving praise from the High Psalmist of another religious territory made the knights unconsciously puff out their chests, feeling secretly proud.

“But after personally arriving here, I realized just how naive my previous thoughts had been.”

Daphne put on a look of deep grief, appearing full of remorse.

“I originally thought that the people of the Nors Territory only had to face the undead on the other side of the snowy peaks.”

“I never expected that the true threat was right beside them.”

“Those cunning, cruel beasts lurk deep within the dark, shadowy forests, watching every passerby with their terrifying oily-yellow eyes.”

“No one knows whether they will become their next target, left as a corpse among the trees in some unknown corner.”

“What I want to tell you is that I witnessed with my own eyes how those inhuman beasts tore my companions apart.”

“They were all young girls from St. Mary’s Religious Territory, and under the crushing assault of the beast pack, they could barely mount any effective resistance.”

What Daphne was thinking of was the scene of Edith harshly bullying her at night, and before she realized it, she actually forced out real tears.

The young Templar solemnly put on his silver helmet, then knelt on one knee before Daphne with great dignity.

He was still wearing his magnificent armor, gleaming with a bright silver luster, and the sound of his knee striking the ground was sharp and resounding.

“Miss Ellenore Perkin, I am willing to avenge you and your companions, and I am willing to eliminate the threat to the people of Kohl and the surrounding villages.”

“This is the duty of a Templar.”

“I once swore this oath beneath the radiance of Lady Vatitaya.”

The gaze in his silver eyes beneath the helmet was resolute, without any trace of his previous despondency.

“This is not only the glory of a Blazing Sun Knight, but also the glory of a descendant of the Shelley family.”

“I am willing to march for you, and for my people!”

“The Nors Territory shall forever remain the Empire’s northern border, and will never yield!”

Almost instantly, a hundred voices responded.

The entire tent erupted into fervor.

Carl’s speech ignited the justice and glory within their hearts.

Aside from a small number of knights who stubbornly clung to their own views, everyone within sight knelt on one knee before her.

“Miss Ellenore, I am willing to march for you.”