Knight Lord: Start with Daily Intelligence.

Chapter 249: The Great Divine Grace, the Sevenfold Triumphal Rite, the Third Sacred Omen (Happy New Year to Everyone)
Among the gods of order worshipped by the Mortal Empire, the Sun Goddess Violet is probably the one who likes magnificent statues the most. For example, the Empire's state religion, the Church of Redmar, prefers magnificent temples, while Shalya prefers white marble churches.

This difference leads to the believers of the Church of the Fiery Sun Goddess generally placing particularly tall statues of the goddess in front of the monastery.

The territory's religious advisor, Patriarch Ron of the Church of the Goddess of the Fiery Sun in Hesse, once said that with his current strength, he could lead the construction of a religious statue hundreds of meters high in the territory.

However, the territory was severely damaged in this battle, and the Provincial Council invested almost all of its financial resources in the restoration of the territory, so the temple remained intact.

The Gothic-style temple boasts a towering spire and richly decorated edifices. To symbolize its status as the temple of the Bauhinia family, it is adorned with numerous crimson embroidered coats of arms. Vermilion Bauhinia flower banners fill the church and surrounding squares, and a pristine white statue, over ten meters tall, stands in the square in front of the temple.

As the morning light filtered through the monastery's rose windows, thousands of knights, their robes embroidered with bauhinia emblems, were the first to kneel. Their Milanese plate armor gleamed iridescently in the holy light, and the war chants beneath their plumed helmets startled the ravens from the bell towers. Following closely behind were nearly two thousand armed attendants, though clad only in coarse linen armor and mail coats, their polished halberd blades formed a silver wave as they knelt.

Although the statue was only five stories high, when thousands of shining knights and soldiers knelt in front of the statue in unison, it reflected a dazzling light under the scorching sun. The entire monastery suddenly became majestic and solemn, and the magnificent and white holy image was even more dazzling, with golden grace flowing on the religious icon.

This scene caused the citizens participating in the ceremony and observing the celebration to exclaim in astonishment. Peasant women hurriedly pulled up their coarse skirts and knelt. They saw the golden armor of the knights resonating with energy. The offerings, including the tusks of forest monsters and the rune axes of beastmen, now shone with the same brilliant golden light as the holy images. Children huddled under the eaves of the temple swore they saw the stone statues bow slightly, blessing the devout knights whose armor was scarred by arrows.

This was a true manifestation of divine grace. A golden light suddenly appeared on a white holy statue that usually stood silently after a large number of knights knelt on one knee and prayed devoutly to it. Which foolish and superstitious citizen of the empire would not be shocked?
So immediately, a large number of people in the surrounding area knelt down in the surrounding square and prayed devoutly to the statue of Violet.

Of course, Violet would bestow such a powerful grace. For the past three years, it was these knights, chanting the name of the Sun Goddess, who had crushed the vast formations of the Green Dragon's minions with their horseshoe-covered steeds. Even now, forest wetland moss still clung to the cracks in their armor, and goblin-stained blood caked on their notched swords. These scars served as the perfect evidence of the Saint's grace.

The glory that the Hessen Territory won for her and the epic victories won with her name chanted were all known to her long ago even if she had not been paying attention in the divine realm.

These are her most devout believers and the most glorious warriors. Many of them have even reached the level of fanatics and are the most precious believers of a god.

As the Sun Goddess bestowed her divine grace, the entire square could hear the melodious sound of bells ringing from behind the statue of Her Majesty the Sun Goddess Violet.

Then seven golden larks and golden eagles rose into the sky from the statue's crown.

Even Ron and several other chosen knights were stunned by this scene and looked up at the sky. Then, Ron was overjoyed and said to Su Li, "My Lord, this is the third holy sign of the Sevenfold Triumph recorded in the Violet War Prayer: The Holy War Chronicle. It means we have received a higher level of blessing and will basically not receive any more Glory Relics."

"The Sevenfold Triumph? What is it?" Although Su Li was not familiar with these church scriptures, he felt inexplicably awe-inspiring!
You have to know that in Ron's words, even the holy objects of glory cannot compare to all of this.

The importance of the Relic of Glory to the Knights and the Empire is well known; it is the foundation of the Empire.

And this holy sign actually surpasses the foundation of the empire?
Ron immediately replied, "My Lord, you must know that both Glory and the Holy Omen of Triumph are rewards bestowed by the gods upon believers for glorious victories. However, generally speaking, if a secular territory achieves a glorious victory (which is not easy and requires high standards, at least the weak must defeat the strong and the results must be substantial), and offers abundant sacrifices, it is possible to obtain the Holy Artifact of Glory. Because of its universality, it has become the basis for the imperial nobles to rule their territories."

"However, the Holy Omen of Triumph is simply unattainable in ordinary secular territories. It's usually only granted to armies led by legendary knights or saints after achieving epic victories. This exceptionally high-level divine reward is granted. It's a special blessing bestowed upon high-ranking believers by the gods."

"For example, the Sevenfold Triumph is a divine grace unique to the Church of the Blazing Sun Goddess. Its origin is recorded in Violet's War Prayer: Chronicle of the Holy War."

A reward that only legendaries and saints among the gods' followers can obtain?
Su Li questioned himself: he had nothing to do with either of those things. His strength wasn't even close to reaching the legendary level, and as for being a saint, that was even more of a stretch. He wasn't even a fanatic or a devout believer. After all, he'd barely finished reading many of Her Majesty Violet's books, which piled taller than a person. He didn't even know the War Prayer.

The powerful blessing bestowed by the Goddess of the Fiery Sun shows how glorious the victory of the Hessen Territory was in this battle, and what kind of care the special grace bestowed by Her Majesty the Goddess was.

Su Li was also quite interested in the contents of the War Prayer. To show his special care for the goddess, he had to learn more about the teachings, so he asked, "Tell us about the origins of the Sevenfold Triumphal Ceremony, and take advantage of this grand celebration to promote the teachings of the Goddess of the Fiery Sun."

Ron immediately began his explanation with the piety of a sermon: "In the days when the City of Light was still shrouded in the miasma of Chaos, Her Majesty Violet, still a mortal, led twelve knights in a desperate defense of the Bronze Pass. Their shields pierced by demon horns, their spears broken, they fought with tablets inlaid with the 'Original Codex of Tactics'. Until the seventh dawn, seven sacred lilies cast from gold and iron suddenly blossomed from the cracks in the pass's rocks—this was the earliest recorded sacred sign of the 'Sevenfold Triumph'.

"The first of the Sevenfold Triumph is the Golden Eagle Crown: During the Battle of Blackfire Pass in 1322 IC, the Knights of the Flaming Sun relied on the vision of a golden eagle appearing in the sky to discern the Greenskin warlord's ambush. Legions that receive this blessing will forever possess eagle vision, able to clearly see all ambushes hidden in the dark woods and shadows and fog. This allows them to avoid ambushes and promptly detect most invisible enemy units."

"The Second of the Sevenfold Triumphs: Sacred Fire Emblem: During the Beastman Wars of 1415 IC, a burning tome emblem emerged from the breastplates of all participating knights. Its heat melted the frost frozen on the earth by the Chaos Beasts. Regiments blessed with this blessing recited the 'Dawnbreak Oath' on the eve of the decisive battle and shouted "Wisdom is the Sword" as they charged. A flaming sun emblem then emerged from their armor, inflicting burning damage to all nearby enemies, with the burning damage being doubled against Chaos Cultists and Chaos-born Beastmen."

"The Third of the Sevenfold Triumph: Morning Song of the Skylark: During the Bloody Calamity of 1534 Imperial Year, Grand Prince West of the Empire accidentally discovered a secret underground passage when a skylark landed above an enemy arrow tower. He personally led his elite knights through the secret passage to the depths of the vampire tombs and crypts, executing a decapitation tactic against the vampire legion and turning the tide of the battle. When an army achieves its strategic objective with fewer than three times the enemy's strength, it may receive this blessing. At dawn on the day of the decisive battle, gilded skylarks will circle the camp three times. These mythical birds' tail feathers can transform into gold dust to heal severe wounds, and their cries can imbue newly forged swords with the "evil-breaking" property. On the day of the decisive battle, weapons wielded will remain shrouded in a layer of brilliant golden light, significantly enhancing their armor-piercing capabilities against evil monsters."

After finishing speaking, Rong En paused for a moment and continued, "The three sacred signs our territory has obtained so far only stop at this level. They are the [Golden Eagle Crown], the [Holy Fire Emblem], and the [Skylark Morning Song]."

"The next four Holy Signs are [Rainbow Barrier], [Blood and Ink Scripture], [Blazing Sun Horn], and [Original Manifestation]. However, these are still a long way off. We'll explain their details once we obtain them. But you can look forward to them, because the commander who perfectly triggers these seven Holy Signs will be awarded the title of 'Living Holy Codex'. Although the Church emphasizes that the Sevenfold Rite is a testament to wisdom and courage rather than a miracle, when the Holy Lily blooms on the scorched earth, even the most stubborn dwarf warriors will take off their iron helmets in salute."

Su Li was immediately captivated by what he heard! The Blazing Sun Church had such a rich historical heritage, truly a Legion of Flowers and Swords.

Even with the Triple Holy Omen, Su Li felt the Legion's strength surge. This was the goddess's radiant glory. Holy hymns resounded throughout the heavens and earth, and pure petals drifted across the sky. Bathed in this sacred and vast divine grace, every soldier who survived this battle gained the ability of Eagle Eye Vision.

What does this mean? It is basically equivalent to the Goddess of the Sun blessing more than two thousand knights and soldiers at one time.

Even an armed squire or trainee knight, with their devout faith in the Blazing Sun Goddess, could gain divine arts available only to elite knights in other territories. This essentially meant their future was limitless; with continued combat, even relying solely on divine favor, they could be propelled to the rank of full knight or above. Furthermore, it was virtually certain that the Blazing Sun Goddess would be extremely generous to these individuals, and like the followers of Rhea in the Church of Dawn, these believers would generally receive their first divine arts during their official stages.

With such a strong divine grace, Su Li decisively presented Rong En with the "Sun Triumphal Prayer" that he had prepared for him.

"Lord of the Blazing Sun, God of Tactics and Strategy, Her Majesty Violet!"

You forge our armor with the sun's disc,
Temper the backbone of your people with the flames of war!

See the broken Beastman flag soaked in red sand,
Hear the hooves of the fleeing darkness still howling!

As he declared his prayer, the monks accompanying the army simultaneously blew deep trumpets and played magnificent hymns.

All the knights raised their swords to their eyebrows, and the blades reflected a large amount of sunlight onto the statue.

"We use the Dawn Oath you gave us as a shield.
Use the Tempered Holy Mark as a blade to split the dark clouds of the evil land!

The holy lily blooms its seventh petal in the scorched earth.

The skylark brought the news of the victory over the dragon's minions!

"I offer the poisoned crown of Kurnos's howling tree,
Present to you the Goblin Shaman's Skull Staff of Haunted Spirits!

May the holy fire cleanse every inch of filth and curse on it,
Forged into new stars beside your crown!"

"Please fill our saddlebags with a light that never dries up,

Wherever the horses' hooves pass, the rotten swamps turn into golden wheat fields;

Let the broken spear sprout new buds before dawn,
Let the names of the fallen be turned into gilded inscriptions on armor!

Then the knights struck their shields three times with the backs of their swords, and their armor roared like thunder as they knelt on one knee.
With light and blood as evidence——

Today we adorn your altar with the heads of enemy chiefs,
Tomorrow I will crush ten more dark fortresses for your chariot!"

As he finished his prayer, the monks nailed the prayer and the bronze tactical plate recording the battle situation into the base of the statue. The sunburn marks on the goddess's profile suddenly appeared on the plate.

This meant the Sun Goddess had accepted the victory and sacrifice of this battle. As the final chant of the Mass pierced the clouds above the territory, the Sun Goddess's battle banner fluttered in the holy flames, and a chalice-shaped waterfall of golden light poured into the monastery's dome. This holy light, carrying an ancient oath, continuously refracted and intensified through the stained glass windows until it transformed into an erupting tide of light, immersing the entire territory in flowing liquid gold.

The weapons of the knights who proved their bravery in the holy war began to show the blessings of the Sun Goddess. The swords, halberds, and hammer handles of all the soldiers who returned victorious and participated in the sacrifice showed the emblems of the powerful enemies they defeated in this battle.

The bloodstained lance bore the star-shaped outline of a slaughtered beast, and the concave surface of the kite shield bore the gilded pattern of thorny roses. Even the gilded handle of Su Li's warhammer bore a relief of a wyvern pierced by the hammer.

And Hildur's rare rune sword [Black Forest Beast Slayer] has turned into a mobile relic box, engraved with dense kill seals, from the powerful tree demon God's Chosen, to the chaos monster three-headed chimera, and then densely packed champion-level monsters such as the wyvern, the gnoll leader, the centaur chieftain, and so on.

The dense golden scripture and killing seals on her golden sword spine move like living chains, which means that she has a special attack effect against almost all forest monsters.

Under the edge of her sword, the monsters entangled in poisonous vines in the forest will melt away like creatures foreseeing the morning light.

If they were to fight with the Green Dragon's minions again, the Green Dragon's legions would instantly collapse and be defeated in the face of these blessed territory knights, and would be unable to withstand the offensive of the Hessen Lord.

Su Li couldn't be more pleased with the powerful grace of the Goddess of the Blazing Sun. After the ceremony, he decisively announced, "I will donate 10000 gold crowns to the Church of the Blazing Sun Goddess to expand the Monastery of the Blazing Sun Goddess and raise the height of Her Majesty Violet's statue!"

Ron naturally welcomed this kind of funding and quickly said, "Thank you, Lord, for the funding for the church and faith. We will recruit more monks and make greater contributions to the spread of the Goddess's teachings. We will strive to make our territory a model territory for the Church of the Blazing Sun Goddess and attract more believers and immigrants."

This project has actually been very effective. Ever since the territory achieved an epic victory over Green Dragon Shi, the territory has become famous and renowned.

Just the day before yesterday, a pilgrim group of over 130 men arrived in the territory, led by a blind old knight. With his broken sword, he surveyed the lands blessed by the Sun Goddess's grace. They visited the battles at the border outposts and the ruins of the brutal battles within the city. Bone bells crafted from human skulls hung on their plate armor, their resonant ringing echoing throughout the journey. More than twenty trainee knights and armed squires also stayed behind, feeling the Sun Goddess's grace at those ruins, learning the combat arts of Violet's elite knights, and witnessing Her Majesty's martial prowess.

This was a pilgrim group that any territory would welcome. They were not only believers in the church, but also the most perfect free militia. On ordinary days, they didn't consume any of the territory's finances, but when war broke out, they would bring sophisticated weapons and join the territory's free militia to fight for the territory against evil. Even after the battle, they didn't covet the spoils.

This is simply an ascetic, not doing things for himself, but only for others.

Even in some pilgrimage groups of the Church of Relief and Mercy, some female nuns would use their bodies to comfort those suffering and desperate people, alleviating their pent-up pain caused by unsatisfied desires, so as to prevent them from becoming believers of sexual sadism, which is the profession most respected by the common people.

However, the Lord of Hessen probably no longer needed the comfort provided by such female monks. After Su Li disbanded the army, the knights who had received a large amount of wealth and spoils were willing to spend money in brothels to vent the violent anger from months of fighting.

Su Li also planned to vent his anger with Freya. He had been recuperating for some time, and the body that was familiar to Flame seemed to be burning with fire.

He has always been the British who entered the embassy, ​​and it has been a long time since he enjoyed the soft body of a female knight.

After the celebration was over, Su Li brought Marshal Orstein, Captain Constantine and other military commanders back to the castle for the final dinner celebration of the day.

Marshal Orstein also took the opportunity to report to Su Li the most important situation of the army size.

After Su Li donated 10000 gold crowns to the Church of the Fiery Sun Goddess, the territory repaid the loan to the merchants, and the financial surplus was only more than 36000 gold crowns.

Although this is a considerable amount of money, it will soon be consumed given the territory's monthly fiscal deficit of thousands of dollars.

Among these fiscal deficits, the largest expenditure is the cost of maintaining the territory army.

While waiting for the banquet to be prepared, Su Li asked Marshal Orstein, "Can the current size of our territory's army be reduced? I had originally planned to control the size of the army and reduce expenses after the war to ease financial pressure, but the blessing of the Fiery Sun Goddess this time has disrupted many of my plans."

With this blessing, many soldiers have been given kill emblems and eagle-eye vision. These are the most elite troops in the territory, and can be said to be veterans. With their abilities, it is no problem for them to become a company commander of a regiment or even a war gang leader in other territories.

Although Su Li wanted to streamline the military and government, he couldn't lay off such outstanding soldiers and let them join the free militia to fend for themselves.

Orlstein calmly replied, "My Lord, we can no longer reduce the size of our army. After praying, I checked the size of the army with Steward Hilde."

"Many of our knights will be transferred to become Knights of the Hessian Guard. According to the assessment, there are more than 140 knights who meet the requirements for the canonization of the Hessian Guard."

"This will cause the size of the Hessian Knight Guard to increase dramatically after the war, to about two squadrons."

"The cost is a further reduction in the size of the rest of the army. The number of high-ranking direct retainers has already shrunk to just over 200. Regardless, we'll have to draw around 300 elite knights from the provincial legion to increase the number of high-ranking direct retainers to over 500. That leaves the provincial legion with only around 900 men, and the remaining 400 or so free militia."

"This scale means that our territory is already quite dangerous. If beastmen appear from several directions at the same time, we will most likely have to rely on the forces of the Free Militia, which will in turn increase the territory's expenses."

The troops mentioned by Marshal Orstein together constitute the entire scale of those who received the grace of the Goddess of the Sun today.

If reorganized, there would be 200 Hessian Guard Knights, 500 high-ranking squires and 900 provincial legions. Even if secular knight orders such as the Demi-Griffin Knights and the Scarlet Night Knights were added, the secular army under Su Li would only be more than 1800 people, less than 1900.

It’s not that more than half of the Hessian army was killed or wounded in this battle, but that a large part of the army belonged to the church knights and the free folk group.

Those ordinary militias were disbanded after the war and returned to their territories to produce.

The remaining free militias are elite mercenary groups and members of the Brotherhood.

This means that if the Hessian Territory does not carry out a comprehensive war mobilization, it can only mobilize around 2000 troops.

Among them, the army belonging to Marshal Orlstein had only more than 900 people, and the marshal naturally strongly opposed further cuts.

He strongly opposed Su Li's idea of ​​reducing the army, advising, "My Lord, given the current situation in the territory, it will be difficult to reverse the fiscal deficit by simply cutting costs. My suggestion is to use the provincial legions and small-scale elite knight orders to increase revenue. Whether it's clearing out the bandit groups in the forest or clearing out the surrounding monster camps, we can reap considerable wealth."

"After overcoming the Green Dragon crisis, it's time for us to expand our military presence!"

　I wish you all a happy new year~ I wish all my book friends a happy life, good health, family reunion and success in the new year.

　　Then let’s talk about the content of this book. The first volume of VIP Green Dragon Crisis ends here.

　　Next, we will open the second volume of Prince Fenghuo Territory. Welcome everyone to continue to support~

　　
　
(End of this chapter)