"It has been eight hours since they started the assault. How long are they planning to do this?" Louise asked his war council about the situation at the wall while eating a slice of cake.

The fight had started but it was mostly contained at the wall at the moment. Except for the occasional blow of the horn, no sound of fighting could be heard from the centre of the city. Lives were going on as usual with people on the streets sharing about the ruckus from the morning. They were teasing and laughing at each other.

"I thought there would be a lot of chaos but it is quite normal here apart from me not being able to go out anymore."

Louise complained at his guards for barring him from leaving the castle compound for security reasons while everyone else was out on the street having fun.

"Come on. Be reasonable, Louise. People are dying to defend this city and our asses right at this moment. Even if those ignorant upperclassmen whose sons are stationed in the inner city are acting like everything is fine, you, as a king, should not. Your subjects are in the middle of battle, a matter of life and death. You should at least act like you are concerned."

Cleo got mad at Louise for being ignorant. The lords who supported Cleo smirked at him.

Louise, who got embarrassed by being scolded by his sister in front of the lords and commanders, took back his words.

"I am concerned, of course. That's why I am saying these people shouldn't be out there acting like everything is fine. Commander Rodrigo, go out and tell them to stay inside and pray to True God for the protection of our Champion and soldiers."

Louise changed his words. As Louise ordered his commander to encourage prayers, Mary stepped in as well to help her lover.

"Also, tell them that the King and I will be holding a session of prayer at the Hall of Light this evening. And everyone is welcome to pray with us."

Just as her lover, Mary showed that she was good at connecting with people too. A true suitor to be his partner.

Seeing how their leader was good at political play, the commanders smiled proudly while the dissatisfied lords grumbled.

With the clear sign of divide and taking sides at the court even at the critical time, Ethan wanted to be at the wall instead.

"What is the current situation at the wall?" Ethan changed the subject back to battle.

"They are hitting us only with the archers currently. We believe it will be the same in the coming days too. They are testing us to see where we are weakest and thinning us out. I doubt they will risk heavy causality by direct assault at this moment." The general answered.

"This is as expected. No one is stupid enough to directly assault a walled city in the first week. Not even the arrogant Templers. But we must be prepared for what comes next," led Cleo with the discussion. "Right now, the black ships can't approach Forkland due to the river being frozen by winter. But spring is right around the corner and it isn't wrong to put the fall of Forkland into calculation by then. We must end this war at the wall before then and ride to Westex. I believe the Temple is in the same mind as me. Their assault will come within a month." Cleo mapped out how the enemy would play showing her brilliance in warfare and tactics. "I want all the preparations to be ready next week."

The noise had turned down and the peace returned when the master of Life went down the horizon. The world was mainly illuminated by the bright yellow flame from lamps and lanterns rather than the natural white ball of fire.

Thousands of people had flocked into the palace compound to attend the special session of prayer led by their liege.

Since the Grand Temple of Midlake was no longer available for services, the ballroom near the garden was switched to the Hall of Faith to accommodate massive attendance.

The nobles and rich enjoyed the comfort of indoors decorated with drapes of varieties of coloured linens hanging on the roof and magnificent chandeliers meanwhile the commoners were hosted in the cold garden accompanied by ugly blazers.

"I doubt we can meet with the champion with this mass in front of us." A commoner who had his sons serving on the wall complained.

Just like the others, the old man came here because his wife wanted to get a blessing from the champion for their sons. The organisers spread it as a selling point so that they would get large attendants within a short period of notice.

"Don't be grumpy, old man. You must have patience for things like this." His wife replied.

"Nah. I rather be at home fixing the old armours from my grandfather so that they can wear them to battle."

"You outta do this much for Lufus, Rufus and Yusuf. They need divine protection. Our sons can't be the only ones without it while the others have it."

"Screw divine shit. The only thing that will stop the sharp edge of the blade from entering my son's flesh are armours made of iron. Not some invisible shit. You can stay here if you want, Luda. I am going." The old man left the compound after ranting. He also told his friend to come with him to fix the armour instead of wasting time at the event. "Come my good friend. Leave your wife with mine and let us do what we do best. I doubt we will get to meet Champion with those rich asses in front of us anyway."

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

When the horn blew, everyone became quiet and turned their attention toward where it came from. The big door at the far corner of the ballroom opened and a group of people came out. The purple guards in armour led the group. Behind them was a short column of priests in red cloaks carrying ornate staffs followed by three pairs of beautiful girls in pure white robes. The girls were carrying trays with a mountain of sweets.

Together with the parade were Louise and Maria in full royal attire. However, Ethan was not with them. He was on the upper floor where the private quarter for the royal family was.

"I ain't going," Ethan said to Cleo. "I didn't join Revenant to become a living doll waving at people beautifully. I am a fighter. Send me to the wall. Send me out to the battlefield. I will take my sword and gladly walk there. But this...is nonsense."

"Still you have to go."

"Why? Why do you keep sending me there? This isn't favourable for you either. If I go, Louise will get credit. People will favour him to rule over the nation."

"I know. But this matter is beyond our tussle of the throne. If we lose war, there won't even be a throne to sit upon."

"How will this help win the war? I put my sword over their shoulders and that will supposedly bring protection to their loved ones on the wall? It is ridiculous. It doesn't work like that. You have been in many fights. You know it too."

Ethan complained. As a fighter, he wanted to be in action by being on the wall, carrying injured soldiers to safety if he had to. Such actions would help those at the wall. But they put him behind the comfort of the castle wall and made him attend a lavish ceremony in luxurious attire to wave at people.

"Yes, I know it doesn't work like that. But this is war. You can't win the war alone. You need people and the people need you. You being there will give a lot of people strength and comfort. Their loved ones are out there fighting and they need a reason. The moment they feel abandoned or feel that the one they are following doesn't bother to show up and give them comfort, they will lose the reason to fight."

"I ain't the reason. The better world is the reason."

"And you are the only one who can give it to them. No one can fight Mordu'. You are the chance they have, I have. So, do this for us, for me."

Cleo clasped Ethan's hands and asked the favour.

"Will you attend too?"

"No, I can't. Someone has to be here to command in case the enemy changes drastically."

"You can leave with the general."

"Please. Ethan."

Since she was begging, Ethan gave up his stubbornness. He put on the attire Louise had sent and went to the ceremony organised by Maria.

As soon as Ethan walked in, a piece of heavenly music was played. Because of its melody as sweet as nectar and as generous as mother, the people forgot about the dreadful conflict for a moment.

Ethan was found wearing a highly decorated plate armour with a purple cape. The blade he had been using, which was issued by Temple, was replaced with a double-edged long sword to reduce remnants of Temple from the dignified image of Champion. Tree of Life was curved on the blade as a symbol of his role of connection between human and heavenly worlds.

"Thank you for attending this prayer session on such short notice, my citizens of Midlake." Louise officially started the ceremony when he saw Ethan. He gave a passionate speech.

"Mordu' deceived us and his minions poisoned us. Thankfully, our champion brought truth to us and opened our eyes. But now they want to blind us again, by poking out our eyes. We won't let them. We stand together and will stand together till our last breath with our brothers and friends, fathers and sons, who are out there on the wall in the cold, fighting against the carnage. From here, we will send prayers and love to the wall so that God will hear us and protect our loving fathers, sons, brothers and friends. Let us start our prayers. Just before that, I want to state that our champion has blessed us with his presence here tonight. After prayers, some people will have the chance to greet our champion personally. Now, let me give the stage to the head priest to lead us to prayer."

The head priest pulled Ethan closer to the front and started reciting prayers. The followers followed suit.

After the grand recital, the head priest mumbled some more prayers over the various colourful sweets carried by the girls in white and told them to distribute the candies. They gave one each to everyone in the room. Only after the guests inside got one each, did they walk out to the garden and start throwing the sweets into the air. The commoners had to compete with one another at each fistful of candies, causing a ruckus. Some sweets fell to the ground and stepped on. Some were dipped in dirt. Yet they treated them like precious gems. The rich inside watched it like an enjoyable show as they hid the sweets they got comfortably.

"Those who got the purple ones come out please." The master of ceremony announced. "They are the ones who get to greet our Champion. Please line up here."

Everyone checked the colour of their sweets as soon as the announcement. The lucky ones happily moved up the crowd and lined up in front of Ethan.

Granny Luda luckily got one too so she showed it exhilaratingly to a priest near her.

"Where do I go?"

"Oh, granny! You got one too? Nice. Did you come alone?" The priest asked.

"No. I came with my husband but he got impatient and went home early." She replied honestly.

The moment she told him about her husband, the attitude of the priest changed immediately. He denied her meeting with Ethan. "We can't let a non-fervent follower meet the champion. Next time, tell your husband to wait. Next!"

The priest walked away. Old Luda begged the priest, saying she had three sons up on the wall, but he didn't let her in. During the conflict, another woman near Luda saw the opportunity and robbed the candy from her.

"Here is the purple one. I have my husband here. Can I go in?" The greedy woman shamelessly asked the priest. Without further argument, the man lets the greedy woman in instead of Luda.

Old Luda tried to fight but she was powerless against the young greedy woman and her husband.

Unbeknownst to the controversy in the garden, Ethan did his task: handed a tiny bronze replica of his sword and blessed the greedy couple.

The next day after the Temple assault, a piece of news came to Granny Luda's home that one of her sons was slain by a stray arrow while tending to a wounded comrade. When she heard the shocking news, Luda didn't blame Ethan or the greedy couple who robbed the candy that night. She blamed her husband who left her alone.

It wasn't just Rufus, Luda's son, who was slain that day. A few others fell in battle too and two among them were blessed by Ethan the day before. However, their families got comfort knowing their loved ones would surely go to a better realm after the blessing from the Champion.