Only freedom bought with one's own life can move them to tears.
As for how to enjoy that freedom after losing one's life…
Well, only the living worry about such mundane matters. Once they throw their lives away, they will already be in heaven!
Of course, although they thought this way, no one on the scene would actually say: "Your Grace, please stop distributing food to us. It would be best to send a few dragons after us once we leave and burn people alive with fire to increase the value of freedom."
"In fact, it's not entirely without a cost," the God of War said hesitantly.
Everyone perked up. "What cost?"
Grazdan took out a folded square piece of paper from his waist, unfolded it, and handed it to Danzo beside him. "After our 'Westward Return Army' goes back home, we must publicize the truth of the Long Night to the people.
"When we reach Volantis, wyverns will airdrop these flyers."
Danzo skimmed through the contents and frowned. "Don't you think this looks more like 'The Ten Crimes of R'hllor'?
"Putting other things aside, if we bring the Tiger Cloaks back to Volantis and expose the truth that the High Priest colluded with the Triarchs to deceive the followers of the Red God, even the truth about the Red Priests themselves, won't the Lord of Light's reputation be utterly ruined?"
"But this is the truth!" Grazdan spread his hands helplessly. "More than five thousand Tiger Cloaks cannot be faked. The sealed Black Wall, the deceived populace, the abandoned believers, all of it is real."
"Have you thought it through? You're not an ordinary person. You might even qualify to enter the Black Wall," Danzo said meaningfully.
Grazdan shook his head with a bitter smile. "The sky is already dark. The Black Wall must have sealed the city by now. Leaving aside whether they would even open the gates for me, even if they did, the furious crowd outside would tear me to pieces."
Then he swept his gaze across the surrounding nobles and officers and said meaningfully, "When the Dragon Queen asked whether I was willing to become the Supreme Commander of the Volantis Military District, she told me a principle: if you want to avoid becoming a loser, do not stand against the strong."
He let out a long sigh, filled with emotion. "From my personal experience, this is truly a truth worth warning the world about."
Everyone looked at one another, unable to fully resonate with the so-called God of War of Yunkai.
"Just say it directly. What should we do?" Zidane asked impatiently.
Grazdan said helplessly, "The current situation is that outside the Black Wall there are nearly six thousand Tiger Cloaks, along with hundreds of thousands of civilians and slaves. As for what's inside the Black Wall, you may know better than I do.
"But at the very least, we are outside the Black Wall right now. We cannot stand against the people outside, right?"
"Perhaps we can take a middle position? Act as mediators and ease the relationship between those inside and outside the wall," a Volantis noble suggested hesitantly.
Grazdan looked at him deeply, then nodded. "You can try. After all, the Dragon Queen only asked us to reveal the truth and maintain order within the city. She didn't specify how we should do it or what we must not do."
"You've been reading for so long and still haven't finished?" Zidane suddenly grew impatient, snatching the flyer from Danzo. After reading for a while, he exclaimed in shock, "So the root of the Long Night lies in the world's descent.
"Our world is like a man past thirty, getting worse year by year, yet having to bear the increasingly ferocious extraction of subterranean fire…"
"Extracting subterranean fire to forge the sun, how did you manage to describe it so indecently?" Grazdan said in dissatisfaction.
"Crude words, but the meaning is clear. When I put it this way, everyone can understand, right?" Zidane looked around at the crowd.
The middle-aged men over thirty all nodded in sudden realization. "Very vivid, very lively. We can all relate to the current state of the world!"
"Zidane, continue," the younger men under thirty urged impatiently.
"After the last Long Night, the Mother Goddess of the Rhoyne summoned the sun. But R'hllor did not allow the sun to give birth to a new Maiden of Light. Instead, he usurped the position of the Lord of Light.
"But his abilities were limited. He could not properly manage the sun, occupying the position without fulfilling its duties, which caused the sun to last only eight thousand years before extinguishing," Zidane said.
"Eight thousand years isn't that short, is it?" many people said in confusion.
Grazdan shook his head. "It's long in terms of human lifespan, but in the history of the entire world, our human era has lasted only eight thousand years. That's far too short.
"Think about it. How many years did the first emperor of the Dawn Empire in the lands of Yi Ti, the Heavenly Emperor, live?"
"At least ten thousand years," a noble war captive from the Jade Sea said immediately.
Grazdan shrugged. "Exactly. In the previous era, the Dawn Empire alone lasted more than ten thousand years.
"And before the Dawn Empire, the Maiden of Light already existed. Otherwise, she could not have borne the Heavenly Emperor with the Lion of Night.
"In other words, before us, the history of the divine-blooded kingdoms lasted at least twenty thousand years. Even when the last Long Night descended, after the sun shattered, it still endured for several years before gradually disappearing."
"By that calculation, the Lord of Light really… isn't very enduring," the Jade Sea noble said with a strange expression.
"Not only is he not enduring, he was also beaten like a dog by the Cold God. The Lord of Light even lost his divine status. Now R'hllor is just an ordinary dark demon, fallen from the rank of a true god!" Zidane exclaimed.
"Hiss… is that true?" Everyone was shocked.
Driven by both fear and curiosity, they all crowded around Zidane, craning their necks to look at the flyer.
"Not enduring, and so weak…"
"Turns out R'hllor is just like me, a quick and short type." A Myrish noble beside Zidane felt a sense of delight at encountering someone of the same kind.
For no apparent reason, he suddenly felt a bit of warmth toward R'hllor, whom he had never particularly liked.
"This Long Night, we can't count on R'hllor. He's useless."
"He got beaten by the Cold God and fled in panic, causing the Battle of Winterfell to end in failure. What a sinner! If he had held on just a little longer, perhaps the Night King would already have been slain and the Long Night ended."
"R'hllor is incompetent. I used to believe in him so devoutly!"
"He even lost his status as a true god. Now he's just a slightly stronger demigod. Believing in him is worse than believing in the Seven Gods. You've all seen the priests' holy healing, right? That is a real miracle!"
Why do idols nowadays desperately try to climb the charts, pushing their albums to break numerous world records?
Why have idols' names and deeds frequently appeared in textbooks in recent years?
Why do agencies go to great lengths to send their young idols to the United Nations or other international organizations to give speeches?
Regardless of whether an idol truly has talent, they must constantly prove their strength and capability, even with facts that may not be entirely true.
Because only the strong and capable are worshipped.
An idol with low ability will not have fans.
It is simple. Who would worship an idol whose abilities are equal to or even inferior to their own?
For example, a certain trainee. Even if you did not like him before, it was only because he did not match your aesthetic taste. Then he played basketball once, and suddenly everyone saw his "superb" basketball skills and dance foundation.
Now, when you try to become his fan, you encounter a psychological barrier: will you be mocked by others for being his fan?
In fact, that trainee is somewhat wronged. He may not necessarily be worse than those peers who go to the United Nations or appear in textbooks. But while they only display "strength," he exposed his "weakness."
There is no fundamental difference between the faith in gods and the gaining or losing of fans by idols.
R'hllor's prayers begin by emphasizing his immense power: the Long Night is long and full of dangers, yet fortunately there is the True Lord.
Through the spread of doctrine by red priests and the prophecies of Asshai, R'hllor has instilled in everyone a subconscious belief that he is extremely powerful and that only he can save the world.
Go to Westeros, go to the Free Cities of Essos, go to the cities along the Jade Sea, go to any city and ask a somewhat knowledgeable person, "Do you know the savior? Who is the savior?"
They will all give the same answer: the savior of the past was Azor Ahai, and when the next Long Night arrives, the savior will be the reborn Azor Ahai.
For the natives of the world of ice and fire who share Western values, the greatest miracle is resurrection from the dead, and the greatest achievement is saving the world.
Now, R'hllor possesses both and constantly displays them.
Who would doubt his might?
When the Dragon Queen first proclaimed at Winterfell that R'hllor was the supreme god of the world, not a single person voiced opposition. Even followers of the Old Gods and the Seven silently accepted this claim.
In fact, even the powerful Three-Eyed Raven has always regarded R'hllor as the savior and treated the prophecies arranged by him as destiny to be upheld. This is why Bloodraven Brynden twisted Dany's will.
But is R'hllor truly invincible?
Heh.
In the trench of the Smoking Sea, Yang Dan sneered coldly.
Since she had already completely fallen out with R'hllor, the Dragon Queen would not miss any opportunity to strike at him.
The arrival of the Tiger Cloak Army and Moqorro gave Dany an opportunity: colluding with those in power to deceive believers while abandoning millions of followers is hypocrisy; being beaten into a miserable state by the Cold God and even losing his status as a true god due to severe injuries (as revised by the Dragon Queen) is weakness.
She intended to expose this to the people of the world and reveal R'hllor's hypocritical and weak true nature.
This was a devastating blow that would make R'hllor spit blood in anger.
Dragonstone.
"Why did this happen?" The dark-skinned Xie Xun, looking ashen-faced, was filled with fear and unease.
After encountering the pale-moon Chu girl in the Sorrowful Sea, Dany immediately decided on a "strategic transfer."
In less than a day, she completed the handover of tasks with the Turtle Prime Minister.
After returning to Meereen, she immediately summoned the War God of Yunkai and appointed him as a general of Volantis, ordering him to lead the captives who had received the Dragon Queen's blessings back to their homeland.
Another day later, she appeared on Dragonstone.
Moqorro, the black-skinned White Lion King, knew nothing. He was forced to drink a bowl of milk of the poppy, wrapped in a blanket, and hung from Drogon's claw as he was brought by the Dragon Queen to Westeros.
Because of his prophetic talent, especially his devout faith in the Red God, Dany did not trust him to remain with the Tiger Cloak Army.
Sending the prisoners of war back west would deal a massive blow to R'hllor's church, and Dany could not allow an unstable factor to disrupt her plan.
At first, although Moqorro was confused and resentful, he did not know the Dragon Queen's "evil plan," so he obediently carried out the two tasks assigned to him: preparing wildfire during the day and divining the location of the Night King at night.
Unfortunately, after only a few days, during a routine fire divination, the black-skinned White Lion King seemed to see something in the flames. Terrified, he collapsed to the ground, then stumbled up to the top of the magic tower and wailed to the Dragon Queen, "Your Majesty, what have you done?!"
(End of Chapter)
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