"You all leave! I want to be here alone; the Fountain of the Wine God will despise the blood and fire you have left behind." The High Priest waved his robes, ordering both groups to get out first.
The Archon of Tyrosh and Governor Dario led their respective men, glaring at each other with resentment and anger, and left after taking away the bodies of the fallen mercenaries.
The sky over Tyrosh seemed to be covered in a layer of blood.
Both sides wanted to paint Tyrosh red with blood, but unfortunately, neither could bypass the authority of the High Priest of the three-headed god temple.
If the High Priest were to call upon the followers of the three-headed god to strike or lay down their arms, neither man would have any recourse.
The power of faith sometimes even transcends money and power.
"Whether spoken or unspoken, every one of us still loves our motherland." The High Priest took a cloth from his bosom and gently wiped the bloodstains on the ground.
The streets around the Fountain of the Wine God suddenly became empty.
No one dared to come and disturb the High Priest; only the lingering smell of blood and the sea breeze remained.
The High Priest piously wiped the bloodstains on the ground, taking water from the fountain to splash on the earth. "One head of the three-headed god is Death, which none of us can avoid."
Amidst the sound of the fountain, the High Priest finished wiping the ground and said toward a certain spot, "You have watched for so long! It is time for you to appear!"
The blue-haired Piper appeared in a corner of the street, coming into the High Priest's view. "You discovered me!" Rhaegar said.
"Young man, you need not be alarmed. I do not know magic, nor do I understand blades or spears. The only thing I have gained is day-after-day piety, and the vigilance granted to me by the three-headed god." The High Priest said.
The Piper looked at the High Priest. There were no signals of danger from the old man; his flame of life was like a candle in the wind, but his eyes held wisdom and clarity.
The three-headed god. Rhaegar thought of the three-headed eagle god; only the protection of the eagle god was a form of vigilance.
"Young man, you are not the blue-haired Piper; your true identity is a descendant of the Dragonlords of the House Targaryen." The High Priest asked.
Rhaegar did not reply; the old High Priest was quite sharp.
The world contains traces of magic and metaphysics; there are always some special people who have mastered remnants of magic.
Rhaegar felt that the most unfathomable concealment techniques belonged to the Faceless Men. This was their secret, never to be passed on: changing appearances, proficient in poisons and assassination, the Faceless Men could forge a murder scene into a perfect accident.
The High Priest quietly wiped the blood on the ground, over and over again, until the ground was completely free of bloodstains.
Rhaegar admired this sense of piety.
When the night was as dark as ink, Rhaegar and the High Priest went together to a weathered and dilapidated small temple of the three-headed god.
Outside the temple of the three-headed god, there were miniature sculptures of the three-headed god.
Why was this temple so dilapidated?
Rhaegar thought to himself. He saw the desolate temple of the three-headed god, and also saw a squad of purple-robed guards with dull eyes and taut muscles, patrolling nearby with spears and torches.
"Faith lies in the heart, not something that can be replaced by material things." The High Priest said.
"They have dedicated their lives and faith to the three-headed god; they can be deaf or mute, obeying only the deity, and they will never divulge any information!" The High Priest pointed at the soldiers and said to Rhaegar.
"Slave soldiers obsessed with theocratic faith!" Rhaegar thought to himself. Most theocracies had their own guards, such as the axe-wielding slave soldiers of Norvos, or the Warrior's Sons and Poor Fellows before the Seven.
In this regard, Rhaegar had to thank the cruel Maegor and the Arbitrator.
Otherwise, the existence of the Warrior's Sons would have been a threat to royal power itself.
After entering the temple, Rhaegar saw a wall in the dark chamber of the main room, upon which were many small sculptures of the three-headed god, stacked in layers.
However, the images, sizes, and expressions of the sculptures of the three-headed god were constantly changing, until they transformed into the appearance of the current main deity of Tyrosh.
"My vigilance comes from the eagle god, and I have sensed the same vigilance in you, Prince. The three-headed eagle god is the original three-headed god, the starting point of all three-headed gods!" The High Priest pointed to a damaged, greenish-colored bronze statue of a three-headed eagle on the top layer and said.
Rhaegar felt a sense of antiquity and piety from the sculpture, the most primitive of gods.
"The faith of the three-headed god originated in a small tribe in Essos. The people there initially worshipped the three-headed eagle god. The eagle god blessed everything they had, and the golden eagle statues they forged grew larger and larger.
Eventually, this aroused the covetousness of the powerful Valyrian Dragonlords of Old Valyria. The Dragonlords of the Baelarys Family destroyed the tribe and snatched away all the golden three-headed eagle statues.
The people of the tribe were unable to resist the Dragonlords, and most of the priests died in battle. So, during their desperate flight, their faith and rituals concerning the eagle god became increasingly blurred, and they dared not openly worship the eagle god again, eventually blending into what the three-headed god is today." The High Priest recalled.
The High Priest gently lifted the bronze sculpture of the three-headed eagle god and sang praises: "Great eagle god, the starting point of all things."
"Do deities really exist?" Rhaegar asked.
However, he was a bit curious; if the eagle god was truly powerful, how could it have been destroyed by the Valyrian Dragonlords?
"Deities, like magic, exist in the human heart; they exist if you believe, and do not if you do not.
If deities were truly that powerful, there wouldn't be so many blasphemers. You should know this better than I, Prince Rhaegar; your ancestors were all among those blaspheming Dragonlords." The High Priest said.
"Are you saying that the magic of deities changes with the piety and number of believers? The more pious followers there are, the more likely miracles are to occur?" Rhaegar asked.
"I am only guessing, but in reality, there may be differences.
Especially in Westeros, where there are the most followers of the Seven, yet the Seven have not manifested any light.
Instead, in remote places, miracles occasionally appear.
The history and bloodline of the first men are too ancient, passed down from legendary deities or heroes.
House Stark possesses the blood of the first men and can become Skinchangers.
The krakens of the Iron Islands may have some blood of the drowned god and the Storm God, and there are also Skinchangers among them; the deities can better favor them."
"Faith! Bloodline!" Rhaegar pondered these two words; magic was only related to these two terms.
Some legendary bloodlines can better manifest magic, such as Skinchangers.
Priests who piously offer devotion to deities are also more likely to awaken magic.
"But the Dragonlords destroyed the eagle god tribe after all; do you not hate them?" Rhaegar asked curiously, feeling that the High Priest's attitude was a bit strange.
"Everything has its own arrangement from above. Without the destruction of the eagle god tribe, the faith of the three-headed god would not flourish here.
Every path forward is directed by the deities, the choice of the deities." The High Priest said piously.
"After so long, the flame of the original three-headed eagle god can reappear; it is a destiny in itself.
Perhaps you are the one favored by the three-headed god, the one protected by the three-headed god, the lucky one and savior of this world." The High Priest's gaze was like lightning as he looked at Rhaegar.
Rhaegar quickly waved his hand; the old charlatan was acting a bit creepily. "Let's not put such a halo on me." Rhaegar opposed any superstition and was also indifferent to all deities.
If there really were an eagle god, it would not have watched its statue being melted down alive.
"Perhaps!" Rhaegar answered ambiguously, "May I take a look at this eagle god statue?"
"You may!" The High Priest replied, "Of all the statues, only the original eagle god sculpture still retains its divine mystery."
Rhaegar touched the bronze sculpture of the original eagle god: birth, death, and the present.
Only the present is the most important; seize this moment.
The original eagle god was not perfect, but it was the origin of all three-headed god statues, the purest faith.
"Explorer: Congratulations on discovering the original statue of the three-headed eagle god; the protection of the eagle god will be purer."
Rhaegar felt his five senses and vigilance increase; he could foresee danger within a certain radius of himself in advance.
"Prince, you are also one favored by the three-headed god. It took me thirty years to obtain the god's protection, while you may have done so in just one night."
Of course it was one night; I have the fire seed. But Rhaegar did not speak.
"You can choose to trust the three-headed god, Prince; you are the one chosen by the god, the Grand Protector of the three-headed god in the mortal world." The High Priest said.
Rhaegar heard his words becoming more and more outrageous, so he quickly stopped him. He must be crazy to convert to the three-headed god.
"You can offer a secondary son or a bastard to our temple to raise! Although I do not interfere in the politics of Tyrosh, most Tyroshi are my followers; with one call, I can gather thousands of soldiers." The High Priest changed his approach and said.
"Thank you for your kindness, but Dragonlords do not believe in any deities." Rhaegar said.
"You are indeed a descendant of blasphemers! You do not believe in any deities either." The High Priest laughed.
"Believe me, I am not the first priest to seek you out, nor will I be the last. Out of goodwill for the original three-headed god, I will let you go. But the priests and envoys of other deities are much crazier than I am."
Rhaegar thought to himself, the old man might be talking about the red god, rhllor.
"I will not force it, Prince. This is just a stroke of fate, and we are now simply friends."
"That works too. Let's speak on the matter at hand: Tyrosh needs my help, and you wouldn't like to see Tyrosh bleed, would you, Priest?" Rhaegar's voice was like steel; he did not like discussing theocracy, as the current war in Tyrosh was more valuable.
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