In this stalemate, so strange it felt frozen in time, a crisp System notification rang out precisely in Lin Qingyue's mind.
[Extra Buff: Speech]
[Speech: Your words hold the power of change. When activated, you have a 100% chance to persuade Neutral factions to join your cause; a 70% chance to persuade non-leader enemy units, making them accept your ideals and join your cause. During the skill's duration, personal Charisma and Persuasion are temporarily boosted to MAX!]
[First-time trigger for Seele's outfit. Extracting additional reward...]
[Congratulations Host, you have obtained Seele's Talent: Resurgence. Talent Effect: After killing an enemy with an attack, your Attack and Movement Speed are increased by 20% for 10 seconds. This effect cannot stack.]
Lin Qingyue: "..."
She looked down at the colossal scythe in her hand, which glowed with a faint blue light and could slice a hundred-ton mecha into scrap metal.
Then she looked back up at the absurd skill description in her mind.
An unparalleled sense of absurdity, mixed with the unique excitement of a "troll" looking for amusement, surged straight to her head.
"Speech?"
"Which Seele is this?!"
"I need combat power for mowing down enemies, not the ability to run for president in Congress!"
She raged inwardly, almost unable to maintain her cold and aloof expression.
However, as her gaze swept over the dark crowd below, she suddenly froze.
Those guards.
Those fanatics.
Those enemies whose minds had been twisted by desire and brainwashing, who were supposed to fight her to the death.
Now, the fanaticism on their faces was fading.
In its place was a daze, almost like a "System lag."
The giant virtual screen in the sky.
The inopportunely gentle music on the ground.
The sharp-looking girl before them who had suddenly changed her style and was now wielding a colossal scythe...
All of this was like fragments of chaotic code crashing into their formatted brains, leaving them completely paralyzed.
And beneath this ocean of logical chaos, Lin Qingyue keenly captured a fiercely suppressed undercurrent.
With the buff from [Speech], she now seemed to be able to directly "hear" the emotions buried deep in everyone's hearts.
It wasn't fanaticism, and even less was it loyalty.
It was exhaustion.
It was dissatisfaction.
It was a profound weariness of the day-after-day bloody slaughter and the hopeless future.
They were like a group of machines with pre-set programs, numbly operating under the whip named "Faith."
And at this moment, Lin Qingyue's utterly unreasonable "performance" was like a logic bomb, causing their internal programs to fall into an unprecedented crash and conflict.
An incredibly bold and amusement-filled plan instantly took shape in her mind.
Physical transcendence is transcendence, and spiritual transcendence is also transcendence.
Since the scythe wasn't convenient for drawing blood today, she would use words to give them a thorough liberation of their ideological seals!
She didn't charge at the enemy. Instead, she performed a light backward jump, her figure like a butterfly, and landed directly on the shattered porch steps of the cathedral behind her.
This position was just like a natural podium.
Seeing this, Lin Xiyue, Su Wan, and Xia Lian immediately understood.
Lin Xiyue took a step forward, and [Blackstone's Protection] slammed heavily onto the ground, securing the front line, unbreakable.
Su Wan lightly tapped her staff, and two even taller Ice Walls rose from the earth, sealing off the flanks with a bone-chilling chill.
On the roof, Xia Lian drew her bowstring, starlight flowing on the arrow as she glared like a falcon at the heavy Mecha in the distance, ready to eliminate any long-range threat at any moment.
They had created a relatively safe "stage" for Lin Qingyue.
Lin Qingyue, standing on the high ground, took a deep breath and slammed the giant scythe in her hand heavily onto the granite floor tiles!
"Clang!"
The crisp, piercing sound of metal clashing successfully captured everyone's attention.
She cleared her throat.
Under the buff of the [Speech] ability, her voice was imbued with a peculiar magic.
Though not loud, it clearly pierced through all the noise, reaching the ears of everyone present and drilling into their minds.
"Deceived citizens! Fallen believers! Soldiers selling your lives to the Evil God and the 'Prophet'!"
The very first sentence alone subdued the entire crowd.
Everyone, including Prophet Kane who was monitoring the battlefield in the distance through a Magic Crystal, subconsciously pricked up their ears.
They wanted to hear what tricks this heretic, facing her final moments, could still pull off.
Then, they heard a soul-piercing question, one powerful enough to overturn their entire worldview.
"Have you never wondered,"
Lin Qingyue's voice carried a power that could see into people's hearts, striking the souls of every worker present.
"Why haven't we had paid leave this month?!"
The entire scene went dead silent.
A silence even more terrifying than the [Glacial Domain] engulfed the entire plaza.
The City Guard Captain, who was pushing forward, stumbled and almost faceplanted.
The Cultist Mage in the back row, who was chanting a Fireball Spell, had his Magic Power falter, and the fireball in his palm went "poof," extinguishing like a fart.
Even the distant Steam Magitech Mecha nearly aimed its overloaded cannon at its own allies.
Paid... leave?
What was that?
Some kind of ancient, forgotten, and soul-corrupting vicious curse?
Everyone's brains crashed.
They had anticipated countless possibilities: deathbed curses, powerless screams, or even humble pleas for mercy.
But they never imagined that, surrounded by thousands of enemies, the opponent would use an expression as solemn as a Divine Revelation to discuss... employee benefits?
This sense of absurdity was so intense that even the bloody scent permeating the air seemed to fade slightly.
"Your 'Mother Goddess' promised to grant you rebirth, and the 'Prophet' has mapped out an incredibly bright future for you."
Lin Qingyue's voice echoed over the dead-silent plaza, each word like a precise scalpel dissecting their long-numbed nerves.
"But what have They given you?"
"Aside from illusory promises and endless enemies to kill, what have you gained?!"
"Your weapons need repair, your armor needs maintenance, you need to drink to relax when tired, and you need medical treatment when injured; all of this costs money! Where are your salaries?! Where are your shares of the loot?! All the wealth from the towns you conquered, where did it flow?!"
She didn't tell a single lie.
With the double enhancement of the Dungeon Rule [Truth] and the Skill [Speech], every word she uttered was automatically marked as "absolutely true" in the hearts of all the listeners.
Meanwhile, another rule, [Echo of the Heart's Abyss], acted like a ruthless desire amplifier, instantly magnifying the tiny bit of confusion, dissatisfaction, and sense of exploitation that had sprouted in their hearts from the unfamiliar phrase "paid leave" a thousand times over!
A weathered Werewolf veteran subconsciously touched the battleaxe at his waist, which already had a chipped blade.
He remembered that last month's salary had been halved by the Quartermaster, under the pretext that "the Mother Goddess's construction of the Divine Kingdom requires the selfless dedication of every believer."
A Cat-man Assassin lurking in the shadows, her eyes flickered violently.
She remembered.
For the critical intelligence she had risked her life to steal from Blackrock Stronghold, the only reward she received was a bottle of "Holy Water" that made her feel like she was floating on air. Only now did she realize that thing was just concentrated catnip with additives.
At the same time, the Core Forces under the Prophet's command had been equipped with completely new Magitech Equipment!
Unfair!
Once this thought took root, it spread like a prairie fire in everyone's hearts, running wild and utterly uncontrollable!
"Do you think you're soldiers of the Holy War? Pioneers of the Divine Kingdom?"
Lin Qingyue's tone suddenly rose, carrying a hint of cold, undisguised mockery.
"Wake up!"
"You're just cannon fodder! You're consumables, raised in a slaughterhouse meticulously designed by a man named the 'Prophet,' used to eliminate dissidents and be sacrificed to his master!"
The [Truth] rule made her words an irrefutable truth.
The [Speech] skill gave her ideas the magical power to bewitch people's hearts.
Under the double effect, everyone on the plaza, whether soldiers or believers, began to look at their companions beside them and at the magnificent church in the distance with a completely new, scrutinizing, and skeptical gaze.
Their worldview was collapsing.