Warhammer: Should I also sit on the Golden Throne?

0016 The Golden Knight and the Silver Dragon

The dim, yellowish sunlight streamed through the famous crystal dome of the Water God Temple.

The dome, supported by marble columns, was ingeniously designed. Sunlight shimmered through it, making Zhou Yun feel as if he were walking underwater.

This dome was built around an ancient natural spring that existed long before the War King ruled Makurag as the true monarch and was worshipped as a sacred water deity.

The temple district, now inhabited by the gods of Makurag and even Utralama, is arranged in a fan shape around this water temple.

Zhou Yun bypassed the pond formed by the spring water; the silver dinars in his pocket were clinking.

Lucres gave him thirty-five silver dinars—this wasn't a loan; according to Lucres, it was an advance on Zhou Yun's salary.

As part of his job to earn a salary, Zhou Yun was required to help him translate newly discovered cuneiform tablets near Odin City.

After stepping out of the Water God Temple, Zhou Yun's view suddenly widened.

The mountain range unfolds like a fully drawn bow, with temples made of gray-white rock formations spreading along the arc-shaped ridge. Their spires or domes are bathed in the golden light of the setting sun hanging between the distant mountains, resembling burning candles, making the entire temple complex look like candlesticks offered to the gods.

The surrounding environment seemed to fear the authority of the gods, becoming quiet. The usual calls of mountain birds in Macurag and the noisy hawking of vendors in the streets all vanished completely here.

Zhou Yun could only hear the chanting of prayers, accompanied by the scent of incense wafting gently from the temples and lingering around him.

He sensed it... the reality here was thinner than elsewhere in Macragge, and the veil between the warp and the material universe was easier to breach.

Temples, churches, and sacrificial sites—these are places closer to the highest heavens, places where matter begins to recede and spirit begins to rise, the boundary between reality and the subspace.

Here, Zhou Yun can more easily transcend 'realms' and truly awaken the spiritual power of this body.

However, even in the temple area, the Makurag Curtain was noticeably thicker than in other areas.

If Zhou Yun wants to cross the boundary, he will probably need to find a more crucial location and other things to help him.

Zhou Yun's gaze swept over the temples, with the one at the highest and center being naturally the Temple of the War King of Macragge.

The gates of the Temple of the Warlords are open, signifying that Macragge remains in a state of war.

The target of the war was the barbarian kingdom of Illyria, located in the far north of Macragge, also known as the land of bandits by the Macragians, where many divided barbarian tribes lived.

Since the distant past, Illyria and the city of Makula have been locked in an endless war, like two diametrically opposed twins on a planet.

Illyria is savage, Makula is orderly.

Illyria is poor, Makula is rich.

Illirium is mad, Makula is rational.

Illyria splits, Makulag unites.

Their war seems to have become an eternal theme in the history of Makula.

Illyria has approached and even breached Makulag several times, the most recent being only a few decades ago.

The army of Macurag had also pacified Illyria several times, the most recent one being just decades ago—the war led by Connor.

But the city of Macurag never truly destroyed the barbarians of Illidan.

The barbarians of Illyria are like a tide, sometimes receding, but always rising again.

They can be defeated, triumphed over, and forced back, but then they will hide in the mountain caves of the far north, in temples known only to them, and strike again when the opportunity arises.

They can only be defeated, not destroyed, the Makulaq often whispered.

But this isn't entirely the fault of Macurag City's martial prowess.

After all, even Primarch Llane al-Johnson couldn't tame Illirium.

During the Second Empire, that lion, in order to eliminate Conrad Coz, who was hiding there, even attempted a direct orbital bombardment of Illyria, issuing an extermination order against it.

However, Guilliman opposed orbital bombardment—so Llane changed his strategy to have gunships saturate the area in orbit, effectively burning Imrim to the ground and killing two-thirds of its population in one fell swoop.

Even so, the Illyriam did not yield, and continued their rebellion even into the forty-first millennium.

It's just like the villains in children's shows who, no matter how much damage they suffer, will be fully recovered in the next episode.

Zhou Yun shifted his gaze from the Temple of the War Lord. He was now increasingly suspicious that the Temple of the War Lord might be tainted by Khorne, and that Illyria might also be tainted by Khorne.

Illyria and Makula might just be Khorne using one hand to fight the other, just to boost his war KPIs.

Then there are the Temples of Thalassa, the Temple of the Broken Lighthouse, the Temple of the Cleansing Gardens of Lacus... and the Temple of Simeneta.

The slender, elongated temple dedicated to the goddess Simeneta came into Zhou Yun's view.

The entire temple seems to be the product of the architect's unleashing of talent and disregard for the laws of physics. The delicate brackets, the towers that resemble spikes, and the numerous insane openwork and stained glass windows all exude a dangerous beauty.

This temple is Zhou Yun's creditor.

"Goddess of Beauty." Zhou Yun smacked his lips twice.

If he had the Inquisitor's Roseknot, he would summon a starship to orbit above the temple district right now and burn the Simeneta Temple to ashes with a single spear of light, leaving not even ashes.

It's been countless days since I last missed Judge Grefax.

Instead of heading towards the Temple of Simeneta, he ventured deeper into the temple complex.

The temple district is teeming with priests and deities. Those occupying prime positions behind the water temple are all powerful and influential gods in Macragge, revered and favored by priests.

The less popular and less worshipped a deity is, the deeper its temple is often located within the temple complex—after all, land is cheaper in deeper areas.

Just as Lucretius said, in Macragge, the most powerful magic is called the dinar, and the most powerful god is also the dinar.

Zhou Yun, panting heavily, finally reached the temple...or rather, the church, he was looking for after climbing this mountain path until his heart was pounding.

It was a church that wasn't very big, about the size of a five-story apartment building, but anyone who saw it at a glance could tell that it had a long history.

It is almost entirely constructed of rough stones, covered with thick moss, with the ground and walls almost merging together. The overall architectural style still retains the style of the old Macurag era.

Zhou Yun raised his head slightly. On the church door stood a cross carved from stone.

This is a Catholic church, and also the place Professor Lucres's friend, the "priest" of the temple district, knew.

As Zhou Yun stepped into the church, his eyes were immediately drawn to the mosaic inlay on the wall directly in front of the church.

The mosaic was severely faded, and the gemstones that served as the eyes of the figures were missing, but it was still evident that it was a masterpiece.

In the dim orange light, those small, mottled tiles, like flowing liquid, wove together flexible structures, robust human figures, and the annihilation of stars.

Especially the two main characters depicted in the mosaic; just looking at them is enough to make one's soul tremble.

It was a silver dragon, its head coiled above the desert, its eyes holding the light of stars, its mouth spewing the fire of creation.

And the silver dragon's opponent, the golden knight who rode a black steed darker than night and wielded a pure silver lance.

"Oh! Sir, you really came?"