Valeria's voice, carrying a new, clear texture, echoed in the purified cave.
Her question caused all the Astra Militarum Soldiers who had just reorganized their ranks to subconsciously hold their breath.
Yes, where should they go?
Griffin IV had already been reduced to ruins, their unit structures shattered, and their faith overturned.
Returning to the Empire, how could they explain everything that happened here?
How could they explain a young girl whom they revered as a deity, and a... Commissar whose body and gender had been reshaped?
The flames of the Inquisition seemed to be their only destination.
Everyone's gaze converged upon that black, deity-like figure.
Leticia did not answer.
She just quietly looked at the heroic female Commissar before her; in her pure black pupils, Valeria's face, filled with loyalty and a request for guidance, was reflected.
"They are your soldiers, Commissar."
Leticia's voice was very soft, yet carried an unquestionable power that delivered both authority and trust.
"Where do you think they should go?"
An electric current instantly shot through Valeria's spine, spreading throughout her entire body.
She understood.
The Goddess was not questioning her, but authorizing her.
This was her first trial, the first mission she needed to complete with her own hands as the Shield of the Goddess.
An unprecedented sense of responsibility and pride exploded within her reshaped heart.
Valeria took a deep breath, the full curves of her chest rising and falling with it.
She turned around, facing the hundreds of lost soldiers waiting for the verdict.
Her clear gray eyes swept over each familiar face covered in dust and blood.
At this moment, the power of [The Call of the Steel Rose] was driven to its limit by her.
Her voice no longer just traveled through the air; it surged directly into the depths of every soldier's soul like a warm tide.
"Warriors of the Griffin IV Defense Regiment!"
Her voice was not loud, but it clearly overpowered all the noise, carrying a majesty that could soothe hearts.
"I know what you are thinking. We have fought under the banner of the Empire for half our lives, dedicating our loyalty and lives to a distant name, a cold throne."
"What have we gotten in return?"
Valeria's tone suddenly became sharp, like a scalpel, precisely slicing open the deepest scars in everyone's hearts.
"We got Decay-ridden bureaucrats and slow reinforcements! We got slaughtered by the heretic in despair, and our sacrifices recorded on a casualty report that no one cared about!"
"Look around you! Look at those dead brothers! Was their loyalty answered?!"
No one answered.
The dead silence was the loudest answer.
Many soldiers' eyes turned red; they clenched their fists, their knuckles turning white from the force.
Valeria's words hit every bloody reality they faced.
Valeria slowly raised her hand, pointing to the silent black figure standing behind her.
"Now, look at her again!"
Her voice shifted from a cold interrogation to an irrepressible, fanatical hymn of praise!
"It was she who brought light when we were about to be swallowed by darkness!"
"It was she who brought down divine punishment when we were toyed with by demons!"
"It was she who granted us healing and rebirth when we were covered in wounds and on the verge of death!"
"She did not demand tithes from us, nor did she judge us with a cold codex! She is simply here, responding to our despair, protecting us, the citizens forgotten by the Empire!"
The flames of fanaticism were completely ignited in the eyes of the soldiers.
They had just witnessed a miracle with their own eyes, experienced death and rebirth; their old faith had long since become like waste paper burned to ash, with only the last bit of residual warmth remaining.
Valeria stepped forward, her military boots striking the solid ground with a crisp sound, like the prelude to war drums.
She spread her arms and, using all her strength, let out a final, soul-piercing cry to her soldiers.
"Tell me! Are you willing to continue to rot silently in the endless darkness and die meaninglessly for that Empire that has long forgotten you?!"
"Or are you willing to follow a living Goddess who will shed tears for you, who will answer your prayers, and fight to protect this tangible, reachable Hope?!"
"Boom—!"
The soldiers' emotions were completely detonated at this moment.
"We are willing to fight for the Goddess!!"
A veteran with a severed arm and a gruesome scar on his face was the first to throw away his lasgun; he used all his strength to raise his arm and shout, his voice as hoarse as a broken bellows.
His roar was like a spark thrown into a powder keg.
"Fight for the Goddess!!"
"Fight for the Goddess——!!"
Cries like a landslide and tsunami rang out from all directions.
The soldiers threw away their weapons, knelt on the ground, and used their loudest voices to vent the pain and despair they had suppressed for too long, as well as their newly born, incredibly fanatical faith.
They were no longer soldiers of the Empire.
They were the Goddess's fanatics.
Valeria looked at this scene before her and nodded with satisfaction.
From the crowd, she saw several figures who were the most fanatical and whose wills were the most resolute.
It was that veteran who had shouted first, along with a few Officers who had performed the most bravely in battle and whose faith was now the purest.
She turned, walked quickly to Leticia, and knelt on one knee in an incomparably devout posture.
"My Goddess, among them are some of the most devout souls who yearn to offer more to you. Please... bestow your grace, let them be reborn, and become a sharper sword and a stronger shield in your hands!"
Leticia's gaze passed over Valeria and landed on the soldiers she had pointed out.
She could sense those streams of faith, like torches in the darkness, pure and blazing.
She nodded slightly.
The next second, several beams of pink-purple light, more condensed than before, descended from the sky, precisely enveloping that veteran and the several Officers.
Within the light, their bodies were rapidly decomposed and reshaped.
Their weathered skin became smooth, their exhausted muscles filled with vitality, and the disabilities and hidden injuries left by the battle were completely erased.
Their figures were stretched to be more upright, and their faces, while retaining their original fortitude, became heroic and delicate.
When the light dissipated, several agile, heroic female Officers appeared in their place.
They looked blankly at their brand-new bodies, then immediately felt that absolute sense of belonging to the Goddess stemming from the depths of their souls.
They immediately straightened the brand-new military uniforms that had condensed on them, walked quickly behind Valeria, and knelt on one knee before Leticia in the same posture.
A brand-new, absolutely loyal command system had been constructed in just a few seconds.
Valeria raised her head, looking up at Leticia; in her gray pupils was a fanaticism and reverence sufficient to melt steel.
"Griffin IV Defense Regiment, 237 survivors, all accounted for!"
"Please... bestow a name upon us!"
Leticia looked at the unit before her—though small in number, it now possessed absolute faith and a brand-new command structure and was taking initial shape—and a smile appeared on her lips.
"From today on, you are no longer the Griffin IV Defense Regiment."
Her voice clearly reached everyone's ears.
"You are the 'Sword of Genesis' First Auxiliary Legion."
"Sword of Genesis!!"
The new female Officers behind Valeria were the first to repeat it loudly.
"Sword of Genesis——!!"
Cries like a landslide and tsunami rang through the entire cave again; this time, their shouts were filled with supreme glory and a sense of belonging.
The engines of the genesis emitted a low hum, steadily departing from the scarred surface of Griffin IV, once again merging into the deep universe.
Inside the vast landing bay, Valeria was reorganizing the 'Sword of Genesis' First Auxiliary Legion with extremely high efficiency.
Among the liberated miners, the strong and fit were organized into combat sequences, while those with technical skills were arranged to learn how to maintain this sacred vessel.
Everything was orderly.
On the bridge, the lights were bright and soft.
Leticia stood before the massive holographic star map; beside her were the elegant Fogremia and the upright Valeria, who had just come to report.
Terrania, as usual, sat quietly on the sofa in the corner, sipping a cup of hot milk, her golden eyes curiously watching the flickering light points on the star map.
Leticia extended her slender finger and lightly traced it across the star map.
Finally, her fingertip stopped at a star sector marked in blood red, filled with an ominous aura.
That was the area where the World Eaters Legion was currently rampaging.
"Alright, ladies."
Leticia turned around, looking at the two Sisters beside her who had completely different temperaments yet were equally stunning and powerful, and spoke calmly.
"Let us go and bring that most temperamental little sister home."
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