Ch.213213. Phoenix Revolution (1)

# There was a reason for mentioning revolution—specifically a revolution aimed at Paris—at the site of the verbal battle between Teresa and the Saint.

If revolutionaries of the past wielded swords and guns, now SNS and broadcasts had become the most powerful weapons.

The revolution against Paris’s dictatorship, as claimed by the Phoenix Cult, was an anti-government movement that had begun in the Paris slums and spread to the provinces.

“We can’t take it anymore! Down with the Parisian dictatorship!”

“They’ve been at it for 200 years. Now it’s our turn to experience liberty, equality, and fraternity!”

“Revolution is innocent, and rebellion has its reasons? Sure! Rebellion always has its reasons! But can you truly claim that the blood you’ve spilled in the name of revolution is innocent?”

Tired of outdated politics and the revolutions sparked by Paris, people began taking to the streets, refusing to be controlled by a central government that exploited and ignored the provinces for Paris’s benefit.

From the beginning, the central government had prioritized Paris’s recovery over the provinces, leaving provincial areas either under monster attacks or without rebuilt civilization.

In this situation, where the government exploited rather than protected them from monsters, it was inevitable that people would grow sick of the Paris government and join anti-government movements.

They began gathering around the Phoenix Cult, the only group advocating for provincial human rights, freedom, and equality.

“Follow the Phoenix Cult! Long live the Phoenix!”

“We have the blessing of the Phoenix!”

“Surely the Saint of Orleans, the contractor of the Phoenix, wouldn’t massacre a cult that follows the Phoenix! Oh, really? I suppose that changes if you start another Vendée War!”

Above all, these people had the Phoenix Cult as their strong shield.

While Paris desperately wanted to sweep away the Phoenix Cult and stop the anti-government demonstrations…

‘As the Phoenix’s contractor, that would be suicide!’

The problem was that they were a cult worshiping the Phoenix.

No matter how much the Saint of Orleans denounced them as heretics, the Phoenix itself hadn’t called them heretics. They sincerely worshiped the Phoenix, making it extremely awkward for the Saint of Orleans, as the Phoenix’s contractor, to punish the Phoenix’s followers.

For the Saint, dealing with all of them carried a significant political burden.

‘Who would have thought the title of Phoenix’s contractor would become my shackle!’

The title of the Phoenix’s contractor had ironically become the Saint’s limitation.

Moreover, one cause of this crisis was the explosion of discontent caused by the Saint’s own misguided policies.

“What great things did we ask of Paris? We’re sick of being Paris’s slaves for 200 years already!”

“Give us freedom too! The central government can go to hell! We’ll find our own way to survive!”

“Currently, all of France’s wealth is concentrated in Paris alone! Even if we want to rebuild civilization, we have no materials, no food, and no money!”

While the Phoenix Cult had lit the fuse, fundamentally, this revolution began from economic inequality.

The central government led by the Saint had poured massive reconstruction budgets into the capital Paris while ignoring provincial economies, making provincial discontent inevitable.

Of course, some might argue that the government hadn’t even been in power for a full year, and Paris’s recapture had barely passed the six-month mark, so expecting too much from the central government was unreasonable.

But this was the apocalypse.

In a single day, situations could change completely—that was the nature of the apocalypse. For these people, that single day could determine their survival, so Paris’s exploitation was, from their perspective, essentially telling them to die at the hands of monsters for Paris’s sake.

“It’s strange that only Paris enjoys the benefits of civilization!”

“Don’t we have mouths too? Aren’t we citizens too?”

How could there not be discontent?

These people needed to either rebel against Paris or demand support immediately to survive, and the Phoenix Cult had become their rallying point—the perfect group through which to express their grievances against Paris.

“The Great Revolution was only ever for Paris! Remember the Vendée!”

“Remember the massacres committed by Paris! Revolution is innocent, you say? What nonsense! Murder is murder, and the evil you’ve done is evil! It’s never justice!”

Above all, the contradictions that had accumulated in France since the past had finally erupted.

Before the apocalypse, the provinces had lived relatively well, so their discontent hadn’t been directed toward Paris. But after the apocalypse, when provincial lives became harsh and dangerous, and Paris even began exploiting them? Why wouldn’t the provinces call for independence?

Would it be faster to count the reasons not to declare independence, or the reasons to declare independence and tell Paris to go to hell?

Most would probably choose the latter.

“Let’s declare independence from Paris!”

“Let’s gather under the Phoenix Cult! United we stand, divided we fall! Let’s gather as one force so the central government won’t dare suppress us!”

The influential figures from angry provincial cities began marching toward Paris with one heart and mind.

As a small gesture of defiance against the central government, they designated a single gathering place to form an enormous army that Paris couldn’t easily suppress.

Moreover, this formidable army wasn’t scattered but concentrated around a single cult, which from the central government’s perspective meant…

“It’s a real rebel army! A rebel army has appeared!”

“Are we supposed to slaughter… I mean, suppress all of them?!”

“Is that even possible with just Paris?!”

They witnessed the formation of a proper rebel army with a perfect command structure.

Moreover, this was the apocalypse, when powerful Awakened weapons could be easily obtained with enough money.

In this era, how many Awakened were among those rebels, and how many of those Awakened were properly equipped with weapons?

In the worst case, if all the rebels were Awakened with combat capabilities? If they were all armed with Awakened weapons?

Could the central government… no, could Paris alone subdue them all? Was it truly possible to overwhelmingly massacre them as in the past?

“Revolution for our world, sanctions for the dictator!”

“”””Revolution for our world, sanctions for the dictator!!!!””””

In response, the Phoenix Cult continuously called for revolution and began spreading messages criticizing Paris’s dictatorship throughout France. The revolutionary spark spread too quickly for the central government to effectively respond.

This was the beginning of a Great Revolution, and unlike past revolutions, this one would be much harder to suppress.

The reason was simple.

“In the past, SNS and communication methods were weak. But now we can spread news in real-time.”

In the past, revolutionary forces could be suppressed through censorship and control, and securing Paris alone was enough. But now that was impossible.

In this modern era of ultra-fast information spread, was it truly possible to censor and delete news that was being shared in real-time?

Those who needed to know already knew, and those who didn’t would soon learn as thousands of accounts would be used to spread the news of revolution.

Bahamut, who had been watching the revolution unfold from Paris as if observing distant mountains, had already concluded that this revolution couldn’t be stopped.

“Um, is it okay that we caused this?”

“Well, it’s making the Saint eat crow, isn’t it?”

“That’s true.”

Alicia seemed worried, perhaps because she realized she had sparked a revolution, but she quickly affirmed the revolution when Bahamut mentioned it would make the Saint suffer.

After all, the Saint of Orleans was an ally of the Lord Protector, and if the Saint fell, the Lord Protector’s political position would fall as well.

For Alicia, who opposed the Lord Protector, the Saint’s downfall could be an unexpected boon, so she was in a position to hope for the revolution’s success.

“The problem is they might actually carry out a suppression operation.”

“That would work if they could divide and conquer. But with everyone united like this, divide and conquer is impossible. They’d have to face them head-on… and I question whether the Awakened stationed in Paris alone could defeat that army.”

In the past, divide and conquer might have been possible, but now real-time communication was possible.

To prevent it, they would need to control websites or block the internet, but this was the apocalypse.

Provincial governments that had already lost faith in the central government wouldn’t believe the central government’s claims, and they had already established all possible means of voluntary communication.

If raiders commonly used certain communication methods, civilians would certainly use them too, and they were likely already in contact with the Phoenix Cult, coordinating their efforts.

“Wouldn’t a superhuman be able to handle it?”

But that didn’t mean the central government couldn’t suppress them.

In central Paris, there were superhuman Awakened who had surpassed level 20, including the Saint, and their names alone were formidable.

“Even a superhuman can’t face tens of thousands alone. If Paris had more soldiers than the provincial governments, suppression might be possible.”

While superhumans could certainly be game-changers in war, there weren’t many ways for them to be effective in such a large-scale conflict.

The wars against the Cult of Immortality and in Kyushu had already shown that it was very difficult for superhumans alone to change the tide of large-scale wars. Bahamut, knowing that such superhumans needed large military forces to support them, concluded that the outcome would be determined by the number of troops Paris could immediately deploy.

“There are anti-government reporters in the Paris streets too.”

“YouTubers as well. It’s complete chaos.”

Even in the capital Paris, there were principled citizens who had risen up at the news of revolution.

The Paris slums, which could be considered the Phoenix Cult’s stronghold, were already filled with people responding to the Phoenix Cult’s call to rise up.

All across France, people were calling for revolution under the name of the Phoenix Cult with one heart and mind.

“What’s happening…?”

Naturally, Phoenix, who was secretly watching the scene in Paris just like Bahamut, was also perplexed.

The contract had been satisfactory, so why was a great revolution breaking out in France while Phoenix had looked away for just a moment?

Why! What had Phoenix done wrong that caused this beautiful contractor to start a revolution, and why were people responding so enthusiastically?

Phoenix had no idea what was going on! Phoenix desperately wanted someone to explain the situation, and fortunately, someone appeared who could do just that.

“Phoenix! What have you done?!”

It was the Saint of Orleans.

She who had reigned as an absolute ruler was now facing a crisis that threatened her absolute authority, and she was trying to blame it all on Phoenix.

In fact, the Saint’s logic wasn’t entirely wrong. Phoenix’s independent actions had caused the Saint’s absolute power to crumble, so blaming Phoenix wasn’t illogical.

It was just that the simple act of making a contract was driving the Saint of Orleans into crisis.

Conversely, it also meant that the foundation the Saint of Orleans had built was only that fragile.

‘I don’t know either. What is that? It’s scary.’

Even as the Saint shouted at Phoenix in an angry voice, Phoenix had no answer to give.

This situation wasn’t Phoenix’s intention.

Phoenix had simply made a contract and respected the contractor’s will, and what Teresa had done just happened to be a revolution.

‘I just told her to do whatever she wanted to do!’

This one was just as foolish as Bahamut.

But even with a foolish personality, Phoenix was a god-like being with the ability to realize this revolution, and even a revolution that lacked a focal point and proper explosive power could be transformed into a force capable of changing a great revolution.

The Phoenix Cult had used that, and magnificently started a revolution.

“I merely respected my contractor.”

Even though this was a somewhat inhuman response, no one objected.

That was because Phoenix was a god, and humans couldn’t understand a god’s perspective from a human viewpoint.

The Saint of Orleans glared at Phoenix as if looking at a monster, but…

“Y-you.”

“Haven’t you also gained much by using me?”

“Ugh.”

She swallowed hard at Phoenix’s sharp observation.

Even though Phoenix had a personality close to being a pushover, Phoenix wasn’t a fool who couldn’t grasp the situation.

Phoenix was surprised by the sudden great revolution but had already realized that the Saint had been using Phoenix all along, considering that Phoenix individually needed to check the Saint.

Since the Saint had gained much by using Phoenix…

“I too have merely acted for myself. Making a contract with someone who visits my temple is solely my right.”

“That contractor is causing my downfall! Are you going to just watch your first contractor fall?”

Phoenix had simply taken what Phoenix wanted.

That was the contractor, and Phoenix had intended to use that contractor to check the Saint.

Of course, that check had become so intense that the Saint’s absolute authority was beginning to crumble, but frankly…

“Isn’t that your own doing? Did you think that after accumulating so many contradictions, they would never collapse? You’re simply paying the price of your arrogance.”

It was the Saint of Orleans’ own fault.

The Saint of Orleans had no response to Phoenix’s cold observation.

After all, it was the Saint’s own decision to take what seemed like the easy and quick path.

“Kuk. Just don’t get involved in this matter.”

“I have no intention of getting involved.”

So all she could say was to ask Phoenix not to get involved, and Phoenix, having no intention of getting involved, replied that Phoenix would not.

It was a decisive moment when France was splitting into two forces.