Ch.214214. Phoenix Revolution (2)

In the end, the Saint of Orleans failed to mediate with Phoenix or change her mind, only managing to suggest that Phoenix should intervene to prevent the situation from escalating further.

But the bad news for the Saint was that the Great Revolution had only just begun, and more and more provincial cities were rising up.

“Why are provincial cities shouting for revolution instead of Paris!”

“Wasn’t revolution supposed to be a symbol of Paris!”

Yes, the problem was that provincial cities were calling for revolution against Paris, not from within Paris itself.

Paris, the symbol of revolution?

What nonsense. Considering what Paris had done with that reputation, the time had finally come for provincial cities to take revenge.

Just as Paris had oppressed provincial cities in the name of revolution, now provincial cities were advancing to oppress Paris in the name of revolution.

“We wanted a better world!”

“But nothing has changed! Paris continues to prosper while we only eat the leftovers that Paris discards!”

“The Saint of Orleans has no intention of protecting us! That whore only considers Parisians to be true citizens!”

Tens of thousands of red flags waved as if pushing back against Paris.

On the outskirts of Paris, red flags symbolizing Phoenix’s flames were fluttering violently, and it seemed as if everyone was carrying one.

Those flags, emblazoned with the symbol of the Phoenix Cult, represented fierce anger directed at Paris, and those carrying them seemed ready to march on Paris and ravage it at any moment.

“They said if Paris thrives, other regions would benefit from the trickle-down effect! What nonsense! Paris continues to reign supreme while we’re exploited by it!”

“Nothing has changed except going from the Fifth Republic to the Sixth Republic… no, the Fourth French Empire! France… Paris hasn’t changed at all!”

“Only the ruling class has changed, but Paris’s karma hasn’t been settled, and its sins will forever be ignored! But amid this apocalypse, we will settle Paris’s sins!”

Yes, their target was Paris alone.

For this purpose, the hearts of provincial cities had united with one mind and one will, converging around the Phoenix Cult as their focal point.

From Paris’s perspective, they were difficult opponents to suppress, and what made it even more troublesome was…

“The Saint of Orleans is not our dictator! We never chose that whore!”

Paris was experiencing turmoil not only from outside but from within as well.

In the middle of a Paris square, an unidentified man stood on the same stage where the Saint and the Priestess of Fire had debated.

In his hands, he held pamphlets containing the Saint’s claims, but his expression wasn’t one of praise for the Saint but rather one demanding accountability from her for causing this situation.

The price for trusting her was the secession of provincial cities—where had her promised great France gone, and how had Paris become the old regime?

“She promised us freedom! She promised us equality! But look at the reality! What has changed?”

His voice grew increasingly agitated, and the Parisians from the slums who hadn’t been chosen by the Saint responded with loud cheers.

Parisians chosen by the Saint still showed overwhelming support for her, but those not chosen loudly questioned the current state of Paris, claiming that nothing had changed despite her policies.

“We gifted her power, but we’re still poor! She never rewarded us, her supporters! She only cared about Parisians! No, to be precise, she only cared about Parisians who followed her!”

“You reclaimed Paris for us? Then why are the outskirts of Paris still slums where people starve? Why aren’t our lives improving? Why must we be exploited by you?”

“Raise the flags of the Phoenix Cult! Even the Paris slums that you despise will join the revolutionary army!”

Responding to the external support, the Paris slums also raised the red flags symbolizing the Phoenix Cult and began joining the revolutionary forces outside Paris.

By now, everyone must have realized that those flags would become the symbol of the revolutionary army.

“Wow. It’s burning quite nicely.”

“Indeed. Perhaps too well.”

Watching from the embassy, Bahamut and Alicia wore expressions of shock at the incredible revolutionary fervor and the cheers.

They had successfully detonated their bomb as troublemakers, but they hadn’t expected the discontent to explode so thoroughly.

While causing moderate trouble might earn praise, they worried that if things went wrong, a French Revolutionary War—one of the representative ideas of France—might break out.

“This place will soon become hell. It’s set to burn properly.”

“I want to say they brought this on themselves, but at this point, it’s pitiful, isn’t it?”

“I can’t deny that.”

The problem was that while they had only detonated a bomb, all these contradictions were clearly the Saint’s fault.

Honestly, could one troublemaker’s bomb cause all this?

The Saint of Orleans was governing the official French government, and depending on her choices, there were ways to resolve the anger of the provinces.

If she had sacrificed Paris even slightly to implement relief policies for provincial cities, half of them might have become her supporters, but she didn’t do that and focused solely on Paris.

This might have been a perfectly natural policy in France, known as the Paris Republic, but she failed to consider that in this apocalypse, even civilians as Awakened had the power to overthrow governments.

“If she had a little more time, or if I hadn’t mediated the contract between Teresa and Phoenix, her throne would have been firmly established.”

“Is that why you mediated the contract?”

“Yes.”

The stronger Paris became, the more absolute the Saint’s power would grow, and given enough time, no provincial city could have resisted Paris.

With all wealth and power concentrating in Paris, the longer time passed, the stronger Paris would become and the weaker provincial cities would grow.

If Bahamut hadn’t persuaded Teresa to contract with Phoenix at this timing, the Saint’s power would have become unshakeable, and no one could have brought her down.

Instead, Bahamut had struck at the Saint’s vulnerability at the perfect moment, and because of that…

“France and Europe might burn, but I thought this would be most advantageous for my contractor.”

“Well, since the Saint’s prestige is linked to the Lord Protector’s prestige, the Lord Protector will have to get involved in this revolution to prevent his own power from being shaken.”

Alicia was also benefiting from this structure.

If the Saint was destabilized, the Lord Protector, who was closely connected to her, would also be shaken, and his power would naturally be consumed defending against this revolution.

The signs of the crumbling alliance between the Lord Protector and the Saint represented an opportunity for Alicia, who had now explicitly become the casting vote.

“Well. I could stab the Lord Protector in the back, or quietly build up my power, or join the revolutionary army as an ally. Or I could aim for a divide-and-rule strategy by making the government and revolutionary forces resonate! So many options, it’s hard to choose!”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Alicia could quietly build her power while the Lord Protector’s influence wavered, or Bahamut could join the revolutionary side as the Dragon Priestess, claiming friendship with Phoenix.

She could even openly pursue a divide-and-rule strategy by supporting both government and revolutionary forces simultaneously—Alicia had become the biggest beneficiary of this revolution.

As expected of the Queen of England.

As soon as the casting vote came into her hands, she immediately thought of divide and rule!

If past English monarchs could see this scene, they would surely shed tears of joy at Alicia’s growth.

“We’re enemies of the revolution? What nonsense is that? Paris is the symbol of revolution, not the target of it! We reclaimed Paris and called for a new revolution suited to the apocalypse! How could this happen?”

“Well, you see…”

“Prepare government troops for suppression immediately! We cannot allow them to set foot on Paris soil!”

“Yes!”

While Alicia was happily contemplating her options, the French government’s emergency meeting room was quickly filling with ministers and officials appointed by the Saint of Orleans.

Having already been rejected by Phoenix, the Saint planned to mobilize government troops to thoroughly suppress the revolutionary army and prevent them from entering Paris at all costs.

“They’re attacking and we’re defending! If we hold out until their supplies run out, victory will be ours!”

There was indeed hope for victory.

This wasn’t a planned revolution but a spontaneous one triggered by Teresa’s sudden actions, and the revolutionaries’ supplies were severely limited due to Paris’s exploitation.

An army marches on its stomach, and once the revolutionary army’s food ran out, they would no longer be able to advance on Paris.

While they currently showed tremendous fervor fueled by anger, anger eventually cools, and if Paris could be firmly defended, the power structure would remain intact.

“The problem is that with provincial exploitation halted, the food remaining in Paris…”

“Are you saying we’re also short on food?”

Unfortunately, the same conditions affecting the revolutionary army also applied to Paris.

With provincial exploitation stopped, the wealth that had been flowing into Paris had ceased, and most importantly, the strategic food supplies from the provinces had been cut off.

While the revolutionaries couldn’t maintain a large army for long due to food shortages, conversely, the government forces led by the Saint couldn’t enter a prolonged conflict hoping for the revolutionaries’ self-destruction due to severe food shortages.

If food shortages forced them to starve citizens and soldiers, there was a real possibility that angry citizens and soldiers might join the revolutionary side.

“Then contact the Lord Protector or the Führer quickly! Express our intention to purchase food! We still control some ports! Even if our prestige takes a hit, we’ll accept help from our allies.”

“Understood.”

The Saint, who still had ports remaining, thought of finding overseas sources and had established cooperative relationships with the Lord Protector and other dictators for this purpose.

At the word of crisis, the Lord Protector or the Führer would surely come to the Saint’s rescue, and she could simply wait in Paris for their aid and watch as food supplies arrived.

Yes, while the word “revolution” was somewhat alarming, it was ultimately a spontaneous one.

Confident that the Phoenix Cult could never threaten her throne, the Saint began examining the numerous reports on her desk one by one.

Among the emergency communications from various regions, certain words caught her eye:

[URGENT] Anti-government demonstrations occurring in major provincial cities

[URGENT] Increasing discontent within government forces

[URGENT] Revolutionary forces declare “First Phoenix Revolution”

The anti-government demonstrations in major provincial cities were something she had already heard about, so there was nothing surprising there.

The “First Phoenix Revolution” was what the revolutionaries were calling their movement, so there was no reason to be disturbed.

But the report sandwiched between these two was one that even the Saint couldn’t help but be shocked by.

It stated that discontent was growing within the government forces that should have been most loyal, and upon reading this report, the Saint rose from her seat naturally and shouted without showing any agitation.

“We reclaimed Paris and successfully brought the revolution of hope in this apocalypse! And now you betray us? Didn’t we reclaim Paris and gift them freedom, equality, and fraternity? This is serious betrayal!”

“That’s right! This is betrayal! We borrowed the power of international organizations to reclaim Paris and drive out monsters for France!”

All of this was an attempt to shift blame to the revolutionary army and evade responsibility, trying to redirect the government forces’ discontent toward the revolutionaries.

However, in response to the Saint’s words, one representative muttered in a calm voice, as if dejected:

“…200 years ago, when the Jacobins overthrew the monarchy, the royal family probably said the same thing.”

The meeting room fell silent at this remark, which sounded almost like a lament.

All eyes turned to him, but simultaneously, those gathered in the meeting hall must have realized.

They had become the very ancien régime they once hated.

“We’ve become the enemies of revolution…”

Yes, now they were the ancien régime and enemies of revolution.

And the revolutionary army they had to face was now…

“Revolution for our world. Punishment for hateful Paris!”

“”””Revolution for our world. Punishment for hateful Paris!””””

With Teresa, the leader of the Phoenix Cult, as their commander, they were advancing on Paris.

Of course, the revolutionary army was well aware of the weaknesses that the government forces knew about.

To occupy Paris as quickly as possible, they were concentrating all their forces in one place, and for this purpose, they had modified their previous slogan and were shouting it to demonstrate their unity.

While everyone harbored different ulterior motives, they all shared one thing in common—hatred for Paris!

Therefore…

“Revolution for our world. Punishment for hateful Paris!”

“””””Revolution for our world. Punishment for hateful Paris!”””””

With one heart and one mind, they were marching on Paris to judge it.