The Knights Templar is not the famous military order from the Middle Ages, but a unique and powerful force that has gradually risen in this new era of post-apocalyptic disaster and spiritual energy resurgence.
Originally, they were Christians.
Their full name is usually the “Holy Order Guardian Knights,” but the world is more accustomed to calling them the “Knights Templar” or simply “The Temple.”
Origin and Philosophy:
In the early days of the Great Cataclysm, order collapsed, civilization withered, and humanity struggled to survive under the threat of Mutants and rampant psionic energy. In extreme despair and chaos, various beliefs and ideologies began to emerge. Among them, some people believed that this disaster was not accidental, but a “purification” by the gods for the arrogance and corruption of humanity in the old era, a “Divine Revelation” for the new era. They advocated that humanity must repent, be self-disciplined, and seek harmonious coexistence with the psionic energy of the “new world,” even viewing it as a “divine grace” or a “test.”
On this basis, combining some surviving religious texts and new-era psionic knowledge, an organization with the purpose of “guarding the remaining sparks of civilization, purifying evil, and seeking the Oracle” gradually formed. It attracted a large number of survivors yearning for order and salvation, and awakened psychics, eventually evolving into the Knights Templar.
Organization and Structure:
The organizational structure of the Knights Templar is rigorous, with strong religious and military characteristics:
Pope/Grand Pontiff: The supreme spiritual leader, usually held by a powerful individual with strong divine or prophetic abilities, regarded as the spokesperson for the Oracle.
College of Cardinals: A decision-making body composed of high-ranking priests and Knight Commanders.
Knight Order: The main combat force; members are called “Temple Knights” or “Guardian Knights,” divided into different ranks based on strength and merit (e.g., Novice Knight, Formal Knight, Elite Knight, Paladin). They are not only warriors but also missionaries.
Ascetic Order/Divine Grace Institute: The department responsible for studying theology, psionic theory, healing, purification, and manufacturing holy artifacts and holy water. Its members are mostly support or research-oriented psychics.
Inquisition: Responsible for internal discipline and eliminating heretics (usually referring to individuals or organizations that abuse psionic energy, collude with evil, or are deemed to severely violate doctrine). Its power is immense, inspiring awe and even fear.
Power System:
The core strength of the Knights Templar is not traditional technology or pure physical enhancement, but a unique “faith psionic” system.
Divine Abilities: Most members of the Knight Order awaken or cultivate abilities related to “light,” “purification,” “guarding,” and “punishment.” For example: Holy Light Impact, Divine Shield, Healing Spells, Purify Evil, special attacks against dark/necromantic entities. Their power often carries a characteristic of “order” and “restraining evil,” with significant suppressive effects on Mutants, undead, and some chaotic evil psionic creatures.
Holy Artifacts and Holy Arts: They are skilled in creating and using various objects imbued with divine power (holy water, holy emblems, blessed weapons and armor, etc.) and have developed unique “Holy Arts”—a technique that transforms psionic energy into more targeted and powerful moves through specific prayers, runes, or rituals.
Power of Belief: It is said that truly devout and powerful Temple Knights have their power deeply tied to their beliefs. The stronger the belief, the greater the power. However, this also carries a danger: if belief wavers, power may also decline.
Stance and Influence:
The Knights Templar plays a complex role in the apocalypse:
Guardians of Order: They have established branches or churches in many human strongholds, providing protection, medical care, and spiritual comfort. They are one of the important forces for maintaining order and are supported by many civilians.
Radical Purifiers: They take it upon themselves to “purify all evil in the world,” sometimes appearing overly radical and exclusive. They generally adopt a “thorough purification” (i.e., extermination) attitude towards Mutants (whether beasts or intelligent ones). They also intervene in or even judge psychics or research they deem “heretical” (such as certain overly dangerous or life-sacrilegious research).
Independent Force: The Knights Templar is an independent and vast organization, not subordinate to any specific underground city or military zone (such as Panshi Fortress). They have both cooperation (jointly resisting threats) and competition and friction (e.g., competition for resources, ideological conflicts) with various major forces. Their relationship with the Central Federal Government and the Special Operations Bureau is also quite subtle, sometimes cooperating, sometimes checking each other.
Mystics: They are keen to explore the “Oracle” of the Great Cataclysm, searching for ancient ruins and holy relics, trying to find revelations about the future and human destiny. Therefore, it is not surprising that they show interest in places like the Western Rift Zone, which contain ancient secrets.
Relationships with various parties:
With Panshi Fortress/Military Zone: Cooperation and vigilance coexist. The military zone needs their healing and purification abilities but dislikes their sometimes excessive interference in internal affairs and religious propagation.
With the Central Federal Government/Special Operations Bureau: The Special Operations Bureau views them as a powerful local force requiring attention, sometimes utilizing their power, and sometimes needing to guard against their excessive influence.
With the Academy of Sciences: The relationship is tense. The Temple Knights usually consider much of the Academy of Sciences' research (especially that which, like Lin Mo's, touches upon the essence of life and mechanical modification) as “profaning divine grace” and “playing with taboos,” which is likely to cause disaster. The Academy of Sciences, on the other hand, considers the Temple Knights “ignorant,” “conservative,” and “hindering progress.”
With Mutants: Basically regarded as evil beings that must be purified, with very little room for compromise.
Therefore, it is entirely reasonable for the Knights Templar to appear in the Martial Training Grotto-Heaven ruins of Zhang Liang in the Western Rift Zone. They likely learned through their intelligence channels (or the Oracle?) that there was a powerful “necromantic evil” aura or ancient secret in this place, and thus dispatched an elite squad to “purify” and “investigate the Oracle.” Their appearance, whether coincidental or with a specific purpose, undoubtedly adds new variables to an already complex situation.