Chapter 10 God's Punishment

Chapter 10

10.1

The prayers at the judgment ceremony are not simple.

Euridsi walked to the statue, lifted her skirt and knelt down. The temple priest brought a silver basin with some clear water in it. Seven leaves were floating in the water, symbolizing the "seven tortures of the god Themis."

Oledsi slowly dipped his hands into the water, indicating that he had cleansed himself of his sins.

Then she took off the Abrad family crest on her chest, the silver "Star Compass" badge, indicating that she had given up "worldly power."

Finally, she took the incense stick from the priest and slowly lit it.

White smoke curled up, covering her face and the statue. The goddess Themis looked down at her from above, her eyes as calm and indifferent as usual.

His eyes did not bleed.

The Duchess's jaw suddenly tightened.

She raised her head somewhat awkwardly and looked into the statue's cold and desolate eyes:

How is it possible that the statue did not shed tears of blood?

The pipeline mechanism that controls the blood and tears of the statue is right under her feet. As long as she steps lightly, the "blood" mixed with cow blood and seaweed will flow through a tube to the corners of the statue's eyes.

Lady Beatrice had already stepped hard under her skirt, but how come nothing happened on the white statue?

And Oridsi had already recited the prayer: "If I am innocent, the statue will not move; if I am guilty, my blood and tears will bear witness."

Oledsi finished praying and nothing happened.

The air in the temple stagnated slightly, and the smoke from the sacrificial offerings beneath the dome seemed to have ceased wafting. Even the usually composed and steady Duke Luce Abrad had a subtle, odd expression on his face.

The statue did not shed tears of blood to point out the sinners, but the believers in the square became even more panicked:

What's going on?

People originally held their breath, waiting for the drop of blood and tears to fall, waiting for the miracle of the oracle "God points out the sinner" to appear.

But no. The statue remained solemn and calm.

At first, the believers were stunned. Then, like ripples caused by a stone in a pond, doubts spread out in circles across the square.

Someone whispered, "What's going on? Why isn't the statue shedding tears?"

"Did something go wrong with the prayer ceremony?"

"The Countess is the last person in charge of public affairs in Oplenci! If she is not the culprit, then who is the culprit?"

"Or is it that God refuses to participate in this judgment?"

As soon as these words were spoken, panic began to grow uncontrollably like weeds at the beginning of the hot season.

Some began to cry quietly, while others cast uneasy glances at the high priest. Even the knights in the front row of the square frowned and exchanged glances. The believers who had been kneeling on the ground all raised their heads, their eyes confused and panicked.

The gods remained silent.

This is not innocence, but seems to be a more terrible declaration:

God refused to participate in this judgment.

Before greater panic could spread, Oulidesi suddenly said, "There is still one person who has not accepted God's judgment."

The people in the temple were slightly startled. Euridsi smiled and raised his eyebrows at the idle Lucien Abrad.

Lucien saw her look, his usual smile still on his lips, and raised an eyebrow, "Who? Me?"

Euridice looked at him, neither saying yes nor no. Lucien looked puzzled. "I'm not in charge of public affairs... Lorenz won't let me do anything. I haven't even finished my studies at the academy."

Olidesi smiled and said softly, "Who says that the sinners punished by God must be those in charge of public affairs?"

When the Duchess heard this, her expression changed slightly -

However, before she could speak to stop him, Lucien felt a pain in his knee, groaned, and suddenly fell to his knees on the stone bricks of the temple with a "thump"!

At the moment Lucian knelt, a hint of scarlet color suddenly appeared in the statue's right eye:

Those are God’s blood and tears!

10.2

Tears made of blood flowed very slowly from the corners of God's eyes.

It streaked across the cold white cheek of the stone statue, dripped along the jaw of the stone sculpture, and with a "pop", dripped onto the tip of the goddess's sword.

The entire temple seemed to freeze at this moment, the sacrificial incense went out, and even the scepter in the high priest's hand stopped moving.

The God who holds fairness and justice is looking down at this trial from a high position, taking in all the good and evil. His expression remains calm and unperturbed, as if he has already foreseen the outcome of the trial.

The statue's face is expressionless, the scales are unbiased, the sword splashes blood—

It pointed to Lucien Ebrard.

10.3

The moment the tears of blood fell, Lucien froze completely.

He seemed unable to immediately understand what was happening in the temple. He did not pray or confess, but just remained kneeling on the ground in a daze.

It wasn't until everyone's eyes were fixed on him in disbelief that Lucien's shoulders began to tremble slightly.

"This... this is impossible..." His face turned pale and his teeth chattered because of trembling.

Beatrice Caragaran's expression was so ugly it could hardly be described as simply "angry." She stood stiffly beside the altar, her fingers clenched into fists, her knuckles turning slightly white from the exertion.

She found it difficult to explain the mechanism of the statue - the statue was cast two hundred years ago by the ancestors of the Abrad family.

At that time, they left such ingenious mechanisms in the statues and temples to manipulate the emotions of believers and deal with the enemies they wanted to deal with.

Even if the Duchess wanted to pin the blame on Euridice, it would be far-fetched.

Euridice Aquitas was just a commoner, and it was difficult for him to install mechanisms on the temple and statue.

If the Duchess revealed the scheme, not only would it fail to save Lucien, but it would only bring the fire back upon herself, causing even greater anger.

That is disrespectful to God, and the wrath of believers will tear her apart.

Beatrice's face turned pale, her mind racing as she tried desperately to think of a solution. However, within a short period of time, she couldn't think of any effective way to rescue Lucien.

She gathered the high priests, judges, and administrators here, and opened the long door of the temple, allowing citizens and believers to see everything inside the temple, so that everyone could witness the birth of "God's punishment for sinners."

She wanted to nail the arrogant Euridice Arquitas to the "guilty" stake so that no one could come to save her.

However, this arrangement harmed her own life; even the Duchess herself was helpless in the face of the wrath of her believers.

The crowd in the Judgment Square was in an uproar.

"The icon is crying!"

“God has identified the sinner!”

"Sinners must accept God's punishment!"

Roars erupted from all sides of the square like thunder, instantly igniting the believers. Those who had been praying softly suddenly stood up, shouting as they pressed towards the steps of the temple:

"Catch him! Catch Lucien Abrad!"

"Lucian Ebrard, he is a sinner!"

"The gods have made their verdict!"

"Execute him!"

"Execute Lucian!"

The bricks of the entire square were shaking, and the shouts of hundreds of people mixed together, as if war had returned to Oplenci.

Some people took out the jade statues they wore and held them high, some waved the imperial code, and some tore down the "Star Compass" flag in the square and tore it to pieces, then ran wildly towards the stone steps of the temple.

The knights of the Ebrard family quickly stepped forward, holding the scabbards of their swords across their bodies, forming a defensive line to block the frenzied crowd. Someone threw a stone, which hit the knights' light armor with a clanging sound.

Outside the temple, the Knights clashed with the angry believers. The Knight Commander's adjutant hurried into the temple:

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency," the Knight's Lieutenant said, "the crowd is extremely emotional. Please retreat from the temple."

Lucian was still kneeling before the statue, his face pale and his body stiff. The high priest didn't look at him, but simply waved his hand calmly. "Take him away and take him to the temple dungeon."

Duke Luce Abrad and Lady Beatrice looked extremely unhappy. They looked at each other and left the temple without saying a word. Their steps were very quick, and it seemed that they were going to work to save their children.

The gray-haired old administrator said nothing more, but only gave Euridsi a meaningful look and left with the Duke and Duchess. However, the judge Adelaide smiled and said to Euridsi, "Well done."

Olidisi smiled calmly.

Outside the temple, people were still shouting, "He's guilty! Execute him! Execute Lucien Abrad!"

However, since Lucien Abrad had been taken away by the high priest, the noisy sounds outside the temple gradually faded away, moving along with Lucien Abrad's movement.

The statues in the temple watched all this, remaining silent. Euridice whispered to Judge Adelaide, "If the gods don't punish the wicked, then people will punish them on their behalf."

The judge didn't say yes or no, he just smiled and left.

Only Euridsi and Lorenz were left in the temple.

Olly Desi glanced at her former husband coldly and said indifferently: "Don't you think I shouldn't do this?"

Lorenz had a complicated expression and said nothing. He simply shook his head.

"If I hadn't rebelled against your mother," said Euridsi, "I would be the one being dragged out by the faithful and burned at the stake."

Euridsi said this, and Lorenz finally shook his head. "You know, Tisi, I'm not blaming you. I knew a long time ago that one day, Lucien's evil deeds would bring him bad consequences. Those who do wrong should be punished, take responsibility, and bear the consequences."

Euridice looked at him and smiled suddenly.

"It's too late." She tilted her head with a smile. "Even if you wanted to save your brother, it's too late. After the 'Divine Punishment', even if he managed to survive, he would no longer be able to gain a foothold in Oprunsi. Lucien Abrad bullied so many people in the past. It's time for him to have a taste of what it's like to be bullied."

Lorenz did not continue talking about Lucian.

Side by side, they left the temple of the goddess Themis and returned to the south wing of Fort Oplensi.

Lorenz was silent along the way. Just when Eulidesi thought that he would not talk to her about this matter anymore, Lorenz suddenly called out softly, "Tisi."

“…”

"How... did you do that?"

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