Chapter 426 Witness
Amacadio, the capital of the Silver Iris Empire, is incredibly ancient, a city patched and shaped from countless ruins. Once the capital of five vast empires, it served as the world's political and economic center for over seven hundred years. It was also the final battlefield of more than a dozen divine wars. Soldiers from over twenty distinct nations and ethnicities have trodden its soil, staining every inch of its stone with blood, whether king or slave, hero or traitor.
Prosperity and decline, conquest and submission, birth and extinction, Amacatio remained silent, and opened its heart equally for thousands of years, witnessing the coronation of the victors and the bones of the losers, turning them together into its own bottomless pedestal, and settling them into history itself.
At the beginning of 1853, this exceptionally ancient city finally reached a crossroads in history. A wave of violent and passionate protests that had already swept across the nation, fueled by the "King's treason," finally rose to a peak, a torrent that had long been unstoppable. Then, it roared and poured down towards the royal city.
Later historians called this year the "first year of the Republic."
…
The atmosphere in Amacatio was strange and tense.
After the defeat at the Battle of Breakers Bay, the royal family's reputation plummeted almost instantly. The Dawn Party's slaves immediately drove the Ferros from the inland areas of the Silver Iris Empire, pursuing them all the way to the Frostwhisper Mountains.
The stalemate between Fehrlos and the Silver Iris Empire had lasted for years, and the treasury had long since been depleted. Furthermore, with the onset of winter, the long battle line had made even supplying supplies extremely difficult. Furthermore, both the Great Shaman and the White Nightmare had been completely destroyed, and the new powerhouse, the Sea God Odileus, had suddenly disappeared without a trace...
King Haakon of Fernloth was finally forced to bow his head.
Perhaps in order to disgust the Silver Iris Royal Family, he did not even send envoys to the Royal City to negotiate with the Silver Iris Royal Family. Instead, he unilaterally demanded "peace talks" with the People's Party, hoping to restore the territorial division method based on the Frost Whisper Mountains. However, he was flatly rejected by Ghost.
He didn't seem to care at all about the dispersed forces, nor was he worried about whether something might happen to the besieged royal city during the fight with the Ferros people. Instead, he demanded without hesitation that Ferros must admit "defeat" and return all the land that belonged to the Silver Iris Empire that he had swallowed.
The more recalcitrant the ghosts acted, the more timid the Royal City grew. The civilian army effectively controlled the fortresses of Osiris City and Breaker Bay, effectively encircling the Royal City. Yet, the civilian army didn't rush to attack the Royal City immediately, forcing it into a desperate, last-ditch struggle. Instead, it seemed to be waiting, even superficially giving the Royal City some breathing room and hope for a counterattack.
Since the Feroth couldn't break down the gates of Amacatio, the slave army wouldn't be able to get in either. And as for Breakwater Bay? It was just a temporary victory that came from sheer luck.
But even so, the noble residences, once bustling with revelry, were now completely shut up. Every night, heavy carriages laden with families and valuables attempted to flee the royal city under cover of darkness, but many were caught red-handed by the civilian army. Many more minor nobles and lower-ranking officials, unable to escape, were plunged into a state of utter panic.
Prices soared, food was in short supply, and the royal army and the nobles' private soldiers stepped up patrols and arrested people on charges of "collaborating with the enemy."
The White Terror spread relentlessly throughout Amacatio, but in taverns, workshops, and street corners, the muffled murmur of excited conversation never ceased. Commoners exchanged the exciting news from the outside world—the Yankees had been driven away, the People's Party announced it would abolish slavery, abolish the nobility and the royal family, distribute land, and make everyone equal...
It was not until the red flag representing the People's Party actually appeared outside the gates of Amacatio that these whispers and expectations that had originally spread like wildfire among the lower classes suddenly erupted like accelerant was added, and completely broke out within the royal city.
The Silver Iris Empire's proud royal city, Amacatio, didn't hold out for long under the assault of the civilian army. More accurately, it practically collapsed from within.
As the civilian army fired the first blast outside the city walls, the civilians of the royal city erupted in riots. They poured into the streets, wielding crude weapons and charging towards the barricades of the aristocratic district and the royal army outposts.
Street fighting suddenly broke out in the ancient, narrow streets, but its intensity was far less than expected. Many Royal City soldiers offered only a few token resistances before throwing down their weapons. Some even turned their guns around and joined the excited crowd, rushing towards the Kite Heart Palace.
In the midst of chaos, many of the powerful sorcerers and warriors in the royal city who were worshipped by the royal court and the nobles, those powerful individuals who could even influence the outcome of the war, showed an intriguing silence.
The Oakenselle Society offered a brand new path for sorcerers and warriors worldwide, a path that didn't rely on gods, and could even lead to godhood. At this critical juncture, those with more insight inevitably had other thoughts—for example, was it really worth offending the ghost of the Oakenselle Society's president for the sake of a city seemingly destined for destruction?
The new Pope, Pavardon Miller, stood on the watchtower of the Cathedral of Redemption, silently looking down at the boiling torrent that was about to determine the fate of the entire country. Under his orders, all priests of the Glorious Church did not participate in the suppression of civilians, but instead opened the side doors of the church to provide shelter for the wounded.
...That person actually did it. Pavaton Miller exhaled slowly, his fingers brittle and pale from the effort of holding the handrail. He stared at the surging crowd in a daze.
——He saw the heavy gate of the royal city being opened from inside the city.
The Yuanxin Palace was already in turmoil. For unknown reasons, the queen had remained confined to her room, and the palace maids and attendants, now without a leader, had lost their focus and were now running around the magnificent palace corridors like headless flies.
The sound of breaking porcelain, suppressed sobs and panicked whispers echoed in the air. Some people tried to hide small gold and silver utensils in their arms, while the smarter ones quickly took off their gorgeous and exquisite clothes, desperately smeared coal dust on their faces and bodies, and tore their clothes into tatters, hoping that once the palace gate was breached, they could immediately take advantage of the chaos to escape.
"Run away, Your Majesty!"
One of the king's attendants tightly grasped the hand of the disheveled Cassius II, his teeth chattering violently.
He trembled and spoke incoherently, almost crying, "Right now, the outside of Yuanxin Palace is full of rebels, and there are also civilians who have been bewitched by the rebels. It is said that there are saints and dragons among them. We, we can't even defend the city walls, how much longer can we hold the palace gates?!"
Cassius II's lips trembled violently, and his face turned pale. He subconsciously clenched the hand of his attendant, his nails almost digging into the other's flesh.
"Your Majesty, I heard those people are shouting for regicide and wanting to bring the culprit who betrayed the country to justice." Another attendant was a little calmer. He swallowed, looked around, supported the king, and lowered his voice to a level that was barely audible: "Why don't you put all of this on the Queen, hand her over to the mob, declare that you were deceived by her, and let the mob vent their anger on the Queen..."
“…”
The expression on Cassius II's face was frozen, like wax that was frozen and about to drip.
He trembled violently, as if a poisonous snake had drilled into his ear. He slowly raised his head and stared at the servant who wanted him to betray the queen with his red and bloodshot eyes.
"...No," the king whispered.
But the other party didn't hear him, and still held his arm tightly, chattering about his very "clever" plan.
"Then wait until they've vented enough, and then you can stand up and announce that you will..."
“—I said, no!!”
Cassius II suddenly drew the sword from the man's waist, and amid the screams of terror from the other attendants, he swung the sword and cut off the neck of the attendant who asked him to betray the queen.
There was still confusion and fear on the face of the head. It rolled to the ground and stared at the king who was breathing heavily with its eyes wide open.
Cassius II's lips moved. He had never personally killed anyone, and even treated his attendants with generosity and tolerance. When he realized what he had done in his excitement, his face turned ashen, his fingers trembled, and the sword fell into a pool of blood with a clang. The king's legs seemed to give way, and he stumbled backward until his lower back hit the table, causing a series of sharp scraping sounds.
No one dared to step forward to help him.
"...Where is Merry?" Cassius II asked in a trembling voice.
The other attendants looked at each other, and for a moment no one realized which lover this name, which was probably a nickname, belonged to.
"Merry! Esmerel!" the king roared. "Where the hell is the queen now?!"
This time, someone trembled and told him that the queen had not been seen since the people's army arrived at the city gates, and even the silver-helmeted knights who protected the royal family had disappeared. After much questioning, a maid finally managed to recall that the queen seemed to be in her own chambers.
Cassius II, having received the answer, immediately ran towards his bedroom. As he was about to leave, he turned back and even fell in his haste, leaving his hands covered in blood. However, the king didn't care about that anymore and simply ordered his attendants to hand him a sword. Then, he once again left everyone behind and hurried away.
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