Chapter 712 Fate (Part 2)
The next day, the execution ground was ready in the Augustus Forum outside the Flavian Palace, and the messengers in charge of delivering the message spread the news of the upcoming public execution throughout the streets and alleys of Constantinople.
The citizens of Constantinople gathered in the Forum of Augustus. Their eyes were filled with confusion: What kind of guy deserved to be publicly executed in front of the Romans! On the Xingtai, Marenius was dressed in military uniform. Next to him was a wooden sleeper. Next to him stood a barbarian with a golden beard. The barbarian held an iron sword that was half his height.
In order to prove that his weapon was powerful enough to make the execution look clean and neat, the barbarian raised the iron sword in his hand and placed it on his arm. He used the whetstone in his right hand to continuously sharpen it, deliberately making a "swish! swish! swish" sound.
Such a powerful momentum was enough to scare the children so much that they hid in their parents' arms and burst into tears. The citizens looked at the executioner with horror in their eyes. They were glad that such punishment was not aimed at themselves, but at the same time they were curious about which unlucky guy would have to face this unlucky guy.
Opposite the Forum of Augustus, in front of the Flavian Palace, there were fully armed soldiers standing there, guarding the end of the high steps, because there were three seats in front of the Flavian Palace.
As the "victim", how could Zi Shi miss such a scene?
There were three seats, with Luca sitting on the left, Tenaia on the left, and Likinia on the right.
The three people's expressions were surprisingly the same. As "victims", the three of them did not show any joy at all. Their solemn expressions made this punishment not seem like something to be happy about, but rather a farewell.
Luga turned his head to look at Li Jinia. The expression on Li Jinia's face was not only solemn, but also painful.
She looked at the gallows and couldn't help shuddering. She didn't know if it was because of the cold temperature or for some other reason, but Likinia was shivering. She was still struggling to hold on, even though she was wearing thick enough clothes!
"Romans!"
Seeing that the time was ripe, Marenius raised his right hand and shouted loudly to the citizens of Constantinople, attracting the attention of everyone present. "Now, we must clarify to everyone that a traitor, an ungrateful person, stood up when the great Basileus was on tour. Yes, yes, he is the enemy of Rome and the enemy of Flavius. He killed the ministers loyal to Flavius and tried to split and shake Flavius' rule."
As Marenius said this, the citizens of Constantinople below the stage could not help but exclaim in amazement. Everyone widened their eyes, wanting to see who had the courage to rebel against the Flavius dynasty's heyday.
Of course, the traitor was slowly brought in front of everyone, and at this time everyone couldn't help but exclaim. Of course, who could have thought that this evil traitor was such a weak, handsome young man.
John Antiochus was carried to Xingtai by two soldiers. This thin guy had no ability at all. He was like a puppet and allowed the soldiers escorting him to be dragged to Xingtai.
Luca turned his head to look at Likinia again. Likinia was trembling even more violently, her breathing became more rapid, and her inner panic even made her bloodless lips tremble constantly.
John was carried up and forced to stand beside Marenius. Marenius turned around and looked at John, with an extremely complicated expression on his face. John kept his head down and looked at his bare feet covered with wounds and blood without saying a word.
Marenius felt a little bit sorry for what was happening, so he turned around and looked at the Flavian Palace behind him, and met the eyes of Luca who was sitting there.
Luca still had a blank expression on his face. He noticed Marenius's wait-and-see attitude and understood what it meant. Luca nodded slightly. This slight movement was quickly seen by Marenius. Marenius also nodded in response and then turned around.
"Look at it! Look at it!"
Marenius gritted his teeth, stepped forward, grabbed John's greasy and messy hair, and lifted him up, showing John's pale and bloodless face to the public. Then he turned around and pointed at John and shouted to all the citizens present: "Look, this is the appearance of this traitor, remember him! Remember him! He killed countless loyal people, and even the senior officers of the Guards were not spared! He deserves to die, and should be cursed to hell and cut into hundreds of pieces!"
"Traitor! Traitor!"
Under the instigation of Marenius, the citizens raised their right hands and pointed at John Antiochus and shouted loudly. They no longer wanted to see this guy alive in the world.
The citizens cursed and even asked the executioner to quickly swing the sword to end John Antiochus' "sinful" life.
Public indignation was aroused, and the citizens shouted loudly and demanded the death of the traitor, although they did not know the specific circumstances.
The surroundings were filled with people's roars, and the deafening sound was unbearable, but as a "victim", Zi Shi had to witness the whole thing with his own eyes to relieve his hatred! Luca once again turned his head to look at Likinia, her eyes were fixed on the execution platform in the distance, her face was pale, and her whole body was shaking violently. It was not difficult to see that she was already restless.
Seeing Likinia so embarrassed, Luga didn't say anything. A trace of loss flashed in his eyes. Luga turned around and continued to watch the execution.
"Kill him! Kill him..."
The roars of the citizens were endless, and John was pulled by the hair by Marenius, and had to face these roaring citizens head-on. He closed his eyes slightly, unable to bear to look at the anger.
"Do you have anything else to say?" Marenius turned around and grabbed John Antiochus' neck with his other hand.
"My conscience is clear, old friend!"
John spoke slowly. He was so weak that he was out of breath. He opened his eyes slightly and looked at Marenius out of the corner of his eye.
Marenius's expression was as mixed as his inner feelings. Gradually, the hand he was holding John's began to tremble uncontrollably. He clenched his teeth and tried his best to suppress the pain in his heart.
“Damn it!”
Marenius pressed John hard on the guillotine and raised his head to nod at the executioner.
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The burly barbarian acted quickly. Seeing Marenius's permission, he grasped his iron sword and came to John's side.
The barbarian weighed the iron sword, his eyes fixed on the back of John Antiochus' neck, ready to deal with the problem as quickly as possible.
Perhaps he could no longer control his inner guilt, so Marenius loosened his hands and ran down the guillotine in disgrace like a deserter.
"Long live Rome..."
“Crack!”
The sound stopped abruptly. It was John's last roar, a roar he made with the little strength left in his life. In an instant, it overwhelmed the thousands of spectators in the Forum of Augustus.
Marenius also paused, his eyes wide open, standing there at a loss.
“Oh my god!”
At the moment John was beheaded, Tenaia in the stands suddenly covered her mouth. She had never seen such a scene before, and her eyes were full of fear.
Luca, who had seen too many deaths, did not expect that at the moment John was beheaded, his whole body twitched as if he was electrocuted. He tried his best to control his breathing and reached out to smooth his chest. His breathing became more and more rapid, and his heart was pounding. This was the pain he had never experienced before.
"No! No! No!" Likinia shook her head desperately. She couldn't bear it anymore. She jumped up from her seat, covered her mouth, and ran away.
The guard wanted to bring Likinia back first, but was stopped by Luca, "Let her go!" Luca waved his hand and continued looking at the gallows.
There was silence all around, and everyone stared blankly at the guillotine. The old black wood was stained with new blood, and a young, wronged life was lost.
"Oh my God, look at us, what have we done?" Luga shook his head slightly, muttering softly with trembling lips.
(End of this chapter)