Chapter 443 The War is Coming
The day after the Candle Festival was the official funeral of Queen Sophia.
At 7:07 in the morning, the Candlelight Cathedral in Red Queen District once again rang the dull death knell.
After the seventy-nine bells have rung, no more bells will ring in Avalon today. A pitch-black silence surrounds all of Avalon.
The funeral procession will depart from the Chapel of Sainte-Guinevere, circle the Red and White Queen District and then return to the Candlemas Cathedral.
Seventy-seven pure white griffins with black scarves and seventy-seven knights in silver armor and black cloaks guarded the pitch-black coffin in the center. In the front was Isabel, riding the Griffin Minister, followed closely by Ligeia and Aiwass, riding slightly smaller griffins.
If it were before, people might have questioned how these two young men, who seemed to be less than 30 years old in total, could stand in such a front position.
But today, no one would raise any questions anymore.
Journalist Dimitri, now the editor-in-chief of the Glass Steps newspaper, took the photo himself and it is on the second page of the newspaper.
The glass steps shattered, and the Great Guardian and his griffin were seriously injured and dying.
Minister Moriarty closed his eyes in prayer, while the new Grand Arbitrator held the scepter. They stood behind the Queen, protecting her from harm. The knights of the Arbitration Hall, having arrived late, knelt before them, repenting respectfully and earnestly.
If that photo was released under normal circumstances, it would definitely make the front page headlines.
It was because there were so many important events on that day that it was squeezed to the second edition.
The newspapers also recorded in detail what Aiwass had done, and people learned that it was Aiwass who saved their queen.
Except for the Great Guardian who nearly died, Aiwas's reputation rose to the peak almost instantly.
No one will question the young Minister without Portfolio anymore.
The vast majority of Avalonians are ordinary people. They have no idea what "energy level" is, let alone how strong Aiwass is, nor can they figure out what Emma's strength is. These things are secrets of the extraordinary realm.
In their view, Emma's ability to turn the noon of the Candle Festival into a blood moon and rain blood across the entire Glass Island was simply the power of an evil god. However, Aiwass was able to defeat her, which meant that Aiwass was stronger than her.
Such a young and strong man is naturally worthy of respect.
They had no idea that Aiwass was only at the third energy level.
Those who knew about this matter did not dare to stand up and explain that "this is unreasonable" at this time. They would only be besieged by angry people.
Over a thousand guests accepted the invitation from the Temple of Silver and Tin, and in addition, the people of Glass Island spontaneously poured into the streets.
They surrounded the funeral procession, their faces solemn and silent.
Not only for the Queen's funeral, but also for yesterday's big news.
Yesterday was the Candle Festival, and such a serious matter as the queen's assassination could not be kept secret.
And Aiwass and Isabel had no intention of hiding it.
Today, every newspaper published in Avalon featured Queen Isabel on its cover, her face grim and her clothes bloodstained. Without exception, the front page reported only two things: Queen Sofia's funeral and state funeral, which took place today, and the attack on Queen Isabel yesterday.
Star Antimony's diplomats had directly assassinated the monarch, and Isabelle was their only monarch—her father and brother were not recognized by the people of Avalon. A coward who abandoned his responsibilities and fled, or a baby who couldn't even write his own name, clearly couldn't be a worthy monarch.
This had already angered most of the people of Avalon. The fear and panic caused by the sudden and ominous arrival of the blood moon during the Candle Festival yesterday were also attributed to Countess Emma.
The sacred Candle Festival was disrupted and the queen was attacked - and the people who did it were the Star Antimony people who were generally hated by the people of Avalon.
Coincidentally, the next day was Queen Sofia's funeral.
Although most people in Avalon don't know Isabelle, she is the heir chosen by Queen Sofia herself. Her ring of authority was even transferred while Queen Sofia was still alive.
Queen Sophia's reputation in Avalon is extremely high.
All the people of Avalon today only know and experience two monarchs: Queen Sophia and the previous tyrant, the "Hanging King."
Avalon's "modernization" was basically completed under the rule of Queen Sofia.
Before she took over, Avalon had no railways, no bicycles, no factories, no telephones, no electric lights, no electricity-generating facilities, and even no newspapers for ordinary people. Most people were illiterate, and only a few could attend university and become extraordinary beings. Over 90% of Avalon's land was rural, and the cities were rife with gangs and pickpockets, while the outskirts were filled with bandits and robbers.
Ever since the emergence of Prince Lloyd, Avalon has been declining generation after generation.
Because people no longer genuinely believed in the Knights of the Round Table or their monarch, the Avalonians' affinity for the path of authority had declined significantly, with both the number and strength of the extraordinary, as well as the economy and infrastructure, declining.
By the time the Hanged King took over, Avalon had reached its lowest point in decline. By then, only six universities remained operational throughout the nation. Avalon's silver and gold were rapidly being lost overseas, with many knight families even leaving Avalon with their assets, heading for Star Antimony and Iris.
At that time, the most profitable industry in Avalon was still shipping, because there was really no output worth paying attention to in the local area. The most valuable thing was actually the griffin - even though stealing griffins was a serious crime punishable by death, there were still people who smuggled griffin eggs to goblin merchants.
If you can get in touch with the griffin, you are at least a mid-level leader.
There are also poachers with extraordinary professions, hunting extraordinary animals in the wild and selling them for materials, which has directly led to the extinction of many extraordinary animals in the wild in Avalon. However, this risky and illegal profession is praised by children as "brave" and "adventurer" and spread among the people. Even many parents think it is a good way out.
——This shows that Avalon’s economy had completely collapsed at that time.
It was precisely because the entire Avalon was plunged into chaos and sin that Tudor III, who didn't know what to do, became the "Hanging King".
He's not very smart, but at least he's brave, and he doesn't have any smart, trustworthy confidants around him who can offer constructive advice to save Avalon.
So when the whole of Avalon was gradually falling into decline and was about to fall into chaos, Tudor III chose the most straightforward approach.
——That is killing.
Kill all poachers, kill all corrupt officials, kill all corrupt knights, kill all thieves, kill all robbers, kill all profiteers and smugglers.
Kill the extraordinary people who follow illegal paths, kill the publishers who print and promote "Stories of Brave Men", kill the bards who praise adventurers, kill the teachers who run away, and kill those who don't work and the farmers who don't pay taxes.
Kill all knights and ministers who disobey him, kill those who intend to start a rebellion, kill all foreigners except elves who set foot on the land of Avalon, and kill civilians who intend to escape from Avalon.
Tudor III's solution to all problems was killing. If killing didn't solve the problem, it was because he'd killed the wrong people or hadn't killed enough. His brutality even alarmed the Theocracy, which sent an average of two people a year to dissuade him.
Throughout the reign of Tudor III, all the gallows in Avalon were filled to capacity, and as a result, other forms of capital punishment such as beheading, waterboarding, and burning at the stake also emerged in the early years.
There is no complicated sentencing.
Because before the invention of the treadmill, running a prison also required costs. To prevent prison riots, Tudor III simply refused to send anyone to prison. And precisely because he was so brutal in his killings, judges had to find ways to rescue people.
The reason no rebellion occurred despite such a massive slaughter was simply because he killed so quickly. The full power of the authoritarian path was unleashed—inspecting property, searching memories, and identifying lies. The Inspectorate searched village after village, making it impossible for ordinary people to keep any secrets from them.
At that time, the "Supervision Bureau" was synonymous with executioner.
They even review the documents and belongings in each person's home and carefully check where they came from.
When almost everyone was afraid of the Hanged King, only the Supervisory Bureau and the Inspectorate truly felt the necessity. They stood firmly by the monarch and had absolute trust in the tyrant.
Because they are the only ones who have been in constant contact with sin and chaos.
By the time of Tudor III, many prosecutors and inspectors had become so desperate that they had given up on themselves, as they were completely unable to prevent crime. The person they saved one morning might be dead in the afternoon, and the victim they saved last week might become the perpetrator the next. They no longer knew what to do, and many even developed mental problems.
After they obeyed Tudor III's orders, they were surprised to find that the situation actually improved.
——Don’t even mention family members, killing them all actually works.
So they are more determined that what they are doing is right.
Crime and disorder decreased with a clear and immediate rate... even as the population decreased with it.
Some were killed and some starved to death.
Some people risk the death penalty and flee overseas with their families.
Aiwass had checked the data - in fact, after the end of the first wave, the number of executions had decreased significantly. The number of people who died in the first wave was too great, far too many, and the number was greater than the casualties of all the foreign wars since the founding of Avalon.
After that wave ended, the almost completely collapsed order in Avalon was rebuilt.
Other forms of execution due to gallows being overloaded have essentially been discontinued. The always-filled gallows act as a constant deterrent. This is why gallows are constantly full, yet new ones are never built—they want this "filled" effect.
By the late reign of Queen Sophia, the era in which Aiwass lived, most people had completely forgotten what the Hanged King had done.
But their fear of the Supervisory Bureau seems to be engraved in their genes.
The fear, hatred, and distrust created by Tudor III did indeed cause considerable trouble for Sophia, who had just ascended the throne. But from another perspective, it was precisely because he had truly killed all those people and cleared away these obstacles that Sophia's policies were able to be implemented so smoothly.
Because what was before her was a ruin, not a fortress that was still hostile to her.
It is precisely because of the contrast with Tudor III that people know how benevolent, diligent, gentle, and kind Queen Sophia was. With the trust and support of the people at the bottom, Sophia was able to implement more policies that benefited the people - this is the result of mutual benefit.
It was Queen Sophia who saved all of this from the abyss.
She lived only seventy-nine years, but she saved Avalon from two hundred years of decline.
Avalon rose again from the ruins, and under the leadership of Queen Sofia, in less than sixty years, it had once again become a country that must be taken seriously by its powerful neighbors.
But it also brought new problems - a rapidly developing economy, easy prosperity, and foreign capital gradually corrupted the knights of the old era. Merchants, who grew rapidly in the tide of factories, alchemy, and modernization, also had to take it seriously.
When Avalon comes back to life, some people are destined to become rich. The knights represent the power of the old era, while the merchants represent the power of the new era.
In peacetime, knights were almost completely unable to shake the status of merchants - because knights also wanted to live a good life, but most knights did not know how to manage their assets and did not have the energy to make money.
Because of this, the wealth of most knights is constantly shrinking.
That's why we have new knights who compromise with merchant groups like Lloyd's, and ministers who are corrupted by the Star Antimony and Iris people.
And such days are now coming to an end.
Because the war is about to begin.
If there was one thing missing from Avalon during Queen Sophia's time... it was too little war.
The people of Avalon are not weak, nor are they timid.
They are a nation of chivalrous men after all.
Avalon's original citizens were human slaves who hated the giants, and warriors who volunteered to join the expeditionary force from the Hellas Empire. Fighting was in their blood, which is why they formed the Griffin Legion, a powerful army born only for extreme offense.
Since its founding, Avalon has never ceased engaging in war, whether active or passive. During its heyday, even the still-undisintegrated Heracle Empire was wary and in awe of Avalon.
But in the era of Queen Sophia, because the economy developed so quickly - and naturally reborn quickly from the ruins - the people of Avalon had not been at war for a long time.
Queen Sofia was truly a gentle and kind queen, so she always tried her best to avoid unnecessary wars. When faced with pressure from Iris and Star Antimony, she always chose to cede her interests or compete on equal terms, resolving political issues openly.
Even when the royal family was cursed one after another, her subconscious choice was to resurrect Lancelot I through the Shadow of Avalon Ritual. Using this truly supremely powerful figure to protect Avalon and deter the ambitious Star Antimony people, this was still essentially a "defensive" strategy.
In fact, this did wear down the Avalonians' bloodiness and aggressive desires.
But when Isabel appeared in the newspaper wearing a blood-stained Queen's dress.
The people of Avalon were truly angry—
Queen Sofia’s mourning period hasn’t even ended yet!
Their new queen hasn't been crowned yet!
The people directly blamed the Xingti people for the successive deaths of the royal family due to the curse.
Then the act of Earl Xingti attacking Isabel at this moment can undoubtedly be regarded as an act of annihilation!
When everyone is longing for war...war is bound to come.
(End of this chapter)
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