Chapter 282 A New Regime
POV Tanya:
A podium stood in the middle of the sheer spacious square packed with people. Multiple tied men and women kneeled on top of it, their bodies covered in bleeding red bruises. Snot and blood flowed out of their noses, their eyes dull and lifeless.
The young woman with horns and long black hair just stood there, her red dress waving in the slight summer breeze. Her eyes shone as she looked at the crowd gathered at the square underneath her.
She turned back towards the bound men and women with a smile on her face, “In the name of the Vesuvian kingdom, I sentence you to death for crimes against his Majesty!”
Her hand ignited in bright yellow flames, their searing hot temperature causing sweat to run down the temples of the criminals.
“This a new order! An order where incompetence and abandonment of duties of those in power is a capital crime!” The flames around her small pale hand were becoming brighter and brighter, sparks flying in all directions.
‘Choosing nobility just on their strength was always a bad idea. Just because someone is a powerhouse doesn’t mean they will be a capable administrator.’
Suddenly one of the criminals erupted into laughter, the whole square turning their attention towards her, “Hahaha, no matter how fancy your title is, you will forever be just the insane daughter of the baron from a shithole.”
She was a middle-aged woman in expensive yet tattered and stained robes, her hair in a mess and her face dirty with dried blood.
“Burn!” Tanya moved her burning hand in fury, and the flames shot out towards the woman, enveloping her body, slowly devouring her from her legs, climbing higher and higher, her painful screams resounding through the square, sending shivers down everyone’s spine.
She hated it. She hated when they called her sick or insane. She hated these people making fun of her behind her back.
The next moment she moved her hand again, a wave of flames bursting out, enveloping all of the criminals, their bodies instantly turning charred black, their flesh burning away and turning into dust.
“The new better kingdom shall rise from the washed of the old one!”
The crowd just remained to stare at her, averting their gazes when she looked back towards them. They were full of fear, with their faces pale like these of corpses, ‘Fear is good, but only as a temporary solution as it will keep them from causing more chaos, but it will also lower their productivity.’
POV The Bishop:
The fat man in white was nervously walking in a circle, his whole face wrenched in fury and terror, ‘How dare they? No one even warned me. They just let me die here!’
His steps were resounding through the large chamber of the cathedral. Massive altar of metal and crystals shone behind his back, rows upon rows of white stone benches lining before him.
He wasn’t delusional as he had already heard about nobles being executed on the squares, and he knew he was next in line.
The doors into the cathedral bust open, and the masked figures burst inside, their masks reflecting the magical white light radiating out of the crystals.
“Surrender right now! You are accused of high treason and crimes against the crown. This property is from now on belong to the crown!”
The fat bishop erupted into laughter, his eyes shining in a bright white light, the holy aura spreading out of his body, the whole hall immediately becoming visible brighter.
“Do you consider me to be a fool? There is nothing but torture and public execution waiting for me! I would rather die fighting for the god!”
‘Maybe I was a sinner, but I am sure that god will forgive me if I die fighting in his name.’
Streams of white light bust out of his outstretched hands, the light falling upon the evil cultists, the light washing over their black robes and mantles, reflecting in their masks.
“Die heathens!” the light was growing brighter and brighter, the cultist slowly backing out of the chamber, their skin and robes burning under the might of the holy light!
“Haha, ran heathen run, you are nothing but ants before the power given to me by the god… Huh?!”
The bishop stopped, a bright orange light rising out of the cathedral entrance where the heretics retreated, the whole room turning into a giant oven as the temperature quickly raised.
“Fireball!”
“Fireblade!”
“Firearrow!”
“Kill the boss!”
A volley of fire arrows, lances and orbs flew inside through the open doors in droves, the bishop’s eyes almost popping off his eye sockets.
At the last moment, a light barrier formed a bubble around him.
The fire exploded around him, the whole temple shaking with pieces of the ceiling falling. The flames were blazing around him, licking the light bubble.
‘What is this? How can there be so many casters? What has that dragon done?’ for the first time, he was in a panic, the temple crumbling around him with the precious altars behind him melting and turning into a puddle of molten metal.
More and more projectiles were blasting into the room, the flaming inferno becoming even more intense.𝒪𝗏𝔩xt.𝗇t
“Burn everything down! Burn the temple and burn the priests! Let them feel the might of the dragon fire!” A single figure slowly walked through the burning corridor, the flames licking his red mantle and the black armour hidden underneath it.
The fire surged around him, his whole body emitting fire out of every inch, the flames blazing even out of the eyeholes of his helmet.
“Burn the heretic!” the silhouette of the flaming knight aimed his armoured hand straight at the bishop. The next moment everything turned yellow. The flames, even brighter than the rest, burst out, smashing against his barrier, cracks spreading through its surface.
The bishop staggered backwards, sweat pouring down his temple even with the shield protecting him. More and more fiery attacks launched towards him, the stone floor and walls of the sacred cathedral melting, the ceiling crumbling above his head, massive boulders falling.
‘Is this how am I going to die? I might have embezzled some church gold, taken some bribes and lived in self-indulgence, but I still served the god of light, yet the divine holiness still lets me die at the hands of the heretics. It is all the fault of these fanatics! They just can’t stop provoking that monster again and again.’
The barrier finally shattered the flames enveloping him from every side.