Chapter 734: Traitors (Part One)
-St. Petersburg-
It was close to the night, and a sliver of the Sun was still visible in the sky, as red as blood.
Under the red sunlight, it seemed like everything in the world was dyed by blood.
Right now, there were still about four to five hours before the start of the curfew which was established by the military.
Before the nightfall, the military forces of the empire had organized a lot of people to deal with the mess on the battlefields outside the city. The corpses of soldiers of Zenit were identified, and they were moved into the city to be cremated in the traditional honor ceremony. The corpses of the invaders were cremated on the spot, and their ashes were spread on the land to become fertilizers and be stepped on by others.
Since war occurred on the Azeroth Continent often, all the empires had their methods of dealing with the corpses to prevent diseases from appearing and spreading.
The black smoke that came from the burning of the corpses hovered in the low sky, bring a dark, suppressive, and desperate atmosphere to the area.
However, the atmosphere inside St. Petersburg was completely different.
The recruiting stations for the conscription were everywhere in the city, and people were busy signing up. The officials that the military sent over recorded the detailed information of each person who came to join, and these candidates had to be tested before they were placed in the various legions.
One had to admit that the citizens of Zenit listened to and followed the commands that came from the Royal Family of Zenit.
Under the pressure and the threat of invaders, all the citizens became passionate and patriotic. The young men who were within the age range came to register. Everyone knew that if the Empire failed in this war, every single Zenitian was going to become slaves. Without the Empire to rely on, they were all going to become the lowest class of people, lose their loved ones, and walk on a tragic life path.
Some young noblemen even came to the recruiting stations to join the army.
In the face of foreign enemies, Zenitians showed unprecedented unity. The sharp conflict between nobles and regular citizens was significantly diluted. At some recruiting stations, the young noblemen who were dressed in fancy armor were chatting with the ordinary citizens who were in rough robes, and they even laughed together.
The young noblemen demonstrated the knowledge and combat techniques they knew, and the ordinary citizens gave them thumbs-up. Also, the courage and passion that the ordinary citizens showed were admired by the usually haughty noblemen.
The war brought this empire injuries and tragedies, but it also gave it vitality and a new path.
Of course, except for these peaceful and heart-warming scenes, some specific areas in St. Petersburg were filled with cruel executions. Curses, cries, screams, groans, and begs for mercy sounded in these areas, and the intense smell of blood permeated the air.
While the Empire was in danger, some people showcased rare courage and patriotism, and even 16-year-old boys dared to pick up weapons and battle with the enemies. On the contrary, some people chose to ditch their honor and betray the Empire. Some influential figures communicated with the enemies in private and were willing to become traitors in hopes that they could keep their wealth and lives.
Under the lights radiated from the flames of war, despicableness and honor could be easily distinguished.
Fei’s suddenly appearance handed an unexpected defeat to the Ten-Empire United Troops, and they retreated in a hurry, leaving a lot of things for Zenitians.
It was heard that after Crown Prince Arshavin broke into the campsites of Leon, he discovered a lot of letters and documents that couldn’t be burned and destroyed in time. Among them were the evidence of some nobles of Zenit committing treason. A few very influential nobles in St. Petersburg had agreed to the enemies’ demand and were going to destroy the grand magic defensive array formation around the Capital during critical moments and open the city gates.
The shameless behavior of the traitors angered the entire Empire.
Chapter 734: Traitors (Part Two)
Crown Prince Arshavin was known for his discipline and strict rules. Also, as a royal, he couldn’t stand betrayal.
Therefore, even before the battle was over, he sent out elite troops and surrounded the residence of the nobles who sent letters to the enemies just in case these people tried to escape.
Now that the battle was finished, Zenit’s God of War was going to deal with them one by one.
The nobles who were accused of treason and got evidence against them were all killed with their families.
In just one hour, 17 noble families were exterminated, and more than 1,000 people were killed in the execution grounds in St. Petersburg. They were decapitated, and their heads were hung as a deterrent for those weak-minded individuals.
Under the rage of the Royal Family of Zenit and the anger of the public, not a single member of these noble families was pardoned. Blood formed rivers, and corpses piled into mountains.
Outside the execution grounds, crowds of citizens stood together and shouted.
“Kill them! Kill these despicable traitors!”
“Hung them! Cut them into many pieces! These damn b*stards! They enjoyed the privileges of nobles, but they betrayed us in the face of danger! They are unforgivable!”
The citizens of Zenit were so angry that they broke through the lines of soldiers who were keeping order and attacked these fallen nobles. While the ordinary citizens and poor people were on the defense walls and fighting with the invaders with their lives at risk, these nobles who had prestigious status and enjoyed wealth, privileges, and honor were doing dirty and shameless things! These people used the word patriotism all the time, but they didn’t practice what they preached.
Nobles were pulled onto the hanging stands one by one, and some of them were directly decapitated.
Further away at one execution ground, there were about 20 to 30 nobles who were tied together by rough ropes; there were males, females, elderly, and children. The few young men who were tied up had good strengths, and they had bloody scars on their bodies, telling others that they fought back before they were arrested. However, their shoulders were penetrated by iron hooks right now, and their warrior energies were locked. Under the lead of elite soldiers of the [Iron Blood Legion], they were escorted to this execution ground.
The crowd in the area suddenly discovered this, and they all got emotional and irritated. Angry and furious expressions appeared on their faces as they shouted, “They are the Royal Family of the Xuelun Kingdom! They deserve to burn in hell! They are finally arrested…”
“Hang them! The gods are on our side! They are the family members of the biggest traitor, [One Sword]. Such a coward appeared in the Xuelun Kingdom! The royal members should have already committed suicide due to the embarrassment! Why are they still alive? They are shameless!”
“This is better; suicide would be too easy on them! Each piece of flesh should be cut off them! [One Sword] betrayed the empire, and his family members probably are bad eggs. They are all b*stards! Kill every single dirty member of the Xuelun Kingdom!”
As if a handful of salt were splashed into hot oil, the people in the crowd started to shout and curse uncontrollably.
[One Sword] was known as the biggest traitor in this war. It was heard that the Ten-Empire United Troops were only able to get into the territories of Zenit this easily because of him. Also, he showed his face when the enemies attacked St. Petersburg. Therefore, he was the person whom all the warriors of Zenit wanted to kill.
Before [One Sword] committed treason, he followed Crown Prince Arshavin to the Spartax Battle Zone and earned a lot of military merits. The Royal Family of Xuelun Empire all came to St. Petersburg to be awarded, and they were waiting for the Royal Family of Zenit to host the ceremony.
However, the tragedy occurred out of nowhere, and [One Sword] became a traitor. Therefore, all the Royals of Xuelun were arrested, turning from nobles to criminals.