Chapter 368 Prepare for Execution!

"Dumb-dumb-dumb"

Two crows flapped their wings and flew low in the sky, leaving behind a series of hoarse and crude cries.

The Cathedral of Destiny in Klosten, where Nicholas had talked with Luca Kaslana and Otto two nights ago, has a wide square in front of the church. It is said that a thousand years ago, the system of the castle parliament was not perfect. Destiny would often call on all citizens of Klosten to vote in this square when making major decisions, but now it has become a customary place of execution.

Of course, not everyone is qualified to be punished here. Generally speaking, only vicious bandits, witches who spread evil words and deceive people are qualified to die at the gate of heaven.

Ironically, less than a hundred meters behind the execution ground is the so-called heaven on earth, the place where gods live and move in the world. The Lord should have sprinkled the gospel and holy light on the world, rained down the milk and honey, and let the trees bear fruits like bread...

But now, people have set up a huge gallows here, and the knights stood shoulder to shoulder to form a human wall. The spears in their hands reflected the scorching sun. There was a circle of unnamed trees on the edge of the square, but I don’t know if it was the wrong season, but there was no leaf.

It will take some time for the gallows to be completely completed. It just rained last night, and the air was still filled with damp and unpleasant earthy smells. The laborers carrying wooden stakes walked around the square, and the hollow floor tiles spit out water from time to time with their footsteps, making the square full of dirty and smelly puddles.

"Get out of the way! Why don’t you let us in!"

When Eleanor, who was dressed in ordinary clothes and empty-handed, came to the square with two Valkyries, she was stopped by the alert knights at the first time.

"Captain Eleanor, please don't make it difficult for us. According to the order of the bishop, except for a few Valkyries who are on missions outside, the rest of the Valkyries will have a day off today. You should rest at home now!"

"Tsk!"

Eleanor smacked her lips, her chest rose and fell rapidly, she exhaled several times in a row, and paced back and forth in front of the knight twice, then gritted her teeth and asked:

"Who said that you have to stay at home on vacation? Of course I know the order to take a vacation, so I didn't carry any weapons or protective gear. I am not standing here as the Valkyrie Eleanor, but as an ordinary citizen Eleanor Shaniyat, or as the current patriarch of the Shaniyat family. . What? As the patriarch of Shanyat, one of the three major families of the Fate, he doesn't even have the qualifications to be a spectator of this hanging? "

The knight captain touched the mask on his face and replied in a muffled voice:

"Captain Eleanor...Okay, Miss Eleanor, please don't join in the fun, okay? To be honest, don't you really know why the bishop gave the Valkyrie a holiday? "

The answer is obvious. Although the Valkyrie has proved with its behavior that they are not on Kallen's side to fight against the Fate, as a team that Kallen once led, the Fate still cannot be completely assured of it, whether it is Bishop Nicholas or the Castle Council.

Karen's unyielding death was a bit unexpected for Bishop Nicholas, but it didn't matter. All he needed was to control the Kaslana family. Luca had already surrendered on behalf of Kaslana, so whether Kallen was willing to fulfill the marriage contract and become his chess piece to control Kaslana was dispensable.

As for the Castle Council? As Nicholas said, all they wanted was the power in Kaslana's hands. Kallen and the Kaslana family were an obstacle to them, so it was better to get rid of them all.

Kallen Kaslana must die. Since this is the only common wish of both parties under the conflict, there must be no mistakes in this matter.

So, the Valkyries are nominally on vacation for one day, but if they are conscious enough, they should stay at home and take the initiative to be under house arrest.

Eleanor is not an idiot. She got up early in the morning and knocked on the doors of the Valkyries' homes, but only these two Valkyries with a little Shaniat blood were willing to make trouble with her.

And as expected, they couldn't even enter the venue.

The knight captain sighed. As an ordinary person, he was not very willing to offend the Valkyries, but he had to obey the order of destiny. He became a sandwich, caught in the middle and in a dilemma.

"Miss Eleanor, please don't make it difficult for us! Besides, what difference does it make whether you go in or not? You don't want to rob the execution ground, do you?"

Eleanor's thin lips were pursed into a straight line, and she shook her head quickly, "I just... want to see my friend off."

"Uh..."

Even through the mask, Eleanor still felt the corners of the knight's mouth twitching in front of her.

"Miss Eleanor, don't joke, everyone knows that you and Karen are enemies..."

After the knight said this, he couldn't help but pat his cheek - yes, everyone knows that Eleanor and Karen have a bad relationship, so why did the bishop do this? Ha, women's friendship is so complicated.

When he raised his head again, Eleanor had turned around and left with two Valkyries, leaving only a short sentence:

"It's boring!"

The captain of the knight scratched his head through his helmet, and he realized - did he offend the Valkyries just now?

There was really no other way. If he let them in, he would be offending fate, and he had no choice.

But this still affected his mood after all, so that when a tall white-haired man walked up to him, he just glanced casually, and seeing that the man didn't bring any weapons, he turned sideways and let him in.

"Hey! Old Turtledove, although your ability is weird, it is really useful! Even though you are far away, I can tell you what I am thinking in my mind... Are there any other ways to use it? For example, let someone The person who originally hated you fell in love with you in an instant... No! Tell me the truth, have you done this a long time ago?"

"Miss Eleanor, you promised me not to use the derogatory name of Old Turtle Dove."

"Did I promise?"

"You promised."

"But you haven't told me your name, right? If I don't call you Old Turtle Dove, what can I call you?"

"Didn't I tell you your name?"

"Why are you asking me, I don't know!"

"...Miss Eleanor, we are face to face now, we can talk directly..."

"Huh? What, are you afraid of being laughed at by your comrades?"

Listening to the noise in the mental communication network established by Su, Kevin snorted coldly at first, but then a strange feeling filled his heart.

He chewed it carefully and found out that it was a heartfelt joy.

The relationship between people is neither simple nor complex. He and Su used to be best friends, and they were still the same now. As for some differences that could not be ignored, they were just differences. After calming down, they would not affect the relationship between the two.

So, if there really is a girl who can pester Su all day long and call him Old Turtle Dove...

The corners of Kevin's mouth turned upward, just for a moment, and then lowered in an instant.

Because that was impossible. Compared to parting with life and death decades later, it might be a wiser choice to let everything stay at the stage where it has not yet begun. He believed that Su also understood this.

However, today's main goal is not this, and Su doesn't need him to talk.

Kevin squeezed forward bit by bit. Even though he was much taller than people of this era, there were so many people in the square that he seemed to be stuck in a swamp. No matter how hard he struggled, he only moved forward a little bit. .

If he really wanted to squeeze in, there was nothing he could do. He just needed to stop holding back and let the cold air in his body escape, which would be enough to make the people around him stay away from him quickly. But there is no need to do that. It was Eleanor's suggestion to sneak in here. For him, it doesn't matter if it is further away, even in Vienna or further away. He can catch up, just like other people. Alone, she...

Kevin turned his head and his gaze shot out like arrows, landing on an ordinary roof thousands of meters away. Eight figures stood loosely on the roof.

It stands to reason that this matter involves both Destiny and Kaslana. It is more or less Kevin's own family matter and should not be allowed to be interfered with by others. But for some reason, he always has a bad premonition, as if things are not going well. It's not that simple...

To be on the safe side, he still called Hua, who happened to be convinced by him. After defeating the Judgment-level Honkaimon in Australia, he followed him to Europe.

"hehe……"

Kevin suddenly sneered twice and stopped in his tracks, then the words of the citizens around him reached his ears without any hesitation:

"Hey! Why are there so many people today? There weren't so many people when we executed witches before, right? It seems like half the city is here."

"Hush! Can a witch compare to this one? This is the daughter of the Kaslana family! Just tell me, we have lived half our lives, when will we have the opportunity to see a nobleman executed? Or a member of the Kaslana family, or a Girl! She is still the captain of the Valkyrie Force!"

"Tsk, tsk, tsk! It's true, this kind of opportunity comes only once in a hundred years... But what did she commit? A nobleman was actually sentenced to death by hanging. Normally, aren't nobles under house arrest? Even if they are to be executed, they will be executed. Give me a drink of poison secretly?"

A group of people gathered together and chewed their tongues. It seemed that they had not experienced the previous things. Suddenly an old man in front turned around and interrupted:

"That's different! Don't you know what happened a few days ago?"

"What happened? I really don't know."

"Speak quickly, speak quickly! Don't show off!"

"Hey! That day in the square in the XC district, this girl suddenly borrowed the stage where someone was performing and said she wanted to talk to everyone. No one wanted to talk to her at first, but when they saw it, she was wearing a sack on her shoulders. , wearing a mask on her head, but she was wearing a Valkyrie uniform, with the Kaslana family crest on the collar, I was confused, I didn’t know which song she was going to sing.”

"No, old man, can you speak quickly! Don't talk about these useless things!"

"Oops! I know you're in a hurry, but don't worry! When you tell a story, you have to explain the causes and consequences clearly, right?"

"Then you should speak faster! The gallows has been set up! The nun will come out soon to read out the charges. Who will listen to you!"

"That's right!"

"Tsk! Anyway, that girl is quite innocent. She said a lot of things, all of which were about indulgences..."

"Good scolding! So what did she scold?"

I was about to say something simple, but as soon as I got up, I was questioned. The old man was also very helpless:

"I forgot. It's been so many days. Who can remember it? Anyway... I thought what she said made sense at the time, but to put it bluntly, didn't she just want to call on everyone to boycott indulgences?"

Probably after hearing the debate here, more people joined the discussion:

"Just listen to that kind of talk. If you don't buy indulgences, the knights won't knock on Kaslana's door! But this girl is crazy enough. She actually robbed the indulgence salesman and threw the money everywhere. Unfortunately, the Knights came too fast and ran away before I could pick it up. It was really a bargain for those people. Knight."

"Then this girl is quite pitiful."

"Pitiable? What's so pitiful? Their Kaslana family has enjoyed thousands of years of prosperity and wealth, where did all the money come from? Wake up! Everyone is here to have fun, and you sympathize with the nobles, bah! Isn't that just the leeks sympathizing with the sickle? "

"Although I always feel that something is wrong, but you seem to be right. "

"Hush! It's started, it's started!"

I saw a nun in a black robe standing on the execution platform. The upper half of her face was covered with a crow's wing-like eye mask, which made people wonder if she couldn't see anything at all.

"Next, read out the charges against the former captain of the Valkyrie Corps, Kallen..."

"Hmph..."

Kevin crossed his arms and snorted, and didn't listen any more.

He had learned about the incident from Eleanor and Su, and that was why he couldn't understand it. Perhaps Kallen Kaslana's behavior seemed childish to him, but whether it was fighting with Honkai beasts day and night as a Valkyrie, or resolutely criticizing destiny in public not long ago, wasn't it essentially for the people in front of him to live better?

Why did these people speak rudely and come here with a mentality of watching a show?

Yes, he thought that the crowds of people here were everyone coming to say goodbye to her, but he didn't expect that everyone just thought it was fun to execute a noble, so they just came to watch the fun.

It's hard not to be puzzled, and it's hard not to be chilling. But at the same time, Kevin didn't feel surprised.

What's so surprising? He really doesn't understand, but he has experienced it.

It's precisely because of the experience that he doesn't want to understand, and he won't expect Pro to understand him and them in turn.

Anyway, people are always responsible for their own choices. Fifty thousand years ago, humans paid the price of their lives and made what they thought was the right choice.

Now, of course, these people can do this, just like this, silently be a bystander, laugh at Kallen's naivety, laugh at her fragility, what is the price? No matter what, it is caused by their own decision.

It is precisely because of this, and because humans are like this, Kevin believes in the Stigmata Project more...

"The indictment has been read, and the following is..."

"Dumb-dumb-dumb-dumb-"

The sudden crow cry interrupted the nun's reading. The two crows that had gone before returned, and following closely behind them was a flock of crows that almost covered the entire sky. The crude crow cry made people's ears hurt. The light and shadow around dimmed with the arrival of the crows that covered the sky. People had never seen such a scene before. They held their breath and looked around, and their nervousness was beyond words.

Kevin also raised his head consciously, and saw hundreds of crows circling repeatedly in the air. After about ten minutes, the crows seemed to have discussed it and separated from the seemingly chaotic formation into countless teams. Some landed on the roofs around them, looking coldly at the terrified people under their feet with their dark and chaotic pupils, and more landed on the bare branches around the square, hanging so full that the slender branches drooped under the heavy weight.

In the light and shadow that was almost dark, the crows hanging on the branches looked like clusters of leaves, making the scene even more depressing and heavy.

Almost dark?

People reacted and raised their heads again, only to see that the sun in the sky was only a thin golden halo, and the most central part was strangely trapped in darkness.

"Eclipse!"

"The Star Devil is swallowing the sun!"

The crowd was in turmoil, surging back and forth like waves under a storm, but no matter forward or backward, the Knights acted as a human wall to maintain order, and the turmoil did not last long. Destiny soon sent torches to the knights.

The flames illuminated everything around them again, and the nun who was responsible for reading out Karen's crimes stood on the execution platform from beginning to end, without any movement, like a clay sculpture.

At this moment, she finally spoke again:

"God's maid, bring the criminal forward and prepare to accept the Lord's judgment!"

"Hua——"

Accompanied by the sound of sliding iron chains, from the direction of the church, Karen, who was wearing a white Valkyrie uniform, was sandwiched by two black nuns on the left and right and walked forward.

Kallen had just been fed a bowl of soup, and the drug was stronger than the one she took a few days ago. Now not only could she not use the Honkai energy, but even her limbs became soft and her strength was not as good as that of ordinary people.

She walked forward step by step. The wooden yoke in her hands and the shackles on her feet were extremely heavy. Every step she took exhausted all her strength.

She was sandwiched between two nuns, and her route was straight and close to the gallows.

"Wow--"

Unable to avoid it, she stepped into the pond, and the splashing sewage stained her snow-white boots and skirt black.

Finally, she walked to the execution platform, raised her head slightly, and looked at the silent crowd.

The torches in the knights' hands swayed gently in the breeze. With the light, she quickly swept her eyes across the heads that were like stacked mountains, and then, for some reason, the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.

"What a pity..."

It was a pity that she didn't see a familiar figure in the crowd, but it was okay. Otto always regarded her as a hero. Although she knew very well that she was not, she didn't want to show such a humiliating death in front of Otto.

The nun untied the shackles on her feet, not to let her die decently, but just because she was afraid that the rope of the hanging would be broken by the heavy shackles.

Then, one of the two nuns pulled her, and the other put the knot on her head accurately and adjusted the size.

"Prepare for execution!"

Several nuns stood aside, and one of them reached out to grab the mechanism next to the gallows.