Nero leaned against the window edge and played the harp, as quiet as the girl in the painting. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoThere are more people gathered under the windows than there were years ago, and it seems that the whole of Rome is flocking here. But this cannot be described as "unprecedented", because it has become a daily routine for her and the entire Roman people.

At the end of the piece, the performer bows gracefully, and the listener respectfully retorts, and everything is the same as before.

"Your Majesty, your playing level has improved again, which is really enviable." The Seneca old man was older than before, but his smile remained the same.

"I've always felt like I've been stuck in a bottleneck lately, and maybe I should play in a different way." His Majesty Nero was a little dissatisfied with himself.

"Oh?"

"I wanted to build a big theater in Rome, the kind that could accommodate all the people in Rome. What do you think of the time when not only me, but anyone with artistic talent can show their talents in it? His Majesty the Emperor seemed to be in high spirits, and it was obvious that this idea had not been a day or two.

"Very good." The old man nodded approvingly, but not for artistic purposes, but for political purposes, "This kind of theater is enough to circulate in the annals of history, and it has a great role in uniting the hearts of the people." ”

"You......" His Majesty Nero shook his head helplessly and changed the subject, "Teacher, how is the life of a rich man?" ”

The old man of Seneca sighed and said with a headache: "Your Majesty, you also know my opinion, this kind of life is a bit too rich and luxurious. ”

"I also appreciate the idea of simplicity and peace of mind. But you know, you can't do intelligence without money. Nero knew that her teacher didn't like this kind of rich life, but she couldn't help it. As Seneca gets older, the heavy administrative workload has become difficult to unfold. And he still wants to remain loyal to the empire for the rest of his life. So it can only be arranged like this.

On the surface, he and Bruce are both retired old men. But in fact, he used his status as a rich man as a cover and secretly controlled the intelligence network of the empire.

"I know, Your Majesty." The Seneca man understood his student's plight well, and he only complained occasionally.

"So. What's been going on with that religion lately? "Nero was a capable emperor, and he went straight from small talk to business.

"Something isn't right." The old man of Seneca didn't talk nonsense, and solemnly took out a secret letter and handed it to Nero, "Your Majesty, you take a look at this first." ”

Nero frowned and took it, but looked at it for a long time. After a while, he sneered and lit it with a candle.

"I knew they wouldn't be at peace."

"That's right. The empire has grown rapidly in the past few years, but the religion has grown even faster. Your Majesty, I'm afraid you need to go and see it for yourself this time. The Seneca old man said solemnly.

"Antium?" His Majesty Nero looked at Yun Fang, as if he had penetrated the shackles of distance and descended directly on the place he spoke. She seemed to be able to see a group of rats secretly gathering together, chanting the name of the god feverishly and secretly plotting something.

"Yes. Your Majesty. Our intelligence agents sensed something unexpectedly there, and it seemed that there were Christians plotting to overthrow the Empire. Not only that, but they also preach that you are a brutal emperor, blaming you for the occasional minor mistakes of officials. As far as I know, they say that even slavery, which has existed for so long, is the result of your brutality. ”

"Clever tongue."

"But practical, my majesty." Seneca smiled bitterly and continued, "It's good to have you in the city of Rome. It's hard for their people to preach something here. But those remote places are different, and they can be said to have had a certain success. We tried to arrest and kill these people who were spreading the wrong words, but instead they aroused a lot of public outrage. ”

Nero sighed: "You and I can't avoid the evils of mortals. ”

"But I'm not going to back down." She looked out the window faintly, as if through all the constraints of time and space, "One day, we humans will be able to connect all of us." Then there will be nothing to hide, and everyone will be the eyes and ears of others, seeing with their own eyes and hearing with their own ears what I do. ”

"I wish I had seen it one day." The old man of Seneca seemed to be infected by the words of His Majesty the Emperor, and said longingly.

Nero shrugged. He said regretfully: "I'm afraid you and I won't be able to see it, maybe we don't know how many generations of children and grandchildren will be able to witness all this." ”

"That kind of world will have its drawbacks, right?"

"Yes, we are imperfect human beings, and the struggle will exist in any time and space. But until then. There will be people who will solve these problems then. And I," His Majesty Nero looked at the old man of Seneca, his eyes shining like the sun in the sky, and even causing a blinding heat, "I will do my part!" ”

"This is our mortal age, and gods should exist in myths and legends, not among humans!"

"I want to follow in your footsteps and make everything you want come true."

"You will, Seneca-sensei." Nero looked out the window again, "Isn't that what we're working for?" ”

The old man of Seneca slowly got up in his chair and bowed respectfully.

"Your Majesty, you are right. We all have a role to play for the sake of a common dream. ”

"Don't get too tired, teacher. I put you in charge of intelligence, not to burden you, but to make it a little easier. ”

"It's not a teacher's duty to throw all the burden on the students." The Seneca old man quipped.

"Is it the student's duty to tire the teacher?"

"Otherwise, how can you be called a teacher? I'm probably running out of time, so let me cherish every sunrise and sunset. ”

"Treasure, teacher."

"Goodbye, my student."

Nero silently watched the back of the old man of Seneca slowly leaving, and muttered to himself, "Christians of Antium, are you ready to face me?" ”

But she didn't know that it was just a trap.

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Southwest of the city of Rome, on the east bank of the Tiber River, the Colosseum.

A group of sneaky people dodged the patrolling soldiers. Gathered here. They were dressed in coarse clothing made of linen, and looked like ordinary Roman people. But they have a common identity --

Fanatics.

"This is it." One of them looked around and made sure of the tunnel. It's full of tents, and it's really the best place to make plans. And the wind has been blowing from the southwest recently, and even the sky is on their side.

Of course. They understood it as a miracle of God.

"God is with you and me."

"Those civilians...... Don't you go for it? A man hesitated.

"Shut up!" A man whispered: "Do not be brothers and sisters to all those who believe in our Lord for these sins, and those who do not believe in our Lord are sinners, and do not let the lives of these sinners defile your faith in our Lord!" ”

"Yes...... They are also potential believers of our Lord, if the glory of our Lord is spread to them......"

"Them?" The man sneered and looked at Rome, "They have been bewitched by demons for too long, and only purification can wash away their sins." ”

The man's voice turned soft. He whispered, "Paya, their death is not a bad thing, only death can wash away their sins and allow them to ascend to the heavenly kingdom of the Lord under the inspiration of our Lord." If they continue to be so obsessed, the only thing that awaits them is to go to hell. ”

"I see."

The voice of the last questioner is gone, and the last chance to reverse history is silenced.

"Ignite it. Let the fire of my Lord burn down the city of demons, and let the glory of my Lord spread throughout the world! ”

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The flames of the burning city lasted for six days and seven nights, and from the Colosseum, the official offices of the imperial government, the streets, shops, and houses in all directions were reduced to ashes, and the whole city of Rome was scorched with earth. With thousands of lives killed and nearly 200,000 displaced, the once-prosperous city of Rome seemed to have become a living purgatory in the blink of an eye.

When Nero rushed back. This is what we have witnessed.

She immediately opened her palace to house the victims and brought food from Ostia and neighboring towns, but this was only a drop in the bucket. Every day, people die, and every day there are countless tragedies.

The prosperity of Rome, which she had worked hard for for nearly a decade, was almost lost overnight, and it was not known how long it would take for this huge wound to heal.

However, this is not the end.

Just as Nero was licking her wounds as she roamed over the ruins of Rome, another piece of bad news broke her.

The one who shares her ideals and has been silently supporting the empire behind her back. The old man who supported her died. It's not that he died and walked his life safely, but that his throat was cut off despicably.

Nero knew who had done all this.

When the flames burned out, Nero's reign began to slowly shake under the impetus of those who had a heart. The city of Rome, once like an iron bucket, is now like an undefended fragile girl. Voices of dissatisfaction with the emperor gradually came from the crowd.

From the moment she set foot in Antium, the Christian plot had succeeded. She didn't find anything there, because her intelligence system had been infiltrated by Christians, and Seneca's presence should have been discovered long ago. They could not tolerate the continued existence of this intelligence agency after the Great Fire of Rome, and they wanted to make themselves blind with their eyes open.

In order to regain the support of the people. His Majesty Nero built the Golden Theater domusaurea. The people of Rome needed a way to heal their wounds, and this was not the time for the Colosseum to appear, which would only stir up bloody emotions among the people, and art was undoubtedly the best of them.

However, things still exceeded her expectations. Even though the treasury was fully sufficient to rebuild Rome and build the theater, rumors arose among the crowd that Nero was wasting money without regard for the lives of the people.

"Is this my people?"

Nero inquired in confusion, but the wise man who answered her questions would never appear before her again.

"Teacher, is the student wrong? I have always regarded Christians as part of the empire, and I have not exterminated them. I always thought that they were just religious believers, and no matter how much they went too far, they would only attack me alone, so I would get the result I have now? ”

"From the moment they kill civilians, they are no longer part of the Empire! No, they're not even human anymore. It's God's lackey! ”

Losing his guidance, Nero grew mad. She began to hunt down Christians, defining Christianity as an evil organization that plagued the nation. But she didn't know that not only the people, but also officials and even soldiers had begun to believe in Christianity, and it had swept the country in a spark. The radical move completely aroused public indignation. It also achieved the desired purpose of the Christians.

Under the covert manipulation of Christianity, Gaul staged an uprising. Zeatic Julius. Windex raised the banner of rebellion in the name of "saving humanity", and then the Spanish governor Garba rebelled, and the former committed suicide in defeat, while the latter escaped with his life.

But Nero didn't know that. Her intelligence network had been reduced to nothing after Seneca's death, and no outside information could reach her ears. When she came back to her senses. Suddenly, he found that he had rebelled against his relatives, and even the guards around him were mixed with Christian believers.

In the end, she chose to go outside the city, with only one retinue with her.

In the basement of that room, she quietly reminisced about the past and figured out many things.

From the beginning. Her mother was taken advantage of by the Christians. Killing Britanix is the first step, and attacking the administrative system is the second step. But she noticed it very early, and the third hand that reached out to the army was not successful. So they want to kill themselves, again and again.

"You won't succeed."

Nero looked at the sharp dagger in his hand and stabbed his backhand into his chest.

The only one who can kill me is myself.

The guards who had stayed outside the door suddenly burst into the house crying, scrambling to stop her bleeding. Even if he was a Christian assassin on a mission to kill Nero. Now he has forgotten about that responsibility.

This is the emperor who created the glory of Rome with his own hands, and the object of his allegiance that he once swore allegiance to for the rest of his life! I don't know when my loyalty turned into betrayal.

Perhaps, it was from the time he came into contact with Christianity.

"It's late, is this your loyalty?" Nero sneered at the man in front of him and said hoarsely.

Maybe the mother hasn't lied, maybe everything she does is for her daughter.

Perhaps, it was he who hurt his mother.

"Your Majesty......" The attendant wept silently, remorse gnawing at his heart like a poisonous snake.

"If you remain loyal to me, then take my words out. Let them know, let everyone know—" Nero took a deep breath and gripped his squire's arms tightly. Her eyes glowed with a blinding light, like the sun in the sky falling into the earth.

This time, I lost.

Next. I will win!

This is our mortal world, whether it is joy, anger, sorrow, love and hatred, it should be controlled by us mortals!

"I will come back and reclaim this mortal world!"

His Majesty closed his eyes slightly, as if he had just fallen into an ordinary deep sleep.

The glory that belongs to mortals ends here.

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Nero slowly opened his eyes, as if awakened from his slumber.

The huge Golden Theater was packed, and everyone stared at the familiar face. These are all the souls who died in the fire of Rome and the subjects who willingly followed her forever!

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting."

Cheers were mixed with tears, and everyone was frantically chanting the name.

yes, a thousand years.

But our Majesty, we do not regret it. It is You who bring glory to us so that we will no longer be deceived by God. So we will always follow you and follow the glory that you have created and that belongs to us mortals!

Even if it is another thousand years, two thousand years, countless thousand years, we will never regret it!

You've fulfilled your vows, and so have we!

"My people, would you like to go with me again?" Nero held aloft the primordial fire of the Meteoric Iron Primordial Flame, layers of crimson fire lingering on the sword. The flames melted the blade until only a surging flame remained.

"We do!"

"Even if it's the last time?"

The flames set the girl's body on fire, and the entire Golden Theater on fire. Emerald green flames emerged from the flames, dyeing everything the same color in an instant.

If this is the last burning, how can we be missing our first light?

"Even if our body and soul are burned to the ground, we will follow in your footsteps!"

Nero looked up, and an emerald spiral swirled up her body, carving a circle of threads into her eyes.

Who do you think we are?

We are just a bunch of ordinary mortals, who will hurt, who will hurt, who will cry, who will laugh, who will die.

But we will also fight, and even if we are burned by the flames in the end, we will not bow down to anyone!

This is the glory that belongs to us mortals!

"Come, join me in reclaiming the world that belongs to us mortals!"

"Burning God's Fire!" (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point to vote for recommendation and monthly passes, and your support is my biggest motivation. For mobile phone users, please go to M. to read. )

ps: (There are still 3,000 words, and today is a big update of 11,000 words~ Cheers for this meow, don't meow~)