The dull sound of trumpets sounded from outside the square of the Glorious Cross, and the crowds of heavily armed Knights of the Sacred Tree climbed the hillside with neat steps, following the battle flags of the black trees on a white background—the sound of neat and powerful iron boots, like the sound of a death knell, and the crowd in the square lost their original calm, and fear and uneasiness spread.

The already restless believers were even more desperate in the direction of the temple, and for a time the square was full of turbulent and crowded crowds, but they were greeted by the cold doors of the temple, which had not been opened in the slightest trace.

Everyone's eyes were staring nervously and terrified at the black tree flags on a white background that climbed up the hill - for the people of Turin, this flag was often another flaming goshawk flag. Naturally, the person represented by this banner can only be him.

Berrion Marcherus.

While everyone was still nervous, a full two thousand sergeants of the Knights of the Sacred Tree had already rushed up the hillside - and even below the hillside, groups of Banner Regiments and Regiments of Guards were arriving.

"They surrounded the entire Radiant Cross Holy Mountain!"

The terrified screams were like a fuse that detonated, and the terrifying screams set off in the square like a monstrous wave, and the panicked crowd fled in all directions, only to find that there was no place to escape, all the exits, all the stairs had been blocked by the soldiers of the Knights of the Holy Tree.

The solemn-looking sergeants held up their shields, and the walls pushed forward with their spears raised, pressing the crowd of protesters in the square like rabbits. Firm and unhesitating pace little by little. The spacious square has been turned into a cage where everyone is imprisoned.

The frightened crowd kept squeezing in the direction of the temple gates. From time to time, there were strange screams - people who fell, people who were trampled, people who were injured...... The cries and rat-like "roars" rang out one after another, never stopping.

Gaio Valens, dressed in the knight's coat, stood on the outskirts of the square with a stiff expression on the stairs, his cold eyes glancing at the glorious cross sign on the gate, and a sneer on the corner of his mouth.

"In the name of the Kingdom of Turin, I hereby read the order of the Lord Berrión Marcherus, Lord Keeper of the Seals and regent of the Kingdom—any attempt to protest against the laws of the Kingdom, regardless of family. No matter how high or low, how rich or small, they will be punished as they deserve. Any attempt to evade sanctions will be considered treason!"

"Both we and yourselves should know that today's protest is entirely the work of some people with ulterior motives and monstrous powers, and as long as you are willing to confess the mastermind or find the leader, you can be exempt from punishment. Gayle Valence's voice smelled of blood: "But any attempt to cover up or evade." Here the law of the Kingdom will give the most just sanction!"

As if to prove his words, two thousand knight sergeants took half a step forward at the same time—the sound of heavy, neat footsteps like hammers striking at the hearts of all. There was another panicked shout in the square.

"Whoever you are doing this act of defiance of the Kingdom's will, if you are willing to come forward and point out the masterminds, the Kingdom will not be blamed. Gaio Valens' voice was still cold and merciless: "Whether it's the Knights of the Sacred Tree or the Garrison of the Capital - our duty is to maintain the peace of the kingdom and the peace of the city of Turin, and anyone who tries to destroy it will have to pay the price!"

"In the name of the Radiant Cross, there is no mastermind, no conspiracy!" an impassioned voice resounded through the crowd, and even his righteous indignation could be heard: "All this is of our own free will, we want to protest, we want to protest to the Lord Berrion Marcherus, the Lord of the Seals!"

"Yes, we are not targeting the kingdom, the person we are protesting against is Berrion Marcherus!"

"Let him withdraw all the soldiers, let him stop martial law on the entire city of Turin, we are proud Turines, not his prisoners!"

"Let him return the keys to the treasury to the Minister of the Interior, let him stop enriching himself with the wealth of the kingdom, and let him return to us the bread that belongs to us!"

"Let him come here and apologize to us, to all the starving Turinees, he is not worthy to be the Lord of the Seals of the Kingdom!" ......

In just a few words, the atmosphere in the whole square suddenly changed - the crowd that had just looked like a group of frightened rabbits suddenly became "brave", the atmosphere of the commotion became more and more uneasy, more and more-for-tat, and some people even launched a "charge" at the spear in the hand of the knight sergeant without fear of death.

The knightly sergeants standing on the periphery still had serious expressions, not changing in the slightest from the commotion of the crowd - they were still waiting, waiting for the Grand Master to give his orders.

This is the tradition of the Knights of the Sacred Tree, or the Easters, who are always loyal to the Knights of the Sacred Tree, right or wrong, good or evil. In the midst of thousands of years of confrontation with the infidels, they have learned that only unity and loyalty can survive.

"No mastermind, no conspiracy?" The corners of Gaio Valens's mouth finally curled up slowly with his long sword in both hands: "It doesn't matter, you will speak sooner or later." ”

"Knights of the Sacred Tree—Forward!—Kill all the rebels, leaving not one behind—until they confess their mastermind!"

The dull sound of the horn sounded again, and the sergeants finally waited for their orders, and with the sound of iron boots, the sharp spears marched forward in unison, and in the sunlight splashed out the incomparably piercing scarlet!

"Ahh!!!h

The screams of the believers standing on the outskirts reached a pool of blood, and screams of fear and panic erupted from the center of the crowd once more. The crowd that was still protesting just now seemed to have lost their souls, pushing and shoving desperately, crowding in the direction of the gate and retreating again.

Wailing, screaming, wailing...... Hellish voices rang out one after another in front of the gates of the Glorious Cross Church, as if satirizing the "one true god", and filthy blood was splattered everywhere, and the miserable and bloody scenes were staged again and again, dyeing half of the square red.

At this time, no one cares about anyone else, everyone is running for their lives, trampling on the fallen figure of the person in front of them, just to survive for a moment longer - even if everyone knows that they can't escape, the knights and garrisons have already blocked all the exits!

There were constantly believers crowding outside the temple, desperately banging on the door to let the clergy inside, hoping that the Radiant Cross would bless their followers, and that the demons wielding butcher's knives would drop their butcher's knives and kneel on the ground in repentance in front of the bright and righteous servants of the Radiant Cross.

But all this was only hope - the cold door never showed any sign of opening, no matter how hard they banged, no matter how hard they screamed, there was no response from inside...... The only thing that responded to them was the sound of iron boots getting closer and closer, the more miserable shouts, and their own heartbeats, which were getting faster and faster.

Death is approaching step by step.

"Let's go in, let's go in and hide, for the sake of the Radiant Cross!"

"Open the door, those demons, those demons are already rushing up!"

"Open the door, you merciless priests, and the Radiant Cross will curse you and make you die a good death!"

"Bang!" like a church bell, the sound of iron boots stopped. All those who were still alive couldn't help but look back, and what they saw was the still cold expression of Gaio Valens.

"Give you one more chance, confess your masterminds, and the kingdom will still be blamed for the past—or else this will be your resting place. (To be continued.) )