"What about the other group of people?" Fa Jǐng asked, "They are accused of inciting and sabotage against Lord Morey. They attempted to blow up the arsenal last night."
"Ah," said the magistrate. "Did I find myself standing in front of those bravely opposed to Lord Morey? Then we will have to give you rebel heroes the special treatment you deserve... Hanged to death!"
Fan Fan looked at Ash. The pirate accepted all this very calmly. He even glanced at Fan Fan and gave him a glance. Fan Fan couldn't help thinking, what on earth did he want to do
"Take them away, Fa Jǐng," the judge shouted, looking directly at what Fan Fan said. "We can't let the crowd wait."
According to the magistrate, a large group of people gathered to watch the execution. Fan Fan wants to know how often they hold such public events. The so-called trial is completely different. There is not even any suggestion for defense.
Outside the prison, a carriage was waiting beside the solid wall. They used armed guards to lead the prisoners to the carriage, where everyone tied their wrists and took turns walking. Everyone climbed into the carriage. The driver, a man with a black hood sat in front. When the carriage was loaded, the man in the black hat grabbed the reins of the horse team and made them move.
The tall gallows faintly stretched forward, far beyond the crowd. When the carriage went from the fence to the gallows, the crowd separated like waves. The locals cursed them and spit on them. Some people throw food and mud, or worse.
Fan Fan wanted to know why the carriage was so long, until he saw the gallows. A row of ropes hangs from a ten-meter-high beam in the air at a height of 1 meter above the main platform. A man stands on the platform. He also wore a black headscarf with two holes to see through. The platform is high enough to put a carriage, this carriage, parked there waiting for the body to fall.
There are six nails on the cross, but today there are only five people holding ropes. The carriage stopped by the stairs leading to the platform. The prisoners came out from behind the carriage, and a Jǐng guard escorted them up. Another man in a hat, the executioner, was waiting to accept them.
The executioner took each of them off the rope and found a place in the rope. He put a noose on everyone's head and put them tightly around his neck. Then he walked back to a lever fixed to the wooden structure. When the word appears, the lever will open the floor underneath. Fan Fan watched the carriage walk along a dilapidated path from the stairs to under the gallows.
Fa Jǐng climbed onto the platform. He began to read out the charges against the death row prisoner. Fan Fan's trembling heart drowned the man's voice. He looked at the sky, looking for possible things, some kind of power that could save them, but Fan Fan did not see the clouds in the sky, nor did he see any angels flying to rescue them at the last minute.
Fan Fan turned around and found that the executioner was ready. It's almost time. Strangely, the executioner wore a machete on his left hip. This confused Fan Fan, but it was not enough to calm the blood in his ears.
A thunderous explosion shook the square. Everyone turned around and saw a plume of flames and black smoke rising from the buildings on the east side of the city. "Arsenal!" someone shouted in the crowd.
"Haha, this is where the fun begins, kid," Ash said to Fan Fan.
A sword flashed through Fan Fan's line of sight and cut his rope. He watched the man in the hat run from person to person along the platform, cutting all the ropes to the upper beam. "Come on, lads!" Ash said.
The executioner ran back to the bar and threw the switch. The floor under their feet collapsed like a trapdoor, and they all stepped into the carriage and waited underneath. The executioner followed them and began to cut their shackles.
At the same time, the hooded carriage driver grabbed the reins, and the horse bumped away from under the platform. People ran away, or fell off the road, and the crowd was full of chaos. Most people were distracted by the explosion. When they realized what had happened, the carriage had begun to drive along the main street towards the pier.
As Elspeth and the other young women approached, the white granite wall stretched out. Elspeth had heard many stories about this city named after a god when she was young, but she had never seen it before. The name of this city has a prophecy, because the name means "God is with us."
Elspeth felt very tired. How many days has it been since riding the crimson and black knights to destroy Granditown? She no longer counts. These women are deprived of proper food and always feel thirsty. Elspeth felt they were wandering between life and death.
For her, all hope was gone. She didn't know why they survived when Grandi's others were killed. Smoke and flames have always been their last impression of Grandi—the last memory that burned in their minds every night before going to bed.
Emmanuel’s white walls stood five meters high above her head. These impenetrable walls were proof of Satan’s holiness and a beacon of hope. Now they include the fate of the entire country.
Three walls surround the royal city, three sides surround the imperial palace, and the fourth is the palace. From the back wall of the palace, the white granite waterfall falls all the way down to the blue sea hundreds of feet below. Morey and his Demon Knights are the only ones who can occupy this city. They are the only ones who dare to try in this era.
Every once in a while, the tower will rise from the wall. It is not clear from this distance, but Elspeth knows that the devil guards the city. She had never heard of the number of demons under Morey's leadership, but the number must be huge. There are many horrible stories about Morey's contract with these evil souls. Elspey thought to know if this half had not been told yet.
The dilapidated carriage climbed up the cobblestone path and led them through the gates of the city. At present, both iron gates have been lifted. If the enemy happens to cross the first porch and enter the hall, archers and gunmen will attack them from the wall. The stone trough is tall and contains boiling oil, which can be poured on those trapped between the two gates.
When the carriage with prisoners entered the city wall, the city spread in all directions. The palace stands high above other buildings, straight ahead from the gate. The main road they took was divided into several small roads along the way. But their destination seems to be the palace itself. (To be continued) (End of this chapter)