28 The Purge

Expressions of disbelief appeared on the faces of the nobles in attendance, their expressions a chilling reflection of their incredulity. Only Duke Oliver, with an expression of indifference on his handsome face, remained untouched by the tense atmosphere that hung heavy in the air.

"Crime against the crown?" One of the nobles, adorned in opulent silk garments, whispered uneasily, his voice tinged with profound bewilderment.

"What crime against the crown?" Another of the nobles, who was short and bald, muttered in a state of confusion, his beady eyes darting anxiously across the vast expanse of the royal court hall.

Loud murmurs erupted in the hall, shattering the air with an undercurrent of tension. The nobles exchanged hurried whispers, as their voices blended into a chaotic symphony of uncertainty.

Alexander glanced at the crowd in front of him and simply raised his regal scepter, which was a symbol of majestic authority. As if struck by an invisible force, the once boisterous hall abruptly hushed, an eerie stillness descending upon the royal court hall.

"Earl Gerid." Alexander suddenly said, and a loud hiccup echoed in the now silent royal court hall.

Earl Gerid trembled fearfully as he heard his name being called. His heart was beating so loudly and rapidly that they could be heard crystal clear by the Earl who was seated close to him

"Y-Your R-Roy-Royal Hi-Highness." Earl Gerid stuttered greatly as he greeted, his voice trembling under the weight of hundreds of piercing stares from the nobles, their gazes fixated solely on him.

Alexander alighted from the stairs that led to the regal throne he was seated on gracefully, a cadence of steady footsteps echoing in the silent royal court hall.

His footsteps echoed ominously, each thud reverberating through the air, sending shivers crawling up the spines of the nobles. The weight of his presence bore down upon them, suffocating their very breath, as an unyielding pressure emanated from his towering figure.

It felt like a mountain was pressing on their backs. One could only wonder how Earl Gerid, who bore the brunt of the pressure, was faring at the moment.

Of course, the reason the Assyrian nobles were experiencing so much pressure was due to the effect of his [Sovereign's Dominance]; as well as the fact that majority of the nobles were not the awakened yet.

"Rape of our Assyrian citizens."

"Unlawful murder of the Assyrian citizens."

"Refusal to supply the Assyrian military with soldiers, food supplies and weapons, which is a clear violation of the Assyrian military law."

One by one, Alexander began to recount the heinous crimes that Earl Gerid had perpetrated, each word dripping with a bone-chilling intensity. With every deliberate stride, Alexander's presence loomed ominously, the weight of his approach suffocating Earl Gerid in a mounting terror that seemed to multiply with each passing moment.

Earl Gerid's face drained of all color, a sickly pallor overtaking his features, as he heard the chilling words of his crimes uttered by the future king of Assyria.

'H-How?' Terror gripped Earl Gerid's heart as his eyes fixated on the approaching figure of the handsome crown prince.

'How did he know?!' Earl Gerid thought, his eyes wide with horror, a terrified expression on his face.

Although he had committed majority of his crimes in the public eye, some of his crimes were so heinous that he made sure to hide his tracks carefully.

How then did the crown prince find out such carefully hidden crimes?!

'Is this really the crown prince?' Earl Gerid thought as he stared at the crown prince whose face was devoid of any emotion.

He had been ruthlessly committing heinous crimes like this for as long as he could remember, and the crown prince had never shown even a flicker of concern. Therefore, why was he suddenly mentioning his crimes? Moreover, it appeared that the crown prince wanted to punish him dearly for it!

According to the laws in Assyria, he knew that there was only one thing that awaited him after his crimes were exposed by the crown prince.

Death.

In the depths of his despair, his mind reached a harrowing realization, causing his body to crumble to the ground. Stripped of all semblance of pride and honor, the once mighty Earl of the kingdom succumbed to the overwhelming weight of his terror. Right now, the only thing that mattered to him was keeping his life intact.

"I was wrong! Please spare me!" Earl Gerid pleaded, his voice trembling with an overwhelming sense of terror and dread.

By the time Alexander got to where Earl Gerid was kneeling on the floor, his glaive 'Vanquisher' was held firmly in his right hand.

Earl Gerid's heart pounded in his chest as he caught sight of the reflection of the regal glaive on the smooth, polished floors of the court hall. With a sudden jolt of terror, he hastily lifted his gaze, only to be met with the chilling sight of the crown prince's exquisitely handsome face. The prince's azure eyes bore into him with a contemptuous glare, his expression oozing with disdain, all while tightly clutching the regal glaive in his right hand.

"Pathetic." Alexander's voice trembled with revulsion, and with a chilling elegance, he unleashed a horrifying swing of his majestic glaive, severing Earl's Gerid head from his plump, quivering body.

Earl Gerid's head rolled a few times on the ground before coming to a stop, the expression of terror on his face before his death still visible on his decapitated head.

Silence.

The royal court hall was shrouded in an eerie silence, as the nobles gazed upon the lifeless body of the former Earl with a mixture of disbelief and trepidation.

'He was . . . dead?'

'Just like that?'

The nobles were filled with disbelief and fear as they beheld the unimaginable sights before them. Viscount Henry was having a harder time than the rest of the nobles. He could not believe that his friend, Earl Gerid, was suddenly dead.

After a few agonizing seconds of paralyzing silence, the horrifying truth finally sank in for the majority of the nobles present.

This was not a normal royal court meeting.

This was a meeting to purge the kingdom of their existence.

"Y-Your Royal Highness?! Are you seriously attempting to initiate a rebellion?!" One of the nobles, who was the first to muster his courage, yelled in a voice filled with trembling disbelief and fear.

"Are you seriously suggesting that, as the future king, you have the power to simply take our lives without consequence?! We . . . we are pure blooded Assyrian nobles!" Another of the nobles agreed in a voice trembling with disbelief and terror.

The two nobles, who were barons, had also committed heinous crimes. After witnessing the unfortunate fate of Earl Gerid, they became very scared for their lives.

Alexander sneered as he directed his stare towards the two nobles who spoke out fearfully, and he started to walk steadily towards them, his presence bearing down on the hapless pair.

"No! Please, please don't come any closer!" The first baron screamed in sheer terror, desperately attempting to will his paralyzed body into motion, but to no avail.

"Mad! The crown prince has gone mad!" the second baron exclaimed madly, his voice trembling with disbelief and fear, as he frantically pointed towards the crown prince.

Unfortunately those were the final words uttered by the nobles, as Alexander ruthlessly swung his regal glaive in a chillingly elegant motion, mercilessly severing the heads of the two despicable barons.

The demise of the two nobles jolted the nobility from their daze, and the royal court hall descended into a chaotic frenzy of panic and disorder.

"Run!"

"We're all going to die!"

"We absolutely cannot stay here!"

"He's completely lost his mind!"

Panic and disorder consumed the nobles as they desperately attempted to flee for the exit, only to be thwarted by Duke Oliver. Duke Oliver, who was maintaining his indifference during the course of Earl Gerid and two barons deaths abruptly made his move.

He promptly circulated the energy in his body to the fullest, causing his star ranked mark to appear on his forehead, before unleashing his aptitude in the royal court hall.

The next moment, the bodies of the nobles who were hurriedly dashing for the exit suddenly became extremely heavy, and they all fell to the ground. Their desperate attempts to move were futile, as they crashed to the ground, paralyzed and helpless.

Gravity!

Duke Oliver had an aptitude for gravity, and he used it to his advantage. With his aptitude, he increased the gravity in the room, making it incredibly challenging for non-awakened individuals such as the nobles to move.

However, Duke Oliver could not maintain this ability for long due to his status as a one star warrior. He could only maintain the intense gravitational pressure for ten minutes, and the time lessened in proportion to the number of individuals subjected to his gravitational pressure.

"There is no need to run." Alexander's voice thundered imperiously in the royal court hall, sending shivers down the spines of the cowering nobles.

"If you are innocent and have never harmed Assyria, then I swear on my crown that you will leave with your life." Alexander promised sincerely.

"However, if you have disobeyed the laws and committed heinous crimes against Assyria, the only thing that awaits you is death!" Alexander said, his voice extremely threatening.