By the time Reinhard says that, Artemis heard what Reinhard whispered. Of course he would, he had sharp ears. He heard whatever the people were saying even outside of the city, even he could hear the birds chirping in the Forest of Death. Most of his systems are now back on duty but some are still rebooting like his FTL+ combat body mechanisms speed is still less than 30% in its full capacity or still 100,000km/s, his speed needs to be fully recovered then he'll get his full speed back. But thanks to the energy he was given when he was attacked by mages mowing him with Holy magic, he was ever more powerful and his speed is over approximately 150,000km/s more but still not fully recovered yet.
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The executions proceeded as planned. The rest of the nobles were brought onto the platform and the crowd would cheer on their inevitable deaths. Some of the noble swore brave enough to scold the people, one of which named himself, 'Sir Melromarc,'
However, Artemis was annoyed with his continuous scolding of the peasantry.
He literally gave Artemis no attention even though he walked in front of him and stared at him directly. The noble was smug, too smug.
But Artemis smiled. He took a liking to the nobleman's smugness and decided to exploit it.
He had all the nobles lined up and Sir Melromarc was placed at the very end of the line. On the opposite end, the execution started via an axe to the nape of their necks.
A dull axe.
The nobles screamed and the people cheered after each hack and each growl that came out of the dying nobles.
As the dull axe drew nearer, the smug Sir Melromarc began a barrage of insults that he hurled at the peasantry and the soldiers that stood alongside them.
Artemis sensed their patience running thin and they would very much want to kill him with his own hands.
His insults became more and more trigger happy until some of the peasants began jumping over the fence with the sole goal of pulling out his vocal cords.
But Artemis had the guards hold them back.
Just as Sir Melromarc's turn came, the crowds roared in excitement.
"Kill him! Kill him!" They shouted. The other guards with spears began pounding the ground in unison with their spears in tune with the chants of the peasantry.
But Artemis raised his hand just as the executioner was about to strike.
Reinhard shouted for the executioner to halt.
The crowds went silent.
"Remove his chains and put him in the middle of the platform," Artemis said.
Reinhard and Jord walked up to Melromarc and unchained him without hesitation. He tried to fight but was immediately subdued by Jord. They then dragged him across the platform to where Artemis wanted him to be.
The dead bodies of his fellow nobles formed a large pool of blood that dripped through the cracks of the platform's wooden floor.
"Leave him," Artemis said. Reinhard and Jord then ran to the side.
"What do you want?" Melromarc stood and faced Artemis.
"To entertain them," Artemis answered.
"You expect me to dance? You idiot!" Melromarc berated him.
As if it had any effect.
"All of you!" Artemis shouted.
All of the peasants then put their attention on Artemis and waited for his next words.
"Fetch," Artemis announced.
He had the guards bring down the fence and the peasants came pouring in.
"You soldiers, join the fray," Artemis said. The spearmen that cheered along with the peasants threw their weapons aside and ran up to the noble.
"W-Wait!" Melromarc screamed as he drowned in a flood of angry men, women, even children.
The angry mob taunted him with his own insults and Artemis observed through his X-ray scanner how they dealt with sir Melrcomarc.
To put it mildly, it was a pretty brutal execution.
"They pulled his tongue out," Pandora said.
"Huh?! How do you know?" Wart shivered.
"My eyes can see through the crowd. One of them pulled his tongue out, the others were beating him relentlessly. But for some reason, he is still alive," Pandora said.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes. Artemis, Reinhard, Jord, and Toby stood in the sidelines as the angry mob pulverized Sir Melromarc.
"Toby, you alright?" Reinhard placed his hand over the mage's shoulder.
"I-I'm fine.. but.. is this really necessary?" Toby said. He had his two hands pointed at the direction of the mob. His hands glowed yellow and two hollow circles were above his palms.
"Orders are orders," Jord said.
"S-Still.. until when?" Toby asked.
"Until your magic can no longer sustain his vitals, that's when you stop," Artemis said.
"Y-Yes," Toby said.
Artemis ordered Toby to use his magic to constantly regenerate the damaged organs as much as he could without running out of mana. He was to continue this method until either the injuries became too much for him to handle or until the mob delivered the fatal blow.
The ordeal lasted for just shy of one hour. One hour of torture for Melromarc who was practically begging to be executed.
Melromarc's heart finally stopped beating when one of the angry peasant girls struck him with a small knife straight in the heart. Toby's magic couldn't save him and he fell down to the ground, a shell of his former self.
The mob's anger essentially faded since they were able to vent it out on the noble. Peace and order was soon restored and the executions were declared over.
Artemis dismissed his three companions but not before appointing them to positions of power. Artemis then walked towards the castle and navigated his way through the halls and up the staircases until he found himself where King Wart and Pandora stood.
"You executed the event nicely," Pandora said as she smiled.
"Your jokes are horrendous," Artemis said.
Pandora only giggled and blushed. Artemis then stood by Wart's right side as Pandora stood on Wart's left. Together, they were the powerful trio of the new Kingdom Of Wartenberg
Yes, the Kingdom of Wartenberg.
As the three walk through the castle's halls, not before long Artemis then felt something inside his head tingle. As if he was losing blood circulation but his blood did not circulate at all.
Artemis suspected that his Drones were nearby.
But where?
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=Great Isthmus Region, Border between the Kingdom of Shezia and Saralevo, 1992km west from the Machine base=
In the night sky above between the lands of the Kingdom Shezia and Saralevo, in 60,000 feet above the sky was the Cargo Plane, the same one that dropped the MTF Droids to infiltrate the Theocracy's major cities.
Besides there were few Gunship Drones flying alongside with, all flying vehicles went to the speed of Mach 30 and heads towards the Western Region to a specific mission, inside the large aircraft was the Mobile Task Forces, one of the most powerful and greatest Androids the Machine Empire ever built, the same small forces that infiltrates the major cities of the theocracy and assassinate some of the powerful leaders.
[Sending out Mobile Task Force Gamma-14 "Ygot's Lawbringers"
Mission: Retrieval of Target Overlord(Artemis)
Objectives:
Obj 1: Secure landing site
Obj 2: Surround settlement
Obj 3: Confirm identity of unknown entity believed to be Target Overlord
If Objective 3 comes out as negative, MTF forces are to withdraw, if Objective 3 comes out positive, Objective 4 is to direct command to Target Overlord]