Why did the lord rebel

Chapter 490: Moon Rising and River Flowing

The "Slayer" Estherville closed his eyes in ecstasy and took in the scent of the air.

The damp steam mixed with the smell of blood reminded him of that afternoon three years ago.

"The Order of the Almighty". Estherville still remembered the name. The secret church secretly organized by a noble squire in Sanshui Bay was once a major concern for His Majesty Richelieu.

To this day, Estherville still remembers the romantic resistance he felt when he stood by the Lionheart River and chopped off the heads of the cultists, holding the Holy Blood Heart tightly in his hand. Snap. Cut the skin, cut the flesh, cut the bones, and buried the soul.

Snap. The sound of death is so light. Snap.

Estherville slowly opened his eyes.

"Blade of Rondo" Urna had just plunged her iconic rapier into the chest of a human farmer. The long, sharp blade pierced through the body like a bloody barbecue skewer.

"Urna." Estherville said solemnly, "This is a human being."

"A human living in the orc-controlled area." Urna replied coldly, still expressionless. "From what I know, William Hyde would hire humans as spies, right?"

"Hyde is dead," Estherville said in a deep voice, but it did not stop Urna from pulling the rapier out of the farmer's chest and then stabbing it again into the belly of a nearby farm girl.

  The Slayer sighed and turned his head to observe the surrounding scene:

There was no doubt that the battle was over.

The entire north bank of the Al-Higgins River was engulfed in flames. The farmhouses built by federal civilians on the shore had been set on fire one by one, with deafening sounds of collapse from time to time. The iconic waterwheel on the farm had collapsed, and the huge wooden wheel was floating on the water of the Al-Higgins, with flames burning on it.

The imperial soldiers had tied up the residents they had searched out of the farm one by one, and made them kneel on the ground outside the farm. Among these captives were orcs, goblins, humans, and even two blood elves with pointed ears, but they were all citizens of the Glorious Federation.

This afternoon, the Imperial Army had just experienced a skirmish at this farm on the north bank of Al-Higgins. The orc troops hiding in the farm suddenly rushed out, wanting to give the Imperial Army a head-on blow, but they were all killed by the religious inquisitors who were escorting the army.

Now, the farm residents suspected of hiding orc soldiers are paying the price for their actions and weakness.

All the hidden treasures in their homes had been looted by the Central Army soldiers. From time to time, a few soldiers would drag the pretty girls into the woods, while the inquisitors in black robes just watched it all with expressionless faces.

Only 'Blade of Rondo' Urna stabbed to death several bound captives with great interest.

Estherville picked up the "Holy Blood Heart" from the ground and walked slowly to the end of the line of prisoners.

Sitting there was an orc shaman tied up, the only Federation prisoner captured by the Imperial Army in this battle: when the old shaman, who was nearly sixty years old, was about to bite his tongue to commit suicide, he was knocked to the ground by Estherville's sword handle, and then a rag was stuffed into his mouth.

  Estherville held the sword in his right hand, stretched out his left hand, took out the piece of cloth from the old shaman's mouth, and asked calmly:

"How many orcs are there near Al Higgins?"

The old shaman cursed: "Damned executioner, butcher, damned——"

Estherville cut off the old shaman's head with one blow of his sword.

Click.

“Master Estherville…” As soon as the old shaman’s head fell to the ground, a Central Army officer stumbled over and saluted, reporting, “The entire farm has been cleared! As for what to do with the remaining prisoners… please instruct us!”

  While wiping the blood off the blade of the Holy Blood Heart with the old shaman's clothes, Estherville turned his head and said with a playful smile:

"Sir, aren't you the commander here? I am just a humble servant of the Most High Holy Throne. How can I interfere with your military deployment?"

"Lord Estherville, you are joking..." The Central Army officer nodded and bowed, "Commander Liam has instructed us that everything should be done in coordination with the actions of the Inquisitors. We will follow your instructions."

Estherville put the "Heart of Holy Blood" back and glanced at the captives on the ground:

"How many prisoners are there here?"

"There are about three hundred people in total." The Central Army officer reported, "They are all federal people living in this farm, but there are not many orcs among them. Most of them are humans." Estherville remained silent.

"How about we follow the old rules and transport these prisoners back to the Bloody Front for detention?" the Central Army officer asked tentatively, "Maybe we can even get a ransom from the Glorious Federation."

"Will the Glorious Federation pay a ransom for a group of humans?" A cold and hoarse voice came from behind the two.

The person who came was "Rondo's Blade" Urna. This thin female inquisitor, who looked like a praying mantis, had a wet black robe, and the corners of the robe and the tip of her rapier were dripping with blood. But her expression showed a hint of satisfaction and contentment for the first time.

"Hmm..." The Central Army officer stammered.

On the battlefields of the East, the Imperial Army rarely captured orc soldiers, as orc warriors would rather die in battle than be captured. However, if an orc was captured by the Empire due to coma or other reasons and was unable to resist, the Glorious Federation would often spend a large sum of money to redeem the captive to prevent the warriors from dying in a foreign land.

But "Blade of Rondo" Urna did point out the crux of the problem: in the memory of the Central Army officers, the Glorious Federation had never paid ransom for captured humans and other aliens - even though the residents of Al Higgins' North Shore Farm considered themselves citizens of the Federation.

"You also know the situation on the Blood Front, right?" Urna was not as polite to the Central Army officer as she was to Estherville. Instead, she stared at him fiercely and said, "We imperialists don't even have enough food to eat. Do we have enough food to feed a group of pagan captives?"

"Ms. Urna!" the Central Army officer asked in surprise, "You mean..."

"Kill them. Kill them all." Urna calmly sentenced the captives on the ground to death, while Estherville remained silent. "Don't bring them back to the bloody front, and don't let them inform the green-skinned bastards. Kill them all here - this is Al Higgins' tradition, isn't it?"

  The Central Army officer was stunned for a moment, then saluted and replied:

"Yes!"

"Wait, your soldiers don't need to do anything. I will enjoy this great sacrifice myself." Urna raised the rapier in her hand, and the blood on the blade splashed on the pale face of the Central Army officer. "Your soldiers are too rough and will damage the meat."

"Meat...what?" The Central Army officer opened his mouth wide.

"Young man, haven't you heard of this?" Urna's already thin lips were pursed into a contemptuous arc. "If livestock are filled with fear before being slaughtered, their meat will turn sour... When killing these captives, you also have to act quickly, and end their lives before they feel fear. Your men obviously don't have the skills to do this."

"This..." The Central Army officer looked at the prisoners on the ground again.

"Resources are tight right now, and these captives must be put to good use even if they die. Don't worry, with my butchering skills..." Urna said softly, "Your Imperial Army will soon harvest a batch of high-quality jerky as military rations."

  The Central Army officer stood there for a long time, like a spear stuck in the wilderness. He re-examined "Rondo Blade" Urna, then turned his head abruptly, wanting to ask "Slayer" Estherville for his opinion, but found that the latter had already walked away without anyone noticing:

Estherville knelt on the bank of Al Higgins. He took off his hood, bent down, and dipped his head deep into the fishy water of Al Higgins.

The blood of the present, the blood of the past, and the blood that would flow endlessly in the long years to come, all flowed on his cheeks in an instant.

A captive's head was thrown into the water of Al Higgins by Urna with a "plop", and then swept westward by the current. The head passed in front of Estherville, but the "killer" did not open his eyes.

Because, in a trance, he had returned to that afternoon in Sanshui Bay again, thinking of the surging Lionheart River and the blood flowing on the ground.

Click. Click. Click.

Estherville pulled his head out of the scarlet water.

"What are you doing?" Urna was standing on the shore, holding a captive girl by the collar, raising her sword to chop her like she was about to slaughter a chicken. "Esterville, you want to play too?"

"The 'Holy Blood Heart' only drinks the blood of heroes and warriors. It does not kill powerless civilians and unknown people." Estherville's face was covered with blood, but he answered without noticing, "You can do your job. I just suddenly remembered to remind you of something."

"What's the matter?" Urna glanced at Estherville, then raised her sword and chopped off the girl's head.

  The girl's severed head rolled to Estherville's feet, and a trace of fear remained on her pretty face. Estherville stared at the head, then raised his head and whispered to "Rondo Blade" Urna:

"Urna, after you make this batch of jerky, remember to send it to Swan Castle so that our Lord Duke Elliot Igor can have a good taste of your cooking skills."

"I assure you, my Lord Slayer," Urna threw the twitching headless body of the girl to the ground, with a cruel expression on her face that was too distorted to be called a "smile," "Lord Duke Elliot Igor will receive the best quality of all the jerky."