Elden: Ring of Calamity

Chapter 353 Double Moon
While the demigods were busy preparing to conquer Gaileed, a devastating purge was silently taking place in Kalia, thousands of miles away.

Ever since the main force of the Azalea Knights was defeated by the royal army outside Menqian Town, this sudden rebellion, which once made those who were not aware of the situation think it was a turbulent situation, was like mosquitoes after autumn, and most of them were frozen to death in an instant.

First, Count Roca, the leader of the Azalea Knights, was besieged by the army, and he and the rebellious top leaders of the Razli classroom burned themselves to death in the manor in Menqian Town. Then, the Haymo classroom joined forces with the two origin classrooms, Caleros and Olivenis, which suddenly took action, and regained control of the academy overnight.

At the critical moment when the Twin Sages' classroom was about to be destroyed, a mysterious man wrapped in a black robe suddenly rushed out and single-handedly blocked Azrael and other high-level battle mages, protecting a few core members of the Twin Sages from breaking through the siege and disappearing without a trace.

By the end of October, the thousands of miles of lake area centered on Rhea Lukalia had completely become a hunting ground for the royal troops to pursue the dying and the north. Contrary to the usual practice, the Kalia royal family abandoned their previous gentle attitude towards the scattered and fleeing remnants of the cuckoos and ruthlessly chose to kill them all.

At one time, tens of thousands of Cuckoo members hiding in towns and cities, the wilderness, and even in caves and reeds were searched out one after another. Once their identities were confirmed, they even skipped the custody and trial procedures and were executed on the spot.

At the same time, a large number of dynasty nobles who had been secretly colluding with Du Juan and the academy over the past decade or so, and who had either taken action privately or harbored criminals in this rebellion, were also implicated.

Chief Mugram, who was in charge of suppressing the rebellion, did not choose to execute these orthodox nobles who had always occupied the upper echelons of Kalia's power system immediately. Instead, he ordered them to be escorted in large numbers to the royal court's Star-Moon City.

Thus, along the entire lake area, most of the people of Kalia witnessed an unforgettable spectacle:

Those noble lords who were related to the royal family and had always been domineering and overbearing were like pigs with their hair plucked and waiting to be slaughtered. The royal knights stripped them of their shirts, tied them into long queues with thick hemp ropes, and marched them to the royal capital on foot in the cold weather as winter was about to come. Those who fell behind would face a brutal beating.

The arrogance and reserve in their eyes were no longer there. Their fat bodies were covered with whip marks and they trembled in the cold air.

Occasionally someone would look in the direction of Star-Moon City. At first there was anger and hatred in their eyes, which gradually turned into confusion and fear, and finally there was only a blank look of bewilderment.

They didn't understand why a group of Kalia knights, who were only born to rely on the royal authority, dared to openly initiate a trial against Kalia's ruling system that had existed for hundreds of years.

In the early years, when Radagon was the husband of King Kalia, he also tried to use the trust of Her Majesty Reinala to interfere in the government and deprive their noble families of control over the dynasty that had been passed down from generation to generation.

Although this caused them considerable trouble, it did not hurt the fundamentals. Soon, as Radagon betrayed the queen and went to Rodel, the short-lived reform immediately declared bankruptcy.

They even took advantage of the turmoil caused by Radagon's departure and the queen's serious illness to expand their power, and later flourished with the power of the Beta God's Messenger, further spreading their roots to every corner of the country.

In the eyes of their core class, such as Duke Ogrian, His Majesty the Full Moon is only the nominal face of the country, and the real leaders of the dynasty have long been the aristocratic families like them who have inherited the throne for hundreds of years.

Therefore, if the rebellion succeeds, they will lead Du Juan and the knowledgeable people in the academy to restore order and revitalize the government, and by the way, invite Her Majesty the Queen, who is seriously ill and unable to take care of things, to recuperate.

If the rebellion fails, they can calmly cut off the rebel forces, and even secretly preserve most of the rebel forces, keeping Du Juan and Shuang Xian completely in their own hands as a more reliable bargaining chip for the next action.

After all, after the queen became like this, they are the foundation of the country. Can the rebellion and suppression of rebellion, the family affairs of the royal family, be called rebellion?

But when the whip dipped in strong liquor hit their bodies and the torn wounds froze and scabbed in the cold wind, they suddenly realized in a trance that it seemed as if the masters were fighting in the house, and the dog outside suddenly rushed in and bit them to death?

But how dare those Kalia Knights?
His Majesty's current condition is almost the same as that of the Dragon King of Fam Azra, so just treat him as a dead man. Even if the three princes can withstand the chaos in Galid, they are still three young children after all. Even if Mugram and others use their personal prestige to forcibly gather the army and capture them, what will happen next?
Do you, Mugram, dare to establish yourself as the king on the 600-year-old foundation of the Moon Royal Family? Not to mention that the Kalia people would not agree, would the gold and ancient dragons agree?
Even if they didn't establish independence for the time being, and used a milder term like "protecting the country and suppressing the rebellion", how could this country continue to exist after such a cruel and bloody purge of nearly half of the dynasty's nobles, who were all top nobles closely related to the royal family? If it was so simple to eliminate dissidents, would the new and old parties of the Golden Dynasty have been fighting for so many years? Wouldn't the old dragons of the Ancient Dragon Dynasty who had ulterior motives have been scattered to ashes by their prince long ago?
Killing them would bring chaos to the dynasty in no time. Not only would other nobles be in danger, but other forces inside and outside the dynasty would also surge in. In the north, there was the covetous Yatan, and in the south, there was the iron-clad Nimgfu that Godwin had managed for ten years. Kalia, which was plagued by internal and external troubles, would be completely torn apart within a few years.

Thoughts of confusion and panic had been pervading the group of nobles being escorted to the capital. Under the supervision of the guards along the way, they dared not whisper to each other. They could only swallow their own fear silently, allowing it to brew and settle in their chests and spread throughout their bodies.

All this finally came to an end when the first team arrived at the royal court.

The nobles stared in astonishment at the figure sitting on the tower of the royal court. The Full Moon Queen, who had once conquered the unruly magic academy and led her army to defeat the prosperous Golden Dynasty, and was known as the number one magician in a thousand years, just sat there calmly, quietly examining every prisoner who passed by her feet.

In those starry eyes that had once captivated the entire border area, there was almost no trace of the pain and confusion that had once again filled them with endless wisdom and confidence.

Beside her, Mugram, the chief Kalia knight who was once considered to be perverse and dictatorial, was still wearing the old silver armor, standing silently with his hand on the hilt of the sword, just like he had done in the past thirty years, silently blocking all wind and rain for his queen.

At this moment, they suddenly understood that the "fight against rebellion in accordance with the imperial edict" shouted by the Royal Knights was not a slogan for political purposes, but that the Moon Queen, who had been excluded from the consideration of all conspirators and ambitious people from the very beginning, really returned to her throne again.

At the same time, in the last secret base belonging to Dujuan in the southern part of the lake area, "Glorious" Milea, who, like Segnis, had resurrected with the bodies of her descendants and had protected the remnants of the Twin Sages as they fled here, was looking forward as if facing a formidable enemy.

A hundred steps away, a woman in silver armor, holding twin swords of Moon and Fire, strolled over leisurely. Her swords were not stained with dust and blood, but behind her, there were hundreds of corpses of battle mages and high-level knights lying like weeds.

"It is rumored that you followed the unknown golden eldest son to the Shadow Land—" Mileya said in a hoarse voice, "your sister gave you a lock of long hair, and from then on, we broke off all ties with you."

"You can never trust rumors, can you?"

The woman looked back at the black hair tied on the helmet tassel with gentle eyes, but when she looked at Milea again, her eyes had transformed into a sharpness like a sword.

"As the rumors say, Professor Miriam is the leader of our young generation. Seeing her today is like a rotten grass among rotten wood. That's all."

A fierce look appeared on Mileya's stiff face, and she gritted her teeth and said, "We'll know who is exaggerating after a fight."

"A fight?" The woman shrugged. "In my opinion, one sword is enough."

As she spoke, cold moonlight and blazing flames suddenly ignited on her sword, and her tall body turned into a brilliant meteor, with both swords crossing and flashing past!

As they exchanged positions, Milea turned her back to her, and the swift sword magic at the top of her left staff dissipated silently before being activated. Her right hand trembled as it touched her neck. Before her fingertips touched the skin, a smooth sword mark suddenly appeared.

Amid the gushing blood, the other leader of the "Twin Sages" who had returned from a hundred years ago knelt down dejectedly. With a heart full of resentment and unwillingness, he took a last look in the direction of Rhea Lukalia, and died.

The woman shook off the non-existent residual blood on the sword, calmly sheathed the two swords, looked back at the king's court, pursed her lips and smiled, "I've waited for so long, it's finally time to go home."

(End of this chapter)