Rome must fall.

Chapter 300: Oath and Execution

Egalos struggled desperately again, and the Nyx soldier behind him punched him again, but he still did not stop struggling.

The people behind the old man had not expected that the "holy stone desecration incident" that had been concluded more than 20 years ago would be brought up again at this special moment today, and it seemed that there was a new culprit, as if a huge rock hit a pond. There was an uproar in the square, and everyone started discussing with each other. After all, more than 20 years is not too long, and many of the tribesmen at that time are still alive, and several of the parties involved also have family and friends. Everyone dug up these things from more than years ago from the depths of their memory, and discussed with each other to confirm what the old man said.

Someone couldn't wait to ask loudly: "Uncle Serasus, is what you said true?! Did the patriarch arrange for someone to kill my father?!"

The old man turned to look at him, and said with great guilt: "Kredes, I am sorry for your father! When my brother died, I should have gone to the leader and identified Egalos! But...but I am afraid, I am afraid that I will be like my brother...I can only pretend that I know nothing, so that Egalos will not notice me...

I have kept this matter in my heart for more than 20 years. These 20 years have been difficult! I often dream of my brother, your father, and several others. They are covered in blood——"

"Shut up! Serasus, you old cripple! How dare you make up lies here and slander our patriarch! What evidence do you have to prove that the patriarch is the sinner who blasphemed the holy stone?!" A relative of Egalos asked harshly.

"I...I..." Serasus found it difficult to answer.

More than 20 years have passed, and several parties involved have long died. Except for his brother, the killers of the others were all Scotisti. They either died in subsequent wars or became slaves of a Segestica tribe, surviving in a hard life. It was impossible for Serassus to produce evidence.

Finally, a warrior who dared to expose the crimes of the Segestica nobles appeared. Staggs certainly would not allow this man to be questioned, let alone such a good atmosphere to be destroyed. He immediately shouted loudly: "Everyone be quiet! Be quiet!..."

"Cerasus!" Starks looked down at the old man and shouted in stiff Illyrian: "Do you dare to swear to the goddess Danu that what you said is true?!"

"I dare!" For the first time, Serasus, who had always been timid, said so decisively. He threw his crutches aside, knelt on the ground quickly, kowtowed several times in the direction of no one, then sat up, straightened his chest, put his left hand against his chest, raised his right hand, and said solemnly: "Great and merciful mother of all things - Goddess Danu! I, the humble Serasus, swear to you that what I said just now is true. The sinner who blasphemed the holy stone was Egalos! If I lied, I am willing to accept your divine punishment. Let me and my family die miserably! Let our souls after death never rest in peace!"

The people who heard this couldn't help but shudder: The oath made by Serasus was too decisive!
"Okay, I believe you!" Staggs responded loudly.

Without any evidence, the Nyx people determined that Egalos was guilty based on Serrasus' words and the oath he swore. This is too ridiculous!
But most of the people in Segestica didn't think so. They believed in gods and didn't swear easily. It was a consensus that if they broke their oath, they would be cursed by the gods. Since Serasus dared to swear such a poisonous oath to the Mother Goddess, what he said was very likely true. Besides, with his reminder, everyone recalled the incident and found some strange things.

Staggs actually didn't think so much. He just wanted to find a reason to convict the two captured Segestica nobles, so he nodded decisively and said, "Now I believe what you said. This person has indeed committed a serious crime! You stand aside first, and we will make a judgment in a while!"

Then he glanced at the others and said loudly: "Is there anyone else who can be as brave as this old man to expose the crimes of these two people?!"

This time the square was no longer silent. Serasus had set a good example, and others were inspired to speak out more and more enthusiastically. The things they mentioned ranged from insulting others and being partial to others, to seizing land and ordering their men to beat others... and the time involved ranged from more than a decade after independence to the period of Skodiusi's rule. At first, the people only exposed the two arrested tribe leaders, but later they also talked about other tribe leaders in the tribe, and even the chief...

Instead of stopping it, Staggs was happy to see it. However, he was surprised when he heard about it later, because in the past year or so, the military department had sent some information about the Pannoni to the officers. In his impression, this race, which had just been independent for more than ten years, was relatively united, and the people were very obedient to the command of the leader and nobles. That was why they could launch wars against the Knicks many times in just over a year. He did not expect that such a cohesive race would have so many dirty things.

Of course, he could not have known that the Pannoni defeated the Scotisti and became the masters. Naturally, they had to learn lessons from the Scotisti's failure and knew that it was foolish to provoke a powerful enemy, Rome. However, the failure of the major tribes to unite well and the failure of tribal leaders and patriarchs to quickly gather their people to form a strong army to suppress the riots were also one of the main reasons for their demise. Also, because the surrounding races were not very friendly to the newly independent Pannoni, the Pannoni established a tribal alliance, gave leaders and nobles greater rights, and enhanced their authority and military mobilization capabilities.

Originally, the Pannoni people's political system was mostly learned from the Celtic tribe of Skodischi, and the druid priests in the tribe had great power. However, after independence, most of the rights that the Pannoni priests had, such as trial, sacrifice, and mediation of disputes between tribes, were taken away. The tribal meeting, which only the chiefs and clan leaders could attend, became the only institution that decided the life and death of the tribe members.

Since it is impossible for the leaders of the tribe to hold meetings frequently and solve all the affairs within the tribe, many small conflicts and disputes are often directly handed over to the patriarchs to solve. In the long run, will the mentality of the leaders and patriarchs with too much power not change? Moreover, the upper echelons of the Scodischi, who have lived a comfortable life under the service of the Pannoni, have long been corrupted. The Pannoni nobles and leaders who have lived with them for decades are naturally also affected by them. Therefore, even if they are independent, it is not uncommon for the Pannoni tribes to abuse their power for personal gain and bully others. However, most of the Pannoni leaders and nobles who have gained independence through hard battles still have a sense of crisis and enterprising spirit, and dare not do too much. The lives of the tribesmen are much better than before independence, and they do not want to ask for more for the time being, so the upper and lower levels of the tribe can still live together in a friendly manner.

But today, the Knicks lifted the lid, and with their intentional stirring, all the silt deposited underneath floated to the surface.

It was already noon when no one came forward to expose the crimes of the chiefs and clan leaders.

Most of the people in the square were still as nervous as when they first arrived, but this nervousness was because they had broken the tribal traditions and offended the powerful leaders and clan leaders.

But at the same time, they were not as depressed and indifferent as when they first arrived. On the contrary, there were smiles on their faces, which was a kind of relief that came from venting the grievances that had been suppressed in their hearts for many years.

"My fellow tribesmen, from what you just said, these two men have committed many crimes!" Nicocus pointed at the two tied men and said solemnly, "According to the decree of Nyx, they are sentenced to death! Now - who is willing to execute Egalos personally!"

As soon as these words came out, the people in the square thought they had heard wrongly: It was bold enough to accuse these leaders and clan leaders who were of noble blood and were born to rule over them, but to kill them? This was simply crazy!

"No one dares?!" Staggs glanced at everyone.

Everyone lowered their heads, not daring to meet his eyes.

Staggs sneered: "No wonder they can bully you so easily, because you are all cowards-"

"I'll do it!" The person who spoke was the old man named Serassus.

"Good! There are still warriors among the Segestica people!" Starks laughed, beckoned the old man to come closer, drew the dagger from his waist, handed it to him, and asked in a low voice: "Can you do it?"

"I killed a lot of Scodisci people in my time!" said Serasus, holding a dagger and limping towards Egalos.

Egalos was crying "woohoo" and shaking his head continuously, his frightened eyes full of pleading, but when he saw that the other party was unmoved and the dagger that was shining with cold light was raised high, he was so frightened that his whole body began to tremble.

There was a flash of cold light, and Egalos, who was held down by the soldiers and unable to move, was cut on the neck by a sword. With a cry of surprise, blood spurted out and splashed on Serasus.

The old man did not dodge or evade. He looked at Egalos who was twitching on the ground. The wrinkles on his face, like tree bark, seemed to stretch out at that moment. The remorse that had been buried in his heart for more than 20 years was completely released at this moment. With a smile on his face, he kept muttering, "Brother, did you see that? I avenged you! Really, I killed Egalos, the tribe leader who we couldn't afford to offend. He died in front of me..."

Staggs looked at the turbulent square, pointed at the other clan leader who had collapsed to the ground in fear, his crotch wet, and shouted again: "Who else dares to execute him?!"

"...I...I'll do it!" The person who walked forward was actually a woman.

(End of this chapter)