Golden Dragon: Six Thousand Years of Empire.

Chapter 258 An old man wants to see his grandson

"How long will we be locked up?"

"Why are you locking us up? We haven't committed any crime!"

"Let us out, we are the noble Augustus!"

Deep in the dimly lit dungeon, only a few moonstones embedded in the ceiling of the cell provided faint lighting, and the air was filled with the smell of damp and rust.

Although the cells were generally clean, for these royal members who lived a life of luxury on a daily basis, it was no different from a cesspool, at least that's what they thought.

Born into wealth and having held high positions for a long time, they are naturally extremely confident, which makes them fearless. Even if they are in a dungeon, they are unscrupulous and even dare to insult the guards guarding the dungeon.

However, these guards soon received the notice and they withdrew from the dungeon one by one. The dungeon specially used to accommodate the Augustus family was suddenly empty and there was no one guarding it.

"Is this a hint that we can leave?"

Seeing the empty corridor outside the cell door, several Augustus's extraordinary people looked at each other, but soon someone started shouting loudly,

"You want us to escape from prison like fugitives? Huh? How did those goblins capture us? You have to get us out right now, or I won't leave!"

"That's right. You actually dared to arrest us like criminals. This is a disrespect to the dignity of the Augustus family!"

"Even a holy dragon can't treat us like this, let alone a group of mongrel goblins."

Just as these members of the Augustus family were getting excited and indignant, outside the gate of the underground palace, there was the sound of metal friction from armor colliding closely. The noise from the cells near the gate suddenly became much quieter, and everyone looked towards the entrance to the passage leading to the ground.

Under the gaze of countless eyes, a snow-white cloak embroidered with golden dragon patterns came into view, and under the fluttering cloak were righteous warriors wearing silver-white armor and long swords at their waists.

"Paladin!"

A high-pitched and sharp voice sounded, carrying with it an unconcealable panic and fear.

"What do you want to do?"

As the paladins approached, even the most arrogant members of the royal family could not help but panic. These powerful people who usually acted tyrannically were most afraid of the paladins, because the paladins really dared to chop.

"My Lords Augustus, don't be nervous. We are only here to change guards. This is just a normal job handover. Don't get excited!"

The middle-aged holy warrior in the lead saw the embarrassment of these dignitaries who were usually high and mighty in front of him, and forced an extremely ugly smile on his tough face, and spoke in a gentle voice to comfort them.

But obviously, his words were not accepted by the royal family, because with the gradual entry of the holy warriors, the dim underground palace gradually became brighter.

"Do we look like fools who are fooled by others? Since when did a paladin fall to the level of guarding a dungeon?"

"That's because you are of noble status and it would be disrespectful for you to be just ordinary guards. Therefore, we are under the order of the Holy Dragon Lord to be responsible for your guard and ensure your safety."

The leader of the holy warriors who had just been tasked with meeting the Holy Dragon tried hard to suppress the expression on his face, not letting himself laugh too wildly, otherwise it would be a loss of dignity for the Shield of Dawn.

"We don't need your guards, and we don't need you to guarantee our safety. We want to see the Holy Dragon."

"Yes, we want to see the Holy Dragon."

"Let us out! How can the noble Augustus be imprisoned in a dungeon? We have not committed any crime. Even if we have, you have no right to punish us!"

Seeing that the holy knight in front of them was so easy to talk to, the royals who had just seen the holy knight being frightened started to make noise again.

"Please be patient, I understand your needs and will release you one by one soon. Please line up first."

“Why do we have to queue?”

Questions were soon raised.

"We need to check and verify your identities to prevent anyone from pretending to be a royal family member."

It sounded like a very reasonable and legitimate reason, so the noisy voices became much quieter.

"Please line up in batches of ten."

Although they felt extremely dissatisfied and impatient under the command and arrangement of the Holy Knights, Augustus could only cooperate. No powerful person wanted to anger the Holy Knights, not to mention that there was a group of them in front of them.

When the first group of royals were brought out of the dungeon, they were obviously confused when they saw the holy warriors in front of them brewing spells, but some of them reacted.

"Wait, you are..."

Identify Evil
As one of the paladin's signature spells bloomed, a bloody, dark glow rose along with it, revealing the numerous evil deeds this person had committed throughout his life.

Without exception, the first batch of royals all had blood on their bodies, symbolizing evil, and a dark black color representing the depth of their sins. The holy warriors who escorted them out pounced on them like wolves and tigers.

"What do you want to do? We are royals!"

"Let us go, are you going to rebel?"

When the shackles came upon them, all the royal family members cried out, but it was obvious that their struggles and resistances were futile and they were soon drowned out by the violent suppression of the paladins.

A paladin will never be polite to evil. Once blood is revealed, he will no longer care about his identity.

"You are a bunch of evil people, and you dare to pretend to be a royal family. Now confess your crimes immediately!"

The leader of the holy warriors had a stern look on his face. He looked indifferently at the group of royals in front of him who had pale faces, or were emotionally excited and cursing, and announced on the spot that they were pretending to be royals.

This can be regarded as a small tacit understanding reached between the Holy Knight profession and various forces in the process of constantly punishing evil and eliminating evil since its birth.

Anyone identified as evil by a paladin will no longer be recognized by his or her family. Otherwise, they will be considered as accomplices and attacked by the paladin together.

It sounds like the paladin is very domineering, able to ignore noble status and trample on the powerful, but in fact, in many territories ruled by nobles, the paladin cannot even enter the city gate. Even if he enters, he will be treated harshly and will not be able to stay for long.

"Bring them in for questioning and make a final judgment on them based on the crimes they have committed!"

Lie detection also came in handy at this moment. Those royal families couldn't even make up lies because the power that protected them from doing evil had been isolated.

Once the royal family members with blood on their bodies lose the immunity brought by their royal status, their fate will be certain, hanging, beheading, or cutting in half, anyway, there is always a death penalty that suits them.

They were brought out in batches, tried in batches, and finally executed. When the number of people in the prison began to decrease, the remaining royals soon felt the danger from the increasingly bloody smell of the holy knights.

"What did you do to the people in front?"

In response to the question, a young-looking holy warrior glanced at the royal family, his cold eyes carrying an undisguised murderous intent.

He had just witnessed and heard too many crimes committed by the royal family. He had no good feelings towards these powerful people who killed innocent and kind people. He just wanted to kill them.

"No, I don't want to go out. I don't want to leave here."

"I don't want to see the Holy Dragon anymore. I want to go home. Let me go."

"I am a royal family. Who of you dares to offend me?"

When they realized the danger, the Augustus, who had originally thought they could leave, immediately began to resist. However, their resistance seemed so weak at this moment.

"Be honest with me!"

"What royal family? They are just a bunch of fakes."

The holy warriors who had witnessed many rounds of trials were not polite either. They picked up their sheathed swords, shields, or flails and smashed them directly. For the royal family members who stubbornly resisted and refused to move, they would directly put them in shackles and chains and drag them out.

From this moment on, the scene in the dungeon became bloody, and it was no longer possible for the royal family to maintain their so-called decency, let alone maintain their due dignity and majesty.

"Paladin, you dare to trample on the royal family. Do you know what you are doing?"

"This is the Kingdom of Atlas, and we are the royal family of Atlas!"

Faced with the royal family who were struggling desperately, swearing foul language, and even daring to threaten, no paladin was polite at this moment. Their gentle side was not directed at these insects.

"Shut up!"

The fist wrapped in iron armor smashed down directly, and bloody teeth flew in the air. Before the royal family, who was dizzy from the hammer, could react, a bloodstained chain was put on.

The gorgeously dressed royals were dragged out of the dungeon like wild dogs. When they were dragged out of the dungeon, along with the soft sunlight, there was also the light representing the identification of spells shining on them.

Identification, interrogation, judgment, execution

The process went smoothly, the holy knights became more and more proficient, and even started to train the new ones... Because more holy knights heard that they could judge the royal family, they rushed over excitedly.

Although one of the charges against these royals in the final verdict was impersonation of royalty, everyone knew their true identities, including the people who gathered around the execution ground to watch the execution.

That's right, Noah personally ordered the holy warriors to clean up the Augustan royal nobles, which has become a grand event in the city of Elishim.

Although in this city, one would occasionally hear of high-ranking officials and nobles being interrogated, and every now and then one could see with one's own eyes the execution of previously high-ranking figures for seemingly minor crimes, no one had ever seen the royal family being executed en masse.

Not to mention the spectacle of the city of Elisim being deserted because of the execution of royal family members in batches, when this matter reached the Kingdom of Atlas, it also caused a sensation in various places.

Judging from the incident alone, this was a massacre against the Augustan family, which can be regarded as a provocation to the royal power.

But what is strange is that when this matter became a hot topic throughout the kingdom and everyone knew about it, the second monarch Urnos remained silent and did not comment on it, as if the executed criminals were really a group of lawless outlaws who offended the royal family.

This is obviously impossible. The only explanation is that the King of Atlas has reached an agreement with the Holy Dragon and used holy warriors to carry out a bloody purge of the family.

Urnos's reputation as a tyrant became more secure, but it was precisely because of his cruelty and cold-bloodedness that the new policies he implemented within the family were quickly implemented.

A large number of royal families were deprived of the surname of Augustus' family, and only a few members who had followed him on the battlefield and made military achievements were spared.

During this period, most of the Augustan members who did not meet the requirements but were still able to retain their surnames were grateful to this harsh and ungrateful monarch. Although this was their original surname, being able to keep it was already a supreme gift given by this monarch.

After all, in such a huge kingdom, there are less than two hundred people who can still use Augustus as their surname. Those whose surname has not been deprived have a completely different status than before, and their honor is therefore reflected.

Unlike Augustus's reputation as a tyrant, Noah, who executed nearly 30,000 royals in just two months, made his name as the Holy Dragon even more brilliant, simply dazzling.

Organized groups of holy warriors gathered in the city of Elisim. They praised the wisdom of the holy dragon and its zero-tolerance attitude towards evil and injustice, and all of them held this wise dragon lord in high esteem.

"Tsk, you're really ruthless!"

"Aunt, I don't think you have the guts to say such things. You watched all this happen right under your nose without stopping it. As long as you speak up, I will definitely let them go."

"This matter has nothing to do with me, why should I stop it?"

Selena, sitting on Elijah's shoulders with her long, straight legs raised and shaking her little feet, said disapprovingly.

"You are the matriarch of the Augustus family."

"It's been a long time since I was a normal little wizard."

Selina didn't want to discuss this topic with Noah. In her opinion, the matter was over, so she changed the subject.
"By the way, I want to take my little grandson out for a walk."

"Where do you want to take him?"

Noah narrowed his dragon eyes.

"Of course we're going to a nice place. There's an old guy who wants to see his grandson."

Selena had already made it clear.

"Can he go now?"

Noah was startled, and then he asked back unconvincedly,
"Then why can't I go?"

"I'll take him there for a while and come back, but it will be different if I take you with me!"

"What's the difference?"

"You may not be able to come back if you go."

"What's the point of this?"

"Don't think too much about it. It's not the right time for you yet. Just wait patiently."

Selena didn't want to say more.