Xingyue, is Xiaokai also considered Kai?

"I just said what I've been keeping in my heart for a long time. I'm sorry."

Novia did not withdraw her hand, and continued to show a gentle smile.

"But as the strongest dragon, it is only natural for you to be so proud. I have always believed that so, so this cannot be used to restrain you."

Then──

The silver-haired boy now held a contract that appeared out of nowhere.

Albion Dragon knew, of course, that it was an essential item for human magicians to make agreements or cooperate with their own kind or other creatures. In order to prevent both parties from breaking the agreement, it was one of the most widely used Mystic Codes.

However, this only applies to the weak; for the strongest, it is a completely unnecessary process.

“My friend, thinking of me, incorporated this into your body during the creation process. Please forgive Xia Li for this.”

Novia winked at Cialis, who was standing next to her.

This step isn't even part of the manufacturing process. Rather, who would sign a contract with a weapon when forging it?

Although she kept repeating this to herself, the purple-haired girl still nodded somewhat hastily.

"Ah...yes, yes, I'm sorry, please forgive me..."

“In my eyes, you are as noble as the starlight that illuminates the world, a unique radiance.” Novia tore up the 'contract' in his hand. “To me, you are the most precious starlight. Your permission is of great significance to me, and losing you would be an absolute tragedy. Dragon of Albion, you are my only light.”

...Does this human really worship me that much?

The Dragon of Albion gazed at the gentle-smiling Novia, accepting his gaze with a troubled expression, for it was clearly a genuine reaction that could not be faked.

"you......"

He was about to say something, but the Dragon of Albion looked into his eyes, and his reply came too late.

Although the dragon Albion believed that no contract could bind it, since it was the strongest and it made no difference whether it had one or not, the human's meaningless actions and words made it feel a surge of excitement deep within its chest for the first time.

Excitement and joy are not quite right.

How can I describe such a strong and vivid feeling in my heart?

Surprise, no, that's not right.

Touched, but that's not quite right either.

Happy, or not?

But they couldn't resist this weak human, which caused them an indescribable sense of embarrassment.

"May I ask once more, Dragon of Albion, please allow me, the weak, to share your confusion, your thoughts, your worries, and your struggles."

He is but a weak human being, a naive magician far inferior to a god, yet he dares to presume to peer into the strongest dragon. Not only does he fail to realize how naive he is, but his naivety only grows stronger. This is truly audacious and reckless.

But, but, but, no matter how much one considers him extremely weak.

The language of this human being, the gaze of this human being.

Albion Dragon truly absorbed everything into his heart.

Although it sounded like utter nonsense, I felt that his feelings had truly reached my heart.

"Hmph, you're lucky. I'm the strongest!"

"You're right, you are undoubtedly the strongest."

The 'gun' handle and Novia's hand were firmly clasped together.

As he gripped it, his hand caressed the entire "gun," and the silver-haired boy smiled and said:

"Then the contract is established."

Gentle and warm, Shi Ming had been held by him from the very beginning, yet he had the illusion that he was only now truly being held by him.

Although it may be because the weapon itself is so cold, it felt that its own soul also felt that way.

However, the Dragon of Albion once again arrogantly explained:

"Let me make this clear first, so you don't misunderstand. I did this based on my own thinking and will, not because I was easily persuaded by a weak human like you. To me, you are just a weakling that I can easily find. There are plenty of people who can replace you."

In its view, this should be the shortest and clearest answer, and as a weak human, it would be absolutely grateful to obtain the strongest version of itself. But for a moment, the Albion Dragon saw sadness rise on the human's face.

"...Yes, you are right."

"Hmph, just don't be too arrogant."

Although the expression on this weak human's face evoked an indescribable feeling in it, but—

The weak human being must absolutely obey the strongest; this is a self-evident law.

The strongest dragon so arrogantly believed.

035: I'll take the blame.

In a garden within the Roman Imperial Palace.

"Little Novia, you... you actually dug through Lake Fukinus in just three days... You did an amazing job..."

The old emperor Claudius spoke with a tone of surprise and delight to Novia, who was reporting the situation.

"Please don't praise me like that, Your Majesty. This is what I should do for the empire."

The silver-haired boy's gentle voice created an atmosphere full of love, which was exactly what he excelled at.

Recently, Claudius has begun planning a public works project: to dig Lake Fuchinus in the Apennine Mountains and bring its water into Rome via an aqueduct. He consulted the court magician, who said it would take at least a year to complete.

At this point, Novia volunteered to take charge and offered to solve the problem.

The result was beyond everyone's expectations, because no one expected that Novia would complete the 3-mile-long drainage system in just two days.

Terrifyingly high level of magic—this was the common assessment of magicians within the Roman Empire.

As for Claudius, he was naturally extremely pleased to be able to quickly build such beneficial public facilities. Novia would not refuse such a thing that would help the people. Moreover, he was able to solve the problem so quickly by using the new weapon, that is, the 'gun'. However, he also spent a lot of time persuading the dragon Albion. After all, Novia knew that it actually liked to lend a helping hand to the weak.

"Then, Your Majesty, please allow me to take my leave so as not to disturb Your Majesty's rest."

"It's alright, it's alright. Little Novia, you finished so quickly, you should go and rest."

In fact, the reason why Novia had to go to the palace every day was not only to provide some advice to the old emperor, but also to see if there were any factors in the palace that he could not control immediately. After all, before his plan was implemented, the old emperor's safety was also an important condition for providing stability.

For example, Novia would carefully inspect the food to prevent Agrippina, who had become queen, from suddenly going mad and ordering poisoning.

"Hey!"

Just as Novia turned the corner, he heard a cheerful and lively shout from a young girl, who then lunged at his stomach.

"Teacher, I'm giving a speech at the Senate today. Would you like to come with me?"

The blonde girl pressed her forehead against Novia's stomach, then looked up at him.

"Going to give another speech? Of course you can." Novia lowered her head, their eyes met, her azure pupils fixed on Nero. "But you're not a child anymore, so it's best to face it alone."

“But you said the same thing last time, teacher, or rather, you always say the same thing…” Nero puffed out her cheeks and pouted as if she was being difficult, but she quickly returned to her cheerful and lively self. “Well, umm, never mind, then you can come again when you have time, teacher. It’s getting late, and it’s about to start, so I’ll be going now, teacher.”

After the blonde girl finished speaking, she immediately ran quickly towards the Senate, soon leaving only her back view in Novia's eyes. After running for a while and making sure that she had disappeared from her teacher's sight, Nero stopped running.

Only upon close observation can one notice that a gloomy shadow has appeared in the blonde girl's once bright eyes.

"Tsk... Oh well, let's take it slow."

Afterwards, Nero, who had arrived at the Senate, pushed open the door:

"Greetings, everyone. I am Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus, and today's speech is..."

His demeanor was just as everyone remembered: cheerful and outgoing, and undeniably... fair-minded.

.........

With the weapons made from Albion's head, Novia's envisioned Great Purge of Jerusalem's Jewish loyalists in the Jewish province could finally begin in earnest.

In the original history, the First Jewish War began in 66 AD. Novya, of course, could not wait that long, so he had to start planning more than a decade in advance.

But actually, this wasn't a big problem. After all, the Roman Empire had always imposed heavy taxes on the province of Judea. Moreover, the former emperor Caligula had demanded that the Jews replace their God with his idol, which was enough to trigger an armed rebellion. Fortunately, Caligula himself was assassinated, which prevented the uprising from taking place.

Moreover, Judaism is currently in a period of sharp conflict between ethnic and social contradictions. Faced with foreign rule and the impact of foreign cultures, Judaism is divided into several factions, the most important of which are the Sadducees, who emphasize adherence to the laws of the Old Testament, and the Pharisees, who support innovation based on local conditions. The religious conflict between the two factions is essentially a struggle for leadership over the entire nation.

The smaller Zealots supported the Pharisees' religious beliefs but opposed their submission to Rome. The Zealots were radicals who demanded armed resistance against Roman rule.

The more radical members of the Zealots even considered the Jews who collaborated with the Romans as enemies. They concealed daggers under their clothes and specialized in assassinating Roman officials, hence the name "Dagger Party".

So, if Novia just gives the "Dagger Party" a little push, inciting them to escalate their actions, then there would be a legitimate reason for a purge. However, he had already started pushing for this a year ago...

In any case, for Novia, in addition to the Jews in Jerusalem who had to be killed without exception to commemorate the Messiah Jesus Christ who had died in 33 years, whom Novia had to expel from the province of Judah. ​​Moreover, if they did not acknowledge Jesus Christ as the Messiah before being expelled, they would not have to leave at all, but would have to lie down and atone for their sins.

Ultimately, most of these people were radicals, and they believed they were superior to others. In the Battle of Kittos in 115 AD, after the Jews who launched the second war managed to defeat the local Roman garrison and occupy the city, they immediately began to massacre innocent civilians of other nationalities.

In "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," the words of Dio Cassius, a historian from the Roman Empire period, are quoted to describe:

"They even ate the flesh of their victims, pulled out their tendons, smeared their bodies with their blood, and dressed them in clothes made of their skin; many were sawed in half from head to toe. Others were thrown to wild beasts or forced to fight each other like gladiators. In total, 22 people were killed."

Although Novia did not deny that there might indeed be some good people among the Jews, and that some of those killed might have indeed insulted them in the past, he still considered the doctrines of Judaism to be somewhat radical, and thought it better to end them completely with him.

Of course, Novia also knew very well that these Jews were truly resistant to coercion, especially when it came to their religious bottom line. The option of acknowledging Jesus as the Messiah would undoubtedly be a matter of life and death for them, and the Jewish province would probably literally be stained with blood.

However, Novia was well aware that this would undoubtedly bring him a bad reputation, but so what? He would suffer as a Jew and bear the infamy.

Moreover, as long as it's done to the end, that's fine. After all, two thousand years later, no one from the Karl Khanate has come out begging for sympathy...

Another Great Nero.jpg

036: Is your Messiah title really that valuable?

Doro Bar Kochba, the leader of the Zealots in the Jewish region, was also a fanatical Jew. He secretly preached that "when we encounter so-called Christians, we should demand that they deny that Jesus is the Messiah. If they do not deny it, we should first severely punish them and then torture and kill them."

With such a person as leader, the "Daggers," who specialized in assassinating Romans and their supporters and then escaping into the crowd, it is not so surprising that the world's earliest assassination group was born.

Although the Zealots appear small on the surface, they have many supporters in secret because of their advocacy of armed resistance against the Roman Empire. Because of this support, Simon has been building an underground complex in the Judean mountains to hide weapons, ready to launch a large-scale rebellion at any time.

Previously, when the Sadducees and Pharisees agreed to make every effort to incorporate Christianity, which was gradually developing in the Roman Empire, Dorro had always been the biggest opponent. However, after his men were so humiliated by the other side, they dared not do anything, causing both factions to lose face.

At that time, Simon's gang of short-swords spontaneously went to the nearest place to arrest and kill Christians, thereby gaining a lot of support... But in reality, Dorro was just putting on a show. What he brought out were only the 'Christians' he considered to be in the local area. In his view, there were so many poor people, and for the sake of the salvation of Jerusalem, this was a necessary act.

Putting aside the fact that the Jewish province has been firmly controlled by Judaism for so many years, and that Jesus Christ was deliberately 'executed' more than a decade ago to suppress the original Christianity, even though Christianity has risen in the empire in recent years, the magical abilities of the surviving apostles are stronger than the last, so he naturally wouldn't let his faction go out to die in vain.

Moreover, in his view, all the places outside the Jewish province were sinful lands, and all the people there were inferior to them.

Although the Romans had been oppressing them for decades, Simon knew that his plan needed to be timed appropriately because the radicalism in the Jewish provinces was not uniform. For example, the oppression was most severe in Jerusalem and Alexandria, so the Jews there were more radical, while the Jews in other diaspora areas were much more moderate, since they were not oppressed.

So Doro was waiting for an opportunity, a moment that could collectively incite the discontent of all Jews—

And today, he finally got what he had been waiting for.

The Roman governor, invited by the Sadducees and Pharisees, came to Jerusalem to discuss resolving the long-standing conflict between the local Jews and Greeks...

Fools! What Greeks! They're a bunch of reckless bastards! Do they even deserve to live on the same land as us?

They are the ones who have defiled our sacred land!

Wasn't what happened a few days later just the damned Roman governor's attempt to forcibly seize the Temple's gold, with the two traitors planning to deliver it directly to the temple?

What we need to do is kill them!

Doro had said this to his Daggers gang a few days earlier. Doro was not worried about the information being leaked, because the requirement to join the Daggers gang was that everyone had to cut off a finger to show their ruthlessness towards the enemy.

It was already five o'clock. The last rays of the setting sun illuminated everything in the holy city of Jerusalem. This sacred place, which has existed since the age of gods, was shrouded in multiple layers of barriers. The holy domain, supported by immense magical power, was an invisible protection that could deceive even the forces of nature, almost like the world inhabited by fairies in legends.

This has been the case for thousands of years, and this prosperity will continue forever, a fact firmly believed by the Jews who consider themselves the chosen people.

However, this confidence lasted until 63 BC, when the Romans conquered the country.

However, Doro was extremely confident, because from this day forward, he would erase this humiliation from his memory.

"Oh? And who is this?"

"Your Excellency, this is Lord Dorro, who was also elected by all of us to discuss this together—"

The welcoming party stopped at the entrance, and Doro rushed forward alone at lightning speed, beheading the still-smiling Roman governor with a single stroke of his short sword.

"Doro, you, what exactly are you...?"

"You madman! What are you doing?!"

"Don't get me wrong, you two Roman lackeys!"

With burning hatred residing in his pupils, Doro held up the severed head of the Roman governor with one hand.