Xingyue, is Xiaokai also considered Kai?

"You traitors all deserve to die, and those filthy Romans deserve to die too!"

Following his speech, the Daggers swiftly began a massacre of the still-dazed Romans and their leaders beneath the golden stone of Jerusalem.

Apart from that, the Jews living in Jerusalem were simply reciting the same prayers as always, as if they were invisible.

Soon, all that remained at the gates of Jerusalem were the mangled remains of many dead humans, cut to pieces.

“I am a devout Jew, and I believe in the unity of all Jews. If possible, I would prefer no killing, because our God does not wish for bloodshed. But in whatever form, we must be independent of the filthy Romans, even if it means destroying them by means of terror, removing those who stand in our way, those who do evil, and those who hinder us.”

“But the Book of Numbers prophesied: ‘A star will come out of Jacob, and a scepter will rise in Israel.’”

A cold, slightly distorted voice rang out from the Jerusalem Temple.

“Then I, Doro Bar Kochba! I am the Son of the Stars! I am—”

"The Messiah who walks the earth!"

........

In 51 AD, the assassination of the Roman governor of Judah, who was accused of attempting to seize gold from the Jewish Temple, in front of the Temple in Jerusalem sparked a full-scale Jewish rebellion against the Roman Empire.

The Jew who launched the war, Doro Bar Kohba, was referred to by Jews at that time as "King of Israel," "Son of the Stars," and—

"The Messiah on Earth"

037: The mad beasts should never have been released.

"Damn it! Damn it!"

Upon learning of the complete rebellion in the Jewish province, the old emperor Claudius's eyes turned icy cold, his face ashen as if it were solid. He immediately convened a court assembly, where the Senate council began to discuss how to handle the matter.

"Please take good care of your health. Your well-being is the Empire's top priority, Your Majesty."

Novia first helped the old emperor to the center of the council hall, then walked to the side and silently watched the people who were already arguing.

He had been looking for a better reason to carry out another purge of the Jewish province, and now that a rebel had appeared, it all made perfect sense.

However, Novia really didn't expect that these Jews would give such a title to the leader of the rebellion. You could say "King of Israel" or "Son of the Stars," but what's with "Messiah on Earth"?

Novia thought to herself, "You don't believe in the real Jesus Christ, but instead you're giving such high praise to this guy with such extreme ideas."

"Quiet." Claudie's aged voice, amplified by magic, resounded throughout the hall. "After the rebellion of the Judean province, its leader, Doro, led his troops to destroy the Roman Twelfth Legion stationed in Syria, and their standard was also captured."

Claudie's words caused an uproar, and anger flared in the eyes of everyone present.

In the ancient Roman Empire, the Roman legion's standard was the soul of each legion and a source of pride for the Romans.

In the past, when Caesar conquered the province of Gaul, the leaders of the defeated side were required to kneel and kiss the banner of Caesar's thirteenth legion as a sign of submission to Rome.

Furthermore, Roman military law stipulated that if a legion lost its standard in battle, the legion would be disbanded, its designation would be completely cancelled, and it would not be rebuilt.

In the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD, which changed the fate of the Germanic peoples, Varus's three Roman legions were completely annihilated by the allied forces, and naturally, the legion's standard was lost.

Six years later, Caesar was ordered to lead eight legions to conquer the Germanic tribes again. He sent men to the region to search for the survivors of the three legions and the three lost eagle banners. He found two of them and brought them back to Rome. However, the two legions whose banners were recovered were never re-established, and the three legions were completely removed from the Roman legionary order.

Therefore, when these elders and ministers learned that the Jews, whom they had always ruled, dared to be so crazy, it was as if they had been slapped in the face and kicked hard.

"So, Your Majesty, how should we deal with the Jewish rebellion?"

The members of the Senate consulted with the emperor in the central government.

"What do you think, little Novia?"

The old emperor pondered for a moment, then turned his gaze to Novia, who stood silently to the side.

Seeing this, some elders who had originally planned to use the close ties between Judaism and Christianity to their advantage regarding Novia put their plans on hold, since it seemed that the emperor still held this man in high regard.

This was unexpected for Novia. After all, although the Christianity he promoted was not related to Judaism, it did originate from the other religion. So he initially planned to wait for the Senate to make an issue of this, and then have his own people, such as Seneca, refute it. After that, he would volunteer to lead the Roman legions to quell the rebellion and purge all heretics in the Jewish province.

“Your Majesty, I believe that a pilgrimage should be made to the Jewish province to display the majesty of the Empire and the Lord.”

But the silver-haired boy didn't hesitate and immediately made up his mind.

“My God told me, ‘The Jews call themselves apostles, but they betrayed the covenant early on and are heretics.’ So what can we, all of the Roman Empire, do for these wretched worms except mercifully crush them all?”

The imperial elders in the hall had absolute confidence in the empire's strength, believing that it could easily suppress the rebellion.

However, understanding this fact is one thing, but what Novia said is quite another.

They could tell that there was no falsehood or euphemism in the boy's tone; it was purely literal.

Trample all the Jews in the province of Judah.

Although some elders felt this was a bit too radical, they held back when they thought of the intelligence they had received and the things the emperor hadn't yet said.

Because after the leader of the Zealots rebelled, he first massacred his compatriots and Pharisees who were unwilling to participate in the uprising, and after seizing control of the city, he launched a massacre campaign against the local Greeks and Romans. The eastern coast of the Mediterranean was literally awash in blood.

All they do is brutally kill, kill, kill. After the massacre, there is no construction or appeasement. It's just a chaotic, haphazard fighting style. They're a bunch of lunatics.

"Your Majesty, I am willing to personally deal with these heretics on behalf of the Empire. I hope Your Majesty will grant me permission."

"But... little Novia has no experience in warfare..."

Claudie looked at Novia with a puzzled expression.

"Your Majesty, before I gained Your Majesty's favor, I traveled to many regions and saw many things. Egypt, Gaul, the Mediterranean region, and Britain. I passed by many people, saw many people, and gave to many people. God created only one world. This world is one where people rejoice over delicious food, laugh and chat with friends, and where lovable children are always playing. This world should be cherished, and there are many things that are full of brilliance."

That's precisely why—

This was the first time Claudie had seen the silver-haired boy before him display such a chilling gaze.

"As a believer in God, I cannot forgive the hellish things that happen in the world God created: the sound of bodies being pierced, the sound of bodies being torn apart. Gunshots, explosions, roars. Resentment. Jealousy. The only difference between the Jewish province now and the hell of the past is that there, innocent creatures are slaughtering each other, and they are just humans."

"Then, I swear by my god, I will bring victory to the empire!"

It was precisely because of Novia’s undisguised hatred that the old emperor felt that this was not entirely unacceptable. Initially, he was worried that the Teutoburg incident would happen again.

Since Novia had sworn an oath to the God he believed in, Claudius thought that God would grant Rome victory once again, just as he had done during the expedition to Britain a few years earlier.

Claudius then agreed.

“I will give you five full legions and fifteen regiments of auxiliary troops, two legions of magicians, to handle everything in the province of Judah, little Novia.”

"Thank you, Your Majesty. May I ask you to issue another order?"

"Oh? Is there anything else you need? Just say it."

"From now on, the legions near the Jewish province must guard that place and must not let any of those mad beasts out."

038: Not a single one left (4k)

In 51 AD, half a month after a full-scale rebellion in the province of Judah, various forms of violence ravaged the land.

The idyllic landscape that should have been like a pastoral scene has vanished. Homes are broken, everything has been burned, and the blood of people who desperately fled has stained the fields red. No one is alive or able to move; even the livestock have been killed.

Unlike the bloodshed on the battlefield, this is the scene after a one-sided massacre.

Villages were burned, fields were trampled, and those who refused to participate in the violence—the local Romans and Greeks—were initially impaled with spears, then torn to pieces, and decapitated. The violence continued until the survivors were subjected to the most humiliating form of crucifixion, slowly tortured to death.

It is not uncommon for even those who can use magic to die because they disagree with the 'rebellion'.

After all, there were quite a few magicians with extreme ideas in the ancient holy city of Jerusalem. Therefore, a magician alone is just a powerless mortal. When ordinary people, who are fearless and reckless under the influence of religious fanaticism, are led by extreme magicians, they can gather into a group and defeat wild beasts. When they are gathered into an army, they can even kill magicians.

In the Jewish province, peace was virtually nonexistent; one-sided killings took place constantly, and there was no day without bloodshed.

Some Jews say that under the leadership of the great King of Israel, the true Messiah, the bright future has already been decided.

At this moment, along the coastline of the Jewish province, a fleet of ancient Roman raven ships, uniquely rowed warships, is sailing against the current, the warm winds characteristic of this season blowing through the fluttering flags.

The five-story ship soared into the air in an instant, like a giant whale leaping out of the sea, then crashed back down, creating a spectacular spray of water that formed a beautiful water crown.

Not only that, but hundreds of ships followed behind, which were the Roman legions led by Novia to deal with the province of Judea.

After the Third Punic War and the Third Macedonian War, and after the Roman Empire gained complete control of the Mediterranean, these raven ships, which played a crucial role in naval warfare, were rarely used, except occasionally to deal with pirates.

On the Roman warship, tens of thousands of Roman soldiers stared warily at the coastline not far away, while on the lead five-story warship, Novia stood on the deck of the galley with his arms crossed, wearing a white outfit that seemed never to have been changed. His expression was serious, completely different from his usual approachable demeanor.

"Preparations are complete, and I'm on my way to the battlefield. What do you think?"

Novia muttered to herself as she continued to fiddling with the oddly shaped gun in her hand.

'You want the dragon to unleash its strongest power? That's a good idea; displaying power when necessary is perfectly acceptable. As you wish, but it can probably only be used once.'

'I am deeply grateful, Lord Albion, the eternally strongest dragon. You are worthy of the glory I have always longed for—'

'Shut up! Did I tell you to speak?'

For some reason, the Dragon of Albion felt an indescribable embarrassment whenever this weak human sincerely praised him...

If it were still in dragon form, it felt it would have devoured this weak human long ago, because being influenced by such a weak being was intolerable to it.

"...You're right."

Novia gazed intently at the 'gun' in response, and a hint of sadness inadvertently appeared on her face.

"Heh, good that you understand..." Although inexplicably uncomfortable, the dragon still spoke as always, "Hmph, so the humans are coming to find you again. You're quite busy, aren't you? That human with that strange smell is always coming to find you, so annoying and disgusting... But then again, it makes sense, someone as weak as you, only disgusting people would be interested in you."

After saying this, the dragon fell silent. According to it, 'Does a weak human even deserve to communicate with the strongest dragon? You're already incredibly lucky to have spoken to me with my permission.' In any case, it only spoke to Novia when the two of them were alone.

As for the person the Dragon of Albion mentioned, the silver-haired boy naturally knew that it was most likely his apprentice Nero. When the preparations were underway, the girl volunteered to participate, and Novia did not refuse.

As Nero, suppressing religion is only natural, especially since she's someone who could potentially betray her and become Draco, the Beast-class assassin...

Novia believes it's better for her to let her true nature flow freely, otherwise, suppressing it for too long won't be conducive to controlling her.

"teacher."

"What's wrong? Is something the matter, Nero?"

Looking at the girl before him, Novia created an atmosphere of loving kindness with a smile, after all, this was exactly his area of ​​expertise.

"Teacher, we are about to reach the Jewish province. Indeed, as you said, the coastline is filled with Jews in numbers far exceeding ours."

Nero suppressed his urge to throw himself into his teacher's arms as usual and spoke with a serious tone.

"And the number of magical weapons they deployed is unpredictable."

In Novia's view, unless the Israelite king who launched the rebellion was a fool, he would never want the well-trained Roman legions to land in the province of Judah, because even the Jews, who were now fearless because of their faith, would not be a match for the well-equipped and trained Roman army.

Therefore, for the army that made the 'foolish' choice to land in the province of Judah instead of a nearby province, as long as they set up defenses along the coastline, they would be invincible.

Novia naturally thought so too, but he knew that if the Jewish rebels were not defeated in one fell swoop, it would be extremely troublesome to take cities one by one, because these Jews would harass supply lines with suicide attacks, and because it was a full-scale rebellion, they would hold onto fortresses and strongholds when their field strength was insufficient, dragging the Roman legions into one brutal siege after another.

They would also ambush in many villages and caves, and many of these caves and tunnels were interconnected, equipped with fortifications and food supplies.

This is extremely troublesome, not to mention there is also the holy city of Jerusalem, which has a history of thousands of years.

Novia could guess how many magical defenses would be present in the place where the former Magic King once lived.

He didn't expect to persuade them to surrender, because in the original history, when the Roman army besieged Jerusalem, the 600,000 residents of Jerusalem all went into battle. After being besieged for months, they killed the envoys who tried to persuade them to surrender and fought street battles with the Romans. There were even cases of families eating their own children and family members in order to continue the resistance.

"Nero, pass down the order that all magicians ensure my voice is audible to everyone."

"Yes, teacher."

Novia walked toward the top floor, and like the receding tide, the soldiers outside quickly parted to make way for him.

Nero's gaze was fixed on the 'gun' he held in his hand as he glanced at Novia's back—his eyes were glued to it, and his expression grew increasingly somber.

"So close... I really want to destroy that thing... Hmm, what am I thinking? I should hurry up and finish what the teacher asked me to do."

The blonde girl's voice instantly transformed into a cheerful and lighthearted tone, as if there were no gloom behind it, innocent and pure.

On the top deck of the warship, after confirming that her voice and image could be heard and seen by everyone on the ship, Novia spoke.

"I hereby declare to all soldiers of the Empire that I am Novia, the commander of this operation. Today, in the Jewish province where a full-scale rebellion is imminent, I speak to you in this manner for no other reason than that there is something I must inform you of."

After a pause, Novia solemnly said:

"Since the Jewish rebellion began fifteen days ago, every day, every moment has seen inhumane massacres targeting ordinary citizens of the empire. Even now, innocent people are still being devoured by those cruel beasts. The dead will not rise again, and lost items will not be returned."

The boy's expression was solemn, like a warrior about to face certain death.

"The only difference between there and hell is that the creatures that wield violence are what we call humans. That's the only slight difference. Otherwise, they're almost the same. It's all the same there."

"A hundred years ago, the Empire fought them and defeated them. Over the long years, the Empire granted them peace and a bright future, and they have remained safe and sound ever since. Even though Jesus Christ, the Savior, departed from their land with sins, they have never harbored any disloyalty towards the Empire and have always been law-abiding citizens. Therefore, let us forget the grievances of the past and forgive these people. And in order to give peace in the name of exchange, I thought, the Empire also extended a friendly hand to them. And this is also the message that we will work together with them in the future and live together."

Novia looked regretful, clenched her fist, and swung it down forcefully.

"However, they betrayed the Roman Empire by despicable means! They cruelly murdered our own people, who are still weeping in unknown places to this day. What does this mean? It is self-evident! The Jews wanted to destroy the future of the Roman Empire! To drag everyone in the empire into an unpredictable hell! Otherwise, they would not have gone to such lengths!"

The silver-haired boy shouted loudly.

"As you all know, crush them all with mercy, and I will bear all the infamy."