Blood, strangeness, and wind that seemed to have come from nowhere.

The Devil stood on the black ground. It was a pity that there was nothing behind the gates of Purgatory. Contrary to his expectations, there were no old friends he could say hello to. Their etiquette had gotten worse and worse, maybe this time he should knock on the doors of these Lords of Hell and help them to reaffirm what exactly was “propriety”?

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The butterflies of the departed flew and danced up and down in front of him, guiding his path.

The Devil walked with light springy steps across the scorched earth.

The sky here——if it could even be called the sky——was an uneven dark red, as if the sky was bleeding at all times. The blood dripped down, turning into a dark red rain of sulfur and fire. The fiery rain fell down to the ground, and a huge lake immediately appeared on the scorched earth. White, acrid mist rose up from the lake, and fire like molten lava slowly flowed within.

This was a place where humans would never want to step in.

The huge ridges of rugged peaks rose up from the ground, the peaks in weird and bizarre shapes, like a fearsome jagged sharp knife. The corpses of countless dead people hung on the blades that protruded out of the mountains, swaying in the wind. They were either wrapped in long pall or yellowish white clothing.

The sluggish long river of Hell was like the blood vessels of the sick and dead, meandering and zigzagging into the distance. The long river of Hell was still, but at first glance, one would think it was flowing. However, if one looked carefully, one would find that it was not the river water that flowed, but the countless souls of the departed crowded in the river water. Some of them were intact, some were missing fragments, and some even merged with other souls, all squeezing forward in their trek.

The Devil walked slowly forward, completely unscathed despite passing by those boiling lakes of sulfur and fire. He passed through rows of hung corpses, and finally arrived at the long river of Hell.

The souls of the departed in the long river of Hell silently parted left and right, shuddering as they made way for the Devil, opening up a wide path.

He finally arrived in front of a castle that could only be described in the most crazy of legends.

The black megalithic castle rose up sharply from the ground. The castle was built on a sharp and steep mountain. The spires of large and small towers were fused with neighboring black stones, and it was difficult to distinguish between the top of the tower and the peak of the rocky cliffs. The pale bones of a humongous snake winded around the entire mountain peak, connecting the castle with the earth, and providing the steps of the castle.

The snake bone was amazingly long, with curving arcs that made for a terrifying kind of beauty. Those twisted joints seem to still be soaked in the soul of a certain cold-blooded and cunning creature, the slender bone spurs protruding out obliquely, forming the exquisite decoration of the castle. The skull of the giant snake hung low, pressing down against the ground and performing a posture of submission.

The entrance to the castle was the mouth of the snake.

“Long time no see.”

The Devil spoke briskly.

When his voice fell, countless flapping sounds erupted in the air. Flocks of strange bone birds fluttered from the shadows of the black stone castle. They hovered in the sky, the sound of their bone wings colliding against each other could even be considered a rather beautiful melody. Though the tune was absolutely beyond the reach of the human world.

The snake bones began to move one by one, as if a giant snake was currently resurrecting at that moment!

“It’s time to wake up!”

He said lightly, in a rare moment that lacked any disguise of frivolity.

The Devil spread his hands, and tens of thousands of black butterflies spewed out across the sky. They looked so fragile as if they could rip apart from a gentle wind, but in fact their dance struck up a powerful wind.

The world was suddenly thrown into an uproar.

Imperceptibly, this Hell that seemed to have been dead for a long time began to celebrate.

……………………

The bell of St. Wyth Cathedral rang.

The penetrating sound of the bell echoed over half of Metzl Castle. The pale sun rose up the cold sky from the horizon and the sunlight spread out over the earth. The ice crystals and white snow reflected the sunlight, and the night was mercilessly dissipated.

Enough time had passed since the King issued the call, and the parliamentary representatives from all over Legrand had all gathered in the city of Metzl.

Today, the largest parliamentary meeting was officially held.

The representatives arrived at the main entrance of the Rose Palace in the early morning, standing patiently in the open space where Eleanor, the warrior queen, had carried out the first massacre of nobles. The accumulated snow had been cleared, the red carpet spread out, and the guards of the palace wore all donned in armor, their hands resting on the hilt of their swords while standing at attention on either side of the front door.

The last morning bell rang deeply, and the doors of the palace opened on time.

At this moment, the greatest power and supreme splendor of the entire empire opened its door to everyone. At that moment, there seemed to be an intangible wave of energy rising from the palace, enough to make everyone dazzled. The representatives glanced at each other and stepped into the heart of the empire under the guidance of the attendants who filed out.

The scarlet royal flag of the Rose family flew in the uppermost towers of the royal palace, flapping in the wind.

The opening ceremony of the parliamentary meeting was held in the Bright Room of the Rose Palace. Unlike the previous temporary meetings, all the candles in the Bright Room were lit at this time, and the entire huge room appeared as glorious as if it had been plated in gold. The fireplaces were also all lit, and the raging fire filled the room with domineering heat, relentlessly expelling the cold.

Excluding the big nobles, the minor nobles and the representatives of the common people met their King for the first time.

He sat in the center of the conference hall.

The throne that symbolized supreme authority was extremely gorgeous, but the King himself was even more gorgeous than the throne. All words used to describe dignity and luxury could be used on the King.

This was a formal ceremonial occasion. The King wore the crown that had been passed down for thousands of years. The crown was inlaid with red rose-like gems. Under the crown, the King’s face even surpassed the son of God described in all legends. His ice blue eyes looked coldly down at everyone, and yet it only made people feel that this was natural, he should be like so.

The King wore the royal ceremonial attire.

The scarlet cloak with intricate rose patterns embroidered with gold thread draped over his shoulders, and the golden tunic under it was also covered in gorgeous embroidery. He held the golden scepter in his hand, and the symbol of the Rose family was worn on his cold white finger.

Under the candlelight, he was simply brilliance itself.

Beside the King, on the left, the secular aristocrats with the Duke of Buckingham as their representative seated according to their titles, and on the right, the church aristocrats headed by the Archbishop of St. Wyth were seated according to their positions.

The long table where the King sat was the table of power in the entire Legrand Empire today.

Everyone sat down, and the Lord Chancellor stood up and began to preside over the opening ceremony. Legrand’s Lord Chancellor was older than even the Duke of Buckingham. He wore a heavy wig and an iron rose badge pinned on his dark red robe, which showed that he was a firm member of the Royalist Party in the “Rose Crisis”.

The elderly Lord Chancellor stood upright, his wrinkled hands holding a long scroll, trying his best to speak clearly and loudly.

The Lord Chancellor originally felt that he was too old, and he might not be able to undertake this important task. He wanted to give up this glorious opportunity to others but the King rejected his proposal.

——If anyone dares to laugh at the opening ceremony, then he can expect his head to fall.

The King spoke thus.

There was only silence in the great hall.

The people listened to the Lord Chancellor reciting the speech clearly and loudly, his voice old but powerful. But gradually, his voice became a little hoarse, and some frivolous noble representatives were just about to whisper among themselves, when they saw the King looking over coldly from the throne.

A poisonous chill crawled over their backs, and in an instant no one dared to make a sound.

In this utter silence, the Lord Chancellor described the purpose, content, schedule, and agenda of this parliamentary meeting. Finally, the Lord Chancellor announced that Legrand’s King would now officially declare the start of the meeting.

The Lord Chancellor closed his speech and after finishing the last sentence loudly he straightened his spine proudly.

“I declare——”

The King stood up and his gaze swept across the hall.

“This parliamentary meeting officially begins!”

His voice was clear, powerful, and suffused with irrefutable majesty.

There was a moment of silence in the hall, and then the people got up and bowed deeply to the King. Whether they were nobles or commoners, they all shouted at this moment: “God bless my King!”

The parliamentary meeting had begun.

………………

This time the parliamentary meeting was completely changed from the lengthy process before, and after the opening ceremony, it went directly to the most important part.

Representatives of all levels began to submit petitions and complaints to the clerks of the parliament in turn. Under the auspices of the Lord Chancellor, the parliament participants were divided into several groups and began to discuss the issues just submitted.

There was no cumbersome etiquette, no banquet, and no opera performance to enjoy.

This time the parliament had undergone a huge change, just like in the change of participants. From beginning to end, it was permeated with an urgent smell of gunpowder. There seemed to be an invisible battle front in the air.

Unlike in the past, when he directly left after attending the opening ceremony and didn’t make an appearance until it came time for the decision-making process. This time, the King sat in the top seat from beginning to end, and seemed determined to participate in the whole process.

Something different from usual was brewing in the air.

Soon, the people’s instincts were confirmed.

Because the representatives of the free citizens who were allowed to participate in the parliament for the first time began to submit their petitions.

——A petition calling for the removal of the local county lord.

They had quite the tacit understanding, each letter of petition was accompanied by a very detailed statement, carefully explaining the county lord’s dereliction of duty, and if according to the above, some of the county lords would even be thrown on the guillotine.

Many of the county lords on the removal list also participated in this assembly, and they paled after seeing these petitions.

Everyone looked at the King.

No one believed that these commoners could make such detailed and methodical statements. This was absolutely based on the King’s will. As everyone was aware, the King’s commissioners flew all over the land of Legrand like black wings some time ago.

The King, who suddenly became the focus, casually raised his eyes.

“Gentlemen, is there a need for me to remind you all that this is a parliamentary meeting? Please proceed in accordance with the procedures you have always adhered to.”

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

The participants were speechless.

In the past, when the King convened a parliamentary meeting to increase taxes, they resisted by bringing out the fixed procedures of the parliament. No one thought that one day the King would also use this knife against them as well.

“Carry on.”

Said the King.

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