Chapter 81- Words of Blood (Part 3)

Chapter 81: Chapter 81- Words of Blood (Part 3)

Chapter 81- Words of Blood (Part 3)

The moment the man announced it, the entire crowd fell into deep silence. It was such a rare sight to witness that hundreds of thousands of people would decide to stop cheering or even talking to listen to one single man.

Even in these dire times and even with all the arguments happening on both sides, the people of Sagardia still viewed Theodore as the king, and that was something not many could achieve as rulers. Then, slowly, everyone heard the footsteps of someone going up to the podium.

Eventually, he emerged at the top and stared at the crowd calmly. Theodore was a very good-looking man, even though he was clearly getting up there with age. Anybody who saw him would give him 60 years of age. What many don’t know is that Theodore was actually over 100 years of age.

Being a Tier 2 Awakened meant that he had an astronomical amount of Essence in his body, and that slowed down his aging significantly and made him immune to most illnesses and poisons. The man had been ruling the Empire for almost 60 years, so, in a sense, many of the newer generations were born into his rulership.

The only thing they knew that didn’t change was that Theodore was the king of their beloved Sagardia. So, even in these tough times, the looks of awe and fascination were everywhere.

It was as if the crowd was in the presence of a divine being and not a man. Some gasped; others could only stare in sheer amazement.

’...’ Rize watched the reactions with a weird look on his face. ’How does a man even gain such admiration? It doesn’t look... healthy.’

Rize could see the blind belief in the eyes of many of the people present. A belief that wasn’t even shaken by the events that occurred the other day. Then, before Rize could even understand what happened, Theodore spoke.

"O people of Sagardia." He said. "I must say... For the first time in many, many years, I feel sad today."

Theodore’s voice was loud, reaching every corner of the plaza, yet at the same, it was smooth and pleasant to the ear. It commanded attention and grabbed it without even trying.

"I am indeed very sad. After dedicating my life to this beautiful country and to you all, it saddens me that I have let you all down." The man said calmly. Even though his voice didn’t carry any emotions, many were still moved by his regretful words.

"When I took this position from my father all those years ago, he gave me one piece of advice. He brought me to this very plaza and stopped me and told me to look around. At the time, I didn’t understand why we were there. However, I still looked and all I saw were the people of Sagardia, going about their day in a normal fashion. Everything looked normal and more importantly... Peaceful."

"..." Rize listened as he crossed his arms, not knowing where Theodore was trying to go with what he was saying.

"I then asked my father, ’For what purpose do you want me to stare at them, father? Things look normal’. Then, he grabbed my shoulder and said, ’That is precisely it. I want you to make our empire look like this every day, normal, routinely, and peaceful. If that changes and people become distressed, or afraid, then you have failed as a king. A king isn’t important for his position; a king is important for what he gives his people."

Many gasps of admiration erupted everywhere before a chain of clapping followed through. The crowd started clapping, only for Theodore to signal for them to stop.

"There is no need for you to clap. These words of mine aren’t supposed to be clapped for. This is my duty as your king, and just like how those words stuck with me, I put it upon myself to give you all the lives you deserve. I worked day and night to be the king you all could look up to. However, today, I must stand before all of you and say... I have failed you."

Theodore tilted his head down for a second, sucking a deep breath. "I have failed to protect you, and for that... I must apologize."

Dead silence.

Eyes were wide to the extreme.

The King was bowing his head to apologize to the people. No one could believe their own eyes as they looked at one another in confusion.

Rize and Venera’s expressions changed, and so did those of the officials sitting around them.

"What the..." Rize muttered under his breath. ’He is actually doing it... He actually bowed his head.’

Rize knew Theodore perhaps better than everyone present there; that man wasn’t someone who apologizes for anything, even when he makes mistakes. He was an extremely prideful and arrogant man, and he had every right to be when he was that important.

"The events that transpired a few days ago were a deliberate attack, aimed to shake our strong foundation of beliefs and tear apart our lives. It is an attack orchestrated by the enemies that want us to fall. They could’ve targeted me since they have a problem with me, but no, they chose to attack innocent civilians, kids, and the elderly. They are bloodthirsty, ruthless monsters with no regard for the innocent, and I have taken it upon myself to show them that we, Sagardians, do not falter, we do not hesitate, and we do not let anyone trample us."

"..."

"Those people who have done this to us, I promise you, you will see them pay for it. Yesterday, we were able to locate the location where they were hiding after the attacks, and we were able to successfully eliminate and capture many of them, including their leader who had planned these attacks."

"Woah?"

"They did?"

"Already?"

"I thought they didn’t know where they went."

"This is crazy..."

The reactions of surprise and shock spread across the masses. It hadn’t been announced in the news that such an operation occurred, so it was the first time they heard that, and it was from the king himself, so the impression was strong.

"Our next goal is to uproot the problem as a whole, and we are working tirelessly to make sure everyone responsible for this will pay."

Suddenly, the entire crowd erupted in cheering. What was before a solemn and clouded atmosphere turned into excitement.

"YEAH! Get those demons!!"

"They deserve hell!!"

"They’re terrorists! Monsters!!!"

The cheers only grew louder as Theodore watched them silently.

’No wonder he’s the king.’ Rize thought to himself. ’He just needed a few minutes to change their minds completely. They didn’t even seem like they had just experienced something traumatic not that long ago.’

That kind of influence fascinated Rize. It was akin to the politicians from his previous worlds and their skillful techniques in manipulating the masses with words.

They didn’t need to do anything but to make the people hear what they want to hear, and the result...

A crowd of hundreds of thousands of people cheering for them.

For the very first time ever, Rize realized what Venera meant when she said that she wanted to rid the world of this blind belief... Of this pseudo-religion that plagued the minds of the people toward one single man.