As Lucian unleashed his aura, everyone knelt on the ground, and those who were weaker collapsed completely, losing consciousness.
Among them, only one person remained unaffected—Clara, who was in Lucian's arms.
Clara looked at Svarog with concern, then, with her small hands clutching Lucian's chest, pleaded to him.
"Mr. Lucian, please forgive Mr. Svarog. He didn't do anything wrong."
Lucian, of course, knew Svarog was not at fault, but someone had to be made an example of, and the Silvermane Guards, members of Wildfire, and Svarog were all there to play their parts.
"Mm."
Lucian responded softly and, with a single thought, made the pressure in certain areas vanish.
Svarog, the Wildfire members, the Silvermane Guards, and those responsible for maintaining order were all able to stand up again.
Clara looked down at the ground to check Svarog's condition but then felt a little scared because of the height and unconsciously tightened her grip on Lucian's arm.
Lucian, sensing her fear, instinctively pulled Clara closer and pressed her face to his chest so she wouldn't see the unsettling scene that would happen next.
After confirming Clara's position was secure, Lucian gazed coldly at the crowd kneeling below.
"First, you five."
Lucian's indifferent words hung above everyone like a reaper's scythe, floating lightly over their heads.
Unfortunately for them, they could not raise their heads, nor did they know who the five were.
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
At the back of the crowd, five bodies suddenly exploded without warning!
A mist of blood splattered everywhere, dyeing the people nearby red.
"AAAAAAHHH—!!!"
Someone near the five was so frightened he screamed out.
However, everyone else was crushed by Lucian's pressure, so they couldn't even raise their heads, let alone turn around to watch.
Even though they didn't exactly know what had happened, they all shared a single realization—this Supreme Guardian seemed to know his true purpose.
Needless to say, the judgment had begun.
"Supreme Guardian, have mercy! I was just coerced into this, I really didn't mean to cause any trouble!"
"Please, my lord, forgive me! I just got carried away for a moment, I never meant for things to get out of hand!"
"Please, Supreme Guardian, spare me!"
One person broke down on the spot, begging for mercy.
Others soon followed, admitting fault and pleading for their lives.
Since the main culprits were already dead, no one else dared to stir up more trouble.
Faced with Lucian's iron-fisted authority, anyone with a bit of sense wouldn't dare to speak up now, so admitting fault and begging for mercy was their only hope.
"Tsk, you're not sorry for what you did—you're just scared to die."
Lucian ignored the crowd's pleas and continued coldly.
"You three."
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
As three more bodies exploded, another cloud of blood spread through the air, and the stench was replaced by the metallic smell of blood that clung to everyone.
At this moment, they had no idea who would be next, since they did not know what action had angered Lucian.
Miners and vagrants alike were filled with regret.
'Why did I get involved in this mess... Why didn't I just keep mining... Why did I listen to the accusation and come here for revenge...'
As they all more or less thought this, Lucian's cold voice resounded again.
"You seven."
"And you twenty."
Amid this massacre, Clara did not dare to look and buried her head in Lucian's chest.
She could not bear to watch people die, but she also knew her place and knew Lucian had his own reasons for doing this, so she did not say a word to persuade him to stop.
===
In the end, the massacre lasted for a full hour.
It was, without a doubt, an hour shrouded in the fear of death.
Many could not help but wet themselves in terror.
"So many people... all dead just like that... is he a demon?"
Natasha held her breath, barely daring to exhale.
She could hardly accept this situation, never expecting that the elegant and kind young man who had helped the injured girl in the clinic earlier would massacre people without a hint of mercy.
No matter who it was, even slaughtering hundreds of animals would have made any normal person's hands shake.
However, not Lucian.
He did not even blink, and when he said he would kill, he killed.
"I never saw it before... He's so domineering... and ruthless too..."
Seele found it impossible to connect the gentle hero she remembered with the current blood-soaked Lucian—the contrast was just too stark.
From this massacre, everyone immediately understood one thing.
As long as you acted like a decent person, Lucian was a friendly and approachable fellow—even if you joked around, he would just laugh with you.
However, if you crossed his line, Lucian would become a ruthless demon and kill without hesitation.
"Some of those people were just ignorant and weak-minded..." Luka murmured with a complicated expression. "Honestly, they didn't deserve to die..."
"Don't worry, bro, no innocent people died. Sampo Koski guarantees it."
Sampo patted Luka's metal arm with a grin.
In Sampo's understanding, if an Emanator wanted to slaughter the innocent, they would have wiped out the entire surface and wouldn't need to single anyone out—he understood this better than anyone.
At this moment, with so many dead, not a single person dared to speak up.
A riot of one thousand became only six hundred an hour later.
Now, these six hundred survivors knelt on the ground, trembling in fear.
"You were merely foolish, so your crimes do not deserve death. However, there must not be a next time."
Lucian's words, cold as they were, felt like a breath of spring to those who heard them, because it meant they would live.
"Thank you, Supreme Guardian!"
"We won't dare do anything like this again!"
"Thank you! Thank you!"
Shouting with big smiles one after another, the survivors—covered in red as if they had bathed in a pool of blood—truly looked unsightly.
"Oleg, take them away and send them to labor reform."
As he spoke, the murderous air around Lucian faded away, and he seemed to revert to his old, gentle self.
Oleg nodded firmly, not daring to hesitate, and immediately led the Wildfire members to escort the survivors back for cleaning and labor reform.
As the crowd dispersed, the Silvermane Guards returned to their posts.
Seele and Natasha looked at Lucian for a moment, then joined the group escorting the survivors.
Soon, the area returned to its former calm.
Several robots poked their heads out from the piles of trash, looking around curiously.
Lucian looked down and found Clara gazing at him with her beautiful red eyes.
"What is it?"
Lucian asked Clara curiously, who then blinked and shook her head.
"Mm, it's nothing... It's just that Mr. Lucian is so gentle... and always kind to me... like a big brother..."