038: Leave None Alive
In the year 51 AD, half a month after the full-scale rebellion in Judea, violence had ravaged the land during this time.
The once pastoral scenery was gone without a trace. Homes were shattered, everything burned. The blood of those who fled desperately stained the fields. No one was left alive or moving; even livestock were slaughtered.
Unlike the bloodshed of a battlefield, this was the scene of one-sided massacre.
Villages were burned, fields trampled. Those unwilling to participate in the violence, local Romans and Greeks, were initially impaled, then dismembered, their heads severed. The violence continued, then the remaining people were subjected to the most humiliating punishment—crucifixion—slowly tortured to death.
Even those capable of using magecraft were not spared if they disagreed with the 'uprising.'
After all, even in the holy city of Jerusalem, there were many magi with extremist ideologies. Thus, a lone magus was merely a powerless mortal. When religiously fanatical, fearless ordinary people, led by extremist magi, gathered in numbers, they could defeat beasts; gathered as an army, they could even kill magi.
In the province of Judea, peace had almost vanished. One-sided slaughter continuously occurred on this stage; there were no more days without bloodshed.
Some Jews said that under the leadership of the great King of Israel, the true Messiah, a bright future was already determined.
At this moment, along the coastline of Judea, a fleet of ancient Roman specialized oared warships, the "Corvus" ships, rode the waves against the current. The warm wind characteristic of the season swept past the fluttering banners.
The five-tiered hull of the lead ship momentarily surged into the air like a leviathan breaching the sea, then heavily crashed onto the water's surface, splashing towering spray and creating a beautiful water crown.
Not just one, but hundreds followed. This was the Roman legion led by Novia, coming to deal with the province of Judea.
Since the Third Punic War and the Third Macedonian War, after the Roman Empire fully controlled the Mediterranean, these Corvus ships, crucial in naval battles, were rarely deployed, at most occasionally used against pirates.
On the Roman warships, tens of thousands of Roman soldiers watched the nearby coastline with vigilant eyes. On the lead five-tiered ship, Novia stood on the deck of the galley, arms crossed, dressed in seemingly unchanged white garments. His expression was serious, starkly different from his usual affable image.
'Preparations are complete. I am heading to the battlefield. What do you think?'
Novia thought as if speaking to himself, while continuing to toy with the peculiarly shaped spear in his hand.
'You wish to have the dragon display its greatest power? That's a good idea. Showing strength when necessary is permissible. As you wish, though it can likely only be used once.'
'Deeply grateful, ever-greatest of Albion. You are worthy of the radiance I have always yearned for—'
'Quiet! Did I permit you to speak?!'
For some reason, Albion felt that whenever this weak human sincerely praised it, an indescribable sense of embarrassment arose within...
If still in dragon form, it felt it would have long ago devoured this weak human. Being affected by a weakling was intolerable.
"...As you say."
Novia gazed sincerely at the 'spear' and replied, inadvertently revealing a slightly sorrowful expression.
'Hmph, you understand...' Though inexplicably uncomfortable, the dragon spoke as usual. 'Hah, so humans are seeking you again. You're quite the busy one. That human with the peculiar smell always comes looking for you, annoying, disgusting... But, indeed, being so weak, only disgusting beings would be interested in you.'
After saying this, the dragon fell silent. According to it, 'Does a weak human deserve to converse with the greatest dragon? For you, speaking with me when I permit is already great fortune.' In short, it only conversed with Novia when they were alone.
As for the person Albion mentioned, the silver-haired youth naturally knew it was likely his nominal disciple, Nero. During the preparations, the girl had volunteered to participate, which Novia did not refuse.
Because as 'Nero,' suppressing religion was only natural. After all, she was someone who could potentially become the Beast-class Draco...
Novia believed it was better to appropriately release her true nature. Suppressing it for too long wouldn't be good for restraint either.
"Teacher."
"What is it? Something on your mind, Nero?"
Looking at the girl before him, Novia used a smile to create an atmosphere overflowing with affection, as this was his area of expertise.
"Teacher, we are about to reach Judea. Just as you said, the coastline is filled with Jews far outnumbering us."
Nero suppressed her usual desire to throw herself into her teacher's arms and spoke with a serious attitude.
"And they have deployed an unquantifiable number of magical weapons."
In Novia's view, as long as this self-proclaimed King of Israel wasn't foolish, he would never want the well-trained Roman legions to land in Judea. Against the organized, equipped, and trained Roman army, even these fearless Jews, fueled by faith, could not be a match.
Therefore, for the 'foolish' choice to land in Judea instead of a neighboring province, as long as defenses were set up along the coast, they would be invincible.
Novia naturally thought the same. But he knew that if the Jewish rebel army wasn't crushed in one fell swoop, taking city after city would be extremely troublesome. These Jews would harass supply lines with suicide attacks, and due to the full-scale rebellion, if their field strength was insufficient, they would fortify strongholds, dragging the Roman legions into one brutal siege after another.
They would also disperse into many villages and caves, launching ambushes. Many caves and tunnels were interconnected, equipped with defenses and food supplies.
This would be very troublesome, especially with the thousand-year-old holy city of Jerusalem.
Novia could guess how many magical defensive facilities there would be in the place where the King of Mages once resided.
He didn't expect surrender either. Because in the original history, when the Roman army besieged Jerusalem, all 600,000 inhabitants entered a state of combat. After months of siege, they killed envoys calling for surrender and stubbornly fought street battles with the Romans. Some families, to persist in resistance, even resorted to eating their own children and family members.
"Nero, give the order. Have all magi ensure my voice can be heard by everyone."
"Yes, Teacher."
Novia walked towards the highest deck. Like a receding tide, the soldiers outside swiftly cleared the path before him.
And Nero's gaze, shifting from Novia's back to the 'spear' in his hand—her eyes fixed on it, her expression growing increasingly dark.
"So close... I really want to destroy that thing... Hmm, what am I thinking? I must quickly complete the task Teacher gave me."
The golden-haired girl's voice instantly turned bright and cheerful, as if without a shadow, innocent and pure.
On the highest deck of the warship, after confirming his voice and image could be heard and seen across the fleet, Novia spoke.
"I declare to all soldiers of the empire. I am Novia, the commander of this expedition. Today, as we approach the fully rebellious province of Judea, I speak to you like this for no other reason than there is something I must tell you."
Novia paused briefly, then solemnly declared:
"For these fifteen days since the Jewish rebellion began, every day, every moment, brutal massacres have been carried out against ordinary people of the empire. Even now, innocent people are being devoured by those cruel beasts. The dead will not return, what is lost will not come back."
The youth's expression was grave, like a warrior heading to certain death.
"The difference between there and hell lies only in that the beings committing violence are so-called humans. Only that slight difference; otherwise, it's almost the same. Exactly the same."
"A hundred years ago, the empire fought them and won. Through long years, the empire granted them peace and a bright future. All had been calm. Even though the Savior Christ Jesus departed bearing sin in their land, because they never harbored ill intentions against the empire, remaining law-abiding. In that case, let us forget past grievances, forgive these people. Then, to offer peace in the name of exchange—that's what I thought. The empire extended a friendly hand to them. And this was also a message to share the same boat, to live together in the times to come."
Novia showed a remorseful expression, clenched his fist, and forcefully swung it down.
"However, they betrayed the Roman Empire with despicable means! Brutally killing our compatriots, people who even now weep in unknown places—what this signifies needs no explanation now! The Jews wish to destroy the Roman Empire's future! To drag all people of the empire into an unforeseeable hell! Otherwise, they would not have gone to such lengths!"
The silver-haired youth shouted loudly.
"As you all know, crush them all with mercy. All infamy, I shall bear."
"Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!"
The Roman soldiers on all the warships roared a war cry as if to display their might.
Then Novia continued:
"My name is Novia. By the command of God, to eradicate the heretics who borrow His name, these mad beasts. Thus, grant this hell but a single salvation. All sins shall be borne by me—"
"Simon Bar Kokhba, sinner. Thy true name is Antichrist. Thy root is Baal, enemy of the Lord. In the Lord's name, I declare once more: Jerusalem is beyond redemption, and the Jews outside Jerusalem must be expelled. But before that, they must cleanse their own sins. Come before me and acknowledge that Christ Jesus the Savior is the true Messiah. Only then, after the Lord's mercy is shown again, may you depart."
The spear raised in Novia's right hand gathered a blue-black light, aiming directly at the coastline not far away.
Albion, magical power fully unleashed.
"Lord, have mercy on this soul."
Gathering the ether suffusing the atmosphere, the dragon's roar shot forward in a straight line. But this was not the miracle of a saint parting the sea for salvation.
It was a storm announcing extinction—that is, the signal for war.
Suddenly, a pillar of light that seemed to burn both sky and earth caused the Jews stationed on the coastline of the province of Judea to scream. A vortex of fear swept across the entire coast, like a tsunami approaching land—silent at first, then evolving into a cataclysmic wave that swallowed everything.
The rebel forces were utterly incapable of using their deployed magical armaments to stop the Roman warships from landing. Moreover, the ships' prows were equipped with giant iron-spiked boarding bridges, the four corners of the decks had ballistae, and the tall towers were fitted with shields and crenellations for archers to suppress them.
After that, in the eyes of these people, the man dressed in distinctive white clothes was like a warrior from the legendary Age of Gods.
In mere seconds, he slew hundreds of people, dashing through their formations as if cutting through cloth. For him, the battle itself seemed overwhelmingly one-sided.
The Jewish rebels, snapping out of their panic, quickly regrouped. After all, they numbered a full three hundred thousand here—four times the Romans. And they focused on Novia, who was both commander and combatant.
"Kill him! He's one of those despicable Christians!"
"Filthy wretch!"
"The Messiah has already descended upon the world! Our future is glorious!"
"There are only this many of them! All forces charge! Kill them all!"
Facing the endless sea of enemies before him, Novia only smiled.
"Your transgressions shall now be settled."
The fact he stated plainly carried a certain heavy weight.
A dreadful slaughter unfolded. Novia, wielding his blue-black spear, swiftly struck down enemies. The phrase "invincible" was insufficient to describe his battle prowess with that weapon.
'Remember this. You can also use a bit of intimidation. Here, take it.'
The voice of Albion echoed in Novia's mind. Then, enemies within several kilometers fell to their knees, pressing their heads to the earth.
As if bowing to the silver-haired youth, the Jewish rebel army instantly collapsed in waves.
Novia pulled out his blood-drenched spear and, ignoring the enemy's strange state, swept it horizontally with great force.
The nearest enemy was decapitated in a single stroke, the head flying off and falling into the sea of Jews.
"All units, leave none alive."
Note: I'm new to translating so please be kind and tell me any mistakes you all find, I will try to release a chapter a day but don't expect much
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