Chapter 387
The Devers in front of the Temple of Hades no longer pretended to be mysterious like the first time the temple was built. Instead, they followed the traditional ritual of slaughtering lambs, sacrificing their blood, and reciting the hymns. This time, the hymns of Hades were different. It was written by Lysias. The Devers had read it before and felt that it was well-written. This meant the development of Diónia's culture.
As mortals were equal before the gods, the people who participated in the ritual were in order. Those who arrived first stood in front.
Megalis had been standing at the periphery of the square, close to the temple. Hence, when the crowd surged towards the temple, he walked in front. Now, in front of him were the militia who maintained order. They held hands and formed a large defensive circle, surrounding the entire Temple of Hades. There were several teams of guards patrolling the circle to maintain order and prevent accidents.
The Devers were about 20 meters in front of Megalis. He was singing loudly, and a group of priests were singing behind him.
Megalis subconsciously swallowed a few mouthfuls of saliva. He lowered his right hand and touched the hard object on his thigh.
The Devers finally finished their hymns.
"Dong! … "The bronze bell rang.
Then, the Devers shouted in high spirits, "Now, let us pray to the great Hades!"
With that, he lowered his head and closed his eyes. The people also lowered their heads and prayed silently. Some even knelt on the ground. Even the soldiers began to pray in their hearts.
Megalis saw a team of guards pass by him from the inner circle.
This is the moment! He opened his eyes and stomped on the ground with his right leg. Like a cheetah, he crouched down and passed through the gap between the citizen soldier's handholds. He flashed past the guard's back and reached his right hand into Bolten's pocket. With a pull, a shining dagger was already in his hand.
Among the Campanian mercenaries, he was known for his speed. A distance of more than 20 meters could be traversed in an instant. At this moment, excitement and nervousness surged through his body. The wind whistled in his ears, but his eyes were fixed on the Devers in front of him.
Close! Very close!
Devers raised her head. She was neither nervous nor afraid. She just smiled at him.
Megalis' heart skipped a beat.
Behind the Devers, two High Priests who had their heads hung low suddenly rushed out. They held small leather shields in their hands and swung them forcefully at Megalis.
He was already sprinting at full speed, but he was unable to dodge due to inertia. He felt as if his right hand had been smashed by a boulder, and the pain in his bones felt like they were cracking. The dagger flew out of his hand.
Then, another shield smashed onto his head. Megalis' head buzzed and he fainted immediately.
"Is he dead?" Devers asked.
"Sir, he fainted." Martius, who was disguised as a priest, replied.
"Very good." Just as the Devers spat out these two words, someone in the crowd shouted, "Assassins! There was an assassin! He wants to assassinate Lord Devers! "
"Murder! An assassin wants to kill us! "
…
At this time, the people who had just reacted saw the assassin on the ground in front of the Devers and heard people shouting, "Murder! There's an assassin! " Immediately, the people began to panic.
Not good, someone is causing trouble! The Devers immediately went on alert. There were tens of thousands of people in this sacrificial ceremony. Once there was panic and stampede, the consequences would be dire. Wasn't that what happened to Mitradat's troops back then?
In a moment of panic, he walked forward to the back of the soldiers and shouted, "Citizens of Diónia, soldiers of the Legion, I order you to remain calm! Maintain order! Protect the people! "
Maltius and the soldiers, who were following closely behind, shouted in unison.
The citizens of Diónia began to respond to the Supreme Commander's orders and stood up to calm the people around them. The chaos gradually subsided …
At this time, a woman screamed as she was pushed and fell into the defensive circle.
The Devers looked concerned and prepared to help her up.
The soldier next to her immediately helped her up. Just as he was about to help her up, he saw a twisted and hideous face. She pushed away the unsuspecting soldier and quickly pulled out the dagger hidden on her body. She viciously stabbed towards Davus.
The Devers who was very close to her could not dodge at that moment. He watched in horror as the dagger with blue light pierced his chest. At this moment, Martius, who was behind him, suddenly pushed the Devers away with his left hand, and at the same time, his right hand quickly met the dagger. The dagger pierced through his palm.
He roared and punched the woman's face with his left fist.
The woman screamed and flew a few steps back. She fell to the ground, twitching and vomiting blood.
"High Priest, are you okay?!"
"Lord Devers! Lord! … "
Pleasinus, the priests, and the people at the scene all screamed and rushed to the Devers with concern.
"Stay where you are and don't move!" The Devers quickly stood up and roared, "Maintain order, I'm fine!"
As he spoke, the guards rushed over and protected him in the center.
"Go and see your captain!" The Devers broke through the soldiers' encirclement and walked quickly to Martius.
"Lord, I'm fine," Martius said in a low voice. He had torn the priest's robe and wrapped his right hand.
Dyvers looked at his right hand, which had been dyed red by the white linen, with concern. He patted Dyvers' shoulder with deep emotions, but did not say anything. He would remember Dyvers' life-saving grace in his heart.
Then, he continued to move forward and walked in front of the woman.
The woman's facial bones were broken, and she looked extremely horrible at the moment.
The Devers looked at her in a daze, but his fingers were trembling slightly. After being in this world for so long, this was the first time he really felt that death was so close to him!
Damn it! Damn it … Just when he felt that he could no longer control the rapidly growing violence in his heart, a soldier behind him cried out, "Captain, what's wrong with you?!"
He quickly turned his head and saw Martius lying on the ground weakly.
The dagger was poisoned! A thought immediately flashed in the Devers's mind.
More than a decade later, Ancitanos wrote in his "History of Magna Graecia": This was supposed to be a lively celebration for the people of Diónia, but it was interrupted because of this assassination. The captain of the Devers's guards was injured and in a coma. Hundreds of Diónia people were injured because of the panic caused by the assassination, and more than a dozen people died. But more importantly, although the assassination of the Consul Devers of Diónia failed, it shocked the entire Diónia Alliance and the city-states of Southern Italy. At the same time, it had a profound impact on the political situation of Diónia, Southern Italy, and even the entire Western Mediterranean Sea. This was unexpected by the mastermind at that time …
Historians could easily joke about the ups and downs of history after the incident. But on that day, after the assassination, Turís immediately sealed off the entire city and imposed a curfew. Many people living in their homes and hotels were uneasy, because there was a rumor that the Devers had been killed by an assassin. How could the people of Diónia, who had always regarded the Devers as the greatest source of security in the Alliance, not be terrified?
The Consul, who had always been worried about by the people, had already returned home. Faced with the concern and sympathy of Kristoya, Aegnis, and the children, who had rushed over upon hearing the news, he reluctantly dealt with them and immediately called for Aristiras. The Devers, who had always had a good attitude towards him, now had a face full of anger, "You and your men are all idiots! You actually let an assassin so boldly sneak up to my side without me noticing! If Martius doesn't wake up this time, many of your men will have to pay the price! "
Aristiras did not defend himself. It was true that he had been deceived by the enemy this time. He did not expect that Megalis was just a cover, and the real killer move was on a frail woman. Fortunately, the Devers were not injured! Thinking of this, his back was drenched in cold sweat.
After venting his anger, the Devers calmed down a little, and said sternly, "Aristiras, I don't care what you do, you must dig out these 'spies' hidden in Diónia's territory in the shortest time possible, and I will let Martonis's patrol team cooperate with you!"
Aristiras clenched his fists and said angrily, "Don't worry, my lord, I won't let you down again!"
"I don't want to see Diónia's elders, generals, or public officials assassinated or accidentally killed, especially when Diónia is going to take action in the future!"
The Devers' warning did not increase the pressure on Aristiras. On the contrary, he became excited. The Alliance was going to take action?! Against who?!
As soon as Aristiras left, Cunogorata and Martonis came together. After all, ever since Cunogorata lost the Turií battle against the Lucania Alliance, he had developed a strange habit — he did not want to be alone with people who were soldiers, but this time, it was obvious that the situation was urgent.
Martonis walked into the reception hall and saw that the Devers were safe and sound. He was instantly relieved and said loudly, "My lord, the assassin has confessed."
"That fast?!" The Devers was a little surprised.
Martonis wanted to laugh, but he remembered that the atmosphere was not right, so he had to hold it in. "After the assassin woke up, he confessed without waiting for us to torture him. He only made one request, and that is to let him eat a few meals from Cristoya's restaurant before he dies."
The request was indeed a little funny, but the Devers was not in the mood to laugh at him. He asked seriously, "What did he say?"
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