"AAAHHHHH~"
"Damn you, Gu! You brought us here to be slaughtered!! ARGHH!"
"Haa... Haa... Ha..." Old Gu completely ignored the screams and pleas, he was in agonizing pain
Even after Robin let his hand go for over a minute, his body was still shaking as lost control of all the joints of his body and felt that his soul was about to collapse at any moment.
But that didn't stop him from raising his head and looking at Robin as if he was seeing a monster.
Those names he just called out, those people who had been sentenced to death...
Most of those who backed the late Flame Emperor in all his decisions have already died in the siege around the flame Empire Capital, or in the ancestral continent, but there were a few who managed to hide well among Old Gu and his party when the city fell
Those seventeen... Some of them physically participated in the invasion against Jura, some of them supported the war with their money and authority, and some of them even had nothing to do with the ancestral continent war, but they were bribed criminals and traitors that were widely known for their corruption in the Flame Empire!
Every single one of them deserves the death penalty without a doubt!!
But how... How did Robin call them out by name?!
Information about some of the people among them was highly confidential and was known only to the Emperor and his advisors *his parents*
A thought came to Old Gu's head that struck him like lightning, he looked at his trembling hands, then raised his head again to look at Robin, '...No, this can't be, RIGHT?!'
What he received in return was Robin's slight smile as he looked back at him and said, "Now that we have got rid of those who should be eliminated, one step ahead of the rest of you."
"Haa... Haa... Hoo…" Old Gu tried to quickly control his breathing, then stood up and looked at Robin with his two broken eyes, "What do you want us to do?"
*CLANK*
Dozens of metal plates appeared next to Rubin out of nowhere, attracting the eyes of all the Sages, especially the three Emperors, who watched everything in extreme shock, but tried to hold back their urge to ask about what had just happened so as to maintain a strong appearance.
As for Robin, he waited until the last tablet went down, and then spoke, "Well, the next part is very simple. Each one of the gentlemen here will take hold of these tablets, pass your spiritual sense through them, and then swear eternal obedience to me, Robin Burton, and to my offspring after me, you will do as commanded without thought or reason.
And swear to teach your family the same and plant allegiance towards me in their hearts, and to curb any attempt at rebellion that may harm anything or anyone related to me, and that none of you give up any high position before he compels the person who will succeed him to take the same oath.
Of course, I do not need to mention that the punishment for disobedience or any negligence in any part of the oath will be death... But the good thing is that after that you will be part of my close followers and I will treat you as I treat them, and your families will be under my protection as they are under your protection, simple right?"
*Gulp*
The survivors of the Flame Empire swallowed their salvia when they heard this, all of them without exception had heard about the innovations and strange things that their army had found on the Ancestral Continent, and of course, they knew what the Oath Tablets were, they had tens of thousands of prisoners but couldn't get a single information from them because of these Oath Tablets!
"This…" Old Gu long looked at the metal plates, he didn't even dare to give an answer, this oath was… too insulting, "...And what happens if we refuse?"
"Hehe~" A sarcastic laugh escaped from Robin's mouth, then he straightened up and looked into Old Gu's eyes seriously, "Let's make something clear here, at first I decided to exterminate every one of you, even your dogs and donkeys were going to be food for the Demons, then I showed you some mercy That I gave orders to destroy your army and kill all your experts only and spare the innocent, I came today and I think that orders have already been carried out, but it seems that my friend Billy here has another opinion, the mercy that I showed was not enough in his eyes, so he ignored my orders again and left the Flame Empire nearly as it was, bringing me hundreds of supposedly dead high-leveled Sages, but now you are saying that you lot might refuse to say a few words?"
Bailey quickly stood up and spoke when he found Robin talking about disobeying his orders, "Robin, I didn't mean to disobey your orders but it was Old Gu's intervention that---"
"Enough! What's done is done, and depends on them, maybe it's not that bad either…" Robin raised his hand to silence Bailey and then continued, still looking into Old Gu's eyes, "I have come and am ready to hear that my orders have been fulfilled and that the Flame continent had become a farm where only the mortals resided, but seeing you here made me think of an alternative...
You have only two options, either you preserve your heritage and rule over your lands by being a force that is entirely subject to me alone, or I complete the implementation of my previous orders and wipe everything related to the Flame Empire from the back of the world, it is either this or that, choose wisely."
"…" Old Gu looked down and clenched his hands tightly
"Are you really going to accept all the people of Flame Empire as your followers because they will *swear* while holding a metal plate? Is that some kind of flexing a muscle or is it about showing that you are being merciful in front of us? Hmph, how ridiculous~" Water Empress Victoria chuckled when she heard this, happy that she had finally found something she could use to belittle Robin before they started negotiating.
It is natural after occupying any region to destroy its fangs and claws.
How can you feel at ease in your lands when there are strong individuals who can bite you in the back when you turn around? And as long as Robin succeeded in occupying the Flame Empire continent, now is the time to trim nails and break fangs!
The first thing a conqueror would do is kill everyone at the level of Knighthood or higher, just as Robin did when he gave the orders to attack the ancestral continent. This might be very extreme due to the number of people the decision was applied to, but it is normal in a war. The Eight Kingdoms declared war against him, And the loser has to endure the consequences, it's that simple!
This is, for example, what happened in the noble Camden family in the past, where all the powerhouses were killed and the rest turned into slaves.
And this is also what the Flame Empire did with the families of Rufus, Bradley, and other families affiliated with Robin. None of their powerhouses were left alive except for members of the special forces and the Runemasters as they were imprisoned in order to conduct tests on them.
So killing all the Sages who came from the Flame Empire including Old Gu in exchange for pardoning their offspring and only turning them into slaves is just right, throwing them in prison for the rest of their lives is a very light sentence.
But converting them into close followers by just reciting an oath on an ordinary plate of metal?!
"Heh~ They know what I'm talking about…" Robin chuckled while still fixing his eyes on Old Gu, "Ha, what's your decision, old man?"
"Just agree and say them, they are just some words, you will expose him as the hypocrite he is after you say these words." Empress Victoria spoke again
"Just shut the hell up if you don't know what are you talking about!" Old Gu spoke with difficulty as he gritted his teeth, then looked behind him at the rest of the Sages of the Flame Empire.
"YOU!!" Empress Victoria was annoyed by his reaction and was about to say something, but she felt the hand of the Sacred Tree Empress Elizabeth touching her arm, then she pointed with her eyebrows towards a certain direction.
Water Empress Victoria was distracted for a moment, but she finally looked in that direction, towards the hundreds of Sages of Flame Empire, her eyes opened on the last of them, and she understood Elizabeth's point.
Something strange is happening.
There was not a single Sage of the Flame Empire taking it lightly, not a single one of them who seemed relieved to have escaped death!
All of them clench their fists, grit their teeth, and sweat, just by looking you can tell that their brains are working with all their capacity to make a fateful decision!
The oath is really harsh, humiliating, will last for eternity, and almost impossible to achieve, but that is if it is implemented at all!
Why are these people acting so seriously? Aren't they just words to make them feel submissive? Is it possible that they're actually thinking of keeping everything they are going to say?
Old Gu finally raised his head and spoke, "...Sigh~ Looks like the Flame Empire is going to enter a whole new era, do you want us to be informal slaves forever or cease to exist? It's okay.. I'll choose to be a slave and give the new generations a chance to lead a good life, If I had to be a slave doing so then be it... All I can say is that I hope this era is not much worse than the previous one... I agree, I will swear by what you want."
"..I agree too."
" And I'm also."
"And me."