Listening to Garnet's response, Selene's eyes became fiercer as she locked her gaze on him. "So, how were you able to know its effects if you don't know?" she asked, her teeth grinding against each other.
"I knew about its effect because we tested the artefacts on a guard, and the only way to get rid of the artefact was for them to become corpses," Garnet responded truthfully.
Selene immediately became stunned. No wonder he was so confident in attacking the royal family and gaining control of the Prismerian Kingdom with such an artefact because, as it turns out, the only way to get rid of the artefact was for the victim to die.
"And my husband?" Her voice turned icy.
Garnet lowered his head even more in fright and muttered, "It's the same."
Selene's mood suddenly shifted. She felt her chest rising with emotion before instantly calming herself down. "Where did you find it?" she asked.
"At… the first level of the third entrance that leads towards the upper region of the mountain," Garnet responded.
Selene furrowed her brows, narrowing her eyes at Garnet. "Are you sure?" she asked. Seeing him nod his head anxiously, Selene nodded in response. She shifted her gaze towards Orion and Crystalia, gripping the cutlass tightly before refocusing on the Crystalforge Clan nearby and ordering them to hold Garnet down.
"Wait!! WAIT!!!" Garnet screamed, struggling for his life. However, Selene did not mind his words and raised her hands before swiftly bringing them down.
Garnet's head fell and rolled off the stage before coming to a stop as he continued to stare wide-eyed. His headless body slumped down to the ground, bright crimson blood spilling from his severed neck.
The whole avenue fell silent as Selene's voice rang in the air, sending a chill down everyone's spine, except for Orion and the warriors who watched the scene without batting an eye. For the warriors, they had already witnessed worse at the sight of their comrades being butchered or dying a horrific death at the hands of the Vylkr vines, so this was tame for them. For Orion, after killing several individuals and exploding various heads, he had already become very used to it.
The following person to be brought forward was Zephyrion.
Just like his father, Zephyrion screamed at the top of his lungs, begging for life, before Queen Selene swiftly beheaded him.
With the brutal execution of her family before her, Elara could only look face downwards. Her body, however, trembled when she heard Queen Selene's voice, understanding that she was next. Silently, she allowed herself to be carried and laid at the centre of the stage, before the crowd.
Elara waited for the feeling of her head being severed from her body; however, all she received was a sharp, arching pain in her left arm, causing her to scream out loudly, "AHH!!" Turning to the side, she stared wide-eyed at her severed right arm.
As Selene's firm voice reverberated deeply in the air, Elara turned her head to stare at the Queen's stern and resolute expression before she was carried to the side, and another Gemheart Clan member was brought to the stage.
The scene continued until about one-third of the Gemheart Clan, approximately 500 clan members, were spared. The rest who had died were all taken to a pit that had been dug up and thrown into it, burying them in a manner that did not in any way match the burials, befitting one of the Five Major Clans. At this time, the Crystalforge Clan, which had been deemed as a dying clan, soared back up to the top of the Kingdom, becoming an existence that everyone in the Prismerian Kingdom continued to look up to. Also, from this point on, no one was stupid enough to attempt to go against the Crystalforge Clan, as they had already witnessed the consequences of doing so.
Upper regions of the mountain
After three hours, Orion, Seth, and some of the other warriors—excluding those who stayed behind, such as Fifi, Gemma, and the rest—to guard Saria and her tree, Princess Crystalia, Queen Selene, Flintor, Clan Mistress Olivia Quartzwraith, Clan Head Jadues Quartzwraith, Clan Head Ralias Prismaflow, Clan Mistress Dailia Prismaflow, Merida, Maya, Iris, along with some of the Crystalforge elite warriors, all stood within the narrow rocky passage. Their attention was entirely focused on Orion, briefly taking note of their surroundings.
"What have you been keeping from us?" Selene asked, her curiosity evident as she looked at Orion. Now that White Flame was dead, she couldn't resist the desire to explore the outside world before entirely focusing on managing the situation within the Prismerian Kingdom. She was also the reason the other clans were present as well. Having relinquished their positions of power and authority, they were no longer the Five Major Clans or smaller clans and families; instead, they had all become vassals of the Crystalforge Clan, with a few, like the Luminaris Clan, becoming subordinate clans.
"To better understand, it's something you all must see before leaving the mountain," Orion explained. He felt a tight grip around both arms, looking with a smile at Maya and Merida, each holding a side of his arm as though afraid he would disappear again.
On the other side, Orion noticed Crystalia looking at them with jealousy, prompting him to let out an internal sigh.
Selene narrowed her eyes at Orion for a moment. She had always been curious about the outside world, but Orion had kept tight-lipped about it, only revealing short snippets of information. This curiosity persisted even when she was locked up in the dungeon with nothing to do. "Alright," she responded, eager to see what the outside world looked like.
Orion nodded in response. Turning around, he led the way forward, Selene and the others following closely behind, while the warriors remained beside him. After a few minutes of walking through the narrow rocky passage, they finally arrived at the edge where the light from the sun penetrated and covered everything with its brilliance.