Holy Blood Square no longer lived up to its "Holy Blood" prefix.
The thick, sticky gore had been completely washed away, and the broken stone slabs had been replaced. The entire square had been restored to its former pristine state.
The kings, dukes, and marquises of the Three Great Kingdoms, along with all the hereditary nobility of any standing—over a thousand people in total—were currently kneeling in the center of the square like livestock. They had been stripped of their lavish attire and left only in their undergarments; their final shreds of dignity had long been worn away by the terror of the past seven days.
Surrounding the square was a dense, endless crowd. Tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands, had flocked from all directions. No one wanted to miss this monumental event: the judgment of all nobles. Order was maintained by the silent Steel Golems. They stood like statues, their massive weapons serving as the most indisputable law.
