044: Prisoner of Rome
The destruction of Jerusalem declared the complete victory of the Roman army in suppressing the entire province of Judea.
According to statistics from the Roman magicians accompanying the army, throughout the operation, combined with the actions of the Jewish rebels themselves, nearly all Jews in the province of Judea were killed, their settlements razed to the ground. Eight hundred thousand Jews starved or died of illness in Jerusalem.
It could be said that every inch of land in the province of Judea now flowed with endless blood. However, from now on, it would no longer be called the province of Judea.
Upon learning of Novia's great victory, the Roman Empire had decided to prohibit the existence of Jewish civilization, renaming the province of Judea to the province of Syria Palestina. In other provinces, in Jewish communities in Alexandria, Galilee, Caesarea, Golan, and other areas, those who still believed were to be executed. Jewish scrolls and scriptures had to be burned, with no exceptions.
The undestroyed Jewish Temple was to be destroyed once and then rebuilt as a Christian temple. The spread of Christianity, which had been delayed in provinces controlled by the Senate, now spread uncontrollably.
The reason the Roman Empire's orders—whether issued or not—were carried out so thoroughly was related to the three minutes of darkness that enveloped the land on the day Novia led the Roman army in the decisive battle against the Jews of Jerusalem. Moreover, many magicians felt the surrounding mystery surge dramatically during those three minutes, as if the long-lost Age of Gods had returned.
People spread word throughout the empire—
"That King of the Antichrist, before the Lord's messenger, faded into obscurity and was surely destroyed."
Once again, Christian miracles were displayed upon the earth. Faced with benefits and life, most people in the Roman Empire still understood what was more important.
And Novia, who successfully destroyed Jerusalem, was now walking to the summit of Golgotha outside Jerusalem—the hill where Jesus was crucified.
He had arranged for the Roman army to burn the dead bodies to prevent plague. However, it was probably because the 27th Ancestor, Kobaik, whom Novia had instructed, absolutely must not allow any Dead Apostle to enter the blood-soaked province of Judea, so no hordes of Dead Apostles appeared.
This was his first time here, but emotionally and logically, he should come. Not only because Novia was ostensibly the undisputed leader of Christianity at the time, but also because of the previous total solar eclipse.
Novia reasoned that no matter how much he altered history, he could not possibly affect changes in natural phenomena. Moreover, he learned from the Dragon of Albion that the Texture covering the planet's surface had been peeled open for three minutes and then closed again...
He believed that in the world of the Moon, the one with such ability, and who did this because of him, could only be the Pigeon or the Crown Prince Pigeon.
After a while, reaching the mountaintop, Novia personally saw the cross on which Jesus was crucified still standing there, rusted and seemingly unchanged.
The silver-haired boy wanted to say something but didn't know what to say for a moment. Finally, he placed the staff given to him by Martha on the cross and said:
"Sister Martha said this was given to her by you. Although she gave it to me now, I think it's better to return it to its original owner. But it also helped me a lot, so thanks.
After I return, I'll rebuild the Jerusalem I destroyed. This place will also get a proper church, so it won't have to endure wind and rain anymore. That way, when Paul, John, and Martha come to see you, they'll be happier..."
Then, feeling no need to continue, Novia turned to leave. But as if remembering something, he gazed at the sky above the cross for a while longer and continued:
"By the way, your Father, Yahweh, Jehovah, Lord—whatever name is fine—I remember He made a covenant with Abraham, right? And now, the Jews and Judaism have been completely eliminated by me, leaving only your teachings, Savior Jesus.
Anyway, what I mean is, if you can hear me, I hope you can convey a message for me. If He is unhappy about this and wants to take action, targeting me alone is enough. Because all this is only related to me; others were merely used by me. That's all...
Well then, goodbye, Holy Son Jesus, whom I have never met."
After leaving Golgotha, Novia headed to the First Temple that survived the destruction of Jerusalem. This was also a place he deliberately spared, as it contained the remains of the King of Magicians, Solomon. There was no need to destroy that along with everything else.
The moment he stepped into the temple, Novia saw a dazzling hill of treasures. Presumably, this was what Doro had plundered from the province of Judea during this time. Although when suppressing the rebellion in Judea, Novia had burned such things to avoid traps.
Now that everything was settled, these could naturally be put to use. Apart from handing over part to the Roman treasury to build some infrastructure like roads, using the magical materials to have magicians help with farming in poor harvest areas, and exchanging normal gold, silver, and treasures with wealthy merchants for grain... In short, Novia roughly decided on this for now.
Bypassing the treasure vault, Novia finally saw the King of Magicians Solomon 'sitting' on the throne. At first glance, he looked no different from a living person, but apart from the face, other parts were already covered with dark green corpse spots, and it seemed the body would crumble at a touch.
Logically, using a human corpse as a magic power source—with this method, even if the brain was contaminated by that twisted magic power, going mad wouldn't be surprising. But Doro continuously manipulated that insane black magic power, which naturally puzzled Novia.
But when he completely destroyed Doro, an unknown twisted mass of magic power fell from him, making Novia suddenly understand.
This thing... isn't it the nascent Goetia sealed inside the corpse?
Now, Novia held this mass of magic power. Although he couldn't think of a solution at the moment, if he could find some magicians to trade with, he might gain unexpected benefits. This was the Beast of Pity—Goetia, the Human Evil who would later initiate the Incineration of Humanity.
However, Novia dismissed this thought. The Incineration of Humanity was merely this Beast's extreme method to prevent the Earth's Blank Sheet Phenomenon and the extremely terrifying outcome caused by the former director of Chaldea's extreme Human Order preservation—a result worse than the planet's destruction.
But in the second part of the story, if it was just to oppose the old director's plan, Goetia didn't need to be so secretive. It could have directly joined Chaldea, explained everything it knew, and worked together to thwart the old director's conspiracy...
If it was just to avoid the Blank Sheet Phenomenon or end human suffering, why did Goetia initially emphasize "creating a planet without the concept of death"?
As a transmigrator, Novia could only guess: if FGO released a third part after his transmigration, it was likely that Goetia's true purpose in conducting the Incineration of Humanity was to prevent the mastermind behind it all later. However, by accident, it stopped the old director of Chaldea, the currently known mastermind...
Therefore—
Novia placed the unknown twisted mass of magic power back into Solomon's remains and properly reburied them, ensuring they would not be discovered again.
"Remember, you owe me a life."
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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