A rough voice boomed from the entrance, drowning out the cries of dozens of Stilz Faction deputies. "And the nobles! They're the ones who deserve to die most!" It was Adorno. He had spotted several nobles in the Parliament Hall. In truth, there were far more noble deputies than that, but he only recognized those who had publicly shown themselves at City Hall Square.
Gagern immediately added, "That's right! They're all the emperor's lapdogs!"
The Stilz Faction deputies and the Sans-culottes around them once again unleashed a stormy roar. "They're the ones who've been sabotaging Parliament all along!" "Just days ago, they proposed inviting the emperor back!"
"Execute these vipers!"
"These nobles are the enemies of the citizens! Arrest them!"
"Death! Death to every last one!"
On the benches in Parliament Hall, some people collapsed limply, their faces bloodless. Others tried to argue, only to be beaten bloody by nearby Stilz Faction deputies.
Speaker Steffens was still trying to call people back to reason, but the gavel in his hand had already broken. All he could do now was shout in a hoarse, cracked voice, "Whatever objections you may have, they should follow parliamentary procedure..."
"You damned capitulationist!" A Student Army soldier stepped forward, seized his collar, and roughly dragged him down from the podium. The old cleric's white wig fell to the floor from the force, exposing his bald crown and leaving him in a most wretched state.
"Baron Kemoler... Knight Steinbach... Count Khevenhuller..."
As lawyer Bergman read out the names of noble deputies one after another, groups of Sans-culottes immediately charged toward the deputies' seats in the direction he pointed, dragging those unfortunate men to the eastern side of the hall without a word and throwing them together with the Hirt Faction.
Before long, the eastern side of