Chapter 261
“Is this really okay?”
“Grandfather… Was it like this in the past?”
“No. Back then, the Imperial Capital wasn’t shut down to this extent. Instead, it was bustling with foreigners and provincial nobles.”
The citizens of the empire were anxious as the gates of their Imperial Capital were locked and knights patrolled and controlled the roads.
It resembled the tense atmosphere of a domain on the brink of war.
Elderly and middle-aged people felt a stark contrast to the atmosphere during the last coronation and felt uneasy.
Merchants and nobles were suffering huge losses due to the shutdown of the capital.
Nevertheless, the Imperial Palace remained indifferent to their complaints, and had recently even sent out the central imperial army to defend the capital.
As the situation turned unusual, the citizens of the capital locked their doors and windows and stayed inside.
And there were those who observed this scene of the capital.
“Looks like you were right, son.”
“Indeed.”
Those standing on the city walls were members of a special force organized by Yan and the Count of Sagong.
From Armenia and the east came Yan, Argon, Kasa, Cruel, Roman, and Charles.
From the west came Vivian and Baek-rang.
From the south, it was a superhuman special force led by the Sun Duke.
The force included four nobles of the rank of Count and five superhumans.
The Sun Duke chuckled lightly.
“To think that the Imperial Capital, which has never tolerated an invasion, would be broken through because of us.”
“Really, life is unpredictable. I’ve lived for hundreds of years, but I never expected I’d do something like this.”
Vivian laughed heartily as she accepted those words.
At that moment, Kasa looked around anxiously.
“But are we enough? Even with the Counts participating…”
He trailed off, but Yan immediately understood what he meant.
“It’s because of the Royal Knights, the Public Safety Commission, and above all.”
Each one here is a superhuman, but so are the Royal Knights sworn to protect the imperial family.
In fact, numerically, the special force had one less member than the Royal Knights.
“But qualitatively, we are overwhelmingly superior, so don’t worry too much.”
Among the Royal Knights, only two could match a Count one-on-one—the commander and the deputy commander.
The problem was something else.
It was Bahamut Cabalan, the nation’s founder.
If he possessed the same power as depicted in history, this surprise attack would inevitably fail.
According to the historical records, his power was far greater than that of any Count.
‘Maybe he reached the legendary first rank.’
Yet, Yan was not overly worried about it.
The founder would undoubtedly be strong.
But it was highly likely that he was in a weakened state due to the side effects of soul transference, given his surprised reaction to the swordsmanship he had witnessed.
‘He must have lost some memories due to it, some of which involve his past power.’
Moreover, as initially discussed, the current emperor’s body was extremely frail.
With a flash of inspiration.
‘We can definitely handle this!’
Yan gathered the special forces to check the plan one last time.
“When Duke Beowulf and the knights, along with the others, draw the attention of the public safety forces and the guards outside, that will be our chance to infiltrate.”
There weren’t only special forces gathered here.
In fact, there was a larger group waiting far outside the city walls.
Duke Beowulf, his three knight orders, the Pirate Empress with her pirate fleet, and finally, Vila and the tribal chiefs.
If they caused a significant commotion near the city walls, the forces would be drawn towards them.
That gap would be their chance to infiltrate the Imperial Palace.
That was the start of this surprise attack.
“Everyone got it?”
“But when did they plan to start the commotion?”
Just then.
Whizz, Bang!
A firework shot into the sky.
Yan smiled.
“Right now.”
Simultaneously, the faint presence outside the walls began to swell significantly.
The special forces widened their eyes and then, with serious expressions, stamped the ground.
“Let’s begin. We’ll see each other at the end.”
The operation had started.
* * *
The Royal Guards guarding the walls of the Imperial Capital were engaged in a peaceful conversation, seemingly unaware of the chaos outside.
“Do you know why His Highness Prince Leon has closed off the capital?”
“No idea, and I don’t need to know. Our duty isn’t to question the reasons behind his actions, but to prevent any external threats from breaching the palace.”
As his colleague spoke decisively, the Royal Guard chuckled awkwardly.
Right then, a suspicious figure caught their eye.
Despite the long-standing closure, someone was approaching?
They strained their eyes to identify the newcomer.
Rumble, rumble.
Something rolled towards their feet.
The Royal Guards’ eyes widened.
“This, this is…!”
It was a bomb, a military-grade one at that.
There could only be one person capable of using such a device.
“Amur of the Black Tiger?!”
The Royal Guards quickly raised their mana to shield themselves and shouted as the bomb exploded, and a strangely curved sword thrust through the air.
The Royal Guard struggled to block the attack and eyed the unidentified man.
Wrapped tightly with a hood and his beard unkempt.
But such a curved sword was not used in the empire; perhaps on the high seas.
“Pirate fleet!”
It was unthinkable that they would come ashore!
Especially the leader of the pirate fleet, the Pirate Empress, was a notorious criminal, one of the empire’s greatest foes!
Realizing the gravity of the situation, the Royal Guard shouted towards the rear.
“We are under attack! Call for reinforcements!”
And soon, knights in splendid golden armor appeared.
A mysterious number was engraved on their breastplates.
The villains checked this and began to laugh.
“Our part is done.”
“What do you mean done? We’re facing the Royal Knights. We need to run to survive.”
The newly appeared figures were indeed the Royal Knights.
Since the objective was to lure them out from the palace, it was safe to say their goal was achieved.
Now, they needed to evade and preserve their lives.
Just then, a pirate nudged his comrade.
“Look, they don’t seem particularly focused on us?”
The newly arrived Royal Knights were staring in shock somewhere else.
And from that direction, a man slowly approached, drawing a slender sword.
With each step he took, the ground turned stark white, and the air grew chillier.
The Royal Knights, trembling, asked.
“…Duke Beowulf?”
“You all are not to blame. You’re just fulfilling the roles assigned to you.”
Duke Beowulf’s eyes darkened, and from him erupted an enormous amount of mana.
The mana filled the surroundings and began to freeze everything around—trees, ground, and sky.
The Royal Knights watched the scene with trembling eyes.
“This is…”
“…Perpetual frost.”
Duke Beowulf smirked.
“At least I will spare your lives.”
He charged at the Royal Knights at a frightening speed.
The decoy forces gathered outside the walls.
Their battle had begun.
* * *
Boom!
A loud explosion was heard from the direction of the walls.
‘It has started.’
Yan recalled the owner of the explosive coldness as he dashed into the Imperial Palace.
With the reinforcements called to the wall, the forces near the palace’s entrance had thinned.
“I’ll go first!”
Cruel charged, imbuing his sword with a surge of energy.
With each red trail he left, the Royal Guards guarding the entrance screamed and fell.
Thud!
Beside him, Roman had joined Cruel, supporting him.
“Hah! Finally something to my liking!”
“Shut up and focus. Have you forgotten where we are?”
Roman smirked and punched a Royal Guard in the abdomen as Cruel praised him.
Crack!
“Ugh.”
As the last Royal Guard fell, Yan patted Roman and Cruel on the shoulders.
“I’m counting on you.”
From now on, the two were tasked with guarding the palace’s entrance.
The burden would be considerable as many knights and soldiers would surely swarm them.
Cruel grinned, thumping his chest with his fist.
“Just leave it to me. From now on, no one will get through here.”
“This is a good opportunity to see the results of our training,” Roman added.
As Roman finished speaking, Yan nodded and led the special forces deeper into the palace.
How far had they gone when a familiar silhouette appeared before them?
A woman in a dark uniform with long hair.
The Sun Duke frowned at the sight of her.
“Inspector General? Why are you here when you should be in another region…”
Yan raised his hand to stop the Sun Duke’s words. It was incredibly rude, but there wasn’t enough time for niceties.
The Sun Duke understood this and showed no particular reaction.
Yan addressed the Inspector General, his hand resting on his sword sheath.
“Will you also stand in our way, Lady Diana?”
Diana shook her head in response.
“I came because the atmosphere in the Imperial Capital is suspicious. Other nobles don’t dare to question, merely obeying orders, but I can’t just do that.”
Her role as Inspector General involved investigating incidents in the empire and correcting any misconduct or falsehoods.
“The Counts have declared that you are the culprits in the assassination attempt on His Majesty, but we’ve heard nothing from our side. Damian also went missing after going in to investigate first.”
“Uncle Damian? Is he here too?”
Diana nodded.
“Yes, he had the same idea as me. But considering the special task force led by Damian is missing, clearly something is happening. And as Inspector General, I can’t just stand
by.”
Diana turned and continued.
“Follow me. I’ll guide you.”
The unexpected offer took the special forces by surprise.
Thus, they quickly followed her, and soon, the special forces split into two groups.
One aimed to assassinate the founder, and the other sought to sabotage the magic circle necessary for the soul transference.