Erich Abakov, the major general, waited as the guards at the main gate and other locations who had been confronting the protesters lowered their weapons.
The protesters, who had been highly agitated, quickly calmed down at the sound of Enok Revendale’s voice following.
“Citizens of the illustrious city of Kaeyaf, I am Colonel Enok Revendale. The national guards confronting you have merely followed orders. They are innocent people. Do not harm them. Our true enemy lies beyond Petrovna Palace!”
The iron doors of the national guard headquarters, which had been tightly shut, also opened wide.
Seeing the guards voluntarily lay down their weapons, the protesters threw down their pipes and clubs.
Even some citizens who had rushed forward in anger were restrained by other citizens.
“Our son! Stop! They have done nothing wrong!!”
“I’m sorry, citizens…! I’m truly sorry!!”
The thousands of protesters entered the national guard headquarters without any conflict.
In reality, the national guard, which was one of the main forces behind the coup, was now completely shattered.
Many people who had been detained underground were released, and citizens with medical backgrounds set up makeshift relief stations to care for those weakened by torture.
Bella Meyer was also a victim, but she immediately began using her healing magic to treat people as soon as she put on her nearly tattered clothes.
“Thank you…”
“You’ve endured so much.”
The Central Corps’ Mage Brigade suffered the most severe damage.
In fact, since the corps itself had joined the coup, expelling the Mage Brigade, which had been the biggest obstacle, was given top priority.
Especially, the condition of Major General Haphenluk Helheim, commander of the Mage Brigade, was extremely critical.
He had no intact fingers.
One eye was badly bruised and couldn’t open properly, and his wrist was swollen from chains that forcibly restricted his magic, causing tissue necrosis.
The large-scale arrest of the Mage Brigade, including Major General Haphenluk, had only occurred the day before.
If Enok Revendale’s intervention had been even slightly delayed…
Some might have died unable to withstand the torture.
“You bastards…”
Although Strigoi members, part of the command unit, were responsible for torture, interrogation, and memory manipulation and extraction,
whether they participated in the coup or not, it was the responsibility of the national guard organization as a whole.
His very existence clearly indicated how brutal and horrific the torture was when performed on ‘fellow countrymen soldiers.’
Meanwhile, the personnel held in the national guard headquarters were all released, and the regular national guards who had been deployed throughout the city had switched sides against the coup. This news was quickly relayed to the army headquarters and Petrovna Palace.
“The Chief Inspector of the National Guard was killed by his deputy, and the deputy committed s*icide?”
“d*mn it…”
“What do we do now?”
The situation was deteriorating uncontrollably. From the outset, failing to secure Orlando Rus III meant the coup was practically doomed.
Even if they seized control of the General Staff and palace,
they were completely defeated in public opinion and moral grounds.
The citizens of Kaeyaf clearly identified them as ‘the enemy.’
With even the national guards, the most effective means of controlling civilians, having turned against them,
the coup plotters were left with only two options:
To resist until the end and d*e, or to submit quietly and be arrested and then killed.
“This isn’t how it should be!”
“We trusted you guys, what do we do now!?”
General Sergey, commander of the cavalry, and Grand Marshal Reinman of the mages, both of the Army General Staff, angrily pressured the Eastern Corps Commander and the Capital Guard Commander.
It was a natural reaction to find themselves in a position where they could lose everything they had worked for.
To General Olek, the Eastern Corps Commander, they looked like mere livestock.
Though he had orchestrated the coup, they had decided to join him. Now to blame him for the consequences was absurdly foolish.
“Financial Officer Radelf was right. I heard that those in the center are all fools. He wasn’t wrong at all.”
“What did you say! You traitorous b*stard! Say that again!!”
General Reinman stepped forward and grabbed Olek’s collar.
Then.
Bang!!
A sharp gunshot echoed through the Army Headquarters.
“K-Kh…!!”
Bang! Bang-bang!!
General Reinman fell, groaning from a shot to the abdomen, but General Olek did not stop pulling the trigger.
One b*llet hit his chest, another his leg, and finally his head.
The body of General Reinman, who had just moments ago been raging like fire, went cold.
“A mage who can only bark about losing my position to a Great Mage. So, Reinman, you need to step down from your post.”
“Eastern Corps Commander! What are you doing?!”
“Shut up, cavalry commander. If you think you can boss me around because you’re one rank higher, you’d better be ready to face the same fate.”
The atmosphere in the hall instantly froze.
All the troops under the command of General Olek aimed their guns.
“The General Staff has already been disbanded. From now on, this place will be the new General Staff.”
Initially, the General Staff had believed the demands of the coup plotters, but as time passed, they realized the situation was dire and tried to exercise their veto power.
However, by the time the building was fully under the control of the coup plotters, exercising a veto was meaningless.
They locked up the opposing Chief of Staff, infantry commander, and artillery commander in separate rooms
and brought along the cavalry commander, mage grand marshal, and leaders of the operations and military affairs departments, who were either cooperating or part of the same coup.
These leaders still seemed to believe that the Eastern Corps Commander was under their control.
“And now, I am the new Chief of Staff.”
Even General Baltun, commander of the Central Corps, folded his arms and looked at the foolish generals with disdain.
“It would be best to stay quiet. Otherwise, you might get nothing. We’ll decide your fate the moment we win.”
“If you want to d*e honorably, I won’t stop you. At least, it will be known that you died resisting the coup plotters.”
General Olek said, kicking the corpse of the mage grand marshal with his foot.
He had witnessed someone d*e in front of him.
Even though the era of peace had ended, the military leadership—especially the central authorities who were comfortably situated—still lived in an age of peace.
For those seeing an execution for the first time, General Olek’s threat was more terrifying than anything else.
The terrified expressions of the generals proved how stagnant the Ukranian military had become.
Without seizing an early opportunity to move to the center, it was almost impossible to attain key positions in the center unless one was exceptionally talented or had a good background.
“We’ll prepare the food, so you can continue eating obediently as you always have.”
Olek said this while looking at General Baltun, commander of the Central Corps.
Along with the Capital Guard Commander and Chief Inspector of the National Guard, Olek trusted him the most among those involved in the coup. Calmly, he spoke.
“I have a question.”
“What is it?”
“Was Colonel Enok Revendale really able to secure Crown Prince Orlando Rus III?”
“…That’s true. If he were alive, there would be no reason to keep it a secret.”
Indeed, it was possible that Orlando Rus III was already dead.
If that were the case, it made sense that they didn’t put the Crown Prince in the spotlight despite occupying the palace.
If Orlando Rus III was actually dead or in critical condition…
It might be possible to sway public opinion again.
Enok Revendale and the training camp commander could incite the public by claiming they had confined the Crown Prince after staging a siege.
“We need to infiltrate troops into the army training camp. We must order them to assassinate Crown Prince Orlando Rus III.”
Now, Orlando Rus III had become a figure that needed to be eliminated.
If he were to d*e without an heir, the nation would naturally fall into chaos, following the plan they had laid out.
“How do we do that?”
“How? Haven’t you figured it out yet?”
A man with pure white hair appeared among the soldiers holding their guns.
Wearing black clothing similar to the national guard uniform, but subtly different in design.
He slowly approached Generals Olek and Baltun, then glanced at the corner where the General Staff officers had been pushed aside.
“I don’t believe we’ve met before, gentlemen of the General Staff of Ukrania.”
“You… You!!”
The first to react was General Alexander, chief of the Operations Department. After all, he hadn’t just sat idle.
He had gathered intelligence on neighboring countries, various military information, and key figures.
And the man in front of him was one of the most closely watched individuals in the Operations Department.
Colonel Yegor Ivanov, the head of the Information Department of the Soviev Empire,
the current highest inspector and de facto head of the Information Department.
“Could it be… Were you planning to turn the country upside down with the empire?”
General Alexander muttered in disbelief, and General Olek shrugged.
“One must always be prepared for the worst.”
“Yes, General Olek of the Eastern Corps. One must always be prepared for the worst.”
Yegor’s red eyes flashed.
“Now, it’s our empire’s turn to step in.”
