In front of Petrubuna Palace, all sorts of obstacles including barricades were set up. These were laid down by the coup forces that had seized control of the palace and general staff to block citizens from approaching.
Beyond them, on the wall that initially protected the palace, the Imperial Guards and Special Military Unit of the National Guard were aiming their guns with tense expressions.
They didn’t do this willingly. They found themselves in a reversed country when they regained consciousness, and they only followed orders, instantly becoming traitors.
How many of those remaining truly stand for the cause?
Yesterday, an entire platoon deserted. Even in such a situation, they did not want to give up and flee.
But the fear of being executed for treason if they surrender, or the ruthless order to be summarily executed if they disobey orders.
This was keeping the soldiers from leaving the palace.
The young military policeman guarding the main gate felt resentful towards his old-fashioned commander-in-chief who continued to play the fool even in this situation.
Even he, a low-ranking officer, found it pathetic.
Then,
“Hey, look over there…!! Monsters are descending from the sky!!”
A soldier on watch shouted as if in despair. Following his cry, everyone turned their heads and saw black-clad soldiers slowly descending from the blue sky.
The 8th Aerial Assault Magitechnic Battalion.
To face those legendary heroes whom they had only heard about in rumors.
“Prepare for combat!!”
Following the command of the low-ranking officer in charge of on-site control, the soldiers quickly dispersed to their respective zones. However, at the same time, a terrible sense of helplessness engulfed the soldiers.
“d*mn it, isn’t this just like dying like dogs?”
Stories of the victorious battalion were known among the Okhraine soldiers.
Even how astonishingly they performed in the Quernen War.
Had any unit ever achieved such overwhelming victory against the Azoff Liberation Front?
Many war heroes emerged from that battalion, and many more joined the military following their example.
In training camps, soldiers were trained using the tactical doctrines of the 8th Aerial Assault Magitechnic Battalion.
New training methods like “guerrilla tactics” and “battlefield cycling” introduced in each unit originated from the 8th Aerial Assault Magitechnic Battalion.
It was natural for morale to break with the emergence of such a unit, which could be called the cornerstone of modern Okhraine Army.
Standing at the forefront, looking at them, was Major Claude Rain.
A war hero as famous as Major Enok Revendale.
A living legend who won proudly in two consecutive Quernen Wars.
Gulp.
Just meeting his sharp gaze made one’s throat dry up.
Soldiers could easily imagine the ‘Major’ massacring them with purple lightning.
However, the members of the magitechnic battalion who seemed ready to fight at any moment did not directly parachute into Petrubuna Palace.
Instead, they stood in a line in front of the palace entrance, not aiming their weapons, just watching them silently.
“What… What is this?”
“Are we supposed to attack now?”
“Hold your positions! Wait a moment!”
Even the control officer in charge was equally flustered by this situation.
He had instructed a messenger to contact higher-ups for instructions, but the messenger had not returned after several minutes.
During this delicate atmosphere between the 8th Aerial Assault Magitechnic Battalion and the military police…
“Wait, don’t you hear something?”
“What?”
“Sounds like people… I can hear horns and drums too.”
A distant sound reached their ears.
Buuuwwww—!!
Boom, boom!
A resounding horn sound. This was the horn known to every member of the National Guard working in the capital Kaieff.
The King’s Horn.
With the cheers of the citizens and the solemn drumbeats as background music, a young monarch in royal attire approached the palace confidently.
“Clear the way for His Excellency.”
As Claude Rain said in a heavy voice, the aligned magitechnic battalion members split apart on either side.
Passing through the exact middle of their divided ranks, Orlando Rus III stood right in front of the palace.
Unlike what the soldiers knew, Orlando Rus III looked very healthy.
Rather, he seemed much stronger and more mature than before.
“Soldiers. My proud warriors.”
The co-king spoke calmly to the soldiers who aimed their guns at him.
Without shouting, just speaking normally, his voice clearly struck the soldiers’ ears.
“The ruler of your nation is here. Open the palace gates.”
An overwhelming sense of authority.
Similar yet different from what he felt when seeing Claude Rain, Enok Revendale, or the members of the 8th Aerial Assault Magitechnic Battalion.
This was the dignity reserved only for a nation’s ruler.
An undeniable legitimate ruler of Okhraine.
The control officer stepped back quietly, not afraid despite the guns in front of him, as he watched the soldiers being controlled.
There was no way he could fire.
He himself was also brought under threat by a superior.
He couldn’t bear the responsibility if he gave the order to open fire.
“Captain, open the gates.”
At this moment, when he couldn’t do anything, the deputy of the Special Military Unit of the National Guard appeared with the messenger and said:
“It is Colonel Kamalov’s order. And don’t be afraid. You won’t d*e.”
The deputy held the imperial guard medal that used to hang on Colonel Kamalov’s uniform.
Hearing this, the control officer urgently raised his hand to give orders to his subordinates.
“Open the main gate! Quickly open it!!”
Squeak.
Boom.
The heavily guarded Petrubuna Palace gates opened wide.
Orlando Rus III casually passed through the obstacles and muttered while gazing at the palace he had temporarily left.
“Come to think of it… today is my birthday.”
The co-king’s birthday.
Originally, he would have been standing at the highest point in the palace watching the army parade.
Now, he stood at the palace’s main gate, participating in the parade with the citizens.
But Orlando Rus III did not feel miserable about this fact.
Finally, on this birthday, he could grasp what he had always desired.
“Glory to the Fatherland.”
He approached the officer who saluted him immediately. It was a man, the deputy of Colonel Kamalov of the Special Military Unit of the National Guard.
“He asked me to convey his request for leniency for his subordinates.”
The imperial guard medal.
The very medal he personally hung.
“Where is he now?”
“There he is.”
In response to the co-king’s question, the deputy pointed to the terrace.
Colonel Kamalov had already taken up the position where the co-king had looked moments ago.
Dressed neatly in formal uniform.
But it certainly wasn’t neat.
Even from afar, it was clear that bloodstains covered the colonel’s body.
Kamalov stepped forward in front of the terrace and faced the co-king squarely, shouting at him.
“Great and honorable Co-King of Okhraine! Thank you for everything until now!”
Orlando Rus III did not respond.
He had been a man full of loyalty, so much that he had trouble believing it when he first heard that Kamalov had joined the rebellion.
Of course, he doesn’t think Kamalov rebelled solely out of resentment towards him.
But that does not lessen the weight on Kamalov.
Even if he forgave him,
The people would not forgive him, nor would those who suffered under his hands.
“Glory to the Fatherland! May God protect our Principality!!!”
Colonel Kamalov threw himself out without hesitation.
Plop, a sickening thud as Kamalov’s body hit the ground.
“…I told you to read the atmosphere a bit, Colonel.”
That was the last eulogy Orlando Rus III could deliver.
With Orlando Rus III’s bloodless entry into Petrubuna Palace, the four-day-long revolt in the capital was swiftly suppressed.
The coup forces were already in a precarious state due to their overwhelming defeat in public opinion and the doubts rising among the mobilized soldiers.
Before committing s*icide by jumping, Colonel Kamalov had all the coup forces occupying Petrubuna Palace executed.
Including high officials like Finance Minister Radelf and mid-level managers who had also participated in the coup.
Until now, he had wrongly judged situations, but at the end, he fulfilled his role as the ‘Special Military Unit Commander’ executing the co-king’s will.
However, not all rebels surrendered.
“Provide us with a dirigible to head east! We won’t move an inch from here until then!!”
Led by General Major Sergey Volomberg of the cavalry and Lieutenant Colonel Dmitry Zhukov of the capital guard division,
Those who actively participated in the rebellion had entrenched themselves inside the eastern inner walls of the palace and entered an endless siege.
They had held their ground without disarming, hoping to preserve their lives, knowing they could not wash away their sins.
“Thought I’d never get to test this steel behemoth on land! Fortunately, it arrived in time!”
“Oh my, fortunately indeed. Captain Erwin… Can’t you calm down a bit?”
“How can I calm down!! You brats! Did you hear that? Tanks, advance!!!”
Rrrrrr—.
Boom!!!
The ’88th Test Magitechnic Tank Company’ led by Captain Erwin Ruth, temporarily dispatched from the 8th Aerial Assault Magitechnic Battalion, easily captured the rebels by smashing through the inner walls.
Even if they fired, it was useless against the thick steel protecting the tanks.
The Special Response Brigade entered and captured the rebels within an hour.
General Sergey was eventually found as a s*icide victim.
Citizens genuinely welcomed the expulsion of the rebels and the return of the co-king. Vehicles entering the city began honking their horns and parading through the streets, with men, women, and children dancing around toward Petrubuna Palace.
The festive atmosphere was not limited to the capital Kaieff alone.
The eastern corps had completely disintegrated, and units led by generals who refused to follow their orders joined the northern corps.
Generals who insisted on continuing the fight were handed over by the subordinates they trusted.
Furthermore, reinforcements from the southern corps poured in, completely altering the dynamics in the east.
Although sporadic skirmishes were ongoing, frontline soldiers were liberated from the threat of d*ath and were smiling.
The conclusion of the four-day civil war.
It was originally the day the co-king’s birthday celebration was supposed to take place.
But Orlando Rus III did not want to waste today for such a trivial reason.
He climbed onto the terrace where his trusted subordinate had thrown himself, and shouted to the crowd gathered in front of the palace like a sea.
“Dear sons and daughters of Okhraine! Today, we have all won! This was not done by my soldiers alone. It is a miracle achieved by all of you, ordinary people!!”
“Yaaaahhhhh!!”
An enormous cheer.
The co-king continued speaking, feeling goosebumps.
“After the chaotic night, a new dawn has come. Just as our night has ended, Okhraine must also welcome a new dawn.”
“From today, Okhraine renounces its status as a vassal state of the Rus Tsar Empire and declares itself an independent kingdom!”
Okhraine Kingdom.
The moment a newborn kingdom was born, shedding the shadow of the empire.
[End of Translation]
