Chapter 133
Chapter 133
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 133
Chapter Title: Faction Change VER.C.PRIM
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The eastern sky brightened as the sun spread orange paint across the heavens.
The execution of Prim was in full swing.
Prim's crimes had been announced to everyone gathered at the ceremony.
“Criminal Prima Vera, place your head on the guillotine!”
Prim glanced down at her bare feet, stripped of shoes, as she walked toward the front of the guillotine.
The executioner poured oil on the blade, then swiftly ran a bead infused with Yoharaum's flames across it.
Flames roared to life on the guillotine blade before settling into a quiet glow.
The executioner hoisted the blade up to the top of the guillotine.
‘They’ve really prepared thoroughly to kill me.’
Even using Yoharaum's flames, just in case I might be a Bachinum and survive.
Creak. Creak.
Each step on the wooden platform echoed with the sound.
She lifted her head to gaze at the sharp blade reflecting the sunlight.
Then she turned to look at the crowd who had come to watch her.
Most wore puzzled expressions, wondering what was going on.
Fewer people than expected cast cold glares at Prim, guilty of the grave crime of treason.
The majority simply pitied her failed rebellion.
Some even admired her for attempting something so grand at such a young age.
Luisa's actions since ascending to the throne had been deeply unsatisfying to them.
“Sigh…….”
Some in the crowd couldn’t hold back sighs of lament.
‘This is really it…….’
Facing death once more up close, a strange calm settled over her, even as something bubbled up furiously in her chest.
“Do you have any last words?”
Before carrying out the sentence, the executioner asked Prim one final time.
The sun, briefly hidden by clouds, emerged, casting light on Prim's face.
Last words, huh.
Prim locked eyes with Luisa and poured all her strength into her gut and voice.
“In the end, everyone will face judgment for their deeds!”
Her resonant words, laced with resentment, echoed through the square. Prim's expression looked relieved after speaking.
Prim knelt before the guillotine. The executioners seized her neck and secured it firmly in place.
“Carry out the execution!”
Emperor Luisa ordered the executioner with a face full of irritation.
The executioner reached for the mechanism to drop the blade.
That was the moment.
An arrow flew in and embedded itself in the executioner's hand.
“Arghhh!!!”
The executioner screamed in pain as he yanked out the arrow.
Step. Step. Step. Step.
The disciplined footfalls of a large group approached from afar.
A massive crowd advanced on the execution grounds, led by figures clad in dwarf-forged armor.
Seeing the front lines of the 1st Army in dwarf armor, Prim smiled.
‘Looks like Dun made it back safely.’
She had worried he might get lost shaking off pursuers in the迷宫 forest, but it was unfounded.
With her neck still on the guillotine, Prim snapped her fingers.
“Wh-what???”
The stamps on the spectators' bodies suddenly glowed, transforming into teleportation magic circles.
One by one, they began to vanish. The rebels quickly filled the empty spaces left by the citizens.
They formed ranks in perfect order, and the executioners were swiftly subdued by the sudden invaders.
“We’ll get you up right away, Bachinum.”
“How many from the outskirts has the 4th Army evacuated?”
“Dun’s adventurer forces joined in, and they’ve evacuated almost everyone.”
“Good. Now we can cut loose.”
Freed from the guillotine, Prim straightened her hunched body and rolled her neck.
Luisa's face hardened as she watched the chaos unfold.
“What is this! Guards! Protect me at once!”
Luisa frantically called for the surrounding soldiers to defend her.
But the soldiers were already subdued by Prim's 1st Army and knelt in submission.
Luisa glanced toward the imperial palace.
She had fortified it meticulously against any potential attack by Prim. Now that she had left it, she was like a turtle without its shell.
“You bitch, was this on purpose!!! ”
Dragged before the rebels, Luisa glared at Prim with murderous fury.
“Did you think I’d fall for your tricks again? Still, not bad. You used your head this time.”
Prim laughed mockingly.
Luisa's voice trembled in disbelief.
“I filled your entire army with my own troops, didn’t I?”
She had thought she’d swallowed Prim's forces whole over time.
“Drag the former emperor to the guillotine.”
At Prim's command, they swiftly forced Luisa to her knees and hauled her toward the platform.
* * *
A few months before the rebellion's execution.
After finishing a meeting with the 'detachments' including Ruyan, Prim moved to convene with the 'armies.'
“I just met with Ruyan and the other detachment leaders.”
“Did you inform him of the date?”
“Yes.”
Laughter suddenly spread through the meeting room.
“Let me laugh along. Now, will you reveal the detailed plan?”
Only Noah, Prim, and the 1st Army's longtime leader Wood knew the full picture.
The leaders of the 2nd through 4th Armies had only received Prim's prior instruction not to overlap with the 'detachment' personnel—they had no idea of the bigger plan.
“Do you know why I rarely talk about the 5th Army?”
“No.”
“Because the 5th Army is essentially the detachments. I divided it into five detachment units similar to our current armies.”
“Ah, so the 5th Army was a decoy detachment created to fool the emperor?”
“Exactly.”
The emperor was clever and would quickly find evidence of treason to execute her.
So the plan had to make the emperor give her leeway voluntarily.
By exploiting the emperor's arrogance.
Luisa harbored a deep inferiority complex toward Prim.
If she acted big with meager forces to kill the emperor, Luisa would find it laughable and let her try.
Unaware that those forces were just a tiny fraction of the true rebels.
Fortunately, the strategy worked, buying them a full five years.
Prim recalled how Ruyan had subtly mocked the weakness of her forces when she first introduced the decoy detachments to him.
The plan to deliberately expose only part of her strength via Ruyan had played out perfectly.
“Right now, the 1st and 2nd Detachments are filled with the emperor's troops, and Ruyan that sly fox secretly took control of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Jackpot, right? They must think they've won completely by now.”
“What the hell did you even build on our side?”
“It was Noah's idea.”
All eyes turned to Noah, dozing in the corner. He casually wiped drool and waved it off.
“……So what's the plan going forward?”
“Given how the emperor's waited for the rebellion so far, she'll probably arrest me on the set date. Through Ruyan, loaded with plenty of 'evidence' of treason.”
How delighted Emperor Luisa must have been receiving those false, flimsy proofs of rebellion.
Prim found it amusing to imagine the emperor gloating over the evidence she herself had collected.
“You all know how the magic army's power has weakened lately, prompting the emperor to bolster palace security.”
“Yes.”
“If the emperor leaves the palace of her own accord, palace security doesn't matter.”
Murmurs of confusion rippled through the room.
“Yes, exactly what you're thinking. We capture the emperor when she comes down to watch the guillotine show. Now listen up—this is your part.”
Prim pulled out the real strategy map.
* * *
“Fuégor!!! Do something!!”
As Emperor Luisa was dragged toward the guillotine, she screamed for Ruyan.
“Support the emperor!!!”
Realizing the situation had gone awry, Ruyan urgently contacted Duke Fuégor to rally the emperor's forces.
This caused the emperor's magic army to exhaust their mana rushing to her position.
Boom!!
Prim's waiting 2nd Army unleashed a pre-set bombardment magic circle, blocking their path.
The imperial forces barely slipped through with defensive magic, but drained, they fell easily to the 1st Army.
“Emperor Luisa!”
Ruyan mounted a horse and charged through to her side.
Save the emperor first, no matter what.
Emperor Luisa was the one 'that person' was using to kill Prima Vera.
If she died on the guillotine like this, her power would return to Prim.
They couldn't let the Bachinum regain her strength.
“Ruyan Fuégor! Get me back to the palace now!”
Ruyan swung his spear to fend off the soldiers holding Luisa, then shot flames to lift her onto his horse.
Luisa shrieked from the heat, but saving her took priority.
“We'll head to the palace and muster all forces. Prepare.”
“Understood.”
Fortunately, Prim's forces didn't pursue them toward the palace.
Riding hard, the palace soon came into view in the distance.
“We got properly screwed. Prima Vera's shows of weakness were all bait.”
“Bait or not, I'll win in the end. No matter how they struggle.”
“That person will help you?”
“If I fall, they lose a lot too. Who do you think is responsible for monsters rampaging freely in the empire protected by Illitiya? And no one but me can kill Prima Vera.”
Luisa spoke with full confidence.
After riding for a while longer, the palace gates appeared ahead.
“Open the gates!!”
The emperor shouted urgently.
The gate guards raised their spears at the sight of Ruyan and the emperor.
“……The palace has fallen too.”
Ruyan observed them and said.
While the emperor was away gawking at Prim, the 3rd Army had breached defenses and retaken the palace.
The original guards and palace soldiers sat bound in the central garden, watched by Prim's forces.
It was possible because the emperor had been gone too long.
“Seize the emperor!!”
At the 3rd Army leader's command, soldiers charged.
“Retreat—fall back now.”
Clicking his tongue, Ruyan wheeled his horse around.
“Seize the emperor!!!”
Evading the 3rd, they were pursued by parts of the 1st and 2nd Armies on horseback.
The 1st in dwarf armor led, with the 2nd preparing magic circles behind.
Sandwiched front and rear by the 3rd, 1st, and 2nd Armies, the path was sealed.
Seeing the 1st Army's dwarf armor, Ruyan let out a hollow laugh.
‘Noah, that bastard…… must’ve been thrilled to snag free dwarf armor.’
“The road’s blocked. What now?”
“……The adventurers! Right, I have the adventurer forces!”
Adventurer forces had the advantage of easy contact.
According to their provider, issuing a 'request' via the record parchment let them locate and arrive automatically.
The emperor issued a quest to the adventurers.
[B-Grade Quest] Emperor Rescue
Description: Rescue the emperor in the area below the palace.
Reward: 600 exp
* * *
“Huh? Guild master! The emperor issued a rescue quest!”
“Jackpot! Finally, we can refuse it!!!”
They had already received Dun's quest much earlier: refuse the emperor's rebellion-day quest for increased favor.
They gleefully refused.
* * *
{Quest refused.}
{Quest refused.}
“You useless……!”
“Could be the low reward.”
“Their provider said they’d accept requests without rewards…….”
That’s why they’d used the adventurers effectively without pay until now.
Just in case, Luisa issued another quest with rewards.
[B-Grade Quest] Emperor Rescue
Description: Rescue the emperor in the area below the palace.
Reward: 100 exp, Emperor's Sword
* * *
“Whoa!! Huge!! This time it’s an item in a rescue quest!!”
“Refusing gives double favor from the dungeon!!”
* * *
{Quest refused.}
{Quest refused.}
He'd nurtured them diligently, but they wouldn't budge when needed.
“Refused again.”
“Sigh…….”
Ruyan sighed, eyeing the pressing armies.
Only one way came to mind to break through.
Ruyan sighed again.
‘The Fuégor Ducal House is done for now.’
He’d gained some standing from the high noble title, but oh well.
The other demon knights would freak out if they knew.
Eyes closed, Ruyan unbound the power of 'that person' tied to his soulstone to feign humanity.
Two horns sprouted from his head, fangs protruded from his mouth.
His red hair ignited into living flames.
[High Monster] Ruyan
The Montzijel native Ruyan, red goblin of the Demon Knights, revealed his true form, power surging.
* * *
“……So the current emperor’s rotten, huh.”
The dungeon that delivered dwarf armor to the waiting 1st Army was now at Count Altoid's territory, the evacuation center.
Dun had the evacuees sit on the grass and watch live footage via projection orbs of the unfolding events.
“Gasp, what’s that!!”
“The heir of Duke Fuégor, who stood closest to the emperor, was a monster?”
Murmurs rose.
The spectators cursed the emperor, boosting support for the next emperor, Prim.