The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 228
Taking advantage of the confusion, I, Ars, joined up with Erina and the others who had entered the palace.
“Erina! Are you alright!?”
I immediately checked on her well-being, since I had seen the lightning earlier, indicating that a battle had taken place.
“I’m fine. It was dangerous, but… Ars, that man is here. The immortal one…”
“Ugh.”
Hearing that the detestable fellow was here sent shivers down my spine.
“So he’s… Most likely on the side of the third faction.”
The one who had recruited Cuthbert was surely the same one who had stabbed Articles in the back and stolen the dragon.
And that meant they were highly likely the masterminds behind the assassination of Prince Proud.
The root cause of all these troubles, the hidden manipulator.
“But more importantly…”
Elena was lying there in tatters, receiving treatment. Her life was not in danger, but the wound on her chest would surely leave a lasting scar.
“I’m ashamed to show my face like this.”
“Just surviving is commendable.”
“Heh, if it had been Ilya Anfei, it would have been different, don’t you think?”
“Don’t blame yourself, it’s not like that.”
I wanted to console her, but I didn’t have the chance.
Ash, who had just entered the palace, came rushing towards me.
“Hey, you blonde ruffian!”
“Since it’s just us now, you don’t have to use those weird nicknames. How did the operation go?”
“Of course it went well, who do you think was in charge! The enemy is now fighting each other in front of the main gate, not knowing who’s who.”
“What about Lucretia? I don’t see her.”
“I gave her a separate mission.”
“A mission?”
“It’s nothing major, just something that might be helpful. I can cancel it if needed.”
Hearing the details of the mission, it seemed reasonable.
“So the princes must be moving to occupy the audience chamber now. Seeing everything going exactly as you calculated is spine-chilling.”
“The real thing starts now.”
In the process of rescuing Princess Rosa, we’ve stirred up a hornet’s nest. As a result, the third faction now know of our existence and are on guard.
Regardless, I had to draw them out into the open. That’s why I had gathered Joseph and Landis in the audience chamber.
* * *
To occupy the audience chamber, Joseph and Landis confronted each other within.
Accompanied by around 300 subordinates each, they were openly brandishing their weapons and growling at each other.
“How foolish of you, Joseph. To dare draw your weapon before me.”
“It is you, brother.”
They kept glancing at the empty throne. If they could subdue the other and sit on the throne, that would make them the king.
The thought of it was itching them.
The impatient Landis was the more eager one.
“Enough talk, let’s settle this! Who dares defy me, the Fourth Prince!”
Landis stepped forward, bellowing.
In response, four of Joseph’s escorts from the Kiros family stepped forward.
Landis sneered. “The dogs of Kiros, huh. The Valor family, but compared to the Akasha family, they lack the same haughtiness and achievements. That’s why you ended up guarding a mere Fourth Prince. Good, I’ll take you on myself! Come at me!”
Joseph’s eyes gleamed. No matter what, if he could just kill Landis, the situation would be over.
Landis was being unnecessarily boastful, and now was the chance.
“Kiros! Attack!”
A 4-on-1 fight. Yet Landis’ faction remained calm. They had such faith in Landis’ might.
They only kept an eye out for any additional intruders, watching the battle.
“Hrah! As I thought, this is all you’re capable of!”
Landis swung his sword, and the four were unable to block the momentum, retreating in unison.
Landis attacked one of them further, the weakest one – Dayan Kiros, Joseph’s academy partner and the youngest of the Kiros family.
Slicing from the collarbone to the waist in one strike.
“Gah…!”
Dayan died instantly, his eyes rolling back. Landis kicked his body towards Joseph, letting it roll.
The rolling corpse.
“Dayan… I’m sorry.” Gritting his teeth, Joseph shouted. “You villain! Dayan followed you since he was young! How dare you kill the boy who begged you to teach him the sword! You are no brother of mine! You’re a heartless monster! I’ll put an end to you right here! Everyone, attack!”
Dayan’s death became the signal to start the all-out battle.
The audience chamber descended into chaos in an instant.
And the third faction were anxiously watching this unfold.
Normally, they would have just laughed and observed, looking to benefit from the situation. But now, the circumstances have changed.
Because of Ars’ intervention.
The third faction couldn’t shake off the unease at how meticulously crafted this situation was.
If Joseph and Landis collided and one faction was annihilated while the other side’s forces were also weakened, they wouldn’t be able to check Ars’ forces.
Although he had planned to stay hidden until the situation improved, Ars couldn’t hold back when the battle between Landis and Joseph intensified.
“Stop this!”
The third faction revealed themselves and rushed into the audience chamber. Seeing the man leading them, Landis and Joseph’s eyes widened.
“You… Paris!?”
“Brother Paris!”
Prince Paris, the Third Prince. He was believed to have gone missing after being attacked by the traitors during the war with Article.
Though he was ‘missing’, a body believed to be Paris had been found, so he was presumed dead.
Not only was he alive, but he had also led a force to invade, shocking the other princes.
“Paris, how did you… Don’t tell me it was you!”
“Calm down, Brother Landis.”
“Calm down!?”
Landis finally realized who was behind all this.
“It was you! You killed Brother Proud and attacked me, and then pretended to be dead while manipulating everything from the shadows!”
The full story was simple.
As the Third Prince with a low succession ranking, Paris grew concerned for his own safety when he saw the king’s declining health.
If Proud became the king, the other princes risked being purged.
Though Proud had publicly stated he wouldn’t kill his brothers, Paris couldn’t just take him at his word – history had shown the fates of princes who failed to become king.
The one who whispered sweet nothings to Paris was the Viscount Pax.
“It’s been a while, you two princes.”
“Treacherous wretch! You dare set foot in the palace!”
Branded as a traitor due to the Forest of Lament incident, Pax stood proudly beside Paris. But his expression was sour.
Glaring at Landis, he gritted his teeth.
“Prince Landis… I never expected you to survive that time. That’s why everything got so messed up.”
They had succeeded in killing Proud as planned, but Landis surviving and escaping the assassins had thrown a wrench in their plans.
The original plan was to put the sole survivor Joseph in the spotlight, luring the other Alliance’s forces to rally around him, then expose that fact to seize the throne.
But with Landis surviving, the situation had become this.
“But the calculation up to here was still in place.”
If they could just take advantage of the situation and seize the throne here, it would be over.
“But another force has intervened. So, you two princes, won’t you join forces here? As brothers, let’s drive out this mysterious force!”
“Shut your trap!”
Landis charged towards Pax, his ruthless sword flashing.
Cuthbert intervened, blocking it.
“Calm down, brother. We’re not proposing this because we like it.”
“You…!”
Cuthbert roughly pushed Landis back. Their skills were evenly matched, and Cuthbert’s miraculous recovery abilities meant he wouldn’t be defeated.
“I have a question,” Joseph asked, feigning composure. “What exactly is this ‘other force’ you speak of? What you’ve done is unforgivable, but if the one aiming for the throne is not a royal, the situation changes. If there is a despicable individual not of royal blood pursuing the throne, we brothers must unite to punish them. So tell me, who else is after the throne besides us?”
“Rosa.”
“Rosa!?”
“Just hours ago, someone rescued Rosa, whom I had detained. The prime minister Railund must have been in on it.”
“Wait, so the attack on the prime minister was also done by Brother Paris!?”
“That’s not important right now! Rosa is after us!”
Landis and Joseph exchanged glances, then shook their heads.
“That’s just a ploy to confuse us. Rosa does not have such ambitions.”
“So there must be someone instigating her…”
“I don’t want to hear any more. …You traitor!”
Landis’ and Joseph’s factions temporarily joined forces, pointing their swords at Paris.
The price for rashly revealing his identity.
Viscount Pax sensed that all of this was calculated by someone.
‘So I was just a pawn all along. If I stay here, even my life will be in danger. It’s regrettable that I couldn’t devour the kingdom, but there’s no meaning in me dying here.’
Taking advantage of the chaos, Pax slipped out of the audience chamber and out of the palace.
Only then could he see the perfect setup leading to checkmate.
While they were squabbling in the audience chamber, Ars had been occupying the palace from the outside. The speed was beyond Pax’s expectations.
“Hmph, so I ended up having my own plan used against me. Got caught. I don’t know who that guy is, but he’s got quite the skill. Tch, I’ll retreat this time. But there won’t be a next time!”
The fleeing Pax.
Timed with that, Ars moved to the final step of occupying the audience chamber.
The three princes who were engaged in battle suddenly stopped their weapons, feeling an ominous presence.
There were multiple presences sensed outside the audience chamber.
Soon the door to the audience chamber opened, and Lucretia appeared with the royal guards.
She had first occupied the royal prison on Ash’s order, where the guards who had refused to follow the princes were imprisoned.
Luc had recruited them to establish a new guard force and absorbed the existing royal guard.
“Traitors! Welcome Her Majesty Queen Rosa!”
With Luc’s shout, Rosa appeared, escorted by the royal guards.
“Rosa…!?”
“My brothers.” Rosa tightly shut her eyes. She continued speaking through tears. “What you have done is unforgivable. Paris, who murdered the crown Prince Proud! Joseph, who murdered the late king! Landis, who imprisoned and killed innocent people! I, I will judge and punish such a crime!”
Meanwhile, the forces steadily infiltrated the audience chamber. The increasing numbers darkened the princes’ expressions.
The indictment document contained detailed accounts of the princes and nobles’ collusion with the Alliance.
“The investigation and punishment of these crimes will begin after you are detained. If you resist, I will take it as an admission of guilt and have you executed on the spot right here, so please do not resist… Now, begin!”
At Rosa’s order, the forces began to move.
The numbers clearly favored Rosa’s side, but there were doubts about the quality.
The key here was Rosa. If they could just kill Rosa, the situation could be reversed, so the top fighters under the three brothers targeted Rosa all at once.
But Clang! They were unable to even approach Rosa, blocked by Yumir, Ash, Elena, and Lucretia. As for Cuthbert, Ars directly confronted him.
“Hello, it’s been a while.”
“You can’t be…!”
“It’s best you run away soon. Ilya my master will be here shortly.”
“Tch…!”
Ars’ arrogance was immediately effective. Cuthbert promptly lost his fighting spirit.
‘If Ilya Anfei is also here, there’s no chance!’
Ars was here, so the possibility of Ilya being here as well was very high. He had no intention of gambling on that.
He immediately gave the Alliance personnel an order to retreat without discrimination. It didn’t matter since Pax had already fled alone.
“The operation has failed! Get out of here by any means!”
“What are you doing? Where are you going, leaving me behind!”
Paris cried out in confusion, but no one listened to him.
Ars did not give a pursuit order to the retreating Alliance combatants. Stabilizing the situation and enthroning Rosa was the priority.
“Rosa! Have you truly caused such a commotion…!”
Landis, subdued by Ash and Elena, glared at Rosa.
Rosa ignored Landis and headed towards the throne.
The bewildered Joseph noticed Ars standing next to Rosa and trembled.
“You…! It was your doing! You’re trying to lead us down the path of destruction! Rosa! Don’t listen to that man’s words! You’re being deceived! You’re trying to ruin the kingdom at his instigation!”
“That’s not true, Joseph. I’m trying to correct the kingdom.”
Thud! Rosa finally sat on the throne.
At the moment the owner of the throne that had been empty since the previous king’s death was determined, the raining sky cleared and a beam of light shone upon Rosa seated on the throne.
Rosa took a deep breath and shouted, “Imprison all those who plotted treason! This is a royal decree!”
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