Episode-768
Chapter : 1535
But Lloyd saw the tremor in the King's hand. He saw the sweat on his brow. The energy was finite. The clock was ticking.
"We have to move," Lloyd said, stepping up to the King. "Majesty, we can't stay here. Cassius will send more. He will send men who don't know your face. Or men who don't care."
"To the Throne Room," Aurelius said. "If I am to die tonight, I will die on my throne. And I will make sure the entire court sees who kills me."
"The Throne Room," Seraphina agreed, stepping out from behind her father. She looked pale, but determined. "The amplification array is there. We can speak to the city."
"Then let us go," Aurelius said. "Doctor. You and your man... take the point. I will guard the rear."
"With respect, Majesty," Ken said, racking his rifle. "No one gets behind you while I'm breathing."
They formed a wedge. Ken and Lloyd at the front. The King and Seraphina in the center with the children. The converted soldiers forming a rear guard.
They marched out of the room and into the hallway. They were no longer hiding. They were invading.
----
The march to the Throne Room was a running battle. The palace was in chaos. Servants were fleeing. Loyalists were fighting Obsidian Eye troops in the corridors. The sound of steel on steel rang everywhere.
Lloyd used his [All-Seeing Eye] to scan ahead, spotting ambushes before they happened.
"Three on the left," Lloyd called out.
Ken didn't hesitate. He fired three shots. Bang. Bang. Bang. Three soldiers dropped before they could even raise their crossbows.
"Clear," Ken grunted.
They reached the Grand Staircase. Below them lay the approach to the Throne Room. But it was blocked.
A barricade of furniture had been erected. Behind it stood fifty Obsidian Eye soldiers. And leading them was a man in dark robes. A warlock.
"They are dug in," Lloyd assessed. "We can't go through them without heavy casualties."
"We don't have time to go around," Aurelius said. He was breathing hard. The stimulant was peaking. His eyes were wild.
"I can breach it," Lloyd said. "But it will be loud."
"Loud is good," Ken said. "Loud is scary."
Lloyd reached into his bag. He pulled out the brick of alchemical explosive he had saved. He stuck a detonator into it.
"Kasim," Lloyd said. "How is your throwing arm?"
"Functioning," Ken said.
"Aim for the warlock," Lloyd said. "Three seconds on the fuse."
He lit the fuse. He tossed the brick to Ken.
Ken caught it. He stepped out from cover. He hurled the brick.
It sailed over the heads of the soldiers. It landed right at the warlock's feet.
BOOM.
The barricade disintegrated. The warlock vanished in a cloud of fire and splinters. The soldiers were thrown back, stunned.
"Charge!" Aurelius roared.
He led the way, running down the stairs with a speed that defied his age. Lloyd and Ken followed, firing into the smoke.
They crashed into the disorganized soldiers. It was a melee. Close quarters. Brutal.
Lloyd used his Steel Blood. He manifested chains from his sleeves, whipping them around, tripping soldiers, disarming them. He wasn't using lethal force if he could help it—these were just grunts following orders—but he wasn't being gentle.
Ken was a machine. He used his rifle as a club, smashing helmets. He moved with efficient violence, protecting the children.
Jasmin stayed in the center, shielding Risa. Her skin shimmered with diamond hardness, deflecting stray arrows.
They broke through the line. The doors to the Throne Room were ahead. They were massive, golden, and closed.
"Open them!" Aurelius commanded.
Ken and Lloyd put their shoulders to the wood. They pushed.
The doors groaned and swung inward.
The Throne Room was occupied.
Prince Cassius stood at the foot of the throne. He was surrounded by his inner circle—generals, ministers, and his personal guard of twenty elites.
They looked up as the doors opened.
They saw the smoke. They saw the blood. And they saw the King.
Cassius’s face went slack. For a moment, just a moment, the mask of the arrogant prince slipped, revealing the terrified boy underneath.
"Father?" he whispered.
Aurelius walked into the room. He was covered in dust. His sword was bloody. He looked magnificent.
"Get off my steps, boy," Aurelius said. His voice echoed in the vast hall.
The ministers gasped. They looked from the Prince to the King. The legitimacy of the coup just walked in the door and told it to get out.
Chapter : 1536
Cassius recovered. His eyes hardened. He saw Lloyd. He saw Seraphina. He saw the children.
He realized he was cornered. There was no talking his way out of this.
"He is not the King!" Cassius shouted, pointing a shaking finger. "Look at him! He is mad! He is possessed! That doctor... that sorcerer... he has reanimated him! It is necromancy!"
It was a desperate lie. But the elites of the Obsidian Eye didn't care about truth. They cared about orders.
"Kill them!" Cassius screamed. "Kill the abomination! Kill them all!"
The elites drew their weapons. These weren't standard guards. They were Ascended-level warriors. Their armor glowed with enchantments.
"Protect the King!" Lloyd shouted.
He stepped forward. He didn't summon his spirits. Not yet. He needed to save his mana for the big fight.
He raised his hands. Steel chains erupted from the floor, creating a spiked barrier between the group and the charging elites.
"Ken!" Lloyd yelled. "Hold the line!"
"With pleasure," Ken growled.
The final battle for the soul of Altamira had begun. And it was happening right at the foot of the throne.
The Throne Room of Saber was vast, a cavern of black marble and gold pillars designed to intimidate. Now, it was a battlefield.
Twenty elite Obsidian Eye warriors charged. They moved with supernatural speed, their blades wreathed in dark magic. They were the best killers money and corruption could buy.
Against them stood a doctor, a bodyguard, a handmaiden, a frail princess, and a dying King.
"Hold!" Lloyd roared.
He slammed his hands together. The steel chains he had summoned wove themselves into a dense, thorny wall. The first wave of elites crashed into it. Sparks flew as enchanted swords bit into Lloyd's Void steel.
"Break it!" an elite captain shouted. "Use force magic!"
Three elites stepped back. They raised their gauntlets. purple energy gathered in their palms.
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM.
Force bolts slammed into the chain wall. It shuddered. Metal twisted and groaned.
"It won't hold!" Lloyd gritted his teeth. The strain on his Void reserves was immense.
Ken Park stepped through a gap in the chains. He had discarded his ruined rifle. He held a pair of heavy, serrated combat knives—weapons Lloyd had forged for him.
"I will buy you time," Ken said.
He didn't wait. He charged the elites.
It was suicide. One man against twenty Ascended warriors.
But Ken wasn't just a man. He was a King-Level user suppressing his power. Even without his spirit, his physical stats were monstrous.
He ducked under a sword swing. He slashed the elite's hamstring. He spun, driving his other knife into the gap of another elite's armor.
He was a whirlwind of violence. He didn't fight honorably. He fought to kill. He used elbows, knees, headbutts. He moved like a dancer made of granite.
"Monster!" an elite screamed as Ken broke his arm like a twig.
"No," Ken grunted, kicking the man into his comrades. "Just the help."
But there were too many. They surrounded him. Blades cut at him from all angles. His armor was sliced. Blood began to flow.
"Ken!" Jasmin screamed.
"Stay back!" Lloyd ordered. "Shield the children!"
Jasmin transformed fully into the Diamond Queen. Her skin became a faceted, unbreakable prism. She stood in front of Risa and the others, a living statue of defiance.
A stray force bolt flew over the chains. It hit Jasmin in the chest.
CLANG.
She didn't budge. The bolt shattered against her diamond skin. She glared at the shooter.
Meanwhile, Cassius was screaming orders from the safety of the dais.
"Flank them! Get to the King! Cut his head off!"
The elites split. Five of them ran up the walls, using gravity-defying boots. They were aiming to drop behind Lloyd’s barrier.
"Father," Seraphina said. She was standing beside the King. Her face was white, but her eyes were burning gold. "The array. We need the array."
The King nodded. He was leaning on his sword, his breath coming in ragged gasps. The hour was ticking down.
"The control crystal," Aurelius wheezed. "It's on the arm of the throne. Cassius is standing right next to it."
"I can get there," Seraphina said.
"No," Lloyd said, maintaining the barrier. "He will kill you."
"He won't expect me," she said. "He thinks I am weak."
She looked at Lloyd.
"Drop the barrier for a second," she said. "Just a hole. Enough for me."
"Seraphina..."
"Trust me, Zayn," she said.
Lloyd looked at her. He saw the queen waking up.
"Go," he said.
He flexed his will. A small gap opened in the steel wall.