Chương 86: The Androic Lands - 4

A coup? Here, just when everything was going so good? Of course. In hindsight, it was the perfect time for such a thing. Lance continued to fight the assassins which streamed into the chamber. One after another, they came, despite each meeting the same fate as those who came before — getting cut down in increasingly violent ways. Whoever these men were, they clearly had not heard about his exploits. Which was fine by him — though he did dislike not being able to attempt to convert the men before their demise.

Oh well; nothing to be done about that! A slice, a stab, heck, a well-placed kick and each action brought an end to a life. It wasn't long before the entire room was covered in bodies and gore. [You Have Killed Assassin: You Have Gained XP], showed over again on his HUD. He dismissed the notifications without hardly a glance. These killers would not be giving him a lot of XP, so he didn't care for them. Once the killers were finally done charging into their deaths, he sighed relieved and asked if anyone was hurt.

Other than Bipin being shellshocked by the violence, somehow covered in an amount of blood himself that was equal to Lance's own coverage, no one was hurt. The king, in fact, looked a bit bored.

"King," he said.

"My System tells me this is a coup. Consider me your protector. What shall I do to help a new ally through this trying time?" Word of a coup set the king's face into slack.

"They will want my head above all. But my sons will be a close second should they fail in acquiring mine. We must reach the royal wing of the castle!"

"Lead from the back and give me directions, I will cleave us a path!" With the king's aid, Lance did exactly that — he bolted down the corridors, sometimes taking the king and Bipin on his back — and cut a bloody path of destruction through the castle's passages as foes galore ambushed them at every turn. Heads and limbs rolled as the once pristine halls were turned red and became slick with guts. They arrived in the royal wing's apartments just in time.

Of the dozen or so guards assigned to protect the king's children, the final guard had been run through with an assassin's blade just as they arrived. Lance channeled some magic and threw at the assassins a basic flurry of [Fireball] spells. The killers were killed but not before their racous screams filled the echoey halls as fire consumed their flesh.

"Children! It is I, your father! Are you safe? Let me in, please!" King Pluglet shouted from outside the apartments. A noise came from inside the apartments as his children dismantled the barricade they had set up and let them inside. Lance was surprised to see so many youths. All were diversely aged, with the youngest being hardly out of their baby pants and the oldest being a full-grown man. As the king rejoiced with his children, Lance kept watch.

"King. Bipin. Stay here and barricade yourselves in — I will go and rally your soldiers to overthrow this coup!" And so, that was what happened: Lance, after ensuring the royal apartment was properly secured, ran off to the nearest barrack and ordered soldiers to go to the royal wing and defend their lord. For those who did not go and defend the royal apartment, he ordered them upon himself as he rushed himself from every area affected by the insurrectionists.

Fortunately for King Pluglet, said insurrectionists were disorganized, and their attempt at seizing key sites — the royal bank, the central barrack authority, and the gates in and out of the city — were all poorly thought out and had been met with significant resistance even before Lance arrival on scene. That told him that, whatever the king's weaknesses might have been as ruler, the insurrectionists were not widely enough beloved to face no pushback in their attempt for power.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. A few hours later, most of which was spent in rushing from area to area, and the coup was put down. The king and his royal children were safe. And Lance was a hero.

"I cannot thank you enough, dear diplomat-warrior!" King Pluglet said in a post-fight ceremony honoring him.

"Without your intervention, my administration would have fallen! I thank you from the bottom of my heart. For now, it looks as though my desire for spreading the faith far and wide can resume and without the friction caused by those cultists!" Hearing the king say 'cultist' reminded Lance of when the campus cult had tried to kidnap Penn Vic.

"Cultists?" he asked.

"What did they want? Do you know?"

"I do know. They have been a thorn in my side for years! Most of the time, they've been quite manageable. Though, in the last year, since, I think, the discovery of that Horror, they have been much more active. I guess my plans to open the land up caused in them a disquiet they couldn't ignore."

"Hmmm... why would your plans to spread your face upset them? Are they atheists?" King Pluglet laughed.

"Atheists? Ha! No, the opposite lad! This cult is a rabid group of Sparkist fundamentalists! I would call myself a fundamentalist, too, but not in their way."

"Why would a fundamentalist sect wish to violently overthrow their fundamentalist king? Especially one who is planning on making a push to spread their faith to all corners of the globe? It doesn't make sense to me. Am I missing something?"

"Aye, lad, you are — the part where they hate the idea of their land welcoming of foreigners. I reckon they don't like the idea of their religious homeland allowing in and cooperating with people of different faiths. There are many in my kingship who would prefer the spreading of faith through bloody conquest, not diplomacy and cooperation. It is a sad but stark truth."

The king's words caused Lance to reflect on the nature of society and how his own actions were shaping that society; for better or worse, he had helped suppress a coup against a fundamentalist king. An absolute monarch at that; sure, it seemed to him that the insurrectionists were worse than the king himself, but that didn't wash himself of the fact he helped in maintaining a violent, top-down entity which welcomed no say from the common folk in how the land was run. Such things made a man think...

"Well," Lance continued.

"I am happy to see the newest Alliance ally safe. Bipin and I have the complete record of our negotiations. As I said, we will submit these papers to the Planetary Defense Council and their varied member states will go over them in detail. Once the member states review these papers, they will be passed on to the wider Anti-Horror Alliance member states. At that point, someone will get back to you on how all of this is going."

"Very well, meboy — oh, speaking of boy, Outlet, come!" The young man Lance had met earlier, who was a few years older than himself, hurried through the large crowd.

"Yes, father?"

"It is time, my son. You wish to go and see the big, wide world? Very well. Go and pack your things and journey with Lance and Bipin." Outlet had a smile the size of the sun on his face. They rushed off to pack as Lance called after him that they would wait for him outside.

"Until next time, King. Stay safe and keep well!" The king and the other bade him farewell. Before he and Bipin knew it, they were back in their wagons, ready for take-off and waiting for Outlet. Bipin sat next to him and sighed.

"Jeez-on-a-me! I didn't think any of that would go like that! If this is how diplomacy is, I might have to rethink my career!" Lance laughed.

"I doubt your career will be as eventful as this excursion. Not so as long as I am outside of your company. I tend to make things exciting, accidentally so, but it bears saying all the same. I do hope you can forgive me for how bloody you got."

"Meh. I am used to blood. Was I shocked, sure, but I had a younger set of years where violence and I were good friends. Back before the council lifted me from that decrepit life. I only wanted a career with less of that old life of mine, is all. Well, it bears mentioning, Lance. If you wanted it, you have a career as a diplomat waiting for you." Bipin rubbed his temples and groaned, the clearest sign there could be of a headache coming on.

"Nah. I will stick to monster slaying. It's all I am good for other than my tongue... I think my tongue gets me into more trouble than my sword, though. I should keep that thing where no one can see it other than a fine-assed lass or lad." Bipin laughed, then snorted when his chuckle became too much.

"You're something else, Lance. Nothing like your father." Moments later, Outlet came from the palace doors accompanied by a gaggle of servants to help with his luggage. The young man rushed over to their wagon and hurriedly stuck his belongings wherever they would fit.

"Room for one more?"

"Always," Lance quipped.

"So as long as your one more ends at a point. Get in. We have a ride ahead of us."