The Mad Spearman of the Northern Front - Chapter 251

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Mad Spearman of the Northern Front (251)
It was dawn.
In that hour when night had not yet fully retreated, the sky above the Capital lay shrouded in darkness as though ink had been spilled across it.
Upon the meticulously hewn stone roads lay the chill that had settled throughout the night, and the shutters of the shops remained sealed shut in slumber.
Then it came.
Dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong dong!
A bell’s cry that seemed to tear through the very air shattered the silence of dawn into fragments.
It was not a single toll.
Successive strikes without rhythm or hesitation.
The emergency bell rang out, announcing an urgent situation.
It was a warning bell that sounded only when there was a threat to this place—the Capital—whether from foreign invasion or something else entirely.
The sleeping Capital was turned upside down in an instant.
Windows clattered open, and citizens who had rushed out barefoot rubbed the sleep from their eyes as they poured into the streets.
Merchants in nightclothes, noble servants wearing only coats, mothers clutching their children.
No one could ignore that sound.
In the meantime, armored soldiers began rushing out, indifferent to whether they ran through alleys or main roads.
“This way! Hurry!”
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!
The sound of metal striking metal, the sharp report of heavy boots striking stone, terse and cutting commands scattered through the night air.
“Clear the streets!”
“Seal off the Second District! Move!”
Torches were lit, and their red light flickered chaotically across the walls and windows of buildings.
Those who had emerged from their homes began to murmur among themselves.
“What is this? Some kind of emergency drill?”
“No… but even so, I’ve never seen such commotion at this hour of dawn.”
Disgruntled voices leaked out, but their words trailed off strangely.
The emergency bell was never used for drills.
Everyone present knew that fact.
Someone murmured low.
“Could it be… there’s actually an army here to attack us?”
At those words, the surroundings fell silent for a moment.
Soon another person let out a scoff.
“Nonsense. What audacious fool would move an army to target the Imperial Capital?”
“Is there even an army that could scale these Castle Walls?”
They spoke thus, but laughter did not follow.
The gazes of the people converged one by one in the same direction.
The Imperial Palace.
The silhouette of the Imperial Palace rising beyond the high and formidable Castle Wall was strangely distinct even in the darkness.
If that place was safe, then the Empire was safe.
That belief had been the pillar sustaining the Capital.
But today was different.
The emergency bell continued to ring loudly, and the soldiers’ movements grew increasingly frantic and rapid.
Some swallowed unconsciously, while others gripped their children’s hands tighter.
Though they shook their heads as if denying it, everyone’s gaze was fixed on the Imperial Palace with the same thought.
* * *
Bang!
“What in the world is happening?!”
The door to the Grand Conference Hall of the Imperial Palace burst open as officials rushed in urgently.
Most of them were so hurried that their garments hung askew.
For those who valued propriety, such appearance would normally invite rebuke, but now no one even noticed.
Several important figures who should have been present were conspicuously absent.
“Has Count Artoin not arrived yet? How can the emergency approval officer, who should move first, still not be here?!”
A middle-aged man shouted in exasperation.
Yet even as he bellowed, he already knew the truth.
Based on Count Artoin’s usual conduct, he should have already taken action.
The fact that he had not yet appeared in the conference room meant….
“This is terrible!”
At that moment, an armored soldier rushed toward the conference room in panic.
So urgent was his haste that he could barely catch his breath, speaking in gasps.
“C-Count Artoin’s… mansion… has been attacked.”
“…!”
“What?!”
The faces of everyone present went rigid. But the report was not finished.
“Furthermore… the Capital Guard Commander has been murdered, and conflict has erupted between the newly assigned guards and the existing guard personnel…!”
“W-what do you mean?”
“Guards fighting among themselves?”
“Yes.”
Looking closer, blood dripped steadily from the floor where he stood.
He must have slipped away during the battle to deliver this report.
Taifren, who had been silent, opened his eyes narrowly.
“…With Carbain absent, internal chaos erupts while armies gather just outside the Capital.”
When such a plan had been devised remained unclear, but it was evident that the Capital’s defense system, long accustomed to peace, harbored grave vulnerabilities.
And….
“Have you identified the identity of the external forces?”
“It is… presumed to be the troops that Second Prince Belakrod led southward.”
“….”
Taifren squeezed his eyes shut.
It was exactly as he had anticipated.
If so, then the turmoil occurring within the Capital must also be Belakrod’s doing.
But….
‘So he possessed a faction capable of executing plans with such speed and precision.’
Foolish, yet driven by desire into meticulous and brutal cunning.
No, with abilities of this caliber, calling him foolish might be a mistake….
“If Belakrod has made his move, then Baolent… he must be acting in concert with him, yes?”
“Is there anyone within the Capital capable of stopping him now?”
Baolent—a warrior at the 7-Star realm itself.
If Duke Carbain were present, there would be no issue, but with him absent at this critical moment….
Taifren’s eyes narrowed.
“There is one.”
“Ah! Sir Jaife Bouldin is here.”
“He must have learned of the situation from the commotion… and will arrive shortly.”
The expressions of the ministers in the conference room brightened.
Jaife Bouldin was also a 7-Star powerhouse.
If he could suppress Baolent, they could use that time to reorganize the Capital Guard and eliminate the traitors within.
“The Second Prince’s combined military forces number fewer than thirty thousand. Though substantial, without the City Gate opening… the likelihood of them occupying this place remains low.”
“We must act with haste. The fact that combat is erupting within the Guard Unit means the Second Prince has already planted his people there.”
If each mobilized their personal forces as well, suppression would be entirely feasible.
First, we must hold the line somehow….
‘The Imperial Succession War is as good as over.’
All that remained was to enthrone Sedrian, whom they served.
But then it happened.
Boom!
“Flee, Your Excellencies! Gaaahhh!”
Slash!
As the soldier burst through the conference room door with his cry, a death scream erupted.
Blood pooled across the floor where the soldier collapsed, and behind him, soldiers gripping blood-stained weapons flashed their eyes with menace.
“You… you bastards! How dare you enter this place…!”
One middle-aged minister roared in protest. Yet rather than fear, his eyes met theirs with threatening intensity as he glared at the ministers within the chamber.
And between them.
Thud. Thud.
A man walked forward.
The soldiers blocking the conference room entrance parted to either side, creating a passage.
And the man who walked through spoke to the ministers in a composed voice.
“Why such haste to move?”
“…!”
“Y-you?!”
Belakrod, dressed in black garments, smiled wickedly as he addressed them.
Behind him stood dozens of armed soldiers and sinister figures who appeared to be assassins, arranged in formation.
Each one an extraordinary individual.
Judging by the blood already coating the weapons they carried, they had slaughtered the Imperial Guard to reach this point.
Taifren spoke while looking at Belakrod.
“Your Highness, the Second Prince—what were you thinking committing such an act…?”
Beneath the worried tone lay a sharp rebuke for his recklessness.
Yet Belakrod seemed unbothered, his gaze sweeping across those gathered in the Conference Room.
He spoke with ease and composure, as though merely reviewing a ledger already settled.
“It seems you’re all waiting for something….”
A faint smile crossed his face as he continued.
“There’s no need to wait. Everything is already finished.”
With those words, his eyes flashed with savage brilliance, and several of the ministers in the Conference Room instinctively stepped back.
They already understood that the situation had tilted decisively in his favor.
But then.
“Your Highness.”
Taifren stepped forward.
“It can still be reversed. Even now, the City Gate remains closed, and the Capital is under Imperial control. But if this situation continues….”
“Continues? Are you trying to call this treason?”
Belakrod cut him off.
His eyes narrowed to slits.
“If I stop here, will my previous actions simply vanish as though they never happened?”
Killing Intent began to kindle in Belakrod’s gaze.
As though something long suppressed was finally bursting forth, the murderous aura radiating from him engulfed the Conference Room.
“It was always this way. If you had looked upon Sedrian and me with the same eyes from childhood… if you had, this would never have happened.”
From the moment of birth, I had lived my entire life in comparison with Sedrian.
While they gazed upon the capable Sedrian with admiration, all I received was cold indifference.
‘If only Sedrian had never existed….’
No—if I had been born first.
Countless hypotheticals had weighed upon my mind and shoulders throughout my life.
But now, none of that mattered.
“Today… everything will end anyway.”
“It will not be easy. The Imperial Capital is not such a fragile place.”
Taifren spoke with conviction.
But Belakrod’s lips curled into a long smile as he replied.
“You think so?”
“Of course. Though your operational prowess has been exceptional since removing Duke Carbain from the Capital, there remain outstanding warriors within the Capital capable of stopping Your Highness. Moreover, the Capital Guard will soon reorganize and march here.”
“You harbor false beliefs. Have you not received the report?”
“…What do you mean?”
Someone asked, their throat dry.
Belakrod did not look at him.
Instead, he tilted his head toward the ceiling as he spoke.
“The eastern and southern gates of the First Outer Wall are already secured. I prepared everything meticulously through guard rotations long before I departed from the south.”
“That’s impossible…!”
“The Capital Guard is directly under the Imperial Family…!”
“Didn’t you just receive a report on whose hands the Imperial Guard Captain fell to?”
It was a cold remark that cut through their words like a blade.
In that moment, everyone understood.
The situation was far worse than they had imagined.
Belakrod spoke as he observed the ministers’ expressions drowning in despair.
“By now, my flag should be raised upon the Castle Wall. The troops waiting outside will soon enter.”
Belakrod’s gaze turned toward Taifren.
“Taifren.”
“…Yes, Your Majesty.”
“You are certainly an exceptional individual, I acknowledge that. Even His Majesty recognizes your abilities.”
But….
“During the Imperial Succession War, you should have maintained neutrality like the others. That would have been fair, would it not?”
A thick Killing Intent gleamed in Belakrod’s eyes as he regarded Taifren.
Because of this, all balance had crumbled.
Yet Taifren still gazed at Belakrod with calm, unwavering eyes.
“Things will not unfold as you desire. This Empire is… not so easily conquered.”
“Heh, is that so? Do you think I, who have lived cautiously for thirty years in such an unforgiving place, would not know such things?”
The tension reached its peak, and the argument seemed as though it would never cease.
Then, slow footsteps echoed from the end of the corridor.
Tap, tap.
All eyes turned in that direction.
Beyond the open Conference Room door, from the corridor, came a single figure walking in casually with a long sword at his waist.
At that sight, the corners of Belakrod’s mouth lifted.
“How unfortunate… it seems the last ember you all were waiting for has been extinguished.”
Baolent, who approached with those words, bowed his head before Belakrod.
His body was already ravaged by injuries, yet his eyes remained unshaken.
And Baolent spoke.
“As you commanded… I have cut down Jaife Bouldin, Your Majesty.”
With those words, despair settled upon the faces of all those in the Conference Room.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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