The Empror's Trap-Chapter 70: Ch - Rebellion

I preparted all this month’s chapters. no more delays :3

Not (Grand Mystical Master has been Changed to Celestial Master, I will fix the old chapters latter.)

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At Yunis’s mansion, he stood on a high platform.

Below him, the training grounds were packed with soldiers wearing blue scarves. They stood in neat formation, their eyes full of anticipation.

Yunis gazed down at his loyal soldiers with bitterness. These were the men he had painstakingly trained, who were willing to follow him. Now, after years of preparation, it was time to unleash this hidden force.

He took a deep breath and addressed the soldiers below:

"All of you have followed me for many years. Thanks to your trust, I still have your support today. Our Camelot has lasted a thousand years, producing many wise rulers and brilliant leaders. Yet today, our nation is held by a woman and a treacherous minister - truly Camelot’s shame!"

"The former emperor said he would pass the throne to the crown prince, but the prince was deposed - how could this be? The crown prince committed no wrongs, showed no laziness, yet was deposed merely for not following protocol - surely this was a scheme by that treacherous Duke Anos!"

"Today, I ask you to join me in storming the palace, to force the emperor to return the throne to the crown prince. The crown prince and General Dueno’s forces will set fires in the western city to draw the palace guards. Our forces will strike directly at the palace to force Her Majesty to abdicate!"

At this point, Yunis raised his arms and shouted:

"Success or failure rests on this one move! Everyone, FIGHT WITH ME!"

Deafening cheers drowned out his voice. Then this force, meticulously prepared over many years - over a thousand men with two hundred cavalry in the vanguard - marched majestically toward the palace.

On the other side of Luminara, five thousand soldiers led by the former crown prince and General Dueno also rushed toward the palace.

General Dueno had originally thought that with his own forces and those of supporting generals, he would have tens of thousands of troops. But reality was harsh - without orders from the Grand Marshal’s office, many generals simply couldn’t mobilize their forces, greatly reducing the coup forces.

However, they still managed to gather over three thousand men. Adding the former crown prince’s secretly maintained personal guards, they assembled over five thousand. Just outside the city, another two thousand men were tasked with drawing attention and delaying reinforcements from the outer Camelot army.

This was a long-planned coup.

The troops quickly moved through each street. When people saw the armored soldiers pass by, almost everyone realized what was happening and hurriedly hid in their homes to avoid being caught up in the coup.

When Yunis’s forces were still a few miles from the palace, a unit of palace guards spotted them in the distance.

"Alert!"

The patrol captain saw their banners raised and shouted.

"Prepare for battle!"

Though only a dozen palace guards faced over a thousand elite soldiers, they raised their weapons and charged into the mass of attackers!

For a moment, battle cries shook the sky. These dozen palace guards seemed tiny against the thousand-strong rebel force, but they kept swinging their weapons in the crowd.

After just a minute, the rebels continued advancing in their armor, leaving bodies scattered on the ground - some palace guards, some rebels. However, the rebels had little time left.

During the chaos, someone had seen a young palace guard crawl out from among the dead and run frantically while no one was watching. By now, the palace would surely know about the rebellion.

Indeed, while the rebels marched on the palace, that guard had stumbled his way inside. He reported the news of the advancing rebels, throwing the palace into chaos as various departments prepared to evacuate. The news also reached Pluvia’s ears.

Hearing this, Pluvia wasn’t surprised.

Rather, she had long anticipated the possibility of the Fifth Prince rebelling. There were certainly factional spies within the palace, and her brother surely had some as well. The palace guards and imperial guards weren’t numerous, as Luminara’s palace guard was mainly focused on palace security, numbering less than a thousand. But Pluvia, anticipating such a rebellion, had long prepared sufficient weapons and equipment in the palace to fully arm these guards.

But then her foolproof plan went awry.

Thick smoke rolled from fires in the western city, with people barely able to fight the flames. At that moment, reports came that at least five thousand men were advancing from the west, also heading for the palace.

Now Pluvia couldn’t stay calm.

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How could the crown prince be so bold?

She had thought the crown prince was behaving himself lately with no major demands, but faced with the temptation of power, he decisively chose to join the Fifth Prince.

"Send the Black Armor Cavalry to the western city - they don’t need to achieve victory, just delay the enemy," she said, then turned her head. "General Balinos, where are your troops?"

General Balinos had returned with his forces earlier.

"Your Majesty, I’m trying my best to gather the soldiers, but I must say, if we rely on my troops, it may be impossible. Rebels are everywhere outside the palace throughout the city. The soldiers on leave are scattered across the city, making it extremely difficult to gather them. Moreover, they don’t have their armor - even if we could gather a significant force, they would likely be quickly destroyed."

"Your Majesty, if necessary, we should request help from the Celestial Masters and palace cultivators. Though few in number, they should be able to stop the rebels."

Balinos made this suggestion.

The ministers present all agreed. The court maintained these Celestial Masters and cultivators precisely for emergencies - why not summon them now? Even if these six or seven thousand rebels were formidable, they couldn’t defeat Celestial Masters.

"The Celestial Masters... We cannot use them carelessly,"

Pluvia said softly.

The Celestial Masters couldn’t be used except in true necessity. For Pluvia, this principle was instilled even before she knew she would become emperor. When the former emperor campaigned north and south, at Camelot’s most desperate hour he had deployed over 800,000 troops and kept sending reinforcements to the front lines, yet even then he never relied on the Celestial Masters’ power.

What to do...

As the court ministers debated, suddenly someone ran in from outside.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"

"Quickly, what is it?!"

A nearby official hurriedly asked.

It was a soldier, but from the blood and dirt on him, he had clearly just been sent from the front lines with news.

"Our forces fought bravely, with heavy casualties... but Duke Anos has arrived!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole court erupted.

"Duke Anos! He really came!"

"How many troops did he bring? Can he break the rebel siege?"

"Whatever the case, his arrival is good news!"

The man usually denounced as a treacherous minister now seemed to become everyone’s reassurance. Pluvia especially breathed a sigh of relief and sat back in her seat.

He had finally come...