Outside the royal capital, after learning about the Imperial Faction coup, the closest Southern District Commander Randy Wald mobilized several thousand soldiers in the shortest time and rushed to the walls of the royal capital.
However, Randy was now facing a very serious problem—the fifty-meter-high walls of the capital, along with several hundred heavily armed coup Military Police and dozens of defensive cannons, were firmly blocking his forces.
Due to the rushed march, Randy hadn't brought any large-caliber heavy weapons, making it impossible to break through the gates and enter the capital to suppress the rebellion. If he forcibly ordered an assault on the walls, his entire force would likely be wiped out under the fire of the coup Military Police and the defensive cannons.
For a time, the suppressing army and the coup forces fell into a tense standoff.
Randy frowned tightly. At this point, the only option was to wait for Yago and the others, who were on their way to the capital. Only with the power of Titan warriors would they have a chance to break through the coup forces' defenses.
...
At the same time, inside the royal palace, a guard rushed anxiously into the hall and shouted,
"Your Majesty! This is bad! The rebels have already entered the palace! The entire area around the palace has been sealed off!"
"What?!" Keith's eyes widened immediately upon hearing this, and the chaotic noise outside the hall soon confirmed that the guard was telling the truth.
Arno led the Military Police straight in. The sparse palace guards were quickly subdued, and all the attendants and maids were captured. Soon, the coup forces arrived at the tightly shut doors of the main hall.
At this moment, there were only a dozen guards inside, along with the dozen instructors led by Keith.
Under the tension, Historia loosened the spike hidden in her ring, then hurried down from the throne and stood together with Keith and the instructors.
"Your Majesty, you possess the power of a Titan. If the rebels break into the hall later, we'll cover you while you transform and escape," Keith said in a low voice beside Historia.
But Historia shook her head.
"Instructor, I won't leave. I want to know why those people launched a coup. Was it because I failed as queen? I've been to Marley's capital, and I know the hostility other nations in the world hold toward us Eldians. That makes me understand even more that we Eldians must not fall into division and internal conflict—we need unity."
Bang!!
As soon as Historia finished speaking, the doors of the hall were blasted open, and a large number of heavily armed coup Military Police flooded in like a tide.
In an instant, dozens of rifles were aimed at Historia and the others. The atmosphere became extremely tense. The palace guards raised their weapons, Keith and the instructors gripped their blades tightly, and Historia slowly placed her finger on the spike again, the sharp tip lightly piercing her skin.
But at this moment of extreme tension, Arno stepped in front of the coup Military Police and raised his hand.
"All of you, lower your weapons!" The Military Police obediently lowered their rifles.
At this moment, one of the instructors behind Keith stared at Arno with a solemn gaze.
"You are… Arno Zott?"
Arno smiled slightly in response.
"Instructor Luca, you still remember me?"
Instructor Luca said coldly, "Arno Zott, top graduate of the 101st Training Corps, graduated in year 842 from Trost District, and joined the Military Police in Orvud District after graduation. I still remember your slogan—always become the shield that protects the royal family. Is this how you protect the royal family!?"
Arno curled his lips in disdain. He had indeed trained in the Training Corps in Trost District. By that logic, he could even be considered a senior to Historia and Yago.
But faced with his former instructor's questioning, Arno didn't bother to argue.
"Instructor, for the sake of our past relationship, please step aside. Our target this time is the queen behind you, not you."
Before the furious Instructor Luca could curse, Keith had already raised his blade and shouted,
"In your dreams!"
Arno's expression immediately turned cold.
"If that's the case, don't blame me for being ruthless." With a wave of his hand, dozens of rifles were raised again in perfect unison, aiming at the instructors and Historia.
"Wait!" Historia pushed her way out from among the instructors and came before Arno. Because of the height difference, she had to tilt her head slightly upward to face him.
"You're looking for me. If your coup is to overthrow me, then tell me the reason. If it truly is because I failed in my duties, I will step down from the throne myself. We are all Eldians—there should be no harm between our own people," Historia said sincerely.
Arno looked at the Historia who had stepped forward on her own, slightly surprised, and remained silent for a moment.
Crack! Boom!!
Suddenly, through the windows of the hall, a blinding pillar of golden lightning erupted outside. Accompanied by a terrifying roar, large amounts of steam spread out, and a pair of eerie green eyes flickered faintly within the mist.
Pointed ears, a mouth stretched wide to the ears, a body covered in bulging muscles, and wild black hair—the Attack Titan suddenly appeared within the palace, letting out a furious roar that immediately drew the attention of all the coup Military Police. Many of them panicked, unsure of what to do.
Seeing the Attack Titan appear, Keith and the instructors felt a surge of joy. With the Attack Titan and Historia's Titan power, these coup forces would be no match. There were no Thunder Spears stored inside the capital, and all the defensive cannons were on the city walls. With just rifles, how could the coup Military Police deal with Titans?
However, although his subordinates were in chaos, Arno remained calm—or rather, it seemed he had expected this.
...
"Are you sure you can do this? In your half-dead state, will those soldiers really listen to you?" Serena looked at Lance with some doubt.
That's right, Lance had awakened. But due to his severe injuries, he had almost no mobility for the time being. At first, Serena had been startled when she saw him wake up, but perhaps due to their shared predicament, the two soon began to communicate.
Regarding their current situation, Lance proposed a solution. As the commander of the Garrison Regiment in the capital, he immediately recognized that the place they were being held was the dungeon of the Garrison's headquarters.
As for the Garrison, although Hermann had betrayed Lance, with Hermann's abilities, he could at most control half of the Garrison's soldiers. The other half would never follow him in a coup. And even among the half under Hermann's control, not all of them were fully obedient—if Lance appeared before them, they would definitely follow his orders immediately.
If that weren't the case, Arno wouldn't have gone through the trouble of luring Lance to a remote teahouse and capturing him. Only after capturing Lance could Hermann control half of the Garrison to cooperate with Arno's coup. Moreover, these Garrison soldiers didn't even know they were participating in a coup—Hermann had mobilized them under another pretext.
As long as Lance could escape the dungeon successfully, he could immediately rally the remaining Garrison soldiers to stop the coup.
Though still doubtful, Serena had little choice at this point.
"Hey! You there! Come over here!"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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