CHAPTER 423: CHAPTER 198: SEIZING POWER

Radiant History 2462, the third day of the Newborn Moon, Silver Fir City.

As the Royal Capital of the Gray Iron Kingdom, Silver Fir City’s prosperity ranked among the top throughout the Federation.

On this foggy morning, before the sky was fully lit, the newspaper boys and petty traders were already nimbly climbing out of bed, hawking their wares along the streets at dawn.

A light grey carriage slowly entered through the city gate adorned with holly wreaths, while the lazily lounging City Guards at the gate held their spears and nonchalantly gestured for them to stop for inspection.

However, the driver did not abide by the rules, instead, he took out several Rose Gold Coins and distributed them to several of the guards.

Thus confirming that there was ’no danger’ on the carriage, the guards waved them through as usual, as if everything were as peaceful as any other day.

But this morning, some things were different from usual.

Atop the city walls, a City Guard Army soldier paused from drinking his water when he suddenly noticed something unusual.

There were small ripples disturbing the calm surface of the water in his bowl!

He stopped his sipping with confusion and looked up.

Outside the city gates, the fog had dissipated at some point, and under the illumination of the morning sun, an endless Magic-guided Mechanical Army appeared on the plains outside the city!

Their thick shells reflected a chilling metallic luster, enough to send shivers down one’s spine.

The moment he saw this unexpected Mechanical Army, their long-range troops had already started their offensive.

"Gods above..."

As he watched thousands of fiery Flame Bursts streak across the sky, almost painting it red, the City Guard Army soldier stood dumbfounded with his mouth agape, not even realizing that his bowl had slipped from his hand.

Boom boom boom—

"Enemy attack!!"

Accompanied by a shrill alarm, the Eastern City Gate was blasted open, leaving a massive gap; the City Protection Magic Array flickered only momentarily before completely dimming.

Obviously, the city’s defense officials must have been pocketing quite a bit in bribes.

....

Just as the prayers to the North Wind for the Newborn Moon had begun this year, a sudden upheaval shook the entire Yiter Federation.

The upheaval occurred in the Federation’s Gray Iron Kingdom, a small kingdom famed for its magic minerals and located on the western side of the Dibilos Mountains, adjacent to the Leka Kingdom.

On that day, several large Resistance Organizations such as ’Starfire’, ’Embers’, and ’Radiant Sun’ suddenly joined forces under the banner of ’Freedom and Equality, Resist Oppression’ and launched a coup within the borders of the Gray Iron Kingdom.

These Resistance Organizations appeared to have been plotting for a long time, dispatching a large number of elite Mechanical Army troops who, in less than half a month’s time, besieged and captured the Royal Capital and several other large cities.

Although the Kingdom Garrison Army fought bravely, their equipment was far too outdated compared to the enemy, and the City Defense Array, being ’long out of repair’, ultimately led to them being outnumbered and defeated, scattering in retreat.

Aside from a few members of the Royal Family who successfully fled, most of the Nobles and the Royal Family, including the King and Queen, were captured on the spot.

Among them, a group of Nobles who had caused tremendous public outrage through extortion and tyranny was beheaded by the Resistance Army as a public execution.

At the same time, the National Guardian Mage of the Gray Iron Kingdom, His Excellency Philgood with the title Dragon’s Eye, encountered an ambush and siege by two suspected newly ascended Ninth Rank Mages and ultimately met with defeat and perished.

In this incident, many resistance organizations demonstrated a level of strength that shocked everyone for the first time.

They command a large number of elite mechanical armies, and effortlessly conquered many large cities, and behind them, there are not just one Ninth Rank Mage, nor do they fear the threat of High Rank Professionals.

Upon learning about the downfall of the Gray Iron Kingdom, many rulers of smaller kingdoms of similar size were suddenly filled with anxiety and unrest.

If the Resistance Army could easily seize the Gray Iron Kingdom, and if the same events that befell the Gray Iron Kingdom were to happen in their own countries, what chance would they have of fending off a better fate?

Thinking of this, the upper echelons of many small kingdoms began frantically placing large-scale orders for various types of military mechanicals.

At the same time, they also started thorough inspections of the City Defense Arrays in their major cities. While making timely maintenance, they also purged a number of corrupt officials embezzling funds earmarked for city defense.

Compared to the intense reactions of many small kingdoms, the larger kingdoms reacted more cautiously.

For them, although the power of the resistance organizations was alarming, it was still within a controllable range.

Luckily, these resistance organizations were currently just a simple alliance. If they truly unified into a super-sized resistance organization, that would be a real cause for concern.

As a result, there were already some kingdoms preparing to secretly send people to sow discord within these organizations and even provoke them to kill each other under the guise of unification.

After several resistance organizations joined forces and took over the entire Gray Iron Kingdom, the members of the Federation were faced with a new problem.

According to the rules of the Patikalan Covenant, when there is a change of rulers in a kingdom, the new ruler is eligible to join the Federation Council.

However, when this rule was originally set, no one had anticipated that a kingdom would be taken over by so-called ’Civil Resistance Organizations’.

Therefore, how to deal with the current status of the Gray Iron Kingdom was posing a dilemma for many council members.

After taking over the entire management of the Gray Iron Kingdom, the several resistance organizations did not immediately continue to expand outward but prepared to join the Federation Council like any other typical change of kingdom power, sending representatives.

This was a very astute move, as making such a gesture amounted to sending out a signal that the Resistance Army also intended to play by the game’s rules, rather than being in outright opposition to the Federation Council.

Thus, according to the Patikalan Covenant’s rules, theoretically, the seizure of power by the Resistance Army is a private affair within the kingdom, protected by the rules, and the Federation Council should not interfere arbitrarily.

At the same time, this served to reassure the high ranks of other kingdoms, making it clear that they too would adhere to the Patikalan Covenant, preventing other kingdoms from fearing and preemptively coming together to destroy them at all costs.

After capturing the Gray Iron Kingdom, the various resistance organizations quieted down temporarily, starting to gradually assimilate the spoils of war.

Meanwhile, they also began internal voting to prepare to elect a member to join the Federation Council.

In the Gray Iron Kingdom’s civilian population, many who had worried about being plundered suddenly found their daily lives somewhat improved.

As each of the resistance organizations dispatched their protection squads, strictly restraining their subordinates from harassing citizens.

Not only was there none of the feared looting, but due to the new policies set by the resistance organizations’ rise to power, many taxes such as business tax were significantly reduced or even exempted for the time being.

For a while, many newspapers reported on the matter, attracting a lot of attention.

At the same time, smelling the business opportunities, numerous Chambers of Commerce sent their people to the Gray Iron Kingdom. While bringing a large number of resources for the populace, they also purchased artworks and other high-value items seized by the Resistance Army that had no proper channels and were inconvenient to deal with.

Due to the reduction of trade taxes and tariffs, these bold Chambers of Commerce made a fortune in a short time.