Free Web NovelChapter 418: Chapter 418 The Reason for Rebellion _1
Aiden’s divine words were still in effect; within his domain, the bullets fired by the enemy would revert to their original state the instant they were shot. Even if the distance exceeded the domain’s range, he could make the bullets that entered the domain retreat back to its edge.
Heinz knew the divine words Aiden had mastered and was aware of his capabilities, which was why he dared to walk in front.
But when the dark muzzle aimed at Sera, his heart hung in an instant, and at that moment, he truly couldn’t entrust Sera’s life to powers controlled by someone else. His body moved before his reason did.
However, he did not notice that Sera, whom he had pulled into his arms, although unharmed, had her complexion turn from initial surprise to rapidly darkening.
"How..." The colonel watched the scene, dumbstruck, unable to comprehend. The next moment he realized, and commanded loudly, "Fire! The assassination target is right here, kill her!"
The secret police looked at each other, none immediately obeying the colonel’s order. After all, although the colonel outranked them, he was not their superior. It might have been manageable had Heinz not been present, giving the man a chance to use the King’s writ to forcibly take command of the royal secret police. But their superior was right there.
Heinz, after all, had run the royal secret police for many years, accumulating great merit and high prestige; his power was not so easily usurped.
Moreover, several experienced captains, who were just as aware as Heinz that this man was the King’s envoy sent to monitor them, actually had their reservations about this. They had been diligently carrying out their missions, yet the King did not trust their efforts.
Their failure to complete the mission was in fact only due to the difficulty of the adversary — this Aiden Galahad right before them. freewēbnoveℓ.com
This bizarre secret technique was proof of that.
However, the members of the personal guard who had been dispatched with the colonel did not hesitate to draw their guns; they were originally the colonel’s subordinates and wholly loyal to the new King’s faction.
A volley of gunshots rang out, yet the bullets still couldn’t penetrate that invisible barrier.
Aiden looked toward Heinz and said, "We have limited time, you better take care of business now—just as you promised earlier."
Without a word, Heinz released Sera and stood up to walk toward the colonel. ƒгeewёbnovel.com
Aiden glanced at Sera, who had fallen to the ground, noting her bowed head and sullen face.
Thinking about what was to happen next, Aiden suppressed the urge to laugh and followed behind Heinz.
"Damn it! Damn it all!" The colonel cursed as he continued to fire, but not a single bullet breached the barrier, and at last, the bullets wouldn’t even leave the chamber.
Meanwhile, as the distance closed sufficiently, Heinz began to recite the divine words.
The pattern of thorns rapidly grew over the bodies of the lieutenant colonel and the guards, piercing their bodies with pain too intense for any normal person to bear, shredding their consciousness.
The guards collapsed on the ground, howling in agony, whereas the lieutenant colonel managed to silence his first scream and tried desperately to stay upright.
"Surprised I’m still alive? I’ve known for a while that you planted explosives underneath to kill me. I dealt with some of them in advance, just without your knowledge. I’m also aware that it wasn’t your idea, but the King’s, wasn’t it?" Heinz spoke loudly, "To let his own trusted Royal Guard completely replace the secret police, regardless of how much a person has contributed to the country, he would not hesitate to kill."
Upon hearing Heinz’s words, most of the secret police exchanged glances amid their astonishment: It turned out that the explosives the lieutenant colonel had arranged were actually to kill Heinz Hoffman, it appeared that the King had no trust in them at all, already wanting to dispose of their highest-ranking officer and find an opportunity to let his own confidants take control of this department!
Some of the others realized something, but they chose to keep their mouths shut and listen.
The lieutenant colonel was temporarily baffled by Heinz’s inexplicable speech, but merely seconds later, he understood Heinz’s intentions.
Heinz was improvising a story of a suspicious King ruthlessly acting to execute his subordinates, with the intention of convincing those present to join him in rebellion.
He had been sent by the King to supervise this traitor, but instead provided the traitor with a blatant opportunity for betrayal.
He wanted to accuse Heinz, but the excruciating, bone-gnawing pain made it nearly impossible to articulate a full sentence. Before he could come up with a countermeasure, Heinz stepped forward, leaned in close, and said in a chilling whisper, "Don’t worry, your release will come soon."
At that moment, the lieutenant colonel finally understood his fate. This callous disregard for life and chilling execution were truly the hallmarks of the secret police chief, Heinz Hoffman.
Heinz stepped back, gesturing to one of his subordinates for a gun.
Then, without hesitation, he shot the lieutenant colonel in the head, followed by a second shot, a third, a fourth... under the gaze of his subordinates, the reinforcements led by the lieutenant colonel, sent by the King, all died at the hands of Heinz.
Aiden stood behind, watching silently. Heinz had said he would kill them, but the sheer ruthlessness still took Aiden aback—it seemed Heinz had been somewhat reserved in the tactics he had used against him before, perhaps under the influence of Sera.
The expressions of the secret police remained unchanged; executing whoever under political orders was just another day’s work for them. They simply looked to their superior, waiting for an explanation.
"The lieutenant colonel had arranged explosives in certain parts of the house and cellar before the operation, hoping to take the opportunity to kill me and some of the people present. I detected this beforehand and removed some of the explosives," Heinz began slowly, "The lieutenant colonel had come here on a secret command from the King... no, directly from the King. The rest, I believe, you can all work out. The King intended from the start to drive me from this position and replace me with someone from the Royal Guard. This mission was just a cover... though it can’t quite be said that way. The King intended to use us to handle this dirty business and then discard us afterward."
Heinz said, scanning the crowd: "I have not shared this with you because I still harbored hopes for the King; he is young and has the opportunity to grow. Even though his overly hasty implementation of his ideas led to high-level divisions, even though he would turn against his own blood to keep his throne, I thought these were merely necessary steps on his path to consolidating power. However, it has been proved that he does not possess the broad-mindedness to be King. Suspicious, cruel, he is a young tyrant. Our loyalty is to this nation. We can be loyal to a tyrant, but only if the tyrant can lead this country well, and unfortunately, he clearly cannot. And we have been abandoned by him. We have no choice..."
After a final pause, Heinz shifted his gaze to Sera: "We can only advocate for a new King for our nation."
