Winter Lord: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 408 Broken City
Atop the royal palace tower, wind and rain lashed against the stained-glass windows, producing a soft, crackling sound.

The entire capital trembled under the night sky, and the figure of the new regent, Rhine, was reflected on the gilded bronze wall behind the window, making him appear even more gaunt and sinister.

He held a delicate alchemical telescope in his hand, and reflected in its lens was the chilling scene on the city wall...

That dark golden dragon flag, soaked in blood and rain, was slowly planted on the top of the main city tower.

It rustled in the wind.

That was the banner of the Imperial Army's spirit... and at this moment, it represented the return of the Second Prince.

Rhine's breathing became erratic.

He watched as his heavily armed elite knights retreated like a receding tide.

Watching those monstrous dragon-blooded youths pounce and kill in the blood mist, the defensive line was torn apart piece by piece.

The teacup in his hand shattered with a "crack".

A shard of glass pierced his palm, and blood slowly trickled down between his fingers.

However, he seemed oblivious, his eyes fixed only on his out-of-control rage and the unacceptable reality.

“Madmen…” Rhine gritted his teeth and whispered, “They’re all madmen… Karen has gone mad… He actually dared to bring the border troops to the capital… He doesn’t care about the empire at all… Traitor! Scoundrel! Scoundrel!!”

His angry outbursts flowed out with his emotions.

The nearby guards were so frightened that they knelt down: "Your Highness... what should we do now? The Second Prince has already breached the city walls..."

Rhine took a deep breath.

When he looked up again, his eyes had changed from anger to a venomous, cold gaze.

"What should we do?" he repeated softly.

“Since Second Brother has chosen to become a monster…” His fingertips rubbed the cold metal of the telescope, “then don’t blame me for not showing brotherly affection.”

He stood up abruptly and roared, "Order all the knights in the inner city to advance! Fifth Legion, Eleventh Legion, Eighteenth Legion—all troops move out!"
Tell the legion commander, if we hold out tonight, I'll make them earls! Dukes!! One by one! Open the treasury and move the gold bricks to the front lines…”

He raised his blood-stained finger and pointed to the dark, sprawling battlefield outside the city.

"Kill them now and settle the score immediately!!"

Konoe gasped.

Rhine was completely absorbed in his own logic, still believing that a great reward would surely attract brave men.

With the combined strength of the three Imperial Knights and their superior numbers and equipment, they could wear down the Second Prince.

With superior numbers, as long as we hold our ground... we can wait for the outer city legions to arrive and provide support. If we can hold out for another half month, we can reverse the situation.

The alarm bells rang continuously within the city, but the three lines of defense were like a dying fire, shining weakly and extinguishing quickly.

On the inner square, three heavily armed formations were being hastily assembled: the Eighth Army Corps, the Eleventh Army Corps, and the Fifth Army Corps.

Their armor was impeccable, their ranks disciplined, yet each possessed a distinct air...

The Eighth Legion is disciplined and well-equipped, and has been loyal to the Fourth Prince from the beginning.

The Eleventh Legion is a veteran legion, with most of its officers having followed the Second Prince in bloody battles in the southern border.

The Fifth Legion had just achieved some merit on the city walls, and their pockets were bulging with gold coins awarded by the Rhine.

The three armies formed an iron wall, attempting to plug the breach.

However, the ground shook the next moment.

Prince Karen rode his warhorse into the square through the smoke and blood mist.

His armor was shattered, his cloak was stained almost black with blood, and his face was covered with wounds.

Rainwater slid down the bloodstains, making him look like a god of death emerging from a slaughterhouse.

Behind him stood the ferocious-looking dragon-blooded youth and the border guard knights.

The scene was like a moving wall of hell, making everyone in its path feel a tightness in their chest.

A knight commander from the Eighth Legion, suppressing his fear, raised his longsword: "By order of the Regent, annihilate the rebels! All troops... Charge!"

However, his voice only reached halfway because the square formations on the other two sides remained completely still.

Karen raised the dragon banner, and drops of crimson blood slid down the flagpole, slowly sweeping across the ranks of the Eleventh Legion.

Arms raised, voice roaring as it tore through the rain:

"The Eleventh Legion!! Your broken sword and loyal heart were a banner I personally hung for you in the Southern Territory twenty years ago!! Now you intend to plunge this sword into this banner?"

The commander of the 11th Army Corps trembled slightly as he gripped his sword hilt.

As he gazed at Karen's face, which was stained with blood and fire and almost driven to madness, another image surfaced in his mind.

Back in the Southern Frontier, he had followed this man, fighting his way out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood.

But now... he turned to look in the direction of the palace.

Rhine, hidden deep within the tower, only dared to direct operations through a telescope, scattering gold coins and shouting slogans.

The supervising officer noticed the troops' wavering and roared, "Eleventh Legion! Do you intend to disobey orders?! How much gold has His Highness Rhine spent on you?!"

"Gold?" The eleventh legion commander's lips twitched, as if he had heard some absurd joke.

The next second, he drew his sword, not pointing it at the Second Prince...

Instead, he plunged the sword into the shoulder and neck of the supervising officer!
Blood splattered, and the supervising officer collapsed to the ground, convulsing.

The commander turned his horse around, raised his longsword high, and roared, shattering the chaotic air currents in the inner plaza:
"Eleventh Legion!! Welcome the Marshal back to the palace!! Anyone who dares to obstruct him—slaughter without mercy!!"

Thousands of knights turned in unison, raising their lances in perfect unison, instantly becoming allies of the Second Prince.

This sudden turn of events turned the Eighth Legion's Knight Commander pale.

He suddenly looked to his right at the Fifth Army Corps.

The commander of the Fifth Army Corps looked down at the heavy gold coins in his pocket.

He closed his eyes... He had plenty of money, but only one life.

Rhine... is probably already dead.

He slowly raised his head, revealing a relieved smile: "Sorry, buddy."

His sword flashed past the supervising officer from behind, spraying blood onto his armor.

"Fifth Legion, heed my command! Retreat! Protect His Highness the Second Prince!"

However, their retreat was not to support the Second Prince, but to rush into the noble district to plunder and loot, taking full advantage of the unstable situation.

The Eighth Army Corps' lines were suddenly isolated and without support.

Ahead lay Karen's vengeful army and the Dragonblood Youth; to the left was the 11th Legion, which had defected; and to the right was the 5th Legion, which, under the guise of retreat, was actually looting.

The commander of the Eighth Army Corps slowly turned around and looked at the palace tower, his eyes revealing despair.

"Your Highness...please grant us a miracle..."

But the tower was completely empty. There wasn't even a soul in sight.

Duke Raymond rode in through the rain, his armor gleaming a cold silver in the lightning.

His words were merciless, like a judgment: "Leave no one alive. Let everyone see the consequences of pledging allegiance to the Rhine."

The strangulation begins.

The dragon-blooded youth tore through the heavy armor of the Eighteenth Legion as easily as tearing paper.

The 11th Army Corps' spear pierced through the chest of a comrade who had just been killed in battle from the flank.

The Second Prince charged forward on horseback, severing the foreleg of the Eighteenth Army Commander's horse with a single sword stroke. The horse neighed and knelt down, and the Second Prince leaped forward, crushing the commander's sternum with one foot.

Blood flowed across the square, trickling into streams through the cracks in the stone bricks.

Less than an hour.

The Rhine's iron triangle—the Eighth Army, the Eleventh Army, and the Eighteenth Army—which had placed high hopes on them, collapsed completely.

The 18th Army Corps was completely wiped out, and the inner square, filled with blood mist, looked as if it had been stained red by a pool of blood after a dragon was slain.

Blood meandered down the steps, eventually pooling at the foot of the palace tower. ...

The expensive red and gold carpet still covers the top floor of the tower, but now it has lost all its symbolic meaning.

The black tea spilled from the overturned porcelain cup, mixing with the fruit pulp on the ground and being trampled into a pulp.

The color was murky, like a pool of blood that was beginning to darken.

A gold coin was still slowly rolling when it finally hit the corner of the wall, making a crisp but jarring clang.

The tower was deathly silent.

Outside the window, however, came the sounds of killing, screams, shattering armor, and the earth-shaking thud of iron hooves, like dozens of storms tearing in from all directions.

The captain of the guard staggered to Rhine, knelt down, and his knees slammed onto the gold coins scattered on the ground, producing a series of sharp, metallic sounds.

He grabbed Rhine's trouser leg, his voice broken and trembling.

"Your Highness...it's all...it's all over..." He pointed out the window: "The Fifth Legion, they took your money and withdrew..."

Rhine blinked, as if he thought he had misheard: "Withdraw...?"

“They said…” the guard choked up, “the contract only covered defending the city, not dying. They’re robbing the commercial district now… saying they want to recoup their losses.”

Rhine's throat felt constricted, and he forced out a dry voice: "Tell...tell them I'll add another 100,000...no, 200,000! Get the commander to see me!"

"It's no use, Your Highness," the guard said, trembling.

Rhine's eye twitched, as if pricked by a sharp needle.

As if his tongue had been maliciously twisted, Konoe continued to utter the most lethal sentence:

"And... the Eleventh Legion..."

Rhine closed his eyes, using all his strength to remain calm: "What happened to them... I gave them double pay..."

“Your Highness…” the guard’s voice was almost broken, “The Second Prince shouted, and they rebelled… They threw their pay on the ground, saying it was money to buy their lives… and then led the way in hacking our supervising officer to pieces…”

Rhine's gaze was blank, as if he hadn't understood at all: "What about the Eighteenth Legion? Tell them to hold them off. They are the capital's... last line of defense..."

The captain of the guard shook his head violently: "Your Highness... the Eighteenth Legion... was completely wiped out! Surrounded from both sides and utterly slaughtered! No one could hold out! No one survived!"

Rhine felt as if his spine had been ripped out, and he collapsed onto the carpet.

Then he climbed to the window, his hands trembling as he braced himself against the windowsill and barely managed to pull himself up.

In the capital city's night, amidst the interplay of rain and mist and the glow of blood, he witnessed that scene.

The second prince, Karen, stood in the center of the inner square, which resembled a mountain of corpses, covered in blood.

His warhorse spewed white mist, its hooves trampling the shattered corpse of the Eighth Army Commander.

He raised his broken imperial longsword and roared to the sky, "Charge in!"

That roar caused the traitorous 11th Legion, the Border Knights, and even the Dragonblood Monster to respond simultaneously, their killing intent and fanaticism converging into a black tide that blotted out the sky.

The sound shook the entire imperial city.

Rhine's eyes went out of focus.

There was no glitter of gold coins, no embellishment of power, no promises, contracts, or bargaining chips that he had painstakingly cultivated.

There was only one prince there, possessing military talent, imperial lineage, and genuine prestige.

But Rhine... never had such a thing.

Never before had I been trusted by any legion. Never before had any knight entrusted me with his life.

He laughed suddenly.

The laughter, forced out of the throat, sounded worse than crying.

The triumphal avenue, once a symbol of the empire's wealth and glory, is now swallowed up by night and blood and fire.

Rain cannot wash away the stench of blood, and firelight cannot dispel despair.

Without the barrier of the city walls, the order that the Rhine had built was as fragile as paper, crushed to pieces by violence.

Loyalty maintained by contracts, bounties, and diplomatic rhetoric crumbles before steel and bloodlust.

Within moments, the heart of the capital city was transformed into a living hell.

The border troops did not rush to the palace immediately.

They were like wolves released into a pasture full of meat, rushing straight into the affluent neighborhoods and commercial streets on both sides of Triumph Boulevard.

"Smash it open!"

The gold shop's iron gate was dented and deformed by the warhammer, and then collapsed.

Knights, their armor shattered and covered in blood, stormed into the store and looted like mad dogs.

A valuable oil painting was torn apart just to scrape off the gold leaf that adorned the frame.

A noblewoman escaped from a side alley, collapsing to the ground begging for mercy, diamonds and gems gleaming faintly in the darkness.

A knight bent down and grabbed her hand: "Beautiful."

With a flash of light, four fingers fell to the ground.

The blood quickly diluted in the rain. The knight stepped on the finger, pulled the ruby ​​ring off the severed finger, and casually stuffed it into his pocket.

"Keep raiding!" he roared, turning around. "The Duke said the capital is our hunting ground tonight!!"

Tormented by the constant effects of the drug, the dragon-blooded youth could no longer distinguish between friend and foe, orders and objectives.

All that remains for them is their most primal predatory instinct.

In the middle of Triumph Avenue, three dragon-blooded youths surrounded a wounded warhorse.

The first boy pounced on the horse's legs, and its fangs tore through his flesh.

Another boy grabbed the horse's tail and tore off a large piece of the bloody horsehide.

The third boy knelt in the pool of blood, digging out the horse's entrails with his claws like a wild beast, blood dripping continuously from his chin.

The civilians who were passing by were so frightened that they knelt down, vomited, and convulsed, but even their instinct to run away was overwhelmed by fear.

The next second, the dragon-blooded boy turned his eyes to them.

The vertical pupils contracted, and red light flickered at the base of the pupils.

In that instant, they found new prey.

Amidst this chaos, only two forces maintained their purpose: the Second Prince's loyal guards and Raymond's Gray Rock Cavalry.

They held rolls of parchment in their hands, covered with names written on them.

Each name signifies that a certain family once stood behind him when he ascended the throne in the Rhine.

"Next, Castor Mansion."

The gray rock cavalry smashed open the gate with iron hammers, shattering the door panels.

The nobles inside didn't even have time to hide before they were dragged to the stone pillars outside the door.

"Spare me! My family was only forced to attend the ceremony; we didn't genuinely support it!"

No one paid attention.

The knight swung a long, barbed nail and drove it into the nobleman's shoulder blade.

Fresh blood flowed down the stone pillar, mixing with the rainwater on the steps to create a dark hue.

There was no trial. There were no further charges or explanations.

Only naked revenge. Another layer of the nature of war.

Kalen's order was simple: "Arrest all those who have defected."

Thus, the once expensive and respectable lives of these nobles collapsed tonight, and blood flowed down the stone steps, staining the doors red.

The most prosperous street in the capital was decorated with death, making it look like a sacrificial passage.

(End of this chapter)