‘Shared Vision.’
[Skill ‘Shared Vision (Lv. 1)’ is activated.]
[You are receiving the visual information of the designated target (‘Sydney Wellesley’) in real time.]
Zzzzt—
Along with the metallic screech that struck my ears, Sydney Wellesley’s field of vision overlapped across my retinas.
*
Rumble—!
The thick blast wall of the underground bunker trembled faintly.
As cement dust drifted down from the ceiling like powder, Sydney Wellesley removed the magazine from her pistol and checked the remaining rounds.
Five bullets.
That was everything possessed by the head of the Royal Intelligence Bureau and the greatest spy in the United Kingdom.
“What is the situation outside?”
A calm voice came from behind Sydney. It was Charlotte.
“…The defensive line on the surface has completely collapsed, Your Majesty.”
Sydney answered as she brushed the blood from her leather gloves.
“……Most of the army has either sided with the rebels or been disarmed. Prime Minister Gallich and the Civic Labor Party have already seized every broadcasting station and communications network in Londinium.”
“That is a dire situation…”
“Yes. Rebel engineers are currently attached to this bunker as well. They’re cutting through the first entrance with welding torches, so… At this rate, it’s only a matter of time before they break through.”
Charlotte did not so much as blink at the desperate report. She approached the military cipher communicator set in the center of the bunker. It was the royal family’s last emergency communications network—the only device in the United Kingdom that could still evade rebel wiretapping.
Beep—beep—
After several signals, the voice of a middle-aged man came through the communicator.
[…This is the flagship of the First Fleet. This is William. Your Majesty, are you unharmed?]
“Admiral. Fortunately, I am still alive. How is the navy?”
At Charlotte’s question, a heavy sigh came through the radio.
[Regrettably… three of the mainland’s principal naval ports fell to the rebels overnight. The entire army and coast guard have raised the red flag.]
Sydney’s brows narrowed. This was not merely a problem with Londinium and its capital defense forces.
[At Southern Command, the deputy commander killed the commander and seized the command center. At the largest naval base in the north, noncommissioned officers consumed by communist ideology raided the armory in the middle of the night and massacred the loyalist officers.]
One thing was certain.
[This was not something that happened over a day or two. It was planned over the course of several years under the League States’ meticulous funding and ideological subversion. With the exception of my fleet and a few other units, nearly every military stronghold has fallen into their hands.]
The communists were seizing control of an entire nation’s military. And all of it had happened in the span of a single night.
[What is even more horrifying is that the League States’ navy has appeared along the coast. They no longer seem to care about concealing their involvement. They are openly sending in transport ships to supply the rebels with weapons and provisions.]
“…So it is only a matter of time before the mainland turns red.”
Now that the land had fallen into enemy hands, there was little the few naval forces still loyal to the queen could do.
[Your Majesty, you must preserve your person. Abandon the homeland and flee to the colonies in the New World.]
“……There is no guarantee that the colonies are safe, is there?”
[There is. Thankfully, the governors remain loyal to the royal family. So long as Your Majesty remains safe, we can make plans for the future.]
William continued his entreaties.
[I have dispatched a rescue force to the mouth of the Londinium River. My subordinates will escort Your Majesty through the underground waterways.]
“……Understood, Admiral. I will wait for you.”
The transmission ended.
As the atmosphere in the bunker sank into utter gloom, Sydney approached and placed a hand around the queen’s shoulder.
“You must go, Your Majesty. We will risk our lives to clear a path.”
*
I deactivated [Shared Vision]. Then I fell into deep thought.
The new information I had learned was shocking. The prime minister was a traitor. And now the entire mainland was on the verge of falling.
‘Even for a game, this is getting ridiculous.’
I had experienced firsthand, through those Republic Commune bastards, how skilled communists were at incitement and rioting. But the mastermind behind this country was on an entirely different level. They had used the democratic system to seize control of military appointments and the Intelligence Bureau’s budget, then legally overturned the country.
Unbelievable things were happening all at once.
‘So that’s why the First Division was moving so abnormally.’
They had used force against us the moment we encountered them. It was behavior no normal military would ever display toward the diplomatic envoys of another country.
But that was not what I needed to worry about now.
‘They sent a rescue force to the mouth of the Londinium River.’
At last, I had found a way out of this cesspool.
This was why we had been unable to leave through the riverside exit in the first place. It was why the rebels had established layer upon layer of defensive lines and blocked off the river mouth. They had not been trying to prevent our escape from the beginning.
They had been trying to completely seal off the rescue route of the royalist navy coming to retrieve the queen.
‘The odds of me breaking through that encirclement and calling the submarine are practically zero.’
But what if we joined up with the queen’s party?
‘It’s doable.’
If their forces joined ours, our chances of escape would rise, even if only slightly.
In other words, this was the only way I could survive.
I rose from where I had been leaning against the wall.
“Everyone up. Grab your weapons.”
*
The route leading to the underground bunker beneath the royal palace was arduous.
The enemy had blocked the major passages of the sewers like swarms of ants. But I had a 3D minimap, and Hanna had her mana-detection radar.
Whenever I saw clusters of red dots on the [Minimap], we detoured through emergency passages for water-level control or climbed over broken pipes to stay out of sight.
After advancing for a couple of hours without engaging in a single unnecessary battle—
Screeeeeech—
“……!”
Along with the powerful sound of friction, the smell of burning metal flowed through the sewer pipes.
“Lieutenant Colonel. One o’clock. ……Engineering equipment is in operation.”
Hanna reported.
‘We’ve arrived.’
I checked the [Minimap].
Beyond the concrete sewer wall where we stood, I could see a massive artificial structure. It was the line of bunkers beneath the royal palace.
And in the corridor before the bunker’s thick blast doors, dozens of red dots were crowded together.
Hissss—! Crack!
The sounds of oxygen torches and mana cutters tearing apart the bunker’s entrance.
It was exactly as I had seen through [Shared Vision]. They were right in front of the bunker door, while the white dots inside the bunker had been cornered.
Rumble—!
And at last, the bunker entrance was torn away.
“The door’s open! Move in! Move in!”
“Capture the queen!”
The red dots on the [Minimap] poured inward all at once.
But there was one crucial fact they did not know.
They were not the hunters. They were the ones being hunted.
“Everyone, take your positions.”
I indicated the direction with a nod. Seraphina and Erika silently spread out to either side. Hanna pressed close behind me.
We advanced while maintaining formation for a short while. Before long, the rebels came into view. Without hesitation, I gave the order.
“Open fire.”
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat—! Bang—! Kaboom!
“……Ghk?!”
“Aaaaaagh!”
The men at the very rear began to be torn apart first.
9mm rounds punched into their unprotected backs, while bullets ricocheting through the narrow space tore into them from every direction.
“Enemy—enemy attack! From behind!”
“Damn it, enemies in the rear… Ghk!”
The rebels who realized what was happening belatedly scrambled to turn their guns around, but it was already too late.
With everyone packed into the narrow space, they barely had room to turn their muzzles. To make matters worse, the Intelligence Bureau agents holding out inside the bunker took advantage of the opening and began firing back fiercely.
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
It was a perfect crossfire.
Trapped in the narrow corridor, the rebels died beneath a hail of bullets coming from both front and rear.
“Save me, save me…!”
“Fall back! Fall back!”
Blood and brain matter splattered in every direction, and the rebels, overcome with terror, began trampling one another.
I slowly moved our formation forward, applying pressure.
“Finish them!”
Bang! Bang!
In a short span of time that lasted no more than a few minutes, the dozens of assault troops who had filled the corridor became a mound of corpses, without leaving behind a single survivor.
“Cease fire.”
My subordinates lowered their guns. I checked the remaining magazine and slowly crossed over the mound of corpses. My men and Minister Josef carefully followed behind me.
Hiss—
Beyond the thick smoke of blood and gunpowder, I saw the torn-open entrance to the bunker.
And inside it, a group of people had all aimed their guns at us.
“Stop! Take another step and we’ll fire!”
They were agents of the Royal Intelligence Bureau. From their perspective, it was only natural. An unidentified armed group that had just annihilated the rebels had suddenly emerged from the sewers.
Soon, a familiar figure appeared among the Intelligence Bureau agents. It was Sydney.
Her coat had already been reduced to rags, and her once-neat blonde hair was disheveled beyond recognition.
Her lips parted.
“……Lieutenant Colonel Max Jaeger.”
“Looks like we meet again here, Director—not at the negotiating table.”
And so, we joined forces.