116: 3.56 Chess Pieces

3.56 Chess Pieces

Lu Yizhou grunted and shook the stray glass fragments from his wings. "Are you hurt?"1

Oliver shook his head hard, eyes reddening. "You—"

"Stay behind me." Lu Yizhou narrowed his eyes and swiftly caught the gun which Derek threw across the air. He checked the load and pulled off the safety trigger with practiced ease. The heavy weight was comforting in his hands, grounding him and sharpening his senses.

The cathedral had been thrown into chaos. The guests stood up in shock, some had been hurt from the glass shards and were calling for help. Most were demanding to know what was going on. From the open hole of the rooftop, shadows of men appeared. Five, ten, twenty. They surrounded the building like a blob of ink that splashed to the clear water, invading every inch of peace and replacing it with alarm and trepidation. There was an eye-catching, jarring mark on their outfit which boldy pronounced their identity.

Emperor Bernard jolted from his seat, growling. "The rebels are here! Guards, secure the perimeter!" 

The guards moved in attention, pulling their weapons out, protecting the guests and marching to secure the exit gate. However, to the Emperor's surprise, a few of them suddenly turned and started to attack their fellow Guards! Taken by surprise, those who were unable to react on time ended up losing their lives with a bullet straight to their head or chest. Before people could even comprehend what was happening, lives had perished and bodies fell to the ground one by one. Screams of the guests chorused in the air, the stench of blood thickening. Emperor Bernard's face reddened in fury. The rebels! They had breached the tight security and disguised themselves as the Elite Guards! How dare they!

He snarled, fangs showing and was ready to launch an attack when a cold and hard thing pressed onto his back. Emperor Bernard instantly froze, his breath hitching. He had only given his back to one person. The person who stood behind him and pointed the muzzle at him, they were—

"Halt!" Princess Rosemane bellowed, the unexpected command in her voice effectively paused every movement. All eyes turned to them, widened at the sight of the Princess — for God's sake! — who held the Emperor at gunpoint. A smirk spread across her face. "Elite Guards, lower your weapon or…I will kill him."

Emperor Bernard gasped in disbelief. "Rosemane?!"

"Shut up!" The Princess hissed. "Don't you dare to try anything!" Disgruntled, the Elite Guards lowered their weapons and slowly raised their hands as the rebels kicked their guns away and turned the muzzle to them. Princess Rosemane measured the situation for a moment before she turned to Lu Yizhou who had Oliver hidden securely behind him, the gun still held in his grip. "You too! Do you think I am kidding?!"

Lu Yizhou let out a scoff, much to everyone's horror. "I am a Versatine." What happened to Alaze's Emperor is none of his business. He only cared for the omega behind him, everyone seemed to understand the underlying meaning behind his sentence.

Rosemane's gait faltered for a split second and Emperor Bernard glared at him, his face alternated between red and purple. Both sides were locked in silent confrontation, none showed signs of backing down. It was at that moment that Ryan took advantage of the situation to make a move, intending to take cover and shield himself from sight. Unfortunately for him, Lu Yizhou had been closely monitoring him and despite not taking his eyes off Rosemane, he pointed the gun at Ryan's direction. "Stop." He commanded. "Don't think that I don't know your part in this, Ryan. Cooperating with the rebels and Princess Rosemane to threaten Emperor Bernard's life, how brazen you are."

Ryan sputtered. "W—What are you talking about?!" He could feel incredulous and disbelieving gazes turned to him; those who recognized him from the Arena Fighting, his classmates as well as schoolmates who had heard of his name. Silent questions ran through their mind and it was as if Ryan could hear it himself. Ryan, the top student, was involved with the rebellion group?! Damn damn damn, how could Altair know?! How did he find out about it?! Ryan was sure that he had been extremely secretive; meeting in deserted locations, encrypting every message he sent and subtly trying not to be involved in anything too active that could give him away. But in the end, Altair knew and he even said it out loud in front of all the important figures inside and outside the kingdom?!

Emperor Bernard's eyes zeroed on him, furious. "You—!"

Ryan broke out in cold sweat. "I—I don't…"

Rosemane giggled. "Oh, stop trying to get yourself out of this, Ryan. It's too late. It has always been now or never. Right, Peter?" 

A few strings of rope were thrown down from the ceiling. Someone glided down and landed smoothly on the floor, followed by the others. Their movement was extremely fluid and nimble as they scattered all over the room. However, the man who wore eyepatch stole all the attention. Some people who had seen him before in the news gasped in horror. The man eyed the chaos around in satisfaction and gave a mocking bow toward the Emperor. "Your Majesty, I apologize for the intrusion. How I wish that we could have met in a better situation."

Emperor Bernard blatantly ignored him and tried to talk to Rosemane. The threatening kind that was gritted out of his teeth. "Stop all of this nonsense now, Rosemane. You're going to regret this sooner or later."

"Nonsense…?" Rosemane let out a blank laugh before she threw her head back and broke out into a full body chortle. "Nonsense?! It's ME who should be saying that!" She seethed in anger, venom dripping from her words. "I have had enough of your nonsense over the years! Who do you think you are, just because you're the Alpha who sire me, you think you can decide my life however you want?! I am injured, my life is ruined, but what did you do? You only care about your own reputation and the kingdom! You ignored me when I begged, you dismissed me so easily as if I am no one important! And that's the truth, isn't it?" Her voice softened and a sad smile graced her lips. A layer of mist covered her eyes, yet the intense animosity in her eyes was capable of sending shivers down everyone's spine. "Omegas like me have always been deemed unimportant. You lifted me up when you needed me and you threw me away when I was no longer of use. Now that Oliver is marrying the Crown Prince of Versatine, you strived to paint a better image of a father even when you have practically ignored him your whole life!"

She threw a razor-sharp glare toward Lu Yizhou. "And just because he's the Crown Prince, you stood on his side even when you knew clearly what he had done to me!"

Everyone glanced at each other, an unspoken question hung between them. What had Prince Altair done that warranted such rage from the Princess? Could it be… the talk of the love triangle was true? Prince Altair was involved with Prince Oliver and Princess Rosemane at the same time and in the end, he chose Prince Oliver and ditched the Princess? That's why she was so unreconciled?

Whatever scenario they could think of, Oliver could as well. Before he could truly comprehend what he was doing, he had jumped out from behind Lu Yizhou and bared his teeth at Rosemane. No one could slander his Alpha. He wouldn't allow it! "Stop painting yourself as the victim, you bitch! You brought this on to yourself! You're the one who forced Altair to bond with you, taking advantage of your heat and his rut to trap him! He only acted out of self-defense! If I may say, you deserve it!"

The truth was suddenly being shoved into light. Rosemane's face flushed a dark crimson, livid. Deep hatred brewed in her eyes. "Oliver…!" Her whole body shook and she suddenly spun the muzzle toward Oliver. "I will kill you! I will kill you, bastard!"

A few things happened all at once.

Emperor Bernard swiveled and smacked the gun out of Rosemane's hands, taking the horse omega off guard as the bullet strayed toward the ceiling. Lu Yizhou yanked Oliver to him and secured him tightly in his embrace as he fired his gun toward the disguised rebels who lunged toward them; a clean shot to each of their foreheads. It was obvious that Lu Yizhou's skill had taken them off guard. There was no information which stated that His Highness Prince Altair was an excellent shooter! His calm and measured demeanor, the fierce way he pulled each trigger and his insane precision drove the rebels into a corner. 

The continuous sound of whizzing bullets reverberated through the air, mixing with cries of fear and terror from the people who ran like headless flies to take shelter. Corpses fell one after another, strewn under Lu Yizhou's feet. Ryan was crouching and shielding his head amidst them all, dumbfounded and unable to react in time. Peter was nowhere to be found.

Rosemane growled as she was pressed to the ground by the Emperor. "Let me go!"

Emperor Bernard delivered a crisp slap to her face. "Shut up!"

Lu Yizhou's eyes scanned the surroundings in alarm. A slight movement in the corner caught his eye and he let his instinct take over. His hand moved as swiftly as the wind and—BANG! BANG! BANG! Three shots were fired following Peter who was breaking into a mad dash toward where the rope was. A grunt of pain escaped Peter's lips as a bullet grazed past his shoulder but he was too quick on his feet. Years of escaping the guards' pursuit had honed his survival instinct. He dodged the rest of the bullets and his subordinate helped to pull the rope. In a blink of an eye, he had moved out of Lu Yizhou's shooting range and fled through the open roof.

A silent curse slipped out of Lu Yizhou's mouth and he tapped on his communicator. "He escaped. The rest is up to you now."

"Aye, aye, Your Highness," came the reply from Derek.

The situation turned in an instant. The Elite Guards seized the opportunity to reclaim their weapons and fought with the rebels that were still left inside the cathedral. Their numbers were small and they mainly took advantage of the element of surprise to take the guards by surprise. Soon, they were overwhelmed, either dead or tied up alive.

Lu Yizhou returned his attention to the omega in his arm who was as quiet as a scared kitty. His shoulders were tense and trembling. "Oliver, are you okay?" He lifted the omega's chin and frowned at Oliver's ghastly complexion. 

"A—Altair…" His lips trembled as he spoke. Lingering fear was evident in his eyes and he was clutching onto Lu Yizhou for dear life. "Sorry, I…"

"Hush, it's okay now." Lu Yizhou held him gently and stroked his back. Poor Oliver, it must have been his first time being in such a risky situation. It's no wonder that he was terrified. "I am here. Everything is okay."

Oliver took huge gulps of air into Lu Yizhou's neck, drawing the soothing scent of the Alpha's pheromones that was slowly calming him down. He nodded shakily. "I…I really thought that I was going to die…"

Lu Yizhou nuzzled his chin on top of the omega's head. "You won't." He eyed the glaring hole in the rooftop with a dark expression. Somehow, his instinct told him that everything hadn't ended yet. Now that he had met Peter, Lu Yizhou could see that he was a man with clear goals and a calculative mind. He had recruited Princess Rosemane into his team and this was an opportunity where almost all of the important figures in the kingdom were gathered in one place. There was no way he would give up just like that. 

Princess Rosemane and Ryan were just chess pieces. Peter ought to have another plan in mind.

pqdm.com