After waiting a moment for the crowd to discuss the report, Rudolph jumped up and rushed toward the king. The place where he had just been sitting was enveloped in the force fields of the restraining spell. It appeared that everything was ready for him to attack. What was not expected was the speed and timing of the attack.
The ghoul reached the throne in a split second and grabbed the king by the scruff of the neck and pulled him up. Those present in the hall did not even realize what was going on, and the magister was already near the service entrance, clutching a man who was yelling something inaudible. A moment and the strange couple disappeared behind the doors.
No one moved or even tried to use magic. The explanation for this behavior was simple. All the people at the meeting were the real elite of the kingdom. They were not used to running around or fussing. There were subordinates for that. The first to wake up were the courtiers, who had just lost the most important person to them. But even the loss of the king didn't make the aristocrats run. It took almost a minute before the front door of the hall was opened and the paladins behind it realized the situation.
Leaping out into the service corridor, Rudolph was nose to nose with five guards at once, who were staring in surprise at the door that had opened abruptly. The ghoul's heart simply stopped beating when he saw the number of opponents, and then pumped blood with redoubled force. Four of the five guards wore the uniforms of the court guard.
Pushing the body of the shrieking king into the hands of the paladin who had begun to regain consciousness, the magister decided the outcome of the fight in his favor. No matter how unimportant a royal title was in Valeria, its bearer was known to everyone. A public figure, instantly recognizable. Even more so by the inhabitants of the palace and central Fres. Instead of pushing the king aside or dodging, the paladin made an attempt to catch the nominal ruler of his country. The impact of his fist sealed him into the wall.
The last thing the ghoul saw in his opponent's eyes as he cracked the man's skull with a second blow was boundless surprise. And he should have been quicker to assess the situation. After all, everyone knows that the king of Valeria, one of the few human rulers who possesses a real "royal stone". An old artifact of the dwarves, was a smooth round stone of a milky cloudy color.
A ring with such an artifact stone was one of the symbols of royalty. Except that most people had an imitation of it. Only the Emperor of Uzmer, the King of Valeria, and the King of Gania possessed real 'royal stones'.
And the real artifact completely neutralized any magic and its manifestations near it. At a very small distance, no more than a meter and a half, but it was enough. The King's Stone could also take away a person's ability to perform magic. However, for this ghoul had to be exposed to its effects for more than an hour. After all, the weaker were the magical abilities, the more time the artifact needed to take them away.
Naturally, Rudolf did not explain all this to the defeated paladin. As soon as the warrior's head hit the wall and left a bloody imprint on it, the ghoul punched the corpse's throat with his left hand and put his palm into the wound. With his right hand he lifted the king and leaning him against the wall next to the dead paladin, struck a blow to the chest, breaking it.
The guardsmen were only dumbfounded at what was happening before their eyes and made no attempt to intervene. Accustomed to flaunting themselves in front of court ladies and victories in bed, they simply did not know what to do. Literally, they didn't know what to do!
The soldiers of the regiment had never been taught how to fight or use weapons in battle. All the exercises were aimed at beautiful movements and correct step. And if they were able to handle their pikes properly, the weapons were simply useless in the corridors of the palace.
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