Hearing the shout of that first guard in his path, Minos, at the head of that group of twenty people dressed in black, stepped forward and removed the hood from his head, revealing his appearance.
"I believe I have a right to enter that place, no?" Minos smiled as he looked at that person while the guard opened his eyes wide.
Everyone in this place knew Minos' appearance due to the coronation that took place years ago, right in this Assembly building.
No one would expect to find the emperor in this place amid the Black Plain's conflict with Abe's terrorists. Hence, that guard and the others who saw Minos' face were soon surprised by such a visit.
"You... Your Majesty..." That man stammered, not knowing what to say to Minos.
In theory, the Assembly of Vogel building was a public place where citizens could participate in local public life.
Obviously, Vogel was not a democracy, so ordinary citizens could not do much in this place. But it was possible for even ordinary people to access the premises of this building, make public complaints, initiate tenders, bring local problems to the representatives of the noble powers, and so on.
But there were operating hours for such matters, and only the representatives of the Assembly could come and go from this place whenever they wanted.
So when one of the guards there saw that the first of them had weakened in front of their 'opponent,' he stepped forward and said. "Your Majesty, the Assembly is already closed for business today. Please return tomorrow..."
Minos did not let that man finish and used Chaotic Gravity to immobilize all the guards in the range of his technique.
Everyone there was Spiritual Saints. Thus, when the other guards outside the range of Minos's technique saw their colleagues fall easily with a mere finger gesture from him, they retreated and shivered.
Minos looked at them and said. "Be quiet about my presence here, or you will have to endure a whole day fighting me."
Gulp!
"Your Majesty..."
Minos did not let one of those people say anything and spoke. "Get those unconscious out of our way. I will settle down now."
With those words, Minos' group moved on, while the guards left behind consciously stood motionless in their places, not knowing what to do.
Their duty said they should immediately communicate with the elders of the organizations behind the Assembly. But not only was Minos' group very strong, but the emperor himself was a terror.
To disregard something he ordered was rather difficult even for these men from Vogel!
Meanwhile, Minos was quickly directed by his subordinates to the central meeting place in this building, where a large circular area with chairs in a model similar to an amphitheater was.
There, in the heart of the Assembly, when Minos appeared from behind the main stage, the few representatives still there were surprised by his arrival and rose from their seats.
Minos had decided to act a bit dramatic, going up on the main stage with all his fellow travelers, wearing the same clothes as earlier, hiding his identity.
So when the more than 50 people out there saw these souls in black taking over the heart of their institution, they felt frightened and did not understand the situation.
"Who are you?" The president of the Assembly, who was still around, in charge of the discussions of the moment, suddenly asked as he looked fearfully in the direction of those people, but without panicking.
They might be strong, but the local forces had many Spiritual Saints, which could give them victory in a battle against these people.
But then, Minos looked at that fellow who had been making things difficult for him and said. "Mister Guzman, I appreciate that you have taken over my place for the time that has passed, but there is no need for you to do that now."
Minos moved one of his fingers, and that well-dressed, blond fellow flew in a parabolic trajectory from his spot to some stairs nearby.
Minos' wives smiled, and then he once again removed the hood covering his face.
"Very well. I am taking the Assembly for the next 48 hours. I am hereby removing the current president from office and appointing my wife, Abby Miller, as his replacement." He sat in the leader's chair in the middle of that stage.
"What?"
"How can that be?"
"What is Your Majesty doing here?"
A few questions arose amid that almost empty place.
But then, while he had a terrible expression on his face, Phil Guzman said. "Your Majesty cannot do this! That is clearly an offense against the sovereignty of the Assembly!"
Minos made some of his pressure shut that Spiritual Emperor's mouth and said. "The statute of this house says that the local sovereign, I, has the right, once a year, to make a check on the status of the institution and may within 48 hours remove the president and appoint a new one."
"Only after that period can the Assembly normally vote on its business and dismiss the president I chose."
Minos was playing within the rules of the Assembly itself. Something that was created not to help him but to help the future local sovereign not be held hostage by this house.
The powers of that state were secretly competing with each other to 'inherit' Minos' position as local sovereign in the near future. So it was in everyone's interest that the sovereign had the means to protect himself and reverse some problems in time.
They had done this for themselves, but they had never imagined that the first to use such a device would be Minos himself!
With this, those representatives, who already knew all this, remained silent after Minos' words, knowing there was nothing they could do.
The local noble families themselves had made this rule, so they would not break it to stop Minos. But, at the same time, even if that happened, the emperor was already there, with a powerful force at his side.
So who could stop him?
Knowing this, most were silent, returning to their seats while their thoughts started running wild.
Most of them were opposed to Minos, but some had already been through a few conversations with Elen and did not feel so threatened by his move.
But even these were soon surprised by Minos' next orders.
"Chief of the guard, where are you?" He asked, seeing some of the guards of this place on the outskirts looking at him.
One of them identified himself after a few seconds, and Minos told him. "For the next 48 hours, you all are under my commands, with the death penalty for those who rebel."
Gulp!
"Yes, Your Majesty." That man said as he dried the sweat on his face.
"All those inside the Assembly at this time, I declare you under temporary arrest until the end of my session. Anyone who attempts to leave will be considered a traitor to the empire and properly punished."
The guards looked at each other as those 'defenseless' youths sensed that this move by Minos would not end without damage for all of them.
He then said. "I will begin my speech as soon as we get enough quorum. You have until then to come to me."
"Don't waste this opportunity."
...
