Tyranny of Steel

The King of Hungary sat in his throne room. Disturbing news had reached his ears about the defeat of the Papacy. In this failed bid to defeat Germany, the Catholic world had sent hundreds of thousands of men to their deaths. It had barely even been a month since this war began, and already more than half of Hungary's army was dead.

Hungary was already suffering from an economic breakdown after the sanctions that were put in place against Germany, however, the losses they suffered in this war was an unmitigated disaster. It was only a matter of time before famine took hold of Hungary and killed millions.

In hindsight, the Hungarian monarch realized he should have never answered the Papacy's call to crusade in the Holy Land. He had spent the entire duration of that brief war stuck in the Dinaric Alps, where he was unable to get past the Palladius army before the war with the Byzantine army even came to an end. However, another opportunity for glory appeared shortly after, and within 72 hours of marching on the German border, Hungary had lost over four hundred thousand men.

The King had personally witnessed his men march into the death trap that was the German border. He could only watch with horror as his men blown to bits by artillery, shredded to pieces by machine gun fire, and fragged by land mines. The question he asked himself, even now, was just what kind of sadistic cunt would design such insane border defenses?

The Hungarian Monarch could only sigh heavily as he rested his weary head in the palm of his hands. Berengar von Kufstein was indeed a sadistic cunt, but it was not as if he was born that way. No, the man had been driven to such ruthless action. After all, he was surrounded by hostile nations that were just waiting for the opportunity to pounce.

It was only now that the Hungarian King realized the Catholic Church should have united against Berengar when he was simply a small count. That was their only chance to defeat him. However, years of infighting and proxy wars had weakened the Papacy's power and treasury to the point where they were now relying entirely on peasant levies to attack the German Empire. To think a man who was born to inherit a lowly barony was enough would cause such problems to the Catholic World.

The King of Hungary had to admit, Berengar von Kufstein had played the Catholic Church like a fiddle in the last ten years. He had bought time by creating a series of proxy wars within Christendom. He had empowered the Church's enemies and diverted their attention from the real threat to their power. All while strengthening his army and uniting the German people into a single cohesive Empire. The truth was, the game was rigged from the start. From the moment Berengar had made an enemy of the Church, he had forced them to play by his rules.

What was the result of this massive chess game? The Papacy was gone, the Kingdom of France was weakened beyond repair. The English army and the Order of the Red Dragon were obliterated in Egypt. Balsamo Corsini and the Duke of Burgundy were dead and buried in an unmarked grave somewhere in southern Italy, and the Polish King was presumed to have drowned to the bottom of the Mediterranean along with his entire army. All that truly remained in this fight was Hungary, and yet they were surrounded on both sides by Germany and their Byzantine allies.

Berengar von Kufstein was marching his army towards his eastern border in an attempt to invade Hungary with a pincer attack. No matter what solution the King of Hungary thought of he could only see his imminent death. He was frantic, and had suffered hair loss due to his tendency to pull hair from his head when he was stressed. By now, all that remained were a few clusters of hair randomly spread out throughout his otherwise bald head.

While the King of Hungary was brooding in silence, the door to his throne room opened, and an unexpected visitor appeared with several armed men in tow. The King of Hungary gazed upon his guest with shock in his eye. It was the son of one of his recently deceased Generals. The man was surrounded by what appeared to be other men of note within the kingdom, all of which were armed with German revolvers. Before the King could express his shock, the man spoke to him with a stern tone in his voice.

"Your majesty King Tamás Balázs, the time has come for you to step down. The people of Hungary no longer support your rule, and have moved to replace you before the Germans invade our lands and sack our cities. If you surrender willingly, I promise that you will be given a fair trial! Resist and you will die here today!"

The man in question was none other than Noemi's elder brother, Vászoly Viktor. Upon hearing of his father's death on the German border, the young man had assumed all power in his family, and had secretly conspired with Imperial Intelligence to unite the various wealthy families of Hungary against their King.

Now that Berengar was marching his army to Hungary, Viktor realized time was of the essence and had forced his way into the Royal Palace in order to apprehend the current monarch and hand him over to the Germans. It was a coup d'état in every sense of the word. The Hungarian King was outraged when he saw that his own nobility had conspired against him. He quickly ordered his Knights to attack the intruders.

"Bring me these filthy traitors' heads!"

Before the Hungarian Knights could unsheathe their blades, the rebels opened fire upon them with their revolvers riddling every bodyguard the King had full of bullets. Blood poured out of the steel armor that the Hungarian Knights wore like water in a sieve before they collapsed lifelessly to the floor. The Hungarian King was shocked at how quickly they had been defeated and instantly kneeled in surrender before Viktor could execute him.

"I yield! I yield!"

Viktor scoffed with disdain when he heard this before ordering his men to bind the King and drag him away.

"Take him away, boys!"

The rebels quickly did as they were commanded, and placed steel bindings on the King's wrists and ankles before dragging him off to the dungeon. After the previous monarch was removed, Viktor picked up his crown, which had fallen to the floor during the chaos. He gazed upon it intently for a few moments in silence before one of his comrades questioned his actions.

"What now? Who will become the new King?"

When Viktor heard this, he chuckled lightly before tossing the crown aside as if it were a common Frisbee. He then replied to the man's question with a grim look on his face.

"That is not for us to decide..."

The rebel looked at Viktor with a concerned expression on his face before protesting.

"What do you mean? Shouldn't the Hungarian People decide who is King now that we have removed the old one?"

In response to this, Viktor merely scoffed and placed a hand on the man's shoulder before lecturing him on what was about to happen.

"In an ideal world... yes! However, this world is far from ideal. It is a world where we are now ruled by the Reich. For the first time in a millennium, the seat of power in the western world has shifted from Rome to another city: Kufstein.

Make no mistake, under the rule of the Reich, no man shall be crowned King unless they first have the approval of the Kaiser. Just as the Papacy used to crown emperors in the past, now the Reich will crown the Petty Kings of Europe.

This is the new world order, and you better get used to it. Because with the power of the German Military, there is nobody on this Earth who can defeat them in an armed conflict. So, I will hand this worthless crown to Berengar von Kufstein when he arrives on our borders, and I will sit by like an obedient dog while he crowns whoever it is that he wishes to be his puppet. Hopefully, we can rely on the Reich for assistance, because with all the young men who have died in this foolish war, the future of Hungary is looking bleak."

The rebel did not say a word to counter Viktor's opinion. After all, everything he said was true, instead he bowed his head and prayed to God that Germany would provide aid to Hungary or else subservience to a foreign power was the least of their worries.