Chapter 884 Brawl in Kalimat (Part-2)
?As the legionaries made their way along the single, one way street, they soon found themselves being confronted with what appeared to them many shadows recklessly running towards them.
Given the ambient darkness, the men were unable to judge who, or even what these were.
But it did not matter anyway.
For they knew the only friendlies were the people beside them.
So by default, everyone else was the enemy, regardless of whether these men were civilians trying to run from the disaster, or soldiers coming to meet them.
That was their order and there was only one recourse for the men to take.
Kill them.
Thus as the mercenaries wildly running at the approaching black curtain finally closer to see what they were facing, they did not even get to finish their shouts of shock and alarm for they were instantly peppered by a hail of javelins and crossbows, and as such the legionaries drew first blood.
Following which Grahtos's men continued on their way, slowly and steadily advancing their way towards the town center since the street they were on led straight to that- from the gate to the marketplace.
And it was slow progress as the surrounding darkness made it very hard to see any potential potholes or small craters laid strewn about the badly maintained roadway.
So the men tried to be careful to not stumble.
It was an endeavor made all the harder by the fact that the surrounding houses appeared to tower on either side of the road, soaking away what little ambient light there was and drowning the road in inky darkness.
And this absence of light was as much a hindrance to the legionaries as it was a boon for the mercenaries, for the slow advance of Grahtos's men gave them just the amount of time they needed to make an educated guess of what would have happened to the men who had went to 'greet' the approaching crowd.
And given their vast battlefield experience, they were soon able to come to the most likely scenario- an enemy attack.
And their panicked shouts laid credence to that fact, as some of the more sober men started to cry and haul towards their comrade, urging them to quickly form up.
And the language they used to do this was as crass and rude as could be imagined from these rough men.
"Bitch! Get your ass back here if you don't want to die!"
"Motherf***! Listen to me."
"I will skin your ass, you ass whooping tramp."
"Maggot! Stop fucking that dead whore and get your shield!"
However, although scot free on this charge, the news that he let him to do this did not inspire a breath of relief in him.
'Enemy! How are they here? Who opened the gates?' Instead, Perseus's mind was a mess, and his heart started to beat naturally fast as he started to smell the whiff of conspiracy and his instincts told him that he might be in great danger.
To the man, it felt like he was simply taken out of the frying pan and then put into the fire.
But whatever the case was, the king did not have the luxury to dwell on that for much longer.
From the sound of it, the defenses of the city were in great peril, and the men needed his help to inspire them and help turn the tide.
So he quickly bolted out of the brothel, before he and his man quickly joined the active defense of the city.
Luckily, the brothel was right around the marketplace so Perseus did not need to go far.
Also as a side note, those two prostitutes that were with Petricuno, Perseus killed them before he left the room.
They were the only two people who could definitely identify Perseus as the mercenary leader's killer and the king would have been foolish to let them live.
When Perseus had given the order, those girls had screamed, cried, and pleaded, but it was to no avail, as the men around the king quickly grabbed the duo and slit their throats, giving them a quick and relatively painless victory.
It was a tragedy that Perseus took no joy in committing, and the man knew those girls were innocent bystanders who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
But such was life.
Perseus did not have much mental capacity on the right and wrong of the deed for long, as he had to quickly join the battlefield, and found that upon seeing him and his entourage joining the fray, many men cheering.
Much of the city garrison who had been diverted from all parts of the city shouted,
"His Majesty! His Majesty is here."
"Ancestors bless us. We have not yet lost. We cannot lose!"
"The city lord is here too.
"Fight men. For your city. For your lord."
Until they were struck from the back too that is, as Grahtos caught them in a glorious pincher attack using the eastern gate that is!
Perseus was now trapped!
Let us say no to piracy! Don't take part in a crime! Don't patronize thieves!