The nobles were immediately in an uproar. The five unfortunate men who had been assassinated had already made them extremely nervous, and now the Regent was about to take away their personal guards with a single word, which was tantamount to depriving them of their last sense of security.
Immediately, someone objected. "Your Grace, the assassination attempt hasn't been fully investigated yet. If we transfer our guards now, who will protect us if Defias launches another assassination attempt?"
Bolvar looked at the audacious troublemaker, "Tonight, no one is allowed to return to their rooms. Everyone must remain here under the protection of the Royal Guard!"
This is a viable option. Assassins would find it difficult to launch an attack in broad daylight. Although the Royal Guard is small in number, they are all elite troops and can be considered a relatively reliable force.
The only problem is that the nobles have many families, and there is no room in the Council Hall to accommodate them. If there are still hidden assassins, those who remain in the original rooms will become lambs to the slaughter.
Those who were brought to the fortress for refuge were the nobles' closest spouses, children, and relatives. Many people could not accept putting them in danger, and the voices of opposition rose again.
Even though the Regent promised to gather the families together for unified protection, many people still disagreed with handing over their private guards.
According to the kingdom's laws, the king cannot arbitrarily deprive nobles of their legitimate private armies. Forcibly conscripting them would only cause internal strife. Bolvar was already in a state of utter distress when intelligence from SI:7 arrived like a godsend.
"A riot has broken out at Central City Prison! The rebel Windsor is leading at least two thousand inmates toward the fortress!"
To avoid causing greater panic, Bolvar deliberately concealed information about Major Sophia's rebellion when he announced the news, sharing the truth only with a few high-ranking nobles.
The news spread like wildfire, and the hall fell silent. All eyes were on the Countess, for everyone knew that the insane Windsor had only ever had this one goal.
The beautiful woman calmly tapped her scepter and smiled, "They're just two thousand rabble. If you'd like to lend me five hundred men, I'm willing to personally lead the troops to crush them!"
The haughty Countess surveyed the room with an awe-inspiring presence, making the men feel ashamed—a woman possessed such courage, while their previous timid and hesitant behavior was truly pathetic.
The Countess already had a large following and held considerable leverage over many nobles. Soon, some of those who had initially opposed sending troops were willing to contribute some of their private soldiers, and five hundred men were assembled in a quarter of an hour.
The Countess's strong appeal made Bolvar resentful, but he could only suppress his displeasure and take the opportunity to ask other nobles to contribute their strength.
With the nobles who offered five hundred men as a starting point, the rest could no longer completely refuse the Regent's request. After some bargaining, everyone agreed to contribute half of their private army, totaling more than a thousand men, all of whom were placed under the command of Duke Vishak.
"Vishak and Lady Katrana, in the name of the King, I hereby appoint you as commanders of this battle. Gather your troops and depart immediately!"
The number of guards brought into the fortress by nobles of all ranks varied, with some having more than fifty and others as few as seven or eight.
Organizing the previously separate small groups of people into a team was not easy, but fortunately, those chosen by the nobles as personal guards were mostly experienced Warrior. It didn't take long for the two teams to assemble in the fortress's Courtyard.
Duke Vishak proposed to join forces with the Countess to first eliminate the rioting criminals, and then jointly reinforce the port, to which the Countess readily agreed.
She had her own plans: a very important deal was to be made tonight, so important that she needed to personally intervene to feel at ease.
Fortunately, she found an excuse to leave Stormwind Keep so quickly. Now she was even happier to leave the boring battles to others and take the opportunity to slip away.
"Your Grace, they are all your men now," the beautiful woman raised a delicate eyebrow and pointed to the newly appointed captains. "The greatest battlefields belong to men, and I will watch you fight bravely from the rear!"
The subtle feminine charm she exuded made the soldiers around her dazzled, and even the most resolute veterans felt an urge to fight for her, completely ignoring the image of the strong woman who had made such bold pronouncements in the Council Hall.
Only Duke Vishak, familiar with her tough style, was not swayed. Although he was suspicious that this difficult woman would so easily relinquish military power, he still politely replied, "Rest assured, Your Excellency, it is my honor to serve you."
"Thank you for your trouble." The Countess smiled, spurred her horse to move aside from the front of the procession, and gestured for them to proceed.
The Duke snorted coldly, understanding immediately—this cunning woman must have some ulterior motive, but now was not the time for intrigue. So he shouted loudly and led the entire army out of the fortress's main gate.
The Countess, accompanied by a few attendants, followed leisurely behind. When they reached a secluded spot, she quickly dismounted and disappeared into the thick of the night in the blink of an eye. A maid, draped in a large cloak, climbed onto the Countess's horse and continued on, pretending to be busy.
Duke Vishak never sent anyone to monitor the Countess; in his haste, he was only thinking about killing the enemy and defending the country.
Soon, scouts returned with real-time battle reports: the rebels had captured the bridge between the Church District and the Dwarf District.
Upon hearing this news, the Duke immediately ordered the army to speed up its march. It should be noted that Stormwind City is divided into six districts by Canals within the city. Apart from the port and the fortress, other areas are only connected by a bridge between adjacent districts.
The bridge occupied by the rebels is undoubtedly a vital transportation route. Those who advance can bypass the Dwarf District and reach the main gate of the fortress directly from the outside, while those who defend it can cut off all traffic in this direction.
The Duke was well aware of the implications. On the one hand, he sent people to the Old Town for help, and on the other hand, he temporarily requisitioned several small boats from the Canal and assigned a team of archers to board them and harass and attack them from the water.
It was still unknown how effective these arrangements would be. The Duke looked back with concern. Based on his experience, this hastily assembled army was definitely not going to be able to fight a losing battle. He could only hope that his personal leadership would give his side the upper hand.
Unas was also in a terrible mood. Although they had made no trouble along the way, with Major Sophia as their inside man, and easily occupied the important bridge, the moment they stopped, the criminals couldn't resist starting to rob them.
According to the original plan, they were to hold this position and wait for the main force of the Defias landing to arrive, then join forces and take Stormwind Keep in one fell swoop.
There were simple defensive fortifications at both ends of the stone bridge. Bakir's criminal army guarded the bridgehead in the Church District at the rear, while Sophia's City Guards guarded the Dwarf District.
However, after the distribution was completed, several shops near the bridge in the Church District suffered as the impatient criminals broke in, robbing and murdering, causing chaos.
Bakir had no intention of suppressing his bloodthirsty subordinates; in fact, he deliberately indulged them, allowing the long-imprisoned criminals to vent their emotions and boost morale. The number of victims rapidly expanded along the Canal road.
The old marshal and Major Sophia were furious. They led their men across the bridge and personally killed several robbers, almost causing a falling out between the two sides.
Fortunately, Bakir knew his place and, fearing he might disrupt the leader's plans, began to severely discipline his men. His methods were far more brutal; he grabbed several ringleaders, hung them up, and tortured them mercilessly, letting their screams carry far and wide. Many criminals were obediently brought back, but some still managed to escape without a trace.
Besides this farce, what displeased Unas even more was that Gude, who went back to inform the Dwarf ambassador, brought back two pieces of bad news:
The Naga tribe that invaded the Minecart Subways retreated after Bronzebeard sent a large army, but they destroyed several sections of the tracks, which cannot be cleared in the short term. Magni's promised reinforcements from Ironforge will certainly not arrive in time.
In addition, the little Naga that the Paladin captured suddenly disappeared last night, and the people guarding her have no explanation for it, and there is still no clue.
Unas was deeply disappointed that the Dwarves were so unreliable, even losing such an important hostage. He could only blame himself for entrusting the wrong person to them.
Ambassador Aoge-Leishan also expressed his neutrality through Gude: he would not interfere in the human civil war until reinforcements from Ironforge arrived, and besides, the garrison in the Dwarf District was only capable of defending itself.
Even Gude and his squad were recalled by the ambassador, leaving Unas all alone. He could only curse the Dwarves as cowards, but he wasn't the only one in a bad mood.
On the bridge, Marshal Windsor frowned, staring at the row of houses across the river whose doors had been violently destroyed. He remained silent for a long time, perhaps already regretting his decision to cooperate with Defias's band of robbers.
Bakir offered a perfunctory apology from the side, Unas was about to step forward to comfort the marshal when several sounds of friction against the air suddenly came from above, followed by the clanging of metal—the sound of arrows hitting armor—enemy attack!
Four or five unlucky men were shot through the gaps in their armor and fell to the ground. Sophia's City Guards remained calm and quickly spotted the enemy on the water. They launched a counterattack and immediately suppressed the archers who came to ambush the small boat.
The criminals on the opposite bank shouted and yelled for a while before the City Guards on this side spotted the enemy on the water. In an instant, various ranged weapons darted across the river, and the small boats were quickly driven back.
At this moment, the scouts ahead also reported back: an army is approaching and will arrive in no more than half an hour.
"What banner? Who is in charge?" Sophia asked urgently.
The scout replied, "There's no unified banner; judging only from the family crest on their armor, the leader appears to be from the Vishak family."
"No unified banner?!"
"Yes, and their weapons and armor are a motley collection, seemingly not belonging to any of the city's institutions."
"Understood, go ahead, investigate further and report back!"
Bakir laughed loudly, "Looks like just a hastily assembled rabble, nothing to worry about. Let me handle this for now; I want to chop off a few handsome noble heads to welcome our leader!"
He had a good plan. As soon as he heard that it wasn't the most elite Royal Guard that had come, he immediately wanted to step forward. Without giving anyone else a chance to discuss it, he turned around and ordered his henchmen to go to the other side of the bridge to relay the order.
The dazed old marshal nodded, as long as these criminals stopped burning, killing, and looting civilians, he had no objections.
Sophia did not refuse. She was already reluctant to fight with her former colleagues, and although changing shifts at the last minute was a big no-no, she was too lazy to argue at this point.
The two sides quickly switched positions on the bridge, and the three stood in the middle of the bridge watching the battle. Unas then said with a puzzled look, "This bandit is quite interesting. He actually asked to fight, not afraid of losing his own troops."
"Probably trying to curry favor with VanCleef," Sophia scoffed disdainfully. "A rabble against a rabble, this is going to be interesting."
The old marshal also said, "If it really is Vishak, we'd better not make enemies with him. He's the Regent's man and has never gotten along with the Countess. We should avoid him if possible; just guarding this bridge is enough."
Unas shrugged, naturally offering no objection.
Soon, loud footsteps sounded ahead, and squads of fully armed soldiers appeared from the street corner on the opposite bank.
The stone-paved road Canal was only wide enough for two carriages to travel side by side. The enemy, a dark mass, advanced together, looking quite imposing, but not like a disorganized mob.
The leader was a Warrior in bright armor, wielding a massive, long-handled Warhammer that was so heavy that most people couldn't lift it, demonstrating the beast-like power contained within his tall frame.
"It's Duke Vishak," Sophia observed the patterns on the enemy's various armors, identifying them one by one. "And the Nabel Family crest, the Qikeni Family... I understand, these are all private soldiers of various nobles, they've temporarily assembled."
The old marshal was not alarmed but rather pleased, "It seems the fortress's forces are stretched thin, otherwise this situation wouldn't have occurred."
"This is going to be good," Sophia said, showing no awareness of being an ally of Defias. "These private soldiers may have been hastily assembled, but they are all quite capable in combat. Bakir has only himself to blame."
The enemy commander didn't waste any more words of challenge; he immediately deployed his Charge and launched an attack, leading by example.
The criminal soldiers in the bridgehead opened fire with their bows, and the enemy retaliated with a volley of arrows, resulting in sporadic casualties on both sides.
Duke Vishak, like a god, wielded his giant hammer and slammed it into the defensive formation of the criminal army, signaling the start of a fierce battle.
Bakir had three hundred Defias members as his main force, while Duke Vishak was surrounded by his loyal guards. Both sides had strong fighting spirit, and when they met on a narrow path and engaged in close combat, the battle was evenly matched for a time.
Bakir narrowly avoided the blade aimed at his neck and killed the enemy in front of him with a single thrust. Immediately, two weapons flashed coldly as they attacked from different directions. Fortunately, his trusted men on either side blocked them for him; otherwise, he, with his outdated fighting style, would have inevitably been injured.
He was horrified, thinking he'd gotten himself into a trap. He'd expected to pick on the weak, but they were proving to be much tougher. He kept pulling on the thieves around him, pushing them forward. "All of you, hold them off! Anyone who dares to back down will be killed with a single sword stroke!" But he himself seemed rooted to the spot, not moving an inch.
In contrast, Duke Vishak was always at the forefront of the battle. His heavy armor shielded him from numerous fatal attacks, and his Warhammer was invincible. He was almost unbeatable, having already taken down at least ten men. He almost single-handedly tore apart Defias's formation at the bridgehead, greatly boosting the morale of his private army.
But the thieves' resilience exceeded Vishak's expectations. Fierce enemies kept coming to their aid, and his trusted guards were constantly being reduced in number. If he lost their cover, he didn't know how long he could hold out if he was left to fight alone.
The wounded who fell were quickly trampled to death. Due to the narrow road at the bridgehead, as time passed, the corpses in the middle of the battlefield were piled up, and the two sides were slightly separated, bringing a lull in the fierce battle.
The casualties on both sides were almost equal, but the morale of the nobles' private soldiers was higher because their commanders personally Charge, while the Defias gang leader disappeared into the crowd.
However, their initial momentum failed to defeat the enemy. The fighting spirit of both sides waned in the face of the bloody piles of corpses. The flaws of the mob became apparent, morale plummeted, and the soldiers' courage to continue fighting was greatly diminished.
The Defias thieves retreated in a flash to the stone bridge behind Bakir, immediately creating a large gap in the center of the battlefield, almost giving up the entire bridgehead position.
Duke Vishak, wanting to press his advantage, could only clear the pile of corpses first. He ordered his soldiers to carry their own bodies to the roadside, stack them neatly, and roughly throw the thieves' bodies into the river.
The splashing water enraged the thieves, but also filled them with dread; none of them wanted to be thrown to feed the fish after they died.
Bakir knew that even if he held a dagger to the back of these criminals' heads, they might not be willing to Charge, and he might even get stabbed in the back. He could only helplessly order, "Retreat slowly and orderly to the other side! Nobody is allowed to run away. Anyone who runs will be killed!"
But he seemed to have forgotten that he did not have a well-trained regular army, making an orderly retreat extremely difficult.
The criminals, as if granted a pardon, completely disregarded their leader's orders and fled in a chaotic swarm, crowding together on the already congested bridge.
This was a golden opportunity! Duke Vishak was overjoyed. He leaped onto the still-uncleared pile of corpses and shouted, "Stop clearing the battlefield! Full speed Charge!"
The opportunity to beat the defeated enemy was right in front of them, and the noblemen's private soldiers were greatly encouraged. They jumped over the pile of corpses and Charge towards the tangled enemy on the bridge.
Bakir was frantic. If he couldn't stop this wave of enemy attacks, his side might completely collapse. If the fleeing soldiers stormed the bridgehead and caused the stone bridge to be lost, he would be unable to face the upcoming meeting with the leader.
"Fight! All of you, fight me!" He swiftly beheaded one of the retreating men, tossing him high into the air, then grabbed his crossbow and shot two fleeing men dead. "Anyone who retreats again will suffer this fate!"
The flying blood and the three lives instantly stunned the scene. Under Bakir's fierce gaze, the thieves had no choice but to turn around and fight back.
Bakir was inwardly groaning. He was forced to sacrifice one of his own men as a sacrifice, which would easily earn him the wrath of his subordinates. Now, he had no choice but to risk his life!
The noblemen's private soldiers, having traversed the pile of corpses, had no time to regroup, so they appeared somewhat disorganized, but the leader's momentum remained undiminished.
Duke Vishak had long been eyeing Bakir. Back then, the criminal's wanted posters were plastered everywhere, and almost everyone knew him. He was no stranger to him either, and he launched a full-force attack, his Warhammer hurtling towards Bakir's face with a gust of wind.
With a hiss, Bakir's short sword sliced across the side of the hammerhead, deflecting the heavy blow. He suddenly spun on his toes, crashing diagonally into the Duke's arms. At the same time, he crushed the pellet between his fingers, and a cloud of black mist suddenly exploded, completely enveloping the two of them.
Duke Vishak was temporarily blinded, Bakir seized the opportunity, flicking his right hand to precisely stab the black dagger from his sleeve into the gap between the Warrior's helmet and breastplate.
The Duke felt a sharp pain in his neck. He jerked his head down, his Rock- hard muscles gripping the dagger tightly, preventing it from piercing his carotid artery.
He simultaneously discarded his long-handled Warhammer and fiercely embraced his opponent, who was almost within reach.
Bakir felt as if he were bound by two thick iron chains, unable to move his limbs. His leather armor felt like thin paper under the enemy's strength, and his internal organs were about to be squeezed out of his body.
The Duke roared, about to exert more force to "clutch" the enemy to death, when he felt dizzy—the dagger or the black mist was poisonous!
He threw Bakir aside, staggered a few steps and almost fell, feeling his strength rapidly draining from his body, and half of his face went numb.
Bakir collapsed to the ground, coughing up a mouthful of blood. Several of his ribs were broken, and his internal organs were severely damaged. He didn't even have the strength to stand up.
Although both sides suffered heavy losses, in the eyes of onlookers, the Duke, who was still standing, should be the victor.
The soldiers behind the Duke surged forward, while the thieves behind Bakir retreated.
Am I really going to die here today?
In his despair, a long, loud horn suddenly sounded from behind, pulling Bakir back from the brink of darkness—it was a command reserved only for the leader, and its appearance meant that Defias' main force had arrived!