Attack! Morton's Nightmare and New Life (1)

For the people of the Morton territory, recent days have been far from peaceful... or to be more precise, they have been anything but peaceful!

First, Hiller, a warrior under the command of Lord Robert of Morton, suddenly rebelled and led a rebel army to besiege the main city of Morton, leaving the wealthy merchants and nobles in the city trembling with fear. Subsequently, the rebel army was wiped out and Hiller was beheaded. Although it was all quite baffling, everyone felt that peaceful and tranquil days would finally return. But they were wrong; news of magical beasts arrived from the northwestern border, and rumors even suggested that Robert's previous siege of the inn was actually an operation to hunt down those very beasts!

The rumors claimed that this lineage of magical beasts was extremely ferocious, leaving not a blade of grass in its wake... and then, the Third Legion of the kingdom descended... However, after only a few days, instead of the soldiers of the Third Legion heading out to exterminate the beasts, they suddenly imprisoned Lord Robert, accusing him of the grave crimes of colluding with magical beasts and violating the kingdom's sovereignty, and were set to hang him in the central square today.

The succession of events left the populace feeling uneasy, for everyone knew that chaos, regime changes, and the flames of war—no matter which one it was—would inevitably affect the bottom of the pyramid first once they ignited.

As the sky just began to brighten, Robert, Angelina, Chelman, and Clot were escorted to the central square in four prisoner carriages, while the people, having received the news three days in advance, had already packed the area so tightly that not even water could pass through.

The fully Armament soldiers of the Third Legion lined up to secure the entire square, keeping a particularly close watch on the four prisoners for fear of anyone attempting to rescue them.

Robert and the others were placed on the temporarily constructed gallows. Judging by the fact that their clothes were still relatively intact, it was clear that the four of them had not suffered much torture while in prison.

"Lord Robert has been so good to us; I simply don't believe they would betray the kingdom and collude with magical beasts!"

"That's right. Since Lord Robert took charge of our main city of Morton, he first sent troops to sweep away the bandits, then built canals and roads, and encouraged the development of commerce. Thirty years ago, our Morton was a dangerous border town, but today, it has become a nationally renowned economic center. These are all the merits of Lord Robert. To say he colluded with magical beasts? God of Light above, I, for one, cannot believe it!"

"Sigh, what do you know? Colluding with magical beasts is a complete frame-up. Let me tell you, remember Hiller's rebellion from before? Do you know who Hiller was? He was the illegitimate son of the current Minister of Finance of the kingdom!!! His rebellion was entirely instigated under the instructions of the Minister of Finance, Isli. But overnight, he had his head chopped off and hung on the city wall. Isli didn't say anything on the surface, but he had long hated Lord Robert to the bone in his heart. Now that the Third Legion has failed to suppress the magical beasts, they immediately pushed the blame onto Lord Robert!"

"God of Light above, are you saying this is true?"

"I'm telling you, I'm risking being sent to the gallows myself just by saying this. But Lord Robert has been so good to us, if it were anyone else, I would just pretend I knew nothing..."

"This won't do. If Lord Robert is hanged, who knows what kind of noble the kingdom will send next? Heavens, if they send a bloodsucker, will we have any good days left?"

"Exactly, we cannot let Lord Robert be hanged. He is innocent!"

"Yes, Lord Robert is being wronged. We cannot let our lord be hanged..."

"We cannot let our lord be hanged!"

"We cannot let our lord be hanged!"

The scattered words instantly merged into an ocean of protest. Thousands of citizens waved their right hands, sending out a wave-like roar of dissent.

Warwick had originally scheduled the execution for noon, but this oceanic roar forced him to act ahead of schedule.

Warwick stood on the high platform in front of the gallows in the central square, feeling the anger that had coalesced into an ocean, and suddenly shouted, "Shut your mouths, all of you!" The roar of a Diamond-rank fighter, amplified by battle energy, exploded in everyone's ears like a thunderclap. The citizens in the front row felt it most profoundly, and many even clutched their ears in pain and crouched down...

"Stupid populace, do you know what crimes the man before you has committed? Death just brushed past you. If it weren't for the timely intervention of my Third Legion, the entire main city of Morton would have already fallen to the slaughter of the magical beasts!"

"Ye, Ye Luo would never do such a thing, and as for him, he, he really, really chose to attack, it, it was also forced by you!!!" Robert was exceptionally weak, but he still used all his strength to roar.

Warwick didn't even look at Robert; his eyes swept coldly over the crowd as his right hand pointed at Robert, "I don't want to hear another word from him!"

"Bang!" A soldier behind Robert slammed a heavy palm onto the back of his neck, knocking him unconscious instantly...

This action only made the crowd below even more indignant.

"Weak, stupid, and short-sighted. To think that the borders of Morton are filled with such subjects; it is truly the sorrow of my kingdom..." Warwick looked at the crowd, which had fallen back into a state of fury, and said with extreme coldness. Then, he suddenly waved his right hand, "The execution of Robert begins now!" To minimize trouble, Warwick chose the simplest solution. Since the root of the conflict between them and the populace was Robert, he would simply carry out the execution early!

"Prepare the gallows!" the executioner roared. The soldiers behind Robert and the others stepped forward, brought them under the gallows, and made them stand on the wooden boards that were about to be pulled away, before placing the four nooses from the gallows around their necks!

"Execution, proceed!" The executioner raised his right hand and brought it down sharply. Below the gallows, four other soldiers violently pulled the wooden boards from under the feet of Robert and his companions. Without the support of the boards, four holes appeared beneath them, and the moment they fell into the voids, the nooses tightened around their necks!

"Dong, dong, dong, dong..." Just at that moment, the alarm bell on the city wall, representing an invasion of the land, suddenly rang out!

Warwick narrowed his eyes and roared with a hint of irritation, "Who rang the alarm bell? What on earth is happening?"

At that moment, a messenger was riding a warhorse in a state of extreme panic toward the outside of the square. The square was packed with people, and no matter how he urged his horse, not a single person would make way for him. He had no choice but to dismount quickly, nearly falling to the ground in his panic. As the messenger squeezed through the crowd, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "The magical beasts are attacking the city! The magical beasts are attacking the city! Legion Commander, Legion Commander, those, those magical beasts we were hunting, they are a black, surging mass, numbering over one hundred thousand! The magical beasts, the magical beasts are attacking the city!"