Chapter 1418: Chapter 891: What They Offer, You Cannot Give_2

He recognized him, that was the young officer he once held high hopes for, a Golden Knight adept in both magic and martial arts, skilled in wide-range enhancing magic.

"Fa—bi—an!"

He gritted his teeth and said.

A flash of viciousness passed through his eyes as he grabbed a longbow from a soldier, pulled the string tight, and shot an arrow towards Fabian.

The arrow, glowing with skillful brilliance, shot out like a comet, stirring up gusts as it pierced through layers of people, striking straight into the high-level officer’s chest.

"Captain Fabian!"

The surrounding rebels exclaimed.

Fabian’s face was filled with pain; he looked at the fatal, bowl-sized wound on his chest, spat out a mouthful of blood, and slowly fell down.

However, just as the banner in his hand was about to topple, another high-level officer stepped forward.

His eyes turned red as he took over the banner, waving it and shouting angrily:

"Brothers, charge! Avenge Fabian! Avenge Captain Bowen!"

"Long live life! Long live equality! Eliminate these decadent nobles!"

With the high-level officer’s roar, the rebel soldiers’ morale surged once more.

Their eyes were red, expressions menacing, shouting "Long live life! Long live equality!" as they charged wave after wave towards Wolf’s guards.

Seeing the unprecedented fighting spirit and battle intent erupting from these usually lackadaisical legion soldiers, Wolf widened his eyes, filled with disbelief.

He didn’t understand what kind of dark magic had been cast on these bastards by the Life Church to make them so crazy.

"Crazy... they’re all crazy!"

He cursed as he slashed down the rebel soldiers charging at him, while looking at his trusted aides.

"Have you notified the nearby mercenary groups? Tell them to come quickly to assist in suppressing the rebels here! And, send a signal to warn the City Guard, close the city gates! Activate the Divine Arts defense barrier!"

Wolf shouted.

Outside Maniya City, there were three large mercenary groups stationed.

They frequently accepted imperial calls to assist the Imperial Army in various battles. Thus, even though they weren’t imperial troops, in many cases, they were no different from the Imperial Army.

The number of mutinous rebels far exceeded Wolf’s expectations, and the rebellious high-level legions were far beyond what the intelligence reported. At this moment, Wolf even suspected that most of the soldiers and officers in the entire legion might have defected.

Although his personal strength was strong, and although the knights loyal to his family were on average stronger than the legion’s officers, not reaching the legendary level meant no qualitative change.

Individual power was still somewhat insignificant in the face of the collective. Wolf felt increasingly pressured by the continuously surging rebels, like tidal waves.

The situation had already spiraled out of control...

Wolf, leading his trusted aides, continued to retreat under the rebel counterattack, being pushed out of the camp step by step.

On the ground, the earth was already stained red with blood, left by the bodies of rebels, who suffered even heavier losses, but their immense sacrifices did not extinguish their fighting spirit.

"Madmen! These madmen!"

Looking at the soldiers with grim expressions, Wolf’s features twisted, yet deep in his pupils, a trace of inexplicable fear appeared.

He didn’t understand.

He really didn’t understand.

He couldn’t comprehend why, as the Guards of the Empire, the best-treated soldiers would revolt and resist...

Clearly, all they needed to do was follow orders, clearly, all they needed was to obey.

Yet now, these soldiers who couldn’t even breathe loudly in front of the nobles dared to raise swords against them!

Wolf was confused.

Of course, he would never know what these soldiers of common birth were truly yearning for.

He didn’t realize that what he considered good treatment merely allowed many soldiers to barely maintain subsistence.

He was also oblivious to the long-standing conflict between the strict class hierarchy, between nobility and commoners, buried within the army, only suppressed by the nobles’ formidable power for so long.

But when new decrees came down, when the soldiers’ families and friends were affected, when dissatisfaction brewed intensely in their hearts, anger accumulated for who knows how long finally exploded.

At this time, the Life Church arrived, allowing them to envision a beautiful new world, igniting a new strength, a new belief in their hearts...

A military clueless about its cause and a military with ideals and beliefs are entirely different.

"Stop them! Quickly, stop them!"

Wolf shouted, brandishing his longsword.

The rebels closed in, and the knights around him grew fewer. Despite their strong individual prowess, even he felt exhausted after repeatedly blocking under the archers’ concentrated "attention."

"Where’s the mercenary group?! Why aren’t those damn mercenary groups here yet?!"

He asked, his eyes red.

"My Lord, they should be here soon!" 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

The Personal Guard Knight said.

But just as he finished speaking, he was struck in the head by a stray arrow and fell limply.

"Klein!"

Seeing the fallen noble trusted aide, Wolf’s expression twisted in pain.

His eyes were bloodshot, snaring teeth, he said:

"Damn rebels! Damn Life Church!"

Taking a deep breath, casting his eyes over the growing number of rebels, an unwilling look of retreat flashed in Wolf’s eyes.

He bit his lip, ceased his resistance, and raised his longsword ordering:

"Retreat! We are retreating!"

With his command, the Personal Guard Knights escorted him, beginning to charge out of the camp.

However, at this time, the sound of hoofbeats, footsteps, and the clash of weapons and armor came echoing from afar.

Wolf quickly looked in the direction of the sound and saw dust rising from the ground in the other direction.

Soon, a large number of mercenary cavalry, and professional mercenaries with various equipment appeared in his line of sight.

Three different banners were flying among the mercenaries’ ranks.

Those were the three large mercenary groups stationed in the other direction.

At this moment, they finally arrived.

Seeing the mercenaries, Count Wolf was overjoyed.

"Tim! Finn! Maximilian! Hurry and support us! Suppress these rebels!"

He shouted.

Those were the names of the three mercenary group leaders; they were riding horses, leading at the forefront.

Only, as soon as Wolf finished speaking, he saw the three leaders suddenly raise their crossbows, unhesitatingly shooting toward him and his Personal Guard Knights.

With a few whooshes, three Personal Guard Knights died on the spot.

Count Wolf was stunned and then furious:

"Bastards! What are you doing? Are you planning to rebel too?! Have you forgotten the payment I gave you?!"

The leader of the largest mercenary group, also the head of the three mercenary groups, "Hound" Tim, stepped forward.

He put away his crossbow, looking at Count Wolf and his trusted aides expressionlessly, saying indifferently:

"Lord Wolf, sorry, but the rebels offered us a higher commission than you, so... we now pledge our allegiance to them."

Wolf was momentarily dazed, then shouted angrily:

"Bastards! Ungrateful jackals! How much gold did they offer you? I’ll pay triple!"

"No, Lord Wolf, the price they offered, you can’t match."

The mercenary group leader shook his head slightly.

Count Wolf laughed furiously:

"Ridiculous! Just a bunch of commoners, how much money could they have? Tim, name your price! The Wolf Family is wealthy enough!"

"I told you, what they offered, you can’t match."

Tim shook his head gently again.

Wolf’s expression turned ugly:

"What did they offer you? Two million gold coins? Or three million gold coins?!"

"No..."

Tim shook his head gently again.

As he took out a golden armband to wear on his right arm, he spoke solemnly:

"What they offered, is equality and freedom, a beautiful future..."

Wolf froze momentarily, dumbfounded.