Everything was mayhem. The city of Lys had been pushed to a massive disadvantage, almost on the brink of defeat. The morale and motivation of the soldiers to fight, which had already been lacklustre, had completely crumbled. They did not see any more reason to continue fighting. They were losing and they were giving up. All their courage had evaporated.
On the other hand, the rebellion inside the city had grown massive. A humongous section of the population had joined the uprising. The small folk, the common, the servants and the slaves, everyone had joined in the rebellion and they had completely taken over the streets of the Lys. The soldiers of the Lys who were still inside the city were simply incapable of controlling this mob anymore. This big, the rebellion had turned out to be.
The institution of the Magisters and their command centre had also fallen. Their authority had crumbled. Out of fear, the Magisters had begun losing confidence. They had been gripped with immense terror and nervousness and the less courageous or, probably, the more shrewd among them had begun escaping the command centre to retreat to their mansions. All the brotherhood that had developed between them in the last few days had been torn apart. Though they had not attacked each other, now that they had begun retreating, doubts about each other had started to appear in their minds.
The option of surrendering to protect their lives and wealth had already been on their minds, and with the situation unfolding in this manner, it appeared to be the only viable choice remaining.
As the Magisters began to retreat to their houses, the army too started to crumble. Their chains of command were broken, and their organization faltered.
Furthermore, these soldiers did not hold total loyalty toward the city of Lys. As in almost every other Free City, their loyalty was generally tied to the Magisters themselves. Thus, as the Magisters began to retreat, squads upon squads of men followed after them. The ruling Magister had already sacrificed his love for the city but was keen to protect his personal estate from being ransacked by the rebellious mob. These soldiers were best suited for that job.
It was not that the soldiers were keen on fighting Lord Aeos's army. They were all too happy to go with the Magisters, where they would only have to protect the estates and deter the crowd until Lord Aeos's army breached the city walls, took control of the city, established order, and the Magisters surrendered to them.
The city walls were the last defensive stronghold left for the city of Lys. A few stubborn Magisters, for whom pride and ego were more important than life, were unwilling to surrender. They had rejected the option of flight or retreat, choosing instead to resist and fight until their last breath.
They had gathered a few hundred soldiers willing to follow them and fortified themselves on the walls and near the gates. They knew that the only destiny awaiting them was death, but they did not care. The only thing they desired was to inflict as much damage as possible on Lord Aeos's forces before their final moments. They were looking for a glorious end.
The situation for the Lysene forces who had been deployed outside the city walls was grim and that was putting it lightly. After the arrival of Lord Aeos's main army, they had been brutally overwhelmed. It had been a one sided slaughter, a massacre.
The five thousand men who had been deployed were nearly all killed. They had tried to retreat back to the city, but to protect the gates, a tough and brutal choice had been made by those in command. The city gates remained closed. Thus, the men had no real option for retreat.
Though many had chosen the long route, retreating far from both the city and the port, they fled toward the wilderness. Sylvia, being merciful and focused primarily on the city, did not pursue them.
Slyvia was standing directly in front of the gates of the city of Lys, staring at the walls and the Magisters atop them. Just a couple of steps away from her, a line of arrows was planted in the ground, fired by the archers perched on the city walls. That line of arrows marked the maximum range the archers of Lys could reach. All of Slyvia's men were standing behind her.
"What are we waiting for?" Jelerion asked, standing a couple of paces behind Slyvia, her eyes also focused on the walls. "Our men are motivated. Our blood is pumping, and this is the right time to give the signal."
"How many losses do you think would be suffered if I asked the men to move now?" Slyvia responded with a question of her own, letting out a sigh.
"Quite a few," Jelerion replied with a frown. "But it would still be within acceptable limits."
Slyvia remained quiet for a couple of moments.
"Lord Aeos has a theory," she said. "A theory with which I agree immensely."
"What?" Jelerion questioned.
"That to open the gates of the enemy," she said, "it is always easier to do it from the inside than from the outside."
Jelerion did not understand instantly, but after a couple of moments, enlightenment struck as she realized the truth.
Meanwhile, on the walls, two Magisters were standing next to each other.
"What is she doing?" one of them questioned. He was an old man with gray and white hair. "Why is she not moving? Why is she stopping the momentum of her forces?"
The other man frowned, his eyes narrowed as if trying to study Slyvia's expression from that distance. He finally sighed, his shoulders slumping.
"I do not even want to guess," he finally said with a chuckle. "With all that has happened today, I would not be surprised if I suddenly died at this exact moment."
"Lord Aeos can do anything," he added. "Maybe the rebellious mob will come and attack us."
"You are absolutely right," the old Magister said. "Lord Aeos can do anything."
"But," he continued, "this time, the rebellious crowd will not come for you."
"What do you mean?" the second man questioned, his face confused and his eyebrows raised.
The old man smiled before he suddenly pulled a knife from his breast pocket. The second Magister's eyes widened in shock, but before he could react or let out a scream, the dagger slashed through his neck. Blood gurgled from the cut as the Magister clenched his throat. He let out a few groans before he collapsed to the ground.
The eyes of the other few Magisters who had been watching from some distance also widened in pure shock.
"What are you doing?" one of them screamed, his face raging.
The Magister with the dagger did not look toward him. He merely nodded to no one in particular. Pure mayhem and chaos followed his nod.
Two more Magisters pulled out daggers and plunged them into the others. Meanwhile, the real strength, the army stationed on the walls, also sprang into motion.
More than half of the soldiers were men of the Old Magister, and at his nod, they set themselves in motion. They took their colleagues by pure surprise as they began killing the rest of them. It had been a plan to take down all the Magisters unwilling to surrender and to open the gates of the city all in one go.
Another brilliant plant. Slyvia, standing in the distance, smiled as she saw men falling from the walls. In a few moments, the chaos on the ramparts stopped and the gates of Lys were finally thrown open. The city of Lys had fallen. It was now a city under the control of Lord Aeos.
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