Chapter 491: Force Conscription.
"What do you mean?"
Standing on the city wall, the Guard Captain stared at the Palace Guard before him with narrowed eyes.
His expression was filled with confusion as he tried to understand the urgency in the messenger’s voice.
"Captain, the situation is serious, and this is the order of the king. Gather your men and come with me right now to the palace," the Palace Guard repeated, his voice grim.
For a moment, the Guard Captain could not believe his ears. He remained standing there as his thoughts rapidly raced through his mind.
’Why would the king demand our presence?’ His mind raced as countless possibilities flashed through his head.
Their job was to secure the wall’s defenses and make sure the enemy did not find a way to sneak into their city.
That responsibility had always been their highest priority.
And now, the king was demanding they leave their post and rush down to the palace. Such an order completely contradicted everything they had been taught.
What about the wall’s security?
Just as he prepared to ask more questions, he saw from the corner of his eyes other Palace Guards moving through the streets with men behind them.
Their hurried footsteps and solemn expressions immediately caught his attention.
Some were from the patrol guards, while others were famous and powerful hunters.
Just as he thought the scene could not become any stranger, he saw them urging more men to join them as they handed out weapons.
"What is going on here?" he could not help but ask.
His voice had become noticeably heavier than before.
"Enough of these meaningless questions. Follow me now," the Palace Guard said impatiently.
"Fine..." the Guard Captain agreed.
Even a fool could tell something urgent was happening that demanded a large number of men. The unusual mobilization alone was enough to prove the seriousness of the situation.
Whatever it was, his instincts told him it concerned the survival of the city.
And a deep sense of unease quietly settled within his heart.
Quickly, he arranged for a few men to stay behind while most of the guards rushed to follow the Palace Guard.
Their expressions were tense and solemn. Many tightened their grips around their weapons as they silently prepared themselves for whatever awaited them.
Throughout the streets, people were being conscripted at a visible speed. Every capable Scorpion Clansman was quickly gathered into the growing force.
Women and children watched as their fathers and husbands joined the Palace Guards. Their worried eyes followed the departing figures until they disappeared from sight.
Tension shook the city, suffocating it from the inside out. The cheerful atmosphere that had existed only hours ago had completely vanished.
Doors were closed.
Windows were shut.
Faint sounds of weeping could be heard from behind closed doors. Fear silently spreads through every household like an invisible plague.
When the news of the Horn Lizard soldiers attacking the lesser humans arrived, they thought their horror was finally over. Many believed the Scorpion Clan would continue standing proudly as the ruler of the Bleeding Desert.
That their lives could return to normal.
They had hoped the coming days would once again be peaceful.
But who would have guessed that only a few days later, their world would turn upside down?
The sudden disaster struck so quickly that none of them had time to prepare.
Where was their mighty army?
Why was their king not protecting them?
Why were their husbands and fathers being conscripted to join the battle?
Besides, what or who were they fighting?
Many questions churned in the hearts of the common Scorpion Men. But under the imperial order of the king, all those questions were meaningless at the moment.
None of them dared to question the command of their ruler.
Men, old and young, were conscripted without hesitation. As long as they were old enough to hold a weapon, they were drafted into the urgent war.
No one was spared.
A war they never planned for.
A war they never saw coming.
A war that held the fate of their clan in the balance.
By a thin thread.
Rushing through the now quiet streets, the heavy footsteps of the conscripted men echoed loudly like war drums.
Fear and panic gripped the hearts of the common Scorpion Men.
Holding their crude weapons tightly, they looked around nervously while trying to suppress the uneasiness growing within them.
With each passing second, their numbers increased, numbering in the thousands. More and more clansmen joined the marching force from every street and alley.
The streets filled with their presence.
Even though many of them were ordinary clansmen and had never been in battle before, they still followed the command without complaint.
Their sheer overwhelming numbers made the atmosphere charged with positive energy. The growing army seemed to give everyone a false sense of security.
Those who were trembling, masked in nervousness, gradually regained their courage.
Standing shoulder to shoulder with thousands of fellow clansmen, they began to believe they could overcome any enemy.
With so many people, they did not believe the situation would be so bad that they would not be able to overcome it.
So they thought.
This was the pride ingrained into the bones of every Scorpion Man. They had ruled the Bleeding Desert for generations, and that pride had never once been shaken.
But they were in for the shock of their lives.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Before they could even get close to the palace, the deafening sounds of the raging battle echoed through the air.
Each explosion shook the ground beneath their feet.
The ground trembled violently, and dust rose into the sky like a mushroom cloud. Broken stones and shattered debris were continuously thrown into the air.
"What!"
Terror.
Fear.
Shock.
Various emotions gripped the hearts of the newly arrived clansmen. The confidence they had built only moments earlier instantly crumbled.
They thought the situation could be dire. They thought that with their numbers, the situation must already be under control.
They were wrong.
Terribly wrong.
Ahhh! Ahhh! Ahhh!
Screams and cries of pleading echoed through the air, but only for a brief moment before they vanished.
From the debris of the palace wall, hollow figures with eerie soul fires burning inside their sockets stared at the newly arrived Scorpion Men.
They stood silently for a brief moment, their weapons dripping with fresh blood. Their imposing figures alone caused many of the newly conscripted clansmen to instinctively take a step backward.
And without hesitation, they charged toward them.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Like an unstoppable tide of death, they surged forward.