95 Choosing Different Paths

After taking control of the city wall and finding the south gate being opened from inside, the soldiers in Jordan's army rushed into the city like crazed animals.

Most of them did not even know or notice that there was no one to guide them as their superior or immediate squad leader or the Captain have lost their lives in the battle.

Some of the positions were quickly replaced by new faces as they quickly took control of their group. Those that didn't have a leader could only follow the ones who entered first.

This happened before Cole Jordan could even start to investigate what happened to his men who died so mysteriously.

But seeing that the soldiers had already started rushing inside the city, Cole Jordan could only make haste to catch up to them and regain control of his troops.

Behind him Joseph also followed closely and just when they neared the City gate, they found Arnet and Lam waiting for them.

And by the looks on their faces it could be seen they were angry about something.

"Cole, you bastard. Do you have a death wish? Hell, I will fucking kill you." Arnet who looked very angry had already drawn out his sword while Lam standing by his side also did the same.

The guards protecting Cole Jordan tensed as they came in between immediately because that was their duty.

"Arnet, stop it! First, tell me what happened" Joseph came forward to stop his Junior fellow Brothers before they could do something stupid.

"Senior Brother Joseph, some men tried to assassinate both of us when we were just about to begin and join the battle. If not for the protective talisman that the sect has lent us, we would have died. Unfortunately, we were not able to catch them as they escaped quickly after they failed in their first strike but I am sure that they were subordinates of this bastard because I remember seeing some of their faces back in the village." Arnet then turned and pointed his finger at the unsuspecting Butler Jon standing behind everyone.

"I even saw him talking very friendly with them back in the village. I won't believe that Cole did not have any hands behind this. This guy had the plan of killing us all along after he used us." Arnet said so in great anger.

Jon was not ready to get pointed out so suddenly so he trembled in fear by reflex even though he had no hand in this matter.

'What the fuck did I do' Butler Jon could only curse Arnet in his head after calming down a little.

"Alright, Arnet, you should just stop right there. Calm down a little first and then think all over. Even if Cole wants us to die after using us then he would probably do it at the end not right now when we still had not helped him do anything. Also, remember Master's words, and also know that Cole Jordan cannot afford to mess with us. Let me put it into simple words, Cole Jordan is not stupid and know what's better than to scheme against the disciples of Riverland Mountain Sect. He knows that the consequences of doing so will only bring him disaster, and he does understand it well by his heart. Am I right, Cole" Joseph turned and directly looked into the eyes of Cole who was standing behind his subordinates.

Cole Jordan just stood there like a tree in one place, having mixed expressions on his face after listening to Joseph.

What Joseph had said was very humiliating and also demeaning his character right in front of his face and draining his prestige down the gutter in front of his subordinates but as he said, Cole Jordan cannot even dream right now to mess with them, not if he wants to live to see another day.

Arnet slowly found reason in the words of his Senior Brother Joseph. Lam too had already sheathed his sword back.

"Cole, it seems there are some subordinates of Darren Dorbank who had infiltrated your camp without your own knowledge. And they are also strong enough to kill most of your high-level guards without attracting any attention on them by effectively using the chaos of the battle to cover themselves. Cole, you need to get your troops in order first or else they would create unnecessary chaos as the people who had infiltrated it would not sit by."

Cole Jordan also agreed and they quickly entered the city through the south gate. Just then the head of the Twin Lion and Purple Tulip Merchant group came in sight.

They quickly came forward to greet Lord Jordan. They also quickly explained the weird encounter they experienced with Lord Dorbank.

After that, they waited to get be praised by their Lord as they had completed their task of opening the gate from inside successfully and also before the given time.

But even after waiting for a long time, they did not get any response instead Cole ignored them and turned to face Joseph "Darren had gone back to his Manor where he will be ready for us. I will need your strength to break past the defenses that he should have activated by now."

Joseph nodded as he reassuringly said" Don't worry, that why we came here. And also if that person is really alive then I will take care of him."

But when they arrived at the junction of the three streets, Cole found that his troops seem to be heading towards the east gate and not towards the center where Dorbank family manor resided.

He never ordered them to go that way. Someone definitely had taken control of his troops by killing all of his higher levels officers and now his troops are following them like idiots.

Technically it was not his fault. The troops here on this island are normally divided into squads of 20 people. Five squads combine to make a hundred men squadron.

The head of the twenty men squad is called squad leader and a member of that squad is already chosen before in case the squad leader dies in action so that he can take his place to keep control of the group and not let the chain of command to break in between.

Just like that the leader of the hundred men squadron is called a captain and he commands them with the help of the five squad leaders.

In case the Captain dies, one of the squad leaders would take his place in the sequence that has already been decided before.

The puppets that had infiltrated Jordan's army had already taken up the position of most of the squad leaders and two captains way before because of the strength and talent they showed in the past few months.

It was really hard to grab the post of two captains as they can only be gained by being loyal to their lord for a long time.

But because Cole had been recruiting more people for the war, he promoted some people to fill that gap.

The puppets exploited these matters to advance in the chain of command by assassinating the higher-level officers during the battle and taking their place easily.

Anyone who tried to contest for those places with the puppets would get killed by some stray arrows 'coincidently'.

After making the army enter the city, the puppets then directed the troops to head towards the east gate.

Now Cole Jordan was left with only 300 elite soldiers around him who did not join the battle but stayed back to protect their Lord.

Three streets come into view after entering the south gate. The street on the right side goes to the East gate of the city and the puppets took Jordan's army in that direction.

The street on the left side heads towards the west gate. And in between comes the slum where the common people are currently being protected by the puppets.

The street in the middle is the one which heads towards the center of the city where the Darren Dorbank resides.

Cole Jordan stopped at the junction of the three streets as it was difficult for him to decide the path he needs to choose now.

Cole had planned it before the battle that he will divide his army after entering the city so that they can take different streets to seal all the paths that Darren and his family could take to escape but now that his troops had been hijacked, his plan had gone in the dumps.

Joseph somewhat guessed what he was thinking so he spoke aloud "Cole, you should first go and take control of your troops as quickly as possible. Leave two hundred of your men here. I will take a hundred of your men with me and head towards Dorbank Manor. Arnet and Lam will take the other hundred with them in the direction of the west gate. Now, it was the duty of those families of Damon, Cameron, and Hestia to guard the north gate but since they are nowhere in sight, I say you deploy some of your guards there when you get your troops back. After that come and meet me in front of the Dorbank Manor."

Cole Jordan nodded and agreed very quickly as he thought it was the best course of action that they can opt for now.

Cole turned back to face Mason's father and also the head of the Purple Tulip Merchant group following behind them quietly.

"I am very thankful for the help you two had given me until now. I will reward both of you accordingly to your merits after this battle. So, for now, I need you to stay here and guard this gate. Kill anyone who tries to escape through here."

"Yes, my lord"

"Good"

"Let's go"

....

Alex couldn't help but smile on seeing Cole Jordan separating from Joseph. He thought that it was a good opportunity to kill Cole Jordan without having to worry about Joseph interfering.

Also, he needs to stop Cole before he can come in contact with his troops. Cole Jordan was still the commander in chief of his army and everyone recognizes him. The soldiers will only follow Cole Jordan as he is the one who they serve.

After informed Master Clayton about the new situation, Alex split up with him as he told Master Clayton to wait near the Dorbank Manor for him.

Both Arnet and Lam were early-stage Dantain Formation Realm cultivators, that why Alex sent Donald and Jack to deal with them. He didn't worry about them because most of his puppets were stationed in that direction right now. If anything goes wrong his puppets can quickly provide them with help. Aunt Meg, Julie, Hank, Tom, Anna, and Selena also accompanied them.

Sometime ago back in the Pearl Village, Gareth was taking a tour around the village as Cole Jordan did not let his son come with him.

But Gareth was more than happy to stay because he did not want to join his father in the battle. He already had multiple nightmares since that incident when Alex had shot him in the shoulder even after he was being guarded by so many of his guards.

He also hates his bodyguard since that day as he was not able to keep him safe and that same bodyguard was still walking behind him watching his every move like a hawk as he had been told by Lord Jordan.

As Gareth was walking on the streets of the village, a girl came into his sight. The girl was busy helping her mother washing the vegetables and placing them on the shelf facing the streets in order to sell them.

Gareth got attracted to her body and walked a little closer.

'Hmm, this one can do for today' Gareth thought in his head and then said something to a guard standing by his side.

It was at that moment when the mother of that girl also saw young master Gareth, the son of their Lord Jordan looking lasciviously in the direction of her daughter and then turning to face his guard saying something into his ears.

She suddenly started to tremble in fear knowing full well about Gareth's character as he had become quite infamous among the villagers because of the many incidents of him forcefully taking someone's wife or daughter with him to the manor.

Everyone knew what he did to them.

The mother immediately started praying to all the gods in her mind, "Please, not my daughter, not my daughter"

The guards as she feared started walking towards them, but maybe the gods really did listen to her prayers because before the guards could do or say anything.

A loud horn was heard blowing from the direction of the watchtowers at the entrance of the village.

Gareth and his bodyguard immediately frowned upon hearing that sound as they knew what it meant.

It was only blown in an emergency like when the village is going to be attacked by Demon Beasts, pirates or some other groups.

Soon thereafter a guard could be seen running towards them. He came to a halt in front of them and started telling them why the horn was blown.

A huge army numbering around 3000 has been spotted by the guards atop the watchtowers of the village coming their way.

"What! Who is it!" Gareth's bodyguard asked in surprise.

"I don't know that sir because they are not waving any family banner."

"But don't they know, this is Jordan family territory."

No one answered to Gareth when he said that.

Soon every villager could also here sound of footsteps marching there direction.

"Young Master Gareth, you have to go to the manor now. Wait, there alright. I will go and see what's going on."Gareth's bodyguard suggested it because he feared that these people might be sent by Lord Jordan's enemies and their aim could very well be his son. He then left with the guard that came to pass on the message.

The mother who heard this conversation rejoiced. The girl instead looked at her mother weirdly seeing her dancing in joy not knowing that she had just been saved from a crisis.

There were only 400 hundred guards stationed inside the village. They all assembled at the entrance of the village after hearing the commotion.

The troops coming their way was none other than the combined private army of the three nobles that Alex had taken over yesterday.

The puppets who were commanding the troops had been ordered to sweep through all villages in the Dorbank territory and take them under their control.

Particularly, they had to go to the Pearl village as Alex had a mission for them here that needed to be completed as soon as possible.