CHAPTER 404: CHAPTER 282 DISAPPOINTMENT

Upon hearing this, Pulikas understood that the other party wanted to become "the second Cabdes," and he immediately felt a surge of anger: He had already compromised so much, only to be mocked by this person, considered by others as a coward!

So, he angrily broke off the negotiations and continued to imprison him.

Fortunately, it was already late, and the crowd surrounding the manor had dispersed. The warriors, wary and hesitant, did not dare to storm in forcefully.

Pulikas lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep: At times, he felt he had acted too rashly, making the situation difficult to control; at times, he hated Kaxikes’s cunning and greed, the people’s ignorance and lack of unity in resisting the enemy, instead causing trouble for the one who saved their lives; at times, he worried that if the Nix Army attacked the northern bank while the camp remained in such disarray, they would be unable to fend off the enemy’s assault...

In the morning, Pulikas awoke to find the sheets soaked with sweat.

After a night of torment, he finally made a painful decision and went to see Kaxikes again, agreeing to his request from the previous night. However, he hoped Kaxikes would quickly settle the refugees within the camp, gather men for defense, and seek aid from nearby tribes...

Kaxikes readily agreed, but on the way to being released and taken back to his residence by his warriors, he was thinking about how to send someone to capture Pulikas, humiliate him, and vent his frustration.

Just then, a guard anxiously reported: Many Nix Soldiers have appeared outside the south gate!

Kaxikes was shocked and hurried off to the southern wooden wall to inspect, where he found Pulikas already present.

At this moment, neither man had the heart for scheming. They both stared at the countless fully-armed Nix Soldiers arranging ranks not far outside the camp, their scalps tingling. They hadn’t expected the Nix to cross the river and attack so swiftly, and they regretted the time wasted due to their internal strife the night before.

Faced with impending disaster, Kaxikes was at a loss, but Pulikas remained relatively calm, as he was an experienced subordinate of Andres and had been through many battles.

Therefore, he requested Kaxikes to allow him to command all the warriors in the camp to resist the enemy’s attack. He asked Kaxikes to return to the camp to gather more men to assist in defending the stronghold and organize the people who had boats to patrol the riverbanks and intercept the reinforcements of the Nix.

All the warriors within the camp, including some nobles, took to the wall, totaling just over 300 men. Despite Pulikas’s efforts to boost morale, the sound of the trumpet reached their ears, and seeing the fully-armed enemies advancing fiercely towards the camp, many felt weak in the knees and trembled all over.

The East Village was either the residences of leaders and nobles, who usually managed their tribesmen at their respective tribes and only came to reside here during tribal meetings or ceremonies, or the humble homes of some clanspeople of the Great Chief. Originally, the population within the camp was not large, and in the past few battles, these clanspeople were either captured or killed, leaving few capable of holding a spear to fight. Therefore, Kaxikes could only personally go and mobilize the refugees who had fled into the camp to join the battle.

But as soon as he reached the gathering place of the people and before he could say anything, he was surrounded by some people demanding food from him.

It turned out that since last night, when he was imprisoned and Pulikas was trapped in his own manor, with the two main figures absent, no one was there to settle the numerous refugees. Fearing trouble, the residents and nobles within the camp had shut their doors, leaving only some brave refugees to sneak into empty manors to find food, while others went hungry and slept by the pontoon and roadsides. Upon waking the next day, their hunger was even worse.

Kaxikes couldn’t have imagined the camp would be in such a state and could only persuade them to first help defend the camp, promising to have the servants prepare food for them afterward.

The people were unwilling, insisting on filling their stomachs before doing anything.

As both sides argued, fires broke out throughout the camp, followed by loud cries among the refugees: "The enemy has breached the camp! Run! Flee the camp, or you’ll be captured by the enemy!"

The already panicked refugees, who had been frightened by the sounds of fighting from outside the southern wall, exploded into chaos. Incited by provocateurs, they desperately rushed towards the northern and eastern gates, where no combat sounds had been heard. Kaxikes and his subordinates, trying to stop them, were knocked down and quietly trampled amidst the crowd...

The uprising of the refugees quickly affected the original residents of the camp. Unaware of the situation, they too panicked and fled.

The inside of the East Village was in complete disarray...

Already low in morale, the Segestica warriors, seeing the chaos within the camp, had no will to fight. Despite Pulikas’s loud shouts, he found it impossible to stop the warriors from fleeing.

He knew the defeat was sealed, sighed deeply, and hurriedly joined the retreating soldiers, but instead of returning to his manor, he headed to where Andres’s son, Ankasus, resided.

Upon pushing open the gate, he saw Ankasus and his subordinates standing anxiously in the courtyard. As soon as they saw him, Ankasus urgently asked, "Uncle Pulikas, many people outside were shouting that the enemy had attacked, is it true?!"

Pulikas, with a solemn expression, gravely replied, "Yes, we’ve lost. We must flee quickly!"

Ankasus panicked immediately: "Flee... Where shall we flee to?"

Pulikas, having observed the situation from the wooden wall, said, "There are too many people in the camp causing chaos, blocking the roads to the various gates, and we can’t escape. We must take boats downriver to the south!"

"Ah, to the south? Isn’t going back to the tribe better?!" Ankasus was somewhat reluctant, as he was unfamiliar with the south, never having been there.

Why head south? It was not something that could be explained in a few words, so Pulikas just urged urgently, "The enemy has already invaded; we must leave quickly, or we won’t be able to leave at all!..."

Pulikas’s continuous urging caused unease among his subordinates, let alone the young Ankasus, who followed Pulikas out of the manor in a daze, running frantically towards the river port.

At the river port, chaos reigned as people fought each other for boats, screams and splashes filling the air...

Pulikas led them through the turmoil to a small dock at the innermost part of the river port, where three boats were moored. Four heavy armor warriors with longswords were guarding the place, deterring anyone from causing trouble.

When Pulikas learned that the Nix had crossed the Sava River and were preparing to assault the camp, he had little confidence in his ability to defend East Village, and so he had discreetly arranged for a retreat.

The group boarded the boats, which departed the dock and drifted downstream.

Pulikas reluctantly looked back at the camp, his gaze filled with melancholy: More than a decade ago, he had followed Andres to seize this camp from the Skodisqi people through bloody combat. More than a decade later, he repeated the pattern, allowing the Nix to capture it. It was like a dream...

............

Watching the Nix Soldiers flood into the camp across the river, Maximus exhaled a long breath, finally relaxing. It was then he realized his legs were a bit numb from standing for too long.

"Congratulations on capturing the Segestica Main Camp and becoming the new ruler of this land!" came a congratulatory voice from beside him.

Maximus turned to glance at Casinos, and while moving his legs, he replied with a faint "Hmm."

Maximus’s indifference left Casinos a bit uneasy, so he mustered the courage to speak softly, "Leader, most of the leaders and clan chiefs of the Segestica Tribes around East Village are my direct relatives. I am willing to persuade them to join the Nix and become your tribesmen!"

This made Maximus pay attention. "Are you saying that these Segestica Tribes on the east bank are blood relatives of your Great Chief’s lineage?"

"Not all of them," Casinos said, with a touch of boastfulness, indicating a certain spot across the river with his hand, "From there southward, those tribes aren’t, as their kinship is far removed from us!"

Maximus squinted his eyes, looked in the indicated direction, then blandly said, "I will consider what you propose."

Disappointed that Maximus did not immediately agree, Casinos dared not speak further.

Maximus then ignored him and turned to look around. On the riverbank, besides his attendants, Guard, Crossbow Soldiers, and some soldiers from the Third Legion, were some of the Segestica citizens who remained from the previous night.

These people had witnessed the fall of East Village and were now somewhat lost, as since the independence of Segestica, this camp had always been the power center and symbol of the Segestica Tribe. Now, with it fallen, for some Segestica people, it felt as if the sky had collapsed, leaving them without a backbone.

Having focused on the battle at the opposite bank earlier, Maximus hadn’t had the mind for other concerns. Now that the battle of East Village was over, he called Valerius over and asked, "How many Segestica people have joined us Nix since last night?"

"103 people."

"Only 103 people?!" Maximus was a bit surprised. There were at least 5,000 Segestica citizens surrounded by the pontoon bridge last night. When asked if anyone was willing to join the Nix, he distinctly recalled at least half the people shouting their willingness, yet there were so few. Did the old man get it wrong?

Valerius understood what he was thinking and quickly explained, "The Segestica people were surrounded by us last night, and out of fear, they shouted along to ’willing to join.’ But when it came to registering, they hesitated. These 100 or more people joined because they were familiar with Sethonos and those Segestica Recruits, and were persuaded by them. However, now that we’ve completely occupied the camp, if we persuade them again, more might join."