The days passed and the revolt had intensified. Every guard had now been fully mobilized, and even those companies that were sent out to help the other settlements were called back.
The rebels weren't few. They had support, hence why they managed to make such a scene. Then what they waited for had arrived. They didn't know those people had been there all the time. The evil bastards that had orchestrated all of this had now shown themselves on multiple fronts, further dividing the already stretched-out forces of the town, which had been locked down already while some of the residents that didn't want to be involved took their things to get out of this place.
Bonaks made his move on the third day of open violence. He appeared in Outerwinds with Kanton and a dozen of his pirates, all armed with proper steel weapons that gleamed in the firelight of burning buildings.
"We've come to help!" Bonaks shouted to the rebels who'd fortified Dodong's position. "We heard of your plight against the tyrant lord! We are soldiers, exiled from our homeland for refusing to serve a corrupt king! Let us fight alongside you for freedom!"
The desperate rebels, surrounded by guardsmen and running out of options, welcomed them with open arms. They didn't question where these armed strangers came from. They didn't wonder why professional soldiers would help farmers and laborers. They were drowning and someone had thrown them a rope to cling on to.
Daks revealed himself too, dropping his merchant clerk disguise. He joined the rebels in Lowwinds where Zino had rallied his supporters. Another group of pirates appeared in Marketsbreth, claiming to support Eleaine's cause.
The town's forces, already stretched thin dealing with three separate rebel positions, now faced trained fighters with magic on multiple fronts.
Now blood had been spilled on the streets by both sides, and it wasn't just the blood of those they had promised to protect but those from their ranks too.
Brina had seen her first death two days ago. A young recruit, maybe twenty-two years old, was struck in the head by a thrown brick. He'd gone down hard, blood pooling beneath his helmet. They'd dragged him back to the medical tent, but he died before the healer could save him.
His name was Damian. She'd trained with him. He'd been kind, always offering to help others with their form. Now he is gone.
She'd also seen rebels die. An old farmer, caught in a cavalry charge, trampled beneath horses. A young woman, barely older than Brina, who'd thrown herself at a guard line with a farming sickle and been cut down by three batons at once.
The streets of Helwind were stained red. And for what? For delayed irrigation projects? For promises of help that never came? For the ambitions of manipulative council members?
The Lord was also now in full gear as he heard of invaders who were helping the revolutionaries. And if he could put two and two together, then this must be the people that have emboldened the council members to act out.
Lord Jouse stood in his war room, fully armored for the first time since taking office. The armor bore his family crest, well-maintained but showing signs of age. It had belonged to his father, and his grandfather before that.
Knight Captain Adam stood before him, also armored, awaiting orders.
"Foreign fighters with magic had joined in the fray," Jouse said through gritted teeth. "This was never about delayed projects or beast attacks. We've been playing. Manipulated from the beginning, Damn those treacherous bastards! They allied with outsiders just to take me out."
Jouse slammed the table.
"It would seem so, milord," Adam agreed. "Our scouts report at least three magic users among the invaders. All male, all displaying combat magic. Fire, water, and earth from what we've observed. They're also well-trained in conventional warfare."
Lord Jouse gritted his teeth in anger as he realized that they had been played like a fiddle by their true enemies, the masterminds behind all of this chaos.
"How many total invaders?"
"Hard to say for certain. At least forty to fifty spread across the three main rebel positions. They're also the ones causing the most damage. Our guards are reporting that they are competent in combat. We can only surmise that they are former soldiers."
What is worse is that these people were reported using magic. It means these people are some of those uncontrolled magic users who have managed to slip into the island without being verified.
"Pirates," Jouse said suddenly. "Or bandits from the mainland. This was a planned invasion disguised as internal unrest. They weakened us with those beast attacks, divided us with political manipulation, and now they strike while we're fighting ourselves."
Adam nodded grimly. "A sound strategy, unfortunately. And effective."
Now the town is suffering, not just economically, this would surely create a much bigger problem in the future. Especially with the deaths of their citizens, he would not be spared from the blame. They are already being ignited by a third party. Now this would solidify their claims of him not being fit to lead.
Worse of all they would lose labor and manpower because of this.
But before he would have to worry about any of this, he would have to think carefully of how they would have to deal with this situation first. That problem is for him to worry about in the future.
"Commander Adam, let us set foot and quell this rebellion once and for all. Better if we could take down the perpetrators behind this. Dead or alive, I want them presented to me. I now approve the use of anti-magician weapons to kill them if necessary. But if they could be captured, then make sure of it."
Adam's eyes widened slightly. The anti-magician weapons were Helwind's most closely guarded secret. Using them meant revealing their existence, but the situation had reached that point.
"Understood, Milord. I'll have the lower armory opened immediately."
Adam bowed and obliged. This is what the non-magical human users had engineered to counter magicians. Though it couldn't fully control beyond Expert ranks, those within it, from Novice, Advanced, and Expert, could be taken down. It was the secret weapon that the kingdom of Mindrith had developed in such cases.
Now they are allowed to use them. This equipment is classified into two types: a non-lethal version for restraining magic users if they want information from them, and a lethal option where non-lethal options aren't possible.
These are weapons imbued with a mineral found here in the island. It was not known or even shown to the wider world. It was held as a state of the art weapon, a top-secret project they had worked on for a very long time now. That raw material is called Antimaether, an orange to red mineral depending on its purity that could be placed in regular weapons and has increased properties using the magically enriched-iron found here in Helwind.
And when laced into the arrows tips, they could, when struck into an individual, cause them to have blockages in their mana pathways, depending on where it hit, making them unable to use magic or it could be fatal. And since normal Centuurians have no magic at all, this was the perfect tool for them to use, it wouldn't suck out mana from them because they have none of it whatsoever.
Now if a magic user was hit with it though, they could lose their magic powers to be exact their connection to the mana around them, and in turn they are significantly weakened. Though if they have some sort of physical training beforehand then they could still fight back, but they are considered just normal humans by then. And if they could be swarmed by non-magic users, then it was guaranteed that they wouldn't last very long. This is especially handy when subduing purely mages like Hans before.
But people who are warriors that could use magic could, as stated, survive longer even without their magic.
Now Knight Captain Adam moved to the castle's secret vault, the lower armory located in the dungeons for security reasons, to arm his knights with the lethal option while the three hundred men below them were armed with the non-lethal options.
The armory was deep beneath Windspire Heights, carved into the rock foundation of the hill. Rows of weapons lined the walls, from simple swords to specialized equipment.
But at the very back, behind a locked gate that required three separate keys held by three separate people, was the Antimaether vault.
Adam unlocked it with his key. The quartermaster used his. Lord Jouse's advisor used the third. The heavy door swung open.
Inside, dim orange light gleamed from the mineral deposits embedded in the walls. Crates of arrows, each one tipped with Antimaether arrowheads. Swords with Antimaether-laced blades. Even some specialized bolts for crossbows.
"Take the arrows," Adam ordered. "Three quivers per knight, lethal grade. For the soldiers, two quivers each, non-lethal. And bring the Antimaether swords for my personal squad."
The men worked quickly, distributing the specialized weapons. The arrows looked almost normal except for the distinctive orange-red color at the tip. The swords had a subtle reddish sheen along the cutting edge.
"Remember," Adam addressed his assembled knights and soldiers, "these weapons are to our advantage. The enemy doesn't know we have them. One good hit on a magic user and they lose their power. Aim for center mass. Don't waste shots. And don't let these fall into enemy hands."
"Yes, sir!" they responded in unison.
Adam continued, "Remember to target the magic users. There are only three of them, but be wary as they seem to have formal military training. Must be former soldiers from a kingdom in the continent. Our orders are simple: we could take them alive, or if it's not possible, we shall kill them."
They moved in military formation to quell the rebellion, but left most of the work to the town's guard, while they would go in killing or capturing the magic users.
The knights formed the spearhead, fifty heavily armored men on horseback, each carrying an Antimaether-tipped lance and a quiver of specialized arrows. Behind them, three hundred soldiers marched in formation, shields locked, disciplined and ready.
The town guard, another hundred and fifty strong, would follow to secure areas after the knights broke through and to deal with the rebel Centuurians.
And in the ranks of those town guards, mixed with veterans, were the recruits. Brina among them.
She marched in formation, her practice shield replaced now with a real one. Her wooden baton was replaced with a real sword, though it felt heavy and wrong in her hand. She'd never used a real weapon before.
Sergeant Vorik marched beside their unit. "Stay together! Follow orders! And remember, most of those people ahead of you are your neighbors. They're scared and they've been lied to. Show mercy when you can, but defend yourselves when you must!"
While the town continues to burn in ashes, a clash between the leaders of this revolt and the knights of Helwind was about to ensue.
The first target was Outerwinds, where Bonaks and his pirates had entrenched themselves with Dodong's rebels. The barricades had been reinforced. The defenders numbered maybe three hundred, but only a dozen of them were actually dangerous.
Knight Captain Adam led the charge personally, his black stallion thundering down the street toward the barricades. His knights followed in a wedge formation, lances lowered.
Bonaks saw them coming and smiled. Fire erupted from his hands, a wall of flame shooting toward the charging knights.
Adam didn't flinch. "Shields!"
The knights raised their shields, and the fire washed over them, hot but not devastating. Their armor was good and shields were treated with Antimaether residue and were mixed with fire-resistant compounds. They'd prepared for this.
And as they closed the distance, Adam drew an arrow, nocked it, and fired in one smooth motion.
The Antimaether arrow flew true, striking Bonaks in the shoulder.
Bonaks screamed. Not from pain, though that was there too. But from the sudden, terrible sensation of his magic being cut off, blocked, suffocated. His mana pathways seized up around the arrow wound, the Antimaether disrupting the flow of power through his body.
He stumbled backward, clutching his shoulder, his eyes wide with shock and fear.
"What... what the fuck… What did you do to me?!" he shouted.
Adam didn't answer. He was already targeting Kanton, who'd been raising earth barriers.
But that was easier said than done. A warrior with capabilities of using magic is very dangerous.
Kanton saw the arrow coming and dove aside. The shot missed, but barely. He understood immediately what was happening. Those arrows were special. Dangerous. It seems they are laced with poison or some sort. He wasn't wrong with the assumption ; as it was laced with anti-magic that was unknown to them and it acted like so.
"Fall back!" he shouted to the other pirates. "Those weapons, don't let them hit you!"
But Daks, fighting in Lowwinds, wasn't so lucky. A soldier's arrow caught him in the leg, and he went down screaming as his magic got cut out.
The tide was turning. The magic users, Helwind's greatest threat, were being neutralized one by one.
But the battle was far from over. And Brina, marching toward the chaos with a real sword in her shaking hand, was about to experience real war for the first time.