Slowly but surely the puppets were able to convince almost all the guards stationed inside the city to switch sides and rebel against their Lord.
Of course, the strength which the puppet showed at the time when confronting the soldiers was also an influencing factor on what was better to choose at that time.
Not even a whisper could reach about this matter to Darren Dorbank or other high-level officers that were accompanying their Lord right now on top of the south wall.
Anyone who tried to stop the puppets or the guards switching sides on their own choice would either be killed or knocked out depending on their response or past deeds.
The puppets had already gathered enough intelligence about all the guards so that they can squash the bad tomatoes without thinking twice when the time comes.
As for the neutral or the good ones who oppose the notion of rebelling out of fear of the Lord Dorbank retaliating against them would be knocked first by the puppets for their own good.
All of this could not have been possible or easily achievable if the puppets had not blended well with the people in the past few months while constantly maintaining a good show of conduct and acting in good faith towards the people in their surroundings.
That's why on the day of the war, people were more prone to believing and following the person they know are able to make them feel safe and those that they feel are trustworthy.
Lord Dorbank did not even notice that most of the soldiers of his private army have switched sides as he busy on the wall.
At some point, a soldier came running in front of Lord Dorbank and said "Lord...the squad that was positioned near the gates and the three streets near it is now empty. There's nobody in sight and the guards which were sent to recruit more people as reinforcement from the slums and other places have also not returned. And... and I..I..saw some of the commanding officer of those squads lying dead on the grounds."
"WHAT!" Lord Dorbank thought he had heard it wrong. How could something like this happen at such a critical time? He needs more people to fill the gap on the wall to buy as much as the time he can get.
He immediately turned around to look at the streets and the place near the gates from the top of the wall....the guard was really saying the truth. Other than some unmoving bodies lying on the ground, the streets were clear of any other living being near the gates.
"What nonsense are you spouting? How can my men leave their posts? Do they have a death wish?"Aiden too was surprised and he just couldn't believe that such an incident could even happen so close to them without causing a single sound or attracting attention?
When he saw what Lord Dorbank was seeing, he too stood at his place dumbstruck.
Being cultivators, Lord Dorbank and Aiden could see from their place that there were no signs of a struggle and those guards lying dead on the ground seems to have been killed instantly.
It was risky convincing the guards near the south gate of the city and the wall where all the action was taking place without attracting attention from Lord Dorbank on top of it.
Because of that, the puppets had to use a different way. A group of puppets ambushed their targeted squads after coming very close to them in disguise as fellow guards and knocking them out as quickly as possible.
Being attacked by a number of 9th grade Body Tempering Realm puppets would, of course, be difficult to react or defend to and also if there are puppets already amongst you.
The people that needed to be plucked out were killed on the spot while the rest of the guards were quickly carried away by the puppets on their shoulders.
Lord Dorbank turned his sights deeper into the city and because of the alleviation, he finally managed to spot some people or what he recognized as his guards and commoners heading towards a particular direction through the streets.
"They are...heading towards the slums. Why are they going there? What are the soldiers doing down there? Why are they not stopping them but instead going with the commoners?" Captain Aiden couldn't help but blurt a few rounds of questions nonstop as if wanting someone to explain it to him.
"That's what I want to know too? Go down right now and check what the hell is going on there." Lord Dorbank shouted on top of his lungs.
"But Lord...the enemies" Aiden pointed his fingers at the city guards trying their best to stop the enemies from getting a foothold on the walls.
"They won't be able to stop the enemies for long if more people are not brought to help them fill the gap."
Darren took a deep breath after trying to keep his anger down and gave a quick look at the situation. The city guards were already finding it hard to defend.
"It's...already too late for that. We need to leave right now" while gritting his teeth Lord Dorbank said resolutely as he chose to escape. As per the plan, they should have been able to defend the city walls for a few more hours. But since the guards down on the ground have defected it's not possible to do so right now without enough manpower.
"But Lord,...what about your...."
"Don't worry about him, it won't take him long to finish. We need to escape from here first and wait for him in the Manor," Lord Dorbank said resolutely and decisively.
"As you command, My lord"
...
"Master, it's done. We have gathered all the people in three different places as you had ordered before." Alex was quickly informed after the puppets had been successful in taking control of the guards and the common people on the ground inside the city.
"Good, guard them well," Alex said.
"Master, the Twin lion chamber of commerce and the Rising Tulip Merchant group are making their move. They are currently heading towards the south gate to open it up for the enemies. Do we stop them?"
"No, you don't do anything. Let Darren deal with them. You can now start the next mission. Start taking out all the commanding officers of Jordan's army covertly and take their position. After that, you know what to do."
"Yes Master"
...
"Alright keep running everyone, we are very close. We need to open the gates quickly or Lord Jordan would not let anyone live to see another day." a man shouted at his subordinates running alongside him. There were around a hundred men following behind two middle-aged men on the street going towards the south gate of the city.
"Master, look there's no one is guarding the gates."
"Huh, what the! Could it be a trap." the head of the Twin Lion Chamber of Commerce thought as he saw the gates devoid of soldiers that he thought would present.
He was also the father of that Fatso Mason that Alex had met at the Red Rose restaurant.
Alex one time had even ordered his puppets to stole all the valuable stuff from the Twin Lion Chamber of Commerce as revenge after Mason tried to take his life by sending some thugs.
After that day, Mason's father's business was hit hard and their Chamber of commerce was on the brink of bankruptcy.
They had to sell some of their shops and ships to others so that they can keep their business running.
Mason's father was not so close to Jordan's before and only did some business with them.
But after losing most of his properties, he had to latch onto the legs of Cole Jordan so that his family can survive.
"Master did we just head in the wrong direction."
"Fuck, can't you see what's happening on the wall. This is the wall and that's the gate that we are supposed to siege and open. Maybe Lord Dorbank needed all the manpower to help him atop the walls and he might not have placed anyone down there." said the head of Purple Tulip Merchant Group only to give a reason to this situation as he himself did not believe that Lord Dorbank would make such a low-level mistake.
The master of Purple Tulip Merchant group was a subordinate of Cole Jordan disguised as a merchant.
"Go! Go! Go! Open the gates before Lord dorbank notices us or it won't be good." just when Mason's father uttered those words, he suddenly saw Lord Dorbank rushing down the stairs adjacent to the walls. Behind him were his trusted guard Captian Aiden and some other soldiers.
They suddenly came face to face as both the parties stopped in between.
The distance between them the gates was not even 30 meters but now it seems it would be much harder to open it up.
"Lord...Dorbank, we...we have come to...provide you with help." Mason's father came up with an excuse on the spot out of fear.
"Oh, you came to help, how sweet of you. Alright then, why don't you head up and help the soldiers there in blocking the enemies."
"What's the matter? Why did you stop? go on."Lord Dorbank said again.
Everyone heard that but no one moved.
The head of the Purple Tulip Merchant group looked at his partner sweating in fear and then to his subordinates behind him, he sighed and then pulled his sword out to signal his men to start the attack.
"Hump, I should have crushed you guys when I had the chance. But I don't have time for you now. Let's go" Lord Dorbank said so with a sneer on his face. He then walked past them and headed towards his manor and behind him followed his subordinates.
The head of the Twin Lion and the Rising Tulip did not what to do and looked towards each other faces.
Suddenly a subordinate voiced his reason from behind "Maybe he got afraid seeing that our numbers are more than his."
Everyone looked at that man like he was an idiot.