Chapter 883: Unexpected Event
“Protect His Majesty the Emperor!”
The civic officer was shocked and furious. Yelling, he rushed to Commodus’s side with his horse. He wasn’t expecting someone bold enough to attack Commodus less than ten miles away from the barracks.
Fortunately, the number of a.s.sa.s.sins disguised as Jews was only less than twenty. The imperial guards had an absolute advantage in number. However, they were more scattered, and they were at a disadvantage in some areas. This was also a very skilled group of a.s.sa.s.sins. They attacked together, managing to eliminate the group of imperial guards tasked to protect the emperor at the front line. After that, they started to approach Commodus’s carriage.
They killed the imperial guards who came midway before they could line up and organize themselves. When Sebutul saw such a scene, his back was drenched in a cold sweat. He suddenly realized that his horse seemed to be running a little too fast. Although he was a civic officer with some combat experience, he could only obtain his position thanks to his family. As a general, he did not need to fight very often. Sebutul now regretted not practicing his swordsmans.h.i.+p a little more.
Fortunately, the imperial guards he brought with him this time were well-trained. The two centurions were extremely powerful, especially Herto. Being the nearest to Commodus, he swiftly led his team and rushed to the emperor’s carriage. Although they could not completely block those a.s.sa.s.sins, they managed to delay them, allowing the subsequent squads to get there in time. However, the factor that changed the course of the battle was not the imperial guards.
Zhang Heng discovered the abnormalities among the Jews earlier than the imperial guard, but he did nothing about it. It wasn’t until the group of a.s.sa.s.sins was about to attack Commodus, that Zhang Heng jumped off the horse and pulled out both his Persian swords.
One of the a.s.sa.s.sins had also noticed Zhang Heng’s quick reactions. He did not pay much attention to him, however, since he wasn’t dressed like one of those imperial guards. The attacker waved his short sword casually and attempted to drive Zhang Heng away.
However, he did not expect that such a simple move would cost him his life. Zhang Heng leaned back slightly to avoid the a.s.sa.s.sin’s attack. Taking advantage of the moment when his enemy waved his arms, he thrust his Persian sword and planted it into the a.s.sa.s.sin’s heart.
One hit, one kill!
The a.s.sa.s.sin did not even realize that Zhang Heng had stabbed him. After that, Zhang Heng pulled out the sword as the corpse fell backward. He then walked toward the second a.s.sa.s.sin.
After learning the lesson from his companions, the second a.s.sa.s.sin was clearly more cautious. He also noticed that Zhang Heng was about to attack him. Just when he was thinking about performing a more effective charge, Zhang Heng had moved against him first.
Zhang Heng slashed at the neck of the second a.s.sa.s.sin with his sword, but the latter reacted quickly, immediately raising his sword to block Zhang Heng’s sword. The attacker was elated when he realized that he was strong enough to block the gladiatorial champion’s attack, feeling that Zhang Heng was no stronger than an ordinary fighter. His joy, however, lasted only half a second. The next moment, all the a.s.sa.s.sin could see was a cold light flas.h.i.+ng before him—Zhang Heng had already cut his throat with another sword.
Zhang Heng killed the other two a.s.sa.s.sins in just a few breaths, rus.h.i.+ng toward the front line and completing the feat easily. By the time he stopped the third a.s.sa.s.sin, the two teams of imperial guards had finished organizing themselves and quickly rushed to Commodus’s side.
At this point, Commodus’s imperial guards had gained the upper hand. The remaining a.s.sa.s.sins had been either stuck with Herto, or attacked by the imperial guards that had just organized themselves. Spears stabbed the flesh of the enemies from all directions.
When everyone felt that they had regained their control over the situation and almost killed all the a.s.sa.s.sins that came out of nowhere, n.o.body would have thought that the donkey cart owner, trembling in fear earlier, would pull out a bow from the side of the overturned cart.
When the imperial guards saw that, they hurriedly gathered up and s.h.i.+elded Commodus with their bodies. The donkey cart, however, was not aiming for Commodus. Instead, he fired an arrow at the “Altrus” on the other side. The civic officer realized that they had just made a mistake. These a.s.sa.s.sins disguised as Jews were a decoy to attract their attention. Their real target was Altrus, who was following Commodus from behind.
It was already too late by the time he realized it.
Altrus was. .h.i.t by the arrow.
His body started to sway before falling off the horse. On the other hand, the donkey cart owner immediately put down the bow and arrow in his hand and jumped into the river beside him.
“Get out of the way!” An angry voice came from the crowd.
The civic officer advised in a hurry, “Your Majesty, we don’t know if there are more of them. You should…”
He was, however, interrupted by Commodus before he could finish. “I have to know whether my best adviser is still alive or dead.”
“…I’m sorry, Your Majesty. Advisor Altrus has stopped breathing,” said the other centurion, who was right beside Altrus. When the arrow hit Altrus, he was the first person who checked on him. The arrow had pierced squarely into Altrus’s chest. Although he wore a helmet, he had no armor on his body. His heart had already stopped beating before he even fell off the horse.
As soon as the centurion finished, an uproar erupted.
This ambush came as completely unexpected. Today was supposed the day Altrus emerged from the shadows. His presence was enough to change the political structure of Rome’s upper-cla.s.s. Everyone was left in a ma.s.sive shock and disbelief after seeing how Altrus was a.s.sa.s.sinated so quickly after he stepped out of the castle.
It happened so fast that even Clint, who had always wanted Altrus to die, was stunned. He could not believe what he saw.
After the ambush, Commodus wanted to inspect the barracks no further. With the last two a.s.sa.s.sins captured, he hurriedly returned to Rome. The young emperor vowed to make the murderer who killed Altrus pay for the crime. The first thing he did upon returning to the palace was to order Clint and Zhang Heng to interrogate their caught a.s.sa.s.sins. They needed to extract the mastermind’s name from these captured a.s.sa.s.sins.
After leaving the palace, Clint took a deep breath and looked at the moon above him. He could no longer hide the joy in his eyes. He then said, “Fate is really an interesting thing, isn’t it?”
It was also Clint’s first time taking the initiative to speak to Zhang Heng today. However, Zhang Heng did not answer Clint.
Clint seemed unbothered. He then continued, “I have looked down on you. You are more mature than I thought. I have to admit that you are smart enough to choose the right team. You chose the side that is impossible to lose. I almost lost, but the world is unpredictable, isn’t it?”
After that, Clint patted Zhang Heng on the shoulder again. “Let’s go. We are going to get busy tonight,” he said with a laugh.