After hearing what the two said, the faces of the surrounding soldiers suddenly changed, and they were somewhat at a loss.

Pericles in the tent also heard it.

He suddenly became angry and walked out angrily.

You two roughnecks are nothing more than mercenary leaders! You don't even bother to show respect to me, the Athenian archon, and you dare to incite the soldiers to desertion in public?

How can I lead my soldiers if I don’t kill one to warn the rest?

"Capture them both and execute them on the spot!"

With this in mind, Pericles pointed at the two of them and issued a military order.

Upon hearing the consul's words, the guards immediately rushed forward.

Although the two mercenary leaders were strong, they were outnumbered and could only resist a few times before being chopped down and killed.

This scene shocked all the mercenaries around.

Although no one openly supported the two men out of fear of the Athenian guards' fighting power, everyone silently exchanged thoughts with each other through their eyes.

An abnormal atmosphere spread in the military camp.

"Not right! Archon, you're going too far. This will incite a mutiny! Let's leave!"

Sensing something was wrong, Cleisthenes rushed into the tent and gave Pericles some advice.

"If you continue to exaggerate, you will end up like them!" Pericles said angrily.

At first, Pericles had no intention of killing anyone, but he got really angry when he heard the two men inciting him in public.

Unexpectedly, when the two were killed, their direct subordinates did not stand up to support them.

This made Pericles feel that his authority as the archon of Athens could still play a role.

Pericles certainly did not listen to Cleisthenes' advice at this moment.

If Cleisthenes hadn't been his old partner, and hadn't been diligent and dedicated to Athens and himself as an archon for so many years, Pericles would have dealt with him long ago for being so tactless!

Realizing that Pericles had gone insane, Cleisthenes dared not say anything and could only withdraw silently.

Then, he hurried back to the camp to pack up his things and left through the south gate of the camp with his direct subordinates.

When he arrived outside the south gate, Cleisthenes was surprised to see that Seleucus was also planning to leave with a group of people.

The two of them looked at each other with their own thoughts in mind, neither of them spoke. Then they each chose a different path and went their separate ways.

At night.

With the arrival of two million mercenaries as reinforcements, the proportion of mercenaries in the entire Tino Alliance camp has exceeded 70%!

The number of troops directly under Athens was less than 10%.

The news that the two petition leaders were killed during the day also spread to all mercenary groups.

The surging undercurrent soon turned into a huge wave.

Just after midnight, many mercenaries, armed with weapons, headed towards Pericles' tent.

Awakened by the sounds of fighting and crying, Pericles was furious, thinking that Achilles had come to raid the camp.

He didn't even wear armor, but simply opened the tent and walked out, intending to reprimand his subordinates for their poor performance on night duty.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he walked outside, Pericles made a surprising discovery.

Those fighting with the Athenian guards on all sides were not Stoic soldiers, but the mercenaries they hired.

This was such a shock that Pericles was stunned on the spot.

He didn't come to his senses until he heard someone shouting.

"Look! The old guy Pericles is coming out! Everyone, shoot him! Shoot this bastard to death!" a mercenary shouted.

Upon hearing this, Pericles thought to himself that something was wrong and turned around to hide back in the tent to put on his armor.

However, it was too late!

Dozens of sharp arrows were coming from all directions.

Vision was obstructed in the darkness, and even if Pericles had three heads and six arms, he would not be able to avoid them all.

In just a moment, he was struck by at least seven arrows. Without even a grunt, he fell to the ground, dead.

Seeing that the consul was dead, the Athenian guards lost their fighting spirit.

They all chose to escape, and no one was willing to fight to the death with the mercenaries.

Wait until the next morning.

There were only three million mercenaries left in the military camp of the Tino Alliance, which was supposed to be home to five million troops.

The armies of the Tyrrhenian League, including the Athenian legions, had all fled.

Without any hesitation, the mercenaries immediately nominated several people to negotiate with Commander Stoby.

He also told the Stoic army directly that the Tetian alliance had been defeated and the Athenian archon Pericles had been killed.

Even if Achilles and others had foreseen this, they could not have imagined that the situation would change so quickly.

They sent people to the mercenary camp with half belief and half doubt, and confirmed everything.

Achilles and others suddenly realized a huge opportunity - the opportunity to go south and erode the Tinos Alliance!

After discussing it, they decided to do it first and talk about it later.

The Prime Minister immediately took out the 50 million gold coins that had been brought with his reinforcements to pay the mercenaries, instructing them to turn south and attack Thermopylae, the northern fortress of the Tyrrhenian League.

Seeing that Stoby was so generous and gave out much more gold coins than Pericles promised, the mercenaries were very satisfied.

Since they had already fallen out with the Tino Alliance, the mercenary groups were happy to accept Stoby's employment instead.

As long as the Teneinian League could be defeated, Athens would not dare to pursue the mercenaries for the crime of murdering the Athenian archon.

With Stobi's backing, the mercenaries were willing to go for it even if the pay was less than what Athens had promised. They were also willing to face future risks.

Having just passed through Thermopylae, the mercenaries were extremely familiar with the terrain of Thermopylae.

All the famous leaders offered the same advice to Achilles.

They did not remember that there was not only one road to Thermopylae. There was also a less traveled path in the mountains beside the pass.

As long as the army passed through there, they could attack Thermopylae from both sides, rendering this famous pass useless.

Achilles was overjoyed to hear such a secret.

Anyway, there was no need for the Stobi soldiers to take risks. He immediately agreed to the proposal of the mercenary leaders and let them decide for themselves how to capture Thermopylae by any feasible means.

Within three days, good news arrived.

The mercenaries successfully bypassed Thermopylae through a small path and opened up the last defensive pass of the Tino Alliance.

More than four million mercenaries, like a flood, passed through Thermopylae and entered the heart of the Tyrrhenian League.

In order to whitewash the crime of murdering the Athenian archon, they fought even harder than when they had fought for the Tetian League.

For a time, Boeotia and many small countries, which were the first to be hit, were caught off guard and could not organize any effective resistance.

The situation on the land front is very good.

At the same time, the Stoby headquarters legion was certainly not idle either.

After knowing Pericles' death, Athens would fall into chaos in the short term.

Achilles immediately borrowed Troy's fleet, transported nearly a million elite Trojan troops across the sea, landed on the Euboean Islands, and occupied the core territory of Eubia.

It is across the sea from the Athenian territory and can threaten the famous city of Marathon from the sea.