Chapter 270: The Greatest Threat At The Beginning Of The Siege
Yuni looked at the sleeping young man beside her with a tender gaze.
She took her moment to appreciate Leone’s peaceful expression, a sight no one could usually see on full display. It made her feel warm. The fact that he was willing to show it to her was a statement of his love and trust for her.
Last night, she finally met his mother. And she had to admit that Helen was one of the most beautiful women that she had seen in her life.
It went without saying that Leone’s good looks must’ve been inherited from her. However, compared to her sharp gaze and bold personality, her son was the complete opposite.
But Yuni didn’t dislike that.
When she first met Leone, she didn’t think much of him because he was weak.
Still, even though he had been weak, Leone wasn’t a coward.
After all, a coward wouldn’t fight against a Gryphon.
A coward wouldn’t have stood up against the bullying of the middle and high-ranking tribes.
And most of all, a coward wouldn’t dare call her... his woman.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that aside from Daedalus, no one else paid more attention to Leone in the Aslan Tribe than Yuni.
To be honest, when Leone first called her his woman, she felt her heart skip a beat.
Because of her, Leone now had blood in his hands.
Because of her, Leone waged war against the Bloodtusk Tribe.
And now, this weak yet brave man was sleeping peacefully in her embrace.
Unable to control her feelings, Yuni kissed the top of Leone’s head and held him a little tighter. The young man stirred in response, but he didn’t wake up.
His soft sleeper breaths slowly returned to their steady rhythm, which also helped calm her heart.
Half an hour later, Leone finally opened his eyes.
Yuni watched with amusement as the half-asleep young man looked at her in confusion.
Perhaps he had forgotten that she had stayed with him during the night. Though, when Leone’s sleepiness finally washed away, he greeted Yuni a good morning and kissed her on the cheek.
"Good morning," Leone said.
"Good morning," Yuni replied.
"Aren’t you going to get up?" Yuni asked.
"Just five more minutes," Leone said before wrapping his arms around Yuni, pulling her closer to him. "I’ll get out of bed after five minutes."
"Okay." Yuni didn’t resist and also wrapped her arms around him.
The two of them then shared a few quick pecks on the lips before holding each other tenderly.
Five minutes later...
Leone reluctantly pulled back and propped himself up to a sitting position. He then did a few light stretches before heading to the washroom to wash his face.
Yuni did the same. Then, one thing led to another. Before the two of them knew it, they were already taking a bath together.
When Leone finally stepped out of the bathroom, a smug smile was plastered on his face.
’I might get used to this,’ Leone thought as he handed Yuni a bath towel so that she could dry herself off.
Leone was also drying himself, but his gaze couldn’t help but linger on her well-toned body, which also had the right amount of curves.
Yuni didn’t pay too much attention to Leone since he had already seen everything about her.
Then again, she had already seen everything about him.
Although they still hadn’t taken that last step in their relationship, it was only a matter of time before they became joined at the hip.
Yuni helped Leone dress up first before she wore her own clothes.
When they left the house together, they found Kael, Hassan, and Daedalus beside the great campfire, where the first-generation Aslan Tribe members used to cook their food.
"Good morning, Great Chieftain," Kael said with a smile that screamed ’I know what you did last summer’.
"Good morning, Young Master," Hassan greeted.
"Good morning, Leone. Yuni," Daedalus greeted before sending Leone a telepathic message, asking if he had watered the fertile fields last night.
"No," Leone replied.
"Pathetic."
"What did you say?"
"I mean... Welp! Better luck next time!"
The grimoire could only shake its body helplessly, hoping that its Master would man up one of these days.
Still, seeing that he seemed to be in a good mood, Daedalus understood that Leone had made some progress in his relationship with Yuni.
Kael wished to tease his Great Chieftain, but eventually decided to hold back for a while. Although he understood that Leone’s feelings toward Aria were that of a little sister instead of a lover, he believed that feelings could change with time.
Plus, if it didn’t change, then he would just casually put a few drops of aphrodisiac in Leone’s food and drinks.
Kael had nothing to fear in that regard. After all, he had already gotten permission from Leone’s mother!
"Did anything unusual happen last night?" Leone asked. "Did the Darkmane Tribe make any move?"
"They are focusing all their attention on their preparation for the monster stampede," Daedalus reported. "So far, they aren’t scheming anything against you. However, I don’t plan to lower my guard. I’ll make sure to monitor Troy and Jafar properly."
"Good," Leone replied. "We can’t lower our guard in front of those people."
He then shifted his attention toward Yuni, who started to eat freshly baked bread with butter.
The butter she was using was something Leone had bought from the Arcane Shop in bulk, an instant hit for the members of the Aslan Tribe who loved to eat bread.
When they finished eating breakfast, Leone asked Yuni about the current situation of the monster stampede.
"I asked Rio to prioritize its safety, so I failed to get a clear view of what happened," Yuni replied. "However, from what I saw, I could tell that the Grimfang Tribe’s camp has been completely razed to the ground."
Yuni had also scouted the camp of the three middle-ranked tribes beforehand to check if they had already evacuated.
Fortunately, they listened to their Chieftains’ orders because no one was left behind in their camps.
"How long do you think it will take them to get here?" Leone asked.
"Two at the fastest," Yuni answered without hesitation. "But if we’re lucky, maybe three?"
Her estimate coincided with the timer on Leone’s latest mission.
—————
[Territory Mission 2]
[Requirements to upgrade to Rank 3: 1/10]
[Second Mission: Defend Aslan Soleil For Seven Days!]
[Difficulty Rating: Hell Mode]
[Remaining Defense Time: 71:43:00 Hours]
—————
"Today, we will test the Fire Catapults that Daedalus has built," Leone said to his vassals, whom he had all called out to join them for breakfast.
"I will also modify our repeating crossbows and ballistas using the blueprint I made from the Fire Catapults, as well as the forging process I learned from the Sandreaver Tribe. With the Sand Steel and the Aetherium Ore that we mined, we will be able to make more powerful siege weapons.
"Since our people will be using them for the first time, it will be best for us to run some live tests. That way, we’ll at least know their attack range."
"Right." Leone nodded. "We need to know how far and how high up we can shoot against the flying monsters."
Although their walls would be able to hold out against the monsters on land, the flying monsters could easily bypass their high walls and attack them directly.
Leone was also worried about any flying monsters that would be stronger than Astravor. If that really happened, then the Gryphon would be in danger when the aerial battle started.
"Young Master and Daedalus, the Mistress plans to give both of you a gift," Hassan said with a smile. "When I summon my subordinates here, they will also bring blueprints of the armors and weapons that are being secretly developed by the Kingdom of Britannia."
"Really?!" Daedalus looked overjoyed after hearing that it could get its hands on some blueprints.
If Leone had plenty of BP, then they would have no trouble buying as many blueprints as they could.
However, since they were saving the BP for emergencies during the war, having free blueprints was definitely a godsend.
"Look forward to it," Hassan stated.
Leone nodded back in satisfaction. After all, those blueprints would undoubtedly shorten the amount of research and experimentation that Daedalus needed to perform.
More importantly, it would allow them to strengthen the Aslan Tribe before the monster stampede’s arrival.
Soon, his gaze swept across everyone gathered around the campfire. Each of them wore determined expressions, fully aware that there was no room for mistakes.
Once the stampede reached the Aslan Tribe, there would no longer be time to fix any flaws in their defenses.
"Let’s go," Leone ordered. "Today, we’ll transform this fortress into a place even monsters would fear to approach."
He and Daedalus had already made plans to create more platforms for the repeating crossbows and ballistas. They were their trump cards against the flying monsters that would approach their domain.
Aside from that, Leone also planned to talk with the shamans of each tribe.
He would ask them to help create formations that would disrupt the enemy’s movements or hinder the flying monsters from fighting normally.
Everyone agreed that the flying monsters were the greatest threat at the beginning of the siege.
If these monsters attacked the defenders behind the mighty walls of the Aslan Tribe and succeeded... then it would only be a matter of time before their walls fell.
And when that time came, the Aslan Tribe would face a crisis they had never faced before, something Leone and his vassals didn’t want to see happen in reality.
