Chapter 277: War Between Monster And Men [Part 1]
Troy looked in the distance, his expression solemn.
Beyond the horizon, dust clouds rose, taking up the view. Members of the Darkmane Tribe subconsciously tightened their grip on their weapons as if it were their only lifeline.
Frankly, they weren’t wrong.
Had the Aslan Tribe not warned them of the upcoming attack, they might have been taken completely by surprise.
Thanks to them, they had been given a few hours to prepare. They had eaten and made their final preparations for the upcoming battle.
"How many monsters do you think are there, Jafar?" Troy casually asked the shaman by his side.
"Thousands... maybe even tens of thousands," Jafar replied calmly.
"That kid sure knows how to use us." Troy sighed. "He positioned us where we have to take on the brunt of the monster stampede."
"But if you were in his place, would you even bother to give your enemy a fortress and siege weapons so they can defend themselves?" Jafar asked back in a teasing tone.
"As if." Troy scoffed. "I would have left them to rot in the plains and become monster feed."
"Right?" Jafar smirked. "So let’s just count ourselves lucky. If we chose to travel back home after losing this war, we would have become that monster feed. After all, the Bonegnash Tribe will not let any of us live."
"Are they really behind this calamity?" Troy asked.
"No," Jafar shook his head firmly. "However, they are certainly bold enough to negotiate with the Monster King. We should have paid more attention to them back then. We might have underestimated Osteon too much."
Troy nodded in agreement. Their neighbor was also a thorn in their side. But the Bonegnash Tribe held just as much power as the Darkmane Tribe, so Troy and Jafar wanted to avoid an all-out war with them.
Doing so wouldn’t benefit them. On the contrary, it would only weaken the Darkmane Tribe.
Then again, waging war against the Aslan Tribe was also a mistake.
A very big mistake.
From now on, Troy wouldn’t be able to raise his head in front of the other high-ranking chieftains. This stain will forever mar his record.
"Let’s survive this first," Troy stated. "We’ll worry about the rest once we return to Darkmane City. Speaking of which, have you made enough poison during the last few days?"
"Yes," Jafar replied. "If we use them sparingly, we might be able to kill even a horde of monsters. However, we should probably hold off on using it until the Monster King arrives."
"Will we even survive that long?" Troy arched an eyebrow.
Jafar didn’t answer right away. Instead, he gazed at the walls of the Aslan Tribe, watching their banners flutter in the breeze.
They didn’t know since when, but the ramparts seemed fuller now. The banners of the middle and high-ranking tribes had joined the banners of the Aslan Tribe and the Ravage Tribe.
A gesture from Leone symbolizing that they were a united force under this battle.
"I don’t know if we can survive that long," Jafar admitted. "But that kid will certainly not sit by and let his meat shields die without doing anything."
Troy calmly turned around to look at his warriors, who were preparing for battle.
"Sound the war drums!" Troy ordered.
As soon as the order was given, the booming sounds of drums echoed across the fortress.
"""Hooooh!"""
"""Haaaah!"""
"""Hooooh!"""
"""Haaaah!"""
The warriors started their war chant, raising their morale for battle. While they had accepted that they couldn’t defeat the Aslan Tribe, killing monsters was part of their everyday life. There was nothing to fear.
Of course, they understood that their lives were still in great danger. But since they were behind the safety of their fortress’ walls, they believed that they could survive this battle.
"Prepare the Fire Catapults!" Jafar ordered.
The shamans channeled their shamanic magic in response and prepared for battle.
"There are so many flying monsters." One of the Elders frowned. "They will be a problem."
Since the flying monsters were at the lead of the horde, everyone saw them first.
Suddenly, one of the flying monsters, which looked like a Pteranodon, fell from the sky.
A few seconds later, another fell, only to be followed by another.
It didn’t take long for the Darkmane Tribe to figure out who might be the one killing the flying monsters in the distance.
"It’s that damned archer," Troy muttered.
Still, everyone felt relieved. The archer who had made them suffer many sleepless nights in the past was now on their side.
Leone had given Otto the order to ignore the land monsters and to focus on killing the flying ones.
High above the villa of the Orcs, Otto sniped the monsters one by one.
Castor, Pollux, Maximus, and Blitz were surrounding him, serving as his guards.
Even the two old men, Swain and Darius, had volunteered to help load the bolts for Otto after he fired them.
Right now, Otto was their main attacker, so Leone was giving him as much security as possible.
The young man had even asked Astravor to protect Otto from any threats that bypassed their defenses.
The Gryphon, who was now clad in the armor crafted by Daedalus, stared off into the distance.
In the past, it would have fled without a second thought if it saw a horde of monsters charging toward its home.
However, it now had something to protect.
And so, despite knowing there would be monsters that were stronger than it within that horde, the Gryphon stayed, still determined to fight.
It lowered its gaze toward the young man standing atop the fortress walls, a banner firmly gripped in his hand as it fluttered proudly in the wind.
And within that banner, the image of a golden lion roaring toward the heavens could be seen.
A declaration that even if the world itself stood against them, the lion would never bow its head. Instead, it would roar until its very last breath.
In the distance, Leone could see that the Darkmane Tribe had finally unleashed the might of their Fire Catapults.
Soon, explosions boomed in the distance, which could be heard all the way from their own fortress.
"Load the Fireshard Catapults!" Leone ordered.
Everyone did as they were told, loading the round boulders onto the catapults before channeling their shamanic power into the siege weapons that would play an important role in this war.
Leone waited patiently while Daedalus calculated the advance of the monster army.
When the grimoire deemed that the time was right, it gave its Master the signal.
"Fire!" Leone roared.
In response, countless blazing fireballs shot up to the sky.
At the exact moment the monsters appeared near the walls of the fortress of the Darkmane Tribe, dozens of booming explosions shook the ground, sending pillars of flames rising to the sky.
The monsters directly hit by the Fireshard Catapults were annihilated without any form of resistance.
As for the rest, they were seriously injured by the stone shrapnel that flew in every direction.
Although they were shaken and shocked by the sheer destruction they witnessed, a cheer rose from the warriors of the Darkmane Tribe.
Even Troy and Jafar couldn’t help but clench their fists as Leone’s bombardment wiped out hundreds of monsters in an instant.
This displeased the robed man, who was mounted on top of a Wyvern. He glared in the direction of Grimjaw Mountain.
"Attack! That place!" the robed man ordered. "Kill them al—rghh..."
He failed to finish whatever he had to say, as a bloody hole had suddenly appeared on his chest.
Otto didn’t see the man earlier since the latter was at the center of the mass of flying monsters.
But the moment the monsters parted, the other party entered his field of view. How could the Horizon Archer miss the opportunity to go for the kill?
As the man crashed toward the ground with a thud, his corpse was soon crushed by the monsters, who continued to charge toward the mighty walls of the Aslan Tribe.
And within that fortress, Leone’s voice spread far and wide.
"Fire!" Leone ordered.
Another volley of blazing fireballs rained down upon the monster army as if it were the wrath of the heavens.
A hellish scene that would terrorize anyone who witnessed it slowly unfolded within the battlefield.
The Darkmane Tribe’s archers unleashed their attacks, while their Fire Catapults roared repeatedly.
Even Troy had taken up the bow, repeatedly firing one arrow after another.
The war between monsters and men had officially started.
As the final countdown continued to tick between salvation and destruction, Leone stood within the fortress walls.
He could feel it.
A presence that transcended anything he had ever felt before.
Beyond the horizon, at some place his eyes couldn’t see, the Monster King was slowly making its way toward Grimjaw Mountain.
A monster that would put the Aslan Tribe’s defenses to the ultimate test.
Comments