Chapter 282: The Darkmane Tribe’s Last Stand [Part 1]
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[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: 17:21:00 Hours]
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The tolling of bells reverberated within the fortress of the Aslan Tribe.
Troy, as well as everyone else who was staying in the Darkmane Tribe’s fortress, immediately headed to their respective positions in preparation for battle.
"So, the time has finally come," Troy said before taking out a few items from his storage ring.
A bracelet, several rings, a circlet he could wear on his head, a black dagger, and a cape.
These magical artifacts originally belonged to Jafar. And yet, he had given them to Troy before heading to the Aslan Tribe, just so his chieftain could fight to his fullest.
After wearing everything, the Chieftain of the Darkmane Tribe turned around to look at his people.
"Today... is a good day to die," Troy said without mincing his words.
His warriors looked at him with solemn looks on their faces and quietly listened to what their chieftain had to say.
"Perhaps after today, the Darkmane Tribe will cease to exist," Troy stated. "I may not have been the best chieftain in the Borderlands, but I stand here with you today with the intention of fighting until the end."
He then unsheathed his sword from his scabbard and raised it to the sky.
"However, we will not go down without a fight!" Troy roared. "Are you with me?!"
"""Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"""
"We will show them the might of the Darkmane Tribe!" Troy shouted.
"""Darkmane Tribe!"""
"""Darkmane Tribe!"""
"""Darkmane Tribe!"""
Even the black lions roared, proudly saying that they would also fight alongside everyone.
"What are we going to give our enemies?!" Troy asked loudly.
"""Death!"""
"What will they get if they dare face us?!"
"""Death!"""
Troy laughed loudly, his cape fluttering behind him as if the wind itself had rallied to his call.
"Proud warriors of the Darkmane Tribe, let’s all meet again in the heart of the Earth Mother!" Troy declared. "Let everyone in the Borderlands hear our mighty roar!"
"""Darkmane!"""
"Today we live!" Troy roared. "Today we die!"
"""Darkmane!"""
"""Darkmane!"""
"""Darkmane!"""
"Sound the war drums!" Troy ordered as he turned around to face the monster army that had started to stir.
Soon, the booming sounds of war drums spread far and wide.
Friends, acquaintances, and even those who didn’t know each other smiled at each other as they all stood side by side.
Everyone feared death, and yet, their hearts were calm. After all, they knew that they would reunite again in the Earth Mother’s embrace.
The ground began to shake as countless monsters charged toward their fortress. Yet, the warriors of the Darkmane Tribe glared back at them, as if daring them to come.
"Ready the Fire Catapults!" Troy ordered.
One by one, the Fire Catapults lit up. Troy remained calm as he waited for enough enemies to enter the catapults’ attack range before finally giving the order to fire.
"Fire!"
As soon as the words left his lips, the Fire Catapults unleashed their might. Within seconds, powerful explosions spread throughout the surroundings as the bombardment hit the monsters that were heading their way.
Troy sneered before pointing his sword towards the upcoming enemy.
"Archers, aim!" Troy commanded.
Everyone on the ramparts drew their bows and waited until the enemy drew closer.
A thousand meters...
Eight hundred meters...
Six hundred...
When the monsters finally stepped within their attack range, his order once again boomed across the battlefield.
"Open fire!"
Thousands of arrows rained down upon the monsters in response. Some hit their targets, embedding themselves into the monsters’ bodies, while others simply bounced off their tough scales, dealing no damage at all.
When the enemies were only a few hundred meters away from their walls, countless explosions manifested once more.
This time, the Fireshard Catapults of the Aslan Tribe descended from the sky, obliterating all the monsters in their path.
Troy laughed after seeing this destruction unfold while everyone else was continuing to unleash their ranged attacks at the enemies.
A moment later, the fortress walls shook as the Ogre Warlord slammed his body into it, hoping to break it.
However, the walls were very thick and wouldn’t collapse so easily.
Meanwhile, the Harpy Queen screeched and unleashed Wind Blades upon the defenders without mercy.
Because of that, several warriors died without even being able to resist her attacks.
Troy narrowed his eyes as he picked the bow up from a fallen archer by his side before aiming at the Harpy Queen with anger.
His arrow flew straight and true. Yet, the Harpy Queen sneered at it and flew a little higher, just away from the arrow’s reach.
The monster laughed as if mocking Troy for even trying to harm it. However, not even a moment later, a bolt as long as a spear pierced through its chest.
It screeched in pain and tried to pull out the bolt that had been embedded into its chest. But after a futile attempt and a few seconds later, another bolt pierced through its abdomen.
The Harpy Queen screeched a second time as it crashed into the fortress walls.
Otto had managed to land a solid hit on its body twice. However, the two shots weren’t enough to kill it, even with the special ammunition that was forged from Aetherium and Sand Steel meant to kill powerful monsters in consideration.
The Sand Steel had the effect of cutting through even metal if it was forged the right way. Adding Otto’s passive skill that increased the penetrating powers of his shots, even a Rank 6 Monster was not safe from his long-ranged strikes!
The Harpy Queen was trying to pull out the bolt that was still embedded in its chest when Troy and the warriors of the Darkmane Tribe swarmed it with their swords and axes.
Blood soon sprayed from the Harpy Queen’s body as the warriors landed their attacks.
However, the Harpy Queen fought back, killing three warriors with its claws.
Soon enough, Troy’s sword embedded itself into the Harpy Queen’s neck.
His attack hadn’t managed to slice its head off with one swing. Yet, the sword still managed to cut through a third of its neck.
"How unfortunate." Troy sneered as he pulled back his sword. "It seems that you’re not meant to die a swift death!"
The sword blade was coated with the extremely potent poison Jafar had created as a trump card.
It rapidly corrupted the Harpy Queen’s neck, turning the skin purple. Blood continued to spray out of its neck, but Troy knew that this was not enough to kill it.
The Harpy Queen made a gurgling screech as it tried to fly back into the sky. But how could Troy and his warriors possibly let that happen?
The warriors grabbed onto the bolt still sticking out of the monster’s body, preventing it from taking flight.
Then, Troy’s sword flashed once more, hitting the same spot he had tried to cut off earlier.
This time, the blade embedded itself into more than half of the Harpy Queen’s neck, making blood spray out stronger than before.
"Haaaaaaaaaaaah!" Troy swung his blade a third time.
This time, the Harpy Queen’s head was sliced off from its body and rolled on the ground.
The blood from its headless torso sprayed upwards, dyeing Troy and the warriors with its monster blood.
Once again, the Chieftain of the Darkmane Tribe laughed as the battle around him raged on.
This time, the monsters didn’t head to Grimjaw Mountain. Instead, they focused all of their attacks on Troy’s fortress with the intention of destroying it first.
The walls shook as the Black-Scaled Basilisk and the Ogre Warlord rammed their bodies into it with the intention of breaking the fortress walls down.
Yet, the walls held firm.
In fact, the damage it received never lasted long as the wall repaired rapidly.
Leone had ordered Daedalus to automatically repair the fortress of the Darkmane Tribe, allowing them to hold on for as long as they could.
Seeing their attacks fail to make any dent on the fortress walls, the Black-Scaled Basilisk decided to climb up the walls and started a massacre.
Soon, roars from the Darkmane Lions reached Troy’s ears.
He turned around and saw four of them clashing with the Black-Scaled Basilisk, holding it down and biting its body.
The Basilisk was a Rank 6 Monster, while the Darkmane Lions were Rank 5 Monsters.
It was then that Troy saw it.
The Bronze Dragon descended from the sky and unleashed a powerful Dragon’s roar.
Its roar had paralyzed all the warriors, rendering them all helpless. Troy managed to resist it for a while, but his legs felt as if they had turned into jelly.
Because of this, the Black-Scaled Basilisk managed to break free from the Darkmanes who had pinned it down and lunged towards Troy.
Earlier, the cloaked members of the Bonegnash Tribe had pointed him out as the person who must be killed at all costs.
Though, just as Troy was feeling helpless, a lion’s roar reverberated throughout the surroundings.
In response, the paralysis that the warriors of the Darkmane Tribe experienced disappeared without a trace.
Troy roared as he raised his sword to face the monster that had marked him as its prey.
However, a second later, something flew above the Basilisk’s head and pinned it down, forcing it to crash into the hard ground below.
Seeing who had come to his rescue, Troy laughed once more.
The Guardian of the Darkmane Tribe, the Manticore, had come, sinking its fangs into the neck of the Basilisk and drawing black blood from its body.
Its presence was enough for the warriors of the Darkmane Tribe to start cheering.
Though, instead of going for the kill, the Manticore hurled the Basilisk over the wall of the fortress, making it crash against the Ogre Warlord, who was still busy trying to bash the walls wide open.
Soon, the two monsters collided, forcing the Ogre to collapse on the ground.
The Manticore then raised its head toward the heavens and uttered another mighty roar.
It was as if it was telling the Darkmane Tribe to fight bravely because it would fight alongside them.
With the appearance of their Guardian, the Darkmane Tribe fought with renewed vigor.
But it was then that it happened.
Just as the Manticore was fighting in the air, dealing with the flying monsters, the Bronze Dragon unleashed its breath attack, blasting the Guardian of the Darkmane Tribe toward the ground, turning the interior of the fortress into a blazing hell.
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