My Kingdom Building Done Right!
Chapter 250: The Opening Gambit
"They’re coming!"
Castor and Pollux, who were both Captains, received the warning from the squirrels.
Though just as they were about to ring the bell to inform everyone that enemies were attacking, Rasta reached out to stop them.
"Don’t worry," Rasta said. "There are only fifty of them. Let the people sleep. We’re more than enough to handle this. Isn’t that right, Logan? Khan?"
"Right." Logan nodded.
"I can take on those fifty on my own, you know?" Khan sneered.
The two Orcs then glanced at each other before jumping off the thirty-meter-high wall.
Rasta lightly thumped his staff on the ground, activating the wind totems he had erected around the first wall.
In response, the power of wind wrapped itself around Logan and Khan’s bodies, allowing them to land safely with minimal impact.
As soon as their feet touched the ground, both Orcs bolted in opposing directions.
Logan ran to the left, while Khan headed to the right.
High above the mountain peak of Grimjaw Mountain, Astravor eyed the intruders who had entered its domain.
It had planned to intercept them first. But when it saw Logan and Khan already on the move, it decided to just leave the intruders to them before closing its eyes to sleep.
Soon, the sound of trees breaking echoed through the night, alerting Godwin, Hagen, and Malik, who were all still awake.
They glanced at their balconies, trying to see what was happening. Unfortunately, they couldn’t see anything.
Still, they could hear a battle being waged outside the walls.
Logan, who had just crushed the arm of the first intruder he saw, noticed something peculiar.
"This smell..." Logan frowned before ripping the mask that covered the struggling warrior’s face.
He stared at the face of his enemy for a few seconds before crushing their head.
"Undead."
The Orc Champion uttered that single word with great distaste before locking his senses onto his next target.
Khan had also realized what type of enemy he was facing, so he no longer held back and thoroughly crushed them.
His original plan was to capture the warriors and use them as hostages.
And when he realized that they were Undead, the Orc Warlord brushed off that idea. At the same time, he realized that their enemy was more sinister than expected.
The first clash between the Undead and the Orcs ended in less than half an hour.
Jafar had only sent his minions to see how the Aslan Tribe would react, as well as to gather information on how battle-ready their opponents were.
"My Crusher Zombies have been eliminated," Jafar muttered, his voice loud enough for Troy to hear.
"All of them?" Troy asked.
"All of them." Jafar nodded in confirmation.
"That was fast." Troy frowned. "Aren’t they as strong as our Elite Warriors?"
"They are." Jafar clicked his tongue in annoyance. "They shouldn’t have been eliminated this easily."
The other reason why Troy had ordered Jafar to send fifty zombies to infiltrate the forest was the report of the battle between the Bloodtusk Tribe and the Aslan Tribe.
According to that report, the warriors died not during their attempt to break through the fortress’ defenses.
No.
Instead, the majority of deaths was caused by the countless traps planted throughout the forest, preventing the warriors from escaping.
"So we have confirmed that the forest is riddled with traps," Troy stated. "Even your zombies, who are as strong as our Elite Warriors, failed to survive against them. This means that rumors that the Grimjaw Forest is a death trap are true."
"Looks like it." Jafar nodded reluctantly.
"Since that’s the case, you now know what to do next, right?" Troy smirked.
"Indeed." Jafar sneered. "We’ll just have to destroy that forest."
The two would strip away any and all variables that would prevent them from reaching their goal.
They weren’t foolish like the Bloodtusk Tribe, who simply dived headfirst, thinking they could easily trample their opponents.
Troy had always been a cautious commander, and Jafar was a smart strategist. They would minimize the losses of their tribe as much as possible so the spectating tribes would see how powerful they were.
Now that the attacks on their people had stopped, they were finally able to regain a bit of their confidence.
Even their scouting mission earlier had brought them important information, which would allow them to use an effective strategy against their enemy.
With the first exchange ending abruptly, a fleeting peace once again settled across the land.
Both sides knew that the real battle would start in the morning, so they all rested for the time being.
Several hours later, Leone opened his eyes.
He felt well-rested and ready to face the day ahead.
Unfortunately, when he woke up, Yuni and Aria were no longer on his bed.
At first, he thought that what had happened last night was only a dream.
But when he saw the marks that Yuni and Aria had left on his body, he understood that it was reality.
A helpless smile appeared on his face when he remembered the shy and timid Aria doing her best to mark him last night.
Truth be told, she was too innocent to do such a thing.
Yet, Yuni convinced her. With that, she decided to give it a try, leaving three marks on Leone’s body.
One was on the back of his right hand.
The other one was on his chest, just above his heart.
While the last one was on one of Leone’s abs.
As for Yuni, she placed five marks on Leone’s body.
One of them was on his neck, as if to tell everyone that Leone was already taken.
While the young man was reminiscing about what happened last night, the door opened a bit, and soon, Daedalus sneaked inside the room.
"Good morning, Leone," Daedalus greeted. "Nice weather we’re having, eh?"
"You traitor," Leone replied with narrowed eyes.
"Traitor?" Daedalus gasped in an exaggerated manner. "I think you’re mistaken, Your Majesty. I only made a strategic retreat. How could I disrupt the two lionesses who wished to have a private audience with their King?"
Leone knew that talking about what happened last night was futile. With that, he instead asked Daedalus a question.
"Where is Kael?" Leone asked.
"Ah... he is currently laughing somewhere in the fortress, as if he won the grand prize in the Wheel of Fortune," Daedalus replied.
The corner of Leone’s lips twitched because he could already see the smugness of the sly fox who had arranged Yuni and Aria’s Night Visit.
In the end, he could only sigh. Although he didn’t want to admit it, last night was probably the best night of his life.
In short, what was done was done. And frankly, it was a good memory.
"Well then, Your Majesty," Daedalus flew closer. "Did you manage to plant some seeds over some fertile fields last night?"
"No," Leone replied. "I didn’t plant any seeds. Do you think I’ll just play along with Kael’s game?"
"...What?" Daedalus tilted its body. "You didn’t ’JAM’ it in?"
"No," Leone answered. "I didn’t ’JAM’ it in."
"...You disgust me."
"What did you say?"
"Ahem! I mean, what are you waiting for? Rise and shine and prepare to meet with your vassals! There was an attack last night, you know?"
Hearing that an attack had happened last night, Leone immediately asked Daedalus for more details.
When the grimoire mentioned that Logan and Khan had intercepted Undeads, the young man’s face turned solemn.
"The Darkmane Tribe is using Undead?" Leone asked coldly. "Are they not afraid of divine retribution?"
"Looks like it," Daedalus replied.
Leone no longer tarried and swiftly got out of bed.
He washed his face, dressed up, and left his home to head to the ramparts.
The moment he stepped out of the cave, he immediately saw something that made his eyes widen in shock.
Black smoke rose from the forest, and it was heading in their direction.
"Great Chieftain, you came just in time," Ulric said as soon as he noticed that Leone had appeared outside the cave.
"The Darkmane Tribe has started to set the forest on fire. Though it just so happens that the wind is blowing in our direction. It’s too precise to be a coincidence. It seems they plan to smoke us out!"
"Calm down, Ulric," Leone replied as he walked towards the ramparts to get a better view.
The forest was indeed burning, and it was burning in many places.
"Looks like they beat us in using the forest fire strategy against them," Daedalus said while strapped around Leone’s waist.
Leone nodded.
One of the strategies they came up with was to burn the forest as a last resort to annihilate the Darkmane Tribe.
With Daedalus’ ability, they could easily regrow the trees anyway, so burning them down wasn’t a problem.
Leone used a part of his cape to cover his nose and lips because the smoke was getting closer to them.
Suddenly, the wind totems that were on the first wall started to hum.
Rasta had activated the power of wind, sending a strong gust of wind to blow the smoke back in the direction of the Darkmane Tribe.
The Orc Shaman had been part of Leone’s strategy council and had been part of the discussion when they came up with the plan to use a forest fire to burn their enemies.
The wind totems had been erected for that very same plan.
Troy and Jafar originally planned to smoke them out from the mountain, dealing damage to Leone’s fortress, as well as his people.
Little did he know that Leone had also planned to do the same.
"Tell Logan and the Orcs to start cutting off the trees near the wall," Leone ordered. "Ulric, go and help them. It would be a waste to let those trees go to waste."
"Yes, Great Chieftain!" Ulric replied as he then hurried to execute his command.
The Darkmane Tribe’s army had broken camp and retreated to evade the smoke and ashes that were heading in their direction.
On the other hand, the other tribes watched this scene with grim expressions on their faces.
Using any means necessary to defeat your enemy was the true essence of war.
Burning the forest to deal damage to the Aslan Tribe was a good move because it would allow them to have a clearer view of their enemy’s defenses.
This was only the opening gambit in the war, where the two tribes would fight under the watchful gaze of those who wielded power and authority in the Borderlands.
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