My Kingdom Building Done Right!

Chapter 100: Pride Before The Fall [Part 2]

Travis and Ross led the charge alongside their warriors.

Harold of the Ashclaw Tribe, as well as his warriors, were also not far behind.

After following the path for several minutes, they believed they would soon arrive at the Aslan Tribe’s barracks, which their subordinates had mentioned during their strategy meeting.

However, when they arrived at the clearing, they didn’t see any barracks.

However, when the chieftains of the three tribes and their warriors looked up at the mountain, their eyes widened in shock.

It was an unexpected view. A fortress made of stone stood before them, tall and proud.

And on its ramparts, a young man holding a flag fluttering in the breeze looked down at them.

"Hi!" Leone greeted before pointing his banner in their direction. "Bye!"

A second later, hundreds of arrows rained down from the mountain. This was the warm greeting Leone and his people had prepared for those who dared to trespass in their domain!

"Shields!" Ross shouted, raising his own shield to protect his body from the arrows that were about to fall over their heads.

Soon, the sound of arrows bouncing off the shields spread in the surroundings. Though, that wasn’t the only sound that reached their ears.

Screams of pain from the barbarians who were too slow to react echoed across the clearing as well.

Before those who had shields could even breathe a sigh of relief, they saw something massive about to fall into their direction.

Ross and Travis also noticed this and cried out a warning.

""Spread out!""

The two shouted at the same time as they urged their horses to evade.

A few seconds after their warning, a giant slab of rock crushed the warriors who failed to respond in time, ending in a very gruesome death.

"Retreat to the trees!" Ross shouted. "Retreat to the trees! Now!"

The chieftain knew that they needed to regroup because they were caught completely by surprise.

The moment he saw the fortress in the mountain, he realized that the information he received about the Aslan Tribe was wrong!

They were prepared to annihilate a low-ranking tribe.

They hadn’t been prepared to attack a fortress!

Travis also ordered his warriors to retreat because they needed time to compose themselves.

Their panic had blunted their normally sharp perception, so they didn’t notice the rope tied between two trees in front of them. As a result, many horses tripped over them, which flung their riders and sent them crashing to the ground.

Since everyone was in a hurry, those from behind couldn’t stop right away, causing more injuries.

Chaos quickly spread throughout the battlefield.

The one who tied the rope was none other than Blitz, who had waited for this perfect moment to strike!

It was then that Leone’s voice reached their ears.

"You lots are quite rowdy as guests," Leone said in a teasing tone. "Do you really think you can come and go into my territory as you please? Do you not have any manners?"

Leone’s territory now covered a good chunk of the forest at the base of the mountain.

What did that mean?

It meant that he had already anticipated this to happen and had prepared several pitfall traps for his guests in advance!

As the retreating army made their way back to the outskirts, the ground under their feet collapsed all of a sudden.

They felt weightless for a brief moment. Before they knew it, their bodies had been pierced through, their blood dripping down the countless wooden spikes that stabbed them from beneath.

Blood-curdling screams reverberated in the surroundings.

Even the observers of the other tribes heard their screams, making them wonder about the events inside the forest.

At first, they thought it was the members of the Aslan Tribe screaming. However, it didn’t take long for them to realize that something was wrong.

Some of their subordinates had entered the forest earlier, and had now come back to give their report.

"Chief! The Bloodtusk Tribe, the Darkmane Tribe, and all the other tribes are being massacred!

"What?!" Brann gasped. "What’s going on?! What’s happening inside the forest?!"

"T-There was a fortress in the mountain, so they had to retreat because arrows and boulders were raining down on them from above," the warrior reported. "But when they retreated, they were tricked into a pitfall with wooden spikes planted underneath, and they all died!"

In just the span of a few minutes, Leone had already killed hundreds of warriors from the invading tribes.

They had been dancing on the palm of his hands ever since they set foot in the forest.

The very path they had taken earlier had already been hollowed and had been merely covered by a stone foundation covered with dirt!

As soon as Leone made these stone foundations collapse, the warriors on them could only fall to their demise!

"Spread out and don’t follow the trail that leads to the outskirts!" Ross ordered. "Let’s all meet on the other side!"

"Warriors of Darkmane, follow me!" Travis shouted.

Left with no choice, the two groups were forced to separate. They were looking for the safest path that would lead them to safety, so they agreed to just meet outside the forest at a later time.

Since the paths were filled with traps, Travis needed someone to travel ahead of him to ensure that he wouldn’t die a miserable death.

But just as he was thinking of a way to escape the forest, the men in front of him screamed as they and their horses crashed onto the muddy ground.

"Help!" one of the warriors cried out. "It’s quicksand!"

Well, it wasn’t really quicksand but mud that acted like quicksand.

After Leone planted the traps on the trail that led to the barracks, Kael thought that the moment his Master activated his traps, the invaders would no longer use the path where they had come from and would try to spread out in the forest instead.

Because of this, the old shaman worked very hard to create these manmade quicksands, making great use of the power of the Blood River Tyrant.

He had been working on these traps for days, and now, they were proving to be very effective.

Just as the warriors were about to help their comrades, a blood-red serpent rose from the mud behind them and coiled around their bodies.

A second later, it dragged the screaming men down to the depths of the muddy waters, sealing their fates.

Travis’ face turned grim. Right before the monster dragged his men down to the muddy depths, it first glanced in his direction.

That gaze filled with vile contempt and mockery was something that made the young man shudder.

Of course, the Bloodriver Serpent was none other than Kael’s familiar, whom he named Russel.

The muddy traps that its Masters had created were the perfect environment for it to kill the invaders, who now understood that they were not the hunters, but the prey!

It moved around like fish in the water, striking with deadly precision and speed that prevented anyone from reacting on time.

"Young Lord, we need to take a detour!" one of Travis’ guardians stated. "It might take us longer to leave the forest, but it will be safer that way. I refuse to believe they have placed traps over the entire forest!"

Travis nodded in agreement. "Alright! I’ll believe you. Lead the way!"

"Yes, Young Lord!" The warrior then took the lead, but before he could go far, the Bloodriver Serpent lunged from the muddy waters and bit the warrior’s neck, crushing it in a heartbeat.

It then used its tail to send everyone near it flying, including Travis, who had been thrown off his horse and crashed on the ground face first!

"Protect the Young Lord!" The warriors shouted in desperation as they formed ranks around the young man, whose arrogance had long disappeared, instead replaced by a feeling of dread that he was feeling for the very first time in his life.