My Kingdom Building Done Right!

Chapter 105: An Inevitable End [Part 1]

If they had remained calm and thought things through, would things have ended differently?

That was the question in the mind of the representative of the Ironhide Tribe, Silas, as he and his men huddled together.

Their chieftain had sent three hundred warriors to support the war of the Bloodtusk Tribe, with Silas as their leader.

When they first arrived at the base of the mountain, they had expected to raid and burn the barracks to the ground.

But there were no barracks. Only a wide open space without trees to cover their advancement.

From there, they saw the fortress on the mountain. A fortress that hadn’t been there when he first went to the Aslan Tribe to receive their tribute.

The rain of arrows could have easily been deflected by their shield. That much was true. However, the same couldn’t be said for the giant boulders that were sent flying in their direction. The only thing they could do was retreat.

Had they remained organized and retreated properly, they would have gotten too far for the boulders to reach them.

At least, that could be the case if not for the fact that the ground beneath their feet suddenly gave way, making their warriors fall to their deaths.

Since they couldn’t stop their advance right away, more warriors fell into those pits, creating a chain reaction.

Dozens of Silas’ men fell to their deaths, and he might have followed them if not for the fact that his subordinates had risked their lives to grab hold of him back then.

Seeing that the path that they had taken earlier was no longer possible, the barbarian army tried to find a separate and different route.

But that was where different problems emerged.

If they had only acted calmly, they could have chopped the trees and formed bridges over the pitfall traps, allowing them to pass safely to the other side.

At least, that was his reasoning. Of course, he wasn’t aware that the entire forest that was under Leone’s territory was filled to the brim with pitfall traps.

Even paths that neither had a tree or a muddy environment had traps planted somewhere, only waiting for Daedalus to activate.

The barbarians even thought of letting their horses run ahead of them so they could test if there were traps ahead.

Naturally, the horses passed through the traps without problems, making the barbarians think that the path they chose was safe.

They then followed behind the horses, only to fall to their deaths!

Little did they know that Daedalus didn’t want to kill the innocent horses. After all, it only wanted the lives of the barbarians, not their mounts that did no wrong!

Silas kept thinking things would have ended differently if only the allied tribes remained calm.

But deep inside, he understood that this was only wishful thinking.

Even if they had regrouped and tried to climb the mountain, the fortress was impossible to breach without siege weapons.

It was then that he heard Leone’s condition for safe passage.

For a brief moment, Silas entertained the thought of capturing Ross and presenting him to the Chieftain of the Aslan Tribe.

He simply thought about it. But in reality, this was very hard to do. If they betrayed their allies, no one would trust them again.

"Is anyone here?!" a messenger from the Bloodtusk Tribe shouted as he ran across the forest. "Our chieftain has decided to attack the fortress! All those who wish to participate, please gather!"

Silas thought that Ross was out of his mind. Perhaps Leone’s ultimatum was the final push that forced Ross to take drastic measures!

He had taken a good look at the path that led up the mountain.

Even if they made their way all the way to the top, the high walls of the fortress prevented any means to bypass its defenses.

Unless a miracle were to happen, it was impossible to win. The only thing they would be doing was throwing their lives away!

"Sir, should we follow them?" one of Silas’ subordinates asked.

"If you want to die, then go and follow them." Silas snapped at his subordinate. "All of you who also have a death wish can accompany the Bloodtusk Tribe in their march to the death!"

After being berated by their leader, none of the remaining warriors dared to voice out their opinion again.

Out of the three hundred warriors that came to this war, only a hundred twenty-three remained.

Some died from the pitfall traps, while others died from the traps that the squirrels could activate by simply pulling some strings.

Arrows and spears, as well as logs, would suddenly come flying out of nowhere, which led to the deaths of dozens of their warriors.

The entire forest had become a slaughterhouse, where even a squirrel could kill them if given the chance!

While everyone was lamenting on what to do, the war horns of the Bloodtusk Tribe reached their ears.

Silas glanced at his men before giving them the order to follow him. He was curious on how this battle would unfold while watching it from a safe distance.

As soon as he hid under the cover of the trees, the battle between the Bloodtusk Tribe and the Aslanians finally began.

Over a thousand warriors charged at the base of the mountain while shouting their warcries.

The Aslanians met their resolve with arrows descending from the mountain.

Led by Ross, the barbarians formed their ranks, holding up their shields to block the volley that was raining down on them from above.

"Advance!" Ross commanded as he walked up the path with his shield held high. The rain of arrows eased down a bit, but the attack from the fortress didn’t stop.

This time, the mounted ballistas made their debut, piercing through the shields that the barbarians thought would save them.

The catapults also showed their might, crushing those who were unlucky enough to be hit by the boulders that were being thrown in their direction.

Even so, the Bloodtusk Tribe advanced. Clearly, they were determined to see this through.

However, determination alone would not be enough for them to reach their destination.

A defiant screech from the sky reached their ears as Astravor made its appearance.

Flapping its wings, it hurled wind blades at the barbarians, killing them without mercy.

"Arrows!" Ross ordered. "Kill that beast!"

Those at the front held their shields high, while those at the back raised their bows to take aim.

"Fire!" Ross roared.

Hundreds of arrows flew towards Astravor, but the Gryphon wasn’t fazed by their desperate attack.

With a single, mighty flap of its wings, it created a gust of wind that blew away the arrows headed in its direction, repelling them easily.

It once again unleashed its wind blades, killing as many as it could.

Leone calmly looked down at the barbarians who were making their way up the mountain while being harassed by Astravor.

"Ulric, Plan B," Leone ordered.

"Understood!" Ulric replied

At those words, Daedalus summoned a giant round boulder. It was time for them to use one of their secret weapons.

Since the Barbarians were still at the base of the mountain, Ulric ordered that the stone gates be opened.

He then rolled the giant boulder to the entrance with a sneer plastered on his face.

There was a reason why Leone and Daedalus had made a paved path down the mountain with stone barriers at the side.

It was done that way so that they could roll the giant boulder from their location, letting it gain momentum to crush the barbarians below them!

With a strong push from Ulric, the boulder followed the path down the mountain, rolling down with unstoppable force.

The barbarians who were too focused in attacking Astravor only heard a faint rumbling sound headed in their direction.

By the time they realized what was happening, it was already too late.

The warriors at the front froze in place, their faces twisting in terror as the massive boulder came crashing down upon them.

Ross, who was right behind the vanguard, had also seen the rolling boulder a little too late.

However, out of desperation, he crouched down and raised his shield to protect his body. It wasn’t a fluke that he had survived many life and death battles in his lifetime. If there was even a chance of survival, he would take it without fail.

A few seconds later, the boulder collided with the vanguard of the Bloodtusk Tribe.

The warriors at the front could only scream as their bodies were crushed instantly, bones shattering under the overwhelming force that smashed against them.

Ross also felt the weight of the boulder, as well as the mangled dead bodies that pressed over his shield.

At that moment, the Chieftain of the Bloodtusk Tribe could only pray for a miracle to happen so he could live to see another day again.