My Kingdom Building Done Right!

Troy and his army left the Darkmane Tribe four days ago and had been traveling since then.

An army march with thousands of people wasn’t easy to manage. Fortunately, they managed to cover a decent distance every day.

A few miles away from them, Arion hovered high above the sky, paying close attention to their progress.

They already caught up to Troy and his army a day ago while keeping watch for possible messengers from the burnt city of the Darkmane Tribe.

For their mission to be a success, news of their arson mustn’t reach Troy’s ears lest their army retreat. That wouldn’t be a favorable outcome, so they were waiting for the army to travel far enough before making a move.

"Looks like the Darkmane Tribe has stopped sending any more messengers to reach out to them," Hassan said from within Blitz’s shadow.

"We can’t rule out the possibility. Still, I think it’s about time we execute our next mission," Otto said.

"Very well," Hassan agreed. "They will soon stop for lunch. Let’s get started with our plan after they finish eating."

"Oh?" Otto chuckled. "And here I thought we were going to attack them while they’re vulnerable."

"Where’s the fun in that? As merciful people, we ought to let them eat before we send them to the afterlife. Don’t you think?" Hassan commented.

*Squeak!* Blitz agreed with Hassan’s statement.

"Indeed." Otto nodded. "That was so narrow-minded of me. Well then. Should we have our own lunch somewhere?"

*Squeak!*

"Good." Otto lightly patted Arion’s neck. "Let’s take a break, Arion."

The Pegasus nodded and landed a safe distance away from the rear of the Darkmane Tribe’s army.

Even while taking a break, they planned to monitor them and see if messengers would suddenly appear from the direction of Darkmane City, which had been razed down by both Hassan and Blitz.

An hour later, the four finally stopped eating.

"It’s my time to shine," Otto said. "Cover the rear just in case."

*Squeak!*

"Good."

For safety reasons, Blitz and Hassan would continue to monitor the rear of the formation to intercept messengers from not only the Darkmane Tribe but also from the other tribes.

The survivors might ask for help from nearby tribes, like the Bonegnash Tribe, and ask them to inform Troy about what had happened to their city.

To guard against that possibility, Leone’s advance vanguard not only monitored the ground, but also the sky.

Arion flew high where no naked eye could reach, making sure no one would notice them from the ground.

They planned to fly past the Darkmane Tribe and lay an ambush in a favorable location.

The second phase of their plan was to instill fear and anxiety in the warriors of the Darkmane Tribe.

And how would they do that? It was fairly simple.

Otto would snipe them from afar.

Not knowing what or who was targeting them would put the army into a panic.

And no one, except Otto, would be able to pull it off among Leone’s vassals.

A few hours later, just before the sun was about to set, Troy raised the window of his carriage and ordered one of his warriors to pass his message to the rest of the army.

"We will set up camp here for the night," Troy declared.

The messenger bowed and left before shouting Troy’s order, relaying it to the entire army.

His personal guards immediately prepared to set up a tent for their chieftain so that he could rest for the night.

Though when the Chieftain of the Darkmane Tribe stepped down from the carriage, he heard a faint whistling sound.

A moment later, a loud crack reached his escort team, followed by Troy collapsing on the ground.

It was then that they saw an arrowhead bounce off their chieftain’s body, making them understand what had just happened.

"Assassin!" one of the escort warriors shouted. "Protect the Chieftain!"

The escorts immediately raised their shields, surrounding their fallen chieftain. On the other hand, Jafar hastily cast a barrier before checking on Troy’s condition.

"Chieftain, are you alright?!" Jafar asked.

"Yes," Troy replied, his voice a little shaken.

He then looked at his pendant, which had three red gems embedded. Right now, one of those gems had cracked, making Troy’s expression turn grim.

The pendant was one of his life-saving artifacts. It allowed him to survive three attacks that landed on his body, regardless of what they were.

The fact that it had cracked meant that he could’ve been severely injured just now, and the thought of it made him clench his fists in anger.

However, just before he could regain his composure, a scream echoed within the army’s ranks.

One of the soldiers had an arrow sticking out of one of his eye sockets, causing him to scream out in pain.

A few seconds later, more arrows pierced through the bodies of other warriors, prompting them to raise their shields or take cover behind their wagons in response.

"To the carriage!" Troy ordered. "Hurry!"

Still shaken from the sudden assassination attempt, he immediately ordered his people to take him back to his carriage, where it was safe.

While this was happening, more arrows found their targets.

Some of the arrows hit the necks of the warriors, while others landed on the exposed parts of their bodies that weren’t protected by armor.

Otto didn’t really care if those hit by his arrows lived or died.

After all, the purpose of his attack was to instill fear in the Darkmane Tribe’s army. To make them understand that there was a sniper who could snipe them from a distance they couldn’t perceive.

Thanks to his actions, Troy, Jafar, and his sons had taken shelter on the carriage, while Ivan gave everyone the orders to either form a shield wall or take cover in places that would protect them from the arrows that were coming from their right.

Otto shot exactly a hundred arrows before asking Arion to fly away in order to change location.

He didn’t even need to aim properly because the Darkmane Tribe’s army was densely packed.

Even if his arrow missed his original target, it would still hit someone else, so he chose to pursue speed over accuracy.

This was the true terror a Horizon Archer could bring to the battlefield. He could kill his targets before they knew what hit them.

Earlier, he had targeted Troy’s shoulder instead of targeting his vital points. In other words, even if he didn’t have any life-saving artifacts, the Chieftain of the Darkmane Tribe would survive.

Leone gave Otto a strict order not to kill Troy because it might cause the Darkmane Tribe’s chain of command to collapse.

If Troy was going to die, he could only do so after his army reached Grimjaw Mountain.

That was the only way Leone could fully show everyone the might of the Aslan Tribe.

Otto couldn’t help but feel an adrenaline rush after managing to land a hit on the Chieftain of the Darkmane Tribe.

He had long marveled at the power that was granted to him by his Great Chieftain. Even Leone felt that Otto’s ability to snipe from great distances was overpowered.

If the young man had granted him a more powerful bow and deadlier ammunition, Otto would have become unstoppable on the battlefield.

However, Daedalus made sure to remind Otto that he wasn’t invincible.

——————

"This is not the first time I’ve seen someone wield the same powers as you, Otto," Daedalus said in a serious tone. "They thought they could not be killed because of it. But, just like your ability, there are other abilities that share the same effect.

"When you meet someone like that in the future, I guarantee you that you will meet your own death, just like the ones you have killed on the battlefield. So, remember to never let your guard down."

——————

Remembering the grimoire’s warning, Otto’s face turned solemn.

Daedalus was right.

He was fighting against a high-ranking tribe, which had a roster of elite warriors as strong as Hassan.

There was also the shaman, Jafar.

While the chance was low, the shaman might have an ability to attack him from a great distance, or perhaps cast a curse on him even when Jafar couldn’t see him.

"I was too overconfident," Otto muttered as he nocked another arrow on his bow once he arrived at his new sniping location. "This time, I will no longer lower my guard."

Pulling the string, the Horizon Archer pierced the neck of another warrior, who didn’t expect to be shot in the back by an arrow.

Then again, Otto’s reign of terror had just begun.

He would make sure that before the Darkmane Tribe arrived at Grimjaw Mountain, they would be living their lives under great pressure, wondering if the next person who would die from an arrowhead would be them.