Chapter 466: Terror That Lurks In The Darkness

"Have we received any report from our scouts recently?" the Supreme Commander of the Aurelion Army, Magnus Grimholt, asked the Commander of the Blue Wolves, Evander.

"Not yet, My Lord," Evander replied respectfully. "But they should be returning soon."

According to their estimates, they would reach Eden in two days. The barbarian scouts had already pulled back and no longer bothered to track their movements.

"Mmm." Magnus nodded. "Once they return, tell them to report to me at once."

The Aurelion Army was currently taking a short break, recharging before resuming their march.

An army over seventy thousand strong had joined this campaign.

Not only that, but the strongest powerhouse of the Aurelion Empire, the Wind Guardian, had also come with them. The very person who had fought Gundar to a draw.

And since their ally, the Britannian Army, would also join them in this battle, victory was well within their grasp.

"By the way, is there still no news from the side of Britannia?" Magnus asked. "They should be arriving soon."

"None, My Lord," Evander answered. "According to the latest transmission they sent us, the Britannian Army would be delayed. Something had gone wrong during their march. However, they have confirmed that even if their main army doesn’t arrive on time, "he" can be summoned directly."

"Good." Magnus smirked. "With this, the barbarians won’t stand a chance."

A few hours later, the army continued its march. Even so, the scouts they had expected to be back by now were nowhere to be found.

"Evander, send thirty light cavalry riders to scout ahead," Magnus ordered.

"As you command." Evander bowed respectfully before carrying out the order given to him.

The scouts of the Blue Wolves were veterans in their line of work. They had never failed to give their report on time.

And yet, this time, they were uncharacteristically late by more than three hours.

This had never happened before, so Evander couldn’t help but feel slightly concerned about the whereabouts of his men.

Another two hours had passed, and the advance riders sent to check the situation had yet to be back. Although the usual report takes three hours to arrive back to camp, urgent matters should’ve reached them faster. Two hours should’ve been enough.

Evander didn’t know why, but he felt a little concerned about the lack of reports at this crucial time.

Their army was getting close to Eden, and yet, no word from their scouts reached their ears.

Soon, two more hours passed.

It was then that Magnus and Evander knew that something was wrong.

They had ordered the squad they sent out to report after three hours.

Not only did they not send back any report, but they didn’t even appear in the place where they were supposed to meet the army.

"Tell the men to stop the march," Magnus ordered. "Send three parties of Black Hawks and tell them to stick together. They are to observe Eden from the sky and inform us of any abnormalities."

The sun was about to set on the horizon, and soon, darkness would descend upon the land.

The Black Hawks were giant hawks that were exclusively found in a region within the Aurelion Empire.

Similar to the Gryphon Battalion of the Kingdom of Britannia, these hawks made up one of the two Aerial Battalions of the Aurelion Empire.

These hawks could see perfectly during the night, so they were perfect for night scouting, as well as night raids.

Since it was dangerous for the army to march in the darkness, especially when they were this close to Eden, they decided to set up camp for the night.

Now that they had sent the Black Hawks, both Magnus and Evander believed that they could finally get to the bottom of why their men could not make their report in time.

Of course, the two commanders had already prepared themselves for the worst-case scenario, where their scouts had already been killed in action.

After all, the barbarian scouts and their own scouts had engaged in skirmishes during the past few days. It was logical for them to assume that the barbarians must’ve sent more scouts to kill those from the Aurelion Empire.

That night, Magnus and the other commanders of the army all ate dinner inside his tent.

They were already discussing what strategy they would use against the barbarians. All of them wished to conquer Eden with the least sacrifice. Putting that into consideration, Magnus decided to listen to their opinion.

As the conversation began in earnest, they didn’t notice the hours passing by.

However, there were two people who were paying extra attention to the time.

And as more time passed, the more solemn their expressions became.

"Supreme Commander, is there something troubling you?" one of the Commanders asked.

"Oh, I’m just a little tired from all the marching we did today," Magnus replied. "The days are hot, while the nights are cold. I’m already starting to miss my villa back in the empire. Since we will be marching early tomorrow, let’s stop our discussion here for the night and get some rest."

One by one, the commanders bid their goodbyes until only Evander was left.

He, too, left for a while in order to ask his subordinate if any of them saw the members of the Black Hawk who were sent to scout ahead of them.

"I haven’t seen any of them return, My Lord," Evander’s aide reported. "Is there some kind of problem?"

"None," Evander replied. "Carry on. If they return, make sure to inform me at once. I’ll stay with the Supreme Commander for an hour before heading back to my own tent to rest."

After saying those words, Evander returned to Magnus’ tent, which was at the center of their camp.

As soon as he entered, Magnus, the man tasked with leading the Aurelion Army to victory, asked him a question.

"Are there still no signs of them?" Magnus asked.

"None, sir," Evander replied.

Silence descended inside the tent as the two men stared at each other.

Just as Magnus was about to say something, the sound of a bell rang across the entire camp.

"Enemy attack!" one of the watchmen barely shouted before an arrow pierced ?his neck.

The sound of gurgling blood escaped from his lips as he fell headfirst to the ground.

The peaceful camp suddenly devolved into chaos. While everyone was trying to understand what was happening, more soldiers were hit by arrows, which were raining down on them from the darkness of the night.

Beyond the horizon, Otto pulled back the string of his bow and unleashed another arrow.

When the arrow was only hundreds of meters away from the enemy camp, it split into a dozen fire arrows that embedded themselves in the tents, making them catch fire.

After surviving his battle with the Arcane Sniper of the Kingdom of Britannia, Otto decided to ask Leone for a favor.

He asked him to bestow upon him a skill that mimicked the Arcane Sniper’s signature attack, which turned a single arrow into dozens of magical arrows.

Although it paled in comparison to the Vermilion Bird General’s powerful attack, the skill that Leone bestowed on Otto would only grow stronger as his proficiency in using the skill increased.

This skill was called Arcane Multishot.

And since Otto could unleash any kind of elemental arrow he liked, this skill suited him perfectly.

Right now, he could only split a single arrow into a dozen individual attacks after reaching a certain range.

However, it was more than enough to make the enemies think that multiple archers were attacking them from a place they couldn’t see, causing chaos and terror to spread across their entire camp.