Chapter 487: The King Without A Crown

Leone carefully listened to the revised strategy for the upcoming war.

The more he listened, the more he found the new plan viable. The only downside to it was that the death toll would be higher than Daedalus’ estimation.

"We are barbarians. This is the way we fight."

At those words, Leone caved in. They were right. And he shouldn’t deny the barbarians their identities.

Even without a crown, they now recognized him as their King. And as their King, he must not forget their identities.

The barbarians were a brave and proud race.

But they were not stupid.

If they were, then the Aurelion Empire and the Kingdom of Britannia would have already conquered them long ago.

And now that they were fighting to reclaim their Holy Land, they wished to fight. Not only to honor Leone and their tribes, but also to honor the brave warriors who had come before them.

"Very well," Leone said after serious consideration. "We will use this plan to reclaim Eden."

After hearing his decision, everyone felt as if a burden had been lifted off their shoulders.

Even Gundar smiled faintly, proud to see Leone leading the tribes.

"We move in two days," Leone declared. "By then, I want everyone to be in peak condition. Maintain your weapons and armor. On the day the war starts, all of us here and those in Aslan City will make an offering to the Earth Mother. I promise you as your Great Chieftain that we will reclaim Eden.

"We will make the Aurelion Empire regret the day they dared to step into our lands and covet what doesn’t belong to them."

Seeing the young man’s determined gaze, everyone felt Leone was finally acting like the Great Chieftain of the tribes.

His voice was firm, while his pose exuded confidence.

But most of all, he looked human, just like them.

Even Hagen, who had been a thorn in his side, looked at him with expectations.

The meeting continued for three more hours as they discussed the logistics and the positioning of their army.

Since they would be charging straight toward Eden after its collapse, Gundar, Lord Azar, and Astravor would be charging alongside them.

When Leone finally exited the conference room, a screech reached his ears.

Looking to the northeast, he saw hundreds of black specks in the sky.

The one at the lead was the Royal Gryphon, Zephira. On her back was the Commander of the Gryphon Battalion, Dominic.

Clad in armor and weapons that were mass-produced by Daedalus, they looked more imposing than they did when they were with the Britannian Army.

They circled around the fortress twice before landing on the ground.

"All of you are looking good," Leone said with a smile.

Dominic and the other Gryphon Riders dismounted from their mounts as they bowed respectfully to their new Liege Lord.

While their loyalty to him wasn’t as strong as their loyalty to the Kingdom of Britannia, they had to admit that they were treated extremely well by Leone and the members of the Aslan Tribe.

Boris, who saw the Gryphons, was about to say hello. But then, Astravor stepped on its tail, preventing the Drake Sovereign from causing trouble for everyone.

Boris complained, but Astravor only shook its head, telling it to behave so they wouldn’t disturb the important discussion between Leone and the Gryphon Riders.

In the end, Boris decided to shift its attention to the pitiful Flying Tiger, who had now become its "hug pillow" at night.

Accepting its fate, the tiger plopped down on the ground dramatically, making the other monsters like the Pteranodons look at it with pity.

Boris didn’t know what these other monsters were thinking. Instead, it simply grabbed the Flying Tiger and gave it a hug.

Feeling satisfied, it lay down on the ground and decided to take a short nap until Leone finished his talks with the Gryphon Battalion.

The young chieftain invited Dominic and his men to discuss the strategy that the barbarians had come up with.

"Your job will be to intercept the Red Hawks and the Black Hawks of the Aurelion Army," Leone stated. "These Giant Hawks will be faster than the Gryphons, but they lack their maneuverability. Do any of you have experience fighting Hawk Riders?"

"None," Dominic answered. "The Barbarians and the Beastkins use Giant Eagles. As for the Radiant Empire... They use Pegasi and Wyverns in aerial combat."

"Giant Eagles?" Leone pondered. "I think that’s close enough. Eagles are stronger than hawks, right?"

"Not necessarily," Dominic replied. "I haven’t fought the Giant Hawks before, but I believe their speed and combat ability will be close to, if not equal to, that of the Giant Eagles."

Leone nodded in understanding. He wasn’t an expert in aerial combat, so he would have to leave it to the pros like Dominic and his men.

Finally, two days later, the barbarians started their march to their Holy Land, Eden.

The Gryphon Battalion, accompanied by Astravor and Lord Azar, acted as the scouts of the united Barbarian Army.

Even from the sky, Dominic had to admit that this was an army that could threaten even the Kingdom of Britannia.

This was especially true after meeting Leone.

While the young chieftain wasn’t a strong warrior in his eyes, he was not narrow-minded.

Not to mention, Leone was humble enough to delegate important tasks to people who fit the requirements. All the chieftains of the Borderlands also acknowledged the young man as their Great Chieftain. Getting in that position couldn’t have been easy, so Dominic respected him more.

To this day, he still couldn’t believe that a teenager who had been exiled from the Kingdom of Britannia didn’t die on the first day he was sent to the Borderlands. The teenager even thrived and became a figure akin to a legend that bards would sing across the entire continent.

Still, Dominic had a premonition that made his body shudder.

If Leone truly won this war and earned his title as the Barbarian King of the Borderlands, would he shift his attention back to the Kingdom that exiled him?

The Gryphon Battalion didn’t dare to think what would happen next if that really came to pass.

For now, he wanted to see what other tricks Leone had up his sleeve.

He also wanted to confirm if the promise that the young chieftain had made to them, that he wouldn’t use them as cannon fodder, would be upheld during this war.

’Now show me,’ Dominic thought as he subconsciously gripped the reins of his Gryphon tighter. ’Show me that you deserve to be called the Barbarian King.’

Leone, who was at the center of the formation and rode on Arion’s back, had no idea what Dominic was thinking as the Commander observed him from the sky.

Instead, the young man’s mind was focused on the task at hand, as well as the battle that they would be facing next.

Right beside him, his vassals spread out in a protective formation, ensuring no harm would come to their King.

A few days from now, the long-awaited battle between them and the Aurelion Army would finally come to pass.

And in this battle, Leone would experience what it was like to truly lead the barbarians, letting him understand that, sometimes, even a well-thought-out plan wouldn’t go exactly as planned.