Chapter 373 - The Stronghold
As for the frontline, he and his flying monster squad did a great job tangling with them. Despite the great disparity in numbers, some were killed by his extermination arrows, some were shot down by normal arrows, and most were killed by his fire, Sara's wind attacks, and his dragons brutal attacks.
"Summon other clones as well," he ordered, and the next moment two dragons appeared in front of him. The number was small, yet their addition helped in accelerating things.
As for the ground team, they were already on the winning grounds. The start of the fight seemed stalled for hours before the arrows Arthur launched kept wrecking havoc and decreasing the numbers of his enemies.
The enemy lost many reinforcements, making the front line quiver and in time it started to fall.
And Jack leading the others pressed forward with all their might.
They were winning, and despite all the efforts the Trifle's army leaders tried; they couldn't stop or even decrease their momentum.
Either on air or ground; they kept pressing forward with nothing to stop them.
The battle took six hours to conclude. Despite there being no population behind, yet Arthur knew he had cleared a lot of hurdles to gain more.
Plus if there was any town for the clan here, it would be easy to conquer it.
"Do you know if there is a base for the Trifle clan here?" he asked Jack while turning back to humans. His army got used already to his tactic; they didn't need any instructions to go back to the portals they came from.
Through this fight they lose over a hundred thousand warriors, yet they killed folds of that for the enemy.
"There is a big stronghold to the west of here," Jack pointed to a certain direction, "this army must hail from there."
"A stronghold? A town or cluster of towns you mean?" Arthur wasn't that familiar with that term. "Do you mean a castle?"
"It's a larger form of a castle, with many towns and villages being grouped under the protection of long walls and strong defenses," Jack explained before adding, "but after this fight, I doubt they have any decent defenses there."
"Slaves or clansmen?" Arthur asked.
"Mainly slaves."
"Great," Arthur's eyes shone brightly, "go back now and be prepared."
"I will."
Arthur returned again to the dragon form while his one thousand ancient monsters entered the portals with his army. Only Sara and the two dragons of his remained.
"Go in two different directions and scout the entire region for me," he said to his two clones, "if you found anything useful, inform me about it."
They had a unique connection with him, so telling him about things was easy. He pointed to the direction of the stronghold before adding, "I will be there in case you wanted to come."
"Master," the two dragons said in unison before turning to two different directions and moving fast.
"You seem much stronger than before," Sara commented while observing him closely, "like you gained an upgrade or something."
He laughed and said nothing while moving towards the direction of the stronghold.
"You know, the stronghold is a place like the castle of the sky you took," she said before adding, "you promised to give me access there, right?"
"What do you know about these strongholds? Are their defenses strong?" he evaded that issue while asking about what he cared about.
"Tsk," and she wasn't pleased by his cold attitude, "these strongholds are strong! Breaking the defenses might take days if using force."
"Even without enough people to defend?"
"It's all based on formations, so they only need a small number to function."
He suddenly got this thought that was what his enemies wanted; to stumble him in his advance and make him waste more time here.
'Do they know already about my academy schedule and tasks?' he muttered to himself as this was possible.
Yet the next second he laughed, as his two clones would act on his behalf and scout the region for him.
The flight took three hours. During which, they didn't meet a single refugee or army at all.
When they reached the stronghold, it was precisely like what Jack described.
"Big walls with thick defensive shields; they are really prepared for a long fight," he laughed before glancing over Sara, "you will take the responsibility of this fight."
"And you?"
"I have other things to do," he said before taking some bird's wings and giving them to her, "these are connected to me, just write on them what you need and I will get your messages."
She saw him many times using these scrolls, while sending or receiving them. She took them and nodded. "Take care," she suddenly said, feeling worried over him.
"Don't worry," he simply replied before waiting for an hour while all his army was assembled.
"Divide the army into two halves, one will stay here and follow the orders of lady Sara, while the other return to through the portals," he said to Jack before returning again to his dragon form.
Jack was really a capable general. Even leading some strangers, he managed to unify them and make them follow his commands to the letter and execute them swiftly.
In half an hour, everything was settled. "I will depend on you here," he said, before warning, "watch out for any surprise attacks."
"Hidden armies?" she said.
And he just nodded before heading to a direction far from the stronghold.
Seeing him fly away seemed to startle those inside. It took them a couple of minutes to react, and when he was far from them he heard the sound of war drums and explosions landing on the ground.
"Being restless seeing your plans fail? Hahaha!" he simply ignored this provocation and went forward on his path. "What are you trying to stop me for?" he muttered, as he was pretty sure they were trying to cover up something.
And he decided to screw all their arrangements and acquire this thing for himself.