Building a Kingdom and Conquering the World - Chapter 79

Elton, the bait
After setting free the Alpha’s offspring, Henry swiftly descended the mountain. He used the Sun God Technique and channeled Mana to his legs and lungs, allowing him to maintain an uninterrupted pace without being bothered by the rapid change in air pressure. Henry leaped over the deadly slopes, his movements a blend of precision and speed, unafraid of falling into the dark abyss.

Within twenty minutes, Henry arrived at the precise location that his team had laid traps for the approaching enemies. He instructed them to use the elevate terrain to conceal themselves, from where they could easily survey the narrow canyon, an obligatory passage for those who wanted to climb the mountain. From there, they could trigger small avalanches and push down the boulders of ice, helping the mountain in swallowing their bodies. Unfortunately, this plan had been destroyed. A plan that could give some trouble to that Fourth Stage Warrior.

Although his team had already left, Henry quickly spotted the footprints of his soldiers. The tracks indicated that his soldiers had chosen to walk down the mountain and use the narrow canyon to pursue the enemies. Without delaying, Henry activated his Mana and sprinted towards the canyon’s abyss, jumping as soon as he reached the edge. He aimed at the opposing wall, without fear of the almost one hundred and fifty feet drop (around 50 meters).

Just before colliding with the wall, he swiftly unsheathed his sword and plunged it into the wall’s surface. The blade effortlessly cut through the layer of snow covering the wall, serving as an efficient brake, decelerating his descent, and mitigating the impact. In a matter of seconds, Henry was already surrounded by the canyon’s narrow walls, where he could spot his soldiers’ footprints.

Henry followed them.

In less than an hour, the silhouettes of his soldiers could be seen on the distant horizon. Amidst them, Zahra’s figure was the most eye catching as she seemed to be leading them, murmuring orders to the others, and positioning them.

Henry ran towards the gathering and emerged silently behind them, like a snake aiming for a prey. Zahra reacted as soon as she felt an intruder’s presence. Without hesitation, the bow slipped from her grip, and her body swiveled, her dagger already unsheathed, poised to strike at the unexpected figure. Her movements were like those of a serpent, filled with flexibility, as the blade in her hand glimmered under the gentle sunlight.

Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Henry sprang into action and his hands blurred, firmly holding her in place. However, despite the painful feeling spreading through her hands, Zahra pushed on. She kicked the ground and performed a clean backflip, her legs ready to hit Henry right on head. The king rapidly sent a thread of Mana to his feet and released Zahra’s hand before taking a small step back, easily dodging the attack.

Zahra only felt her feet hitting the soft snow as she gracefully balanced her body, assuming an attacking stance, ready to attack again.

“Who are you?” – Zahra threateningly asked, her eyes finally paying attention to the figure in front of them. However, they soon widened in surprise.

The King. She attacked the King.

“My King!”  – Her voice quivered as she dropped to her knees and hurriedly bowed her head, forgetting about the discomfort in her wrists. Luckily, it didn’t break. – “I failed to recognize your presence. I deeply apologize!…I will gladly accept any punishment.”

Only at that moment, the other soldiers, except for Grok, realized that something had happened. The barbarian had noticed the fight as soon as Zahra launched the first attack, but he didn’t manage to attack the intruder, there was no space and no time. The fight ended with just three seconds, giving him no time to react.

“Lucky!” – Grok praised himself in his mind, thanking his luck for not getting into the fight. He could still remember the cold wind of the night assaulting his body. He didn’t want to go through that experience anymore.

Together with the other soldiers, the barbarian also dropped to his knees as soon as they found out the identity of the person before them. The king was here.

Henry’s gaze swept over each one of his soldiers, analyzing their conditions. Grok’s body seemed accustomed to such temperatures and had easily acclimatized to the rarefied mountain air. In contrast, Zahra and the rest of his soldiers were breathing heavily, and their faces lacked its natural color. It was indeed difficult to surpass the body’s limitation, even if they prepared beforehand.

The soldiers were probably in a slightly better shape than the enemies, but if they ended up in a direct fight, some of them might still get hurt or even die. Henry didn’t expect that the enemies would turn around and flee, he also didn’t expect that his soldiers’ bodies would suffer this much. Some of them were on the verge of passing out. He had made a mistake and only concentrated on finding the best spot to set up the traps. He didn’t put into the equation their limits.

“Get on your feet!” Henry commanded, unbothered by Zahra’s prior assault, causing Grok’s expectant grin to disappear – “Tell me, where are the enemies?” – He inquired, cutting straight to the point.

Though he wished to give his soldiers a chance to rest and regain their energy, time was a luxury they couldn’t afford. He couldn’t allow the enemies to escape this mountain. If he killed them here, there were going to be one less captain on the enemy’s side and fewer Second Stage soldiers. It meant a big win.

“We’ve been tracking them since they abandoned the climb. They’re now just half a mile from us, scouring the path for survivors. As we descended, we came across twelve bodies, but they’ve managed to rescue four people so far.”- Zahra said, maintaining her head lowered as she twirled her wrist, trying to alleviate the discomfort.

“Good…” – Henry’s eyes glinted with a calculative light as his thoughts drifted, remembering the mountain’s paths. He then directed his attention to Zahra and Grok – “I want both of you to cooperate and keep following them. Meanwhile, I will take a different route and deal with that boulder, blocking their way down. Once they are in position, Zahra, you and the other archers can attack them.”

“Grok, your task is to lead our soldiers and hinder the enemies from approaching. Don’t worry about their leader, I will deal with him” – Henry added as he looked at Zahra and the silent barbarian, before asking – “Do you both get it?”

“Yes!” they responded in unison.

-x-

Henry’s hands lightly grazed the icy surface covering the boulder, one that worked as a bridge for those who wished to climb the mountain – “It won’t be easy, but I can definitely do it” – Henry’s voice was filled with determination.

Without a second thought, Henry unsheathed the silver sword strapped to his waist and immediately activated his Magic Circuits. He could feel his body burning in pain, but he gritted his teeth and guided the Mana across the correct pathways to activate the First Form of the Sun God Technique

“Fire Sword” – He muttered and gently raised his sword above his head. At that moment, a fiery aura engulfed the blade of his sword, causing steam to rise to the skies as the cold air met for the first time with such a warm object.

*Huff*

Henry took a deep breath and rapidly rotated his sword, slashing horizontally at the boulder, the blade leaving a long trail of steam as it cut through the air. The impact was sufficient to cover a large portion of the boulder with cracks, but not enough to destroy it.

*Huff*

Henry silently took another deep breath and closed his eyes, concentrating all his attention and Mana in the sword. His Mana Circuits were flooded with energy, leading to a forceful expansion and a painful grunt to escape his lips. Then, he abruptly opened his eyes and powerfully attacked, not holding back.

*Boom* *Boom* *Boom*

Henry delivered three powerful attacks that seemed to shake the whole mountain, causing the surrounding snow to crazily fall on the ground. However, he didn’t stop and kept hitting the boulder, without knowing the word tiredness.

*Boom*

At the twentieth attack, the whole boulder came down. It was also at that moment that figures appeared on top of the cliff, looking down at him. Although he was tired, Henry flashed a cold and satisfied smile.

“I have been waiting for you! Welcome!” – Henry said and raised his sword, pointing it at the fat figure of Elton.

He was tired, but he couldn’t rest.

-x-

Without Henry’s knowledge, a legion of a thousand soldiers had departed from Luak’s encampment. The blue haired Zuna was the one leading them, behind her, five of the ten captains that accompanied her on this mission.

“That way, commander!” – A man walking alongside her exclaimed, gesturing towards the mountain where the impending battle was about to begin.

“Good job!” – Zuna responded, nodding in approval to the man. A smile slipping out of her lips – “It seems that using Elton as a bait to draw out those bandits was indeed a good decision. We just need to reap them. I hope he can stall them.”