My Kingdom Building Done Right!

"What did you say?!" Dominic asked in disbelief after receiving Duran’s message. "You’ve been ambushed?!"

"Yes!" Duran shouted. "What do you think you’re doing?! You’re supposed to be our scout! How did they get past all of you?! Are all of you blind?!"

Dominic wanted to tell Duran to stop joking. He and his men had properly done their job and carefully monitored everything from the skies.

No one expected that the unknown enemy would slip past them and ambush the main army behind them. To make matters worse, according to Duran, over a thousand soldiers had died in just the span of a minute.

The Black Tortoise General would never joke about the lives of their warriors, so Dominic didn’t doubt his words.

"We’re circling back!" Dominic shouted. "The main army has been attacked! We will crush those that dared to ambush the army of Britannia!"

""Yes!""

The reply of his men was immediate. With one swift turn, the Gryphon Battalion made their way back toward Stoneguard Fortress.

However, it didn’t take long before they saw hundreds of black dots flying over the horizon.

’That must be them!’ Dominic thought. "Men, prepare to engage! Let’s show them the might of the Gryphon Battalion!"

All the Gryphon Knights lowered the visor of their helmet in response.

To become a Gryphon Rider in the Britannian Army, one must adhere to strict conditions.

First, successfully bond with a Gryphon, enough to mount its back.

Second, possess an affinity for magic.

Yes, the Gryphon Riders were also magic knights. All of them were capable of casting spells while mounted on their partner’s back, decimating the lands below them.

"Prepare your spells!" Dominic ordered. "Skyfang Formation!"

The Gryphon Riders moved into formation as they prepared to unleash their spells.

They were only waiting for their Commander’s orders to unleash a barrage against their foes.

"Ready!" Dominic shouted. "Fir—"

Dominic’s orders to fire were cut off by something unexpected.

Everyone heard a thunderclap despite there being no clouds in the sky. A second later, something appeared hundreds of meters away from the charging Gryphon Battalion, unleashing a mighty roar.

The moment the Gryphons heard that roar, all of them flinched and almost forgot how to fly.

It was as if they had been hit by a control spell that made them feel confused and intimidated at once, rendering them incapable of thinking clearly.

Even Dominic, who was riding on a Royal Gryphon, was almost dismounted after his partner’s panic.

The spells they were about to cast had been unleashed, but it was now in disarray.

Some shot upward, some shot downwards, and some even shot their comrades beside them.

After forcefully calming his partner from its state of fear, the Gryphon Commander finally had a good look at the monster that had single-handedly caused chaos among their ranks.

A golden Gryphon. It stood on its hind legs as it hovered in the sky.

Its chilly gaze locked down upon Dominic and his mount, giving them pressure that felt as heavy as a mountain.

And that creature, whom Dominic felt boundless strength, opened its beak and spoke a word.

"Land."

The words were spoken calmly. And yet, for the Gryphons, it was an order that couldn’t be opposed no matter what.

Those who had weaker willpower among the Gryphon Battalion were the first to obey the command, diving toward the ground without thinking twice.

Soon, more of them followed until only several dozen remained in the sky.

Dominic’s Royal Gryphon screeched, forcing its dominance and assuring its comrades that everything was going to be fine.

At the next moment, Astravor disappeared from where it hovered, only to then appear in front of the Royal Gryphon.

"I told you to land."

The Garuda Gryphon flicked the Royal Gryphon’s head with its claws, making the latter stagger before crashing down to the ground.

Those left in the sky panicked and urged their mounts to escape to safety.

Unfortunately for them, Astravor had no intention of letting anyone go.

Astravor and Boris had made a bet that even if a single Gryphon were to escape his control during the mission, the Garuda Gryphon would become Boris’ servant for a week.

Being the stupid reptile’s servant was out of the question. This was why Astravor was taking this matter seriously!

One by one, Astravor slapped the stubborn Gryphons, dealing enough damage for them to understand that there was no way for them to escape.

In the end, these Gryphons had no choice but to obey and landed on the ground, shuddering from both fear and anxiety.

The Garuda Gryphon then landed on the ground with its arms crossed over its chest.

"Die, you monster!" At that moment, one of the Gryphon Riders unleashed a fireball, targeting their enemy’s head.

Astravor didn’t even struggle. With a casual gesture from him, a Wind Blade materialized and cut off the fireball in half, making it explode in midair.

But it didn’t end there.

The Wind Blade then continued along its trajectory and sliced the knight’s body in half to the horror of his comrades.

"Who wants to die next?" Astravor asked coldly.

None of the Gryphon Riders dared to make a sound, with the exception of Dominic, who was their Commander.

"Who are you?!" Dominic asked. "No... what are you?!"

He had grown up with Gryphons all his life, and so he believed that he understood them completely.

However, the monster in front of him was very alien to him. He had never seen anything like it before.

Since he knew a lot about Gryphons, he also had an idea of what had just happened to them.

Bloodline suppression.

This was something that beasts of a higher level or breed could force upon those who were of the same race, but were weaker than them.

Dominic wanted to know what kind of monster he was facing, so that if he were able to survive this encounter, he would then create ways on how to counter it.

Suddenly, the Commander of the Gryphon Battalion was blown off his mount’s back and was sent flying.

Astravor had cast a Wind Bullet against Dominic. Not only was it fast, but it was also invisible.

The Garuda Gryphon made sure to target the commander’s armored chest so that he wouldn’t die from his attack.

"Urgh..." Dominic groaned after crashing hard on the ground.

He knew then and there that the monster didn’t attack him with the intention to kill. So, for now, he decided to do whatever he could to not antagonize the creature that could massacre them one-sidedly.

"Good job, Astravor."

A young man riding on the back of a Pegasus landed right beside the Garuda Gryphon, who was still paying close attention to Dominic and his soldiers.

"Did you get all of them?" Leone asked.

"Just who do you think you’re talking to?" Astravor asked back without taking his gaze away from Dominic.

"It seems that Boris lost the bet." Leone smirked before shifting his gaze toward the prized Gryphon Battalion of the Kingdom of Britannia.

Three hundred Gryphons, all captured without mishap.

The young chieftain was already happy even if Astravor only managed to get at least half of the Gryphons during this mission.

So, when Astravor confirmed that all the Gryphons were here, Leone almost laughed out loud.

Still, there was one more thing that he needed to think about before anything else.

"Tell me, do you all want to live... or do you all want to die?" Leone asked in a teasing tone.

Dominic, as well as his soldiers, looked at the person who was wearing the mask of a lion.

Leone planned to hide his identity. At least for now. There was no telling what retribution the kingdom would impose upon his family once his identity was leaked to them.

"Why are you not replying to my question?" Leone asked once more. "Do you want to die that badly? If yes, we have nothing else to talk about."

"W-Wait!" Dominic shouted. "Who are you? Why are you doing this to us?! Do you know who we are?!"

"Of course, I know who you are," Leone answered. "As for who I am, you may refer to me as the Chieftain of the Aslan Tribe. One of the tribes in the Borderlands that you were intending to invade.

"Now, let’s not talk any more nonsense. I will count to five. Those who want to live, raise your hands. Those who don’t want to live can just wait for their death."

Leone had already prepared himself to kill as many people as needed to protect his tribe and the Borderlands.

It didn’t matter that he used to be a member of the Britannian nobility.

Right now, he was the Chieftain of the Aslan Tribe. That was all his enemies needed to know.