Chapter 417: The Nightmare They Created

"Is everyone ready?" Leone asked.

*Squeak!*

Blitz gave a salute.

"I’m ready, Great Chieftain," Otto said with a smile.

Conall, Diarmuid, and Dian all nodded in acknowledgment.

They were the ones chosen to participate in this special mission that required great care.

Overall, the operation only needed two individuals to infiltrate Stoneguard Fortress.

Blitz and Hassan.

The two had already scouted the entire fortress a few days ago, memorizing the locations of all the drinking wells the residents used in their everyday lives.

They also monitored the armies gathered inside the fortress, moving with great care so as not to be discovered while they wandered in the darkness of the night.

"It’s time," Leone said. "Let’s go."

It would take them an hour of flight to reach their destination.

Leone and the others would stay outside the city and serve as backup just in case Blitz and Hassan needed help escaping the fortress.

Otto mounted his Sky Drake, while the three members of Lost Paradise rode on the back of Pteranodons.

As for Leone, his trusty steed, Arion, would fly him to their destination.

The group then left Grimjaw Mountain and arrived at their destination safely.

Using his enhanced eyesight, Otto scouted the ramparts from the sky and informed his chieftain that only a few guards stood in attendance.

The Lord of the Fortress never even thought for a second that the barbarians would dare to infiltrate his domain.

Not to mention, this planned invasion was done in absolute secrecy. The barbarians definitely had no idea that their neighbor from the north was planning to invade their lands.

Or at least that was what everyone inside the fortress thought.

They even boasted in front of the campfires, declaring the Borderlands were now as good as theirs.

Some even made bets as to how many barbarian warriors they would kill when the war actually started.

A few merchants, especially those who specialized in slave trading, were already looking forward to capturing barbarians, eager to sell them to the highest bidders.

Slave trading was always profitable during wartime, especially if the slaves up for sale were of high quality, especially barbarian women.

Some nobles enjoyed the idea of breaking these strong-willed women and making them their obedient slaves.

While everyone made merry, a squirrel was already making its rounds in the city.

Blitz climbed up the tallest tower inside the fortress and stayed there for the time being.

They planned to strike at midnight when most of the people were asleep, minimizing their chances of being spotted.

Meanwhile, two miles away from the fortress, Leone sat calmly inside a cave and observed the Stoneguard Fortress through Blitz’s eyes.

’So far so good,’ Leone thought. ’The Frontera Family’s private army still hasn’t arrived, just as planned.’

Since his father was an eyesore in the kingdom, the noble houses would not hesitate to blame him if the soldiers got sick from the food.

So, in order to ensure no one would have a reason to blame his family, Leone had asked his mother to tell his father to arrive late to the fortress.

With this, his father would have the perfect alibi that whatever was plaguing the soldiers had nothing to do with them.

A few hours later...

Blitz stood up and did a few light stretches. The time to start their mission had finally come, and it was very eager to finish its job properly.

"Blitz, you take the west, while I’ll take the east just as we’ve planned," Hassan said through Blitz’s shadow. "We’ll leave the fortress separately. Good luck to you!"

*Squeak!*

Blitz also wished its partner in crime good luck.

From the tower, two individuals moved in the darkness.

The flying squirrel leapt and glided through the air, landing on a roof safely.

It then ran to the nearest well, ready to unload the Feverbane Pills Daedalus had concocted.

Meanwhile, Hassan merged with the darkness and passed from one shadow to the next to reach his destination.

The two moved with practiced precision. This wasn’t their first infiltration mission, so they already knew what to do.

The sparse patrols, as well as those who were still awake at this time of the night, didn’t pay any attention to the little squirrel that was jumping from one roof to the next.

In less than an hour, all the wells, whether for public or personal use, were contaminated.

Blitz had carefully followed the plan.

It carefully dumped the right number of Feverbane Pills in every well it came across.

When morning came, those who drew water from the contaminated wells for drinking and cooking would find themselves feeling sick after a few hours.

Once the final pill disappeared beneath the surface of the last well’s water, Blitz climbed onto the roof of a nearby building and looked at its surroundings.

Its mission was now complete.

Now, all that remained was for it to make its escape and leave the city.

Blitz turned around and was about to leap onto the next rooftop when it suddenly froze.

Someone was standing in the alley below.

A man wearing a dark cloak was looking directly at the house where the flying squirrel was perched.

Blitz’s tiny eyes narrowed. It then remained completely still.

The man waited for several seconds before shaking his head.

"Must have been a rat," the man muttered before he walked away.

Blitz waited until the man’s footsteps disappeared before releasing a sigh of relief.

Being called a rat offended the little squirrel. But as long as it wasn’t discovered, then all was well.

After making sure no one was around, the flying squirrel once again jumped onto the next roof, making its way to the walls of the city where its Master was waiting for its return.

In the meantime, Hassan had already reached the other side of the fortress.

Unlike Blitz, he didn’t have to worry about being spotted by ordinary soldiers.

As long as there was a shadow, he could travel through it.

He had passed through many sleeping soldiers that belonged to the noble houses that had teamed up against the Frontera Family.

Though the assassin was tempted to cut their throats then and there, he endured it.

After all, he wouldn’t risk sabotaging the plan his Young Master had carefully formulated just for this day.

’All of you got lucky,’ Hassan thought as he dropped the last remaining pills in his possession into the last well under his jurisdiction.

With that, his mission was now complete. Using the darkness as his shield, he moved from shadow to shadow and reunited with Blitz at their meeting spot outside the fortress.

They then returned to Leone’s side, and together, they all traveled back to Grimjaw Mountain.

The first phase of Leone’s battle against the Britannian Army had started.

Although he didn’t want to harm any of his countrymen, he now had people he needed to protect.

And so, he would do everything in his power to ensure that the kingdom that had exiled him to the Borderlands would regret the day that they had separated him from his family.

Leone still remembered the words he had said in the throne room before he was taken away by the guards.

————

"I shall return with power! With wealth! With an army so vast that the ground will tremble beneath my footsteps!"

"And when that day comes... Those who mocked me today will kneel, beg, and cry when they realize that their greatest mistake was underestimating me, Leone Frontera!"

————

The nobles of the Kingdom of Britannia had laughed at him back then.

Leone wanted to know after this was over if those same nobles would still be able to laugh after they came face to face with the nightmare that they created.