1st annual offline tournament "Best Of The Best"

As for the battle for Arkhos, the entire expedition took only 2-3 extra days, which is insignificant compared to the rest. And having a hundred Arkhos in your army guarantees a quick end to the game, which, quite possibly, more than made up for the time I spent on this quest...

Actually, I didn't quite understand. There were also days spent collecting the parts of the artifact to get the Arkhos. In my playthrough, I only took two parts. I somehow think that you can't defeat the Cyclops and mages guarding these artifacts with a secondary hero. So, presumably, 2 days for these two parts. You didn't have a clever strategy for the landing. 2 days by sea, 2 days by land to the Efreet (no boots and gloves). At least 6 days. But you're probably right that it's insignificant compared to the rest. Although, it depends on how you look at it. Even 3-4 days can be crucial for some.
Take the leaders, for example. The difference was 3 days. But the logic is clear; I sometimes do the same thing. It's better to have good troops in advance than to get stuck somewhere and have to replay.