Badge in Azure

Sika found an opening in front of the tower. The golden eagle seemed to have sensed the power of Sika’s javelin. Its claws gleamed with red light, intending to deflect the javelin.

The golden eagle would have to be a level ten creature to deflect Sika’s javelin. The man on the golden eagle’s back sensed something was amiss, leaping away from where he stood.

The javelin punched a hole half a meter wide on the golden eagle’s body, as if it were made of paper. The golden eagle’s claws crumbled, and it dropped to the ground with a wail.

The golden eagle had been a level nine magic beast. The man that had been on its back brandished a bronze staff.

There were people who used blunt instruments as weapons, like Sika. However, the staff that the man held was of equal thickness along its length, and both ends were carved with magic patterns, looking like spear tips. The weapon manipulated wind element as it was swished around, forming Wind Blades.

The man leapt and came down on Sika with the staff in his hands. Sika had killed his beloved steed, and he was furious. The staff came down from above like a mountain, and the man simply guided its trajectory.

Sika spread her legs and swung her staff from below, clashing with the blow.

The staves clashed, and the man’s eyes filled with disbelief. The staff, which had been imbued with the power of wind element, rattled and transmitted the force back to his hands. An irresistible force swept up from below, as if his mountain had clashed with another larger mountain.

A crack was heard. One of the man’s hands was unable to let go in time and was blown up by the force sent by Sika.

She felt something pressing on her chest as well, as the man had been using his own massive power and the power of wind element on her. All of that coupled with the mysterious aerial technique and the 1000 meter distance between them enabled him to bring serious force upon her.

The resulting burst of power brought her down onto the floor. She felt as if her entire body had been drained.

However, as soon as Sika hit the ground, the earth beneath her sent power back to Sika’s body. Her legs sprung up and she was back on her feet again. The man continued to watch with disbelief.

He was unable to fathom how the woman before him could be stronger than him. He had all the advantage needed, bringing maximum force.

The man was a golden grand swordmaster level warrior who served the Grand Duke Jatan. The magic staff in his hand almost enabled him to become invincible throughout the duchy. He was of high birth as well, and learned secret techniques inherited from his family and had a level nine golden eagle as his sidekick.

He had never suffered in the past as much as he did then.

The man was able to tell that Sika was not a level ten true might. While he had lost one hand, it was not an irreparable injury. Furthermore, his way of the staff was different from others as it was guided by the power of wind element. Losing one hand would hardly affect his attacks.

He focused all of his hatred on Sika as she had killed his golden eagle.

The man had been thrown over 100 meters away by Sika. He brandished the staff and came from above again, but quickly heard a stern voice shout from afar, “Suz, retreat, you’re no match for her.”

The man was frustrated but he dared not act against the voice. He quickly turned and shot for the sky. Sika threw another javelin at him, which Suz deflected with all his might, finally feeling how terrifying the woman on the ground was.

The javelin was unable to borrow force from anywhere, but the massive force it brought dispersed the wind element around his staff. Is all that power coming from that midget of a body? Is she the legendary king of giants?

When the king of giants’ body grew to their limit, they would shrink until they reached the height of a human.

However, if that woman was truly a king of giants, she would have died long ago.

Dark clouds flew from the sky, and Sika observed closely, finding an even bigger man dressed in lavish clothing, but sporting extremely cold aura. The amount of power emanating from him caused the sky around to lose its colors.

The middle-aged man was handsome. Sika was a nature priest, so she was able to see every detail of a person’s constitution. The man had a matured look to him, meaning he was about 40 years old, but his bodily performance was at its peak.

Sika had seen attacks from Agares. Not even a level ten assassin would be able to compare to the middle-aged man.

The master armed with a staff behaved very respectfully around the middle-aged man, which apparently meant that he was Grand Duke Jatan. The triangular bone piece hovered behind Sika, ready to strike at any moment.

The Grand Duke was not angry about his capable subordinate being injured. While he was brimming with killing intent, the smile on his face remained sincere.

He looked down on the tall Magical Element Tower and expressed in surprise, “that really is like a godly item! How I should address you who is below?”

Sika pointed at the Grand Duke. “Come down here if you want to talk.”

While she was only level nine, she was not afraid at all. The strength of level ten professionals would probably pale in comparison to hers. She had simply flung her staff around without a care and underestimated the man wielding the staff, which was why she suffered.

“As you wish.” The Grand Duke brought his people down to the ground about 300 meters away from the tower. From the looks of things, he was not afraid of the tower. The range of attack of the tower would easily reach one mile, even when manned by a level seven sorcerer.

Furthermore, that one mile was the range where a sorcerer’s power would be able to work at its fullest.

There were seven mages behind Grand Duke, Jatan and one of them was patching Suz up with magic. The pain of a shattered hand was unbearable.

After the bones were restored through magic and submerged in magic liquid, coupled with healing with golden sword aura, the hand was free of any unwanted after effects.

“I assume you’re Grand Duke Jatan?” Sika swung her staff around, eyeing the middle-aged man. Cloudflow people were known for their lavish way of dressing. and the Grand Duke was no exception.

However, the Grand Duke had good enough taste to avoid piling precious metals on himself. Every single accessory he had on was magic equipment.

“And you are?”

“Sika, king of Caucasus.”

“Your Highness,” the Grand Duke said without any hint of sarcasmt. He knew of Sika by name. The woman served as steward to the Kingdom of Metatrin. She was young, but definitely had her strengths. From the looks of things, she was a formidable fighter as well.

“I’d like to ask why did you kill our people?” Sika was in no mood for pleasantries. She shoved the staff at the Grand Duke’s face and began questioning him.

“The demons are your people?” The Grand Duke looked surprised.

“Demonic spirits!”

“Heh, hardly any different. This is Cloudflow territory and you’re king of Caucasus. You coming caused His Highness unrest, so we figured that we should come look.”

The Grand Duke behaved amicably, but nothing he said so far had been truthful. Agares would probably send troops, but having the emperor come out to fight personally would require the entire empire to be on the verge of total collapse.

“How could the emperor be restless? I just saw him a while ago and he was about to sign a joint effort contract. I’m not lying. and if I lied…”

The Grand Duke interrupted her. “There is no need for you to swear. I believe you.”

“Why are you here?”

“I’m looking for someone.”

“Looking for someone?”

“My subordinate was minding his business and flying in his own country when he was shot by you people. He was also taken. Your Highness, it’s not all that grand for you to show up here. Even if His Highness were concerned, he wouldn’t have used force against you, but now, you’re in the wrong for injuring my people.”

“Is that so?” Sika wore a doubtful expression. Her act was so convincing that even Nailisi, who was watching from the canyon, felt that her expressions were surreal. She thought she knew Sika very well, but she apparently thought wrong.

Sh**! All humans are capable of lying. Sika might not be shrewd, but that doesn’t mean she is being truthful with you. Better be careful in my further dealings with her.

If Jatan had truly been there to look for his people, he would be fooled by Sika. Even if nothing had actually happened to his people, he needed to blame Sika for something.

“I can assure you that something did happen. My subject is right inside your tower.” The Grand Duke pointed at the tower.

“Well, I can’t do anything if you don’t believe me. Please come in and see for yourself.” Sika gestured, inviting the Grand Duke inside the tower. If the enemy fought within the tower, they would have to face the water puppet whose combat capacity was enhanced over a dozen times.

“We’re in no hurry. We’ll wait until my men are all here.” Grand Duke Jatan’s face sported a smile throughout the conversation, looking very confident.

Another 500 showed up on the plains in front of the magic tower. The tower was backed against a mountain. The other end as connected to the canyon. Only a professional would dare enter such a dire terrain.

Sika looked at the 500 before her and became somewhat convinced of what Shakko told her.

All 500 warriors wore magic armor and carried long blades with peculiar curves. Every single one of them wore an iron mask, and they were stained with the blood of the demonic spirits. The murderous aura coalesced with the 500 being packed in one place made them look like they were an army of thousands.

Every single one of them had no qualms in dying to fulfill their mission. Just having one more around would raise considerable concern.

Sika slowly retreated to the tower and the water puppet shut it off immediately, insisting on denying the accusations. Sika invited the Grand Duke into the tower and in the very next moment, she had the water puppet shut the tower off instead.

The speed at which she changed her attitude was trained from being the steward of the Kingdom of Metatrin.

Grand Duke Jatan was dumbfounded. Isn’t the enemy a Caucasian? That shameless act of hers is hardly any different from the Cloudflow people!

Everyone knew that among the four empires, the people from Cloudflow knew best how to weasel out of things. None had ever heard of a Caucasian doing the same.

Sika’s voice was then heard from the tower. “Sir Duke, you’re welcomed to come in, but I’m not opening the door for you. So please…”

The Grand Duke was baffled but not angry. If he was able to cheat in the first place, then there was no reason to assume that his enemies would not do the same. Such was the notion of fairness that the Cloudflow people held in high regard.

“Well, think of something.” The Grand Duke handed the problem to his men while he looked around. His eyes quickly turned to the canyon across the tower.