Badge in Azure

How powerful the force of over 100 magic cannons attacking in rotation? Saleen knew that he would have been able to resist such forces simply by expanding his territory. Few people possessed lightning powers in their territories. Magic cannons were pure energy attacks, and lightning could have easily dissolved such attacks.

Defensive capacities of the magic towers were even stronger, yet they lacked such capabilities. When subjected to relentless bombardment from the magic cannons, the first level ten magic tower they attacked gradually lost its capacity to retaliate.

The other two towers were placed two miles away and their attacks were blocked by level ten professionals, making the mages in those towers practically unable to do anything despite seeing the other level ten tower being relentless bombarded.

The mage trainer in that tower was incredibly angered. If it had not been for the Elemental Hand taking away all of the tower’s elites, robbing the tower of over half of its magic arrays’ effectiveness, things would have turned out very differently.

Even though the magic cannons were extremely powerful, the stockpile of magic nuclei within the level ten tower would have at least lasted him for about half a month being under siege.

With no one manning the magic arrays, there was little a mage trainer was able to do to turn the tables around.

Damn you! Sh**!

The level ten mage trainer who were being attacked shouted all of a sudden, “Who is it that is attacking us out there!? Please come out and talk!”

Saleen took one look at Grand Duke Iron Blood, who shook his head. His lips twitched. Imposa, who was attacking far away, stood on a huge metal cog and said to the mage in the tower, “I’m Imposa.”

“Imposa, you came from Alchemy City, why…”

“I’m from Alchemy City and you’re from Devil’s Horn. Are you feeling unsatisfied that I’m hammering you then?” Imposa interrupted the mage’s words and said.

That mage was very pissed, but then quickly realized something and asked, “Are you trying to attack Alchemy City?”

“Indeed. Submit to me and I’ll restore Devil’s Horn!”

“Impossible. You’ve killed so many!”

“You fool. A calamity is about to hit Myers Mainland and Alchemy City has delusions about using the calamity to conquer the mainland. Are you telling me that you know nothing about that!?”

The mage inside the tower was speechless. One of the reasons why the Elemental Hand consolidated Alchemy City was because a calamity was about to hit Myers Mainland, so everyone needed to pool their strengths to defend against said calamity.

None would have believed such a thing, but when those words came out of Imposa’s mouth, the mage trainer understood immediately, that the words were not excuses; they were truly what was about to happen.

It would not have made any sense for the enemy before their eyes to show up otherwise. It was due precisely to a calamity about to strike and people were trying to get their act together and strengthen themselves. The mage was completely speechless after thinking about the actions of the Elemental Hand as of late.

Such things should have been made public. Regular armies were being formed in Alchemy City and everyone was racking their brains for solutions against the calamity. The way the Elemental Hand did things obviously meant that they had their own selfish interests in mind.

The mage quickly ran through all of those thoughts. He understood the reasoning behind and he thought of all manner of solutions to deal with the calamity, but none of those solutions felt remotely doable. Imposa had definitely been fully prepared when he came.

“Surrender your tower. When I’m done with Alchemy City, I’ll return it to you!” Imposa continued to pressure the enemy mage.

“Why should I believe you?”

“My target is Alchemy City. Devil’s Horn was but a start.”

“What about Sreeger Island?”

“We’ll let them off for the time being.”

“Alright, but I want to sign a contract to ensure my own safety.” That mage trainer did not bother bringing about the return of their magic tower back. What mattered was their own safety at the moment, and it proved to be a wise move.”

“No problem. Mages, hold your fire.”

Attacks using magic spells and from magic cannons ceased when they talked. The red-robed mage walked outside and looked dejected. There were only three students around them and all of them were low level mages. They were also very young.

The mage had only three attendants managing the entire magic tower, so it was within reason that the mage resented the Elemental Hand.

Imposa turned around and Saleen threw a contract scroll from afar. The contract scroll was brought to them by a Wind Dragon, flying up to Imposa’s hand. Imposa opened the contract and scanned it for a bit, finding the contract that Saleen wrote without giving much thought was nonetheless strict.

Saleen did not want to see casualties climb as well. That mage had a magic tower and if he were to go all out, it was entirely possible for him to kill one or two level ten mages on Saleen’s and the grand duke’s side. If an elemental rampage was triggered, more than half of the puppets could not have survived.

It was fortunate that that mage looked rather young still and possibly less than 100 years old. With so many years ahead of him, he would have hesitated to go all out. If that mage were to be someone nearing the death, then there would not have been any need for talk. Fighting to the death sounded like a more sensible choice by then.

That mage was afraid that Imposa would have turned back on their word, even though such people were few and far between among mages. As such, he quickly signed the contract and were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.

Imposa read that mage’s name and looked rather troubled. Imposa knew of that mage and he was rather renowned on Devil’s Horn. Such a person would not been absorbed within the Elemental Hand’s ranks, as their prestige would have affected that of the others, even attracting a sizeable group of mages as followers.

It was lucky that the Elemental Hand did not think about killing him, so Imposa had no worries about that mage pulling tricks against him.

“Alright, Toni. Persuade the other two towers and I promise you, I’m not after your things and I’d keep the towers in one piece.” Imposa gave the mage his word.

“Alright!” Toni understood right there and then when he heard all of that. Devil’s Horn was really not Imposa’s target after all.

The suppressive fire on the other two magic towers ceased as well. Toni flew to the north side tower and transmitted Imposa’s words. The mages of all three towers had been friends and they were practically robbed by the Elemental Hand. As such, they had actually been frustrated about how things went.

With such matters taking place at present, it was totally impractical to rely on them to buy time for Alchemy City.

However, if Grand Duke Iron Blood were to not clear all of the outer towers and show irresistible force, none of the three mages would have surrendered.

The grand duke wanted things to be settled peacefully as well, as he too worried about having insufficient magic towers. The attack on Alchemy City was the one that would have really cost him the cannons instead.

Devil’s Horn was practically ransacked by Alchemy City and the powers significantly reduced. Losing too much equipment taking out such a place would have been quite a loss.

All remaining magic towers on Devil’s Horn received command from the three mage trainers, so all mages from the island gave up resisting altogether. They had better luck than most, as due to being able to last as long as they did, the wealth within their towers could have still been preserved.

The grand duke’s people went to take over the magic towers, but he had no intentions of robbing them. He was only doing so to ensure that the mages from Devil’s Horn were robbed of their powers for the time being.

Without their magic towers, none of those sorcerers would have been able to stand against the Iron Blood Warriors. The grand duke and Saleen only landed after that, discussing with the three mage trainers from Devil’s Horn.

Despite the introductions, the three mage trainers remained resentful. Saleen said instead, “Masters, the way the Elemental Hand go about things, even if you are able to keep the island, you’ll lose everything sooner or later. How about joining Sreeger Island instead?”

The three mages felt rather puzzled. Saleen then elaborated, “Sreeger Island originally belonged to my teacher, and he had only given it up due to reasons related to Metatrin City. With Sreeger Island being taken by the Elemental Hand, I’ll have to take it back sooner or later. However, given their position being too far away and would not have posed any threat to this operation, I let them off for the time being. When we’re done taking Alchemy City, I’d turn around and attack Sreeger Island. Mages there would gain independence and be freed from Alchemy City’s control.”

“Aren’t they going to be under your control then!?” One of the mage trainers felt dissatisfied and jabbed at Saleen sarcastically.

“Is it so back to be under my control then?” Saleen asked in surprise, “Just look at the mages from Metatrin City. Did any of them have any complaints?”

That mage trainer was at a loss for words. Mages did not mind working for others so long as they were well compensated and amply respected. Many mages from Alchemy City chose to side with Metatrin City because Saleen treated them well. It was also easier to train in Metatrin City instead.

“My teacher is already a level 11 mage. Furthermore, he would also advance to level 12 in the next 10 years. Are you telling me that you’re willing to give up on such opportunities?” Saleen threw yet another piece of shocking news, which rendered even Imposa frowning.

But then again, he knew a thing or two about Jason and knew that Jason would definitely not come around and fight for Alchemy City with him. Imposa felt very much relieved after coming to such conclusions.

“Your highness, allow us to discuss the matter for a bit.”

Saleen took one look at the grand duke, who nodded. Both of them were allies and while Saleen made a proposal, he needed the grand duke’s agreement nonetheless. Saleen was actually undercutting the grand duke doing so.

Both Sreeger Island and Devil’s Horn were locations far out at sea. If Saleen were to take both places, it would have posed a threat to the grand duke’s naval forces.

Saleen immediately mobilized his people and prepared to attack Alchemy City with the grand duke, after seeing the grand duke give permission.

The Ancient was unable to serve as the main force for attacking Alchemy City. The true power lied with the Floating City. The Ancient was but something there as a diversion.

The three mage trainers were done with their discussions, coming to a conclusion given how they have already been practically robbed clean by the Elemental Hand, it was immensely difficult to keep Devil’s Horn.

If they were to join Elemental Hand’s side, getting eliminated would have been something that would have happened sooner or later.

Joining Metatrin City seemed like a decent choice. They wanted to know more about the calamity that Saleen spoke of as well.

Saleen never expected things to go so well. All three level ten mage trainers chose to join him without him having to do much. He had spent way more time talking just to persuade level nine sorcerers to join his side once upon a time.

But then again, it was entirely normal. Metatrin City was not what it once was. There were more than 10000 mages in the city and there were huge alchemy factories around. The city enjoyed ample supply of magic nuclei and the place was guarded by a powerful army.

Metatrin City at present was more or less a contender to Alchemy City. The only difference being their histories, and even that was but a matter of time.

In terms of reputation, Metatrin City far surpassed Alchemy City.

“Well then, if you’re willing to follow me, we shall sign contracts and I’ll let you know why I dare to attack Alchemy City,” Saleen said as he threw three contracts at them. Those were not follower contracts, but contracts allowing the mages to become his palace mage.

The status of palace mages were not low and while they may not have been able to earn as much as followers, but there were also far less need for them to do battle. They only needed to stay behind at Saleen’s palace and protect the city.

When mages reached such levels, they needed to spend most of their time training and were hardly seen outside. Level ten mages who still needed to go out often practically did not exist, with exceptions being the likes of Joey, who intended to search ancient ruins.