Badge in Azure

Chapter 211: Ambush (Part 2)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Saleen had just heaved a sigh of relief when suddenly, a piercing magic alarm sounded. Before he could ask what was happening, a giant rock fell from the skies and landed in the sea beside the ship, causing a giant water column to erupt.

Saleen leaned towards Lex. He saw Juno’s face turning pale.

“Magic stone artillery!” Lex recognized it, shouting out in shock.

Although they might have sounded similar, magic cannons and magic stone artillery were worlds apart. Magic cannons were magic weapons that had been left behind from the past and shot out fire-type spells. Magic stone artillery were weapons which could shoot out magic rocks with deadly precision to chase away the enemy.

The rock was more than a meter in diameter. If it had landed on the hunting ship, the casualties would have been deadly.

Juno furrowed his brows. Opening the cabin doors, he used a Flying spell and shot into the sky. The magic stone artillery’s range was not very far and had a maximum range of two to three miles. He saw a ship from afar. It was a pirate ship with a skeleton flag flying in the air.

Juno was filled with rage. Those damn pirates. They actually dare to enter the sea controlled by Alchemy City. Looks like I’ll need to speak with the elders when I’m back. We need to expand the assaultive range of Alchemy City. This time, he needed to take down the pirate ship to give them a little punishment.

“Sh*t!” Saleen shouted as he saw Juno fly up.

“What?” Lex asked Saleen. She did not see anything out of the ordinary.

“It’s a trap. Juno is in danger! Their target is the armored navy vessel!” Saleen had activated his icy sight and saw that the pirate ship on the sea was but a magic illusion. Even though he found it extraordinary, without a doubt, behind the magic illusion was a large vessel.

Saleen felt a bitter taste in his mouth. The hunting ship had left Devil’s Horn more than a day ago and had likely travelled for hundreds of miles. If they capsized here, it would be an impossible task for them to swim back.

Hearing Saleen’s words, Lex also activated her icy sight to observe the pirate ship from afar. Juno’s shadow approached it before running through a ripple and disappearing.

“Lex, think of a way to escape. Do you remember where the lifeboats are?” Saleen was panicking. The enemy had driven away the sea demons to attract the attention of the hunting ships and armored vessel so that they could silently approach and lay a trap. Saleen did not think he could hold down the ship, and anyone who dared to challenge people from Alchemy City must have had the capabilities to do so.

“I remember.” Daniel instinctively sensed danger. This instinct was something he had nurtured from escaping for tens of thousands of miles. He was a death mage and he did not have the energy to move elements around, making him less adept at surviving on the sea than Saleen. He was the most anxious amongst them all.

“Let’s go.” Saleen tugged on Lex’s hand, not caring what she thought, and they followed Daniel out of the cabin. Just as they left, a magic stone landed on the porthole on the third floor, destroying the crystal porthole and leaving one side of the wall caving in.

The stones from the skies fell almost like rain. The hunting ship was not a combat vessel and did not have any armor on it. With the rocks weighing more than a ton as they came hailing down, their powers were as strong as magic. Before long, many holes appeared on the front deck, and the bow of the ship was struck by the artillery as well. The two puppets defending the alchemy crossbow were blown away, the crossbow destroyed too.

Seeing Juno disappear, the two grade-6 mages flew towards the skies and went in the direction of the pirate ship as well. Seeing this, Saleen gave up all hope. The two mages were decently strong, but it was a pity they lacked intelligence. The enemy had a sleeve of tricks waiting for them.

Daniel could not be bothered with the lives of the others. He ran straight for the back deck. At the end of the ship, there was a lifeboat on both sides. The sailors were shaking the winch, attempting to lower the lifeboat. A rock landed squarely on the back deck, and blood and flesh flew everywhere. Saleen released two ice blades from afar, cutting the rope that was securing the lifeboats. One of the two lifeboats landed flatly on the surface of the sea, letting out a thunderous sound.

The other lifeboat rolled over the deck and fell into the sea.

Daniel was first to jump towards the sea. Lex blessed everyone with a Windspeed spell, knowing that this time, they were in big trouble.

The authority of Alchemy City had gone unchallenged for centuries. This was the first time Alchemy City had been targeted, and they were embroiled within. Were they just too unlucky?

Lex, Sika, and Nailisi jumped accurately onto the lifeboat while Saleen and Daniel landed in the water. Saleen was quicker than a fish in the water, and he grabbed Daniel by his neck and threw him up into the lifeboat before turning himself over onto the boat.

The lifeboat was over ten meters long and did not have any oars. In the back cabin, there was an alchemy machine that had magic nuclei inlaid within. Saleen did not pin any hopes on this boat making it too far, and he said to Lex, “Find a way to start it.”

Lex nodded. This thing was simple. She just did not know how to steer it.

With a loud booming noise, another magic stone artillery hit the hunting ship. Behind the magic illusion, an enormous fleet of vessels seemed to be concealed. With such frequent attacks, even if they did not aim carefully, the hunting ship would not be able to withstand the assault.

“Daniel, you steer,” Saleen gave the order. This time, Daniel listened as he rushed to the back and steered by himself.

“Saleen, where are we going?”

Saleen was momentarily stunned before he understood. The road to Devil’s Horn had probably been cut off. “Northeast, as far as possible.”

He did not want to die together with the people from Alchemy City. With a boat, they would not die. Both he and Lex had brought a large amount of food with them, since it had already become a habit of theirs. No matter how far out to sea they went, so long as there were not any storms, they would not be in too much danger. As for the magic beasts in the sea? They would think about them once they had steered clear of the danger in front of their eyes.

Amongst them, Sika and Daniel were the ones who were in the most danger. Without a boat, they could not survive. Saleen did not even need to breathe in water and he was not afraid of the cold. Nailisi was not, either. Lex had the ability to fly and she would definitely be able to find land before her magic scrolls were used up.

Daniel did not say too much. He knew that this was a matter of life and death, and since Lex had activated the alchemy engine, he had been steering them further out to sea.

“Save me!”

A head bobbed up from the sea. It was Andrew. Lex did not have any intentions of stopping, and Daniel decided to collide with him instead. With a bang, Andrew did not even have the time to react before he was struck by the boat and sank. Under such circumstances, Lex did not dare to let an outsider onto the boat, especially someone who had fought with Saleen.

The lifeboat had been prepared for escape purposes. If the hunting ship met with a powerful magic beast in the sea, there was a chance that it would sink and the speed of this boat needed to surpass at least that of most of the magic beasts in the sea. Revving the alchemy engine, the six motors to the two sides of the boat started revolving and cut a white line across the sea as it sped off towards the northwest.

As expected, there were not any ambushes in this direction, and as Saleen looked back, the magic illusion had already disappeared and a giant combat vessel had appeared on the surface of the sea, moving towards the oncoming armored vessel. The hunting ship had already begun to sink and Saleen took a deep breath before taking out a scroll and opening it.

White fog dispersed and surrounded the boat. Even though it could not hide their trail, even if someone found them, they could not accurately aim their magic stone artillery.

The combat vessel had no intentions of dealing with a lifeboat and Saleen’s boat quickly sped off without looking back. He did not think that the armored vessel from Alchemy City would be able to deal with the giant combat vessels. The enemy had been able to create such an enormous magic illusion, so there had to be at least three sorcerers on board.

The armored vessel was fairly sizable as well, but it was an alchemy ship that was prepared for hunting and did not have any weapons for naval warfare. Most of the people on board were swordsmen as well, and the strongest mage, Juno, was probably already dead.

The lifeboat was too small to install a magic compass, but luckily, Daniel was used to travelling by sea. Looking at the sun to determine their direction, they travelled hundreds of miles before a loud noise came from the alchemy engine and all of the motors stopped spinning.

The boat stopped moving and Saleen said, “This place isn’t safe. The enemy has a magic compass, and so long as they send out a flying puppet, they will be able to track us down.”

Daniel looked at the alchemy engine that had stopped working and said despondently, “This can only be opened with a special alchemy instrument. It will not work if we take it apart.”

“Lex, create four boat oars. “Saleen looked in the direction that they had come from. The sea was vast, and there were no signs of the enemy. A seagull landed on the front of the boat and looked at them curiously.

Lex did not say much as she took out two massive beast leg bones from her god’s ring. She gave Sika and Nailisi a handsaw each before saying, “Process them into oars, quick.”

She did not have any materials to create oars with her. Back in Dragon’s Tooth Town, she had only stolen some armor and had not been interested in materials at all. Daniel had no idea what Saleen was planning, and he did not dare to ask either way.

Nailisi and Sika started processing the magic beast leg bones while Lex walked towards the deck and scanned the area. She brought out some metal components and secured them to the two sides of the ship.

The fog had dissipated a long time ago, and as the sea breeze blew, Daniel shivered, a little cold. Saleen released a Chunlin spell for him before walking to the deck and watching Lex work.

“It was not targeting me,” Lex said as she strengthened the sides of the ship.

“I know, but we still need to be quick.”

“Help me.” Lex threw over a piece of paper with instructions and Saleen took a look before helping Lex secure the metal components. Before long, the magic beast leg bones had been processed and Lex took out two spears, piercing them into the leg bones. She then made a few holes on the leg bones and secured them to a metal pole.

Placing the metal pole into the holes at the two sides of the ship, the two oars were nearly complete. Daniel looked at the giant oars, a little dazed. How would they move them?

Lex laughed and Daniel understood instantly, looking at the fully constructed puppet which Lex had taken out and left on the deck. He was incredibly grateful. If there had not been any elemental mages, these puppets could not have been activated by magic nuclei and this method would not have worked.

Although the combat abilities of death mages were incredible, they did not have as much utility as an elemental mage.

The two fully constructed puppets were left on the deck. One of them rowed while the other sat behind it, waiting to take over. The fully constructed puppet was incredibly useful except for the fact that it expended magic nuclei too quickly. Luckily, rowing a boat was not anything too complicated, and Lex did not have to control the puppet all the time. The oars started moving rapidly and Daniel took a look before continuing to steer from the back.

The lifeboat was back in motion, but it was twice as slow as before. Looking at the setting sun, Saleen was starting to get worried. He said, “Lex, do you have a map of the sea?”