Badge in Azure

“Advance with me, for the honor of a soldier.” The general put away his longsword, before taking hold of a lance from one of his trusted soldiers. The rest of the commanders were crestfallen as they led their teams behind the general’s main body of troops.

There was a grand total of seven-thousand troops which were split into seven portions. The three-thousand men at the front wielded various types of weapons. For the other four-thousand at the back, some did not even put armor on.

The one-thousand man team which crashed head-on with the skeletons had been obliterated. The two prongs of soldiers did not cause too much damage to the skeletons. Both parties had a strength of three-thousand people. If Saleen’s soldiers were humans, they might have been at the losing end. The skeletons totally disregarded the assaults coming from the flanks, however. They simply charged all the way forward. Only a few hundred skeletons on both sides collapsed. These fallen skeletons had their heads chopped off. The Soul Flame flickered in their orbitals a few times before disappearing abruptly.

They were not completely dead, they simply returned to the death dimension.

At this point in time, Daniel just barely managed to gain control of the front line. He halted the skeletons and redirected them to carry out the offensive in the opposite direction. Daniel only had this sole opportunity for a sprint, because the enemy’s seven-thousand soldiers had gathered and an attack was imminent. Behind Daniel, there were still almost two-thousand soldiers, who had disconnected him from the barbarians. If Daniel still did not return, he would be sandwiched. Even though he could escape, he would definitely cut a sorry figure in the end.

Around twelve-hundred enemies were killed, while six-hundred skeletons were lost. The kill death ratio was two to one. If the kill death ratio was one to one, it meant that the enemy was an idiot, since they could lose so badly against mere skeletons. The fallen soldiers would never be able to get back on their feet again. The skeletons’ bone spears were infused with poison. It was tough for a bone spear to pierce metal armor, but it could penetrate leather armor. A simple scratch on the skin would suffice.

The toxins in the skeletons were not potent, it could be treated using the Restorative Water. The enemy did not have time to treat their wounded soldiers though. If the injured were not treated and more than six hours had lapsed, even the magic liquid would not be able to revive them.

The most important reason why Daniel could survive until now was because he was cowardly, and he could also maintain his cool. The fact that he could escape tens of thousands of miles despite being hunted by the Holy See was a display of the toughness of his character. He could systematically command the skeletons to change their direction of assault. He totally ignored the main body of troops who were pursuing at the back.

Back in the temple, Saleen had waited for the three kings to return. The three fellows seemed like they did not even have the strength to become skeletons. They were in their original forms as they laid on the first story of the temple. Fortunately, the temple was sufficiently tall and wide. Creatures larger than them could also enter.

Saleen and Aini had arrived to visit the three kings. After all, these three were their strongest hitmen. Unexpectedly, the battle this time around was so intense. The bones of the three kings were badly torn, and they could barely be stitched back.

“How did this happen?!” Saleen got a shock when he saw the injuries on Banchajanna’s body. He knew that given Banchajanna’s capabilities, Banchajanna was an expert in long-range or close-range combat. Was the enemy not only a sorcerer?

Judikaka was upset. “How did this happen? It’s all because of your contractual trap. Currently, our powers are only equivalent to that of a grade-8 spirit. In the death dimension, we aren’t even the best anymore.” Even though the enemy was a grade-7 sorcerer, the difference in grades could not be calculated this way. A sorcerer’s lethality could not be estimated in this manner.

If it was not for Shanglan’s scepter, the outcome of this battle would have been uncertain.

“What about the five guys?” Even though Aini was concerned about Judikaka’s injuries, he was more worried about the enemy’s sorcerer. At this moment, he could not deal with a sorcerer. If the sorcerer gave chase, Aini would have to run for his life.

“Dead, none of them got away,” Judikaka replied weakly.

Aini then heaved a sigh of relief. The enemy might have quite a number of grade-5 mages, but they would not pose much of a threat. Saleen’s and Aini’s offensive powers were way superior to that of other mages at the same grade.

“Saleen, from my understanding, the numbers don’t add up since the enemy has so many mages. It is understandable if they are low grade mages, but the enemy has more than ten grand mages.”

Saleen also felt very doubtful. Usually, an army would be filled with low grade mages, there would not be many grand mages. An emblem group would not even be allocated a mage. Even the Qin army did not have so many grand mages. How did the army from the eastern sea states attain such an advanced configuration?

With twenty ships, the enemy could only carry about twenty-thousand men at maximum capacity. Half of which should be support troops. Only the regular soldiers escaped onto the ice layer. Ten-thousand regular soldiers deployed alongside twenty grand mages. This also meant that there would be two grand mages allocated to each emblem group, which was impossible.

“Forget it. We should keep some of them as prisoners so that we can extract information later on.”

As Saleen and Aini conversed, Judikaka suddenly raised his head and asked, “Aini, can you give the souls on the battlefield to us?”

Aini did not reply, he simply looked at Saleen. Saleen furrowed his brows and asked, “Judikaka, what do you need those souls for?”

“The three of us are severely injured, we need treatment.”

“It would be the same to let Daniel treat all of you, right?” Saleen was not willing to let the three kings swallow the souls, as it made him uneasy. It was one thing to kill the enemy, but it was an entirely different issue to destroy their souls.

Judikaka sighed, “That sorcerer was too mighty, causing almost irreversible damage. If Daniel helps us, he might not be able to accomplish other tasks in the next few years.”

“Why is that so, Daniel has a fixed set of coordinates.” Aini was perplexed too. He could feel that Judikaka was not lying this time round, but that Judikaka was concealing certain things.

“The Law of the Dead is also a kind of planar law. Actually…” Judikaka hesitated as he thought to himself, “Anyway it is only a matter of time before these two guys become sorcerers. There is no need to conceal this from them.”

“Actually, this is the same as elemental balance. We devoured souls back in the death dimension to treat our injuries. Most of the souls would be wasted, then they will be converted back into energy before returning to the plane itself. This is the same as elemental dispersal. On your plane, magic equipment will need to be repaired unless it is godly equipment. Otherwise, a piece of equipment will also lose its effect gradually no matter how good it is. This is because elements will diffuse out from the equipment in order to restore balance to the world. Only an item from another plane would enjoy almost no dispersal.”

Saleen’s heart lurched when he heard that, then he asked, “Why won’t godly equipment self-destruct?”

“Because godly equipment can traverse the planes, it doesn’t belong to any specific plane.” In the face of such a stupid question, Judikaka could only answer it patiently.

Saleen suddenly understood why the mages from the Sregl Island were so fixated on the fire element spirit. The fire element spirit did not belong to the plane of the Myers mainland. By using the fire element spirit to craft equipment, the equipment would possess the attributes of godly equipment. It would not be marred. The amount of energy contained in one fire element spirit was already extremely horrifying, it contained the power of a partial godly item. A partial godly item which did not need to be repaired was not much different from a godly item.

“So if you swallow these souls, the energy in the souls wouldn’t get dispersed on the plane of Myers mainland?” Saleen asked a critical question.

“This is an issue regarding energy replacement. The injuries we have sustained is a kind of energy. Obtaining compensation on this plane would be the most reliable treatment method.” This time round, Judikaka’s answer was not as concise. Saleen could comprehend it clearly, however.

The light element and dark element would not negate each other, instead they would be converted to each other. This was a concept which all mages understood. Even though Judikaka’s problems would prove to be more complicated in an in-depth analysis, the fundamental principle was the same.

Saleen did not make life difficult for Judikaka. He only asked, “If you do not swallow these souls, what will happen to them in the end?”

“Most of them would be dispersed, returning to the most primitive form; nothingness. Some might linger around for some time due to special circumstances. The duration of preservation would depend on the strength of the soul itself.”

“Diyabannersa, is this the case?” Saleen did not trust Judikaka’s words, so he decided to ask Diyabannersa who was the most honest.

“Yes, Sir Saleen,” Diyabannersa answered respectfully.

Seeing that Saleen still remained silent, Judikaka said, “Sir Saleen, the problem with a soul is extremely complex. The three of us might not be able to explain it accurately. Let’s take the skeleton from the death dimension as an example. Once a skeleton is born, it will live for about ten years. If there is no evolution within this ten years, the skeleton will perish and turn into pure energy. When we swallow the souls, we are not obliterating them either. We do not have that power to do so. The source of a soul should last eternally. Only the soul’s consciousness, its own imprint, will die out.”

Saleen smiled, then asked, “Aini, what do you say?”

“Just accede to their request.” Aini was worried that if the three kings were not by his side, his safety would not be guaranteed. As for the issue of swallowing souls, he was not repulsed by it. Judikaka was right; it was only a matter of time before the soul perished since those people had already died in battle. Even if the soul’s individuality had not died out, it was no longer a “human” anymore.

“As you wish.” Saleen smiled, as he thought, “Isn’t the most important thing in life individuality? All morality is built upon one’s self.”

Judikaka felt disgusted. “This Saleen is surely cunning, what do you mean by “as you wish”? You are simply shirking responsibility. If someone asks about this in the future, you will simply put on a “none of my business” attitude.”

As time passed second by second, no more flying puppets were seen returning from the front line. Saleen was not anxious either. At midnight, he finally received information from Kredian. The enemy had been exterminated. Only about one-hundred prisoners were captured, while the rest had died.

Aini could not conceal his look of astonishment, there were more than ten-thousand enemies!

“Let’s go and take a look.” Saleen allowed the rest who were waiting to get some rest. He only brought along Jola and Sika and went with Aini to the port. A massive hole had appeared on the ice layer which was directly facing the port. The ice which was several meters thick had disappeared, exposing the seawater underneath. Then, the prisoners were brought to Saleen. Saleen noticed that not only were the prisoners’ eyes filled with terror, the gaze of his own soldiers were also filled with extreme awe.

Truman must have fired the magic cannon many times to create such a colossal hole in the ice layer!