Badge in Azure

“He is not an outsider, he is my partner. The owner of Metatrin City and a grand mage; Mr. Saleen.” Lex pushed open the chariot doors, and she exited the magic war chariot. Saleen followed suit.

“Ha ha, so he is a valued guest.” That young man was naturally the small duke of the Titan Duchy. As Lex made her way down the chariot, a group of riders from the Titan Duchy was captivated by her.

As Saleen and Lex had spent a lot of time together, Saleen was already oblivious to her beauty. It was different for those riders. Lex was a typical Qin person, with a head of long obsidian hair. Her eyes had a strange hue of black. This hue of black held traces of blue, as though it was formed by the stillness of the ocean, crystal and clear.

Lex’s pupils should have been blue, but due to her practice of her family’s secret arts, her eyes took on a magnificent shade. Lex was older than Saleen by two years, she was a complete adult by now. Clad in a multi-colored magic robe, the curves of her body were obscurely exuded when the magic robe swayed with the wind.

The small duke also became out of sorts, but he still managed to dismount from the horse and executed a noble greeting to Lex.

“Great Mage, I was ill-mannered just now.” The small duke did not forget to greet Saleen. Saleen viewed this small duke with more value, as a result.

“Saleen Metatrin.” Saleen executed a mage’s greeting in return, acting neither obsequious nor arrogant.

Since Saleen was a grand mage and the owner of a city, the small duke was helpless. He exchanged greetings and said, “Bifano De Agares.”

Saleen never studied genealogy, but he had researched some books in the past in order to clarify the history of his lineage. He knew that the “Agares” name was as ancient as the “Metatrin” name. He suddenly recalled that in the stack of loan vouchers left behind by his father, there was a fellow whose surname was Agares. Could that fellow be a relative of this small duke?

If that was the case, Saleen could take this opportunity to obtain some benefits.

Of course, Bifano did not know what intentions Saleen harbored. Enthusiastically, he led Lex’s entourage into the castle. It was only at the interior of the castle that one would discover the tightness of the security. After the castle gate was a complex barbican, with many short battlements. This was the first line of defense if the city gate got compromised.

If there were sufficient crossbows stationed on these battlements, they would cause huge fatality to the invaders. There was no way out from the barbican, one would not be able to defend against the arrows coming from all directions using just a shield. After passing through the barbican, one would arrive at a stretch of camps. Situated behind these camps were several towering rock podiums. Metal pillars were planted into the podiums, they were to be used for installing trebuchets.

With such basal trebuchets, the range of a toss could possibly be farther than two miles. Even though they were not magic trebuchets, their lethality would already be very high.

Along the way, fully-equipped troops with imposing demeanors were spotted. Obviously, these soldiers were the elites who had experienced bloodshed. Their movements brimmed with ferocity.

This castle used to belong to the princess from Cloudflow. It had a larger configuration, and its exterior was not even regular. It had obviously been expanded many times over. After the camps, there was a huge number of battlements and forts. The paths within the castle were paved with granite, they could hardly be destroyed.

Bifano led the crowd to a building at the rear of the castle. One of the mages onboard one of the magic war chariots refused to disembark, choosing to stay back and meditate.

Bifano did not seem to mind at all. He was full of laughter and smiles as he led Lex into the grand hall.

As the maidservants began serving tea, Bifano waved his hands, chasing his soldiers out of the grand hall, leaving only him and Lex’s entourage inside.

“Lex, you have become much more beautiful.” As Bifano smiled, his eyes veered towards the two women beside Saleen. “The two women beside Lex’s partner are sure alluring, but they don’t look like professionals at all. They don’t have the Sword Aura nor elemental vibrations. A grand mage with two normal women?”

Surely Lex would not fall for such a frivolous person right? Bifano was more assured now. Other than shifting his assets and conquering the secret base of the Pink Army, Bifano invited Lex over with the intent of strengthening their relationship.

If he could marry Lex, then it would not matter even if he fell out with the Cloudflow emperor. Lex was a county queen in Cloudflow. If he could get together with Lex, he would still enjoy a grand duke status.

“Bifano, I heard that you are going to marry the Cloudflow princess, congratulations.” With a partial smile, Lex looked at Bifano, rebutting whatever he had said earlier on.

“If that was the case, I wouldn’t have looked for you.” Bifano sighed. Even though he had steeled his mind, he still felt very indignant that the land which had been managed for dozens of generations was going to be seized.

Lex stopped agitating him. By marrying his daughter off to Bifano, it was blatant that the Cloudflow emperor wanted to take over the duchy owned by Bifano’s family. Since Qin and Tanggulasi had taken action, Cloudflow was not willing to remain passive, it also wanted to participate in the action. Cloudflow must be attempting to regain the glory of the fourth dynasties.

Cloudflow’s fleet was really mighty. That being said, Lex did not really give a hoot about its army.

“Bifano, I have developed land in the north, and now is the time I require materials. Regarding the twenty percent profits, I don’t want any gold coins, I want it in the form of materials.” Lex no longer harped on the issue of the Cloudflow princess, she went straight to the topic Bifano and she discussed previously.

“That will be best. Even if the profits are discounted, I will still take a loss.” When Bifano talked about serious matters, he immediately got revitalized.

“My status is extremely sensitive. Should we deal with the Pink Army first? Or shift the assets first?” Lex had raised an imperative question. Her trip to Titan could not be concealed from Cloudflow for a long time. Once the Cloudflow Empire learned of her trip, they would have sufficient reasons to take immediate action.

The worst thing was that no one knew what Sikeqinya’s stance was. Cloudflow was inclined towards Qin, because its navy was almost useless against southern Qin. With Alchemy City, the best Cloudflow could do was to emulate the navy from the eastern sea states by attacking Lianyun City first. That place was too far from Holy Rock City. There was not much benefit declaring war with Qin, it was even less beneficial than if they were to go round half the mainland to invade Sikeqinya.

At the moment, Sikeqinya’s stance was a mystery. If Sikeqinya and Tanggulasi cooperated, then the iron riders from the Tanggulasi Empire would be able to go through Titan and make a beeline for Cloudflow. The Titan Duchy would not be able to hold out for long.

“Shift the assets first.” Bifano was already prepared. He took out a map. It was a detailed map of the Titan Duchy. Even though it was not a magic map, it clearly illustrated all the mountains and rivers in the duchy.

“This is the map of Titan. The important treasuries of the duchy are located in the black snow mountains. We will start with the biggest four, before traveling east along the mountains, then emptying the remaining eight treasuries. In Fire Dance City, I have planted five emblem groups worth of manpower. Setting off from that location, we will be able to reach the secret base of the Pink Army in two days.”

“Five emblem groups are all you have left. You need to think this through, we might not be able to exterminate the Pink Army.”

In a rare moment, Bifano’s eyes brimmed with arrogance, and he said, “Lex, don’t underestimate Titan’s warriors. These five emblem groups consist of the chosen elites who have been following the Agares family for generations.”

Nailisi snorted softly, she had observed the double-faced strong cavalry in the past. Without the spells prepared by Lex beforehand, those two-hundred double-faced strong cavalrymen could defeat Bifano easily.

Heavy cavalry had no way of invading cities. Bifano’s operation this time around spanned thousands of miles. If an assault was launched midway, those two-hundred double-faced strong cavalrymen would definitely massacre his army.

Saleen glared at Nailisi, while Bifano pretended to hear nothing. Lex and he had already arrived at an agreement in their secret correspondence, before luring the double-faced cavalry to attack. If the largest problem was not dealt with, the Pink Army, he would not dare invade the Pink Army’s base either.

The next step was for Bifano to act as bait by traveling south with Lex. The Pink Army would continue its offensive. By reducing the enemy’s power outside gradually, it would be way easier attacking the Pink Army once their old quarters were located. He had spent ten years seeking the Pink Army’s old quarters, but he could not gain entry. This time around, he was going to transfer the duchy’s assets there. Henceforth, he would not care about what the Cloudflow Empire would do in the future.

Even though Saleen glared at Nailisi, he did not expect Bifano to disregard her contempt. If a noble decided to be shameless, even a forbidden curse would not be able to move them.

At this point, Saleen had no choice but to speak up. There otherwise might not be another opportunity as good as this one to make the small duke compromise. Saleen told Lex, “Before coming here, you didn’t mention about detouring to so many places.”

Lex understood tacitly. It was just that Saleen could not rub off any of those benefits which were granted to Sika. Even though the final objective was obtaining the seeds of the four divine trees, it was just a deduction. No one could be sure if these things were still around in the core of the temple after tens of thousands of years.

In the event the temple was empty, then Saleen would have made a wasted trip. He would also still have to help Bifano move house.

Looking apologetic, Lex replied, “Saleen, before arriving, I didn’t look at the map, so I didn’t know that the things were not confined to one city.”

Bifano’s nose was almost contorted in rage. Indeed, Lex had not seen the map. She had however been in control of one region since she was ten, so it was impossible for her not to know why the duchy’s treasuries would not be in one location. If the treasury was built in a city, and a mutiny or a great fire broke out, then the duchy could possibly go bankrupt.

It was obvious that Lex did not want to offend this grand mage called Saleen. Bifano thought to himself, “You, a grade-5 mage, want to get some benefits, you really don’t know the severity of things.”

“Mage Saleen, you can wait for our return in the princess’ castle.” Bifano’s expression changed in a flash, as an air of superiority emanated from his demeanor. Saleen even dared kill a bishop from the Holy See, he would not care about Bifano’s demeanor at all.

“Sure, I shall thank you for your generosity then. Please take your time to make the detours, I will wait patiently.” Saleen looked nonchalant, as Nailisi burst with jubilance.

“Master was sure an expert in pillaging. If this stalemate continues, the small duke will go bankrupt already.”

Lex quickly said, “Bifano, you have to rely on Saleen if you want to unlock the Pink Army’s secret base.”

In that instant, Bifano regretted. Lex did not mention anything in the letters, Lex only said that she had a way to open the gate to the base. He did not know that this inconspicuous grade-5 mage was the crux. Saleen’s unhappiness was now clearly displayed, it was too late for Bifano to regret.

A noble’s tricks were useless against a mage. In order to tempt Saleen, benefits would have to be given.