Badge in Azure

Following that, Lex took out the armor for the warhorses, and equipped them. A skeletal warhorse possessed great strength, although its defense was not outstanding. With the armor, the warhorses would be safer. The torso region of this armor had a protruding horn. If infantrymen were struck by this horn, they would surely be smashed into pulp.

In the camp compound, the mages were meditating while the swordmasters were training in order to get used to the magic armor. Lex took out a map and began discussing things with Saleen.

The area marked out on the map was humongous, but it only contained information about the Purgatory Desert. Within the area of the real Purgatory Desert, there were no useful markings at all.

“Generally, we have to advance more than six-hundred miles, or perhaps even a thousand, in order to reach our destination. In the day, the temperature in the Purgatory Desert will be more than eighty degrees, even with the magic armor, the soldiers will not be able to hold out. At night, the temperature will be about negative forty degrees.”

Nailisi sat at the side listening intently, as she thought to herself, “On the demonic plane, this is considered a harsh region already.”

“I am not sure what kind of creatures are in the desert. I am very sure of one thing though; in that environment, the number of creatures will not be large. Those that are there will be very powerful though.”

“How long are we going to wait here?” As Saleen gazed at the map, he grew uneasy. “Is the presence of powerful creatures really the reason why those greedy adventurers do not dare enter certain places?”

“Around twenty days, we have to see when Metatrin City will be able to calculate the coordinates.”

“Twenty days? At this position, will we really be safe from an attack?” Saleen pointed to the rear of the map, then said, “This is Duoluo City which we avoided, even though it is the smallest city, it can house more than five-thousand soldiers. Our tracks thus far cannot be concealed, if the people from the Agares family…”

“Then we will enter the Purgatory Desert earlier, didn’t you realize that I did not even build a teleportation portal?” Lex replied nonchalantly.

Saleen could only express admiration at Lex’s idea. Once in the Purgatory Desert, the Tanggulasi army would not dare enter even if they had millions of soldiers. In that harsh environment, a normal soldier would no longer pose a threat to them. Once the Tanggulasi Empire could not outnumber them, then the battle would depend on the experts.

Entering the Purgatory Desert in such an abrupt manner was very perilous for Lex’s team too, because they had zero knowledge of the things in the desert. The purpose of resting at this place for twenty days was to condition them.

“Why don’t I send some men to check out the area up ahead?”

“No, your men might not be able to return safely. The manpower I have prepared this time around is the strongest already. Once we reach the center of the desert, I am afraid… that some people may not return.” Lex rejected Saleen’s proposal.

“Let’s use a flying puppet then, I will make one right now.”

Lex nodded this time around. A flying puppet was like a dynamic form of a mage’s eyes. Its biggest function was not for attacking the enemy’s trebuchets or battlements, it was for reconnaissance.

The problem with a flying puppet was that its consumption of magic nuclei would be greatly increased if it were to fly for an extended duration, and it would be difficult to control it too. The best record ever was when a mage had flown a flying puppet for more than one-hundred miles and had it return safely, the puppet never crumbled in mid-air.

Originally, Lex’s team was planning to enter the desert directly, but because of Bifano, they arrived at the desert’s periphery in advance. They had an extra twenty days of time because of that. Even if the flying puppet could only scout an area of fifty miles, it would be tremendously helpful to the upcoming expedition.

Saleen began producing the flying puppet, the drawing and materials were provided by Lex. Saleen possessed the Water Flame Alchemy, which came in handy in this situation because an alchemy laboratory was absent.

Lex still had a bank of flying puppets in the God’s Ring. A flying puppet was considered the weakest puppet though. Once in the desert, there would be drastic temperature differences. Higher level materials had to be used in the production process.

Seeing that there was nothing much to be done, Nailisi went back to Sika, and began discussing things with Sika.

“Sister Sika, can you tolerate the environment of the desert?” Nailisi probed.

Sika glanced at Nailisi, then said defensively, “Why are you asking this, if I cannot take it, Saleen would not have allowed me to tag along.”

Nailisi licked her lips, then said, “Sister Sika, since you are not good at riding a horse, you can remain in the war chariot, which means you are a lot less beneficial to Master already.”

Sika actually wanted to use the same point to rebut Nailisi, but she recalled that Nailisi had summoned four demons whose offensive powers were very high, which meant that the four demons were indeed more useful than herself. Nevertheless, Sika refused to disclose anything, she simply shook her head, unwilling to reveal the trump card she had.

Nailisi was just too smart. With a mysterious tone, she said, “I notice that you do not look concerned at all, are you going to draw the big guns already?”

The big guns Nailisi was referring to was the gigantic magic beast skeleton Sika obtained from Raphael’s magical tower. Sika insisted that she could refine the skeleton, but after leaving the ocean, Nailisi had never seen her take it out even once.

“Humph, why are you asking this, are you afraid that I will kill you out of the blue?” Sika snorted with hostility.

“Of course not, I have been helping you all this while.”

“Kind of, but I do not like the four guys you summoned.”

“If you are unhappy with them, just call them over and wallop them, they will not dare retaliate,” Nailisi said ruthlessly.

“What are you trying to say?” Sika asked impatiently. She knew that Nailisi was doing insignificant stuff most of the time. The situation was now different however. The future was at stake, so Nailisi must be brainstorming of ways to avoid all those perils.

“I want to learn how to control bones.”

“You are… it’s useless even if you learned it, do you understand the state of mind of nature?”

“Why would I not? In the demonic plane, there are beautiful places too. Not everything there has to do with killing…”

“Are you thinking of dealing with the winged skeleton?”

Sika’s words made Nailisi feel very surprised. “How did this dumb girl manage to hit the bullseye?” Nailisi of course would not want to share Saleen with a summoned creature. The winged skeleton was very loyal, and Saleen had a good impression of it as well though. Now that the winged skeleton controlled the pan’s turtle alchemical boat, it was almost impossible to kill it.

Sika’s ability to control bones was far more powerful than what Nailisi imagined. Sika could re-inject life into a magic beast skeleton which had been dead for thousands of years. She could still control them in battles even.

The winged skeleton was only a mere skeleton, if Nailisi learned such a skill, she would thus be able to subdue it secretly.

“The problem is, how did Sika understand my thoughts?”

“The simpler a person, the harder it is to deceive them.” Sika waved her hand, dismissing Nailisi. She still had to practice her new skill in secret. If she could not fly, then she would be a burden to Saleen.

Nailisi realized that she had failed yet again, even Sika was not tricked by her. Nailisi was so terrible at being a demon. She continued pestering Sika, unwilling to let it go.

“Sister Sika, why don’t I summon a few demons to be your lackeys, what do you say?”

“No, Saleen mentioned that you have wasted a lot of his materials.”

“Woo…” Nailisi made a strange noise, as she looked downcast. Saleen did not recall all of the materials, he only took back the high level magic nuclei. It was not that Saleen did not trust Nailisi, but Nailisi was simply too prodigal.

“Sika even knows about this matter, I don’t know when Master told her about it.” If Sika agreed to Nailisi’s terms, and Nailisi went to summon new demons, all the expended materials would be Sika’s responsibility. By then, Saleen would not blame Nailisi.

“If you do not leave, I am going to hit you,” Sika threatened. Nailisi softened her stance, she was not afraid of mages, but was afraid of Sika. Sika’s boomerang and cudgel could really hurt her.

From a distance, the four demons watched Nailisi leaving Sika looking dejected, and they were all gloating. The four fellows did not display it though. Instead, with an indignant attitude, they told Nailisi, “Sir, that woman doesn’t know what’s good for her, I will help you teach her a lesson.” Cuisi took the lead and spoke up, while the other three demons concurred.

“Do you want to die?” Nailisi glared at them, putting one hand to her hip while pointing the other at their noses, then said ruthlessly, “That is Master’s lover, if you touch her, you will end up worse than getting captured by a Soul-splitting Demon.”

Cuisi pouted. His offensive power was the highest, other than being fearful of Nailisi, he was not even afraid of Jola.

Seeing that her advice was not working, Nailisi sneered, then said, “Aiwa, you have the most strength. Go to Sika and say that you want to duel with her. The few of you, stay aside and watch what happens. If you want to punish her, you have to defeat her first right?”

Aiwa clenched his fist, feeling very eager to give it a shot. Seeing that Nailisi was not joking, he immediately approached Sika.

In her peripheral vision, Sika noticed Nailisi admonishing the few demons. Now that she saw Aiwa walking towards herself, she did not know what he was trying to do, so she stood up.

“Are you called Sika?” Aiwa shook his fist about rudely.

Sika pouted, then she clenched her fist and tried to punch Aiwa. Even though Aiwa had transformed into a female human using the Ultimate Shapeshifting Skill, his strength was still present despite looking very frail. Seeing that Sika was trying to punch him, Aiwa was jubilant, and decided to use his fist to receive Sika’s blow.

“I don’t need to kill this woman, I will just break all of her bones.” Even before Aiwa’s mouth could arch upwards into a smile, he felt like he had been hit by a mountain. His whole body was trembling from that immense force. In that instant, all his muscles relaxed. As a result, mucus, tears, sweat and urine were all released from his body in that instant.

Oo…

Back at the camp, even the lousiest warrior was an intermediate swordmaster. It was impossible for the soldiers to miss such a raucous noise. Everyone turned around, and they saw a beautiful lady being flung into the air in front of Sika. The lady flew backwards, flying directly out of the camp compound.

Even Cuisi was dumbfounded, “How is it possible that this female human is so powerful? This sort of power only existed before the humans declined!”

The three demons could toss a person weighing dozens of pounds into the air, they could even make them fly farther. The person in question was Aiwa, the strongest one among the demons. The best way to deal with Aiwa was to use technique, even Cuisi could not be bothered to pit his strength against Aiwa.

“Cuisi, do you want to try? You are much more powerful than Aiwa, and you might be stronger than me. I have to remind you though, it’s because of your strength that Sika will not go easy on you. If you are killed by her, I will torture your soul!”

Cuisi hesitated. Nailisi’s words appeared to be a threat, but it was more like an encouragement for Sika.

“But if you triumph, I will ask Master to produce a set of high level equipment which will fit your true form.” Nailisi tossed a bait, grinning widely as she looked at the demon called Cuisi.