Badge in Azure

Saleen finally understood why Lex was so determined to capture the Metal Titan. If the Metal Titan could partake in the current battle, it only needed to stomp a few times to terminate those pesky blood knights. On the battlefield, tremendous brute strength was sometimes irreplaceable.

Of course, if Lex’s mages charged into battle, they could also kill the blood knights. It would be unwise for them to join in the battle though, whether they were using scrolls or the magic chords to cast spells.

The scrolls would be depleted bit by bit, while the magic chords required more than two hours to be regained. This was also only because Lex’s mages were extremely ferocious. Out of a few hundred mages, they were the selected few.

Many mages required six hours to regain their magic chords. They still had to consume medicine and wear the relevant equipment too.

Lex’s team was very small. The moment they abandoned the war puppets, they immediately broke free from the blood knights. As this team of people escaped east, the sound of the war drums in the distance became softer and softer.

It could not be considered an escape. At worst, if both parties fought, everyone would sustain heavy damage. The Tanggulasi Empire had assembled this army in a fluster, so they did not have a targeted solution to deal with Lex’s team.

Lex was a grade-6 mage. On her team, she had brought along two grade-5 mages, four grade-4 mages, an assassin who was almost a Golden Grand Swordmaster, two Black Metal Grand Swordmasters, and ten swordmasters clad in the Spirit Snake Armor. Given such a force, a sorcerer was needed to quell this team. A normal army had to have huge manpower in order to stop Lex from leaving.

Four demons had suddenly appeared beside Saleen too. Of these four demons, Cuisi’s offensive power might be much higher than that of Jola’s. Saleen himself also possessed various extraordinary methods to deal with a warrior. One example was the water flow in his calabash. Its offensive power was akin to a level-4 spell, yet it did not consume any magic chords at all.

Saleen looked back indignantly. Under the effect of the Icy Sight, everything became so clear. The blood knights and the war puppets hacked one another relentlessly, all order had been lost. A few blood knights, who did not fall off their warhorses, persevered and gave chase. Jola then used his bow to shoot them in their hearts, causing them to fall off the warhorses, never to get up again.

A Silver Grand Swordmaster was really a mighty presence. With a distance of more than three-hundred yards, a normal soldier could only fire three arrows at most even if they had immense strength and had undergone tough training. Their fingers might be fractured otherwise.

Within a distance of one-hundred yards, a normal soldier could only fire six arrows. Since a crossbow was fitted with a gear, it could allow a soldier to fire infinitely, provided there were arrows available. The firing speed of a crossbow was too slow if it was not an alchemical crossbow though. If a soldier using a crossbow, which had a range of three-hundred yards, could fire three arrows in a minute, he was considered a good archer.

Jola could fire a rain of arrows, and never seemed to get exhausted though. This meant that his skills were equivalent to that of a high grade professional archer already.

The team continued east. They actually could enter the desert directly if they traveled south, but Lex chose east to avoid consuming strength prematurely. By traveling one-hundred miles east, the mountain would lead deeper into the desert, and if the Tanggulasi army wanted to surround the team, they would have to enter the desert in advance. On the other hand, if the Tanggulasi army chased behind the team, they would find it hard to keep up with Lex’s pace.

The temperature got increasingly lower while the radiant moon was suspended high in the sky. Frosty air infiltrated the exterior layer of their armor, but was blocked out by the magic beast skin. The swordmasters did not feel any discomfort, while the skeletal warhorses did not even care about such a temperature. In the death dimension, the temperature was below zero degrees perennially and there were also volcanoes there. Whether the temperature was high or low, a spirit might get killed, but its actions would not slow down.

The magic war chariot was a little jerky because no amount of magic arrays could ever eliminate all vibrations. The wheels enveloped in isinglass brought the vibrations down to an acceptable level, since the team was dashing insanely at more than forty miles an hour.

“Someone is chasing us!” Nailisi’s danger awareness was keener than anyone elses. Before Lex could discover the scent of danger, Nailisi was already pointing to the rear and yelling.

Very soon, a black figure appeared in mid-air, cutting across the sky.

“Reduce speed.” Lex immediately gave an order to make the magic war chariot slow down. The skeletal warhorses also controlled their pace. They walked in a circle before turning around to face the oncoming enemy.

Lex was not worried at all. The person was flying at less than one-hundred miles an hour, so he was not a sorcerer yet. If the enemy was a holy master, then he should be at the grade of a black pastor, it was unlikely that he was a bishop.

When that black shadow noticed that the team on the ground had stopped, he was stunned. He also slowed down, then he levitated in the air more than one-hundred yards from Lex’s magic war chariot.

A mage usually preferred to limit their attack distance to one-hundred yards. Any farther, and they could not reduce the consumption of mental strength.

Even though a grand mage could attack from more than two-hundred yards away, or from a horrifying five-hundred yards away, mages were still used to fighting at an intermediate distance.

The man in the sky was clad in a long black robe and wore a leather cap, he was obviously not used to the low temperature. This was the difference between a holy master and a mage.

This man had a neatly shaved black beard, but it was impossible to decipher his age, one could only tell that he was between thirty to fifty years old. As he looked down at the ground. Lex, who was in the magic war chariot, did not come out. As though protesting, the ten swordmasters raised their miniature alchemical crossbows which hung on their left arms. These alchemical crossbows could definitely hit this black-robed holy master who was levitating in the air.

Since he was wearing a black robe, he had to be from the inquisition.

The subordinates of the pope would wear a red robe when they reached this grade, while the subordinates of an oracle would wear a white robe. Even the inner ranks of the Holy See had much dissatisfaction at the inquisition because the inquisition was despicable. Other than their god, the inquisition only thought of themselves.

“Your Highness Lex, you are traveling too quickly.” The black-robed holy master had a gentle voice which could spread for more than one-hundred yards easily. He did not even raise his voice.

The doors of the chariot flung open, and Lex revealed her near perfect face. She leaned against a cushion, looking lackadaisical, as though she was resting in her own residence.

“I wasn’t expecting a powerful figure from the inquisition to come, which one are you?” Lex employed an even more relaxed tone to chat with this man.

“The three old men have six disciples, I am the fifth one. They call me Black William.” The black-robed holy master seemed to be warming up to Lex, as he spoke at a leisurely pace.

The three old men referred to the three leaders of the inquisition, the three head inquisitors who were not known to the outside world. These three men controlled the one-hundred-thousand adjudicators from the inquisition. No matter how much displeasure the inner ranks of the Holy See had towards the inquisition, they would not dare anger these three men. The man who pursued Lex was actually their disciple.

Lex cackled, then said, “Black William? Are you the kindest one out of the six killers?”

“Indeed I am, that’s why I am here. If the other five were here, you would surely die.”

The inner ranks of the Holy See were split into factions, and there was serious infighting. The oracles, pope and head inquisitors each held onto one faction. The pope controlled the most people, the oracles controlled the ascetics, while the head inquisitors controlled the most number of fanatic believers.

The power of an oracle came from the blessings of the god. In order to resist the oracles, the head inquisitors decided to groom six successors. These six men were nicknamed “killers”. This nickname was actually given by the inner circle of the Holy See, and not the victims of these six people. The unlucky ones who got killed by them would not even have the chance to give them nicknames.

All along, the style of the inquisition was complete extermination. If one got onto their blacklist, they could either hide in silence, or their whole family would be massacred.

The most ridiculous time was when the inquisition decided to extend its sphere of influence into Alchemy City. In the end, Alchemy City lost a sorcerer, but the inquisition stopped sending people into the city. Both parties accepted this outcome in silence. If other powers tried to wreak havoc in Alchemy City, they would have faced severe retaliation.

After the pope ambushed Emperor Chanake, Alchemy City dispatched a group of mages to create trouble in the Tanggulasi Empire. Because of that, to this day, the Tanggulasi Empire still could not deploy all its forces to attack Qin. When the eastern sea allied army appeared in northern Qin, Tanggulasi would have rode on the situation to stage an invasion. It would not have seized Titan first.

“I heard that the inquisition had a part to play in killing my father. Are those three fellows dead or paralyzed?” Lex’s voice suddenly became frosty, a tinge of frost even appeared on the skin of her face.

Black William laughed, but he did not get angry. Then, he said, “Emperor Chanake was a great man. The pope still hasn’t recovered after getting hurt by him, it seems like the next pope will be ascending the throne soon. The head inquisitors are extremely grateful to the emperor.”

The moment Saleen heard Black William’s response, he immediately understood that this guy was a difficult problem, because no one could direct his emotions.

“If they are really grateful, they should accompany him.” Lex did not continue along the same topic. She realized that Black William had no intention to kill her.

“That is a matter of time, there is no rush.” Black William continued to respond in a serene manner. “But, Your Highness, is it a wise decision to take such risks?”

“What are you trying to say?” Lex did not want to beat about the bush with Black William, this man was simply too perilous. He had the support of the three head inquisitors. As the disciple of those three old men, Black William’s offensive power might already be higher than that of a Black Bishop. “His flying speed just now should be a pretense to make me let my guard down.”

“Your Highness, I know about the conflict between you and Holy Rock City…”

“I am a Grukos.” Lex interrupted Black William’s sentence.

“This is indeed a sticky situation, but has Your Highness ever thought of establishing your own dynasty?”

“My dynasty would not allow the existence of a church either.” Lex was never more determined.

“This should be left to the choice of the citizens.”

“Citizens? This word was invented by the Sikeqinyans right? Is the Holy See using it too?” Lex spoke in a sarcastic tone.

“Master, the viscountess has been agitated by that guy. The situation isn’t too good.” Nailisi whispered into Saleen’s ear.

“Don’t worry, Lex is doing this on purpose.” Saleen affixed his gaze on Black William, trying to identify any weaknesses. No matter how hard he observed or used the Figaro Formula to calculate, he could not identify any spell which could destroy the perfect balance in that man’s body.

A full round moon shone behind the spot where Black William was levitating. It was as though all that moonlight was a halo shining down from his body.