Badge in Azure

Aini had shamelessly asked for a Green Spirit rock from Saleen, because he really had no items to exchange for it. The most representative sealing-type gem of all was the obsidian rock. The Green Spirit existed in small numbers, not everyone had the chance to purchase one. Saleen had obtained a number of Green Spirit rocks in the Chaotic Swamp. Even though their quality was not the best, they were still much better than an obsidian rock.

Aini’s largest asset was the powerful spirit he had sealed beforehand.

Since he was now a grade-5 death mage, he would have no stress summoning a grade-4 spirit. Of all the grade-4 spirits, the ones most suitable for conducting a massacre on the battlefield were the knight of darkness and the green-bronze zombie. Technically, the green-bronze zombie was considered a foreigner in the death plane, but it contained all the attributes of a spirit. It could still be summoned by a death mage.

A green-bronze zombie was as tough as metal from head to toe, it did not use any weapons and could spit poison. While other zombies had slow movements, a green-bronze zombie could flit from place to place even if it had not gone berserk.

For the past year, Aini had been summoning one green-bronze zombie almost every other month, sealing them inside the Green Spirit. If the sealing gem was the obsidian rock, these zombies would have lost most of their powers after a year. Only the Green Spirit could allow the zombies to live inside it, replenishing their energy, and help them recover from injuries.

In a year, Aini had summoned twelve green-bronze zombies. On the battlefield, these twelve zombies were much mightier than twelve grade-4 magic beasts. A zombie possessed intelligence. They could cooperate with a death mage and they were unafraid of death or injury. A green-bronze zombie could face a grade-5 magic beast alone and it would be an even match.

The Floral Death Creature might be powerful, but given Aini’s current grade, he could not allow it to move about freely. It could only stay in one position to fight. Its attack radius was not more than one-hundred yards. The moment the twelve green-bronze zombies were released, they immediately lunged at the bandits who trespassed into the camp complex. Following behind the green-bronze zombies were servants from the Clyde family.

These servants wore half-body armor and wielded sharp blades. Wherever the green-bronze zombies went past, none of the bandits survived. The bandits who were scratched by the zombies’ nails went numb immediately. The servants at the back would then slash them with blades. Occasionally, some bandits would escape, but they would be swiftly dissected by the servants.

A trusted servant of a noble led a better life than a civilian. During wartime, they were the most reliable offensive force a noble possessed.

Cuisi retreated to the entrance of the barrack. Since he had released the scroll, his mission was completed. As long as no assassins came near, the battle was basically over already.

Cuisi knew that no assassins would pose a threat to Saleen given Saleen’s offensive power, unless the assassin was someone like Bain. An assassin’s instantaneous lethality was very powerful. If Cuisi delayed their attack, Saleen’s magic would be able to kill an assassin of any grade though.

Fundamentally, an assassin was like a mage. They had low defensive power but high offensive power.

In the barrack, Saleen actually became more relaxed when he heard the sounds of killing. Grinning from ear to ear, he told Sharman, “Aini has eradicated the enemy’s heavy cavalrymen, we are out of danger.”

Sharman then had peace of mind, she was most worried about the heavy cavalrymen. A normal cavalryman was still restrained by their equipment and could not execute long-range raids, but those heavy cavalrymen were riding atop metal-armored earthworms, they could run for more than one-hundred miles. If on a warhorse, a fully equipped heavy cavalryman who could run for a mile was already considered the cream of the crop.

Any merchant convoy who ran into such bandits would thus face the fate of destruction.

“So now, just follow me.” Saleen’s tone at this point in time was totally unlike a mage. He knew that given Sharman’s character, talking to her in a mage’s style would most likely not yield any results.

Indeed, Sharman’s mood brightened, she nodded and said, “Brother Saleen, I can follow you, but I am not confident of persuading my sister.”

“Heh, she will straighten her thoughts.” In his head, Saleen was thinking, “Lex might be a stronger backer, but being Lex’s subordinate means that you will be restrained by Holy Rock City, at least for the next one or two years. Before that, Lex will not recruit anyone, to prevent the Holy Rock City from abetting anyone secretly and cause them to revolt. My Metatrin City is different, the experimental attack by Lianyun City was crippled badly by my men. In the short term, Holy Rock City will actually not attack their own people. Baroness Guya is a smart person, as long as I clear this commercial route this time around and Lex does not vie for control over Phoenix, she will definitely opt to follow me.”

As for the issue whether anyone was eyeing Metatrin City or not, Saleen was not worried at all. With the three kings holding the fort, all enemies were simply seeking death, unless a person like Fycro was present. Three grade-8 spirits could resolve most internal troubles.

“Brother Saleen, do I have to call you ‘Your Highness’ or ‘Sir’ in the future?” Sharman looked utterly innocent, but Saleen would surely not be deceived. He replied, “If you want to lead troops, you have to call me ‘Sir’, but if you join politics, you have to call me ‘Your Highness’. If you are willing to become a noble of the Metatrin family, you can address me as you please.”

“Become a noble of the Metatrin family? I am not so sure about that…”

“The Metatrin family ruled over one-hundred and fifty counties north of the mainland during the fourth dynasty, they have the authority to confer the title of ‘duke’. Above a duke would be a grand duke who owns lands, but the royal family can give orders to a grand duke.”

“I get it now, so the royal family is ranked slightly lower than the imperial family, but above the status of a grand duke?”

“It’s not about the status. Even if all the direct descendants of the royal family were dead, the family still possesses a legitimate inheritance. Which means that, like an imperial family, a royal family also contains a noble bloodline, thus having an obscure legacy.”

Sharman remained silent for a moment, then said, “A grand duke can be conferred, but a royal title cannot be conferred, is that what you mean?”

“That’s right, a royal family is only so because they have innate abilities. A grand duke can be conferred by the emperor, and he can form a duchy. As for becoming a duke, you only have to make a contribution, so anyone can become a duke.”

Saleen was randomly fabricating lies at this moment without any worries because the ability he possessed right now was indeed unattainable by anyone else. The secret technique to controlling lightning would surely make the “Metatrin” surname recognized.

His descendants would be able to cultivate this technique much more easily than others, this was the so-called inheritance mages talked about. As to whether the bloodline was noble or not, it was just a façade for bluffing the civilians. Saleen was born a beggar, everything he owned at the moment was a result of his abilities.

“Ha ha!” Sharman used the cutlass’ sheath to hit on the table, laughing boisterously. She was feeling a little supercilious, then said, “Brother Saleen, I want to be your noble, I want to become the first female grand duchess in this world, the Grand Duchess of Rolande!”

As Sharman spoke, she was dancing with joy, almost hitting the tea cup in front of her out the window.

Saleen was overjoyed, this world had an empress already, but there was no grand duchess yet. If Sharman wanted to be a grand duchess, she did not only have to follow Saleen, she would also need to lead troops on campaigns and kill countless people. “Am I being too evil for doing this? She is still a child.”

Noticing the strange gaze Saleen had, Sharman’s face turned scarlet, then she sat down. She said, “I will mind my manners, don’t worry, I have learned such things from my youth.”

“Great, once we get to Qin, we will split up at the east-west road. You can hire a team of mercenaries to transport the goods to your destination, then you will return to Baroness Guya’s land. Try to bring as many people back to Metatrin City as you can.”

“Brother Saleen, that Dimension Stone…”

“The Dimension Stone was a gift from my teacher, I cannot give it to you. The value of one Dimension Stone is higher than all your goods combined.”

Sharman stuck out her tongue, but she did not act coy. She knew her place, and she knew that it was a little improper to be discussing this topic with a mage. Magic equipment could never be gifted to another person at will, especially if it was an irreplaceable piece. A mage would never sell something like that.

The battle in the camp was drawing to an end. Almost one-thousand people had charged into the camp throughout the whole battle. The over four-hundred men at the start had been killed by magic and the Berserk Undead Soldiers, while the other five-hundred at the end were finished off by the green-bronze zombies and the convoy’s guards.

The convoy’s guards and servants suffered some losses, about forty people had died and many more were injured. There were mages around, so all of them were treated.

The other five-hundred bandits and five leaders who came later on were assassinated by Sharman’s aunt. Su led Aini’s trusted soldiers, charging out of the opening in the camp, and exterminating all the bandits at the rear. When the grade-6 mage amongst the bandits saw the appearance of a Silver Grand Swordmaster, he knew that the situation had spiraled out of control. He decided not to take any action, instead, he fled with his trusted aides.

This was the shrewd aspect of Aini. With Su around, the enemy’s mage would surely not take the risk to kill his trusted soldiers. In fact, about forty of the soldiers who remained in camp were killed.

If a Silver Grand Swordmaster who led fifty swordmasters could not even disperse a group of bandits who were at the grade of a swordsman, then that would be too ridiculous.

The bandits had lost more than one-thousand men, on the other hand, the convoy’s guards and servants had lost less than one-hundred people. This greatly assured Aini. The spirit wolves need not be deployed onto the battlefield anymore.

The bandits actually had another agenda. After losing a huge number of elites in the camp, the leaders hated their target to the core. Without a grade-6 mage around while the elites from the Black Dragon Bandit Gang were dead, they had lost all motivation to attack the camp compound.

Seeing the bandits retreat, Su did not chase after them, he led Aini’s men back to camp. Aini’s subordinates were full of respect for Su. Under Su’s leadership, the fifty men weaved in and out of the bandits, killing them. Even though each one of them were injured, none of them had gotten killed.

With a grade-5 mage traveling with the merchant convoy, these injuries would not pose a threat at all.

When Aini saw the bandits retreat, he did not relax, he continued allowing the Floral Death Creature to block the gates of the camp compound, in case the bandits decided to make a comeback. Su returned to Saleen’s barrack alone to report the battle situation.

“Sir, you were right, the enemy has retreated, but Aini didn’t chase after them.”

Coincidentally, Aini entered at this moment. When he heard Su’s words, he felt his face flush.

“Forget it, Aini doesn’t have cavalrymen, he would not be able to capture the bandits’ cavalrymen.” Saleen helped Aini to get out of that situation. Even though Aini’s trusted soldiers rode on horses, they could not be considered cavalrymen. On horseback, the offensive power of these soldiers was weaker than when they traveled on foot.

In Lex’s swordsman’s camp only two emblem groups were truly cavalrymen, but all the infantrymen also had warhorses. Asking an infantryman to fight on horseback was already a very retarded action. Saleen originally thought that the bandits would be relentless, but they had actually escaped after losing one-thousand men.

All the soldiers and servants went to clean up the battlefield, while Sharman, her aunt and the mage returned to their own barrack. Once she entered the barrack, Sharman could not wait and told her aunt what Saleen had said. Then, she asked, “Auntie, tell me, can I trust Saleen?”