Badge in Azure

There were only eleven men following Su, but these eleven people were dozens of times mightier than that hundreds of servants in terms of offensive power. They swerved around and caught up with Su, and those two bandits who were still dazed got decapitated by the swordmasters who came not long after.

Qin’s battlefield skills were very detailed. There was a variety of sabers, but no matter which type was used, it could not slice through heavy armor. The bandits were clad in light armor while their necks were covered in beast skin. The swordmasters identified the enemy’s weakness, thus chopping off their heads in one slash. Even the tiny iron chains lining the interior of the beast skin were broken.

Su charged forward on horseback, the blade in his hand poking left and right at lightning speed. Every strike he made caused a bandit to fall off their horse and sustain serious injury. Su did not kill anyone. Even though a blade was not suitable for horse battle, its user was important too. Such a weapon had a wider blade, as long as it pierced into one’s body, it would cause them to lose their offensive ability and bleed profusely.

The flaw of a blade was that it could break easily. Su’s Sword Aura dominated the battle. The blade danced in mid-air. The bandits did not even see it coming, they could only feel the intense Sword Aura, and then they were knocked off their horses by Su.

In a few breaths’ time, Su had already passed through the entire team of bandits. More than twenty bodies appeared behind him, and another twenty or so who had fell off their horses and were gravely injured. The ones dead were actually killed by Aini’s trusted soldiers.

It was not that Su could not bear to kill someone. He had received education, so he did not care about the enemy’s life. On the battlefield, causing irreversible damage to the enemy was the best strategy. If the enemy tried to save their injured comrades, then they would have to pay an even larger price.

The dozen riders swerved around once again and slaughtered their way back. After four barrages of arrows raining on the road beside the forest, the dozens of bandits who fell off their horses were all shot dead. Not a single warhorse escaped either. The archery skills of the servants were not great, but they were ruthless. Fifty servants went out to the road, wielding their short swords and stabbing each body once more. They then plucked out the arrows and stored them. The other fifty people went to the middle of the road, taking out triangular nails from their pouches and scattering them on the ground.

Thereafter, these one-hundred people split up into five groups. Two returned to the forest to collect the shields in order to seal the road completely.

Each of these one-hundred people held a shield in their left hand and a short sword in their right. It was the standard method to deal with cavalrymen. The shape of a short sword was similar to that of a triangular sword, it had been designed to break armor. Once pierced into the body, it would leave a deep wound, even heavy armor could hardly resist its attack.

The servants and trusted soldiers in these large families were the reliable forces for the nobles. They were skilled and cruel.

None of the experts from the bandits’ camp gave chase. Su led eleven swordmasters by himself, thrashing left and right, he could not be stopped. Those bandits also could not organize a comeback. They tried to flee, but their route of retreat had been cut off.

Three bandits rode on horseback and dashed towards the servants holding the shields. They got shoved off their horses by a dozen shields, then the servants stabbed the bandits haphazardly. Dozens of holes appeared in the bandits’ armor, then the bandits died in the blink of an eye.

The servants whose shoulders got injured by the warhorse retreated into the forest, while the others at the rear took their positions. The bandits had nowhere to run, some of them even leaped off their horses and prostrated on the ground to surrender.

Su felt bored. He did not complete the mission Saleen had given him as too little bandits were lured over. The moment the bandits entered the ambush area, their morale had completely dispersed. They could not even put up a resistance against Su and the eleven swordmasters.

At the end of the day, bandits would never be stronger than a regular army. Even if their individual capability was stronger, their offensive power would in fact be weaker than that of a normal soldier.

The eleven swordmasters acted faster than Su. After a few rounds of quick assault, less than twenty bandits remained. These bandits only remained alive because they had prostrated on the ground.

Su could not be bothered to kill them either. He told the servants, “Take these warhorses and prisoners back, I will guard the rear.”

Su was prudent, he was afraid that more bandits would appear from the back. By then, the servants would really get injured. Saleen’s agenda had been partially fulfilled, the loyalty of these servants had been tested. The servants were only clad in light armor and held onto shields, but they dared resist the assault from the light cavalrymen directly. Even though their strength was slightly weaker, they were willing to risk their lives.

With mages around, those bruises caused by the warhorses could be easily treated. Su’s team followed behind slowly. This time around, the battle had yielded over one-hundred warhorses. Even though this number was lower, it was a large blow to the bandits. All this while, a bandit gang had very little warhorses. Losing two-hundred horses meant that they had suffered a loss of over ten-thousand gold coins.

Saleen’s worry did not exist, because the bandits were too inferior. Su had made such a judgment. If he was given a camp’s worth of manpower, and the soldiers’ caliber were like Lex’s subordinates, he would not even give a hoot even if there were more than one-hundred-thousand bandits.

The stories narrated by a traveling poet always had some powerful bandits who even dared plunder the imperial family’s army. In reality, such a thing would not occur. Even if the bandit gang had a Silver Grand Swordmaster, it was also useless. A plate of scattered sand would never be able to match up to an army, unless the bandits were present in astonishing numbers.

Just like the current situation, where there were ten-thousand bandits besieging Cexing City. Cexing City only had slightly more than one-hundred regular troops while the remaining people were peasant soldiers. If there was not a city to rely on, the nobles in Cexing City would have committed suicide long ago.

Fortunately, more than twenty prisoners were captured. The lousiest of these bandits was also at the standard of a beginner swordsman, they were considered the elites among the bandits already. Once Su returned, he could surely extract some useful information from them.

Half an hour after Su left with the swordmasters, some bandits then caught up. Seeing bodies strewn across the road outside the forest, these bandits hesitated, they did not carry on pursuing their enemy. Their comrades who were shot by arrows were also stabbed in their necks, causing the necks to be fractured. The bandits felt chills go down their spine, they were afraid to continue giving chase.

Seeing that no bandits caught up, Su then increased speed. Along the way, he also led Sharman’s grade-5 mage back to camp. Those over one-hundred undead soldiers remained five miles from the camp, in case the bandit organization launched a massive offensive. If the undead soldiers went berserk, they could totally stop such an offensive.

Upon returning to the camp and finding that the security was tight, Su felt jubilant. Even though Saleen was not proficient in warring skills, he was much stronger than those bandits. Even in the subcontinent plane, it would take a famous general to set a defense array like this.

The situation back in the barrack appeared very relaxed. Su and the grade-5 mage entered to see that Saleen had arranged wine and meat on the table, awaiting their return.

“Sir.” Su bowed, but Saleen waved his hand to tell Su not to behave in this manner.

“Those bandits you have brought back are very interesting, they actually want to defect to me. Tell me, do I look like a bandit?” Saleen joked with Su. Saleen’s status as a grade-6 mage already made him hardly approachable. If his followers were also so stiff, then Saleen would be the most uncomfortable person in the room.

Su thought about it solemnly, then nodded his head. The rest of the people could not help but cackle, even Saleen himself could not stop laughing. Saleen recalled the things he had done in the past, “I was really like a bandit back then. Especially my plan this time around, allowing the bandit gang to attack the city. I didn’t render any help, instead, I wanted to wait until the bandit gang attacked before I stabbed them from behind.”

From Saleen’s perspective, it was only right to do something like that. Of all the nobles in Phoenix, those willing to side with Metatrin City had already left. Those who stayed behind were either allies of the Holy Rock City, or arrogant fellows. The Holy Rock City was attacking the aristocratic power of the Phoenix Duchy. If one did not take a side, they would be devoured sooner or later.

The name of Viscountess Lex was still very attractive, moreover, the capabilities displayed by Lex could rival that of the previous Grand Duke of Phoenix.

“Su, sit down and talk.” Saleen pointed at the seat beside him. Seeing that Su had seated, Saleen then said, “The abilities of these bandits are pretty good. There was a grade-6 mage, but this mage will not attack the city, he only protects the bandit leaders from getting assassinated.”

“Why?”

“Because of an agreement between Alchemy City and the Holy Rock City. A mage is not allowed to participate in the invasion of any of Qin’s cities. Unless a mage can guarantee that they will not be killed by the Alchemy City.” Saleen explained for a moment, before recalling that Su did not belong to this plane. In front of Sharman, he also did not continue explaining.

Su understood, then said, “If we were to kill them from the rear, that grade-6 mage will attack us.”

Su had no idea what Alchemy City was, but he could infer that it was a massive power formed by mages, and this power was so big that it could extend its influence over all the mages in the Qin Empire.

“This is the current situation. The prisoners you have captured are from the Black Dragon Bandit Gang. This bandit gang has a few thousand men, but they are usually separated into groups of less than one-hundred people to carry out their heists. This bandit gang is considered to be powerful and the rest of the bandits had been hired to attack this city.”

“Hired?” On the subcontinent plane, a bandit would not accept employment, so Su was a little confused.

“Humph, there are mercenaries among these people too, but they are all mercenary groups below grade-4, not very credible people.”

“Have you found out who is the leader?”

“No. The bandits who attacked Cexing City have a leader from the Black Wind Bandit Gang. Currently, north Phoenix is extremely barren. Basically, with more than ten-thousand bandits assembled, a small city like Cexing city will not be able to defend itself.”

“What does Sir plan to do?”

“Are you confident of killing that grade-6 mage?”

Su contemplated, then said, “He is too far, I cannot do it. After all, a grade-6 mage is able to fly already.”

A Silver Grand Swordmaster could fly too, however, their flying altitude and durability paled in comparison to a mage. If that mage had planned on fleeing from the start, Su would be helpless.

“Don’t worry, if he flies, then he will really be dead meat.” Saleen’s words caused Sharman’s mage to furrow his brows. This time around, it was not out of disdain, but because he realized that Saleen had revealed a tinge of an expert’s vibe.

“If he cannot fly, I will be able to deal with him even if he is a grade-7 sorcerer.” Su did not act humble this time around. The rank of a Silver Grand Swordmaster was equivalent to that of a grade-8 sorcerer. As long as a mage did not fly, they could hardly defeat Su. Back then, Lex’s men tried various ways and means to kill a Silver Grand Swordmaster. A Silver Grand Swordmaster was no small fry. It was Saleen’s good fortune that he managed to recruit two followers, such a thing would never happen again.

“That’s great, then you shall kill that grade-6 mage, the rest of the people will not pose a threat. Cexing City can last for two to three days. Two days later, we will advance. If Cexing City has been invaded, we will help the nobles there to recapture their land.”