Badge in Azure

“What are you looking at.” Aini’s father Fellett glared at his son.

“Our son is trying to ask you for help, there might be some experts in the city.” Lanny sighed. She never expected herself to be bait for Safilos. They had left in a hurry this time around and in order not to arouse any suspicion she and her husband did not take all their possessions from their house. They had left behind many appliances necessary for the Clyde family.

The so-called experts were professionals above grade-7. Lanny was very clear that if a professional above grade-7 had set a trap they could wield more offensive power as compared to a head-on fight. Without quality equipment this imperial swordsman’s camp would suffer massive casualties. Saleen’s idea was to add an extra barrier and fifty skeletal soldiers, which could not really change the outcome.

At that moment Saleen grinned and said, “Uncle Fellett, if you have brought along any powerful equipment, go ahead and use it. Viscountess Lex and I will compensate your losses.”

“Humph, we do not necessarily have to use powerful equipment, I heard that you have puppets right? Release all of them, including your witcher spider. These puppets are unaffected by holy spells. As for myself, I will try my best.” Fellett also glared at Saleen.

Saleen shut his mouth obediently. As he did not have parents, he had all along been envious of Aini. In fact, Saleen actually liked the way Fellett and Lanny treated him. Fellett had treated Aini and him equally, causing Saleen to experience a kind of unexplainable emotion.

The commander had also been accompanying Saleen. After hearing Fellett’s words, he then learned that Saleen was a mage. Observing the strange equipment Saleen wore, the commander thought to himself, “I couldn’t have misjudged his capabilities.” No matter how he observed, he could not tell that Saleen was mightier than him. At only forty years old he was a Zun Grand Swordmaster and Saleen was at least half his age. “Could he be a grand mage? It’s possible though, that Narnia is a grade-4 mage and she isn’t even twenty years old yet. Seems like the people around viscountess Lex cannot be underestimated. If I have made up my mind to follow the viscountess, I will have to be on good terms with these people.”

This middle-aged commander made a hand gesture and the warriors from the imperial swordsman’s camp slowed down as though they had eyes on the back of their heads. The commander then told Saleen, “Sir, why don’t you release the puppets now?” He spoke in a negotiating tone, because even though the puppets could keep up with the warhorses, there was another ten miles to go. By letting the puppets sprint, they would sustain huge depletion, it would be akin to them fighting with all their might.

“Sure.” Saleen released twelve war puppets first, these puppets had been given by Lex for him to conduct research. He then told Narnia, “You should be able to control these twelve puppets.”

Saleen then took out another two fully constructed puppets and said to Cuisi, “You shall control these two. You don’t have to let them fight, just control their positions in case the enemy has assassins which can get close to our mages.”

“Understood.” Cuisi was not very interested in the battle this time around, because there was an army behind with more than a thousand men rushing over. Even though the team had slowed down, and the enemy was fifteen miles away, that army could cover this distance in a short time given its abilities. The Holy See had set this trap in a rush, they were basically walking to their doom.

From Cuisi’s perspective the people from Holy See were not stupid, they had another plan. He was not sure what the agenda for sacrificing these people was. In any case, it had nothing to do with Saleen.

Cuisi did not express his thoughts. Even if these humans died, he also would not feel heartbroken. It would be fine as long as Saleen made it back to Metatrin City safely. After returning to Metatrin City, Cuisi wanted to get a good rest, so that he could grasp the abilities of a supreme demon as soon as possible. “That Joey is too scary. With just a bottle of medicine, he could help me achieve a breakthrough in my limits and advance smoothly.”

Even a devil from the demonic plane could not achieve such a feat, Cuisi was totally captivated by Joey. He remained immersed in his own thoughts not reminding the rest of the people.

Su had a nonchalant attitude towards this task. He could definitely protect Saleen for half an hour unless the enemy was a Golden Grand Swordmaster. The moment a person who cultivated the Sword Aura attained the proficiency of a Silver Grand Swordmaster they would have the capability to resist a mage. Even if the enemy was a grade-7 mage Su was confident of dealing with them.

Saleen’s witcher spider had become very tiny, it laid atop the head of a skeletal warhorse. The team increased speed rushing towards the Green Dragon Stone.

The setting sun displayed a blood red hue as the team traveled against the wind. Saleen’s brocade robe fluttered violently in the wind like a brightly colored flag.

Even though the city gates had come into view the people from the imperial swordsman’s camp could sense that something was amiss. No matter how faint the stench of blood was it was also too obvious for warriors like them who had seen blood before their eyes. At once, eight cavalrymen separated from the formation, they were going to enter the city gates to conduct reconnaissance first. From the center of the team, eight spells flew out, landing on their bodies.

Everyone was blessed with a Fire Ring of Resistance, this spell was almost immune towards divine spells. In other words, fire magic and divine spells could always offset each other. If fire magic was used to attack a divine spell the effect would not be too ideal. There would only be exceptions if both parties had a great gap in standards or there was special equipment which contained an assortment of attributes.

On the battlefield low level magic would not interfere with one another. As these eight cavalrymen had been fortified with an additional layer of magic protection, they were emboldened. They sped up, splitting away from the team, and dashed towards the city gates.

Beyond the city gates was a wide road. Even though Green Dragon Stone was a small place the road in the middle of it was wide and flat. During wartime this place would function as a supplementary station for refilling water, it could allow large battalions to pass through swiftly.

The eight cavalrymen charged into the town, they ran for over one-hundred yards and never detected any anomalies. Just as they were about to split up eight white-robed warriors charged out silently from the alleys on both sides of the road. Each of them wielded a cross spear. The cross spears hooked onto the warhorses’ legs, and with a tug, the warhorses collapsed in excruciation. Only the leading rider’s horse remained fine because its legs had been fitted with special armor.

The eight white-robed warriors immediately abandoned their cross spears, wielding razor sharp cutlasses, then they lunged forward.

Loud bangs filled the air. Eight of them rolled across the ground with flames on their bodies. Before they could launch their cutlasses, they had been repelled by the Fire Ring of Resistance.

“Retreat first!” The warrior with the unharmed warhorse wielded a longsword, then he swerved his horse around wanting to exit the town. Out of the blue, a huge fog appeared at the city gates. This fog was emerging from the surrounding houses. It was very moist, carried a tinge of blood red color, and had an extremely pungent stench.

“There’s poison!” The warrior atop the horse bellowed, then he immediately sealed the breathing vent in his helmet activating the magic array on the armor. After this armor was totally sealed it could allow a warrior to continue battling for three hours without needing to open his armor. This equipment belonged to the imperial swordsman’s camp, solely used for dealing with poison fog spells.

The roof of the houses were made up of colossal tiles. All of a sudden, these tiles turned into magic beasts which measured over one yard in length. They then charged down the street besieging the eight imperial swordsmen.

The people outside the city gates were only in time to see the eight swordsmen getting surrounded. The fog then became so thick that it obstructed their view, they could no longer observe the happenings in the city.

Narnia wanted to take action, but Saleen stopped her. Saleen signaled to the group of warriors beside him to seal their armor, then he urged his skeletal warhorse to stop before the city gates.

He opened a scroll containing the Wild Wind Spell, stimulating this spell beyond the city gates. A violent gust of wind quickly dispersed the fog, but the eight warriors had disappeared.

“Sir, should we retreat and wait for the people behind to catch up?”

“No need. Aini!” Saleen bellowed in a low voice, then fifty skeletons charged into the city gates. Saleen and company never thought that the people in the city would launch an offensive before their main forces arrived. It was as though they were not worried that Saleen’s team would not enter the Green Dragon Stone.

This was not an ambush, it was a provocation.

Su came beside Saleen. Saleen told Su, “Protect Narnia, I will be with Aini. There won’t be any problems, there is still Cuisi around.”

Su knew that Cuisi possessed tremendous strength, so he nodded his head and urged his horse to trot towards Narnia.

“Enter the city!” Seeing that Saleen did not object the commander wanted to save his comrades. He did not believe that eight powerful swordmasters would die in such a brief period.

The skeletons charged into the city. Indeed, they were not purified, the enemy’s holy masters were hiding somewhere and did not bother attacking the skeletons. Dozens of white-robed warriors dashed out of the alleys wielding long knives as they hacked the skeletal soldiers.

Aini and the rest were riding on skeletal warhorses, so they were not afraid of weapons like a cross spear because the warhorses’ legs were as tough as metal. All the warriors had sealed their armor while the remaining people were protected by magic. Fog diffused throughout the alleys, only one street was clear after being cleansed by the Wild Wind Spell.

Magic beasts measuring more than one yard in length as well as white-robed warriors, were continuously pouncing out of the fog. These white-robed warriors looked unfeeling and unafraid to die. Both parties clashed swiftly, there was zero strategy.

While battling in a city the effect of a formation would not be too pronounced. Saleen’s Elemental Eye could clearly observe the silhouettes of the people within the fog, it could also determine whether one was friend or foe, but it could not identify the person controlling the fog.

Over two-hundred people entered Green Dragon Stone and the city gates were obstructed with fog once again. This fog was getting increasingly concentrated, it had already begun diffusing towards the exterior of the town. Very soon, the whole Green Dragon Stone had been enveloped by a pale white fog. The entrance could no longer be clearly seen.

The imperial swordsmen had no choice but to pull back surrounding Saleen and company. The crystal pieces before their eyes were also magic equipment, but in such a thick fog, their line of sight was only about ten yards. Even the range of a handheld crossbow was also about ten yards. If they charged in recklessly, there would be much peril.

“There is an expert here. Our route of retreat has been disconnected, the enemy should have used a maze-type holy spell.” Saleen analyzed the situation swiftly. Since there was no way out in the sky above, the only way to overcome the siege by the fog would be to kill the person who was controlling this divine spell.

There was a dumb method too, which was to obliterate all the warriors inside the fog. The duration of this holy spell array would not last too long, it would automatically disperse in at most half a day. A divine spell was unlike magic, it was not sustained using magic nuclei, but by the amount of power a god had lent to humans. The borrowing duration was decided by the god. Humans could only request for a time limit before activating the spell.

“What should we do now?!” The commander of the imperial swordsman’s camp was anxious. It was okay for him to die here, but if Saleen and company got killed, then it would mean that he had failed the mission. That would put his family to shame and his son might not be able to enter the imperial swordsman’s camp anymore. These small families who served the imperial family loyally placed a lot of emphasis on honor. Currently, he was not thinking about his own life, he was thinking of a method to get Saleen and the rest of the people out.