Badge in Azure

Saleen’s words did not incur any backlash. In their hearts, the people from the imperial swordsman’s camp were very clear that Northtown had sustained huge losses. The people from the prince’s residence would surely be outraged. “Since our men aren’t hurt, it is normal to be taken back for investigation. Even though we will not be charged, the impact on our actions will be dire. Leaving with County Queen Lex’s people and never returning again is another offense. That was His Majesty’s intention anyway.”

Saleen and company did not think of how Safilos never expected Saleen to enter Green Dragon Stone, it was very obvious that Green Dragon Stone had been scourged by people from the Holy See. Logically, Saleen only had about two-hundred men, so they should have made a detour and not entered the place. That was why Safilos’ men still had not moved.

Saleen asked Fellett to help him put away the damaged metal barrack, then urged everyone to continue on the journey. The magic arrays on this metal barrack had been ruined, if the array set by the Holy See was sustained for another half an hour Saleen and the few mages would have had to face that horrifying attack. All the metal components could not be detached, the house had to be stored away as one piece.

Aini released the death warhorses and skeletal warhorses. The whole team traveled full speed ahead along the northern road, they only came to a halt at daybreak. They had went past two small towns along the way, but they never stopped to take a break. After Saleen and company had traveled for over three-hundred miles half a camp of elites then appeared at Green Dragon Stone.

This time around, there was also a sorcerer from Holy Rock City who had entered the region of Green Dragon Stone. Standing beside the black-robed mage was an older general, the both of them walked into Green Dragon Stone. Everything there was in smithereens, but the foundation of the city walls could be vaguely seen.

“Seems like all of them are dead?” That general wore a purplish gold armor, he had an imposing manner.

The sorcerer used his eyes to do a brief sweep of the surroundings. He noticed the large cavity made by the metal barrack, then he bent down and picked up a piece of armor fragment. Smelling it, he said, “The county queen’s envoy is still alive, Her Highness Lex owns a metal room, I didn’t think that she would allow her envoy to wield such a large equipment.”

“Metal room?”

“Mm, it smells of rhenium gold and Somlang gold. Usually, mages will be very meticulous when it comes to using these two types of metals. A large amount of it has to be used in a metal room. A metal room is a portable barrack, it can guarantee the safety of the general. Only the Qin imperial family can afford it. Even if other empires have precious metals in their possession, they also wouldn’t have so many mages to slowly refine and fuse these metals.”

“I heard that the viscountess has over one-hundred mages serving her, is that true?”

“Her Highness… has at least one-thousand mages as subordinates and some mages who are not under her command. If the county is in crisis, these mages will come forth to render assistance. You don’t have to report today’s matter.”

That general pondered, then said, “I understand now, the county queen values the interaction with His Majesty this time around. The prince doesn’t have the intention to kill the envoy, so we shouldn’t be nosy.”

“It’s best if you understand all these affairs belong to the imperial family. If you poke your nose in it, you won’t even know how you die,” the black-robed mage told the general sternly. Seeing that the general was feeling a little awkward, the black-robed mage continued, “I have known you for over forty years, so I am worried for you. The county queen isn’t to be trifled with. Think about the consequences if you offended over one-thousand mages.”

That general trembled. He had more than ten-thousand elites at his disposal, but if he offended more than one-thousand mages, then it would no longer be a matter of life and death. Many mages would be willing to conduct magic experiments on him and that was the scariest thing.

More armies from Northtown and Easttown were dispatched to Green Dragon Stone. Gradually, a camp of elite troops and fifty-thousand auxiliary troops had gathered at the perimeter of this town which had vanished. Over sixty-thousand men encircled the area of Green Dragon Stone. They searched inch by inch, looking for any evidence which could be preserved.

Three teleportation portals were established, so that any information could be sent back to Holy Rock City anytime. A piece of news circulated swiftly within the Qin Empire; “The Holy See had committed murder at a location about one-hundred miles from Holy Rock City, killing many innocent Qin people. As many as seventeen-hundred people were killed. The perverse believers of Holy See killed more than five-thousand of the empire’s troops and obliterated everything here in an attempt to destroy evidence.

A wave of outrage spread across the Qin Empire. Originally, Qin people only bore hatred towards the Holy See people, but it was different now. The Tanggulasi people had actually massacred civilians at a place so close to Holy Rock City!

It was the responsibility of the soldiers and nobles to fight and sacrifice their lives for the empire, but civilians had been slaughtered. No noble had ever given an order to conduct such an unconscionable massacre.

The nobles also experienced the same level of rage because there were many people amongst the dead were soldiers who had an inextricable relationship with them. There were four towns surrounding Holy Rock City and the soldiers in these towns had pure family backgrounds. Most of them came from the vassal families of the nobles. The commanders had blood relations with the nobles, but they had no chance of inheriting any titles.

Another piece of news was also circulating among the nobles. The nobles heard that the young emperor was outraged and wanted to launch an offensive against the Tanggulasi Empire immediately. At the same time the twelve dukes in Holy Rock City also lent their support to the emperor, even the prince supported the emperor’s idea.

“Because the Holy See people tried to kill County Queen Lex’s envoy, does that mean the conflict between the county queen and the prince has disappeared?” Some of the southern nobles who leaned towards Lex began contemplating. If they were asked to obey Safilos, they would definitely be reluctant, but the emperor was obviously going to value the county queen now. There would not be any estrangement.

If the prince could not suppress the emperor, allowing County Queen Lex to enter Qin’s pinnacle echelon of authority, then these nobles would not mind cooperating with Safilos.

Of the southern nobles, at least one-third of them were willing to follow Lex. The county king had already maximized her capabilities in Bitter Water Prefecture. That barren place was managed very well by Lex even though the commercial aspect was average, the agriculture there was totally self-sufficient.

County Queen Lex had a huge following of mages, she herself was already a grade-6 grand mage. She could surely ascend to a sorcerer. A sorcerer’s life was pretty long, the nobles could protect their long-term interests by following Lex. This was one of the reasons why the southern nobles were willing to follow Lex.

Some people even hoped that Lex could be the emperor. If Lex advanced to a grade-9 sorcerer, she could live for over one-thousand years. That way the figures of authority would not keep changing.

Fortunately, Emperor Ojarvis would not enjoy such a long life, so these nobles had the patience to wait. As long as the two people did not clash the nobles could reach a compromise with Holy Rock City.

Back in Holy Rock City’s palace, Emperor Ojarvis was furious, “Sister’s envoy couldn’t be located and the over one-thousand recce riders also cannot locate her. Only one of uncle’s sorcerers said that the female mage didn’t die, as Sister had given her a metal room. Not only did the female mage not die, the two-hundred soldiers which I sent to protect her could still be alive too. Holy Rock City’s recce riders cannot locate Saleen either, where did Saleen go to?”

It turned out that on the second day, Saleen had asked Aini to lead the two-hundred men from the imperial swordsman’s camp himself, while Saleen changed into a mercenary’s outfit and switched to a smaller commercial route. Saleen led Narnia and Aini’s parents east towards the sea where they went to meet up with the winged skeleton’s pan’s turtle alchemical boat.

By traveling on the sea, not only could they bypass Guderian City, they could also avoid any accidents at Phoenix’s borders. Their speed would be much faster too. When the pan’s turtle alchemical boat traveled on the surface of the sea, its speed could exceed one-hundred miles an hour and there was no need to rest. It was way faster than riding a horse.

From the central region of the empire to the sea, the distance was only around five-thousand miles. If they had gone to the borders the journey would be close to ten-thousand miles.

It was necessary for Saleen to be cautious. From the information obtained by Narnia, Safilos had planned to make peace with Lex temporarily. The truce between Safilos and Lex did not equate to a good relationship between Safilos and Saleen. “I only have one city, and my Sregl Island background cannot be publicized yet. Alchemy City cannot be provoked. In Safilos’ eyes I am a person who can be sacrificed anytime. Since the people in Green Dragon Stone have been sacrificed, he will have no qualms doing that to me too.”

Aini continued traveling north with the intent of surveilling the situation at the borders. Aini would stay for a week at the borders, so that he could position a large number of spirits to collect intelligence. At the same time he would purchase a batch of rations to bring back to Metatrin City. Saleen had estimated that his own city would face war in at most two years’ time.

Stocking up on rations would forever be the most important matter. No matter a grand swordmaster or sorcerer, one would have to eat. Without rations one would not be able to defend their city no matter how many mages or soldiers they had.

Saleen and company rushed to the seaside. Other than Cuisi, no one was not exhausted. Using magic to recover one’s body was not the same as natural rest. Seeing that everyone was greatly fatigued, Saleen stopped.

The coast of the central region of Qin had many mountains and inferior ports, but the pan’s turtle alchemical boat was not very huge either. Saleen found a secluded spot, then established a Sound Transmission Magic Array. He followed the pre-determined coordinates to try and contact the winged skeleton, he managed to do so on the third attempt.

The pan’s turtle alchemical boat had secretly berthed at a location one-hundred miles away, where there was only a tiny fishing village. It was winter, so the fishermen did not go out to sea while the schools of fishes were absent. The coast was abnormally quiet.

Saleen led the group of people who could barely move their feet to the seaside and a ship about thirty yards long was berthed on the sea. Saleen noticed that the pan’s turtle alchemical boat had gotten larger, “The exterior shell should have been thickened with an extra layer of tough crystalline substance.”

If Aini was present, he would have recognized that this one yard thick crystal was the giant spirit armor from the death plane. A giant spirit armor was not some exotic item, it only had above average attributes. In the face of attacks, a giant spirit armor would shatter itself, releasing energy which would negate the attacks. This one yard thick crystal was actually separated into a dozen layers. Each time it got attacked, only one layer would be destroyed.

This armor was naturally produced on the bodies of large spirits. When placed on a ship, it actually became the best armor. In a naval battle most attacks were extremely brief, a layer of the giant spirit armor would be able to negate them. A giant spirit armor with a dozen layers could at least withstand dozen of attacks at the same spot before being penetrated.