Badge in Azure

Outside of Huoxing City and in the camp of the Phoenix rebel army, the chief commander’s tentage was full of light. The bodyguards were standing guard outside nervously. The enemy was so strong that it was no longer a question of whether they would be able to take down Huoxing City, but when they would launch the attack that would do so.

The rebel army was passive. There were no big cities in the north that could lend them support. If they joined Solar City in battle in the south, it would mean that they had deserted the entire north.

The tentage was chaotic. This rebel army was formed by hundreds of noble families and its purpose was to take down Huoxing City in order to stabilize the north and provide reinforcement to Solar City if necessary.

In the tentage, the ten or so most powerful noble families were worried. There were three slips of paper on the table. They were found on the pigeons that were shot down by the middle-grade archers in the army.

The content written on them was all the same and they were the reason why the noble families were gloomy.

The pigeons were flying towards Huoxing City and the paper was supposed to inform the commander-in-chief of Huoxing City that Metatrin Kingdom and Bitter Water Prefecture had already formed an alliance and that both their armies would fight as one. Metatrin Kingdom would be leading the attack in the north of Phoenix.

Before the rebel army attacked Huoxing City, Saleen and Lex had yet to become allies, hence this piece of news took everyone by surprise. An actual alliance was very different from just a good relationship. With this treaty, Bitter Water Prefecture would never have to worry about this city no matter how far away they were because Metatrin Kingdom was just too near.

An Earl was in charge while the others in the tentage were Viscounts. The Grand Duke of Phoenix had the power to assign ranks of nobility, but the highest rank he could assign was that of a Viscount. The Earl had inherited his position as his ancestor had served in the Holy Rock City army before becoming a member of the Phoenix noble family and his rank of nobility had been passed down since then. The other Viscounts had received their ranks of nobility from Solar City.

The Viscounts looked toward the Earl, who was stunned. He was not a fool and he understood the meaning of this treaty. The men of Metatrin would now be able to enter Phoenix legitimately because of Lex’s five-thousand strong army. Since both parties were now allies, attacking the armies of Bitter Water Prefecture was equivalent to waging war against Metatrin as well.

At this point, the soldiers outside the tentage reported that Huoxing City had sent a messenger.

The messenger was a native of Huoxing City. He was asked to wait outside the tentage while the package was brought in. The Earl’s hands quivered after taking a look at the contents of the package.

The Earl’s hands quivered out of rage and not fear.

The other party was asking him to surrender and the tone of the message was rigid. If they chose not to surrender, the armies of Huoxing City would keep no prisoners.

“What is written on the letter?” The members of the noble families that surrounded the Earl saw the ugly expression on the Earl’s face and could not help but ask. The Earl thought about it and decided to pass the letter around for them to read.

Everyone reacted differently after reading the letter, but one thing was common and that was that everyone’s expression had changed.

The armies of Huoxing City were extremely powerful. The Phoenix rebel army had fought against them a few times, but had never emerged victorious. Now that they had even outnumbered the Phoenix rebel army, this letter could not be considered as an insult.

It was simply a threat and a warning.

The Earl understood the intention of the letter. He sighed and said, “What do all of you think?”

“Of course, we must fight to the death!” A Marquis said furiously.

“Hehe, we will die if we choose to fight. Let’s not be stubborn. Everyone has heard of how cruel the people of Metatrin can be. No one knows how the one-hundred-thousand Holy See expedition were all killed by the Metatrins with no survivors,” the Earl’s voice was deep and he continued, “I have five-thousand soldiers under my command and I have decided to back out from this battle. If anyone opposes my decision, you can deal with me right now.”

The noble families were stunned but the Earl continued on, “The alliance between Metatrin and Bitter Water Prefecture has made them unstoppable. Holy Rock City must have acknowledged their statuses. We are better off surrendering to Metatrin than to Holy Rock City. The peace between them is only temporal. One day, we will be able to get our land back.”

“But won’t we lose everything if we surrender? The Metatrins want our land!”

The Earl looked at the person who spoke and said, “If we go into battle, will we get everything back? We can still start fresh if we surrender. I heard that the King of Metatrin Kingdom has taken in quite a number of Phoenix and Luolan noble families. Although they have yet to be given lands, they have received protection for all their private properties and soldiers.”

Seeing how everyone was still hesitant, the Earl continued, “Didn’t you see that the army that entered Huoxing City comprised of quite a number of soldiers that came from noble families previously of Phoenix? The reason why they are attacking us is because they will be given land if they win.”

The members of the noble families bowed their heads and the Earl continued, “It is not that we are disloyal, but the old Duke is dead and so is the small Duke. How old is the new Grand Duke that Holy Rock City has given us? We can’t even be sure if he is of Phoenician bloodline. Who are we really staying loyal to? The members of the Phoenix family are mostly dead. Holy Rock City is cruel enough to keep the remaining living members of the Phoenician bloodline as their slaves. Do you think they will care about our loyalty?” The Earl continued to persuade, “If we join Metatrin Kingdom, we will be part of the noble families that founded the country. We still possess our armies so the Metatrin King will not reject us. If they give us the appropriate statuses, all the noble families in the entire north will be tempted. What will we gain if we choose to fight to the death?”

“Is there really no hope for Phoenix?” A Viscount asked. He began to sob after asking this question. The people around him were affected and could not help but tear up.

They had gathered all their wealth and soldiers to answer Solar City’s call because they refused to accept that Phoenix and its one-thousand years of history and glory was coming to an end.

Although Phoenix was a vassal state of Qin, it was still a country that possessed its own unique qualities. The very first Grand Duke of Phoenix was an outstanding person of his own right.

Qin Empire created two huge Duchies because back then, the Grand Duke of Phoenix was too well-known. If not for the fact that the founding Emperor was the first of his kind, the Grand Duke of Phoenix might even have built a dynasty.

After Phoenix Duchy had been founded, the Qin army never stepped foot on Phoenix lands again. Other than hereditary noble families, the other noble families in Phoenix were all locals and were assigned their ranks by the Grand Duke of Phoenix.

This rebellion came about because the noble families could not take this lying down.

“Honor and glory will always come to an end one day,” the Earl said bitterly, “Phoenix is finished and the bloodline of the Grand Duke will never be recovered. Holy Rock City wants to take back all our land and sacrifice our citizens in battle. Even so, we still have a chance to fight back and that is to join Metatrin Kingdom!” The Earl’s voice rose and he said to everyone, “We will surrender and our only request is that the Metatrins must never submit themselves to Qin Empire! If the King of Metatrin chooses to do so, we will leave the Kingdom and find our own home once again.”

“Will the army in the city agree to our request?”

“We are only surrendering and stopping the attack. The King of Metatrin will see us personally and let us become his noble families. He will agree to this request, otherwise there is no need for him to form an alliance with Bitter Water Prefecture.”

“We will listen to you,” the Viscounts in the tentage all stated their stands.

“Wake all the Barons and ask the bodyguards to get ready. If they do not agree to the surrender, tie them up.” The Earl did not dare to be complacent. Many Barons had also joined in the rebellion with at least one-hundred soldiers each. Although Barons did not possess too much power, it would still be a problem if they all decided to rebel together.

The night was dark and the armies had already gathered in Huoxing City. If the army outside of the city still did not give a reply by dawn, they would launch an attack.

Although the sixth battalion was Saleen’s most elite battalion, they did not expect a rebellion to take place in Phoenix when they departed. Their equipment was not suited for such a situation. On the other hand, the second battalion specialized in fighting on open fields and had brought along all the necessary equipment. If the rebel army refused to surrender, the second battalion would lead the noble families’ armies to launch an attack.

All of Saleen’s magic equipment was already very similar to those found in Holy Rock City’s armies. The Phoenix armies’ equipment was still lacking, which was why their heavy-armored knights suffered such a heavy defeat at the hands of the sixth battalion’s heavy-armored foot soldiers.

If both sides possessed the same equipment, it would be much more difficult for heavy-armored foot soldiers to defeat the heavy-armored knights, at least not on an open field.

The camp outside the city lit up and after slightly more than an hour, two-hundred or so soldiers escorted more than ten people and approached the south gate of Huoxing City. These soldiers were carrying three pieces of square-shaped flags. These flags were white in color, which signalled their intention to surrender.

The soldiers on top of the city wall immediately passed on the news to the mansion of the Lord of the city. The officers that were already in position to launch the attack were all relieved to hear this piece of news. Although no one had any doubts about the outcome if they were to go into battle, both sides were evenly matched in numbers and it would be inevitable that there would be casualties. The enemy’s surrender was a relief.

Before the battalion commander of the second battalion departed, Saleen had secretly told him that if he could convince one noble family to surrender, he would have helped the second battalion to achieve one count of meritorious service. If they killed a noble family, the achievement would be halved. If the Phoenicians escaped, he would be demoted to a regiment captain.

The top of Huoxing City’s wall also began to light up. The city gates opened slowly and the armies in the city had already cleansed themselves. They were not afraid that the enemy would attack suddenly. Even if all these two-hundred soldiers were swordmasters, there was still no way they could take down Huoxing City.

Lex’s officers breathed a sigh of relief. Saleen’s army had given the enemy a lot of pressure and this surrender came as a surprise to him. What he did not know was that Saleen had purposely released pigeons nearby and made them fly in the wrong direction. The goal was for these pigeons to be caught by the Phoenix rebel army and subsequently deal the Phoenix noble families a heavy blow.

Saleen’s intentions were clear. His main goal was to occupy the land and not just to fight.

Credit must go to Guya and the rest. These youths of noble families had analyzed the Phoenicians completely and accurately. This rebellion was merely the Phoenicians’ last stand. If they were given a glimmer of hope, Saleen would definitely be able to stabilize his position in the north. This glimmer of hope existed in the form of Metatrin Kingdom and not as a vassal of Qin.

Sometimes, even a surrender required a proper and honorable reason.