Badge in Azure

Although the Separation Sea had already been controlled by Cloudflow, information was still being sent back and forth between Daliang City and Misty City. Lex spent a lot of money constructing a secret teleportation portal in Misty City so that news could be sent to Daliang City any time.

An inconspicuous letter could very well decide the outcome of the battle.

The latest news was that Cloudflow was recruiting again, confirming the previous reports that amongst the previous million-strong army, there were less than one-hundred-thousand elite troops. This time around, Cloudflow was resorting to last-minute recruitment to form an army of more than four-hundred-thousand.

Lex calculated that amongst these four-hundred-thousand men, about twenty-thousand to forty-thousand would form the main forces while the rest would serve as cannon fodder.

Saleen and Lex no longer cared about how many men there were in Cloudflow’s armies. The two of them would meet at the palace every day to study diagrams in order to come up with new equipment for their own armies.

Lex had a ninety-thousand strong main force while Saleen’s was ten-thousand. The remaining soldiers’ fighting abilities were equivalent to that of auxiliary soldiers. Fortunately, Daliang City would be holding a defensive position. The attacking portion would be taken care of by the bone castle’s death army.

Although the pressure on Daliang City would become higher, the longer Cloudflow dragged the more time the winged skeleton would have to summon more spirits of the dead. Cloudflow’s new recruits would be fighting against the skeletons of the death army. Saleen could accept that both parties would probably cancel each other out.

Daliang City was also in the midst of recruiting soldiers. It was said that Lex wanted to form a corp of heavy-armored soldiers. The requirements were high as one would have to be at least two yards tall and possess the standard of at least a swordmaster.

For now, they only aimed to form a regiment before expanding in the future. In order to attract those that fit the requirements to come forth, they even displayed the weapons and equipment that they would be armed with.

This regiment would take orders directly from Lex. If they managed to perform meritorious deeds in battle, they could have a chance to be part of the palace swordsmen battalion.

On that day, Saleen and Lex were studying the calibration magic array of the alchemy crossbow when a palace swordsman came to the alchemy factory and whispered something to Lex.

Lex calmly dismissed the swordsman before pulling Saleen to the six-storey small tower.

“What happened?” Saleen saw that Lex was behaving secretively.

“Call Eleanor. Someone suspicious has been discovered.”

“Someone suspicious?”

“Remember the sewer with a tunnel in it? I used the God’s ring and managed to detect the presence of that person. I can confirm the physique of this person, but not his looks or aura. The requirements that I set for the recruitment of the heavy-armored corp was according to this person’s physique. The people in charge of the recruitment would measure each soldier’s physical attributes very strictly. Now, there are two men who fit exactly what God’s ring detected. We must go and apprehend them.”

“Why don’t we ask the two grade-8 mages instead?” Saleen was not keen to risk Eleanor. Lex’s two new followers would be more powerful than an experienced grade-8 sorcerer with their powers combined and would definitely be more powerful than Eleanor.

“The person would definitely run away immediately if a grade-8 sorcerer appeared. I suspect that this person is in cahoots with the one that tried to assassinate you. My God’s ring is able to detect something minute like this, like… prophecy magic.”

“Eleanor’s skills are basically long-ranged attacks,” Saleen reminded Lex. In actual fact, Eleanor’s close combat skills were not poor either, but when Saleen recalled the dwarf-like assassin, his instincts told him that Eleanor would have been in grave danger if both of them had fought.

“Let Cuisi accompany her while Nicholas waits a distance away.”

“Wait a moment.” Saleen thought about it before going up to the tower on his own. Eleanor was in the midst of meditation. She advanced much slower than humans and if not for Saleen’s pushing, she would have taken her own time like an ordinary elf. Now, she no longer cared about the preparation of equipment and was training in magic on her own in the small tower every day.

“Saleen, looking for me?” Eleanor could sense Saleen’s presence and stopped her meditation. Her rules of meditation were clearly exceptional and she could stop at any time.

“Hmm,” Saleen repeated what Lex had just told her before, “You can choose not to go. Cuisi and I can handle that guy.”

“That wouldn’t be nice. My Lord, if this person is of the same race as that assassin, then he might not be a creature from this dimension. I did not manage to tell you. I shot that assassin twice and he would have died if he was a sorcerer below grade-7. Those two arrows of mine would have taken away more than six-hundred years of that assassin’s life.”

“Eleanor, if that person is also an assassin, all the more reason you should not go. Why don’t I replace you with my water puppet? The water puppet can take on any appearance.”

Since Saleen put it that way, Eleanor agreed. She stood up and approached the window, looking into the distance. Saleen activated his elemental eyes and carefully observed Eleanor’s body structure.

Eleanor could feel a hot gaze on her body. It could just be an illusion, but she felt small ripples in her heart.

Saleen summoned the water puppet, which began to transform itself into Eleanor. The reason why Saleen was doing that was because his instincts warned him that Eleanor would be in danger if she went. That assassin was terrifying. He managed to escape despite being attacked by Saleen, Eleanor, and Cuisi. Besides, Saleen was unfamiliar with that assassin’s strange equipment.

Since Lex said that this person could be in the same gang as that assassin, Saleen would have to be extra cautious.

The water puppet took half an hour’s time the first time it changed into Eleanor. She just stood still in front of the window until Saleen was finished. When Saleen completed the transformation of the water puppet, Eleanor already felt stiffness in her waist and thighs.

Saleen took a glance at Eleanor’s back. He was able to use his elemental eyes to detect Eleanor’s face even from the back. He did not have to use any techniques for this glance. Eleanor’s back looked lonely and was similar to when she first met Saleen.

“Eleanor, if you are unhappy here, you can go back to Metatrin City. The temple will always be your home.” After saying that, Saleen left.

Eleanor’s back was still facing Saleen as she looked into the distance. Winter was coming to an end in Daliang City and the wind had become much gentler. Her stance began to soften as well.

My Lord, you are not heartless after all.

Lex was waiting patiently but was taken aback when she saw Saleen coming down with the water puppet. The water puppet smiled at Lex and said, “Greetings, Princess.”

“I need her archery skills…” Lex looked at Saleen. She knew about the existence of the water puppet and she could tell the difference between the water puppet and the elf immediately. Eleanor’s eyes were so deep she could never detect their depths. The water puppet’s eyes were clear and pure.

“Lex, let’s not risk her. I feel uneasy.” Saleen took off Rafael’s crystal ring and passed it to the water puppet for it to wear.

“Uneasy…” Lex looked at the water puppet, took a deep breath, and said, “I feel uneasy too. Let’s summon Gusion.”

Lex was not as sensitive as Saleen when it came to premonitions. She did have her God’s ring so when Saleen mentioned his uneasiness, she was immediately on alert instead of becoming jealous of Eleanor.

“Alright, Lex. We will go to Gusion now.”

Saleen did not hesitate as he led Cuisi and Lex to Gusion’s camp. Nicholas was following them from a distance. His white beard and long gray robe made him look ordinary. He was not around when Saleen met with the assassin previously. Tyrant could not possibly have escaped otherwise. Holy priests were the bane of ghosts, a fallen holy priest that possessed the power of darkness even more so. Techniques like Shadow Dance would be useless against him.

It made sense not letting the two grade-8 sorcerers tag along as assassins were generally very sensitive towards mages. The two sorcerers had only recently advanced and were not very good at suppressing their auras yet. If it was someone seasoned like Nicholas, Lex would have no qualms allowing the two grade-8 sorcerers to go along.

Lex also brought along one-hundred bodyguards that Saleen had given to her instead of low-level mages. These mages would not stand a chance against assassins. The previous assassin was already equivalent to a grade-8 opponent, so this fellow should not be any worse off.

Lex did not comment much about how Saleen took special care of Eleanor on this occasion. Eleanor was an important follower of Saleen’s, so it would not be right to say that Saleen did what he did because he was attracted to her.

The group of them arrived at Gusion’s camp. Saleen asked someone to call Gusion out. He then cast a magic image and briefly described the physique of the person they were looking for.

“Gusion, you have only advanced recently. You have to be careful of this person.”

Gusion nodded. He had decided to hang his sword on his waist instead of keeping it in a scabbard. Gusion’s long sword was black and did not seem too outstanding. Nevertheless, Gusion had a wealth of experiences in battle and was better able to conceal his true powers compared to the two sorcerers that Lex had just taken in.

After what Saleen said, Gusion immediately transformed himself into an officer of middle-level swordmaster standard. Socializing might not be his forte, but fighting certainly was. Saleen was pleased with his fortune. Someone like Gusion would have done well in Qin, but not in Sikeqinya.

The two kings arrived at the training grounds of the heavy-armored corp. The new recruits were very excited. They were keen to perform well to win the favor of the two kings and enjoy better prospects in the future.

Everyone had their ambitions. These soldiers were not wrong to want to achieve their ambitions through their own hard work.

Under the escort of the bodyguards, Saleen and Lex walked past the heavy-armored soldiers that were standing at attention. Lex requested for everyone to be inspected in order to avoid arousing their target’s suspicion. There were two targets so it was troublesome.

After the inspection, Lex and Saleen arrived at the training grounds to observe the standards of the soldiers.

In the formation, Tyrant’s eyes were cold like that of a seasoned soldier. His peripheral vision caught a glimpse of the water puppet that had transformed itself into Eleanor.

How lucky that this elf had appeared. He was not confident of infiltrating the palace since three grade-8 mages had suddenly appeared. This time around, the elf was doomed!