Badge in Azure

Aini’s plan had Saleen feeling at ease with what would unfold in later days. He built his nation in haste, and it was kept together with the power provided by his backings. Without Jason’s help, none of the nobles would have followed him.

The nobles would have fought in the future for more power and wealth, they even would have even toyed with the idea of independence. What Aini proposed allowed all that to be stemmed early.

Such sacrificial way of going about it was made possible due to the immense faith Aini had for Saleen and himself. From Aini’s perspective, advancing to a become grade-10 death mage was only a matter of time, and he would live a long life when the deed was done. All the other dukes and duchesses would probably die early deaths, and he would have in time, become the most powerful duke in the empire. With that, he needed not fear anyone having opinions about him.

Saleen was hardly exhausted from the two battles fought previously. He talked to Lex for a bit and brought only the sorcerers he brought with him as well as the ancient warriors, in his return to Metatrin City.

Saleen felt that the side with Grand Duke Iron Blood was already well-prepared, and the assault on Porter City was bound to happen. On the side of the Kingdom of Metatrin, they intended to attack Sikeqinya when Qin was being caught in a pincer attack from two other nations. If Holy Rock City sought reinforcements and needed Saleen to deploy his navy, he would be in no position to refuse. He, after all, held the mark of the Six-Winged Flying Snake, and a relative of the Grukos.

When his fleet had made for Sikeqinya, Holy Rock City would be robbed of its reason to make use of his forces.

As for the three-hundred-thousand strong army from the tribunal, Saleen gave a strict order—unless Aini’s army of spirits had grown too large and they had no idea what to do with the extra spirits, they were forbidden to venture out and engage the enemy. All they had to do was to hold the fort. The design and methods of Lonestar City’s construction meant that invading armies would have to pay a heavy price to take it, if the garrison did little but to simply hold the line.

The three-hundred-thousand strong from the tribunal would not be able to do anything to them. It was simply a chance for the troops in the city to acquire practical experience in the field.

Sharman left with Saleen. She wanted to go to Daliang City, and that required using the teleportation portal in Bitterwater prefecture. Armies were formed in huge numbers between Lonestar City and Daliang City. Even a silver grand swordmaster would not have been able to get there easily.

Saleen brought less than two-hundred-thousand men with him when he left. The temple guards were to all remain, and he did not even take Lex’s personal troops with him. Saleen cast Quickcloud, encasing every single one of his men with it. Given that he was then a grade-9 sorcerer, taking all the mages, grand swordmasters, and the holy master by air, would be faster than having them ride of Wings of an Elf.

A speed of three-hundred and sixty miles per hour was something hardly seen in any flying techniques and skills in the world. The Rainbow spell might have been quick, but it was simply a teleportation skill effective in short ranges. No one below grade-12 would be able to use the spell for true flight.

The distance of five-thousand miles in a straight line took Saleen less than a day and a night’s time to cover, and soon they found themselves back in Metatrin City. That was also where the strength of sorcerers laid. They were able to get to anywhere there was trouble brewing at very high speeds, even if where they needed to go had no teleportation portals. For instance, with Saleen, if his cities were ever being surrounded by enemies, he would be more than capable to take on the enemy forces by himself.

Lex stayed in the palace when she returned to Metatrin City, instead of staying in the temple. The temple was the residence of Sika, who was the stewardess and the mother of the prince and princess. Sika proved even more popular in Metatrin City than Saleen himself. That frustrated Lex somewhat, robbing of her of her mood to talk to Saleen about giving birth to their children.

The people of the kingdom however, were especially concerned about the matter. As the prince and princess grew, there had been talks between the nobles, speculating about if Saleen would have simply made one of those two children his heir.

As both were of Qin birth, Saleen’s daughter was also a possible contender to the throne. It all depended on which of his children Saleen would have learn magic. In most cases, a child who began learning magic would have no mood and time to think about running a country.

Without bearing their king a child, Lex’s popularity in the Kingdom of Metatrin paled when compared to Sika’s.

Saleen had no choice but to play dumb to it all. He had to discuss matters with Jason in the temple. He had already decided to attack Ironwall City, but it was only appropriate that he inform Jason of such matters. Jason was his teacher after all. If Jason was to object to it, Saleen would have to figure something out.

Jason’s reaction was just how Saleen predicted: he either gave consent or dissent to Lex’s plans. Jason however, offered Saleen a suggestion regarding his expedition to Sikeqinya, which was to have his fleet depart from the seas, while he himself was to bring Nailisi and Nicholas to Ceylon City.

The location of Ceylon City meant that there were no powerful nobles nearby. Saleen was to sneak into Ceylon City and subjugate the city lord, and then rendezvous with his fleet at sea, launching an attack at the northern side of Sikeqinya.

Ironwall City was only five-hundred miles away from shore. From the looks of the gear Saleen equipped his troops with, the landing party from the fleet would require little more than a day to cover the distance.

Saleen was, of course, entirely able to just rendezvous with his fleet and had them launch their attack from the waters. The metal flyers were capable of covering very long distances and would not need a change of magic nuclei to cover a distance of three to five-thousand miles. Such was the power of equipment powered by magic power furnaces.

Saleen pondered for a moment and concurred with his teacher. While Viscount Gugger might have had a very calculative mind, he was by no means a bad person. If he were to simply assault the city, the viscount would definitely end up dead. If he was to simply sneak into the city and talk with him, the cowardly viscount would definitely not want to go against a grade-9 sorcerer.

It was still his place of birth. If he simply led his troops to sack the place and spilled massive amount of blood, it would have made for an ugly story.

Since Saleen returned from his ordeal in the Imperial City of the Abyss, he had pretty much shaken off his past traumas. He no longer held grudges against those who had cheated him and done him harm in the past. That was, except for one: Earl Sufonso, who had wrecked his family grave.

While Saleen’s grudge towards Earl Sufonso had thinned considerably, he was nowhere near simply letting him off easy. Wrecking his family grave was akin to destroying the only place Saleen had to remember his parents by.

“Teacher, is there anything I should be aware of?” Saleen asked earnestly.

“Nothing. You are now a grade-9 sorcerer, although…well, you are still my student. If you run into any trouble, all you have to do is to just run home. The Sikeqinyan emperor is not someone to be trifled with. If Lex intends to go against him and insists on taking out Ironwall City, I will do nothing to get in her way, but you have to be careful. Every empire will have their grade-10 professionals. As such, take Nailisi and Nicholas with you. With those two by your side, I can rest easy.”

“Teacher, every empire has their own grade-10 professionals to hold the place?” It was the first time Saleen heard of something like that. He realized that there were more than just Joey and Fycro that were grade-10 professionals, but if every empire had a grade-10 professional, that meant that his fleet…

“No, it’s just that every empire has grade-10 professionals operating at certain areas. If you stir up trouble with them on their turf, you will be in for a massive headache.”

“So, you know who the grade-10 professional in Sikeqinya might be?”

“I don’t. What I do know is that that person has some relationship with the royalty of Sikeqinya, just like that one from Holy Rock City.”

“Understood teacher, I will not move against the Sikenqinyan Imperial city until I feel myself ready,” Saleen said solemnly to his teacher.

“Go then. Grand Duke Iron Blood or anyone else, no one can easily take down Metatrin City.” Jason pondered and continued, “I plan to enter the interdimensional space and advance to grade-10 there, to avoid drawing any attention.”

“Teacher, you are going to advance to grade-10?” Saleen was thoroughly shocked. Even with powers of the plane growing all across the Myers Mainland, Jason’s speed at advancement was still frightening.

“I have to. You have a penchant for getting into trouble with powerful enemies. If I stall advancement any further, Metatrin City will be razed sooner or later.”

Saleen was reminded of Fycro and Joey and hung his head in shame. Those two were his doing, and any one of them could make it to Metatrin City. If his teacher did not advance further, he would have no choice but to lock himself up in the temple when those two showed up at the door. It would be a very frustrating affair.

“Try to spend more time with Truman. Just remember how you yearned for me to teach you back then,” Jason told Saleen in a serious tone.

“Teacher, I will bring Truman with me, and I won’t let him leave my side,” Saleen swore.

“Heh, looks like you are unaware still. Truman is now already a grade-5 grand mage,” Jason told Saleen, feeling irritated.

Saleen felt his face redden. He had brought Truman to Lonestar City, yet hardly let him do anything. He did not even so much as to ask about Truman’s progress. While Truman still wore a grade-4 magic robe, he would still have been able to tell that Truman had advanced, had he simply paid a little more attention.

Saleen returned to Sika’s room after saying goodbye to his teacher and talked to her throughout the night. He made for the palace first thing in the morning.

Lex was already there waiting for him. Saleen and Lex discussed his teacher’s opinion and Lex approved of Jason’s idea. For the mission, she was to again move separately from Saleen, and Lex actually felt somewhat jealous of Nailisi.

The matter was decided quickly, and Nailisi removed all demons who served within the temple guards and organized a new demon army with fresh recruits from the Demon City, forming an army consisting of one-hundred-thousand demons. fifty-six-thousand of them were well-trained and well-equipped.

The purgatory of devils was thirty-six miles in length and width, and it was still expanding, making it possible to carry one-hundred-thousand demons within. Nailisi even brought demon bugs she had been cultivating for more than a year from Demon City, to serve as food for the demon army.

The environment of the purgatory of devils fit the demons well. If a human army was to stay there, they would probably suffer mental breakdowns from the tension within.

Jola’s injuries had largely recovered. He was practicing with his blade when Saleen went to see him. Saleen even asked for Jola to spend more time with Eleanor. If anything happened to his injuries, he was to seek elvish healing magic from Eleanor, which would work faster and better than elemental magic.

A week passed when everything was arranged. Nailisi was done sorting her demon army out, and the fleet at sea departed under Soldier’s command. The winged skeleton had to stop training for the moment. They had to stay with Lex to keep the fleet safe.

The spirits would not have responded to commands well without them being in charge either.

Saleen had only departed from Metatrin City at the start of May. He only had Nailisi, Nicholas, Truman, and Cuisi by his side. Cuisi suffered quite a bit when he was taken by the grand duke, yet he recovered one-hundred times faster than Jola. That time however, Cuisi sported the look of a warrior instead of a maid.

Under the cover provided by Saleen’s Quickcloud, they departed from Metatrin City and made for the Sikeqinya Empire.

Their target, Ceylon City.