Badge in Azure

“Aini, don’t shake your head. If one-hundred of your most trusted subordinates were killed, what would you do?” Saleen rebutted when he saw Aini looking indignant.

“This is a battlefield, deaths are bound to happen.”

Without any change in expression, Saleen said, “Even though the age of cavaliers has passed, I am willing to pay the ransom if they have imprisoned those swordsmen. They have massacred my men, every single one of them. Am I still supposed to do a cost and benefit analysis? They have to pay the price, no one shall even think of staying alive.”

Saleen went to look at the bodies personally. Many of these swordsmen did not resist. They had obviously surrendered, yet they still got killed. This was something which Saleen could not tolerate.

Saleen had given an order to these swordsmen in the past. “If the enemy is too strong, and there is no chance for escape, then lay down your weapons.” In Qin, no one would kill their prisoners of war, because the prisoners of war were akin to their first pot of gold. Before the end of a war, these prisoners could act as free labor. Even after the war ended, it was not guaranteed that the prisoners would be freed. There was a high chance that they would be absorbed into a new family, where they would become the subordinates of a new noble.

As for the swordsmen who were skillful, they would be sent into the army to execute dangerous assignments. It was precisely because of Saleen’s order that the swordsmen did not put up a fight. They were killed by the enemy, because of that, Saleen’s rage could not be appeased.

Slaughtering a person who did not put up any resistance was a practice despised by the Qin people. Even the people of Tanggulasi would not do such a thing. At most, they would send the prisoners to the Holy See, so that the Holy See could reform the prisoners. As for the method of reform, it was very malleable.

Ever since Saleen picked up magic, he had killed a number of enemies. He did not like doing so. If it was not out of desperation, he would not have taken other people’s lives. Even though a mage enjoyed prestige, they were also commoners to begin with. Even a death mage would not kill others just for pleasure’s sake.

Saleen’s own subordinates were slaughtered just like animals.

Saleen’s impression of the people from the island states of the eastern sea was very negative at the moment. Since the prisoners who were captured by Kredian had died, he did not have the chance to ask more questions. How did these people arrive at his city? If they said that Saleen’s city was their ambition, then it would be totally implausible. Saleen’s city was located very far north and the current season was unsuitable for staging an invasion. That being said, the enemy’s armed merchant ships were filled with infantrymen. They were definitely not out for vacation, they had a destination in mind.

Were they going to attack Lianyun City? It seemed that this fleet was slightly weak. Even though Lianyun City was unlike Alchemy City, it was also a massive harbor city in the north of the empire. Alchemy City had dominated ninety percent of commerce from the Cloudflow people, while the other ten percent was taken by the Lianyun City. This ten percent represented a colossal wealth, it would be sufficient for the owner of Lianyun City to support an elite army.

Saleen’s calculations were right. This twenty boat fleet would not be able to conquer Lianyun City. He would never imagine that the twenty kingdoms in the eastern sea had gathered many other smaller states to form such a massive fleet in order to conquer the Myers mainland. To achieve this agenda, the island states in the eastern sea had been planning for the longest time ever. Fredrick, who was killed by Saleen, was in fact gathering intelligence from the Myers mainland.

At that point in time, Saleen was still inexperienced, so he did not try to understand what Fredrick’s intentions were. He would otherwise have learned of this matter long ago. Lex had thought of this issue before. The island states in the eastern sea were simply too far from the Myers mainland, so she did not think that a war would occur between them.

“Sir Saleen, the enemy has sent an envoy.”

“I don’t want to meet him.”

“That man won’t budge.”

“Then kill him,” Saleen replied decisively.

“Okay.” The swordsman who was the messenger turned and left. Before long, screams could be heard from the square outside. This swordsman was also filled with hatred. When Saleen allowed him to kill the envoy, he chopped off the limbs first, followed by slicing the head off.

This swordsman had come from the Sregl Island, and Sregl Island was not a huge place. Of those swordsmen who had died on the island, some of them were his good friends.

“Why won’t you hear what they have to say?” Irene, who was standing by his side, was perplexed.

“The enemies are in my hands now, there’s no need to discuss. They have lost the warships. Without any resupply of food and weapons, they have zero chance of reversing the situation. They are either trying to surrender, or to assassinate me. No matter what it is, I am not going to accept it.”

“Sir, we have found this!” The swordsman who was in charge of the execution delivered an item over. Saleen received it, this item was a magic canister. A grade-7 magic nucleus was mosaicked into one end of the magic canister. Cautiously, Saleen removed the magic nucleus and gave it to Aini.

Aini inspected it, and in an astounded manner, he called out, “It was really for an assassination! This item can release a level-7 spell!”

The magic canister was a suicidal magic equipment, and there were no grade requirements for it. After usage, it would explode. There were dozens of magic nuclei concealed inside, and when they were stimulated, the power unleashed was equivalent to that of level-7 spell. It was not easy to fool Saleen and Aini. Even if the envoy was allowed entry into the temple, this thing would have also been discovered.

Such magic canisters were extremely unstable, they could not even be stored. Besides being naturally stimulated, this thing was a ticking time bomb, no one knew when it would explode on its own. No mages dared carry such things with them.

Saleen glanced at Irene, then said flatly, “See that, sometimes you don’t have to show compassion to the enemy.”

Irene remained silent. Even though she had encountered a number of conspiracies in the past, she had never seen such insanity before. Even if the invaders managed to kill Saleen, they would not be rewarded with victory. Instead, they would face a more vigorous backlash. Now that this incident was exposed, Saleen would definitely reject their surrender.

An hour passed very quickly. The mages on the ice layer began shrouding the magic array with snow. At the same time, Daniel’s spirit army had set off towards the edge of the ice layer. There were a three-thousand strong spirit army, over twenty barbarians, and Daniel a grand mage.

Daniel stood atop one of the pikoosi’s heads. As long as the enemy did not have a sorcerer, not even a warhorse could outrun his death creature on this ice layer.

At the periphery of the ice layer, a gray-robed mage looked worried as he told his general, “Sir, the assassin I sent has failed.”

The general seemed to have predicted this outcome, as he simply nodded and replied, “Failed? Then we can only fight to our last breath. Disseminate my order, all the mages shall bless the army with magic. We shall advance.”

“Mage Youxi Maso is not back yet,” the gray-robed mage reminded his general.

“He should not be returning anymore. To think that I have been carefree for the past thirty years or so and have conquered multiple lands, yet I am going to die here today,” the general sighed.

“Sir, you shouldn’t say such demoralizing words!” a mage consoled. The general was considered a ferocious general in the eastern sea states. He was not boasting at all. He had conquered multiple lands, but these countries never had a population of more than fifty-thousand. On the Myers mainland, places with a population of less than fifty-thousand could not be considered cities, they could only be referred to as citadels. The mage was groaning in his heart, “If you have already lost all hope, then what would the soldiers rely on for the battle?”

“Don’t bother persuading me. At this point in time, the only way out is death.” The general’s ride had sunk with the warships, and now, he was mustering all his effort to stand up. He then briefed the people around him, “If anyone of you survives and manages to see His Majesty, please help me tell him that I didn’t surrender, but that I had died on the battlefield. Please ask His Majesty to treat my children kindly.”

Finishing his sentence, the general wielded his sword and walked west without any expression on his face.

The general’s trusted soldiers could only follow suit. Such was the practice in the eastern sea states. Usually, a general would have to take the lead, placing his personal safety into the hands of his trusted men. With arrows flying about in chaos, a general would also die no matter how skillful he was. These soldiers might be carrying metal shields, but there were less than twenty metal shields.

From afar, a thunderous tremor came from the ice layer. The general halted and looked towards the ice layer. It was a blanket of white hue, as thousands of skeletons suddenly went berserk and began sprinting towards the general’s battle formation.

These skeletons were only low grade spirits. Spirits which were forcefully conscripted by the three kings to be coolies and were really weak. The Eastern Sea Allied Army had lost all confidence. Two rounds of assault from Saleen had made them realize that their expedition was an imminent failure.

To make things even worse, death mages were almost non-existent in the eastern sea states, so a normal soldier did not understand skeletons at all. Now that there were so many skeletons in front of them, with red flames flickering in their orbitals, the allied soldiers were in a state of panic. No matter how much their commanders berated them, they could not get into formation.

Those generals were fearless, they were not afraid of the skeletons. It was too late for them to inform the soldiers of the weakness of the skeletons, however. The soldiers were not close to the generals, which was something that never occurred in Qin. In the Qin Empire, the commonest of nobles would also enjoy an intimate relationship with their soldiers. They would not sting on money, they would help procure equipment for the soldiers and educate them.

“Hmm?” Daniel, who was standing on the pikoosi’s head, noticed the enemy’s leader. The leader was clad in colored armor, he seemed like a flippant person. Even though his armor was impractical, Daniel felt that he was perilous.

Currently, Daniel was already a grade-5 mage. In order for someone to make him feel in danger, that person had to at least be a beginner grand swordmaster. Daniel was unlike Saleen. If he did not have the protection of the skeletons, he would not even dare get close to the enemy’s team. At the very least, Saleen could fly and escape out of the range of a crossbow.

The originally high-spirited Daniel now slowed down, as he recalled Saleen’s warning. “Since there are so many enemies, there is definitely the presence of grand swordmasters. Don’t get too close to the enemy’s formation. Allow the skeletons to die, so as to toy with enemy’s morale. When it’s almost time, then get the barbarians to escort you back. By then, I will kill all of them in a single swoop.”

Saleen’s plan was very simple. The skeletons would kill the normal enemy soldiers, even if it meant exchanging the skeletons’ lives. Once Daniel began retreating, the enemy would definitely give chase in order to bolster morale. The enemy did not have much time to waste on the ice layer. It was also very likely that they would ride on this momentum to invade the city.

As long as the enemy’s general’s brain was still functioning, then he would know that this was the only opportunity.

Saleen had already prepared a large magic array at the port. As long as the enemy pursued Daniel, they would fall into Saleen’s trap. Even if the enemy did not give chase, Saleen would not suffer much loss either. With this wave of assault, the enemy would sustain another batch of casualties. By then, they would not even be able to last through the night anymore.