Close Combat Mage

Chapter 169 – Attending the Tournament Once More Pt. 1

The battle continued for eight months, yet it didn’t show any sign of stopping. The Great Tri-Alliance had suffered unimaginable losses. Yet it was precisely because of this that they had no way of stopping. Otherwise, they’d have absolutely no way of reporting it to the chief of the Great Tri-Alliance!

Within these eight months, the Angelic Six-Winged Phoenixes had experienced countless purges of blood and fire. Their battle skills had become more proficient, and their battle experience had reached a new level. They faced different types of enemies of various professions. This made all of the girls into battle experts!

Moreover, the endless battles during this period had greatly increased their battle qi. When in life-or-death situations, humans improve extremely quickly, to the point where one has to admire it. It could be said that the experiences from the past eight months were enough to have more than doubled the girls’ might. This amount was even greater than the sum of all their improvements from the past 20 some years.

At the same time, as the Angelic Six-Winged Phoenixes continued to improve throughout the battles, they also began to get more and more excited, as well as gain more self-confidence. They could clearly feel themselves improve every day. After every battle, they’d be able to detect any imperfections in their battle skills, and continuously hone it, sculpting it to perfection. All of the girls had gradually unified, but they still had their own unique battle skills. Thus, within this eight month period, all the girls had improved by leaps and bounds.

Of course, the girls also knew that the only reason they were able to fight without rest was entirely due to the Six-Winged Phoenix Heavenly Clothes, their war blades, and most importantly, their inexhaustible supply of potions. If it weren’t for the Magic, Spirit, and Endurance Potions, they wouldn’t have been able to battle endlessly.

During the past eight months, each one of the Angelic Six-Winged Phoenixes’ appearances had changed quite a bit. They now had spears hanging from their waists. These weren’t ordinary spears, but magic-conducting weapons that Suo Jia had specially made!

After coming to understand each of the Angelic Six-Winged Phoenixes’ unique traits, Suo Jia had realized that activating a condensed version of all the fire wind battle qi together as a single, powerful attack using their weapons wasn’t appropriate. But what kind of warrior fought without a weapon in hand? Thus…for the sake of matching their battle skills, Suo Jia had made a belt for each of the girls, each with 36 sharp spears sticking out from it. These spears could activate and shoot out the most powerful, condensed fire wind battle qi attack.

This spear was a product of Suo Jia’s alchemy. Currently, each of the spears could only be used once. After shooting the attack, it would explode into dust, with no way to recover it. This was the Angelic Six-Winged Phoenixes’ strongest attack. A single volley of fire was enough to instantly eradicate their enemies.

After eight months of training, this attack could cover a distance of 200 meters, and its power had also been doubled. Suo Jia named this move: Thousand Feathers!

Of course, as an elementary alchemist, the things that Suo Jia created were still lacking. They didn’t have any boosting effects. However, with the combination of magic crystals and some metals, they could temporarily store the fire wind battle qis into a magic-conducting item. This could perfectly replace a weapon, and become the Angelic Six-Winged Phoenixes’ method of long-ranged attack!

Now, all the enemies during every battle would watch the Angelic Six-Winged Phoenixes’ actions very closely. Whenever they placed their hands on their belts, the enemies would immediately evade cautiously. Otherwise, if they were hit by the attack, they’d end up heavily injured, if not dead. There was nothing they could do; this powerful and explosive attack was not something that the enemy could merely block.

As the battles advanced, the enemies gradually discovered that the Angelic Six-Winged Phoenixes were pretty much perfect warriors. Their close-ranged attacks were as swift and wild as a tempest, and if they were a bit further away, they had Thousand Feathers, which had a destructive power that could easily kill. Aside from missing an actual long-ranged attack, they were pretty much a perfect corps.

The most headache-inducing fact for others was that once these Angelic Six-Winged Phoenixes felt that they had fought enough, they’d immediately leap up. With the help of fire wind battle qi, they’d jump high into the air and then open the six cloaks behind them to sail through the air. In that instant, they’d be able to completely leave the fight. Aside from dumbly watching them, nobody could do anything else. Common arrows were also completely unable to break through the girls’ sturdy armors. The more powerful attacks were dodged, or diverted with a knock of their hands. There was no way anyone could contend against the Angelic Six-Winged Phoenixes.

Time slowly trickled by. Finally…everyone understood that this battle’s outcome wasn’t at all something they could determine. It mainly depended on whether or not the Angelic Six-Winged Phoenixes had played around enough. However, judging from their current states, it seemed like they were still playing energetically. There wasn’t any indication that they had finished!

Gradually, groups began to leave the alliance. First, one left, and then two, and then three… eventually, leaving had become a trend. Within the short period of a month, the Great Tri-Alliance had lost over half of its members, and was continuing to lose members at an alarming rate.

It was at this time that the Angelic Six-Winged Phoenixes received Suo Jia’s order: after being chased for so long, it was about time to counterattack. From now on, they wouldn’t wait for the enemy to find them, the Angelic Six-Winged Phoenixes would directly go to the enemy instead. Using the different identities of the three great corps, they’d be able to expel all the groups within the Gold Triangle!

As a result, the people watching this event were shocked to discover that in nine months, the Angelic Six-Winged Phoenixes that had been pursued this whole time finally struck back. In addition, they were extremely merciless with their fierce counterattacks, leaving no survivors!

Faced against these cruel Angelic Six-Winged Phoenixes, many of the groups left the alliance extremely quickly. Eventually…10 months after the fights had first begun, all the merchant routes in the Gold Triangle were now completely empty. Despite this, the Angelic Six-Winged Phoenixes still didn’t dare to leave the matter at that. They had to spread the word that no matter if it was a merchant group, mercenary group, or thief group, appearing in the Gold Triangle would mean being pursued by the three Angels corps until the opposite party was completely powerless.

Faced with the seemingly peerless Angel corps, the Great Tri-Alliance had no choice but to step up their game. They discussed the current matters, and after a while, finally came up with an agreement.

From that moment on, any affairs on the three major trade routes would be completely under the Golden Angels merchant group’s control. Of course…even if they didn’t withdraw, the Dark Angels thief group would wholeheartedly welcome them! If they didn’t steal the family’s fortune, they couldn’t call themselves the Dark Angels thief group!

The other merchant groups that passed through the Gold Triangle had to pay a protection fee worth 10% of their goods to the Blood Angels mercenary group. Now, the safe areas in the Gold Triangle were under the Blood Angels mercenary group’s jurisdiction. If anything within this perimeter happened, it would be the Blood Angels’ responsibility to fix it. If they couldn’t, then they’d compensate appropriately!

At the same time, the Gold Triangle didn’t welcome any thief corps. Of course, they could still come and loot however much they wanted, but before they did so, they had to first secure their family property, and then buy a coffin. If they could, it was best if they came to loot with their coffin in hand. Otherwise, roaming around in that wilderness would be a bit too pitiful.

The Great Tri-Alliance was furious when they heard the Angelic Six-Winged Phoenixes’ request, but how could they refuse? Besides…Holy Light Empire’s trade routes numbered over 1000; giving away 3 of them wasn’t that big of a deal. The Angelic Six-Winged Phoenixes weren’t the only corps that had seized a few trade routes, this had happened in other places as well.

After mutually signing the contract…after a period of 10 months, Suo Jia’s original objective had finally become a reality. From then on, the transport and trade routes between the three major cities would be completely left to the Golden Angels to handle. Aside from them, no other merchant group would be able to transport anything on these routes.

The Blood Angels were responsible for keeping every merchant group that passed through the Gold Triangle safe, while the Dark Angels group was…well, they really had nothing else to do. They couldn’t go and rob from the group that the Blood Angels were protecting, right? Wouldn’t that just be fighting theirselves?

Of course, they could go to other places to loot. However, during the signing of the agreement, the Great Tri-Alliance had already stated that the aside from within the Gold Triangle, the Angels corps weren’t to act anywhere else. That’s why, for a period of time, the Angelic Six-Winged Phoenixes would have nothing to do.

The merchant group would be completely safe as they passed through the three major trade routes; nobody dared to touch them. There was nobody stirring up trouble on the trade routes, so the mercenary group only displayed their name to receive protection fees. The Dark Angels also had no place to loot from. Thus, the Angelic Six-Winged Phoenixes could do nothing but rest and reorganize themselves, as well as collate and combine their profits from the last year as they waited for Suo Jia’s next order.

Just as the Angelic Six-Winged Phoenixes entered closed-door training, Suo Jia, along with Aimi and Aila, had rushed back to Holy Light Academy to participate in the annual King of Kings Tournament.