Badge in Azure

Chapter 1395: The Elemental Hand's Brutality (Part 1)

Safilos felt insulted, but his army was all in Holy Rock City. There were only over 3000 elite troops in his territory. Over 1000 of them were cavalry and the remaining 2000 being infantry. That was a rather poor number of troops for a prince to command.

There were 16 generals who followed him. All 16 of them possessed formidable combat prowess and they were all versed in large scale battles, excelling in commanding the troops. All of them possessed the ability to effectively command legions consisting of tens of thousands of troops.

There were even two of them who were on par with Safilos in regards to abilities as tacticians, but only paled in comparison at personal combat prowess.

There were so many capable people following him and yet, he remained incapable of fending off against the Cloudflow fleet. His port was practically useless as he dared not even command his navy to venture out to sea.

Saleen requested for two naval fleets to be stationed at his city in order to help him train his naval forces. That thought alone caused Safilos' blood to boil. His face reddened with frustration.

"Your highness Safilos, I'm sure you've met my troops. If you have need for it, I shall provide you with armors as well, and they were armors possessed by Grand Duke Iron Blood as well.

Saleen said as he waved his hand, summoning a Bug Angel unit flying through the sky. That unit landed and laid prostrate on the ground. The compound eyes on the helmet observed Safilos. The wings at its back rattled slightly. Tiny Wind Blades were generated between the wings and then disappeared.

It was a skill that Saleen had it put on display. The Bug Angel unit's legs were capable of stabbing into the stone floor, causing cracking noises that frustrated those within earshot.

"The armor is worn by an imp at about level six. With ample magic nuclei embedded after wearing the armor, the imp's combat prowess eclipses that of a level eight warrior's, but lower than that of a level nine golden grand swordmaster." Saleen began to do introductions.

That Bug Angel Armor would have served well when Saleen was still incapable of replicating the Tainted Blood Armors, but at present, Saleen's liking for them had worn out. But still, there were large number of molds left in Metatrin City nonetheless, and destroying them would have incurred huge losses.

As such, Saleen introduced the armor to his allies whenever the opportunity presented itself.

That set of armor was not all that expensive to craft en masse. If one were to measure their worth by their effects, they would have still been a bargain even if Saleen were to sell them at a price higher than what they were at the moment.

"How much for a set?" Safilos' interest was piqued. If a soldier were to gain that much enhancement in terms of combat capacity when wearing such an armor, it would have worth burning magic nuclei with. Since Saleen bothered showcasing them, it was without doubt something he was able to afford.

"I usually conduct my businesses by bartering. But this time, I'd sell the armors to you at 5000 gold coins per set. Magic nuclei not included."

Safilos' heart sank. 5000 gold coins per set meant that it would have cost five million gold coins to armed 1000 people. Since Safilos had never taken bribes, he only had tens of millions of gold coins to spare. While five million gold coins were not much, but he still his naval fleet to consider, as well as the cost in magic nuclei upkeep.

In regards to his naval fleet, there had hardly been warships lower than 100 thousand gold coins each.

A fleet needed more than 12 ships at the very least. Saleen would have probably sold them at a price of millions of gold coins. There were still the matter of fuel cost, maintenance, and the training of his naval personnel to consider. The total cost measured over several years would have enabled him to buy another set of warships.

Despite having never commanded the navy, it did not mean that Safilos did not know what market rates concerning the navy were like.

Saleen looked at Safilos' troubled expression and persuaded him, "Your highness, I'm selling you the armors at cost, not earning even a single silver coin from you. I might even have to lose money selling them at such prices. The army of my own nation was lacking in numbers. I have lots of equipment lying around and yet I have no troops to use them. If I were to sell the armors outside, I presume that there would still be buyers even if I were to sell them at 50000 gold coins per set. Furthermore, despite costing magic nuclei to use, the armor is capable of self-repair…"

"Self-repair!"

"If the damage was not to grievous, the magic nuclei cost using the self-repair feature would have been half of that of getting mages to fix them."

"I'll take 1000 sets."

Saleen smiled. He had finally gotten Safilos on a leash. If Saleen were to become a supplier of military equipment to Safilos, then there would have also been services that he would have been able to offer Safilos in the future, securing the connection with him.

The Bug Angel Armors and warships would have been little more than scrap metal, if Saleen's mages were not around to tend to them.

Saleen felt rather awkward that Safilos asked for 1000 sets right off the bat. While the armors were indeed worth 5000 gold coins per set, but he nonetheless was not there to rob Safilos, so he was compelled to throw in further benefits for the prince.

Safilos was held in very high regard by the Qin nobles after all. Despite having lost the Battle of Holy Rock City, his status remained almost on par with that of Lex nonetheless. The reason why Safilos returned to his nation was because he was unable to get over his failures.

If he were to actually stay in Holy Rock City, the people of Golden Plains might not have been able to throw their weight around the place with Lex.

Safilos was still able to identify friends from foes nonetheless. He would have never acted against Lex when the time called for him to do otherwise. At present, protecting the imperial bloodline was of utmost importance.

"Sigh…" Saleen sighed. It was the first time that he actually went on to sell his goods at a loss, and furthermore, the client was none other than Safilos. Fate was something fickle. Several years ago, Saleen would have done all he could to get rid of Safilos, and yet, at that moment, he wanted to secure Safilos' help instead.

It would have taken quite a while before mages became capable of ruling the world. For the time being, control over Myers Mainland rested with the nobles. That was what Saleen found exasperating. If he were to simply begin controlling the world right there and then, he would have earned the nobles' ire.

If he were to simply push his way through using sheer brute force, there was no telling that if he would have been able to root all of his enemies out throughout the Qin Empire.

Saleen took out a piece of divine crystal and said to Safilos, "I did not get this divine crystal from the Goddess of Nature. It is something materialized by believers of other gods. This thing here would be able to replace most of the materials in the potion formulas you have given me. If you're willing, I shall make them for you personally. If you think you couldn't trust me, then have that mage with a beard at your side to do it for you. His proficiency at alchemy is suitable for crafting pharmaceuticals."

"Why are you helping me, Saleen?" Safilos knew how precious divine crystals were. It was something that believers had no way of obtaining. Safilos had no idea how Saleen came to get his hands on those things.

However, if the elder prince were to find out that Saleen had been stealing divine power and washing away the impurities within, so much so that not even the gods would have noticed, Safilos would not have been as astonished as he was at the moment.

"Your highness, while I have indeed taken Phoenix and had allied with Grand Duke Iron Blood, I didn't do so because I want to see Qin fall. I'm a mage. Back then, when I was at wit's end, I first thought of coming to Qin. I knew that the powers of the Holy See had no way of penetrating the empire. I didn't have such sentiments even for Sikeqinya," Saleen elaborated truthfully.

"Alright, I owe you one, Saleen. So long as he keep protecting the Qin Empire, then I shall never see you as the enemy again."

Saleen smiled, if it had not been for Safilos' enmity towards Lex, he would have never actually wanted to get on the bad side of the prince. Saleen was not all that verse with military matters. The very reason why he had been able to keep winning, was that he had capable people serving him and superior equipment at his disposal.

The same amount of powers would have worked better in Safilos' hands, and casualties would have been minimized. If it were to be possible, Saleen would have hoped for Safilos to become a general of his.

Saleen's magic amplifier had ample space within. The spaces within the 27 eyes were expanded, allowing Saleen to transport massive amount of cargo even without the weapon spirit around.

However, Saleen did not leave Safilos with anything right away. Saleen returned to Metatrin City in a roundabout manner after signing a simple contract with Safilos.

The weapon spirit within the magic amplifier finally consumed all of the divine kingdom fragments and ignited divine fire. From then on out, getting to Rapahel's interdimensional space would have needed to begin with the teleportation portal in Metatrin City.

All three of his weapon spirits had ignited divine fires. Saleen unleashed his magic amplifier and had the God of Magic Net store the Floating City inside the magic amplifier.

It was a very difficult process, as it would have required every living being from the Floating City to be transferred outside, before large scale crafting could be performed.

Pseudogods had massive powers. The God of Magic Net was nonetheless still capable of shrinking the Floating City limitlessly, despite having its powers sealed. It would have only needed an instant to do so. The three eyes within the core of the magic amplifier already had massive storage powers in them.

Weapons spirits did not need to pay any price for transforming equipment. The feat would have only been so difficult due to having its levels sealed.

After Saleen was done storing up the Floating City, the ring formed by the eyes of the magic amplifier hovered behind him. A portal was opened at his back, and the Floating City could be seen within.

That time, he brought the three powerful weapon spirits and Rafel with him. Being surrounded by so many powerful beings meant that Saleen no longer needed to be wary. He flew straight from New Demon City to the beach at full speed.

Saleen saw the city at the border in shambles when he had gotten near Safilos' territory. Half of the entire city was destroyed. Saleen was shocked, not knowing if it was the grand duke or Alchemy City that did all that.

Regardless of who did it, it would have proven fatal to Safilos, who was at the moment, unguarded.

Saleen was a level ten true might and his combat capacity had even reached that of a level 11 one. Furthermore, he was also armed with his family's secret arts, making it difficult for mages to kill him.

What Saleen came to be concerned about was the possibility of his plans being all for nothing if Safilos' nation came to be slaughtered.

I need the people here, and I sure as hell need to build a temple here!

Saleen took his people and dived from above. He saw soldiers clearing up dead bodies at the rubble and ruins. Over half of those who perished were civilians.

"I'm Prince Saleen of the Qin Empire. What happened here!?" Saleen used Thundering Shock. The panicking soldiers calmed down. That skill was able to do more than just strike fear; it was also capable of calming its targets.

Furthermore, the skill had the power to intimidate. Those soldiers saw the badge that Saleen took out and naturally believed what he said.

All of them were elite troops and most of them had fought a brutal battle. None of them had taken their armors off and one after another of them saluted Saleen. A captain came forth and answered Saleen's question.

"Your highness, there are unknown mages attacking the city. More mages had gone to the imperial city. Please leave and request for help from the imperial capital!"

There was only Rafel at Saleen's side, as he did not even bring either the Winged Skull and Sika with him. Two mages capable of flight would have hardly been of any use. The soldiers dared not tell him straight to the face, as that would have been akin to looking down on mages.

"The mages who attacked the imperial city. Did you see this mark on them!?" Saleen created a magic image, which bore the magic mark of the Elemental Hand.

"Indeed, your highness! They were the ones who did all this!" The soldiers confirmed with burning rage.

In actual fact, the mages were all casting spells from above to bombard the place. The very reason why the soldiers were able to survive was because the mages have all gone to the imperial city and there were no one else to clean up the battlefield.

Many Qin cities had underground works built and the small city where Saleen was at the moment was no exception.