Badge in Azure

Chapter 1476: Attack (Part 2)

Saleen angrily looked at the Water Fox prostrating herself before him. That thing wasn't even human, so how could he forge a relationship with her? She had also been at a very high level when they first met.

Nailisi and the Winged Skull, on the other hand, were people he met when he was at his worst.

He deemed it a valuable life lesson and vowed to refrain from subjugating any creature he came across in the future. Some would never be loyal to him.

The Water Fox gathered over 1,000 holy masters. Saleen was much impressed, feeling that the god's faith was propagating at a terrifying rate. The Oracle Corps did not let holy masters below level-3 join its ranks. Yet in one city, adherents grew to an astonishingly high number in several years, and not a single one was a convert.

He did not dare to imagine what would happen if he let the Goddess of Myers keep doing what she was doing.

Saleen was unfazed. He had those holy masters to enter the magic amplifier, which was beyond the reach of the goddess's powers. He could have killed them all with a single thought.

He then selected thousands of warriors among the knights at Nature Temple before flying to a newly opened portal, where he sensed the presence of a god.

His army would never be able to handle that, so he had the Nature Faith take care of it instead. Saleen was sure that the goddess knew that he was mobilizing the faith's powers. She would have also definitely sensed the assault he organized.

Regardless of the kind of god lying behind that portal, there was no way Myers would leave it alone.

It might be a nation with a strong religion, or it might be a divine kingdom.

That portal was at the border of Tanggulasi near Sikeqinya, an area that was a little more than 1,000 kilometers from Ceylon City. If Saleen led the attack, his hometown would probably get caught in the crossfire.

The cities of Myers Mainland were far from where the portals were located. Even after the portals gradually disappeared in the past 10,000 years or so, none of the citizens of Myers Mainland built cities near them. The mainland was simply too vast, and the population too small by comparison. Some of the subcontinent planes were only the size of an empire yet housed a population of billions. The density of cities found in those places did not compare to Myers Mainland.

Saleen arranged for 3,000 warriors to stand at the front when they came to the portal, with holy masters mixed in. Magic chariots, alongside the Bug Angel Warriors, were right behind the warriors.

The number of Saleen's Bug Angel Warriors never exceeded 100,000, and he only brought 20,000 in that expedition. He assigned the others to the Floating City and had them fight alongside Aini.

Saleen brought Rafel along, but the two were not part of the invading forces. They simply hovered midair, riding on the two-headed golden dragon, significantly boosting the morale of Nature Faith adherents.

Saleen made a personal appearance to help ensure that everything went smoothly during the battle.

He was oblivious to the extent of his stature in the minds of those believers. He was the one who had established the Nature Faith, and he was the one who deployed the troops when fighting the enemies, building the faith throughout the years. Further, Saleen used creation magic that looked like divine miracles at Nature City.

The presence of the temple had accumulated over the past 10,000 years. None of what happened could be explained with magic, so they deemed that he must have been a good friend of their god.

Those believers didn't dare imagine that the relationship between him and the goddess was that of master and servant. What Saleen pulled off years ago was still flourishing, with the fruits of his labor growing strong in the hearts and minds of the believers.

Though the portal was on a plain, the surrounding marshes made it ill-suited for farming. It was, however, a good hunting ground. Magic beasts were abundant, and mages were encouraged to get themselves some magic nuclei there.

At present, all magic beasts suddenly scattered. That portal looked gray and emitted a bloody aura.

Did someone come out from there? Saleen frowned. His plane map was too small, and he was too slow-moving whenever he had to check anything; otherwise, his power of the soul depleted too quickly.

A holy master cast a golden-eyed fire crow to search the area. Saleen stationed tens of thousands of troops in an area within a dozen kilometer radius. He knew long ago that there was nothing to be found there.

Even if someone came out of the portal, he would have gone elsewhere long ago, making tracking utterly pointless.

One or two people emerging would not have done much to Myers Mainland. Still, the mages checked patiently, collecting dirt samples nearby in the hope of finding something.

The golden-eyed fire crow returned in about 20 minutes. It found nothing.

Mages found signs of combat and even some dried blood. Those with exceptional alchemical abilities collected samples to be analyzed back in the magic chariots.

Saleen did not enter the portal blindly. Since the mages had collected enough information for further analysis, there was no need to take additional risks. Some planes were unsuitable for humans. as they might have lacked air. Such places were suitable for magic beasts. Some places were filled with water, whereas others contained so much lava that even abyssal creatures didn't want to go near them.

The mages who accompanied Saleen were all above level-7, which meant that they were very quick with minor alchemical experiments.

They provided the results to Saleen in around 20 minutes. The assault formations had only gotten in place by then. The portal was narrow, so it was impossible to enter it in the usual way.

Saleen only needed to make sure that there was no danger the army couldn't handle. He looked at the results, which clearly stated that the plane on the other side of the portal was a subcontinent plane similar to Myers Mainland. The blood collected belonged to humans from another plane who were not very powerful, indicating they were level-7 or level-8 warriors.

Since they didn't see any bodies of magic beasts, it was not possible to ascertain the abilities of those warriors.

That was good enough. If the other side weren't such a hellish place, Saleen would have only had to follow the knights, as usual, heading into the portal. He cast his lightning territory to guard against any ambushes.

The portal was so short it took only about three minutes for the knights at the front to charge.

The vanguards quickly met another army on the other side. They fired their crossbows upon seeing so many cavalry units rushing toward them, but Saleen's lightning territory blocked all the bolts.

Saleen found the scene laughable: The opposing army consisted of little more than 1,000 diverse units.

Fifty knights clad in elaborate armor took the lead. Those knights were attended by squires. Behind them were foot soldiers in leather armor. The flanks were filled with archers, who looked totally at of place.

A general, considered the commander of the force, followed from the rear. His armor was the color of a bird in heat. Saleen thought his getup was garish and cheap despite the general's haughty expression. Was that really a chicken feather sticking out of his helmet?

Two mages flanked the general, just two and no more. Saleen scanned them using his Eye of Souls. One was level-4, and the other was level-6. There was even a sorcerer among them.

Saleen did not think much of them, considering that the force before him was but small task force. He was, however, able to catch a glimpse of the golden-crown insignia on that general's colorful armor.

Saleen had spent some time learning about heraldry due to having to forge identities. What was the reason for that insignia? That badge looked like a golden crown. Was the wearer an heir to the throne or the emperor, according to conventions?

An emperor? Really? Are you joking? Any duke in Qin would have been able to amass a more significant force. How absurd that there were only two mages for protection.

A royal court, with only two mages? Really now.

The attack with arrows and bolts was ineffective. No wonder the two mages looked so grim. Their level was too low. They began muttering to that supposed emperor, infuriating him. They then yelled and intended to let their knights charge.

Temple knights of the Goddess of Nature had no squires. All told there were about 3,000 knights, all well-armed with subdued armor with holy prose of nature on them.

Are you telling 50 knights to charge at 3,000 elite enemy knights? Saleen wondered if the emperor was insane or just an idiot.

All 50 knights dealt blows as soon as they charged. Three thousand knights were only the size of a battalion and 2,000 others stayed behind. None of the holy masters did anything. The enemy was just too weak, and they thought it more prudent to conserve their energy.

The 50 knights were all thrown from their horses and quickly killed in the altercation. The knights of Nature Faith were formidable soldiers. They almost just rolled over the opposing foot soldiers, archers, and squires, like a tidal wave smashing through a paper dam. That fancy emperor yelled furiously, but the soldiers went silent when they saw the demons behind the enemy.

"Asmodians have invaded. Everyone retreat immediately!"

There was no need for those words: all the combatants left the battlefield as soon as they saw the demon army. The Nature Temple knights returned to their formations, awaiting further orders.

The attack was a failure, and the asmodians had invaded?

Saleen's demons did bear some resemblance to the asmodians of some subcontinent planes. But Saleen did not bring many demons with him. He only brought a hundred to familiarize them with the plane. If they liked it, Saleen was not opposed to letting them breed there.

Demons preferred to eat magic bugs instead of humans. Humans, which tasted weird to them, were only eaten when there were shortages or when the demons were famished. Saleen did not worry about those demons slaughtering their way in the subcontinent plane. The relationship between demons and humans was based on strength. With Saleen in charge, the demons would build cities as humans did and establish their forces.

But then again, it was a bad idea to let that emperor escape. Saleen kicked the scale on the Violet Angel's back, prompting it to fly over the battlefield with Saleen and Rafel in tow. It charged at that fancy-looking emperor and hoisted him up.

Those two mages were petrified by Saleen and taken along as well.

The emperor's army scattered while Saleen got himself three prisoners.

He returned to his camp and undid the petrifaction on the two mages. Being petrified within an instant and then dispelled within a moment, made them realize that the power of the enemy far exceeded their expectations.

"Well then, what is this place and who are you people?" Saleen asked his prisoners.