Badge in Azure

Chapter 335: Spotting a Double-headed Eagle Again (Part 1)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

As the sky gradually darkened, a snow fox was spotted gazing at the camp compound. This magic beast was not very powerful. Actually, many magic foxes loved living near cities, and some even lived within them.

Small foxes preyed on rats and fed on the rubbish thrown away by humans. Hence, they lived in peace with humanity. Certain foxes in the south could even capture snakes and insects, just like domesticated cats.

Saleen sat atop a large rock, and his spirits were lifted when he saw such small animals moving about in the distance. No matter what happened, the city base would have to be developed.

Once the city was completed, it would have a defense network formed by the magic towers. By then, even the blood cavaliers would be helpless. Also, some snow foxes needed to be captured and bred in the city. No matter how beautiful a city was, there would be some parts which were neglected, and they would be filled with pests. With such animals around, the city would be much cleaner.

In this makeshift camp compound, the pirates had made a bonfire. The Chaotic Swamp was lacking in many things except for dead leaves. By sprinkling some cheap magic powder onto it, the bonfire would be able to last for a long time. Saleen did not oppose such an action. His agenda for coming to the Chaotic Swamp had been to attract the attention of the Holy See, not to sneak into the relic.

Had Saleen wanted to sneak into the relic, he would not have brought so many people along in the first place. It was a conspicuous affair to have more than one hundred pirates riding on bone horses. Anyone who paid slightly more attention than usual would know that a convoy was entering the Chaotic Swamp.

However, the pirates had become well-behaved after Saleen had executed dozens of them the previous time, and none of them indulged in alcohol and songs anymore. From afar, the camp appeared to be neat and quiet.

Saleen recalled the scene when he had been trying to escape from the Chaotic Swamp in the past. Back then, Nailisi had carried him on her back and run away frantically. At that point in time, Saleen was very afraid that the white deacon called Picasso would change his mind, as he did not even have the ability to retaliate at that time. Just how long ago had that been? At this moment, Saleen was actually making a grand comeback.

Saleen was now confident of achieving victory if he ran into a holy master who was the same grade as Picasso. The fight with Jola had built Saleen's confidence. The advantage a mage had was that they had many methods of obtaining victory over the enemy.

A mage who only casts fireballs is not a good mage. This sentence made sense. Combining different spells could give rise to thousands of combat techniques.

Saleen might not have been versed in many spells, but he would always use different methods for each battle. By observing the differences in his enemies, Saleen would employ different combat techniques. That was the advantage of a mage, which was understood by very little people. Most people thought that a mage's power stemmed from elemental control, but in reality, a mage's wisdom was more important.

People who were not smart enough would never become outstanding mages.

On the snowy ground in the distance, a lone snow wolf approached the camp compound slowly. When it spotted the over hundred bone horses standing in the camp compound, it hesitated for a moment before retreating. A magic beast was always more sensitive towards danger. A snow wolf would never be able to raid a camp compound like this.

Bam! Bam! Bam…

In a farther location, an unknown colossal magic beast was woken up from its deep slumber, and was now flitting about. Perhaps other magic beasts had disturbed its sleep, or it was so hungry that it could not sleep and had to forage for food.

Such was the reality in the Chaotic Swamp. Every single creature was fighting for survival, and none lived a peaceful life.

"Hm?" Saleen jerked his head upwards as a black figure flew overhead. He quickly took out his alchemical binoculars and looked upwards. Flying above Saleen was a double-headed eagle.

Saleen grew a bit nervous. A double-headed eagle? The black mages are in the Chaotic Swamp? Saleen could no longer sit still. He jumped off the rock before hastily making his way back to the camp compound.

Aini was training inside of a tent while Daniel stood guard. Daniel helped Aini willingly, because Aini was also a death mage. Furthermore, Aini was at a higher grade, so Daniel felt that he could learn more things as well. Seeing that Saleen had put on a gloomy expression, Aini knew that something unexpected had occurred. Saleen rarely revealed any negative expressions, unless there was something which troubled him deeply.

"What is it?" Aini retracted his death flames. At the moment, he and Saleen were in the same boat. Their relationship was not just that of friends.

"I saw a double-headed eagle just now!"

"What?!" Aini thought he had heard Saleen wrong. In his entire life, the largest crisis had happened when he had been surrounded by black mages in the baron's castle. Black mages were more abominable than rats, and just like rats, they had the ability to expand their communities.

Daniel's reaction was much more subdued, because he had not experienced such things before. Naturally, he would not know the horrors of the black mages.

Saleen and Aini thought of the headless riders and the evil dragons. Once those things became too great in number, their team would be obliterated.

The powerful evil dragons could break holes in the city walls, while the headless riders were simply swordmasters who felt no pain nor fear. In comparison, the blood cavaliers were easy to deal with. Even though a blood cavalier could not feel pain, it would no longer pose a threat as long as its limbs were chopped off.

A headless rider was different. It did not even have a brain, and it could be hardly destroyed without using magic. As long as one limb of the headless rider was still present, it would be able to continue attacking its target. Furthermore, Saleen and Aini were in the Chaotic Swamp right now, where they did not have a castle to rely on, so it would be difficult for them to win with a smaller number of people on their side.

Saleen took out a simple map before drawing a line across it, then said, "The double-headed eagle flew in this direction."

"It overlapped with the target, right?" Aini furrowed his brows as he came to a terrible conclusion.

"If the black mages are hiding in the Chaotic Swamp, we'll be in big trouble." As Saleen looked at the map, he kept drawing lines across the map using his finger. Saleen had drawn this map based on memory. Back then, he had managed to memorize the map after seeing it just once when Canghong showed it to him. This map only depicted one-tenth of the entire Chaotic Swamp. Saleen also made some additions, but the location of the temple was not shown on the map.

The Chaotic Swamp spanned over a wide area. But in order to cross it safely, the only available route was the one which Saleen had selected. The safety in this route was merely relative. Saleen had used this route before. The terrain was simple and there were no powerful magic beasts. A creature like the hill cyclops did not have a specific territory, so they would not appear frequently.

Now that the double-headed eagle belonging to the black mages had appeared, it meant that the black mages were hiding in the vicinity. No matter where they hid, their circle of activity would also obstruct Saleen's route.

Saleen had bought Deep Forest Town as he wanted to develop a secret passageway in the Chaotic Swamp to allow swift travel to Sikeqinya. If the black mages were really occupying the Chaotic Swamp, then Deep Forest Town was already on the frontline. In the future, it would also have to deal with the vigorous assaults by the black mages.

The climate in the Chaotic Swamp was harsh, making survival difficult. However, the black mages were just like death creatures. They could not have cared less about the climate.

"We should take care of the problem at hand first." Saleen pondered for a moment, then said to Daniel, "Put away the pirates' weapons. We will refine them once more before continuing on the journey. Currently, their weapons are inadequate for dealing with the headless riders."

Daniel nodded, while Aini asked, "Do you want the three kings to give you a hand?"

"They might not agree to do so. Let's do it by ourselves for now. If this is the main camp of the black mages, the three kings will only be able to help us escape. Do you still remember what happened back then? The black mages seemed to have resurrected some kind of devil. That thing might not be a god, but we cannot withstand its attacks either."

Neither of them brought up the idea of leaving immediately. It was no easy feat getting the three kings to sign a contract with a trap, so this matter had to be accomplished no matter what. Be it the Holy See or the base camp of the black mages, the three kings could not avoid the agreement. They had to fulfill the promise stated in the contract.

The offensive abilities of the pirates were similar to that of the baron's soldiers. Some of them were at the grade of a swordmaster while the rest were at the grade of a swordsman. However, there were only about one hundred pirates and there was no castle to depend on. In the event that the team ran into a huge number of black puppets, the chances of the pirates surviving were dismal. Only people like Saleen, Jola, and those newly subdued magic beast swordsmen would survive.

At this moment, Saleen could only refine the weapons according to the main types of troops the black mages commanded, so that the pirates would have a higher chance of survival. The movements of a black puppet were not exactly agile, and many unnecessary deaths could be avoided by using a long weapon. As long as a few soldiers used long weapons to stab from a distance, they could easily take out the black puppets. The crux of this method was in the coordination of the soldiers.

Against a headless rider, one would need to use heavy weapons. Fortunately, the pirates had learned some basic swordsmanship, so even though their sword auras were not very strong, they would still be able to wield heavy weapons for a short duration without any problems.

The pirates' weapons were all gathered and placed outside Saleen's tent.

As the wooden spears were too short, Saleen and Aini needed to double the length of the spears' poles. Luckily, the space inside Saleen's demonic ring had expanded considerably, so the equipment brought along for this trip was enough for the pirates' use. The pole of a wooden spear was less than three meters, which was the standard for a cavalryman.

Following the decline of the rider class, the combat techniques of the riders had also waned. Only infantry soldiers wielded extremely long weapons now. A cavalry spear was no longer than seven or eight meters, unless its rider rode on a huge magic beast. The four newly recruited magic beast swordsmen did not use very long weapons. Also, their magic beasts were much bigger than a war horse, and they were omnivores.

Saleen regretted not bringing Nailisi along. If Nailisi was here, her two fully constructed puppets would have wielded weapons which were effective against black puppets. It would have been even better if Lex was here, as she owned quite a number of war puppets. A war puppet was more agile compared to a black puppet, and it also possessed higher offensive power.

At the moment, Saleen could only depend on himself. He rolled up his sleeves, like a blacksmith, before picking up a wooden spear and studying it.

"Can I help with anything?" Daniel's alchemy would not suffice, but he did not want to do nothing at all. Saleen and Aini had begun refining the pirates' weapons. Since there were more than a hundred weapons, a significant amount of time was needed.

"Do you know how to refine medicine?"

"I have chaotic medicine, it will be useful against the puppets too." Daniel was not stupid, and his answer made Saleen very satisfied.

"In that case, smear the medicine on the weapons, now."

As Saleen and Aini were talking, they had already extended the length of two wooden spears and were about to start testing the strength of those spears. The pirates were versed in spear techniques as well. During a robbery, they would have to jump onto the deck of the enemy's merchant ship, and the best weapon to use would be a long spear. Occasionally, the pirates would practice javelin throwing as well. At sea, the climate was humid, so it was very troublesome to repair arrows. Furthermore, alchemical crossbows were too expensive and needed to be maintained regularly, which would cause the pirates to lose more than they could gain.