Badge in Azure

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

Mu En was from Qin so he was fully aware of the abilities of Qin iron knights. Since he was sandwiched amongst the six jade skeletons, he had no choice but to charge towards the Qin iron knights.

Qin heavy-armored knights weighed close to two-thousand pounds including both human, horse, their armors, and their weapons. All the warhorses were equivalent to grade-1 or grade-2 magic beasts that feared neither water nor flames. They would continue to charge fearlessly ahead even if it was a sea of flames ahead of them.

Qin heavy-armored knights were at least high-level swordsmen. They had no problems wielding weapons of thirty to fifty pounds even if they were in full armor.

The armor worn by the horses protected even their limbs. There was a metal ram on their chest that could break down big shields.

The long spears carried by the heavy-armored knights were alchemy equipment that could negate spells and pierce through normal heavy armor easily.

Even if they did not wield any weapons, the way the heavy-armored knights charged could easily break the bones of those they made contact with.

If these heavy-armored knights were given magic heavy swords, their ability to kill would be overwhelming. The winged skeleton was one of the rare spirits of the dead that was willing to read up so he was familiar with the way Qin armies fought. It was strange that he would match his death knights up against the heavy-armored knights.

Death knights could easily handle light-armored knights, but only powerful spells could deal with heavy-armored knights.

Mu En followed the winged skull's instructions and held up the magic staff in his hands. Gray-colored waves dispersed violently. The moment these waves swept across the death troops, it was as if they had consumed some drug that increased the speed of their movements as they charged at the heavy-armored knights.

As they were charging at their highest speed, Mu En pointed his magic staff ahead. As he pointed, the winged skeleton triggered the spell that had been stored in the staff.

Sorcerers usually would not be willing to get so close to heavy-armored knights unless they were flying in the air without the threat of alchemy crossbows. Under the control of the winged skeleton, Mu En, the fake mage, did some things that caught the heavy-armored knights by surprise; he commanded the skeletal warhorses to charge towards the Qin iron knights.

A sorcerer's combat abilities would never surpass a swordmaster. Even if his spells could kill one-hundred to two-hundred men, the remaining knights would still be after his life.

A spell was cast instantly from the magic staff in the form of black fog that condensed into an evil dragon. The dragon dove straight into the midst of the heavy-armored knights.

This black evil dragon was three-headed and wherever it passed, the armor and muscles of the heavy-armored knights turned to ash, leaving behind entire sets of skeletons. Even the warhorses underneath them were not spared.

The black evil dragon was attacking the heavy-armored knights at will. Even silver grand swordmasters could only try to hide from grade-8 death spells. Although this was not a spell that attacked multiple targets at once, it was able to stay in effect for a long time under the control of the death mage.

Hundreds of heavy-armored knights were turned into skeletons by the black evil dragon. Soul flames suddenly burned in the eyes of these skeletons as they turned into skeleton knights directly. A long bone spear appeared in their hands and they began to kill their former companions around them.

Spirit form was a rare death spell. The winged skeleton was not a death mage, but a spirit of the dead himself, which made it easier for him to cast or store. The black evil dragon was immune to physical attacks so the heavy-armored knights were helpless against it.

In no time, more than three-hundred heavy-armored knights had been turned into skeletons by the black evil dragon.

The winged skeleton threw six white-robed mages to the jade skeletons to be put behind the warhorses. These six mages had already lost consciousness. Although spirit shock was not a high-level spell, it was still effective against these low-level mages.

The three-hundred or so skeletal knights had completely messed up the heavy-armored knights' formation. It would have been better if they only turned into ashes. By turning from companion to spirit of the dead suddenly, the impact on the remaining heavy-armored knights was incredible.

Nevertheless, these heavy-armored knights were considered elite as they began to chop away at the skeletal knights around them. Now that their attention had been diverted, the death knights were able to charge all the way unhindered. The black evil dragon began to dissipate as another one-hundred knights turned into skeletons.

A grade-8 spell alone managed to eliminate more than four-hundred heavy-armored knights. This was completely accidental. The heavy-armored knights were clustered together behind the chariots with huge alchemy crossbows opening up the way. They never expected any mage to dare to come within such a short distance, much less a death mage.

If an element sorcerer were to cast a spell and successfully killed more than one-hundred men, he was already considered lucky. If not for the pursuit of speed, the heavy-armored knights would not have gathered on the road and resulted in so many casualties by caused by spirit form.

The remaining heavy-armored knights were going mad. They were all experienced warriors and were aware that the heavy losses that they had suffered were due to their formation. The captain behind pointed at Mu En and shouted, "Charge ahead and kill him. Don't let him fly!"

Some heavy-armored knights immediately slowed down and took out their javelins. The moment Mu En showed any intention to fly and leave the safety boundaries provided by the skeletons around him, they would shoot these javelins at him.

Mu En did not know how to fly at all though. Indeed, he was courageous, but he would never think of charging at Qin's main forces. Right now, he could only pray the winged skeleton would not do anything insane. If he was going to die, it had better be for something worthwhile.

A small team of forty iron knights gathered in a single direction and charged at Mu En. The winged skeleton was pleased. He wielded his giant axe and attacked as well. In no time, Mu En had become a magnet attracting all the enemies. As a swordmaster, there was no way he could escape. He could only wield his magic staff around, as if he was commanding his spirits of the dead.

The winged skeleton charged to the front. The blade of the giant axe was more than a yard long and would split any heavy armor into two. The sound of the axe hacking into the iron knights was music to the the winged skeleton's ears. If not for the enemy targeting Mu En, how could he have such a good time killing them?

All these people who dared to pose a threat to his master, they would all be eliminated one by one.

From behind the heavy-armored knights, more than ten beams of light shone from spells. The remaining five-hundred heavy-armored knights had finally been boosted by spells and now fought fiercely against the death knights.

This was the last thing that the winged skeleton wanted to see. The first time both sides clashed head-on against each other, more than a hundred death knights were hacked off their horses while less than fifty heavy-armored knights were injured. Most of the death knights that had fallen had yet to die so they turned around and slashed at the legs of the enemy's horses with their swords, causing tens of knights to fall off as well. The fallen knights would then quickly pick themselves up and retaliate with their heavy swords.

This was what Qin knights were all about. After being boosted with magic, the death knights' death aura was ineffective against the soldiers clad in heavy armor. Both sides were equal in strength, but in terms of technique, the winged skeleton was unable to coordinate so many spirits of the dead to attack altogether at once.

These heavy-armored knights must be killed. If they could finish off an entire regiment of heavy-armored knights, the enemy would be heartbroken.

The winged skeleton raised the giant axe in his hands and split the knight closest to him into two. With blood smeared on the giant axe, the colorful magic nuclei in its center began to release blinding beams of light.

Ow…

There was a howl of despair as a hundred yard wide death ripple shot out from the front of the winged skeleton. The souls of the hundreds of soldiers that he had killed were all sucked into the giant axe and they all howled together at once.

A death ripple swept across the heavy-armored knights. Their protection spells were only grade-3 at most and were easily destroyed like paper when attacked by this grade-8 spell.

All the Qin iron knights suddenly became paralyzed and there was a look of emptiness in their eyes. The impact on their hearts and souls were so great, it was as if they were on the brink of death. The armor that they wore was like ice from hell, freezing their bone marrow.

The death knights were unaffected and with their big swords, they cut down all their enemies that had been paralyzed.

The mages behind immediately stopped advancing once they saw that a grade-8 spell had appeared. The winged skeleton did not go overboard. He knew that the enemy's armies were comprised of quite a number of mages. If they continued to charge further, his death knights would suffer huge losses.

Mu En waved his magic staff once and the six jade skeletons escorted him to escape towards the direction of the small town.

If they were to be surrounded by more than twenty-thousand soldiers, the result of fighting to their deaths was that the winged skeleton would have to summon even more spirits of the dead. These spirits of the dead were meant to be deployed on combat vessels. He did not have a lot of spirits of the dead that were suitable for fighting on land.

The winged skeleton also knew that Qin organized their military forces so that each main corp would be accompanied by two regiments of heavy-armored knights. Now that the enemy's mages were pressing ahead, it would be impossible to try and destroy half of the enemy's heavy-armored knights quickly.

After a few rounds of attack, six-hundred out of one-thousand death knights remained. Those that had lost their horses began to retreat as well, though they were much slower. The winged skeleton could not afford to care too much about these spirits of the dead. Their task was to kill as many enemies as possible. After these spirits of the dead had been killed, they would return back to death dimension. No one knew how long it would take for them to recover fully, or when the next time they would be summoned again was.

It was unlikely that the Qin mages would persist in killing all the spirits of the dead completely, otherwise they would have to use up too many magic chords.

In total, the winged skeleton managed to kill two-thousand light-armored knights, one-thousand heavy-armored knights, and thirteen-hundred foot soldiers. It was an impressive tally and he felt good about himself even as he retreated.

The Qin armies could not catch up with the death knights and could only vent their anger on the spirits of the dead that had been left behind. Hundreds of light-armored knights surrounded the remaining spirits of the dead and shot them down before the foot soldiers hacked off their skulls. Their soul flames dissipated and would be bleak and dim even if they were revived on the death dimension. They could only hide in the corners of the earth and await their chance for revival.

The Qin army lost their assault team and the heavy-armored knights that had paved the way. The battalion commander was furious, but they were unable to catch up with the death mage and were blocked by thousands of undead soldiers. These undead soldiers spread themselves out and would self-destruct once any enemy approached.

The ground was covered with gore and the air was toxic. The Qin army had no choice but to deploy some mages to dispel the poison.

By the time the Qin army got around the undead soldiers, the winged skeleton had already led his six-hundred death knights back to the small town and closed the city gate.

The battalion commander lost one-thousand iron knights to death spells in such a short time. Not only was he furious, he was also horrified. The reports did not mention such a cruel death mage!

This small town did not even have a name and was only built temporarily for soldiers to stay in. Why would there be such a ruthless death mage there?

Although he had element sorcerers as well, he could not afford to incur any more losses! He thought the enemy only consisted of five-hundred elite soldiers and more than four-thousand new recruits, but suddenly he had to face a death sorcerer instead. He was no longer confident of victory anymore.