Badge in Azure

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

The Holy See possessed a divine spell which resurrected bones. The winged skeleton wanted this elemental sorcerer to be completely dead. The winged skeleton grabbed the sorcerer's head using his axe to cut it off. Holding the sorcerer's head, the winged skeleton turned around, and noticed that Cuisi was still walloping the grade-4 mages using his limbs and tail.

A stupid yet effective attack!

Under the insane assault by Cuisi, the five mages were so shaken that their organs had ruptured. The Ice Plate Armor formed by the water element was still present, but the people inside had stopped breathing already.

The Qin soldiers were petrified as they saw an eight yard tall demon waving a mage about. He created hundreds of cavities in the ground, causing a mess wherever he went past.

The body of the sorcerer behind the winged skeleton produced a plume of green smoke as it began corroding neck down and turned into a puddle of blood. Even if Pope Theisio was there he would not be able to save this mage.

A person was only completely dead when their body had been ablated and their soul destroyed.

"Cuisi, let's go!" The winged skeleton bellowed as he hung the sorcerer's head from his belt. He rushed towards Cuisi and grabbed Cuisi's tail. He shook off the grand mage harassing Cuisi, then used the ax to slash the mage.

The Ice Plate Armor, which was already mottled with cracks, was severed by the gigantic ax. The mage inside was sliced into two pieces.

Cuisi's eyes were bloodshot and his tail was about to ensnare the winged skeleton's body, but the winged skeleton gave an abrupt yell. This time around Cuisi's body trembled and regained some consciousness. Scanning the surroundings, he noticed that the large war chariots afar had turned around and were coming over.

He could not fly, if he got besieged by these war chariots he would be severely wounded by the barrage of arrows. He might even die there. The alchemical crossbows from Qin possessed massive lethality, Cuisi immediately tossed the dead mages aside, as his body gradually shrunk.

Cuisi still had not forgotten about hitting the camp commander. Picking up the whip, he stomped on the camp commander's head. This camp commander died a wrongful death. If he dodged and did not use his longsword to counter Cuisi's whip, he would not have sustained such a severe injury in a short while.

Seeing that Cuisi's body was shrinking, the winged skeleton extended his bone wings and grabbed onto the belt of Cuisi's devil armor. They then soared into the sky. Qin soldiers swarmed forward again, but the alchemical crossbows could not adjust their shooting angle in time. The crossbows could only fire upwards blindly, none of the mages could lock onto the winged skeleton's and Cuisi's silhouettes.

An enormous alchemical arrow grazed past the winged skeleton's body and created a fissure in his armor. The winged skeleton secretly heaved a sigh of relief, "If a grand mage was controlling this alchemical crossbow, I might return with a few holes in my body. I might not die, but Saleen's operation will surely be affected."

The pan's turtle alchemical boat was still with him, almost all the battles at sea would have to depend on the spirits working for him. Lex did not have many sailors at her disposal because Bitter Water county was landlocked.

The winged skeleton rose into the air with Cuisi in tow and his speed did not seem to be lowered at all. The few people hidden in the midst of the Qin army were helpless. With more than twenty-thousand soldiers there had to be some experts concealed within a main army.

No more than two people could fly, the remaining personnel would not be able to catch up to the winged skeleton.

A siege by a large army would not be able to trap a flying expert unless there were many mini alchemical crossbows nearby to suppress this expert. The alchemical crossbows onboard the war chariots had the strength to destroy normal city walls, but they would not be able to lock onto a tiny dot flying in the air.

The winged skeleton flew at an extremely high altitude, almost reaching one-thousand yards. He drew an arc across the skies, making a beeline for the city tower.

This time around, the operation of executing the sorcerer progressed abnormally quickly. The winged skeleton carried the sorcerer's head and returned to the city entrance. Mu En snapped out of his thoughts, under the winged skeleton's control, he began yelling.

"All of you are crazy people! Your commander has been executed, you should be retreating now!" Speaking, Mu En tossed the head which the winged skeleton had given to him into the air. The sorcerer's head floated across the sky, producing a large shadow and screaming in excruciating pain.

"Master Mu En, please show mercy! I will not do it again…"

"Master please spare my life, please spare my life!"

Six to seven different voices came out of the same mouth. The soldiers, who were thinking of how to breach the city below the city entrance, heard the voice of their commander. They heard the painful moans of the mage who was usually aloof.

Right at that moment, the main forces of Qin afar sounded the horn to retreat.

It was already impossible to continue the war after losing so many mages. If the army still did not retreat, the remaining soldiers there would be killed.

With a boom, the ground trembled. A humongous sand pit appeared at a position directly next to the city walls. Even the metal battering chariot had sunk into the ground. The soldiers outside the city had lost their assertion, the battering chariot was ruined while the soldiers heard the horn to retreat. They quickly turned around and fled. The battle at the city entrance was very intense, very few soldiers managed to scale the city walls. Those who succeeded were stabbed and captured by the spirits and troops from Bitter Water County.

This time around, Saleen did not give the order to massacre. The target of this battle was the Qin people, so Saleen had to think of their feelings. "It is sufficient to kill the commander. If the enemy doesn't want to redeem the normal troops, these normal troops can be used as auxiliary soldiers. They can still become a regular soldier if they attain merits on the battlefield."

Such a practice had been taking place on the mainland for the past one thousand years, Saleen did not want to change anything.

The area around the city entrance had been fully sealed by the Earth Sinking spell. At this moment, the thousand soldiers who entered the city were surrounded. The surrounding spirits suddenly surged in number.

The people in the city could hear the horn to retreat, but these soldiers were helpless since the city entrance had been sealed by gigantic rocks falling to the ground. They tossed their weapons aside and knelt on the ground. If the enemy was Tanggulasi, these soldiers would have fought until their deaths, but the enemy was County Queen Lex's ally. After a full blown war, the eagerness in the soldiers' hearts had been blunted, so they surrendered.

Since the soldiers were on County Queen Lex's territory, they were counting on the fact that their enemy would not massacre them.

The skeletal soldiers went towards the Qin soldiers, collecting their weapons. Earl Besta's trusted soldiers appeared at this moment and instructed the one-thousand three-hundred soldiers to remove their armor. On the other side, the new soldiers in the town had retrieved autumn clothing from the warehouse, distributing it to the surrendered soldiers.

The surrendered soldiers then had peace of mind. After removing their armor, their clothes inside seemed to be a little thin. If no one had given them clothes, it would mean that they would wind up freezing.

Seeing that the battle was over, the winged skeleton stretched his hand to retract the human head levitating in the air. He still had some use for this human head. The head of a sorcerer was natural equipment for refining equipment. It was tremendously useful for a death mage. A sorcerer possessed massive mental strength. Their skull had already undergone changes that enabled it to store some mental-type spells, or spells which could exert control over spirits.

The winged skeleton had collected a large quantity of magic beast bones from the sea, but this human head was very rare. At the moment, the winged skeleton still did not possess the ability to refine a few skulls which belonged to some powerful people. Since this sorcerer's head was fresh, it was just right for the winged skeleton to use it to practice death alchemy. After creating a magic staff, the magic staff would be able to store more than six death spells. It would be mightier than any other magic staff crafted from other materials.

Cuisi's mental state was a little weakened when he returned to Saleen. Even though he was not a death creature or dark creature the few hundred fine light arrows had caused substantial damage to his body.

The spells of a human were unpredictable, there surely had to be a price to pay for killing a grade-7 sorcerer. Until now, Cuisi could not think of an idea, "Seems like I have to deal with him using my own strength."

"Your Highness, how do I manage these one-thousand and three-hundred surrendered troops?" Earl Besta was greatly frustrated now. He would have inadequate manpower and resources to guard the captives.

Saleen took a trip to the mini square. Briefly looking at his surroundings, Saleen said, "The soldiers are pretty good. Mm, I will go to Daliang City. Lex's people will have a way of dealing with them, write a letter to Daliang City to inform them that I will arrive in five days."

Saleen was not in a hurry to rush his journey, "There is still a dozen days before the end of the month. Even if I arrive in five days, I can make it in time."

"Thank you Your Highness." Earl Besta was more assured after Saleen helped him to manage the problem of the surrendered soldiers.

Saleen returned to his room and summoned Cuisi. "Cuisi, I heard that you got injured?"

"It is because of Soldier…" It would be impossible for Cuisi to not have any grievances, the bet between the winged skeleton and him was simply a trap. By allowing his large body to absorb the enemy's strongest attacks, the winged skeleton could simply reap the rewards just by standing aside.

Saleen smiled, but he did not have the intention to persuade Cuisi, "The winged skeleton is the most loyal subordinate, it is a job well done this time. The enemy's sorcerer has been killed and everyone made it back safely. No one was captured by the experts in the enemy's army and nobody was struck by the alchemical crossbows." A battle which lasted for several minutes had dissolved the enemy's one-time offensive, this ability symbolized the winged skeleton's intelligence. As for making Cuisi the scapegoat, this decision was the right one. At the very last stage, the winged skeleton did not abandon Cuisi, he had brought him back instead after all.

"Cuisi, this is for you to heal yourself."

Cuisi prostrated on the ground helplessly, reverting to his original form. Luckily Saleen's room was big enough. Cuisi was not constrained on the ground. He extended his wings, revealing thousands of holes. Saleen took out magic liquid and dripped it onto them.

A mage's treatment was not any lousier than that of a holy master. Under Saleen's control, the magic liquid diffused into the wounds. Cuisi absorbed it quickly. While using the magic liquid for treatment, Saleen also cast the Chunlin spell to catalyze the process. Cuisi's wounds began healing.

"A pity that Teacher isn't around, I am a mere grade-6 mage. You could recover immediately with his treatment. Don't fly for the time being." Saleen said while tending to the injuries. "Cuisi, Soldier wasn't wrong to have done that, it's not like you are not getting any benefits. You should realize the difference of a human sorcerer right?" As Saleen finished treating Cuisi's injuries, he began justifying the actions taken by the winged skeleton.

Cuisi was not furious, he instead pondered seriously for a moment. He then said, "I understand now. If I was facing a grade-7 sorcerer alone, I am confident in killing him, but I may very well die or sustain serious injuries. If I fight with two or more grade-7 sorcerers, I will surely be be killed."

"If you didn't get injured this time around, you would definitely be complacent when facing a human sorcerer the next time. The sorcerer had only used one level-8 scroll to injure you. If the enemy was my teacher, he could have killed you effortlessly. A human's equipment is their strongest aspect. You don't understand that demons aren't the only powerful race. The battles between humans have never stopped, these battles are more ruthless than the ones occurring on the demonic plane."