Badge in Azure Chapter 119

Chapter 119: The Power of a Scroll (Part 2)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The sun began to set. Even with the magic maps from the royal palace, the scouts still did their reconnaissance diligently. Once they had ensured the area was safe, the Bitter Water Army set up camp. There were many mountains north of Bitter Water Prefecture, and this large road seemed as though it had been parted by the gods who lived amongst the mountains. The three thousand strong troops set up two different camps near the roads.
If they had been outside of the Qin Empire, setting up camp like this definitely would have been unwise. However, this place was deep within the empire and there would not be any troops from the enemy’s army. Bandits who saw them would also steer clear of the empire’s army.
The emperor had many rewards which he had stored in wooden boxes on the carriages. These wooden boxes were filled with magic equipment and the spaces inside of them could store even more items. Even though this spatial equipment was extremely shabby, it could only be used by grand mages. The horses pulling the supplies needed to stop and rest, so the carriages were placed into a formation which protected the mages’ tents.
The combat mages set up a large number of magic alarms while the officers arranged the patrols. The support troops were responsible for cooking.
As smoke rose into the air, Saleen sat at the entrance of his tent, watching the soldiers busy themselves. The journey between Bitter Water Prefecture and the capital was not an expedition, but a journey. This time, Lex was evidently more nervous, as she had followed everything according to war regulations. The one hundred swordsmen who were assigned to Saleen set up the carriages and began preparing food.
“Mage Saleen, why aren’t you resting?” Tenesee walked over. Seeing Saleen sitting in front of his tent, he found it a little weird. He had brought his men over to this area to patrol and check the defenses. Usually, a mage would take this time to rest while the soldiers prepared the food.
Saleen was physically well. The pill that Jason had given him had improved his stamina, and after meeting Joey and solving the trouble that he’d had with his magic chords, he felt physically better than before. If he had a sword in his hands, Saleen felt that he could at least spar with a high-grade swordsman for a while without getting tired.
It was a pity that with his magic chords, he would not be able to practice the sword aura. No matter how physically strong a mage was, they would not be able to win against a swordmaster in pure physical combat.
“I’m not tired. I want to learn some army knowledge,” Saleen confessed. In the books that he had read, many mages had joined the army, become generals, and led troops. This was not something surprising as mages possessed a large wealth of knowledge. After becoming grand mages, many left their laboratories and tasted life in their own unique ways.
Even mages who were not lacking in money would do so. Only by understanding the meaning of life could a mage find the path they needed to take. Jason had left the Qin Empire for this very reason. In the process of promoting from a Grade 5 to a Grade 6 mage, many formed their own styles in preparation for advancement to a sorcerer.
The feeling of this stage was something a teacher could not hand down. If a person possessed few expectations of themselves and constantly followed their teacher, they would be destined to be a normal sorcerer at best.
Even someone as strong as Joey had chosen to live in Holy Rock City to interact with the commoners. Normal sorcerers built their magic towers outside of cities and did not isolate themselves completely from crowds.
After Grade 6, magic was not as simple as the mere arrangements of the elements.
Saleen had felt the power of an army before. It was an invisible force that was unrelated to the elements, and yet it had a real effect on his training.
“Why aren’t you resting?” Saleen asked Tenesee in return. Tenesee was still clad in his armor. An entire day had passed, and even a grand swordmaster would be tired.
“The army is most vulnerable to enemy attack when setting up camp. Even though the scouts have checked the area, it will not be possible to stop an enemy that has a flying magic beast. On the battlefield, smoke is a signal. If the enemy constantly harasses an army and does not let them eat in peace, their morale will drop.”
It was only then that Saleen realized the men following Tenesee were carrying an alchemy crossbow with them.
When deploying troops, caution is of the most importance. When he had read that in the books, Saleen had not thought too much about it. At that time, he had only been a simple magic disciple and was only interested in magic knowledge.
Just as they were talking, the sound of a whistle appeared from afar. By now, Saleen understood that it was a warning for approaching enemies.
“Tenesee, go protect the viscountess. I have Sika here.”
“It’s alright,” Tenesee said confidently. “The viscountess won’t allow me to be away from you for too long. This is just harassment from our enemies. If they’re the occasional bandits, they’ll retreat after seeing the army. If someone planned this a long time ago, there are people waiting at the viscountess’ side.”
Saleen touched the demon ring on his finger. There were over twenty Grade 3 scrolls inside of it. If he utilized them properly, he would even be able to defeat a bronze grand swordmaster, and he still possessed the witcher spider as well. With that said, with Tenesee by his side, he felt even safer.
A bronze grand swordmaster’s sword aura could attack a person from afar, but did not have the ability to do so for a sustained period of time. Saleen was confident that his magic chords could now release forty-eight water shields in succession and that they would be enough to counter an attack from the sword aura.
It was a pity the Figaro formula was so complicated. If he had enough time, he would be able to use an Icicle spell to pierce the sword aura. Currently, if he tried to calculate the weaknesses of the sword aura, it would take him at least thirty minutes. The speed of the sword aura was slightly slower than magic. Hearing the alarm, Sika and Nailisi came out of their tents, and most of the soldiers preparing food put on their helmets and took up their weapons too. Only the support troops continued with what they had been doing.
It needed to be said that the troops of the Qin Empire were of superb quality. Even though they had been attacked just after settling down, everyone down to the support troops had not been affected.
Seeing this, Saleen understood why the Qin Emperor had desired an expedition. Despite having had peace for centuries in the empire, their people had not slackened and were always looking to expand. The crisis in Loulan was an opportunity. If the emperor did not utilize such a strong army, any ambitious person would find it a pity.
Saleen even suspected that the emperor might have intentionally allowed the spread of the black mages. Otherwise, sending troops down to quell Phoenix would not have been a difficult thing to do.
Inside of Lex’s large tent, four black grand swordmasters were beside her. She was eating, completely unflustered.
The enemy was too far away to pose a threat to the large tent, and it was possible that their real enemy would simply descend from the skies. Even though a silver grand swordmaster could not fly as they pleased like a mage, they could make use of magic beasts.
The large tent was set up sturdily, and any attack from its outside would trigger a magic alarm and shoot out arrows. Even if a silver grand swordmaster was able to trample over the magic traps, they would be severely slowed. A massacre like the previous incident would not happen again.
Saleen looked at the night sky. There was a full moon, round and clear, almost like it had been carved from a crystal. In the sky, a black shadow approached rapidly. Saleen laughed. If only one person was here, they must have underestimated the strength of a sorcerer.
A Grade 7 sorcerer might not have been a match for a silver grand swordmaster on their own. However, if they had enough Grade 8 magic scrolls with them, they would be able to completely neutralize whatever advantage the silver grand swordmaster had.
The black shadow grew larger beneah the moonlight. It was revealed to be an eagle, and on its back was the shadow of a person.
Even a double-headed eagle conjured by the black mages would not have been able to support the weight of a grown man. Whoever could stay on the back of the eagle must have been at least a black grand swordmaster.
The silver grand swordmaster had sent people to cause a commotion outside while they themselves headed straight towards the mouth of the enemy. Saleen did not know whether they were courageous or dumb. Such a poorly thought out trick was easy for even mercenary groups to defend against. He’s already lost a comrade, but he still dares to come?
The shadow pounced down from the sky at a point almost a hundred meters in the air. Hundreds of crossbow arrows shot out from the surroundings of Lex’s tent like a storm, enveloping the shadow of the silver grand swordmaster.
The eagle flapped its wings and a giant whirlwind appeared in the air, pulling in the large number of arrows. The rest of the alchemy arrows were knocked aside by the silver grand swordmaster, who had not been slowed down in the slightest.
Magic beast!
Saleen stood up roughly. The eagle the silver grand swordmaster had ridden on was not a normal giant eagle. It was a magic beast that was at least Grade 5. If the two silver grand swordmasters had not split up back then and had attacked the viscountess at the same time, the four black grand swordmasters would have definitely lost, and not a single one of them would have been left.
The giant eagle circled the air at an altitude of over two hundred meters. Saleen’s magic could not even come close to reaching it. A witcher spider could not fly, and the puppet did not have wings or a magic array for flight on it. If the giant eagle came down, Saleen was confident he could control it using the Swamp Illusion spell for a few seconds, allowing the witcher spider to attack its belly.
The silver grand swordmaster went straight for Lex’s large tent. A sword aura visible to the naked eye appeared in front of their body, several times longer than a spear. On impact, any magic shield that was Grade 8 or below would not be able to block it.
The sword aura, together with the magic beast’s aura, was swift, decisive, and accurate.
Boom!
The silver grand swordmaster rushed into the tent, and right in front of Saleen’s eyes, the tent disappeared. It became a giant rock weighing hundreds of tons.
A Grade 8 Light Magic: Realistic Projection
This magic could only last for an hour, and if cast with a scroll, its effects would be even weaker. Lex seemed to have known that someone would come ambush them tonight and had set it up immediately. She had used tens of thousands of gold coins to wait for a silver grand swordmaster. If they had not come, this scroll would have been wasted.
That was not sufficient. The surroundings of the giant rock began to light up in a magic hue. The momentum from the silver grand swordmaster had been too strong, and they had flown straight into the rock. In that moment, the magic around the rock was activated and Faerun appeared above it, calmly opening his scrolls one by one and releasing the magic within.
The enemy was a silver grand swordmaster and he had no intentions of taking pity on them. Each time he opened a scroll, at least fifty thousand to one hundred thousand gold coins disappeared.
Saleen watched from afar, finally understanding why Aini had warned him not to offend someone from the royal family. They had too much money, and even if they could not win on their own, they would use their money to crush their opponents.
The silver grand swordmaster sunk deeper within the enormous rock. Their sword aura was ready to explode to allow them to emerge. However, the magic arrays around the rock were not there for nothing. The rock grew tougher by ten times. The hole that the silver grand swordmaster was in had become a prison, and they could not even move their limbs.
A booming sound resounded, a Grade 8 Meteorite spell having been released. A red flash descended from the skies.
The silver grand swordmaster emerged from the rear. However, the meteorite had already struck the back of their head. Although it was Ground Magic, the temperature of the meteorite was not any cooler than that of a fireball. The long wavy hair of the silver grand swordmaster immediately caught on fire. Their sword aura could protect their body, but it could not cancel out the vibrations of the Meteorite spell completely.
Saleen sighed. A silver grand swordmaster had been defeated with money. If the people from the Holy See were this dumb, then he had nothing to worry about.