Badge in Azure Chapter 128

Chapter 128: Hell’s Magic Nucleus (Part 1)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Three hundred, no, three hundred and fourteen of them!
There were roughly three hundred and fourteen Grade 4 magic beasts in total. Even though Lex claimed she had enough scrolls, Saleen remained apprehensive. These beasts could spit fireballs, and only the two of them were mages. Even if they released all of their scrolls, they would not be able to defeat the beasts.
“Lex!” Saleen shouted.
The hell that had been brought about by god’s punishment had no day or night, and everyone had adapted to these conditions. Whenever Lex released the space of darkness, the others took it for nightfall.
It was nighttime now. But under these perilous conditions, the two swordmasters slept with their armor on as they did not want to remove it.
Saleen passed the alchemical binoculars to Lex. He knew that they had gotten themselves into huge trouble. These beasts were not hunting. They had regarded Lex’s group as intruders upon their territory.
That was why those beasts had left their nests. If it had only been for food, only around ten beasts would have been needed.
Magic beasts would fight until their last breaths when faced with intruders. Escape? With the exception of Lex, perhaps only Nailisi could carry Saleen on her back and escape to safety.
But even if Lex was prepared to sacrifice Holzer and Baimeng, Saleen would not abandon Sika. Saleen had seen how fast these beasts could move. In addition to possessing fire elements, these beasts might have possessed the powers of the wind elements as well.
The storm had just ended, so there was still flooding present on the ground. More than three hundred magic beasts slowly closed in on the campsite, giving the swordmasters time to put on all of their armor. Lex placed the binoculars down and said, “Prepare to fight.”
Saleen heaved a sigh of relief. If Lex had chosen to escape, he would not have had a reason to stop her. Lex took out the scrolls silently and passed them bundle by bundle to Saleen. Saleen stored them into the demonic ring. These scrolls were mostly Grade 3 and some were Grade 4, but all of them possessed Water Magic.
As Lex handed the scroll to Saleen, she sighed secretly. Her father had asked the palace mages to prepare large quantities of magic scrolls for Lex to use in Laiyin Duchy. But now, they were going to be used on the beasts. Her father must have reached the frontlines by now, yet she was stuck here and could not guarantee his safety on the battlefield.
The camp had been built on high ground, so Lex’s group had a vantage point to observe things from afar. Very soon, the silhouettes of the magic beasts could be seen without the use of the alchemy binoculars.
In total, Saleen received twenty bundles of scrolls, and each bundle contained twelve scrolls. These scrolls were originally meant to be given to combat mages, and now that Saleen had them, he felt more assured. He then released the witcher spider. The nucleus on the puppet had been changed to a Grade 6 magic nucleus, so it would last longer in battle.
The hexagonal camp was like a hedgehog that was surrounded by metal, giving off a chilly glow. The six of them did not guard every side of the hexagon. They split into two groups – Holzer and Baimeng stood beside Lex, while Nailisi and Sika protected Saleen.
The magic beasts advanced slowly, and eventually surrounded the camp.
Saleen frowned. The distance between him and the beasts was no good. It was the maximum effective distance for Grade 4 magic. Aside from Lex, no one else had a way of dealing with these magic beasts.
Lex did not want to waste her magic chords, so she said to Holzer, “Get the alchemy crossbow in position.”
Holzer nodded, went into the barracks, and brought out a colossal alchemy crossbow. This crossbow was already assembled, and it was almost as tall as a man. Holzer set the crossbow into its triangular frame, moved the wheels, and began loading arrows onto it.
The differences between various levels of magic had effects on the effective distances of spells. The effective distance of a Grade 0 spell was very short, and Grade 1 to 3 spells had effective distances of less than fifty meters. No matter how gifted Saleen was, the effective distance of his spells would never exceed more than ten percent of the current maximum effective distance.
Once magic reached Grade 4, the effective distance would be raised to roughly one hundred meters. Unless they were faced with archers, mages would try to cast their magic from about fifty meters away under most circumstances. With the exception of special magic such as Faerun’s Fireball spell, there was more elemental decay when spells were cast from a greater distance. Thus, the effectiveness of the attack would decrease. More importantly, a higher amount of mental power was drained when spells were cast from a further distance.
There was a self-activating magic array on the alchemy crossbow which could increase the crossbow’s range. The maximum range was more than three miles, and under Holzer’s control, arrows could be shot about five hundred meters. If Lex had more troops with her now, she would only have needed a few hundred crossbows in order to defeat those magic beasts.
Holzer spent thirty seconds loading all of the arrows onto the crossbow. Then he asked, “Viscountess, do I fire now?”
“Wait,” Lex replied. Then, she took out five metal bottles and gave them to everyone. She then continued, “This is magic liquid. I don’t have much left. If you feel that you have exhausted too much physical strength, take a sip.”
Magic liquid was produced from Grade 7 magic. Lex was only Grade 5, so she could not produce it yet. These bottles of magic liquid had been left behind by Faerun. When Saleen took a bottle from Lex, he felt a pang of sadness.
“Aim for the targets that are further away,” Lex commanded Holzer. Holzer patiently adjusted the firing angle, and steadily depressed the crossbow’s trigger.
The triangular metallic frame that was holding the crossbow shook violently for a while. Then, the arrows were launched and pierced through the sky.
The metallic arrows had magic patterns on them and an arrow was as expensive as a Grade 3 magic scroll. The arrow that was over one meter long gave off an intense sound of blasting air, and a golden glow flashed in the sky. One of the beasts groaned and fell to the ground. A sharp barb popped out from the back of the arrow’s shaft as the arrowhead pierced the neck of the beast. The barb then forcefully nailed the beast to the ground.
This beast howled in great pain while Holzer calmly launched the second arrow. A low roar came from the crowd of magic beasts. That roar had come from the leader. The leader stood up and retreated more than twenty meters before squatting back down.
“The wisdom of these magic beasts… so that’s how they are,” Lex sneered. She continued, “Holzer, continue firing.”
The alchemy crossbow was originally used to kill cavalry soldiers who wore two layers of heavy armor. The holy cavalry sent by the Holy See had thick plates of armor and also wore metal leaf armor inside. Without this crossbow, it would be very difficult to break their armor. In addition, the arrowheads which possessed counteracting magic effects were produced with the intention of breaking magic armor. A single application would render the arrow useless, and the arrow would not be able to be reused anymore.
The strategy of these magic beasts was to surround their targets in order to tire them out so that their targets would reveal their flaws. But this time around, these beasts were facing humans. Humans who wielded alchemy weapons.
The intense sound of blasting air filled the air once more. The second arrow had penetrated the head of another beast and did not enter its body. The beast that was hit flipped onto the ground silently and twitched several times before it stopped moving altogether.
The leader of the magic beasts grew restless and uneasy, and began retreating again. The herd of beasts had already retreated one hundred and fifty meters. This distance was the maximum effective distance of Grade 5 magic. Once it exceeded one hundred and fifty meters, it would be difficult for Grade 5 spells to lock onto their targets. The spells would then become similar to arrows, which could be dodged.
“Holzer, take a one minute break,” Lex calmly instructed.
Holzer adjusted his breathing and began to take aim at a third target after loading another arrow. Saleen was shocked to see such a strong crossbow. It definitely had the ability to kill an unprepared Grade 4 mage.
Following the unique sound of blasting air from the alchemy crossbow, the third magic beast was shot just below its neck.
The leader of the magic beasts began roaring furiously. It had realized that the distance the arrows could travel were beyond its own comprehension. Magic had not killed its subordinate, so retreating further would not salvage the situation at all.
The rest of the beasts joined in and howled together with their leader, as though they were bidding farewell to their fallen comrades. The roars from those beasts travelled several miles across the vast grassland. And in the forest, an unknown magic beast also gave out a boisterous roar.
The beasts could no longer tolerate this standoff, so they changed their strategy. Since this tactic of surrounding their targets had not worked, the fur on their necks stood up and massive magic shields appeared in front of their bodies. Then, the beasts began charging towards the camp.
The lone camp was about to be attacked from all directions. Saleen took out a Grade 3 scroll – the Swamp Illusion scroll. His calculations were extremely precise. As the beasts were charging at high speeds, three magic beasts had already entered the illusion just as the swamp illusion was completed.
At a distance fifty meters away, a virtual translucent space appeared. Within this space, the intense water element magic had lowered the charging speeds of the beasts to their lowest points, and these three beasts panicked when they realized they were sinking. Even though it was just an illusion, the beasts were literally sucked down to the ground.
The fist-sized witcher spider climbed down a high slope stealthily and hid inside of a water puddle. Saleen cast another swamp illusion, trapping four more magic beasts. This was his limit. It was not difficult to use the Figaro formula to deduce the path of travel of the beasts, but the effective area of swamp illusion was very limited.
Saleen then opened a scroll with the Phoenix spell, and this was complex magic. More than ten phoenixes flew into the air at the same time, heading for the swamp illusion to contain the beasts.
Saleen was only able to activate scrolls with Fire Magic. He was not able to take aim with them. If those beasts had not been trapped by the swamp illusion, Saleen would not even have been able to aim. He was aware of this defect. Fortunately, he had enough scrolls and he only needed to defeat one hundred and fifty magic beasts. These Grade 4 magic beasts had not used spitting magic yet, so Saleen needed to try his best to kill them using the scrolls before they could spit.
More than ten phoenixes struck the beasts which were trapped in the swamp illusion. The magic shields on the beasts had been disrupted by the illusion long ago, so the shields were destroyed by the phoenixes. The phoenixes pounced onto the beasts, causing the seven of them to roll about in pain, but they did not die just yet.
Knowing that the battle had just started, Saleen cast Spears of the Earth from a Ground Magic scroll, causing the remaining beasts to crash into the sharp stone spears that grew out of the ground. These stone spears were not really stone. They were conjured by the elements. The first few beasts flew back after crashing their shields into the stone spears.
The beasts charging behind them reduced their speeds, but their shields were also destroyed by the stone spears. Saleen then took this opportunity to open a Wind Blade scroll. He could feel the operating laws of the elements in this magic, but he had never learned them before so he could not control them or take aim with this magic.
More than ten wind blades appeared and slashed the bodies of those magic beasts who were still in midair.