Badge in Azure Chapter 179

Chapter 179: Death Trap (Part 2)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The three skeleton puppets that were disguised as skeleton riders were let out to roam around the village. The three magic beast skeletons laid down directly outside of Daniel’s room, almost as if they were showing off their might.
If a mage in the same grade as Saleen had seen this sight, they surely would have taken another way around. A mage that could summon six mid-grade death creatures had definitely reached the peak of grade-4.
Within the forest to the east of the village, a thin figure was peering through the leaves into the village. He immediately saw the skeleton riders walking about, and in shock, rapidly darted deep into the forest. He was dressed entirely in black clothes that stuck close to his body, a certain fluidity to his figure as though he possessed the tendons of a magic beast.
As he walked, it was practically as though he had eyes underneath his feet. He did not step on any broken branches and his clothes were not caught on the thorny vines. In the darkness, his eyes reflected no light, and they were pitch black like a bottomless hole. Looking at the face, one would only see a dark green mask that did not reflect any light.
A professional assassin!
His body was like a snake, moving about in the forest and silently arriving at the field behind it. There were mounds all over the empty field and a man dressed in black robes was sitting on the floor, a book in his hand. He was reading using the light of the moon.
A red flame pattern was stitched near the sleeves of his robes, and within the flames, one could vaguely make out the shape of a distorted human.
Hellfire represented the tribunal that was in charge of punishments. The assassin approached him and said softly, “Deacon, I have found him.”
“Why haven’t you taken action?” The middle-aged man reading the book was the black deacon of the tribunal. He had been following Daniel for a few months and had a good understanding of the abilities of the death mage. He was also aware of Daniel’s predicament. He no longer had any magic nuclei and his combat abilities had been greatly reduced. He did not even have time to fix his winged skeleton.
A grade-3 mage like him was barely any match for a professional grade-4 assassin. His advantage as a mage was gone, and the assassin’s advantage was much more pronounced.
“Deacon, I saw skeleton riders.”
“Oh?” The black deacon was a little unconvinced.
“It’s true, Master. Those skeleton riders are wearing corrosive armor, and even the horses are clad in armor too. Daniel must have called upon new death creatures.”
“You did not alert him, did you?”
“No.”
“Good. Gather everyone and have them approach from here. This time, we cannot let Daniel escape again. Since the proclamation of the new laws, the tribunal has not caught any death mages. If we are the first ones to succeed, we may be promoted two grades.”
“Yes, Master.” The assassin could not hide the joy inside of him. Rising two grades within the tribunal would not just lead to an increase in authority, but one would gain higher level swordsmanship skills or divine skills. If their chief advanced another two grades, he would be equivalent to a local cardinal. Even though those within the tribunal who were at this grade could not join the pope in battle, they could gain higher level divine skills and even the gifts of god.
As for himself, he would become a deacon in two grades time, and just like his master, he would be able to bring a team out on missions. The amount of resources that he would be able to move around would be ten times what he was able to move now.
Those who devoted themselves to faith had urges too, and anyone who who was willing to enter the tribunal possessed a dark side to them. However, these people believed that their wickedness in falling was done to protect the light of god.
The assassin took out a miniature scroll and opened it. Light spilled out from within it, but it did not cause any disturbances in the night sky. The coordinates had been sent, and the deacons of the other two teams would be here soon with their teams.
Thirty-two people against a single death mage. Even if he was a grade-4 mage, it would be difficult for him to escape.
After nearly two hours, the teams that had been sent away gathered back together. The deacon nodded to the assassin and said, “Describe what you saw to the others. Everyone, be prepared to move out in an hour.”
The black deacon tried to hide the joy in his heart. He had thought that they had lost their target, but they had managed to find Daniel again. If Daniel had escaped again and had run away from this mountainous region, they would not have dared to ambush him in such a big group like this.
Red Copper Fort was not far from the back of these mountains. The troops from Pompeii City would be here within a day, and if the death mage managed to make it to the main roads, he would be at a loss for a good plan of action.
The position of the black cardinal. An enticing role that shall soon be mine!
In addition to the black deacon, the remaining thirty-one of them were comprised of two grade-1 high priests, six grade-2 high priests, three assassins, three dark knights, and seventeen warriors of hell.
Since they had needed to enter the Qin Empire, the black deacon had not dared to bring along any zealots. However, the warriors of hell were able to channel life abilities, and when needed, they could forcefully increase their powers to the standards of a beginner swordmaster. The price, however, was to sacrifice some of their lifespan. This was a sacrifice for the gods.
Even if the death mage was lucky and advanced while escaping, he would only be a grade-4 mage and two grade-1 high priests would be able to defeat him. He had only gathered everyone together as he was afraid that Daniel would escape. Daniel possessed a winged skeleton, and if it regained its flying abilities, it would not be easy to pursue him in this mountainous region.
The more than thirty people confidently made their way through the forest and came to the east entrance of the village. Two skeleton riders in corrosive armor were roaming around freely.
“There is no one in this village.”
“Master, the death mage must have killed them all.”
“Master, let’s go now. If he stays alive any longer, he will only kill more people.”
The black deacon did not think too much of it. Daniel was from Tanggulasi and had a clean background. Aside from studying death magic, there was nothing suspicious about him, and his hometown was twenty thousand miles away from here. He could not have had any friends in this village within the mountains. It was better that everyone was dead. At least now, his tracks would not be exposed.
With that thought, the black deacon nodded and said, “The dark knights will deal with the skeleton riders, the assassins will follow the high priests, and the dark warriors will be in charge of intercepting. Let’s go, for the God of Light.”
“For the God of Light!”
The voices of the dark warriors had been a bit loud and the skeleton riders roaming near the village entrance were immediately alerted. They turned their burning amber eyes towards the forest and suddenly did something that stunned the black deacon.
The two riders commanded their skeletal horses to turn back and escaped further into the village.
“Quick, the death mage is escaping!” The black deacon did not bother explaining and the three dark knights were the first to emerge from the forest and rush into the village. If they took out the skeleton riders, the death mage would be hurt too. Then, it would not be easy for him to escape.
The eight high priests clustered around the dark warriors and went into the village while the black deacon walked at the back. A slight feeling of danger surfaced in his heart. However, he could not call back his men. It was possible that the dark mage would escape any moment. He grit his teeth and thought: A grade-4 mage, what could he do? With my thirty-one men, I can take out even a grade-6 mage.
With that thought, the black deacon increased his pace and caught up.
The skeleton riders were not moving very fast because they were actually puppets. Wearing heavy armor affected the speed of the puppets much less than it affected their combat abilities.
The three dark knights came closer and closer, and just as they were about to catch up, they suddenly saw three magic beast skeletons in front of the wooden house up ahead.
The dark knights stopped and hesitated. They had been venturing among the mountains, and if they gave up their war horses, their combat abilities would decrease. The three magic beast skeletons had weird shapes, and they had no idea what living creatures these beasts had evolved from. One of them did not even have four limbs and seemed to have come from a giant python. However, on its massive skull were six horns. They had never heard of a living creature with that many horns.
“The death mage is inside the house. Kill him!” The dark knight with the highest grade rushed towards a magic beast skeleton. He chose the biggest one, which had three legs only and was spouting black mist from its mouth. The dark knight activated his assaultive abilities, holding onto his sword. A white light emerged from the armor on his body and went straight for the magic beast skeleton.
The other two dark knights activated their abilities and rushed towards the other two magic beasts. They could not have cared less about the skeleton riders; magic beast skeletons were able to possess the abilities they had when they were still alive, and that was what they feared.
In any case, the high priests arrived in no time and had the same thoughts as the three dark knights.
The dark knights swung their swords and landed them squarely upon the magic beasts. With a cracking sound, large cracks appeared at the places where the magic beast skeletons had been struck.
The three dark knights were stunned. Were these magic beasts really so weak?
In that short amount of time, a dark shadow appeared from above and slit the throat of one of the knights. There was a metal plate at the throat of the dark knight, but it had not been able to stop this weapon. The dark knight that had been attacked dropped his sword in an attempt to clutch the gash. However, the gash was behind the metal plate and it would not matter how hard he tried to stop it.
Swish…
The magic beast skeleton took this chance to strike the dark knight on his chest with its horns. The part of the armor where he had been struck sunk in, and the blood from his throat spewed out even quicker.
Saleen had not expected the people from the tribunal to come in all at once. Any ideas that he had thought of were no longer relevant. Daniel would not need to fight with his life on the line in order to lure out the enemy’s reserve troops.
At the two ends of the village, Saleen and Lex each released a Fluorescence spell. The lights flew into midair and bathed the entire village in a blue-green hue.
The eyes of the black deacon contracted rapidly. An ambush! He turned around sharply and saw a dainty hand reaching towards the back of his waist.
The black deacon could smell death and did not even release a divine spell. Instead, he sent out a concentratedimpact and released the magic stored within his robes.
The elegant women furrowed her brows. The concentrated impact had landed squarely upon her and she was obviously in discomfort. However, her hand still landed on the black deacon’s robes.
There was a clear sound: Bam!
Before his magic could be released completely, it was broken down by the woman. She seemed to be in great pain and did not continue her assault. Pressing both hands against her head, she leaped backwards and escaped the range of any divine spell’s assault.
The black deacon felt as if he had taken a walk in hell. That hand had been too terrifying. The black robes on his body had been shredded into pieces, and if he had used a divine spell, he might have been dead by now.
The green light descended and a woman in colorful robes walked over. She had a disdainful look in her eyes, and as she looked at the black deacon, she said, “Why? Have even the people from the Holy See been learning magic?”