Badge in Azure Chapter 343

Chapter 343: Poly Spirit Beast (Part 1)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The headless riders retreated until they were out of the attack range of Aini’s and Saleen’s magic, while the snowman-shaped black puppets mounted an offensive on the snow ice castle.
The snowmen moved much slower than the headless riders, and even those of a higher grade were only nearly as nimble as an apprentice swordsman.
Saleen was very doubtful of the phenomenon before him. Back then, the black puppets had not been sluggish at all, and they could even jump over the walls of that colossal castle. But these snowmen right in front of him seemed to be a little too weak.
Zhi…
A snowman had wanted to sink its nails into the ice wall of the castle. However, it seemed more like it had put its hand into a pot of boiling water as it screamed in excruciation.
There were more than a hundred pirates battling against more than ten thousand black puppets. The black puppets were not afraid of extermination, as their mere existence was already a form of suffering. In comparison, the pirates were not willing to suffer a worthless death no matter how ferocious they were.
These over one hundred pirates, with the exception of those selected by Saleen to follow him around, were separated into dozens of small teams and then deployed to guard the perimeter of the wall. The snow ice castle had split walls and roads, and some pirates could even ride on the skeletal warhorses to execute their missions. With a two-meter wide gap between the walls, the pirates might not have been able to traverse that easily had they rode normal warhorses. A skeletal warhorse, on the other hand, was extremely stable, and even if one had poor horsemanship, he would not lose control of it.
The moment the snowmen came into contact with the wall of the snow ice castle, those magic patterns within the wall took effect. Rays of magic lights flashed, accompanied by a tinge of the power of life, thus repelling the snowmen. Witnessing this situation, the pirates broke out into wild laughter. Even though these puppets appeared in huge numbers, they did not really cause any psychological distress to the pirates.
The pirates were accustomed to fighting under the command of a captain, and as long as the captain was around, the pirates rarely cowered away. Such a practice made the pirates difficult to crumble, even in the face of such strange black puppets.
Observing from the entrance of the castle, Saleen did not want to waste his precious magic chords on those low grade puppets. He did not even want to consume his scrolls for them. Saleen always brought along a huge quantity of scrolls, but he knew that no matter how many scrolls he possessed, there would be a day when all of them were exhausted.
Sregl Island stored an astronomical number of scrolls which had been accumulated over a period of one thousand years. Henceforth, Saleen would face even more battles, and if he relied on scrolls every single fight, his supply of scrolls would quickly dry up. If it was a truncated battle, Saleen would be able to achieve victory by depending on scrolls, but the conflict with the Holy See was a war which had spread throughout the entire mainland.
After many invalid attempts to get close to the wall, hundreds of snowmen charged toward the wall on the western side, stacking themselves below the wall. These snowmen quickly melted into a single entity, unable to move anymore, as the imprisoned souls within their bodies shattered.
Then, another one hundred snowmen followed suit and charged forward. About less than a thousand snowmen were sacrificed. Beyond the western wall, a long slope had emerged, and all the snowmen congregated there, climbing up the slope.
Aini and Daniel stared at the headless riders in the distance, disregarding the snowmen.
The warhorse of a headless rider was a puppet in itself as well, and unlike a human’s warhorse, these warhorses could accelerate out of the blue, just like death creatures. The headless riders were loitering at a distance of three hundred meters, which happened to be the distance which a steel crossbow could not reach. A distance of three hundred meters was already sufficient for them to accumulate enough energy to jump over the city wall.
The more than two hundred remaining headless riders were the real threat. After all, the pirates possessed the abilities of swordsmen, thus they could be considered to be a strong army. If they could not even deal with the weakest black puppets, then there was no point to them staying at all.
Aini and Saleen had the ability to fly, so they would not be trapped by those black puppets. Saleen had built this snow ice castle in order to conserve the power of the pirates in this battle.
Saleen and Aini were contemplating the same issue at the same time. It seems like the Holy See’s people have left the Chaotic Swamp. Otherwise, how could the black mages have used this place as their lair? Both of them had a sense of loss in their hearts. If the people from the Holy See had really left, then the contractual trap for the three kings might not be activated at all. In order to subdue these three guys, they would already have to brainstorm for another idea.
However, there was still a glimmer of hope in their hearts. If the Second Dynasty relic still contained some items which tempted the three kings, then there would not be just one contractual trap.
The pirates wielded their lances, using their four-meter-long weapons to retaliate against the snowmen’s offensive. The snowmen were using their razor-sharp nails to attack and were also ascending the slope. They did not have the slightest advantage whatsoever.
After some simple training, the pirates could also work in tandem. Only three lances were required to kill one snowman. The slope was not wide, and about twenty pirates would be able to hold the fort.
Whenever the tip of a lance, which was briefly refined, pierced a snowman’s body, dark purple blood would spurt out. The dead snowman would then quickly crumble into a pile of snow, spilling across the slope.
The pirates took turns resting. They were segregated into three groups, while the remaining four teams surveilled the other three directions. And just like that, only sixty pirates were used to defend a wall, effectively containing the offensive mounted by the snowmen.
“Sir, how about allowing me to go forth and deal with those things?” Noticing that the pirates killed the snowmen with great ease, Jola felt that he was wasting his time being here. Even though the headless riders were stronger, he was not fearful. They were only at the standard of a swordmaster, and once the snowmen were exterminated, those headless riders would only enjoy some minor advantages in terms of their speed.
“What’s the hurry? These black puppets are poorly made. Do you really think this is the power of a black mage? They were not even trying to ambush us, it was purely a coincidence that we ran into them. But, if you must try, then go ahead and get onto a skeletal warhorse.” Seeing that Jola was very eager, Saleen decided to teach him a lesson.
“Sure!” Jola responded. Then, he pulled a skeletal warhorse over and got onto its back before charging down the slope in a flash.
Jola simply wielded the longsword named Tears and did not display any marvelous swordsmanship. He simply slashed to his left and right. The moment a snowman came into the path of his longsword, it would quickly crumble even before the longsword sliced into its body. In the midst of all the snowmen, Jola nearly met with no resistance as he rushed down the slope, killing more than one hundred snowmen in the process.
“Eh?” Witnessing such a situation, Saleen was a little astonished. Tears seemed to possess a special suppressive ability against the black puppets. Even though the snowmen were of a very low grade, they would still not crumble at the slightest contact with a normal weapon.
Aini shrugged his shoulders, feeling smug. That had been his first time employing heart alchemy, and he had already managed to produce such a mighty weapon. Saleen might have produced a huge number of weapons, but they were all trash.
Immediately, twenty headless riders prompted their warhorses and began charging towards Jola. Seeing this from afar, Jola immediately turned around and escaped back to the snow ice castle.
“Pu…” Saleen could not help but laugh, chuckling loudly. Jola was not an idiot. He knew that he could not triumph over so many headless riders. The main reason was because he had poor control over the skeletal warhorse, so he did not have the advantage of speed, and if he remained outside the city, he would be besieged.
Those headless riders gave chase until they were two hundred meters away from the city wall, where they came to a halt. At this distance, they could already be struck by magic attacks, and if they advanced any farther, a steel crossbow would be able to damage them.
“It seems like they really want to entrap us.” Saleen began chatting with Aini after witnessing this scene.
“It means they still have reinforcements to the rear who will be approaching anytime soon.” Aini did some mental calculations, then continued, “Since that is the case, we don’t have to wait any longer. Half of the snowmen have been exterminated. We can launch our offensive now.”
“We might not be able to outrun those headless riders. Are you still able to use your spirits?”
“In another ten minutes or so.” Aini shook his head. If his plant spirit needed to continue battling, it would require rest. Plant spirits had flaws as well. They digested souls very sluggishly.
“Okay. Everyone, get ready. Daniel, you will lead the way at the front, Aini and I will take care of the rear. Follow the plan and set off in fifteen minutes.” Saleen had already deciphered the true motive of the black mages. He had also utilized the snow ice castle to kill half of his enemies, and there were no losses thus far. But if he were to continue defending and the evil dragon made an appearance, this castle would not even last for a minute.
A black mage had many different types of soldiers at his disposal. The black puppets existed in massive numbers, so there were no concerns about losing them, and even though evil dragons were scarce, they could be used to invade cities. A headless rider had fearsome offensive abilities and the advantage of speed, which was beneficial for field battles. There were a dozen more types of soul puppets which could be created by black mages, and they were suitable for all kinds of terrain and weather.
It was unrealistic to use a simple fortification to battle with the black mages. The only solution would be to command a yellow dragon to kill them.
In the past, when the black mages had been wreaking havoc in Phoenix, the armies from Qin and Phoenix had managed to exterminate quite a number of their puppets, but not even a single black mage was killed. Obviously, the black mages were sly people. But this time around, Saleen was planning to assault the black mages’ lair and capture one or two of them for interrogation.
Originally, Saleen had built a city and a port in the north, and by coercing the less powerful nobles in Phoenix, he would be able to develop the city very swiftly. However, these black mages were stuck in the Chaotic Swamp, which in turn disrupted Saleen’s route to Sikeqinya. In this case, Deep Forest Town would become the frontline, losing its intended purpose.
If the black mages were not obliterated, Deep Forest Town would actually become a burden. Saleen did not possess much manpower. It was impossible for him to expand Deep Forest Town and engage in a protracted battle with the black mages.
Jola rushed back to the entrance of the city. After observing that the headless riders had stopped clear of the attack area, he then put away his longsword and said, “Sir, look, they are trying to entrap us.”
Even though Jola had been a swordsmanship instructor in the palace, he knew a thing or two about military tactics. The intentions of those black puppets and headless riders were too pronounced, and it was impossible for him to not know. He had thus requested to launch an assault in order to ascertain this point. Had the headless riders pursued him desperately, it would have meant that the enemy’s reinforcements were not far out. Now that the headless riders were in no hurry to damage their own strength, it meant that a larger attack from the enemy was fast approaching.
“Mm, we will set off in twenty minutes. Don’t wander too far away from me.” As Saleen agreed with Jola, his view of Jola changed. This man doesn’t seem as wanton as he looks. At least during a battle, he has a clearer mind than most people. It seemed like Jola had the ability to lead an army into battle in the future. Secretly, Saleen gave Jola some brownie points.