Badge in Azure

Chapter 340: Snowmen (Part 2)

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

“Prepare for battle.” Saleen was expressionless as he instructed the pirates to check their weapons one more time and load the steel crossbows with arrows. Since the time spent on refining the weapons had been reduced so much, the steel crossbows would not be too effective against puppets at the grade of a headless rider. Also, there were too many regular puppets, so they were not really effective.

The pirates did not know what the black puppets were capable of, only having heard the report by the scouts. After knowing that four black puppets were easily eliminated by the two scouts, the pirates became less jittery.

The pirates, more than one hundred of them, affixed a pole onto their lances, extending them. As the pirates advanced forward across the snowy ground, they resembled the riders who were present one thousand years ago. Even though the pirates had been transformed, they still had savage appearances. A person would know that they were not kind souls at a glance.

From Saleen’s current location, there was still a distance of more than five hundred miles to his destination, the relic of the Second Dynasty which was situated at the central region of the Chaotic Swamp. Traveling at this speed, Saleen would require at least two days to arrive.

Saleen could not go any faster. Since the pirates were not of a high grade, rapid marches would greatly impact their offensive ability. Daniel decided that he would simply ride on the pikoosi, instead of a skeletal warhorse.

In the Chaotic Swamp, the sky was always overcast, so the reflection off the snowy ground was not blinding. Since there were no hills, one would enjoy a very wide field of vision. This time around, the pirate scouts no longer advanced dozens of miles ahead. They trekked ahead cautiously within the range of Saleen’s icy sight.

After almost a one-hundred-mile journey to the west, a hill appeared up ahead. Saleen then ordered the team to stop and consume their meals.

This location was unlike that in the south. The climate was freezing, and even for a simple lunch, one would have to set up a simple camp and ignite a bonfire. If the bread and dried meat brought along by the pirates were not warmed, they could not even swallow the food. At such a time , the pirates did not dare to drink alcohol either. They boiled water using the bonfire before putting tea leaves into the metal pot, cooking some turbid tea.

The tea leaves were special produce from the south. The pirates were used to drinking tea, but since the premium tea leaves were too expensive, they could only drink inferior dregs. For people who lived at sea for long durations, those who did not drink tea were the ones who fell ill.

In the hills, on a slope which measured over one hundred meters in height, was an abnormally thick layer of snow. The moment a bonfire lit up in the distance, an unknown being immediately started fidgeting under the snow.

The scouts, who did not rest at all, quickly discovered this anomaly. They immediately took out a small flag and began waving it into the distance. The pirates were well-versed in flag language, and someone went to report to Saleen immediately.

“Hm? Get the people from Group 1 to Group 5 to carry out the construction work. We will wait here.” Saleen was reluctant to engage in battle with the black puppets in the hilly region. At his current location, the terrain was flat. Even if his team was weaker, the skeletal warhorses would be able to run faster than the black puppets, and even a headless rider would not be able to catch up. If Saleen and his team entered the hilly region, the skeletal warhorses would already have less advantages.

The pirates who were busy cooking the food immediately split up and got to work. The so-called “construction work” was in fact using the snow to build a temporary fortress. This was no big deal to a mage. When snow came under high pressure, it would be transformed immediately into ice, and when the ice was compressed by magic, its degree of toughness would be close to that of steel. If the extent of the compression exceeded a critical point, the ice would be converted into black ice, which was a material stronger than most metals.

Saleen was not at that level yet, but he could construct a temporary fortress which was tougher than a brick castle. After all, he only had slightly more than a hundred men and another hundred or so skeletal warhorses, thus not much space was required.

The pirates took metal shovels from Saleen, then immediately went to build a battle fortification using the snow.

The three kings decided to observe the current offensive powers of humans. They hid inside Daniel’s death flames, unwilling to render any help. Daniel commanded the pikoosi to help the pirates trample a solid foundation into the snowy ground.

Before long, a snow castle measuring two hundred meters in length and width was constructed. This miniature castle had walls which were about five meters thick. Saleen began casting magic in phases, condensing the tough snow into ice. The pirates dug out soil from under the snow, then mixed it with the wood ashes produced from the bonfire. Then, they laid the final product on the ground. Immediately, the ground was no longer slippery, and humans could walk on it.

The outer walls of the snow castle were as smooth as a mirror. Saleen released restorative water onto the exterior of the outer walls, freezing it. If the black puppets came into contact with such a wall, they would sustain serious damage.

Saleen’s restorative water had a shelf life of about two months. With such a protracted effective period, the restorative water would be able to last until the end of the battle.

Aini kept himself busy too, refining metallic arrows inside his own tent. This time around, he used a traditional method. He used his family’s alchemy models to help the pirates transform the arrowheads which were used with the steel crossbows. At the moment, he was already a grade-5 mage who possessed sufficient mental strength. The mistakes that he had made in the beginning would not happen again. Furthermore, the pirates had not brought along many arrows, of which one-third of them had been refined already, so Aini would not be in a rush.

In the sky, a double-headed eagle approached from a distance. The black mages had discovered Saleen’s team. They were now getting impatient and wanted to take a closer look, but Saleen would never let their wish come true.

The double-headed eagle flew at an altitude of almost eight hundred meters, and Saleen’s magic did not have such a range yet. Saleen stealthily summoned Jola over, then asked, “Can you shoot a crossbow accurately?”

“Very accurately, provided it is an alchemical crossbow.”

“Do you know how to operate an alchemical crossbow fitted with a pair of alchemical binoculars?”

“Alchemical binoculars? Those are good items, Sir. Can you give a pair to me?”

“What do you want them for?”

“To peep at those beautiful ladies showering, of course!” Jola seemed like he had forgotten about yesterday’s heartache, reverting to his usual self. Saleen very much wanted to give him a hard kick. A pair of alchemical binoculars was created with much difficulty. High-grade crystals were required, and a mage needed to meticulously craft them with magic. A pair of binoculars produced by a normal smith would have visual deviation, which would be unsuitable to be fitted on a weapon.

“I want you to shoot that thing out of the sky.” Saleen did not continue on the same topic as Jola. If Jola did well, he would gift him a pair of alchemical binoculars. Anyway, if Jola fell in love with any of Saleen’s female companions, the consequences would be grave. Be it Nailisi, Sika, or Lex, any one of them would definitely teach Jola a lesson he would remember dearly.

An alchemical crossbow fitted with a pair of alchemical binoculars was also commonly known as a sniper crossbow, a device whose production was strictly forbidden in all four empires. None of the arms dealer dared to sell them. The nobles were afraid for their insignificant lives. This device allowed a normal person to possess the lethality of a mage, and he would be able to kill any professional below grade-7 from a distance of about one mile.

Unless the target possessed an abnormal mental strength like what Saleen and Aini had, it would be hard to detect the attack.

The alchemical binoculars contained complex magic arrays which could lock onto the target, allowing the user to take aim easily. It was a device the nobles were extremely fearful of.

But, Saleen could not care less. Lex would never object to him producing a weapon like that, and Saleen had only made one of them in secret. If news of this device was circulated, many innocent people would die.

Jola accepted the alchemical crossbow from Saleen. This alchemical crossbow was almost one meter wide, but it did not have a stand. The user would have to rely on his physical strength to wield it. Jola easily fiddled with the alchemical crossbow. He turned the wheel and loaded the arrow, before adjusting the alchemical binoculars.

The arrow was a premium product. The arrowhead was filled with intricate magic patterns, giving off a dark gold hue. After the wheel was turned, the magic array on the alchemical crossbow was stimulated at the same time, and six magic nuclei glowed weakly as the energy within them was swiftly depleted.

Jola did not dare waste time. He raised his arms, aiming the alchemical crossbow at the double-headed eagle flying through the sky. Through the binoculars, the eagle’s strange red eyes could clearly be identified.

Jola’s arms were as stable as a mountain. There was not even a slight quiver. As he pressed on the button above the magic array, those six pieces of level-3 magic nuclei dimmed immediately, and a blinding ray of light lit up in front of the alchemical crossbow.

That was a true alchemical crossbow. The arrow possessed the power of level-2 magic and the powerful impact from a physical attack at the same time.

This single attack had depleted all six level-3 magic nuclei. On the battlefield, such a weapon was inevitably pointless, as almost one thousand gold coins had to be spent in order to take out a single target. Unless the motive was to assassinate the enemy’s commander, one would lose more than what he would gain.

Saleen knew that the production of a double-headed eagle was very challenging, so he was willing to part with so much money to exterminate those eyes in the sky.

In midair, the alchemical arrow produced purple flames, but there was no sound of it piercing through the air. In a flash, the arrow had come before the double-headed eagle’s eyes. The black mage who was controlling the double-headed eagle could not even react in time.

Jola’s movements were too swift. He simply raised his arms and launched the alchemical arrow.

A tough arrow combined with level-2 magic might not have been the most powerful attack, but the speed at which this arrow travelled had exceeded that of mid-level magic. It was simply too swift. Unless the black mage had noticed Jola aiming, he could only depend on his mental strength for detection.

Boom!

More flames shot out from those intricate magic patterns, as the shaft of the arrow penetrated deeply into the eagle’s abdomen. Jola had not aimed specifically at its head or neck. Firstly, to a puppet, those regions might not be fatal. Secondly, a double-headed eagle, as the name suggested, had two heads. One arrow could not possibly hit two targets at the same time.

To be able to take aim instantly from a distance of eight hundred meters and strike the double-headed eagle’s abdomen precisely, Jola’s archery could already be considered the best. In the beginning, Jola had trained hard in swordsmanship because he had wanted to assassinate that duke. Even in the Cloudflow palace, no one had known that his archery was as proficient as his swordsmanship.

Within a range of two hundred meters, Jola did not need any help from alchemical binoculars to be able to accurately strike insects the size of a thumb.

Purple flames burst out of the seven openings in the double-headed eagle at the same time. The magic on the alchemical arrow had been activated, destroying the nucleus of this puppet in that instant. A ball of black fog was emitted, and in the blink of an eye, it was incinerated by those purple flames. Nothing was left behind.

“Aye, there goes a bunch of souls again.” As Saleen witnessed the double-headed eagle falling out of the sky, he sighed loudly. Producing a double-headed eagle required many souls. It could fly very fast, and even Saleen could not catch up to it. The black mages always succeeded in utilizing double-headed eagles to conduct reconnaissance missions on the enemy. It was just that this time around, they had never expected Saleen to possess a forbidden weapon, as well as have a skilled archer by his side.

“Sir, in reality, the people are already dead. Whether the souls are around or not or are destroyed or not does not matter.”

Jola reluctantly returned the alchemical crossbow to Saleen.

“That’s true. Even if those souls were present, they would still be in extreme suffering.” Saleen thought of the headless riders, with those skulls hanging by their warhorses. Whenever the black mages refined souls, they would gain power by evoking pain in the souls. It was also a form of relief for the souls to be dissipated completely.

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