Badge in Azure

Chapter 644: The Bond Weakens (Part 1)

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

Grand Bishop Nicholas was a thousand yards high in the sky and saw that metal castles and watchtowers were everywhere in western town. If he flew within their range, he would definitely be shot down.

That was not even considering the ten story magic tower. If there was an anti-flight region and the holy priests were not able to control their flying technique, it was entirely possible for them crash to their deaths in the city.

The city also consisted of magic cannons which were much more accurate than magic catapults. The magic tower was entirely capable of providing the coordinates of the armies on the outside so that the magic cannons in the city could fire with extremely high accuracy.

When the Pope left, he did not mention to Nicholas that the soldiers that made up the expedition had already been infused with divine spells and would not live for long. Therefore, Nicholas did not want too many of soldiers to die or become injured and he even thought of bringing the army back to Luolan or even cutting through Phoenix to attack Guderian City.

Saleen was really fortunate that he took a trip to Holy Rock City and managed to bring the Fellets back. He would not have managed to convince the two grade-9 sorcerers of the Red Tiger mercenary group and stabilize western town’s defense otherwise.

“General, leave twenty-thousand men behind. We will lead the rest and continue towards the east!” Grand Bishop Nicholas decided. He did not wish to spend too much time on this. Although this town had proven to be difficult to take down, he did not believe that the city by the sea did not have any loopholes. After all, western town was a city that has been completely militarized, but the city by the sea was said to be built for trading and businesses. It occupied a larger area, which meant that it would be more difficult to defend.

Besides, Grand Bishop Nicholas was usually accurate in his judgement. This city’s defense might be tight, but the main forces within it was not a big one. There would be ten-thousand men at most. By leaving twenty-thousand men behind, he would still be able to control the situation there. By leading more than seventy-thousand soldiers and five-hundred jailers from the supreme court, his chances of success of taking down the city by the sea was high.

The General could not refuse Grand Bishop Nicholas’ order. In any case, his entire corp had yet to suffer any injuries or deaths. He was confident that he would be able to take down the new target with his main forces. Leaving behind twenty-thousand men was nothing. If they really tried to take down this city, they would have lost more than twenty-thousand men to injuries or deaths.

Based on the General’s judgement, this city alone would be able to use up his entire life force. The enemy must have set up this bait to tempt him into wasting all his forces there in order to protect the city by the sea.

The three mysterious characters from the supreme court suddenly spoke to Nicholas at that moment, “Grand Bishop, this is a ten story magic tower. It is an object of heresy. By letting them go so easily, aren’t you afraid that the Pope will punish you?”

“Humph, dealing with heretics has always been the supreme court’s responsibility. You are not doing anything about it and you are still trying to blame me?”

“Grand Bishop, you can say whatever you want. When we return, we will report accordingly to the Head Inquisitor. As for whether Theisio will be able to protect you, you better keep your fingers crossed.” The three fellows laughed uproariously and left with the black high priests.

Grand Bishop Nicholas felt sick. If the three of them really went back and reported as such the Pope might punish him. If they really attacked the magic tower, they would have to give up their plan of taking down the city by the sea. The Pope miscalculated. A one-hundred-thousand strong army would not be able to handle these two aspects of the city.

The red Bishops under Nicholas did not dare to speak. If they gave any suggestion Nicholas would definitely order them to attack the magic tower. There was nothing to be gained from speaking up so everyone remained silent.

Nicholas laughed coldly in his heart. He suddenly realized the three fellows’ intentions. Once he returned, he must report to the Pope about what had happened. He would have to become the scapegoat otherwise.

If both parties accused each other, no one would be able to predict the outcome. The three of them must not be looking forward to being held responsible either.

Once he understood this, Nicholas became calmer and said, “Let’s set off. Ask the holy priests to slow down a little.”

While the people of the Holy See were scheming against each other, Saleen’s Metatrin City was united. The four Dukes’ subordinates managed to gather more than a hundred merchant boats in Lianyun City to transport livestock to Metatrin City. Saleen paid a high price in order to bring in large amounts of fresh meat for his armies.

The farmers were the ones that made the biggest losses. They had only just planted their crops, but they would all be destroyed when the armies marched past them. Fortunately, Saleen had already given the order that all farmers and their families would not need to pay taxes for the next three years and would only resume when appropriate. This spring, Metatrin City and the noble families would work together to provide the farmers and their families some subsidies so they would be able to survive through the winter even if they did not have any grain.

Saleen even promised to compensate all the farmers their seeds. If their villages were to be destroyed, Saleen would rebuild them for free.

The goods that Saleen was purchasing now were all from Lianyun City. Even if the storms sank the boats, Saleen would still pay according to the agreed prices.

By doing so, there would be people who would be willing to take the risk. In any case, the battle would not extend to the sea yet. There was no better way to make money by transporting goods.

Handsome rewards attract brave men. The constitution for the management of mercenary soldiers was released by Saleen. The small mercenary groups that helped defend Broken Blade Pass were handsomely rewarded. Mercenary soldiers immediately decided to join Metatrin City in its defense.

Of course, Saleen would never decline this trend. He would now be able to deploy his own soldiers to defend the south city wall and could also aid the west side any time. The mercenary soldiers could still hold their own in mini battles, but would not fare well in larger groups. Nevertheless, the defense of the city wall usually involved mini battles so the mercenary soldiers could still be entrusted with defending the city wall.

Once Saleen released the news, thousands of mercenary soldiers left for Metatrin City from Lianyun City.

These mercenary soldiers were all Qin people. When they heard that they would be battling the Holy See and that their objective was to secure defense, they became excited. The amount of money they would receive from battling would far surpass the amount earned from importing and exporting of goods.

After a few operations carried out by the four Dukes, Metatrin City looked as good as new. It no longer felt dreadful and even the port was becoming busy.

If not for the fact that it had a long winter, Metatrin City’s location was one to be envied. In terms of defense, if they had managed to fortify Broken Blade Pass, Saleen would definitely be able to keep the Holy See’s army away. Towards the north, there were numerous rivers and big armies would find it hard to cross in the summer. The south was full of mountains and the east was the sea.

Once it possessed a powerful naval force, this city would be able to control the lands within two-hundred miles west and four-hundred to five-hundred miles north. Further up north, the mages had discovered large amounts of mining materials while further towards the west were plenty lands for agriculture. If not for the cold weather, this place would have been occupied by Qin long ago.

Under Saleen’s management with the metal ores and middle-grade magic nuclei, Metatrin City became more and more prosperous by the day. Now that the Holy See’s army was trying to destroy the city, many merchants must hate the Holy See to death. Once Saleen guaranteed the benefits they stood to gain, these people made a simple choice eventually.

The Holy See would never understand why Qin hated the spreading of their faith so much. To the Qin people, the Tanggulasi Empire was backward and poor and this was all because of the Holy See. There were too many mages and literate people in Qin. The Holy See’s religion would never gain a foothold there.

Now that the Holy See has resorted to violence to destroy Qin, of course the people of Qin would be furious.

Although Saleen was offering high prices, the merchants were not earning much. They were only afraid of going bankrupt. Almost all the resources had been controlled by Holy Rock City and had been sent to the border of Luolan. For the merchants to organize goods and resources of such a large scale, a lot of money would have to be spent.

Saleen was relieved that morale had stabilized.

The Holy See’s army was nearing and its vanguard was only two miles away. When the officers saw the city walls of Metatrin City, the expressions on their faces darkened.

This type of city might even be equal to the Holy City. Within the Tanggulasi Empire very few cities would surpass this city that was as white as snow before their eyes.

The holy priests in the army became demoralized. Anyone who had seen the world instantly recognized how queer this city wall was. Their mental strength already discovered from afar that there was an energy flowing near the city wall. Holy priests were not mages so they could not analyze the energy completely, but they knew that it was not very possible to fly above the city wall.

At the head of the city were plenty of armors and the banners were raised high. By using alchemy binoculars the officer in front saw plenty of spirits of the dead, at least a few thousand. The ends of the city wall on both sides could not be seen with the naked eye. How big was this city? It was a lie to call it small.

Grand Bishop Nicholas was invited to the front. When he saw Metatrin City’s wall, Nicholas recognized the usage of Dante’s Sequence in its formation.

Dante’s Sequence controlled the abilities of elements without limitations. A city wall of such a large scale was able to be arranged into a complete Dante’s Sequence. There would be no flying above the city.

If this city had built six magic towers, its defense would almost be equal to Holy Rock City. Long ago, the Sacred Knights had a tough time at Holy Rock City and the Holy See had always been afraid of history repeating itself. Some cities just could not be taken down. In kingdoms where magic was popular, holy priests were not common.

Nicholas was tempted to return to the Glorious Plains. How could a city like this be taken down? He now found it hilarious that he had originally wanted to use this opportunity to perform well in order to be one of the candidates considered to succeed the Pope.

Even if the Pope gave permission, he had more than ninety-thousand men but only two to three days’ worth of grain. They were twenty-thousand miles away from home. How would they return? By eating grass?

“Bring the men from the supreme court,” Nicholas said to the red Bishop behind him. Now his only hope was those three murderers released from the Black Dungeon.

The range of the magic catapult was six miles even after the boost of magic. The Holy See’s army’s main forces stopped just beyond six miles. In the city Saleen was nervously inspecting the frontline. The elemental eye could see one-hundred miles away and could see exactly how the Holy See army was being deployed.

Nailisi and Sika followed closely beside Saleen. Behind him were more than ten Sregl Island mages and Sika’s guards.

“There are quite a few heavy-armored warriors, Diyabannersa. I am going to let you and Jola guard this side. This time, you will not run away,” Saleen gave a stern warning.

“Yes, Master Saleen,” Diyabannersa replied respectfully, but did not really care deep down. That wretched bond no longer possessed such a strong constraint. Right now, if he saw Saleen injured, he would still be forced to take action. Saleen would not be at the city wall all the time. Once Saleen left, he would be able to decide how he was going to fight.

Judikaka was right. In this world, there could not be such a powerful trap in the bond.