Chapter 404: Forbidden Spell from the Abyss
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Reputation can be very convenient at time, but it can also cause a lot of trouble. Anfey wasn't the most famous person, but he wasn't unknown, either. If he had been more famous, maybe convincing the mercenaries to join him would have been much easier. He could move through the sea of death because he wasn't famous enough for everyone to know.
The necromancers did not pay much attention to him. They were more worried about Suzanna. They did not know the mercenaries had a top level power until they saw the blinding combat power.
Whether he wanted to or not, Anfey knew this was his only chance of breaking through. Fernando could press ahead without any concerns, but the necromancers needed to spare part of their force to attack the mercenaries. The fight for the Book of Life was almost as important as the entire battle itself.
A few dark figures appeared in midair. Six necromancers arrived to assist in the battle. Anfey and Suzanna had already separated and were heading in different directions. One was stopping the Knights of Death, while the other was dealing with the floating specters.
Suzanna was under a lot of pressure. It wasn't easy facing hundreds of Knights of Death alone. Anfey's job wasn't easy, either. He needed to kill of the specters. The priests were gone and the mercenaries could not take care of those specters by themselves. If the specters reached the city, it would mean chaos and disorder.
Anfey saw the necromancers, but he couldn't let himself be distracted. The specters were way too fast. Luckily, the specters did not try to attack the mercenaries. The specters howled as they swooped towards Anfey, bombarding him with mind magic, then quickly flying away again, waiting for their next chance to attack. If it had been another system of magic, Anfey would have to use his mind to control the elements. However, he was almost immune to the specters' magic. It was almost impossible for the specters to defeat him unless they all attacked him at the same time.
The necromancers arrived and observed the battle. They had not come to kill anyone. Their goal was to take the Book of Life. If they must kill someone, they would rather focus their energy on the swordswoman. If they could turn her, it would be an invaluable addition to their forces.
Anfey ignored the necromancers as well. He turned and ducked the attack from a specter, then thrusted at it with his Fire Sword. Specters were very strong and very hard to destroy. However, because Anfey knew their weaknesses, it became an easy task for him.
One of the necromancers suddenly turned and, with a wave of his hand, sent a bone lance towards Anfey.
Anfey jumped aside and dashed away from the spot where a bone cage suddenly appeared. Anfey waved his Fire Sword and sliced through the bone lance. He jumped towards another specter and sliced through the creature's body, turning it into mist.
The necromancer spat angrily.
"Hans, what are you doing?" another necromancer stopped and asked.
"He killed my specter!"
"Hans! Get your priorities straight," the necromancer said angrily.
"Go ahead," Hans said. "I'll catch up." Anfey had destroyed another specter and the necromancer called Hans grew even angrier. He was very close with his specters.
Anfey dashed through the zombies. Every time he waved his sword, he could kill a few zombies, though they were not his target. The specters were fast, but he was not slow. The necromancer's magic did not bother him, and he largely ignored it.
Hans released two bone cages and missed Anfey both times. He grew frustrated and released the Touch of Death.
Touch of Death was a very powerful spell with a large range. The dark fog it created could cover a large area in a matter of seconds. The fog was very corrosive and everything it touched, including the zombies, would turn into dust.
Anfey had his eyes on another specter when he felt a sudden change in the elements. He knew this must be a powerful spell, and he needed to avoid it. Anfey ducked, releasing a magic shield around himself and quickly summoned a wall of earth.
The corrosive black fog appeared out of nowhere and began spreading quickly. The magic shield, however, had already formed and blocked the advance of the fog.
The necromancer frowned. He had seen people avoiding his spells, but he had never seen anyone avoid it in such a strange way.
The magic shield began shaking and exploded. The Touch of Death was too powerful a spell for a small magic shield to defend against, but it gave Anfey enough time to get away. By the time the magic shield disappeared and the fog began moving again, Anfey was already out of the way of the fog.
The specters must have felt the anger of their owner and surrounded Anfey, trying to take him out. Anfey pursed his lips and swept his sword around himself, taking out several specters at a time.
Hans spat. He now knew that whoever was killing his specters was not someone he could easily deal with. He held out his bone wand and began chanting. The specters all stopped streaking through the air and began shaking. The specters gathered and sent a strong but hard-to-detect wave of mind magic towards Anfey.
The specters were using the Touch of Dread, a powerful spell even top level powers could not defend themselves against. It would bring back the most painful thing in anyone's memory. The spell itself could not harm anyone, but it would send people into their own minds.
Anfey suddenly stopped moving.
Before Hans could celebrate, though, Anfey lifted his head and his eyes found Hans. The calmness in his eyes was replaced by anger.
If the spell was used on Suzanna, she would recall her time with her mother. That would effectively deter her and give the necromancer a good opportunity to injure or kill her. For Anfey, the spell brought to mind the spook that once killed him. It was painful, but it was not enough to stop him.
He grew angry because he did not know if the specters caught a glimpse of his memory. As the specters approached him, Anfey's body began shaking, and he let out a loud roar. The specters stopped as if they were frozen, then all exploded at the same time.
"Dear god," Hans whispered. "That's a forbidden spell from the abyss!"
Chapter 405: Mage Group That Cannot Be Humiliated
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Seeing the specters killed, Hans did not have time to feel bad. He knew he could be next.
Hans turned to run in the opposite direction as fast as he could. He would rather fight with a powerful swordsman or mage than an opponent who had released the Forbidden Abyss magic. If Hans took off the mage gown, he would look no different than a zombie. The only difference between him and zombies was his immortal spirit and powerful telepathy. He could release all kinds of death magic. As far as Hans knew, the evil spirits from the Evil Abyss were destroying the spirits of their opponents. Seeing his opponent could release Mental Destruction, he thought his opponent must know other skills. He worried that his spirits could be destroyed by Anfey By then he would be no different than a zombie, maybe even worse. He knew about zombies, which made him even more scared about becoming one of them.
Anfey had been very skillful in battle. Hans regretted that he had not paid more attention to Anfey's skills. The word "paladin" had the meaning of both magic and swords, but magic was more prominent than sword.
After flying about a dozen yards, Hans felt something was not right. He turned around and found Anfey using Levitation magic to follow right behind him. The distance between them closed. They both released Levitation magic, although neither possessed the magic power or telepathy to fly as fast as Archmage Saul. Anfey's magic power was not high, but his ability to controlling elements were phenomenal. Anfey could fly a lot faster than Hans. If Anfey could be described as a flying eagle, Hans was just a sparrow running for his life.
Hans felt a numb feeling in his scalp. If he still could sweat, he would have had cold sweat all over him. He turned around with a weird screaming sound. He released all his magic power and lowered his altitude, diving to the ground.
As Hans turned around, he suddenly realized something that made him want to smack himself. He was a terrific necromancer. He had millions of ways to interfere with his opponents' flying speed. He should have been able to escape from Anfey with a magic spell.
Hans plucked up his courage and turned back again. He was almost stunned. His millions of ways to interfere with his opponents seemed pointless now. More than twenty big fire balls shaped in a dome flew at him.
Some fire balls flew slow while others came at him faster. Some fire balls shot upwards into the sky, while others shot underneath Hans. These fire balls did not look like they would hit Hans, but he had a weird feeling that all of them would hit him directly.
With no other option, Hans had to take the risk. He released a bone shield first and then a magic dome. He tossed a bone spear backhanded. Unfortunately, a bone spear was nothing compared with dozens of big fire balls. Hans still hoped he could escape. He had never seen anyone with this kind of magic. The senior mages indeed could instantly shoot big fire balls, but could not shoot out so many. It took time for the big fire balls to cool down. Hans thought the power of the fire balls would die out, even though Anfey's magic was scary. He felt he could counter the big fire balls with his magic dome and shield.
Just as he came to this conclusion, those big fire balls shot toward him all at once. They exploded next to him at the same time. What surprised him was the magic dome he released got smashed immediately, then the bone shield shattered, and then his body exploded into millions of pieces. The explosion shot his body out like fire works with flesh and blood.
Anfey swung his Fire Sword and hit away the bone spear pieces. He paused in the air and slightly closed his eyes. Making the Fire Sword had taken more than half his magic power, and then he had used the rest on the fight. He did not have strong magic power from the beginning. Now he had completely exhausted his magic power. Luckily, he could do deep meditation at any time to refill his magic power. He usually repeated this cycle more than ten times every day. It became his routine. Soon, when Anfey opened his eyes, more than half his magic power had been restored.
Anfey laid his eyes on Suzanna in the distance. Suzanna looked like a strong, isolated island. No matter how many groups of death knights kept coming at her, she could counter their attack without changing her stance. Suzanna would be swallowed by waves of death knights in black, but the next moment, golden light would appear again. It was so bright that it seemed like it could blind people.
Anfey's vision was amazing. Even though he was quite far from Suzanna, he still could see the sweat on her nose. Obviously, Suzanna was not having an easy time. Anfey frowned, but not because Suzanna did not fight the hardest. The reason Suzanna struggled some in this fight was because of her fighting style and the unique opponents she faced.
Death knights inherited the characteristics of their previous life. They fought fiercely. They lost their combat power, but the power of death spirits made up for the lost combat power. They were extremely tough. Zombies would die immediately if their heads were chopped off. Headless death knights could still fight. They would crawl back up unless they exploded into pieces. Suzanna's sword skills were very direct. She counterattacked with force. She would become stronger if her opponents were stronger. She could put a lot of pressure on her opponents. She had put herself at a disadvantage when she fought the death knights, who did not have any feeling and did not mind losing their lives.
Anfey thought maybe it was time to show Suzanna different sword skills. He had considered it before, but it was not easy to change someone's poor habits, which in Suzanna's case had resulted in backward progress in terms of overall fighting ability while she was the main force of his legion. Anfey had suffered from this kind of experience. He used to practice punch as fast as he could and then learned about Large Hand Wrapping in tai chi. When he was practicing with his dad, he did not know if he should block the punch or using the skill of Grasping Hands as he saw the punch from his dad. He had been so hesitant that he lost the fight as a result. Anfey did not figure it out for a full six months until he completely mastered Large Hands Wrapping.
Suddenly, a change caught Anfey's attention. Five necromancers had started fighting with mercenaries. The holy light from the Book of Life could pose a fatal threat to them, but it did not stop them from releasing magic outside the range of the holy light. There were more mages than necromancers, but they were not at a senior level and were not highly lethal. If a mage stepped out to fight with a necromancer, that necromancer was sure he would win. That was why they could start the fight without any concerns.
Luckily, these necromancers were not Fallen necromancers. The so-called Fallen necromancers were those who had been mages in a previous life but had been allured by the death spirts and stooped to become a necromancer, and finally became a death spirit at the end.
Magic academies in different areas contributed to the spread of magic. After systematic training, the best people were selected. Necromancers had their own academies as well. They would not produce enough necromancers if they only relied on voluntary fallen necromancers to pass on death magic.
Students in a death magic academy were the orphans or abducted kids from all over. They were brain-washed to select the best candidates to be necromancers. When they reached adulthood, the academies would make them necromancers. In their minds, the existence of death spirits was reasonable and honorable. Living things with blood and flesh needed to be killed or assimilated.
Mages and swordsmen needed to do an internship after they graduated to develop their social skills and built experience in fighting. However, necromancers did not have such opportunities. To go out to do an internship? It would be nothing more than asking them to kill others. What these necromancers had done was something even Annunciata would not dare to do: pick a fight with a mature mage group.
The mage group in the League of Mercenaries had been together for a while. They had consensus on fighting techniques. When bone spears flew over, the mages who were waiting for orders released magic spells at the same time.
Silver snakes danced in the sky. Lightning tore the dark sky and shot down at extreme speed. The clanking sound from the sky almost pieced their ear drums. While continuing to attack the necromancers, mercenaries could not help covering their ears with their hands, in pain.
Any mage group's fighting ability should not be neglected. Dark Moon Magic legion in Ellison Empire was so powerful and intimidating because they had about a thousand mages under their command. The magic they released together could change the color of the ground and the sky or destroy a city. No one could stop them. Even if they fought with a top level power, they could explode him into powder.
The necromancers were stunned by what the mage group could do. Only one necromancer realized what had happened. He took out a magic scroll from his Dimensional ring. But he looked like he was trembling. His judgement was right though. No matter what kind of magic dome and magic shield they released, they would not able to counter hundreds of magic lightning bolts.
A phantom dragon appeared in the sky. It was not a real phantom dragon, just one created by magic. It was just a personalized phantom dragon. It's attacking and defensive abilities were only half those of a real phantom dragon, but it was large and it could cover those necromancers under its bony wings.
With a huge blast, about a hundred lightning bolts neatly hit the phantom dragon all at once. The phantom dragon twisted in pain. There were so many cracks of different sizes in the bony wings that it looked like spider web.
Necromancers did not get hurt, but mages did. Because of the differences in their levels, two of the mages were hit by bony spears and fell, screaming.
Blavi got mad immediately. Every mage was a treasure. This saying was carved on the door of the mage academy to encourage people to study magic. If students who were still learning magic were considered so important, then definitely so were mages who had already finished their studies and worked in their internships.
Chapter 406: Final Battle
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Blavi waved his hand and sent a large fireball towards the phantom dragon. The mages around him followed suit, summoning and launching hundreds of fireballs towards the dragon. An attack like this was no different than a high level spell, like the meteor spell.
The ghost dragon flapped its wings and dove down, flying through the fire. The dragon roared and was blown into pieces. A few fireballs flew past the dragon and towards the necromancers behind it. Unfortunately, the attack was blocked by the bone shields.
The scroll that enabled the necromancers to summon ghost dragons was very rare and usually reserved for use against a difficult opponent. Using it on some mages was a waste, but the necromancers did not have time to regret their decision. "Hurry," one of the necromancers called. "Let's go!"
"Who said you can go?" Anfey said sharply. He jumped up and lunged at the necromancers, gripping his fire sword in one hand. He pulled out his other sword, gripping it in his other hand.
More lightning appeared in the sky. The lightning flew towards the necromancers like hundreds of relentless whips.
Jacob had not given Anfey and Suzanna any important weapons for their wedding because he knew that Anfey would get too many gifts that day. After the war began, he made several powerful weapons to protect those he deemed worthy. One of those weapons was the magic sword in Anfey's hand.
The magic sword could release serial lightning and had taken a long time and lots of materials to forge. Jacob never mentioned it because he did not forge it for money. Otherwise he wouldn't have given it to Anfey.
The necromancers summoned some magic shields, but the shields all shattered under the relentless attacks of the lightning. Lightning summoned by a normal mage could numb its target but could not kill anyone. Serial lightening released by Jacob's sword, however, was very powerful. Not only could it numb its target, it was powerful enough to cause serious injuries and even death.
Lightning bolts were still hitting them, and the necromancers were already falling to the ground. Even if they were still conscious, they couldn't do anything in defense.
Anfey dove after them, holding out his fire sword and returning the magic sword to its sheath. He swung the sword, slicing through the necromancers. The necromancers' robes caught fire as they crashed into the zombies.
"Protect Warner!" Anfey called to the mages, then dashed off to find Suzanna.
On another battlefield, Fernando felt frustrated as he watched the sea of zombies. He had no problem supporting Anfey with a third of his men, but now that he stood on the battlefield of the final battle, he knew that he should have kept some of those men.
Fifty miles to the east of the main battlefield, a legion of two hundred thousand soldiers was waiting. At the head of this army was a young woman. She stood watching the battlefield with a deep frown.
A few specks appeared in the air. The griffin knights landed near the army and hurried up to the young woman. They whispered something to her, and she nodded. The griffin knights hurried away. She turned to her army and waved her hand.
"Raise your flags," she called to her men.
Anfey could not pay any attention to what was happening in the surrounding area. All he wanted to do was to break through this army of zombies. He had been trying to search for other necromancers, because he thought that the necromancers wouldn't let him get away that easily.
However, no new necromancers arrived. Even those Knights of Death broke away as if they were opening a path.
After making sure that there were no more zombies around, Warner closed the Book of Life around dawn. He still had a lot of magic power, but he was exhausted. The mercenaries did not have time celebrate their victory. They did not even have time to set up camp. Instead of tents, they all sat down on the ground and slept huddling together. This was still a dangerous location, and they must be on their way soon.
The mercenaries were resting, but Anfey, Suzanna, and the other leaders could not. Along with the other mercenary leaders, they needed to calculate their losses.
Anfey had around 4,000 mercenaries under his command when he first arrived at Zagreen City. Now, he had around 2,600 men. They lost about 1,500 men while guarding the city for seven days.
Everyone knew that this was bad, but this was the way of war. The mercenaries that had survived were all powerful enough to survive, and the weak were eliminated. Most were senior swordsmen who were very close to leveling up to swordsmasters.
Country of Mercenaries had many powerful men and women who had not been discovered. If all these mercenaries teamed up against Ellisen Empire, Ellisen army would not stand a chance against them.
Even the smallest mercenary group had powerful members, or else it would be impossible to survive in the harsh environment of the Country of Mercenaries. These mercenaries were forced to work together because they were trapped in the same city by the zombies. Those that could survive were usually the strongest. Mercenaries believed in survival of the fittest, and strength was the most important thing in a world at war. When facing thousands of zombies, brilliance was secondary. The most important thing was raw power.
Guarding Zagreen City was an audition in a way. Shinbella's legion lost only a hundred men, while Ozzic's lost almost half. Thompson's legion was formed from several different mercenary groups. He did not even know everyone's names, yet he only lost fifty. This was because all the mercenaries Thompson recruited were strong and experienced fighters. After Thompson joined the alliance, there were four legions and each legion contained around seven hundred men.
No one was following them as they were heading into the mountains. If anything happened, the mountains would be a natural defense. Anfey and the mercenary leaders decided that they would stop for a day or two and regroup the mercenaries.
Shinbella did not appear shaken by the loss of her men. She was a senior swordsmaster and wasn't worried about her reputation. Her men were very loyal and could easily take in any new members. Ozzic wasn't worried, either. Anfey trusted him, and he had Ye to help him.
Thompson was very relaxed. He was the last to join and was popular among the mercenaries who had jumped over to the alliance. His legion did not lose a lot of men and did not require a lot of new members.
Orsie was the only one that was worried. He did not lose as many people as Ozzic, but he still lost a considerable amount. Two of his intermediate swordsmasters lost all of their men. He was worried what they might say about this situation. He wasn't as powerful as Shinbella and had no assistants. He had to deal with everything alone.
After a day of rest, the mercenaries began marching to the northeast and towards where Band of Brothers mercenary group had settled. South of Zagreen City, a battle that could determine the fate of Country of Mercenaries was unfolding, and the necromancers were at a disadvantage. If they could not win the battle at night, there was no promise that the necromancers and their zombies could make it through the day.
Chapter 407: Shameless
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In four days, Anfey and his mercenaries travelled over 400 miles. They had finished half of the trip, according to the map. In fact, travelling 100 miles a day was not a problem for Anfey's mercenaries. However, Anfey had his own concerns. They did not have enough food. Everyone was asked to reduce the amount of their food to half. In general, people need food to provide energy and feel hungry even if they only miss one meal. Asking hungry mercenaries to speed up was too much.
Mages should have been treated differently, since their bodies were not as strong as swordsmen. However, they acted really tough, insisting on being treated the same as others after seeing Anfey and Suzanna only take half portions, like all the other mercenaries. They gave their half of their food to foreman Black Eleven to keep.
It was undeniable that people tended to unite in difficult times. The mercenaries in the League of Mercenaries had a culture of helping each other when anyone was in need. Of course, Anfey contributed to this culture by setting an example. Leaders demanded special treatment everywhere on Pan Continent. Not many people like Anfey would set an example for others. In fact, he did not have to follow the rule he made. No matter how much food he wanted to eat, even ten portions, there would be no objection from the 2,600 mercenaries. Anfey was not only an earl, but also the leader of the League of Mercenaries. As an earl and the leader of the League of Mercenaries, he had the right to make his life more comfortable.
However, Anfey did as regular mercenaries would do and asked Suzanna, Blavi, and Ozzic to follow the rule as well. Others in the league who could have enjoyed the special treatment voluntarily gave up their special rights on their own, following Anfey's example.
In history, as a civilization develops, everyone acts to constrain individuals' power to prevent dictatorship. The information did not pass so freely on the Pan Continent. Heroism played a big role in society. Sometimes, the nature and characteristics of a leader could decide the culture of the whole legion.
Taking druids as an example. Bear tribe druids represented strength and power, while Wolf tribe druids represented toughness and persistence. When there was a conflict with non-druids, Bear tribe druids would be the main force, while Wolf tribe druids would counterattack, and Hawk tribe druids would be in charge of scouting and providing reinforcements.
Since the third generation of leaders was in place, the structure of druid organization had been changing. Bruzuryano was honest and did not like conflict. He did not want to see people dying in battle. He did not believe fighting was the only way to solve problems. He would start fierce counterattacks only when someone crossed him. That was the reason he was honored with a nickname "Guardian". At the same time, Bear tribe druids gradually gave up their main force position.
Manstuly was paranoid and sought revenge for the smallest grievance. He would kill a person even when they only had a minor conflict. People were influenced positively by good people and negatively by bad people. Over 100,000 druids in Wolf tribe had changed with the influence of Manstuly. They used to fight for the purpose of defending themselves. Later they fought for food to feed themselves, and then fought to obtain wealth, and then started to rob others, or even kill others to satisfy their craving for the excitement.
No one would judge whether Bruzuryano and Manstuly was right or wrong. The law of the jungle and bullying did exist. Manstuly was so cruel that other groups accepted his expansion for the time being, which allowed Wolf tribe to see gains. Manstuly's wife was an elf pharaoh, so he received a lot of support from Goddess of Nature. He had more clout than Mauso or Bruzuryano.
In addition, Saul's students formed a united group with Anfey as the founder. He had been taking care of everyone and making plans whenever things happened. Suzanna and he were always in the front when there was a war to try to protect the mages behind them. Everyone saw and knew what Anfey had done for them. They consciously or unconsciously compared themselves with him and learned from him. The culture of this group was decided by Anfey. If Anfey were jealous of Christian's prestige and tried to put him down, or showed any dislike of Niya's stubbornness and impulsiveness, there could have been many conflicts among them even, even when survival was at stake.
In Blackwater City, everyone in Anfey's legion asked Christian to tell Anfey not to treat them as kids, since Anfey and Suzanna had been doing everything but never asked for their help. They had developed a sense of responsibility and did not passively hide from fights. Instead, they volunteered to join the battles, which meant this group had matured, and the bonds among them had strengthened.
However, Anfey did not realized how influential he was to his legion: otherwise, he would have acted more generous and knowledgeable. He was facing Suzanna with his sword. "Don't use combat power. You would not know where the weaknesses in your sword skills are if you use combat power."
"I understand," Suzanna said.
"Whoever's sword hits the floor loses." Anfey thought for a moment, then said, "Let's bet."
"Bet on what?" Suzanna asked.
"Hitting the palm? Not fun. How about flicking foreheads? Not fun either. Never mind. Whoever loses will get spanked. What do you think?" Anfey grinned. There was not much to bet between a couple. They could only bet on this.
"Sure." Suzanna looked excited.
"I am not putting all my strength into it either. Watch out!" Anfey stepped forward and thrusted his sword at Suzanna's chest.
Suzanna blocked him in a very standard position. The two swords clashed with a clear clanking sound. Anfey's sword swirled and then pressed on Suzanna's sword. He suddenly yelled, "Let it go!"
With the swirling and pressing, Anfey's sword had pressed the tip of Suzanna's sword. He thought Suzanna would not be able to hold the sword anymore. Anfey was shocked that Suzanna still could hold her sword steady in the air, while he almost lost hold of his sword.
"You!" Anfey was irritated. "Didn't I tell you that you could not use combat power!" Anfey seemed to forget he was a leader when he was with Suzanna. At that moment, he was just a husband, playing with his wife. He definitely would get mad if he was played by his wife.
Suzanna giggled awkwardly. She knew she was not right. "I got used to using combat power."
"Don't use combat power." Seeing Suzanna feeling bad about it, Anfey let it go, but he was nervous about it.
"I got it, got it," Suzanna said.
They went back to fighting. Swords clashed in the air. If Ernest was at a disadvantage when he fought Anfey without combat power, then surely Suzanna would be. Soon, Anfey screamed again. This time, he did not ask Suzanna to let her sword go. Instead, he called out her name, "Suzanna!"
"One more time." Suzanna stuck her tongue out. The sword was the life of a swordswoman, so whenever Suzanna felt she was about to lose her sword, she could not help performing combat power. She felt bad about violating the rule twice.
"Couldn't you keep your promise?" Anfey asked helplessly.
"Let's try again." Suzanna pretended she did not hear it.
"You are losing the fight if you use combat power again." Anfey put the magic sword back into the sheath. "I am not using my sword."
"Not using your sword? Don't blame me if you lose the fight," Suzanna said.
"Losing? I will show you what my real skills are." Anfey chuckled.
If someone else had said it, Suzanna not would not pay too much attention to it. However, it was different story when Anfey said it. She still did not completely understand Anfey. She knew Anfey had a lot of secrets. A playful smile appeared on her face. "Ok, I will try my best."
"Come on!" Anfey did not pay attention to the words "try her best," He did not realize what it meant until he saw the bright golden light on Suzanna. "You…"
Before Anfey could finish his sentence, Suzanna's sword radiance had shoot at Anfey's head. Anfey had to step back to dodge it. He yelled, "You used combat power again. You lose!"
Suzanna did not seem to hear what Anfey said. She swung her sword sideways. Anfey flipped backwards, and he was already about eight yards away from Suzanna. "You should get your punishment as you promised."
"Come get me!" Suzanna giggled. She chased after Anfey. It was fine when there were alone. Now Ozzic, Blavi and few others stopped to watch. They seemed to come to see Anfey. She would never get spanked in the public. She would not keep her promise today.
Anfey was speechless. He thought to himself, How dare you play so shamelessly with me? He suddenly closed his eyes. He did not step back to dodge. Instead, he stepped forward to counter Suzanna's sword radiance.
Suzanna was shocked by Anfey's move. No matter how good Anfey was, he would not be able to counter the sword radiance with his body. She turned her sword away and took off the combat power at the same time. The leftover sword radiance shot to the ground to the right of Suzanna and made a fairly loud sound.
Anfey reached his hand out and grabbed at Suzanna's wrist. The tai chi move of large hand wrapping was a very skillful seizing art. In addition, Suzanna was worried that Anfey would get hurt, and she tried to take back her combat power when she felt half of her body go numb. Her right arm had been twisted behind her back.
"This is for not keeping your promise." Anfey felt proud of himself and grinned. He spanked Suzanna three times because she did not keep her word three times. He was accounting for everything that had happened.
Ozzic cleared his throat. They felt a little awkward as they walked toward Anfey. They had business to talk about. "Master"
When Anfey turned around, he had a straight face. He did not look too serious, but business-like. "What's wrong?"
"Master, a mage group found a group of mercenaries. There are about 400 of them. Do you think we should contact them?" Ozzic said in a serious voice.
Chapter 408: Noble
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The Eye of the Sky found a group of mercenaries marching through the forest. There were no enemies around them, but the mercenaries were all very careful.
"They all look very powerful," Ozzic commented, "or else they wouldn't have been able to get to this point. Storm City is about sixty miles from here. They might have come from there."
"Not necessarily," Orsie said, shaking his head. "I don't think they broke through the line of zombies by themselves."
"What?" Ozzic asked, frowning. "Are you saying the necromancers let them out?"
"That's just my thought," Orsie shrugged.
"But why?" Ozzic asked incredulously.
"I'm not joking," Orsie said. "Think about it. We haven't encountered large groups of zombies in days, which means the necromancers aren't as powerful as they appear. I think they have moved most of their forces to deal with the Shield of Light legion."
"I agree," Anfey said, nodding. He had thought about this before, as well. The necromancers did not try to stop him from leaving, and even allowed the Knights of Death to retreat. The necromancers must feel pressured by the battle with Fernando, which proved that the necromancers were not as powerful as he had originally expected. They could not fight on two fronts at the same time. Fernando must have already cornered them. Anfey felt respect towards the man. Despite what he may have planned, Fernando was an able and smart man.
"Should we send someone to talk to them?" Ozzic asked.
"That's a good idea," Anfey said. "We need to know more about our surroundings."
"Wait! Guys, look!" Blavi suddenly called.
The group moved their attention to another Eye of the Sky and saw an army marching through the forest. There were not a lot of soldiers, but there were a lot of carts carrying supplies.
"Why is there an army here?" Anfey asked, shocked.
Ozzic frowned when he spotted the army's flag. "It's from Shansa Empire."
"What are they doing here?"
The mercenaries glanced at each other, unsure how to answer that question.
"That's their supply line," Black Elven said. "The main army must have already passed. This is a lot of supplies. They must have at least fifty thousand troops."
Anfey frowned. He wasn't worried about ruining his relationship with the Church. Most members of the Shield of Light legion were from Maho Empire, anyway. Fernando wouldn't do anything out of line. But now that Shansa army had joined the fight, the situation became much more complicated. He was famous for destroying part of Shansa Empire's Griffin Aerial Unit, and he was certain that Shansa Empire wouldn't mind killing a few thousand mercenaries in retaliation.
Black Eleven was a very honest person, and he wouldn't try to scare them. If he said that the army must have at least fifty thousand, then the army must have at least fifty thousand.
The mercenaries turned to Anfey. They knew that the relationship between Anfey and Shansa Empire was not good, and having Shansa army in the Country of Mercenaries could threaten the alliance.
A few minutes later, the mercenaries and the Shansa army saw each other. After a few moments of chaos, both sides realized that they had not encountered zombies or necromancers. The army sent out a few soldiers to greet the mercenaries.
After a brief conversation, the mercenaries ran towards the army and surrounded a supply cart. A few mercenaries jumped onto the cart and found some waterskins.
"Blavi," Anfey said. "Keep an eye on the army."
"Alright," Blavi said, nodding.
"Armin, count how many soldiers they have."
Black Eleven nodded.
Ozzic blinked. "You're not…"
"You're not going rob them, are you?" Orsie asked.
"We're not robbers," Thompson said with a grin. Then he realized that Orsie wasn't joking and frowned.
Thompson was a new member. He had never met Alice and did not know Anfey's past, which was why he was surprised.
"I don't know," Anfey said. "I need to think about it." He knew that it was better for the world if he left the Shansa army alone, but robbing them would be beneficial to him and Maho Empire.
"We should do it!" Ozzic said. "This is a perfect opportunity!"
"This army is here to help with the war effort," Anfey said. "We shouldn't take advantage of that." He looked up from the Eye of the Sky and found the others around him staring at him, strangely. To his companions, he wasn't one to say something like this. Priests were the most important part of the war effort, yet he had just ordered the mercenaries to murder a few hundred a couple of days ago.
"Sir, do you need some rest?" Ozzic asked quietly.
"No," Anfey said with a laugh. "I'm perfectly fine."
"Sir," Shinbella said, "if we run into the army, will they recognize you and attack us?"
"Maybe," Anfey said. "I don't know." Shinbella nodded and did not say anything else. She did not need to. If the Shansa army could attack the mercenaries, why couldn't the mercenaries attack them?
"They outnumber us," Thompson said. "If we are going to attack, we need a good plan to minimize damage. Shansa Empire doesn't have the best armies, but we cannot underestimate them."
"You're already underestimating them," Black Eleven said, shaking his head. "They never performed well because they lacked a good general."
"You mean…"
"Do you see that flag? That is the flag of Silver Griffins. I've read about it before. That is the standard of Scarlet. I don't know why General Baery would speak so highly of a woman so young, but I know that General Baery never makes mistakes."
"Armin, you know General Baery?" Thompson asked, shocked.
Black Eleven froze. He had made a mistake and exposed his identity. Anfey coughed. "Concentrate," he told Black Eleven. Then he turned to Thompson and shook his head.
Thompson frowned. "We can't fight them head on, then," he said, trying to change the topic.
"He's right," Ozzic said. "We need a plan."
"What is that?" one of the mages suddenly asked.
"What is it?" Riska hurried over and asked.
"I just saw a shadow, but it was too fast."
"You sure you didn't just make a mistake?" Blavi asked, frowning.
"No," the mage said. "Here it is again!" He leaned closer and his eyes widened. "God, it's a griffin!"
Chapter 409: Coming Out of the Cave
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
As the griffin suddenly made a high pitched scream in the air, the shadow changed at the same time. If someone had been watching the flying pattern of griffins, it was not hard to notice the griffin was flying around an oval track.
Griffins had wide vision. Their ability to observer was right below the druids' enormous eagle, but far less intelligent. The druid's enormous eagle was transformed from druids with transformation magic. They only changed their appearance, but their intelligence was not affected. If they were smart druids, they would still be smart eagles. If they were stupid as druids, they would be stupid as eagles. However, even the dumbest druid would be much more intelligent than griffins.
With strict training, griffins mastered two common patterns. If they found people, but only a few of them, they would fly around in an oval pattern. If they discovered many people, they would fly in a figure eight pattern. Griffins would not know how to estimate the number of people. They relied on the griffin rider to see and make an estimate.
The general in Shansa Empire underneath the griffin saw the signals from the griffin, but he did not think it was a big deal, since the griffin thought there were not many in that group. Whether they were friends or enemies, they would not be able to pose any threat to them.
Before long, two black spots appeared in the sky. When they flew closer, the soldiers and mercenaries who just had eaten could not help cheering for them. It was a girl and a guy. The guy looked handsome, with clear sharp eyes. The girl had long hair. She looked like she just walked out of a painting. She looked so feminine and so adorable. What a couple! The horses they rode were beautiful as well. They were pure white. The knights from Shansa Empire were amazed by the horses' build and muscles. They were rare breeds, which made them think of the special horses in Knights of Light mercenary. They were called "Snow Beasts".
"How are you?" The general in the front stepped forward. He greeted Anfey and Suzanna with welcome laughs. He wanted to make friends with the two of them. It was not hard to believe they had amazing skills, since they dared to pass the area full of death spirits with just two people. "You guys are…"
"My name is Anfey. This is Suzanna." Anfey said with a smile.
"Anfey? The earl in Maho Empire?" The general was shocked.
"Yes, that's me," Anfey said, smiling. "I have been dealing with necromancers and death spirits for many days. I'm very happy to finally see humans. Judging from your equipment, you are probably not mercenaries."
"We are soldiers of Shansa Empire." The general glanced at his own flag. He knew he could not lie about it.
"When did Shansa Empire send its military over?" Anfey asked in surprise.
"Master Anfey, I know we have had some conflicts before, but death spirits are our common enemies since the War against the Dead broke out." The general smiled. "You should not have asked us when we came down. You should have said we came too late."
Anfey was shocked for a second, then smiled and said, "You are right. If all the military people could be as upright as you, I think we definitely would win in this War against the Dead."
"Thank you for your compliment," the general said. "Master Anfey, Master Suzanna, where are you going?"
"We do not have a destination. We fled all the way here. We will go anywhere there are fewer death spirits," Anfey said.
"It looks like you guys had a tough time," the general said.
"Not just a tough time, it was miserable," Anfey said with a bitter smile.
That general looked up at the sky to check the time. "It is time to set up camp. I know you are very experienced and knowledgeable. If you do not mind our simple camping conditions, you can stay with us for a day. Please tell us your adventures. Soldiers will open their eyes after they hear your stories."
"Do you have wine?" Anfey licked his lips.
"Master, don't worry. We have plenty of wine." The general laughed. "I have enough for you to take a bath in the wine."
"Wonderful!" Anfey looked very pleased.
The general waved his hand to signal the knights in front to make a path. Anfey and Suzanna directed their horses forward. At that moment, something weird happened. After Anfey passed through those knights, they gathered together again. It did not looked like they were welcoming guests. Instead, they surrounded Anfey. Some knights even looked hostile towards him.
"What are you doing?" Anfey was not blind. He became alert immediately.
"Fight!" the general yelled. At the same time, he pulled the reigns so his horse would move to the back, not because he was scared, but because he was too close to Anfey and Suzanna. A strategy in the war was to seize the ringleader before catching all the followers. To avoid it that, the general moved back.
Knights had been waiting for this order for a while. Over twenty knight spears were tossed at Anfey and Suzanna together. The combat powers were everywhere, while spears came at Suzanna and Anfey from all angles.
The horse Suzanna rode screamed in pain and then fell on the ground. The next second, Suzanna's feet touched the ground. She shoot up so fast that she looked like a shoot of light. She jumped over the heads of knights. Anfey's moves seemed to be against common sense. Without seeing him getting ready or jumping on anything, Anfey was able to fly up. Eight knight spears pierced through the horse in a second. The knights all liked this handsome horse, but they could care less about it right now.
Anfey dodged away. He stepped on a knight's head. A bone cracking sound was heard. That knight's body jerked immediately. Anfey borrowed the momentum to jump into the air and dodge the attacks from knights.
When Suzanna landed, she could not help falling on her knees. This girl had gotten so much better with practice. Anfey could not help giving her compliments in his head. He landed next to Suzanna. He held her up and yelled immediately, "You go first. I will take care of this situation." He winked at Suzanna.
Suzanna, rolled her eyes at him. Without saying a word, she started to run back in the direction she had come.
Seeing the sudden change, a griffin rider suddenly lower its altitude and yelled, "What happened? Why did you attack mercenaries?" Obviously, they were in charge of safety and scouting. They were in a different unit and did not take orders from each other. Otherwise he not would ask this way.
"He is Anfey," the general yelled in acute pain. The best approach would have been to invite Anfey to his camp and try to kill him when Anfey was relaxed after the meal and drinks. He would have had a much better chance to kill him when Anfey was not alert. He was able to keep a straight face. Unfortunately, his followers could not and showed their hostility on their faces too early. Lies helped him bond with Anfey, but he could not explain where the hostility was from. Anfey had led his legion and wiped out Griffin Aerial Unit. He knew it was not that easy to deceive Anfey. He had fought Anfey earlier, but it gave Anfey a chance to escape.
"Anfey?" The griffin circled in the air. The griffin rider yelled, "Is he really Anfey?"
"It is him," the general said.
The griffin rider took a deep breath as the griffin paused for a second before flying after the fleeing Anfey. Another griffin knight lowered his altitude and followed that griffin rider after they saw what had happened.
The general turned around to look at the stunned mercenaries. He hesitated before he yelled, "Cavalry units one, two and three, stay. The rest of you follow me. Get Anfey for me!" The generals in charge of logistics could only earn rewards by working very hard. They rarely had the chance to accomplish heroic deeds in battle. Seeing Anfey and Suzanna flee, he was not willing to simply give up this chance to the griffin riders. In addition, he could tell Suzanna was hurt. He had to take advantage of it to kill Anfey. He felt blessed to have this opportunity to seize Anfey and accomplish a heroic deed in the war.
The soldiers from Shansa Empire rushed toward Anfey as he fled. Some flew, some rode horses, while others ran. They had many different types of soldiers. Anfey dared not be in the fight too long after he had killed a few knights with his element spear. He left the battle as fast as possible. He was so fast that he looked like he flew everywhere with lightning speed. However, he was weighed down. Suzanna's was fast at times, but slow at other times. The combat power was strong sometimes but very weak other times. Obviously, she did not have good control over her combat powers.
As soldiers got closer to them, Anfey had to run back to swing his sword to protect Suzanna. He was able to escape each time before he was caught by the soldiers.
Neither griffin riders nor regular soldiers from Shansa Empire knew Suzanna had advanced to be a master swordswoman. If they had known, they would not have chased her. They would not have had the courage to fight her.
The griffin riders in the sky seemed to be the toughest enemies. To soldiers in Shansa Empire, it was easy for them to be knights, but the army was very selective in choosing griffin rider. Most griffin riders were the best of the best. Without knowing why, they were constantly shooting magic spells at Anfey, and did not seem to notice Suzanna was different. It might have been that they were too proud to do so, or tried to keep the Knight's principles.
The general from Shansa Empire acted really weird. Whenever Anfey was attacked by crossbow, he would look worried. He looked like he was worried Anfey would get killed by the crossbow. Whenever Anfey dodged those attacks or knock away a crossbow, he had a smile on his face. Luckily, those griffin riders had all their attention on Anfey and did not notice the change to his face; otherwise they would think he was a traitor.
Anfey fled while soldiers from Shansa Empire chased him. Without knowing how long he had run, he noticed it was getting dark. Griffin riders appeared to have forgotten one thing: griffins lost their vision when they tried to attack only a dozen yards above the ground. The general from Shansa Empire also forgot that knights could chase Suzanna and Anfey on horses, but cavalry in armor could not keep pace with them. In fact, the general's management skills and intelligence seemed to be very limited; otherwise he would be a general on the front lines instead of in charge of supplies and logistics.
Chapter 410: Uncontested Power
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Anfey stopped as Suzanna stumbled to the ground a second time and turned around slowly. The griffin knights saw this as an opportunity and flew towards Anfey from several different angles.
Anfey did not move to duck the attacks from the griffins. Instead, he stood his ground and raised his sword. The general from Shansa Empire gripped his reins and narrowed his eyes. Anfey did not look like a man who was being attacked from all angles. He looked too calm to be prey of the griffins.
Anfey gripped his sword and a strong magic surge rippled from it. The sky darkened for a moment, and hundreds of lightning bolts fell from the sky and headed towards the griffins.
The Shansa general's eyes widened at the sight.
The griffin knights and the soldiers nearby sensed the danger and summoned their combat power, but it was almost impossible to block the attack of serial lightening.
Griffins were famous for strong defense against magical attacks, but there was still a limit. Other than Dark Hell Dragon, there was almost no other creature that was completely immune to magic attacks. The griffins fell from the sky with a large crack and crashed into the soldiers below.
Anfey jumped up and dashed towards the soldiers, his sword sweeping through the air. He didn't care if his target was alive or not. He just needed to get to the griffins and take them out.
"That's a magic sword," the Shansa general called. "He needs time to use it again!" The general knew that he was doomed. Even if he could kill Anfey, he would still be punished.
A year ago, after the news of the destruction of the Griffins Aerial Unit reached Shansa Empire, the king was furious. He jailed several generals and ordered their families sold into slavery. General Kumaraghosha's family experienced the worst punishment. The men of his family were sold into slavery, while the women were executed, their bodies cut up and fed to the griffins. Edward VIII claimed it was out of revenge for Kumaraghosha's traitorous actions, but it was still unfitting for a king to do such cruel things to his subjects. The information about Kumaraghosha's family was sealed up in a secret document, and people were forbidden from speaking of this event. However, word still got out. Something as cruel as that could never stay a secret and had a way of making rounds among the upperclasses of Shansa Empire.
Scarlet had requested aid from the Griffins Aerial Unit, and the request was initially denied. Edward the VIII told her that there was no room for negotiation. Later, the crown prince himself went to his father and begged on behalf of Scarlet. Edward the VIII finally agreed to send a hundred griffin knights to aid Scarlet. Scarlet did not want to put the griffins in danger and used them solely as scouts. Now that several had died, the general knew that the king would be furious.
The Shansa soldiers hesitated, then dashed forward. The general rode after them. He had nothing to lose anymore. He knew that he was doomed, and he had doomed his family as well.
Anfey returned the magic sword to its sheath and turned to Suzanna. Suzanna stood and nodded at him and summoned her combat power. She burst into blinding light.
Suzanna dashed towards the soldiers, gripping her sword tight. The soldiers present were not the most powerful in the Shansa army. The highest-ranking among them were only some silver knights. These silver knights were at the forefront of the attack and were mostly injured by the serial lightning released by the magic sword. The remaining soldiers were too low of a rank to be Suzanna's opponent.
The Shansa general watched in shock. He never expected Anfey to have a master swordsman under his command. It was possible to take out a top level powers, but that would require overwhelming numbers and more than a dozen senior level fighters. His soldiers were not trained for direct combat and stood no chance against a top level power.
The Shansa general was too distracted by Suzanna and had ignored Anfey. He had forgotten that Anfey, not Suzanna, was supposed to be his main target.
Anfey held his sword in front of him but did not move. The blade of his fire sword was radiating such intense heat it had warped the air around him. To the Shansa soldiers, Anfey's figure was very distorted.
The horses began to whinny and refuse to go forward as they got closer to Anfey. The animals were much more sensitive to the change in environment than their riders. Some horses halted so suddenly their riders lost control and stumbled off. The soldiers tried to force their horses to go forward, but the heat was so intense the horses burst into flames before even reaching him. The combat power of the soldiers wavered in the heat like bubbles.
Anfey took a step forward and thrust his sword towards the soldiers. The sword suddenly grew in size and reached even the soldiers who could not convince their horses to go forward. The heat of the sword lit the entire field on fire.
Anfey jumped forward and dashed through the fiery field and towards the remaining soldiers. The fire licked at his legs but did not burn or hurt him. The burning air was surging and beating against the soldiers' combat power. Even though the combat power was still intact and was protecting them, the soldiers still felt sharp stings from the heat of the flame. It was as if they were burning, even though they were protected.
Anfey zigzagged through the soldiers, waving his sword and slicing through the Shansa soldiers. Cutting through the combat power and armors became as easy as cutting butter.
The Shansa general watched in despair. He understood now why Edward VIII had named Newyoheim as the commander of the Dark Moon Magic Legion, despite Newyoheim never having any experience with armies. Newyoheim was a top level power and had the reputation a regular general does not. Defeating a top level power requires another top level power. Defeating top level powers with large numbers was not a good plan and would lead to too many casualties.
The Shansa general spotted a few mages in the air, but his hope of backup quickly died as the mages began raining down magic on his men. A magic signal rose into the air behind him, signaling that his supply carts had been attacked.
The Shansa general laughed and rode towards Suzanna. He had been avoiding contact with her, but he had nothing to lose anymore. He didn't want to kill Suzanna because he knew that it was impossible. He just wanted her to kill him and to spare him of any further punishments he might face once he returned to Shansa Empire.
"Wait!" Anfey called out to Suzanna when he saw the general riding towards her. "Don't kill him! I need to talk to him."
Suzanna nodded. She turned her sword around and slammed the hilt of the sword into the Shansa general's head. The general stumbled off of his horse and crashed into the ground. He was unconscious by the time he hit the ground.
Chapter 411: Better To Be the Killer than on the Chopping Block
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Seeing their general defeated, the knights of Shansa Empire were in chaos. They were scared by Anfey's cruel way of killing, even though they did not see a lot of blood. They did not want to continue fighting. They all started to flee.
Anfey not only wanted to keep his own losses to a minimum, but also wipe out his opponents. Otherwise he would not have put so much effort into this battle. Suzanna and he did not chase the knights. They simply followed behind at a distance. Mages in Elizabeth's unit were divided into two groups and channeled the knights from Shansa Empire. They herded the knights like shepherds.
The knights from Shansa Empire ran for a while and caught up to their cavalry. Because of the differences in stamina, the cavalry in armors walked in a long formation. The formation stretched about nine miles long. The stronger soldiers marched in the front of the group, but they were all out of breath. The knights from Shansa Empire were so terrified that they ran through the cavalry formation in panic. The cavalry were jostled around and yelled at the knights. Some of them were knocked into the air, while others were trampled under the horses.
The surviving members of the cavalry started to curse. When they saw Suzanna covered under the golden lights and the strong and incomparable combat power, they wondered if Suzanna was a master swordswoman. They looked around for their flag but could not find it. They immediately realized why their peers acted in such a way. They stopped cursing. Their almost-exhausted energy was rejuvenated and they started to run after the cavalry.
Thompson led more than a hundred mercenaries behind Anfey. Thompson's job was to clean up the battlefield, which meant every opponent should be killed. They all dressed neatly when they walked out. Oddly, they all started to take their shirts off and showed their fair and tanned chest. In the aftermath of Anfey's Fire Sword, it was so hot that they had to partially undress. Every being on the whole battlefield was down on the ground xcept for one horse. There was a person riding on that horse who struggled hard but could not rein in the horse.
A mercenary strode over and smiled. "This should be the only person alive, as Master requested." He grabbed a sword that Suzanna had embedded in a rock, trying hard to pull it out. However, after trying for a while, the sword did not seem to move one bit. He said out of surprise, "Master Suzanna is so powerful!"
"Of course!" Thompson walked over. "Let me try." Thompson performed combat power as he held the sword shaft in his right hand. He did not look like he could handle it either, and grunted many times as he pulled. However, it was undeniable that the sword in the stone started to jiggle a bit. With a huge noise, Thompson pulled the sword out and gave a yell.
"God-like strength, Master!" the mercenary said playfully.
"Go away!" Thompson scolded, also playfully. The mercenary seemed to be making fun of him rather than giving him a compliment. "God-like strength" should be left to Master Suzanna. No one else could be referred to in that way.
"Why are you trying so hard to pull it out? You could just cut off the rein," another mercenary murmured.
"Why do you talk so much?" Thompson stared at the mercenary, but his face was red. "Hurry up! Do you work!" He pulled the sword out himself because he wanted to see the difference in strength between him and Suzanna. He got what he wanted, but he silently swore he would not do anything like that again.
The soldiers from Shansa Empire had no idea how long they had been running. Every knight had become a criminal recently. They were either sentenced to involuntary manslaughter or intentional homicide. The hooves of most of the horses on the battlefield were red. They seemed to have come to the end. Thousands of mercenaries stood in a neat formation and blocked their path.
Even though mercenaries barely kept their formation after the battle started, at that moment they were in perfect formation. What terrified the knights from Shansa Empire the most was the woman, quietly standing in front of the formation.
Sinbella was tall and slender. The sword in her hand was longer than others. She looked different than Suzanna. Suzanna always looked feminine, quiet, and sweet, while Shinbela looked more like a female leopard, ready to fight at any time. She looked especially sharp and wild when she was ready to fight.
The knights from Shansa Empire had been terrified by Anfey and Suzanna. Now when they saw Shinbella stand out in front of her unit and look like she could fight all the knights on her own, they unconsciously thought she was a top level power as well. She did not perform her combat power, but it was understood that she did not care and looked upon them with disdain.
The knights wondered what had they done to make three top level powers chase them down and try to kill them. They could not help sighing. They instinctively turned their horses around and tried to run in the opposite direction.
An orange fire appeared in the air and fell straight down. It was a Fire Sword. Half of the blade stuck into the ground. The other half above the ground had flames which seemed to be able to keep going for ever and kept going upwards. The soldiers from Shansa Empire suddenly remembered a rarely used term after seeing the sword: turn elements into real object. The next second, they saw Anfey and Suzanna walking shoulder to shoulder toward them.
The soldiers had two totally opposite reactions. Knights yelled and directed their horses toward Shinbella and the mercenaries. The top level powers had left an indelible horrifying impression on them, so they chose to ignore thousands of mercenaries. With two top level powers on one end and only one top level power on the other end, they definitely would choose the latter.
The cavalry from Shansa Empire chose to run towards Shinbella from the other side. They did not think they could beat a top level power. At the moment, it was all about luck. They thought they might have a chance to escape the top level powers since they could not kill everyone. If they ran together, the luckier ones definitely would have a chance to escape. Luck was indeed very important. Thousands of soldiers were running to get around the Fire Sword. Some did pass it. In fact, they had no other options. They were surrounded by people and forced to run forward. They had never seen Anfey killing anybody, so they had no idea how powerful the elements would be when turned into real objects.
Suddenly, the soldiers running in front screamed in pain. But they were not willing to give it up. They stumbled forward a little bit more and got closer to the Fire Sword. As a result, they were set on fire. If they could keep running forward, they would get killed by fire elements, which actually could reduce their pain before they died. Unfortunately, they fell to the ground one after another. They rolled on the ground as they screamed in pain. They were suffered in burning pain but could not die fast enough.
More soldiers ran around the Fire Sword, fire elements could not cause any burning damage to them. They yelled as they approached Anfey and Suzanna.
Anfey had locked his telepathy on the Fire Sword. He suddenly pointed his finger and the Fire Sword started to shake. The heat waves spread out from the Fire Sword. In the blink of an eye, they had spread about a hundred yards in radius. The people and horses caught in the waves of fire were burned in cloud of flames. Even the weapons and armor on the ground lost their shape immediately.
The color of the Fire Sword had changed from light orange into light red. The flames on the sword blade seemed to get even wilder and jumped dozens of yards into the air, like a gigantic torch.
"I see." Anfey raised an eyebrow. "Practice is the only way test the truth." The Fire Sword seemed to be more powerful now, but Anfey knew he had released almost all the elements he had accumulated for a long time.
The cavalry suddenly stopped and focused on Anfey with terrified looks. They now knew why those knights chose to go in the opposite direction. The spreading heat waves Anfey created was like a fire hell. Regular soldiers could tell Anfey must be an archmagi, since he could instantly perform senior-level magic.
The cavalry turned around and started to run the opposite direction. As a result, they crashed into the knights who were retreating again. The knights were not in a better situation than the cavalry, which was under attack of about a hundred of mages led by Blavi and Riska. A mage group actually could decide the fate of a battle on the battlefield. A Silver Knight was no match for a group of mages, but a magister could beat a group of knights. Mages had too many ways to play and kill knights, for example with wall magic, fire wall magic, marsh magic, and storm magic. Knights had to fight hand-to-hand. The power of a hundred mages simply was not equivalent to the power of all the knights added together.
The strategies the mage group used were getting better. Without Shinbella's help, a few mages could use wall magic to block the knights' advance. A few other mages together could divide knights into two groups with fire wall magic. After the fire walls were created, the main force of the mage group released big fire balls to start the blanket attacks. A couple of mages released marsh magic between the fire walls and walls, which swallowed about a hundred knights immediately. Many knights were killed by big fire balls as well. The mage group had shown those knights in fierce magic that there was no way they could pass.
Thousands of soldiers from Shansa Empire were in chaos. Some believed it was safer ahead of them and tried to push forward, while others believed the opposite direction was safer and tried to move backwards. Some soldiers were about to go crazy. They just simply swung their weapons at other knights when they were knocked by horses. The knights counterattacked the soldiers, but their moves threatened some cavalry, and they were attacked by other groups. Other knights joined the fight to help their peers. Soon, individual fights turned into group fights. They forgot their real enemies and became even more chaotic.
"Honey, no, my sweet wife, my love, please." Anfey bowed with a smile to signal Suzanna to start her fight. His Fire Sword had almost lost all its fire elements. His fighting ability had been reduced and it was Suzanna's show time.
Suzanna sighed and smiled at Anfey. Her sigh was because she did not want to kill so many people. She could face her opponents ruthlessly, but these soldiers from Shansa Empire were not her opponents anymore. They were just a herd of sheep, waiting to be slaughtered. By smiling at Anfey, she indicated she would follow Anfey's order.
This was the difference between Anfey and Suzanna. Anfey was cold. The principles Anfey followed were simple: he would kill others if others wanted to attack him first. Anfey would not show any mercy after he saw them trying to surround and attack him. If Suzanna and Anfey had been caught by the soldiers from Shansa Empire, Anfey did not think they would show him any mercy.
Chapter 412: Mirrors
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The fight finally ended. The mercenaries murdered all the soldiers guarding the supply carts, and the only one they left alive was the general. The mercenaries learned how powerful they could be when they banded together. A mercenary group on its own would not have been able to achieve this.
While the mercenaries were cleaning up the battlefield, Anfey was sitting by one of the carts and staring at the fire sword. Some new ideas had come to him during the fight. He did not know whether he was right, and was conflicted because of this. His control of the elements was amateur: he did not have time to make mistakes and start over.
"Sir, Joseph wants to meet you," Ozzic walked over and said.
"Joseph?" Anfey asked, dismissing the sword.
"Those people," Ozzic said, pointing at the mercenaries.
The mercenaries did not leave when Ozzic, Orsie, and Shinbella attacked the supply carts. On one side was the army that had helped them. On the other side were mercenaries like them. They did not know who to help and chose to observe the fight instead of taking part in it. After the fight was over, the mercenaries wanted to leave, but the leader chose to talk with Ozzic instead of fleeing.
According to the plan, Ozzic was supposed to go meet Anfey. The mercenaries insisted on coming with Ozzic after hearing where he was going. Ozzic left some of his men and some of Blavi's mages to keep an eye on the mercenaries. Ozzic told the mages to keep the Eye of the Sky up throughout the battle because he wanted to show the mercenaries how strong Anfey and Suzanna were.
Clearly, Ozzic's plan had worked out in his favor.
Ozzic waved his hand, and a few moments later, Ye walked over with a middle-aged man. The man looked very polite and slightly fearful. Seeing a top level power fight was very rare and terrifying for someone who had never witnessed a top level power's strength.
"Sir!" the man knelt down on one knee and said. "Forgive my imprudence. After Lord Ozzic, Lady Shinbella, Lord Orsie, Lord Blavi, Lord Riska…"
"That's fine," Anfey said, waving his head. He understood Joseph's concern. If he missed someone, it might make his life more difficult. "Stand up."
Joseph hesitated and glanced at Ozzic. Ozzic licked his lips and said, "You need to follow his order, Joseph. Especially if that order may lead to conflicts with others, you need to follow the order. Understand?" Anfey wasn't the only person who could give orders in the alliance. Alice and Christian had the same authority as him. However, Ozzic respected Anfey a lot and wanted to establish that Anfey was the highest authority in the alliance.
Joseph nodded and scrambled to his feet. He knew Ozzic was telling him that he should always side with Anfey when his order conflicted with other orders. "I see a great future for the alliance, sir," Joseph said. "I respect your strength and your goals. If you will allow, I want to contribute to this nation as well. I swear…"
Suzanna, seeing Joseph and wanting to understand what was happening, walked over quietly. "You need to follow Lady Suzanna's orders as well," Ozzic interrupted when he saw Suzanna. Even though he seemed to be contradicting himself, Anfey and Suzanna were basically the same person and would usually give the same order.
Joseph blinked. He wanted to swear his loyalty to Anfey, but Suzanna's appearance made him confused.
Suzanna nodded at Joseph but did not say anything to him. She turned to Anfey and said, "You look tired."
"I'm fine," Anfey said. "Joseph?"
"Yes, sir."
"How many mercenaries do you have?"
"Three hundred and forty-one," Joseph said with a sigh. He knew that his men would be divided up.
Anfey pursed his lips. He knew he should probably divide those mercenaries up, but it would be better to give Joseph his own legion. "You will become the eighth legion of the alliance," Anfey said. "You are the commander of the legion. Go, talk to your men. We will take care of them."
"Yes, sir!" Joseph said. This result was better than he could possibly have expected.
"Good for you," Ozzic said with a laugh, clasping Joseph's shoulder. "Just like me."
"Thank you, Lord Ozzic," Joseph said. "And Lord Ye, thank you."
Ye's eyes widened and he took a step back. He was just Ozzic's assistant and felt that he should not be talked about in the breath as Ozzic.
"He doesn't have a backbone," Suzanna commented with a frown.
"Backbone isn't always the best thing," Anfey said. "It's better to recognize and adapt."
"But you have to have a backbone to be a commander," Suzanna said, shaking her head. "He will join us today. Who knows who he will join tomorrow?"
"You think he'll join someone else?"
"Maybe not now, but who knows?"
"Lady Suzanna's right," Ozzic said hurriedly. "We need to be careful, sir!"
"Oh stop it, Ozzic," Anfey said with a laugh. "I know who you are."
Ozzic rubbed his hands together awkwardly, but Ye smiled behind him. If Anfey ignored Ozzic, it meant that Ozzic had become an annoyance to him. But Anfey addressed it, meaning that Anfey knew Ozzic and was willing to trust him.
"I'm serious!" Suzanna said. The alliance was as important to her as it was to Anfey. She did not like people without backbones, and she wanted to warn Anfey. Thompson joined them voluntarily as well, but she liked Thompson way more than Joseph.
"We won't give him the chance to betray us," Anfey promised her. "Plus, who says we are going to meet difficulties?"
Suzanna sighed but did not say anything else.
Anfey was used to doing things alone. He was used to being responsible for himself only and did not have experience controlling large numbers of people. Anfey trusted and relied on Ozzic because he knew he could learn things from Ozzic and could ensure stability within the alliance. Punishing Ozzic would only make the other mercenaries less trusting.
Thompson hurried over. He saw them and sighed. "I'm too late!" he complained loudly.
"Late for what?"
"The fight!" Thompson said. "I cannot believe I missed Lady Suzanna and Lord Anfey's display of power." Thompson was better at sweet talk than Ozzic, and it felt very natural when it was coming from him.
Chapter 413: Pennies from Heaven and Unexpected Dangers
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"Where is the guy I want?" Anfey asked as he looked up.
"In the back," Thompson said with a wave of his hand. A few of his mercenaries walked over with a horse. Thompson grabbed the man on the horse and tossed him to the ground on his back.
"It is so cruel." Anfey was shocked by how the general of Shansa Empire looked. He glanced at Suzanna out of the corners of his eye. The general only got one punch from Suzanna, and not a hard one. Yet the general's face was misshapen and unrecognizable. His nose, eyes and lips were a bloody mess. He had been pulled and tossed upside down, so blood covered his face. He looked awful.
"What are you looking at me for?" Suzanna asked in surprise. "Didn't you say you wanted him alive?"
"To knock someone off, you do not have to punch him in the nose." Anfey showed his neck area. "I remember I told you to hit here. You can knock people off with too much strength."
"Let me try it," Suzanna said, playfully staring at Anfey's neck.
Of course, everyone laughed at Suzanna's joke, since she rarely made a joke. They knew Anfey loved Suzanna very much. On the day Anfey heard the news that Suzanna was missing, his unusual behavior proved his love. They felt they could not go wrong siding with Suzanna in a quarrel between the two.
"Never mind, never mind. You can try it next time you catch captives." Anfey shook his head and acted scared. "Ye, take him down and interrogate him. You will be in charge."
"Master, is there anything you want to know?" Ye asked.
"You'd better ask everything he knows," Anfey said.
"It will take some time." Ye lifted his chin to signal the other mercenaries to follow him. The mercenaries carried the unconscious general.
"We have plenty of time. You do not have to worry about it," Anfey said with a smile.
"Master, can I go and watch?" Ozzic asked.
Anfey shook his head. "Ozzic, you stay here. I have something to ask you…Thompson, can you ask Armin to come see me?"
"Yes, master," Thompson answered.
"Master, what is it going on?" Ozzic asked quietly. He thought Anfey asked Thompson to leave on purpose and had some secrets to tell him.
"Divide the spoils," Anfey said.
"Divide the spoils?" Ozzic asked.
"We finally robbed something. As the leader, I would like to know what we got," Anfey said. "What did we get in the wagons?"
"Master, that's very funny." Ozzic laughed with Anfey. "We not only got a lot, I had planned to kill those horses for meat when it is needed. It seems that we do not need to do that anymore." The horses Ozzic mentioned were the ones they got from the conflict with the Knights and Priests of Light in Zagreen City. There were about 400 of them. All of them were handsome. The mercenaries would have felt bad if they really had to kill them for food.
Anfey shook his head. "You cannot kill those horses. We would not die if we miss a few meals."
"Of course, we will not need to kill them anymore." Ozzic thought for a moment. "There was food in most wagons. They have jerky, sausages and wine."
"Most wagons? We did not just get food, did we?" Anfey asked.
"There is some armor and weapons. I do not know if we got anything else." Ozzic shook his head. "Master, Orsie went over to check on their logistics. Do you want to ask him to come? Why is he back again?"
They saw Orsie with a group of mercenaries in the distance. They hastily passed the temporary camp and walked toward Anfey. The mercenaries were hauling two wagons. They looked nervous and kept checking their surroundings. They made it seem like a lot of enemies were hiding around them.
"Master, guess what we found?" Orsie said loudly as he jumped off the horse still some distance from Anfey. He could not help looking excited.
"What could make single Orsie so happy? Did you find beautiful girls?" Anfey smiled.
"It would have to be a group of beautiful girls." Ozzic laughed with Anfey. "Orsie, spare a few for me. I am single too."
"You! I am not kidding." Orsie did not if he should laugh or cry.
"What is it then?" Anfey asked.
The weird way Orsie talked and the mercenaries acted attracted a lot of attention. Many people looked at them.
Orsie approached Anfey and said in a trembling voice, "They had magic crystals! Master! Two wagons of magic crystals! We are rich!"
"Why didn't I feel any magic surges?" Ozzic asked in surprise.
"You will see in a little bit." Orsie knew they did not want to guess what was in the wagons, so he wanted to say it directly.
"You!" Ozzic said in anger.
In a moment, two wagons were pulled over as Anfey and the others surrounded them. If there really were magic crystals in those two wagons, it would indeed be an invaluable treasure. Anfey was shocked by it, not to mention Ozzic and the others.
The wagon's door was open. The inside was made of wood. They had to get inside to see the Magic-Concealing crystals on the wagon walls. Crystal boxes in different sizes were piled up in the wagon. The boxes were made with Magic-Concealing crystal as well. The double protection hid all the magic surges.
Anfey took a small box from the top. He carefully opened it and saw over a dozen burning-charcoal fire element crystals in the box. They felt the intense surges on their faces. The mercenaries around them felt the surges as well. Mercenaries worked with magic crystals year-round, so they were familiar with this feeling. They put down what they were working on and stood up. They stretched their necks to see what was happening. Everyone looked surprised and excited.
Anfey closed the box and put it back on top of the pile. He took another small box and slowly opened it. There were over 20 ocean-blue water element crystals.
"We are getting rich! Getting rich!" Ozzic could not help hugging Orsie as he yelled excitedly.
Orsie was as excited as Ozzic. "I finally understand what job has the best future."
"Orsie, relay my order to them. Ask them to clean the battlefield as fast as possible. We will leave right after they finish." Anfey acted so differently than the others, who were still excited. He sounded very cold.
"Huh? Master, it is already dark," Orsie said.
"We can travel at night. Hurry up!" Anfey said in a strict tone.
"Yes, master!" Orsie was scared, but he responded to Anfey immediately.
Ozzic and the others were scared as well. They dared not talk and simply looked at Anfey. Only Suzanna said quietly. "Anfey, what happened?"
"We are in extreme dangers now." Anfey was a little kinder when he talked to Suzanna. "Of course, I will not give these crystals back to them. The only choice we have now is to run away as fast and far as we can." Anfey was not controlled by power and wealth. He did not show too much interest in wealth, power, or even beautiful women, no matter how much he had. He kept absolutely calm when everyone else was excited. The pennies from the heaven usually implied unexpected dangers in the future. The more the pennies, the more dangerous it would be.
"Anfey, something is not right!" Black Eleven said it as he squeezed himself in.
"What are you trying to say?" Anfey asked.
"There are too many things that are not reasonable," Black Eleven said slowly. "We have found so many crystals in their wagons, which means there should be many mages in Scarlet's military. Many! Well, if those mages carried magic crystals with them, they should be able to fight one or several battles. They are sending so many magic crystal now, Scarlet must want to fight a big, hard battle this time. The question is: Who is she going to fight against?"
Everybody was quiet. They could not answer that question.
"There are many possibilities," Anfey said calmly. "For example, Scarlet had told them her plan, but for some reason, Shansa Empire did not give her as many magic crystals as she wanted. With the help of Chiellick, they finally got as many magic crystals as Scarlet wants and sent them to her."
"What you said could be possible," Black Eleven said, frowning.
"No matter what, Shansa Empire would not send magic crystals to us on purpose. This was just a mistake they made at some point," Anfey said. "All we have to do is to consume these magic crystals. Ozzic, if you were the owner of these magic crystals, and they were robbed, what would you do?"
"I would fight those robbers at any cost," Black Eleven said.
"Right. Scarlet will fight us as well," Anfey said.
Chapter 414: Wealth
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The mercenaries were still cleaning the battlefield when sudden noises in the corner of the battlefield drew Anfey and Suzanna's attention. Anfey looked over and saw Ye hurrying over to them.
"What's going on over there?" Anfey asked.
"Nothing much," Ye said with a sigh. "Everyone's angry over what happened to General Kumaraghosha's family."
"Why were they talking about Kumaraghosha?"
"He was a stubborn one," Ye said. "After I asked everything I needed to ask, I asked him why he wanted to die. We could have let him go. He told us that the only way to save his family is for him to die." Ye paused as if he was still trying to process the general's words. "Then he told us what happened to General Kumaraghosha's family."
"What happened?" Suzanna asked.
"Edward VIII condemned all of them to death," Ye said, shaking his head. "It is a cruel, cruel thing he did. He executed Kumaraghosha's wife and daughters and fed their bodies to griffins. Kumaraghosha's daughter was engaged to a viscount, and that viscount's family is in jail now as well."
"What else did he say?"
"That's it about Kumaraghosha's family. The other things mostly involve military information."
"Tell me about it later," Anfey said. "Don't kill the man yet."
"But he's no use to us anymore."
"Something is better coming from him," Anfey said with a sigh. "He knows exactly what happened. I want him to talk to Kumaraghosha."
"I see," Ye said. "But…he wants to die and he's injured. I needed get the information out of him, you know." Ye pursed his lips and lowered his head. "I…might have cut his hand off."
Anfey sighed. "Go find Warner. See if he can do anything. And tell him that no matter what happens to him, his family is still in danger. Tell him that Kumaraghosha is working for me now and eager to avenge his family. If the general dies now, Kumaraghosha would give up the opportunity to avenge his family.
"But should he come to us if he wants revenge?"
"He's a soldier," Anfey said. "He should know that he must be ready to be killed when he kills another. Plus, he attacked us first. Tell him everything I just said, and if he still wants to die, let him."
"Yes, sir," Ye said and left.
Blavi landed next to Anfey and said, "I just counted. There's a huge amount of supplies. I don't think we can take this much."
"Take everything you can and burn the rest."
Blavi sighed. "That's such a waste."
"I wish I could take these and send it back to Maho Empire," Anfey said, "but we can't. It's better to burn it than to let Scarlet take it back."
"What about the armor and the weapons?"
"Find a secluded location and bury them," Anfey said. "Remember where you buried them. Who knows when we will need them? Orsie, you'll take care of the weapons. Make it quick."
Orsie nodded and hurried off with his men.
"What should we do with the magic crystals?" Ozzic finally asked hesitantly.
The mercenary commanders all paused. Even Orsie stopped and moved back to hear Anfey's decision. They had sworn loyalty to Anfey, but they were still individuals. The mercenaries were working for Anfey because they trusted Anfey's ability to lead them out of despair and give them more benefits in the future.
What banded them together was the promise of wealth and future benefits. They were all experienced mercenaries and knew how to judge a situation without being too emotional about it.
These mercenaries were different from Christian, Blavi, and Riska. The latter had been friends with Anfey before, and even though they had their conflicts, they still wanted to band together because of their common experiences. They were young still and believed in friendship, and were willing to give everything for their friends. After they began trusting Anfey, they no longer cared about benefits.
For the mercenaries, however, friendship was not enough.
"What do you think?" Anfey asked. He knew that this was a problem he had to deal with sooner or later. He knew what kind of man Ozzic was, but he still trusted him and did not doubt his loyalty.
If the magic crystals weren't there, this situation would have been much easier. Now that they found crystals, how to distribute these crystals became an important question. To the mercenaries, the largest number of crystals should go to the person that had lost the most men.
"Sir, I think Lord Ozzic meant that it is going to be hard transporting these crystals," Ye suddenly said. He had returned and, sensing the tension, inserted himself between Ozzic and Anfey. "It's going to be a problem."
"I have a dimensional ring," Joseph suggested. "Can't carry much, though."
"That's not going to work," Ye said, shaking his head. "I'm not doubting your honesty, sir, but these crystals are worth too much. I trust you, but do you trust me? If I run with these crystals, what can you do? Even if you kill me, as long as the crystal is in my ring, you cannot retrieve it."
"Why wouldn't I trust you?" Joseph muttered but did not say anything else.
"Do you trust me?" Ye said, turning to Thompson. "Do you?" he asked Shinbella.
"I don't," Shinbella said. "I don't trust anyone."
"Ye's right," Orsie said. "We can't divide up these crystals. It would lead to chaos!"
"He's right, he's right," Ozzic hurriedly agreed. He wasn't the only one who was eyeing the crystals, but he was the only one who was talking about it.
"Let's just take the cart," Anfey said. "Blavi, mark the cart. I trust you to protect these crystals. If anything happens, I'll hold you accountable."
Blavi nodded. "Trust me," he said, "I'm keep my eyes on it." Blavi was ambitious, but he was still very trusting. He had always thought the mercenaries were his friends, but clearly the mercenaries cared more about wealth.
"Alright, then," Anfey said. "Let's go."
Ye left with the rest of the mercenaries, but Ozzic waited until most people were gone before hurrying off to follow Ye.
"Wait!" Ozzic called after Ye. "Wait!"
Ye stopped and turned to Ozzic. "I have a question for you, Ozzic," Ye said with a sigh.
"What is it?"
"Out of all the commanders, who does Lord Anfey trust the most?"
"Me," Ozzic said, his eyes on the ground.
"You're the most trustworthy. You should know that no matter what, you will get a share of those crystals. Why did you just do that?"
"I know, I made a mistake," Ozzic said. "You don't think…you don't think that Lord Anfey is angry with me, do you?"
"No," Ye said, shaking his head, "or else he won't have you guard the crystals with Blavi."
"Good," Ozzic said, relieved. "Come on, let's go. I'm going to buy you a drink."
Ye smiled. "Let's wait," he said. "We need to take care of everything else first."