Badge in Azure

Chapter 342: The Power of a Mage (Part 2)

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

Aini’s eyes lit up when he saw Saleen release that water flow. Saleen actually has such a mysterious item! Aini did not know what the shenhe was, but he was very sure that this water flow had at least the offensive power of level-4 magic, yet it would neither consume Saleen’s physical strength nor magic chords.

Strictly speaking, Aini was not a temporal person, but a person would tend to socialize with people who were as capable as them. Had Saleen been mediocre, Aini might have chosen to leave after arriving at the city base. Now that Saleen possessed such a mysterious capability, Aini was not jealous at all, he was actually full of admiration, because now he would have competition in the future. Aini was a conceited person who regarded himself as a genius. He felt that everyone around him was commonplace. With a friend like Saleen, he would be driven by a powerful intrinsic motivation.

I must outdo Saleen and become a sorcerer before he does!

Thereafter, Saleen released his water flames, and the snowkill, a spell which exceeded his grade, appeared at the same time. Before the snow ice castle, four tornadoes which were formed by snowflakes twisted horizontally towards the headless riders.

Under the effect of magic, the lightweight snowflakes condensed into pieces of razor sharp tiny blades, enveloping the headless riders and slashing at them in a willful fashion. If this had been a group of human cavalrymen, Saleen’s spell would have obliterated at least one-fifth of them. Because a tiny snowflake had six sharp corners, it could slash across the rider’s body rapidly. Had the snowflakes been inflicted on humans, they would have lost their offensive ability in that instant due to severe hemorrhaging, and if any of their vitals were injured, they would have died immediately.

The freezing ability of level-6 magic was also unusually horrifying. If a swordsman with a strong sword aura had poor defense, his blood would be frozen. Even though the duration of the magic effect was short-lived, it would still be fatal if blood stopped flowing for a mere thirty seconds.

The headless riders were covered in wounds, and their metallic armor became tattered and torn. The pirates could now easily look for a point of entry into the armor. Saleen had not expected a single spell to eradicate all the headless riders. After all, this spell’s consumption of his magic chords was only that of level-5 magic, and even after casting it four times, only one-tenth of Saleen’s mental strength was depleted.

In order to control a spell with incidental release, one would have to expend at least ten times the normal amount of mental strength used. Saleen was only a grade-5 mage, and this was evidence of how powerful his mental strength was.

Standing behind the city gates, Daniel suddenly tapped on the center head of the pikoosi. The pikoosi then raised its upper body, exposing its three heads beyond the wall. The six long horns gathered a grey light, before casting three spells at the same time.

The breath of death permeated through the team of headless riders, and wherever that grey light went, everything in its path would be decayed. This time around, Daniel’s attack was more ferocious than Saleen’s. At least fifteen headless riders were blasted into dregs by his attack and could not be pieced together again.

Immediately after completing the attack, the pikoosi laid on the ground hastily and began resting. At this moment, the pikoosi had regained its level-7 pinnacle powers, but it was limited by Daniel, so its magic casting ability remained inadequate even though the strength of its body had been fully restored.

Inside Daniel’s death flames, the three kings were helping the pikoosi regain its magic abilities with great reluctance. If they did not lend a helping hand, the pikoosi would absorb power from the death flames. This power would either be provided by the three kings or by the death dimension via the planar coordinates.

If the pikoosi absorbed power from the death dimension, the coordinates could potentially attract the attention of the abyssal creatures. At this point in time, the three kings were feeling a little exasperated, yet the creature outside still gave them trouble.

At this moment, they still did not want to take any action, but they had no choice but to help the pikoosi, this low-grade spirit.

In reality, the pikoosi was a high-grade spirit, but in the eyes of the three kings, all spirits were of a low-grade. Their ambition was Shanglan, their previous owner. Only such an existence was of a high-grade.

“Those damned things, I am going to go out and tear them into soul fragments!” Banchajanna thundered.

“Banchajanna, don’t be hasty, let Saleen be busied. We can afford this bit of depletion. That spirit doesn’t dare demand too much of us, we can just frighten him a little.” After finishing his sentence, Judikaka returned to his contemplation. He was still fantasizing about how to make Aini his summoned creature.

Banchajanna closed his eyes in a huff. In his heart, he was pondering about when to appear out of the blue so he could kill those people outside. Otherwise, it would be annoying because he kept getting harassed.

After several rounds of magic barrages, the headless riders’ assault slowed down, and Aini finally made his move. He opened his mouth, spitting out a ball of death flames. After the death flames were expelled, they landed beyond the wall and then assimilated into the snow in the blink of an eye.

Right after that, a dark grey bud grew out of the snowy ground swiftly, absorbing the power of the souls given off by the headless riders who had been killed. It grew at an insane speed.

Compared to other spells, this floral death magic cast by Aini was much too slow. However, he was on top of the wall and was the defending party, so he only needed to grasp the rhythm of the spell properly. He did not need a very high speed.

The dead headless riders, more than twenty of them, provided sufficient nourishment for this spirit plant. In the blink of an eye, it had grown to over ten meters in height.

The soul flames in the three heads of the pikoosi began wobbling simultaneously since he was frightened. The death spell that Aini had cast was a rare spell in the death dimension. That tree was thought to have gone extinct in the death dimension.

A gigantic spirit bird flew down from the tree, lunging at the headless riders. Originally, the headless riders wanted to ram into the castle’s walls, but they were obstructed by this massive tree. They then tried to go around the tree, but were assaulted by the spirit bird instead. After getting struck, a few headless riders became stiff immediately and fell off their horses.

The heads of those fallen headless riders burst with a bang, and the souls inside broke into shards. These shards were swiftly absorbed by that huge tree.

The pirates were jubilant, but Saleen knew that the key to any spell was balance. This plant spirit might have been able to absorb the power of a soul, but it could not be sustained for a long period. It was just like a magic wolf which assaulted a herd of sheep, but could not devour all the sheep.

Indeed, this plant spirit was mighty by using the soul shards as nutrients, but its appetite was not infinite. Once it was full, those snowmen would begin their offensive.

Aini was very composed. The two summoned creatures were like Saleen’s water flow in that they would not deplete the power of Aini’s death flames. Even if the two summoned creatures became fatigued, he would not lose his offensive ability. The magical powers of a death mage originated from their death flames, and since Aini had not even used a single death spell, he would possess enough energy if he ever wanted to escape.

Noticing that Aini’s magic was effective, Saleen immediately complemented him by releasing an Icicle spell. This time around, he was not going to target the headless riders over a large surface area. He was using secondary release, stacking the icicles up and aiming at the enemy with precision.

This level-2 spell would not wipe out the headless riders, it would only hinder their movements. Once the headless riders were curtailed, Aini’s flesh spirit would be able to strike them more accurately and easily.

In the blink of an eye, Saleen had cast more than one hundred icicles. Every three icicles would cause a headless rider to stall for one second. Around another forty headless riders were assaulted by the flesh spirit, and their soul shards were absorbed by the plant spirit.

Daniel was amazed. These ferocious summoned death creatures were much more powerful than his pikoosi. Even if Aini ran into a grade-6 mage, he would not be defeated. Unless he faced off with a sorcerer, his summoned creatures would be able to handle anything.

The flesh spirit flew as fast as a bolt of lightning, leaving only an afterimage after every strike. Those headless riders who were inflicted by the Icicle spell had no way of avoiding its attacks.

Witnessing this scene, Jola had peace of mind, as Saleen’s and Aini’s magic had exceeded his expectations. In that case, he would not have to spend much effort protecting these two people, and he would be able to exterminate more enemies. The forte of Jola’s swordsmanship was its offensive capabilities, and if Saleen and Aini had inadequate attack power, Jola would have to stay beside them and would not be able to fully concentrate on the battle.

“Jola, don’t advance.” Saleen deciphered Jola’s intentions and stopped him. A headless rider was not easily defeated. Saleen and Aini were familiar with the warring techniques used by black mages. They had also done their research on the enemy before and were both grade-5 grand mages. If Jola was allowed to go beyond the wall to kill the enemies, he would be besieged by the headless riders, and even though he was a black metal grand swordmaster, he would not be able to accomplish much.

“Sir!”

Jola protested in an upset manner, then Saleen replied, “There will be many more enemies awaiting you tomorrow. You shall observe first and familiarize yourself with these things.”

Saleen could not have cared less about Jola’s objection. Tomorrow, he would continue advancing, and there could be more black puppets and headless riders. By that time, without a snow ice castle to rely on, the usefulness of a grand swordmaster would be fully exemplified.

Boom!

A meteor hammer was volleyed by a headless rider, crashing into the ice wall. This hit caused a huge cavity measuring about one meter to be formed in the ice wall. Without even flinching, Saleen simply cast a spell to fill in the cavity.

In such an environment, water magic could unleash its fullest potential, and its depletion would also be less than normal. Saleen was not concerned about the enemy’s swarming technique. Anyway, the snowmen traveled sluggishly, and once they were barred by the city wall, even the pirates would be able to slaughter them using the lances. As long as the headless riders were dealt with by preventing them from jumping over the walls, this battle would be concluded with a victory.

That was the power of magic. It could utilize the environment, climate, season, and everything else!

According to the customary differentiation, Saleen and Aini could at most achieve a draw in a battle with a beginner grand swordmaster. But in a real battle, their functions would be more pronounced than Jola, this ferocious grand swordmaster.

“Saleen, it’s almost time.” As Aini spoke, he ended the flesh spirit’s offensive, allowing it to return to the plant spirit and conceal itself among the dense leaves. The plant spirit had grown by a huge leap once again, and in front of it were the shattered heads of more than two hundred headless riders.

The remaining headless riders seemed to have heard some command as they began retreating. The snowmen from the hills had arrived. They moved lethargically, surrounding the snow ice castle.

The intentions of the black mages were clear. They wanted to trap Saleen and his team by outnumbering them, before dispatching the stronger puppets for an assault. Only one evil dragon was needed to be able to smash this snow ice castle up ahead.