64 A Mage’s Dignity Part 1 (1/2)

”Aini!” The laboratory’s door was thrown open with a bang. A fully equipped soldier charged in and pointed his sword blade at a still excited Aini saying, ”What is your relationship with that black mage? Why are you setting us up!”

Sika removed the cudgel on her back and used it to block Saleen’s front. Nailisi moved to hide behind Saleen instead.

Sijia was awoken with a start. She stared at the soldier, stunned. Then she said, ”Ken, you are mad. Put down your weapon!”

The soldier named Ken said angrily, ”Master, he is a spy. Quinn has died in battle. Those arrowheads...

Quinn was dead?!

Sijia was stupefied. Quinn had been a promising swordsman under her charge. In another three months, he would have become an intermediate swordsman. He had been the best in Chinese martial arts among her nine men. How could such a swordsman have been the first to die in battle?

”What was wrong with the arrowhead?” Saleen asked calmly, feeling uneasy.

”See for yourself!” Ken removed a quiver from his back and threw it across the room. Sika caught it and drew an arrow from it. She saw that the metal arrowhead had split. She flicked it with her finger, crack, and the arrowhead crumbled.

Saleen understood at once. In order to speed things up and put all of his energy into catalyzing the array, Aini had used a Grade 5 magic nucleus to add the magic patterns onto the arrowheads. This was something that he, as a moronic mage without any magic chords, had not been able to control.

If someone of mage apprentice standard could produce a hundred and eleven thousand arrowheads within a day, then what use would there be for alchemists?

”Ken, no need to panic. How many arrowheads need to be discarded?” Saleen had no reason to suspect Aini. There was no reason for Aini to associate with the black mage. If he had done so, he would have caused him harm a long time ago.

Sijia stood up and put on her armor as she spoke to Ken, ”Where is Lord Baron?”

Since a large number of the arrowheads were to be discarded, the city walls would not be well-guarded. Saleen was not a spy, Sijia deduced. Otherwise, he could have easily killed her earlier. Once she had died, the four of them would have been able to control this laboratory. With the help of magic medicine, the castle could have been controlled from within, and the outside could have been destroyed with a single attack.

Ken wanted to kill Aini immediately but Sijia did not give any orders. He could only wait for Aini and replied, ”The Lord had brought someone to the tower.”

Sijia put on her helmet and turned around to tell Saleen, ”Mage Saleen, the tower is the last foothold of the castle. Will you go?”

When Saleen heard that the city gate had been conquered, his heart turned ice cold. The tower was a dead man’s land to defend, as there was no place to retreat to. If he did not go, even if Sijia trusted him, the baron would not.

Kill Sijia and escape? There were still tens of thousands of black puppets outside.

”Aini?” Saleen called out softly.

Aini’s face had turned blood red, his illness getting more serious. He started to cough heavily. He put the magic medicine on the table into his leather sack, looked at Ken coldly, and said, ”I am going to the tower. This was only an accident. If there is a need, I will die with you.”

”Okay. I will go too.” Saleen indicated for Sijia to lead the way while he followed carefully behind Sika, not letting Ken come close. He had just lost a brother and might not have been mentally stable. Saleen did not want to die a wronged death.

Aini walked in front with an icy smile, ignoring Ken’s ferocious glare.

This had been his mistake. Once the castle was broken into, everyone would die. Why would he care anymore?

Nailisi sensed that something was amiss and whispered from behind Saleen, ”Master, are the enemies here? How about we escape?” For Nailisi, escaping from demons was a common occurrence. If there was a chance of running away, it was preferrable over going to battle.

”If it is a must, then you can run off on your own,” Saleen did not agree to Nailisi’s request. If he ran away and there were survivors in the castle, he would be suspected of having been a spy sent by the black mage. Then, no one would listen to his explanation. Where could he escape to now anyway?

He could not return to Sikeqinya, and the Tanggulasi Empire was the home of the Holy See. Could he go to the Cloudflow Empire? The Cloudflow Empire had previously been the Fourth Dynasty, which black mages had hated the most. If he went there, the ending would not be positive anyway.

Ken suddenly drew the dagger from his waist and held it against Aini’s neck. Aini continued to smile icily, taking long strides as he walked towards the tower.

Nailisi put on a frown as she followed behind Saleen. If she had been able to run away, she would have. She had a soul bond with Saleen. If Saleen were killed, she would have an even more miserable ending. To demons, death was not the end.