343 Poly Spirit Beast Part 1 (2/2)
”Sir, how about allowing me to go forth and deal with those things?” Noticing that the pirates killed the snowmen with great ease, Jola felt that he was wasting his time being here. Even though the headless riders were stronger, he was not fearful. They were only at the standard of a swordmaster, and once the snowmen were exterminated, those headless riders would only enjoy some minor advantages in terms of their speed.
”What's the hurry? These black puppets are poorly made. Do you really think this is the power of a black mage? They were not even trying to ambush us, it was purely a coincidence that we ran into them. But, if you must try, then go ahead and get onto a skeletal warhorse.” Seeing that Jola was very eager, Saleen decided to teach him a lesson.
”Sure!” Jola responded. Then, he pulled a skeletal warhorse over and got onto its back before charging down the slope in a flash.
Jola simply wielded the longsword named Tears and did not display any marvelous swordsmanship. He simply slashed to his left and right. The moment a snowman came into the path of his longsword, it would quickly crumble even before the longsword sliced into its body. In the midst of all the snowmen, Jola nearly met with no resistance as he rushed down the slope, killing more than one hundred snowmen in the process.
”Eh?” Witnessing such a situation, Saleen was a little astonished. Tears seemed to possess a special suppressive ability against the black puppets. Even though the snowmen were of a very low grade, they would still not crumble at the slightest contact with a normal weapon.
Aini shrugged his shoulders, feeling smug. That had been his first time employing heart alchemy, and he had already managed to produce such a mighty weapon. Saleen might have produced a huge number of weapons, but they were all trash.
Immediately, twenty headless riders prompted their warhorses and began charging towards Jola. Seeing this from afar, Jola immediately turned around and escaped back to the snow ice castle.
”Pu…” Saleen could not help but laugh, chuckling loudly. Jola was not an idiot. He knew that he could not triumph over so many headless riders. The main reason was because he had poor control over the skeletal warhorse, so he did not have the advantage of speed, and if he remained outside the city, he would be besieged.
Those headless riders gave chase until they were two hundred meters away from the city wall, where they came to a halt. At this distance, they could already be struck by magic attacks, and if they advanced any farther, a steel crossbow would be able to damage them.
”It seems like they really want to entrap us.” Saleen began chatting with Aini after witnessing this scene.
”It means they still have reinforcements to the rear who will be approaching anytime soon.” Aini did some mental calculations, then continued, ”Since that is the case, we don't have to wait any longer. Half of the snowmen have been exterminated. We can launch our offensive now.”
”We might not be able to outrun those headless riders. Are you still able to use your spirits?”
”In another ten minutes or so.” Aini shook his head. If his plant spirit needed to continue battling, it would require rest. Plant spirits had flaws as well. They digested souls very sluggishly.
”Okay. Everyone, get ready. Daniel, you will lead the way at the front, Aini and I will take care of the rear. Follow the plan and set off in fifteen minutes.” Saleen had already deciphered the true motive of the black mages. He had also utilized the snow ice castle to kill half of his enemies, and there were no losses thus far. But if he were to continue defending and the evil dragon made an appearance, this castle would not even last for a minute.
A black mage had many different types of soldiers at his disposal. The black puppets existed in massive numbers, so there were no concerns about losing them, and even though evil dragons were scarce, they could be used to invade cities. A headless rider had fearsome offensive abilities and the advantage of speed, which was beneficial for field battles. There were a dozen more types of soul puppets which could be created by black mages, and they were suitable for all kinds of terrain and weather.
It was unrealistic to use a simple fortification to battle with the black mages. The only solution would be to command a yellow dragon to kill them.
In the past, when the black mages had been wreaking havoc in Phoenix, the armies from Qin and Phoenix had managed to exterminate quite a number of their puppets, but not even a single black mage was killed. Obviously, the black mages were sly people. But this time around, Saleen was planning to assault the black mages' lair and capture one or two of them for interrogation.
Originally, Saleen had built a city and a port in the north, and by coercing the less powerful nobles in Phoenix, he would be able to develop the city very swiftly. However, these black mages were stuck in the Chaotic Swamp, which in turn disrupted Saleen's route to Sikeqinya. In this case, Deep Forest Town would become the frontline, losing its intended purpose.
If the black mages were not obliterated, Deep Forest Town would actually become a burden. Saleen did not possess much manpower. It was impossible for him to expand Deep Forest Town and engage in a protracted battle with the black mages.
Jola rushed back to the entrance of the city. After observing that the headless riders had stopped clear of the attack area, he then put away his longsword and said, ”Sir, look, they are trying to entrap us.”
Even though Jola had been a swordsmanship instructor in the palace, he knew a thing or two about military tactics. The intentions of those black puppets and headless riders were too pronounced, and it was impossible for him to not know. He had thus requested to launch an assault in order to ascertain this point. Had the headless riders pursued him desperately, it would have meant that the enemy's reinforcements were not far out. Now that the headless riders were in no hurry to damage their own strength, it meant that a larger attack from the enemy was fast approaching.
”Mm, we will set off in twenty minutes. Don't wander too far away from me.” As Saleen agreed with Jola, his view of Jola changed. This man doesn't seem as wanton as he looks. At least during a battle, he has a clearer mind than most people. It seemed like Jola had the ability to lead an army into battle in the future. Secretly, Saleen gave Jola some brownie points.