809 This is my Territory Part 1 (1/2)
The person that Saleen had in mind was not Sika, after all, she had already told him when he should make his return. As for the Oceanic Ice Block, Saleen had decided to take a risk. At the very least, he planned to arrange some spirits of the dead to head to the island that he had given up on developing.
The war was just about to begin for the Metatrin Kingdom. The battle with Cloudflow had caused the winged skeleton to lose many combat vessels. If he did not rush back soon, Alchemy City would really launch an attack and Metatrin City would be doomed.
”If that's the case, then I will head back as soon as I can, but Lex…”
”What?” Lex was disappointed to hear Saleen give his promise so quickly. She did not expect Saleen to stop speaking and cast a gigantic water shield to enclose them alone.
”What are you doing?!” Lex's face was red. Of course, she knew what Saleen was doing.
”To mages, repeated practice is always more reliable than memory spells. Lex, I am leaving soon. I hope that you will miss me.”
”Ooh…” Lex's mouth was blocked by Saleen, who was hugging her with both his hands criss-crossed behind her back, pushing her close to his chest.
”I will… miss you…”
”Lex, it's only been a few days and you already feel distant!” Saleen laughed. Outside of the water shield was fog that blocked off anyone that might try to peer in.
The Cloudflow forces retreated very quickly because their logistics could no longer support them in the battle. In addition, the remaining people were constantly being harassed by the spirits of the dead. Rain of Blood had created more than 70,000 spirits, but less than 10,000 of them remained. The remaining spirits possessed some intelligence. They no longer gave their utmost in every attack. Instead, they would pick the spots that gave them higher chances of success and if they were about to lose, they would quickly flee.
Agares had left Misty City, leaving his brother behind as the Regent. The Prince did not send reinforcements because the Holy See had also been defeated at Sanlian City.
The demon army, which had appeared unexpectedly, was the reason for the Holy See's defeat. Losing a grade-9 holy priest forced the Holy See to adjust the tempo of their attack.
Without the coordinated attack of the Holy See, Cloudflow's attack on Daliang City from the Separation Sea was barely a threatening one.
It was under such circumstances that Saleen had decided to bring the winged skeleton back to Metatrin City along with him. He planned to head out to the ocean for hunting in order to gather the resources he would need for the next battle. He must not forget about Alchemy City. He wondered how Hogina was doing.
Saleen did not ask around about her. When Grand Master Imposa came through Daliang City, he did not see Saleen nor Lex. It seemed that the incident regarding the mark of the Six-winged Flying Snake had also raised some concern in Alchemy City.
Eleanor and Cuisi would continue to stay in Daliang City along with Su, whose injuries had yet to heal completely. They would stay and assist Lex along with Nicholas. Isabella and the three demons would stay behind in the bone castle along with someone slightly special: Mu En.
According to the winged skeleton, Mu En was someone who was not suitable for practicing in death magic but one day, something seemed to strike him and, he began improving tremendously. The winged skeleton did not understand the reason behind that improvement. After all, how could one's talent change?
Mu En was already used to interacting with spirits of the dead. At least after he had become a low-level death mage, he no longer needed to be concerned with the issue of riding.
Mu En wore a black magic robe with three rows of magic symbols, had a magic staff in his hands, and rode a black beast within the army. Surrounding him were more than 100 death mages. The battle at Daliang City had ended and Lex no longer needed so many mages urgently, so the death mages would return to Metatrin with Saleen.
Much credit must go to these mages. Without the spirits of the dead, Daliang City would have suffered a lot more losses. Many soldiers would have died in battle instead of only sustaining some injuries like they had.
Lex was also fortunate to have her God's Ring. All the valuable resources and gifts for the wedding were all kept in God's Ring. When the grade-9 sorcerer was crazy enough to bombard the palace, only the expendable items in the warehouse were destroyed, not the valuable items.
Lex insisted on having half of Saleen's 200 bodyguards return to Metatrin City with him. On that return trip, Saleen would be bringing along a battalion of soldiers and horses. An entire army would not have been able to travel as quickly as a small force like that. They would have to travel on main roads in order expend less energy and also to ensure a more consistent pace of travel.
As they did not bring along auxiliary soldiers, a battalion of 10,000 men managed to travel quickly through Lex's territories in Luolan and reached the border of Qin.
The Qin noble families knew that it was Saleen who has returned and none of them dared to harass him at the border. When Saleen advanced in Daliang City, pigeons flew all over Qin to deliver the news that the king of Metatrin and the husband of the ruler of Bitterwater Prefecture possessed the mark of the Six-winged Flying Snake.
By right when as many as 10,000 soldiers crossed the border, it was common to extort some money and sell them some overpriced logistical supplies. Since it was Saleen, the noble families decided that hiding from him was a better option.
Whoever got too close to Saleen would be mistaken to be disloyal to Holy Rock City. At that point in time, it was probably best not to take sides. If one must choose a side, it was probably better to obey Holy Rock City first. After all, Holy Rock City was where the Qin Empire's powers were concentrated at. No matter how prestigious Lex's status had become, she would still need to respect tradition.