1059 Rescuing Daliang City Part 1 (2/2)
The Bitterwater Prefecture was huge, yet had a small population, being a place ill-suited for putting down roots. It was still a very important place to Qin as a whole. Taking Bitterwater Prefecture meant that one would have created a large hammer west of Holy Rock City, which could then be used to smash the city.
”Why isn't there any news from the Holy See?” Saleen knew that Pope Theisio left and needed to return to the Holy City. Arbola would have pursued him in hopes of killing him before he returned to the city. Saleen had heard of no news of such developments despite having returned for a few months. What was more eerie was that Arbola did not spread any news about the fall of the pope. If such news were to spread, the Holy See would have definitely suffered massive internal conflict, preventing them from launching any further plans of attack.
”No time to fret about all that. We'll head straight for Daliang City to back them up. With teacher here, nothing bad can happen to Metatrin City.”
”Well said, we should send someone to gather the nobles.”
”What for?”
”Guard Phoenix, of course! What would the nobles think if both you and I were to leave? The army in Guderian City retreated, but only retreated 200 miles, so it was hardly a retreat. We'll get the equipment ready while the nobles will be contributing funds and food to give everyone peace of mind. We'll talk about taking those from Guderian when we've gotten the few cities at the border of Phoenix secured.” Saleen elaborated with great confidence.
Saleen's call to the nobles was an effective one. A great number of nobles in Metatrin hailed from Phoenix. Even though many lost their lands, Saleen gave them hope nonetheless. They needed to pull their weight to keep hope alive.
Saleen's alchemy factories were required to produce large amounts of equipment every day. If none of the equipment was sold and there was a stockpile, it would have been a huge waste of money. The nobles had the money, but not the goods. The deal was a win-win situation for both sides and it was swiftly closed.
The three duchesses were even more elated. They had few lands to begin with and the lands taken were restricted to be from within Phoenix. Once they expanded their armies, they would be able to attack Qin any time.
That was especially so in the case of Guderian City. If the Holy See was actually able to take it and the duchesses were able to reclaim it, it would no longer be under Holy Rock City's control.
Saleen and the nobles got all the details of the trade set after several meetings. He also contacted Lex, who wanted Saleen to head for the Royal Harbor. The place was probably under a lot of military pressure.
There was also Ceylon City. Things in Ceylon City were being taken care of by Nailisi. Most of the mercenaries were being held back around Yaoyang City, preventing them from entering Ceylon City territory.
The demon army poured onto the battlefield in endless waves. None of those demons had undergone any training. Nailisi had no hope for them to take any land anyway. They were only needed to fight the Sikeqinyans.
Having fought for such a long time, no one in Yaoyang City area dared try guerilla warfare anymore. Every time they did, thousands of troops perished. The demon army did not bother with taking prisoners, and they needed little else other than food. They could eat meat of any kind, including their enemies.
Saleen busied himself with the arrangements in Metatrin City, before taking Sika and his children away. He used the Magical Element Tower, stuffing everyone in there and heading for the Royal Harbor.
The tower flew at full speed, reaching the harbor in just ten days.
Allied forces consisting of the Holy See and the Sikenqinyan army were found north of the Royal Harbor. The allied forces launched an assault for months. The outskirts of the Royal Harbor were constantly shifting hands, neither side controlling it for long.
Saleen did not go straight for the allied forces when he reached the Royal Harbor. He boarded the Ancient, gathering all the mages and grand swordmasters before opening up the rooms in the hold and beginning to craft ancient figures.
The figures that Gaine had crafted were perfect and they only needed an infusion of souls from the ancient warriors.
Saleen crafted 3600 figures before stopping. A week passed in the meantime and Daliang City's gates were breached once. Three grade-9 sorcerers were able to seal them, but there was still a bloody battle within the city walls. Thousands of the invaders were all killed before things turned stable again.
Seeing things had taken a turn for the worse, Saleen did not bother going to the outskirts of the Royal Harbor. He simply left 1000 figures at the harbor. Without anyone to command them, they were only able to perform simple defensive maneuvers, just like the wandering elemental creatures in the Imperial City of the Abyss.
It was fortunate that 1000 figures proved adequate to hold their own against 10 thousand soldiers.
Saleen brought Lex, Sika, the winged skeleton, Jola, Nicholas, Eleanor, and the remaining 2600 figures with him, heading for Daliang City in a hurry.
Saleen initially had no intentions of bringing Lex along. Lex's God's Ring was the only equipment capable of stocking ample number of metal flyers, which he brought more than 600 with him.
The Magical Element Tower took to the sky and passed by the allied forces' main camp. Saleen stayed for a little while, throwing more than 100 level-9 spells downwards, before flying south again.