1305 Calm Before the Storm Part 1 (1/2)

The purple-gold dragon was very frustrated because its powers were suppressed at level 12, there the city territory was diminishing its powers further, and it had to worry about Grand Duke Iron Blood dying at any given moment.

It resulted in a powerful, mighty being having to run for its life like a rat, and there were still pursuers coming at them.

It had had enough!

It shot a stream of dragon's breath as soon as it dove. Dragon's breath at such levels meant that it could shoot as much as it liked. That was the benefit of having one's level suppressed to far lower levels—conservation was easy.

When humans spit, there was a possibility that their mouths and throats would feel dry. When dragons blew, the stream never came out in short supply.

The purple-gold dragon's dragon breath felt like extremely tiny Wind Blades that packed a lot of heat. Even mages capable of withstanding extreme heat were not able to resist getting cut by particles finer than dust.

There was no way Imposa would simply let the Grand Duke have all the fun. He knew that the Grand Duke wanted to kill people because he was enraged at losing so many Bug Angel Warriors. If it had not been for Imposa's insistence, they would have been able to leave with the smallest cost incurred.

About 50,000 Bug Angel Warriors left Alchemy City; 16,000 were Saleen's men. That meant that among the 200,000 Bug Angel Warriors that the Grand Duke brought with him, only 30,000 to 40,000 of them survived.

All of them had been elite soldiers, so the fact that he had lost over 100,000 would definitely not sit well.

The Grand Duke had picked a time when Alchemy City was at its weakest. It was a conclusion that they had come to after analyzing intel that spies within Alchemy City had gathered for years. That much effort was made before the Grand Duke made up his mind to attack.

The Grand Duke had invested in over 200,000 suits of armor, each set cost as much as building a small team of elite cavalry units in any of the empires.

There was a corresponding investment in the form of magic nuclei and scrolls, as well as magic cannons that were thoroughly broken after that battle, large puppets, and so on.

The Grand Duke had suffered sizeable losses at the docks. Over 1,000 Iron Blood Warriors had to die fighting just to attract the city's attention and allow the rest of them to get to shore. Alchemy suffered losses in the form of magic towers, while the Grand Duke's losses were in the form of level nine warriors.

The Grand Duke was only capable of overwhelming victory during the naval battles, but it cost him a considerable amount of magic nuclei and magic metal shells.

Such huge investments came with considerably fewer returns due to Imposa's last minute need. The most losses that the Grand Duke suffered were Iron Blood Warriors. They were the base of his family's power after all.

Imposa felt guilty. Finding the fragments of the gods' bodies would have allowed him to make up for the losses, but he was only able to get a bunch of frozen monkeys.

Imposa was unsure if they were of any worth. If the monkeys turned out to be worthless, then he would have let the Grand Duke down.

He had claimed without doubt that he knew what was in the warehouse. Nothing should have gone wrong. When the fragments were transported back, Imposa had been watching and knew that the supplies had been stored in three separate places.

All who entered the warehouse were not allowed to carry any space equipment. No one was allowed to take any of the materials for their own use. Imposa would not have gotten so hyped otherwise.

The warehouses were meant for long term storage, and he had not left Alchemy City for long. He had also placed spies in the city. The tasks of the agents included watching the three warehouses.

The small cogs seemed to shoot out of Imposa's metal cog endlessly, tens shot at any given moment. The mages retaliated as they put up their shields.

They were unable to hold their defense up. The small metal cogs were as lethal as level nine magic spells. As the mages left the enhancements of the towers behind, their defense was more than halved. A mage needed to at least be level eight to defend against level nine spells.

All three of them charged, with hundreds of warriors behind them. Things became very dire for the mages all of a sudden. The level ten mage who took the lead was thoroughly shaken, wondering why their mages were so vulnerable.

It was less the fault of the mages and more because Saleen's territory had become formless. There were no crackling electricity, and his territory was invisible.

Saleen used Quickcloud and his speed was on par with Imposa. He used Thundering Explosion in the mist and stunned all mages below level seven.

”Mages of Alchemy City. You have ambushed my fleet at sea and now, I shall take my revenge!” Saleen used Thundering Shock as soon as he was done with Thundering Explosion. The skills shared many commonalities, and since Saleen was not fighting one-on-one, he did not need the specific, targeted traits of his skills to work.

The defeat of the mages was proof that the Elemental Hand had been too careless. While it was true that Saleen and the others had retreated like rats, it did not mean that they could be easily taken out by a group of 1000 mages.

The Grand Duke was pissed and turned around, causing the group of mages to meet their doom.

Grand Duke Iron Blood headed straight for the lead level ten mage. The mage was not one of the ones whose level was enhanced using secret arts; they were a true mage trainer.

The Grand Duke brought his dragon spear up and energy waves glimmered below the mage trainer's foot. The mage flickered behind the group, decisive enough to tell that they were not a match for the Dragon Knight.