novelTrouble in the lair (2)
| ← Ch.0386 | Ch.0388 → |
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Aini would not be able to conceal any information from the winged skeleton. Even if Aini used the Sealing Enchantment, he would not be able to avoid the winged skeleton's soul surveillance. Currently, the Pan's Turtle alchemical boat was like an extension of the winged skeleton's body. Onboard this ship, even a person's heartbeat was under monitoring by the winged skeleton.
When Judikaka refined this ship, he did not expect Saleen to have a summoned death creature. He had left this loophole for himself. No one expected the winged skeleton to be able to fuse his personal powers with the alchemical boat so easily. Judikaka's plan was ruined.
While Saleen was toiling away at the periphery of the Frozen Sea, the city base had ran into some trouble.
The grade-5 mage, Kredian, stayed behind to manage the development of the city. Judikaka and Diyabannersa also commanded their spirits day after day in the construction of the city. Only half of the city walls were built. The materials for constructing the city walls were long in place. In order to build the upper portion of the walls according to the drawing, many mages were required for a coordinated effort.
This city was built using the temple as the focal point. It was unlike many other Qin cities, whereby their city walls and streets were built first before the houses got developed.
Originally, it was very relaxing for Daniel as he simply needed to lead his troops to conduct daily patrols. As this city base was located far north, there were no other cities in the vicinity. The remaining barbarians had been placated. There should not be any more disruptions, logically speaking.
A month after Saleen had left, a naval fleet appeared on the sea. Of course, this fleet could not reach the port as the port was still frozen. The fleet had discovered the warships which were docked at that faraway island.
Those warships were left behind by Saleen. Both warships had about one-hundred people who carried out daily maintenance work. When the invaders realized that the warships were almost empty, they tried to plunder it without any hesitation. Only a mage, who was protected by a dozen swordsmen, managed to escape.
This low grade mage then steered a lifeboat and rushed back to the city base, reporting the matter to Kredian immediately. Then, Kredian immediately called for Daniel to discuss a countermeasure plan.
"Sumier, please describe what you saw." After making sure that all key personnel had arrived, Kredian then started interrogating the low grade mage.
"The other party had twenty ships. It should have been formed by a merger of two fleets. There were two warships that were one-hundred and sixty meters long and four warships that were one-hundred meters long. The remaining vessels were dual-use ships, about one-hundred meters long, filled with a huge quantity of cargo."
"What weapons did they use?"
"The warships were equipped with magic stone artillery, these weapons were very inaccurate and small in number. There were alchemical crossbows equipped on the sides of the ships. The dual-use ships were also equipped with weapons. They were only mini stone cannons, but there were no magic installations. The soldiers were clad in purple leather armor, and they were wielded long knives with a small curvature."
Even though this mage called Sumier was only at grade-2, he was not timid as he did not get frightened by the enemies. In all that rush, the things that he memorized were very useful.
"Are you able to infer where they came from?"
"They look like Cloudflow people, but I cannot understand their language."
"Mm. The Cloudflow's fleet is much larger than that, and it wouldn't have any dual-use ships, " Kredian replied as he nodded. The dual ships were in fact armed merchant ships. Due to the inadequacy of the hull structure, these ship could not be equipped with powerful weapons, they could only be fitted with mini stone cannons to carry out long-range assaults. An armed merchant traveled much faster than a normal merchant ship. Even with the best warships, an armed merchant in the fleet would not affect the formation at all.
"What about the rest of your comrades?"
"They have been killed."
"What?!" Kredian was outraged, then he regained his composure afterward. The one-hundred strong crowd on the warships were swordsmen from Sregl Island, they were extremely loyal. Other than the dozen swordsmen who returned with Sumier, the rest had been killed by the enemy.
The blame could not be put on Sumier. It was impossible for one-hundred people to operate the large weapons on the ship. Sumier was the sole mage in the two ships, and he was the only one who could operate a lifeboat. Being a grade-2 mage, it was already extremely challenging for Sumier to operate a lifeboat. That lifeboat was intended for six people, but Sumier managed to bring back twice the number of people. He had already tried his best.
"I have brought back a recording rock." Sumier was also feeling extremely furious. The enemies were ruthless by conducting a massacre, they were worse than the pirates. They were definitely not pirates as they owned some armed merchant ships which were guarded by several warships. It was not known where these enemies had come from.
Sumier knew that he was overpowered. He had decided to take a piece of the recording rock, in hopes that someone could dissect the enemy's language and find some clues.
Kredian took one look at the damaged recording rock, then said, "Take it for repair."
A low grade mage took the recording rock and left the room, making his way to the alchemy laboratory to do repairs. This thing was only effective while inside a magic array. It could record voices, but the recording period was not long. It was itself a part of the magic sound array. Even though this recording rock was damaged, it did not matter. Even if there were only a few seconds of voice recording, they would be able to trace the origins of the enemy.
"Sir Kredian, they gave chase all the way to the frozen ice layer. They should be able to locate us very soon."
Kredian nodded, then said, "Daniel, please bring Diyabannersa to the port and set up a line of defense. If the enemy wants to attack our land, that will be their best choice. The southern side does not have any roads, they will need to make a detour of a few hundred miles if they come from the northern side."
"I can simply bring Diyabannersa to slaughter them." Even though Daniel's offensive power was strong, he was still a grade lower than Kredian. Before Saleen left, he specifically instructed Daniel to take commands from Kredian. Daniel simply made a suggestion instead of acting on his own will.
"They will make their own way here. Daniel, even though you have traveled the seas, you are not familiar with this place. It is challenging to traverse the northern route, and there are no available spots for resupply. The enemy did not come intentionally, they might have met with a storm. Now that Sumier has escaped, they will not let this matter slip. With just a pair of alchemical binoculars, they managed to travel to the ice, they would discover this place within two hours. Since the two warships do not have any resupply items, they will definitely come here."
Daniel understood Kredian's point. Daniel had never commanded a large-scale battle before, so Kredian was the most experienced. It was no wonder then that Saleen would ask him to listen to Kredian.
Kredian continued, "Sometimes, the warship might have some large weapons that will pose a threat to Diyabannersa. Now that the sea is frozen, the enemy's warships will not be able to get close to the port, so they can only deploy their soldiers to walk on the ice. Don't make the first move, allow them to deploy as many men as possible."
"How long should we wait?" Daniel was not clear about the composition of a fleet. He was afraid that if he retaliated too early, the enemies would be scared away.
"Just conceal yourself first. Use the crossbows to defend the port, but don't use any of your spells yet. Since there are twenty ships, each ship should not have less than six-hundred people judging by their size. The armed merchant ships are either filled with cargo or soldiers. If it's filled with soldiers, then there might be more than ten-thousand enemies."
"Ten-thousand!" Daniel was perturbed. On the battlefield, it was easy for him to slaughter five-hundred people. If there were more than ten-thousand soldiers, Daniel might get injured, especially so if there were mages in the enemy's formation.
"If the enemy doesn't launch a full scale attack, then the skeletons shall hide in the snow first. Don't expose their heads. I will request for help from the Caucasus people." Kredian instructed Daniel as Daniel nodded and left. The enemy would not arrive immediately, so he still had time to retrieve the large crossbows from the treasury and position them on the coast.
The port in the city base was almost fully constructed. After development, the harbor was about three miles long. On the other hand, Daniel only had about four-hundred soldiers, totally insufficient to defend the important locations. Luckily, the soldiers brought by Aini and Irene were added in. The barbarians also were deployed. All in all, Daniel managed to gather one-thousand people.
Kredian also commanded some soldiers, but they were needed to defend the northern area of the city. Even though there was a low chance that the enemy would make a detour, that area still had to be defended since there were too many enemies. Kredian personally paid a visit to the Caucasus elders, requesting them to deploy their soldiers to assist in the defense.
The Caucasus people might have only deployed four-hundred people, but they were all riding on magic wolves. They could assault the enemies in the wilderness. At this point in time, Kredian then attained peace of mind. Thereafter, he sent some men to the White Rock Mountain to look for Truman.
Truman was stationed on the White Rock Mountain, where he was waited upon by a large team of soldiers. As he was manning the mini magic cannon, he received the news. Kredian had sent some men to deliver a set of magic lamps, which were used on a warship to make signals. Kredian would not descend on the frontline himself, he would be guarding Saleen's temple. On the roof of the temple, there was also another set of magic lamps. They could deliver a command to any location in the city.
At this moment, there was no choice because the city base had not been fully constructed. There was no way of using a magic sound array to command a battle yet.
The remaining Caucasus people dispatched another four-hundred people to help defend the temple. All of Saleen's supplies were stored in an obscure location under the temple. Even though it would be hard for the enemy to discover them, it was still better to play it safe.
Judikaka did not follow Daniel, he actually followed Kredian. Since Kredian had more willpower than Daniel, it would be impossible for Judikaka to delude him. Judikaka was not afraid of Daniel at all. In fact, he was a little fearful of provoking the mages from Sregl Island.
That was the arrangement Saleen determined before he left. Previously, Saleen had warned Judikaka that Sregl Island contained many sorcerers. If Judikaka had done anything wrong, even Saleen could not save him. Judikaka did not think that Saleen was just bluffing him. Judging by the equipment they wore, it was obvious that the mages from the Sregl Island had originated from some massive power.
Just as the sun set, all the defenses along the port had been set in place. A temporarily built fortress had caused the harbor to become a militarized fortification. On this crescent-shaped island, there was a huge number of skeleton soldiers lying in wait under all that snow. These skeleton soldiers were originally coolies, so they were not the decisive power in this battle. Even a normal soldier would be able to chop a skeleton soldier into shreds. If some farmers were emboldened, they could even deal with a stronger skeleton.
The enemies were obviously elites, so Daniel did not place any hope on the skeletons to be the decisive force in the battle. He was relying on Diyabannersa and his summoned spirit, the pikoosi.
| ← Ch. 0386 | Ch. 0388 → |