Black puppets were poisonous, but their venom was not particularly potent. Both the Holy See’s holy water and a mage’s restorative water could restore a person’s health drastically after coming into contact with them.
However, there was a shelf life for both liquids. Restorative water usually lasted for ten to fifteen days before slowly losing its powers while holy water lasted a little longer but also could not exceed a month.
The grand mage in the castle had left more than a year ago and the restorative water that he had left behind had long since lost its effects.
"Baron, restorative water has a better effect. However…"
Baron Cook could not have been bothered with anything else and asked, "Do you need magic nuclei?"
"Yes, I’m only a Grade 1 mage. If I have magic nuclei to restore my magic chords, I can create a large amount of restorative water." Saleen was thinking. Since Aini had gotten something out of creating the alchemy arrowheads, he needed to get his hands on some Grade 5 magic nuclei to avoid losing out.
"Alright. Send ten magic nuclei for the mage," Baron Cook shouted
Saleen was shocked and immediately understood. Baron Cook had long since been prepared and had been waiting for him to make his request. Saleen looked at Baron Cook’s angular face. He was starting to despise this wealthy man.
"Mage Saleen, besides the restorative water, I desperately need some healing medicine too. You can use the laboratories however you like; any losses will be on me."
Saleen nodded and said, "Send a large water jar to the laboratory and do not disturb me. It will be enough for Sika to accompany me."
It did not take long for everything to be prepared. Saleen shut the doors to the magic laboratory, stored the ten Grade 5 magic nuclei in his Ring of Gifts, and got down to work making the restorative water.
Restorative water was a Grade 1 magic and a typical mage would be able to make five hundred grams each time. Since Saleen’s magic chords had been altered, he could now create four times that amount. In addition, he had twice the number of magic chords of a normal mage and hence was equivalent to eight Grade 1 mages making restorative water at the same time.
Rapidly making eight times the amount, it was only right that he kept a little reward for himself. Saleen was secretly happy with himself. Even though his magic chords had flaws, he also had advantages that others did not.
Saleen only required a Grade 3 magic nucleus to restore his magic chords. He cast his magic consecutively, creating a whole jar of restorative water at once. Grabbing a magic nucleus, he began to restore his magic chords.
He did not have many Grade 3 nuclei left and besides those that he had bought for himself, the rest that had been given to him by Viscount Gugger had been used up. The Grade 5 magic nuclei that he had on hand had been given to him by Nailisi.
A Grade 1 mage using a Grade 5 magic nucleus was a waste and hence Saleen was reluctant to use them. Even though he owned a countless number of gemstones, he was still living life frugally. The trauma from his childhood was not easy to erase. If one had needed to go with a hungry stomach for more than ten years, once he became rich, he would either waste all of it or be as stingy as he could.
Saleen could cast twenty-four Grade 1 magic spells in succession but stopped after creating twenty portions of restorative water, saving some of his magic chords to use to defend himself.
This was a practice that all mages abided by and it was not only Saleen. Unless they were in their own magic tower, a mage would rarely use up all of their magic chords.
Sika carried the full jar of water to the doorway and opened the door, letting the soldiers who were waiting outside carry it away.
One of the soldiers waiting outside turned out to be a swordmaster under Sijia. At first, he had been a little upset. Saleen was only a Grade 1 mage and Baron Cook was being too generous with him. On top of that, Saleen and Aini had also created a mess of the magic laboratories and if the grand mage were to return, there would not be pleasant times ahead.
However, upon seeing the speed at which Saleen was creating the restorative water, the swordmaster felt that everything had been worth it. He immediately ordered the rest of the soldiers to place the jar in a metal box and send it to the infirmary to treat the poisoned soldiers.
The castle had an infirmary. It was large and there were already hundreds of soldiers lying wounded in there. Dozens of strong servants had been poisoned by the black puppets as well.
Although a black puppet’s poison was not fatal, it could cause severe pain and even the most experienced soldiers were unable to endure it. The room was filled with the sounds of pained moaning. In the olden days, the army of the Fourth Dynasty had fallen because of this. Many of the soldiers had lost their fighting spirit after seeing their comrades screaming in pain.
Most of the soldiers were not afraid of death. They were, however, afraid of endless torture.
Up on the walls of the castle, Sijia was commanding the battle. She had already defended against dozens of the enemy’s assaults and was both physically and mentally exhausted. The scarecrows came in like ocean waves. Their actions were clumsy, but as soon as they reached the foot of the castle, they could leap over the walls with one jump.
The crudely made alchemy arrowheads could effectively kill these black puppets. As long as the arrows landed, the scarecrows’s bodies would explode and the black flames would instantly burn them to ashes.
There were enough arrows in the castle, but not enough archers. A normal soldier ran out of energy after shooting a few dozen arrows. Hence, even though the scarecrows moved slowly, the soldiers could only shoot five rounds. There were two hundred soldiers on the castle walls and five rounds only amounted to a thousand arrows.
After five rounds, the scarecrows would reach the foot of the castle and jump, getting into a brawl with the soldiers. Behind the thousands of scarecrows were hundreds of headless riders who stood from afar and faced the castle, all prepared to attack.
Sijia was not worried about the black puppets. There were not even a hundred thousand of them and the castle would be able to keep them all out. She was worried about the hundreds of headless riders. These headless riders had a fighting ability similar to that of a beginner swordmaster, and some were even as good as an advanced swordmaster.
Even a bronze grand swordmaster would have fled at the sight of a hundred headless riders.
The only thing she could rely on now were the four alchemy crossbows in the castle. At the top of the castle around a tower was a huge platform, and on it were four alchemy crossbows that had been fixed in place. These giant alchemy crossbows had a range of over two kilometers and the arrows were thick and longer than a spear. Even a high-grade magic beast would be pierced through cleanly by an arrow like this.
Thousands of scarecrows rushed to the foot of the castle again, jumping straight up. A soldier used his shield and slammed it fiercely onto the first scarecrow that reached the top of the castle wall. At the same time, he took the broken sword in his hand and chopped off the head of another scarecrow. His fighting skills were fairly decent.
The two other soldiers supporting him grabbed a spear and flung away the scarecrows on his two sides before pulling him back to the team. This soldier had a ferocious look on his face as he had transformed his fear into fighting spirit. He threw away his broken sword and it stabbed a scarecrow nearby. He caught a spear that his comrade threw to him before charging back into battle.
The scarecrow with its head chopped off spewed dirty, black blood from its neck. The smell of its blood was like rotten eggs, a sulfur smell emanating all around. The servants behind the soldiers were distributing weapons and armor. They took a four-meter-long spear and flicked the headless scarecrow down the wall, afraid that it would revive again.
A few soldiers had been killed by such headless black puppets. There were no rules as to how the black puppets revived and since the battle had begun, both the soldiers and servants had grown numb to it. The initial fear they had of the black puppets had turned into hatred.
The Qin Empire’s regular army had a strong fighting ability, but the number of enemies was too high. Sijia gazed nervously at the headless riders with the telescope, not giving any orders to kill using the alchemy crossbow.
These headless riders were less than two kilometers away and were perfectly in range of the alchemy crossbows. However, there were only twenty-four specially made crossbow arrows and Sijia was afraid that once they used those up, the black mage would send out the evil dragon.
Sijia had not seen any evil dragons but she knew that they were the perfect weapon for attacking the castle. Without the alchemy crossbow, the evil dragon would break past the castle gates and the headless riders would be able to ride their way in. The hundreds of soldiers they had were no match for the headless riders.
The sun started to set in the west. After battling the entire day, even though the soldiers had taken turns fighting, they were exhausted. Half of the scarecrows had been eliminated but there were still forty to fifty thousand of them standing outside the castle walls.
Although the black puppets did not know what exhaustion was, the humans needed to rest. Almost a hundred soldiers had perished and holes were appearing in their defenses. Sijia had no choice but to adjust her battle strategy and have the soldiers fight two separate battles instead. This had given the soldiers even less time to rest.
If only they’d had a death mage who could call upon skeleton soldiers, then they would have been able to defend against the large number of black puppets. Sijia and two of her men stood at the spacious place on the castle wall. Watching what was happening outside the castle, there was unspeakable agitation in them. If only the grand mage had been here. A low-grade fireball would have been the best weapon for countering the scarecrows. That damned grand mage actually ran away to the Sun City. If we survive this time, I must definitely report this to the emperor.
Back in the olden days, the Qin Empire had sent two death mages to the Phoenix area to join in the efforts of eliminating the black mages and the effects had been visible. It was a pity that death magic was hard to practice and was discriminated against by commoners, deterring many from practicing this form of magic.
This wave of attack finally stopped and the sky grew increasingly dark. The evil dragon still hadn’t appeared, and Sijia said in a low voice, "Baisha, have the first team of cavalry prepare. The defense at night will be even more difficult."
Baisha was Sijia’s best swordmaster and he left to carry out his orders. Before long, ten fully armored cavalry followed the pathway to the castle wall. The armor on them weighed over fifty kilograms in total. Their majestic war horses were also fully draped, and even if they were to be caught in a shower of arrows, it would be tough to injure them.
The castle wall was five meters wide and the cavalry split themselves onto both sides of the wall, holding halberds in their hands. A halberd was a weapon with a wide blade and was much heavier than a spear. Even with just a single cavalry, dozens of black puppets could be knocked down the wall by their impact. These cavalry had been meant for dealing with the headless riders, but Sijia had no choice. Since nightfall was approaching, there was no way the castle could be defended with the infantry troops alone.
Once the castle walls were breached, the headless riders would not even need to be part of the action. The scarecrows alone would be able to wipe out everyone in the castle.
"Baron, why are you up here again!" Sijia said anxiously as she saw Baron Cook fully clad in armor, holding a heavy sword in his hand.
"Go take a rest, Sijia."
"Baron!"
"Let me be with the soldiers," Baron Cook said calmly.
These had been the famous words of the emperor who had created the Qin Empire. Sijia hesitated, seeing the faces of the soldiers light up in renewed spirits. She knew that she could not stop Baron Cook, or else the morale that they just regained would fall apart.