Chapter 717
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Saleen had heard before that pure-bred grade-three warhorses could travel more than sixty miles per hour, but only for two to three hours . After that, it would have to rest completely and not move for the next eighteen days . At a comfortable pace, the pure-bred horse could travel at forty miles per hour . That was equivalent to the speed at which normal knights would charge .
The winged skeleton put in great effort to create the skeletal warhorse and clearly knew more about horses than Saleen . This type of warhorse could catch up with flying mages and could travel at a consistent pace for an entire day .
There was no way the knights would be able to control the warhorses traveling at a speed of eighty miles an hour . If not for the winged skeleton, practically every knight would have been thrown off and crushed .
The winged skeleton demonstrated the immense power of his advanced abilities . Saleen's bond did not restrict his development and the grade-8 death mage was already on the same level as a grand mage . Of course, this was related to how powerful Saleen's mental strength was . Both he and Nailisi were bonded to Saleen with their souls . As long as Saleen's mental strength could advance to the standard of a grade-9 sorcerer, the winged skeleton would be able to advance to grade-9 as well .
Even so, the winged skeleton would have put in effort as well . As his master, Saleen would not be able to extend any other kind of aid to him .
Saleen was in good health and the two mages were more powerful than him . Both Isabella and Eleanor were proficient in both magic and combat so they were able to travel for ten hours straight before finally stopping for a rest .
Any other mage would already have been paralyzed . Even if they boosted themselves with spells continuously, they would never have been able to travel on their horses for ten hours straight .
The two-hundred warriors that had followed Saleen were the most tired of all . During the break in the day, the mages boosted everyone with spells . By the time night came, everyone was already asleep except for the winged skeleton and the demons .
The winged skeleton was wearing the armor that Saleen had refined for him . The front of the helmet was a crystal mask . Soul flames danced slowly behind the mask and displayed a strange and magical silver color in the night .
Cuisi took a look at the winged skeleton and recalled Nailisi's warning so he made sure to stay out of the way of the spirit of the dead . He ordered the other three demons to stand guard outside Saleen's tentage . The spirits of the dead under the winged skeleton would be responsible for the security of the entire campsite .
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The winged skeleton stood at the entrance of the campsite, armed with a weapon that was more than four yards long .
The tip of this weapon was a circular-shaped axe blade that was more than a yard long in diameter . The gigantic axe opened up on both sides and was blood-red in color . There was a magic array on both sides of the axe and there were colorful magic nuclei like six strange looking eyes mounted on it .
The winged skeleton found this weapon from the ocean and by his estimation, the weapon should at least be twenty-thousand years old . While a weapon with a long history might not necessarily mean that it was a good weapon, the fact remained that it withstood pressure and decomposition under water for twenty-thousand years without any signs of damage . This was definitely an equipment of high quality .
The handle of the giant axe was oval in shape and was filled with magic patterns . These magic patterns were not refined only on its surface, it was refined completely into the interior of the axe . They would not disappear no matter how much one polished it .
The aura of the spirit of the dead emanated through the winged skeleton's gloves and entered the giant axe . The colorful magic nuclei lit up and the blood-red magic patterns flowed on the black giant axe .
There were six jade skeletons that stood behind the winged skeleton and each of them were also armed with a similar giant axe . Those were weapons that Saleen refined by trying to copy the winged skeleton's original weapon .
The winged skeleton and his men were extremely powerful and no one dared to handle such a giant axe . Even silver grand swordmasters would have to think twice about it .
Seven skeletons stood at the entrance of the campsite and the nocturnal magic beasts all stayed far away . Six streams of gray-colored aura flowed from winged skeleton's giant axe and were absorbed by the axes of the jade skeletons behind him .
These seven skeletons functioned as one . Saleen dared to bring only two-hundred men to Daliang City partly because he was confident in his own abilities, but also because the winged skeleton was already a grade-8 spirit of the dead and was already more powerful than the Three Kings . Judikaka's soul flame was given to the winged skull and once Saleen advanced, the winged skeleton would immediately advance to grade-9 as well .
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The winged skeleton looked up at the moon . The silver-colored moonlight passed through the crystal mask and entered his eyes before being absorbed by his soul flames . The soul flames grew stronger after absorbing the moonlight .
The night passed peacefully and the campsite was not disturbed . Saleen led the troops to continue on their way . It was already the middle of September . He had to reach Daliang City by the end of October and would have to take into account the route conditions and whether they would encounter any attacks by the enemy .
They did not encounter any trouble from Metatrin to the new city that Aini was overseeing . Saleen turned towards the south when they reached the border of Laiyin and headed towards Daliang City by traveling along the border of Luolan .
These two-hundred men who were clad in full armor were conspicuous . They were only less noticeable because they did not travel on routes commonly used by wagons . They would not stop along the way for supplies and would travel around towns and sprinted across plains .
No one would have been able to catch up with the skeletal warhorses even if they wanted to . These two-hundred skeletal warhorses covered seven-hundred miles every day even as they carried Saleen and his two-hundred soldiers and mages .
Regardless of the local noble families that harbored evil intentions, Holy Rock City armies, or even some bandit companies; everyone had miscalculated and were all left behind by Saleen's strange way of moving his troops .
By the middle of October, Saleen led his two-hundred men into Luolan and onto the lands controlled by Lex's Bitter Water Prefecture .
There was a militarized town on the border with five-thousand soldiers in it . Saleen showed his badge . The most senior officer in this town was an elderly member of a noble family of Bitter Water Prefecture . When he saw Saleen's badge, he quickly extended hospitality to Saleen .
"Your Highness, I did not expect you to reach us so quickly!" The elder received Saleen's troops outside of the town . He did not reveal any signs of disappointment even after noticing that Saleen only brought two-hundred men .
Saleen was silently approving of this . This was an elder that possessed intelligence, or perhaps, craftiness . This town that he oversaw was connected to the regions controlled by Holy Rock City . Only with such wisdom would both parties be able to co-exist peacefully .
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This elder was previously a grade-1 Viscount and was a member of a noble family assigned to Lex by Emperor Chanake . After building up her kingdom, Lex promoted him to a grade-2 Earl, which was a double promotion . He now commanded five-thousand soldiers and guarded over this place .
"Earl…" Saleen was led to the Earl's mansion where the latter has arranged a banquet . The moment Saleen spoke, the Earl smiled and said, "Your Highness, please call me Besta . I witnessed the growth of the Princess, I'm not an outsider . "
Saleen smiled and said, "Besta, are we able to establish contact with Daliang City here?"
"Strictly speaking, yes, but…" Besta felt a little embarrassed . The number of magic nuclei he possessed was limited . He would not use them unless necessary . Just delivering a document would expend one magic nucleus . Even a low-level teleportation portal would require six grade-4 magic nuclei to be used up .
Saleen understood Besta's difficulties immediately and said, "Although Lex will replenish the magic nuclei that you have expended, they will only be delivered at the end of the year . Alright, I will help you this time around . You must guard this town properly and not be taken advantage of by those in the north . " Even as he spoke, Saleen took out a box that was specifically designed to store magic nuclei . In the box were sixty grade-4 magic nuclei that had already been cut and passed it to Besta .
The old uncle became extra cautious . It was not easy guarding the border in this place that did not have much of a future . These sixty magic nuclei were nothing to Saleen .
Besta was a little embarrassed . Indeed, Lex had not sent over any magic nuclei for a long time . In the previous attack, they managed to take down three important cities successfully, but a lot of magic nuclei were also used up . While he still had quite a number of low-level magic nuclei, the number of middle-level magic nuclei were rather limited .
"Your Highness, how can I accept this?"
"Don't worry . Lex will repay me," Saleen joked . Besta began to feel embarrassed . Saleen was already willing to send aid from many miles away, why would he care about these sixty middle-grade magic nuclei, even if they could have been sold for ten-thousand gold coins?
Saleen did not write to Lex immediately . Instead, he began to discuss the military equipment that their town possessed with Besta .
It was through this discussion that Saleen found out that aside from the five-hundred or so bodyguards that belonged to Earl Besta, the rest of the five-thousand soldiers were all new recruits that had only been trained for two to three years . The training they had undergone were not like those that Lex had put Saleen's soldiers through . Their training was instead the simplest type that followed Qin laws .
The soldiers would be able to operate most of the common weapons . As for their combat skills, five soldiers should be able to kill a grade-1 swordsman .
Lex did not deploy any elite soldiers at the border of the land controlled by Holy Rock City . Saleen could read between the lines and now understood a bit more about the situation that Lex was in . The number of soldiers under Lex was definitely more than five-hundred-thousand, but half of them did not possess much fighting abilities .
While it would be sufficient if they were only defending the city, attacking other cities or being engaged in open battles would be suicidal . If this was the case, there would be no need for Saleen to leave any equipment behind for Earl Besta . His equipment was meant for his main forces .
Saleen then wrote a letter and asked Besta to deliver it to Daliang City . In the letter was information on the equipment and resources that Saleen has brought along and his strategy for the battle .
Saleen had many resources, but they had yet to be pieced together into equipment . He would need the help of Lex's mages to prepare the necessary equipment for refining . This was why Saleen wrote to Lex when he was still more than one-thousand miles away . He could not afford to start preparing only after he had reached Daliang City .
Saleen and the rest still needed to continue on their way, but they were already exhausted . They would rest in this small town for a day to fully recover their strength before carrying on again .
Saleen and the rest slept while Earl Besta was settling some military issues in his mansion . Suddenly, a bodyguard came in a hurry and reported that a troop of about two-thousand knights were approaching the small town . Earl Besta was taken aback . two-thousand knights formed the standard size of a battalion . It was very likely that they would be followed by two-thousand heavy-armored knights and six-thousand foot soldiers .
The old Earl did not wake Saleen . Instead, he told the bodyguard, "Gather some men . I will go to the top of the city wall and have a look . "
"My Lord, can I come with you?" Besta had only just finished speaking and the winged skeleton had already appeared in front of him with that formidable axe . The soul flames were dancing slowly underneath his crystal mask .
The winged skeleton had always stayed by Saleen' side . When Besta first saw him, he had thought that he was just an ordinary spirit of the dead . He never expected this spirit of the dead to possess intelligence and the ability to speak his language .