Chapter 331

: Recovering the Juggernaut (Part 1)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Daniel, it’s up to you now,
Saleen yelled as he instructed the pirates to steady their crossbows, his confidence in beating all five grand swordmasters clearly showing.
Daniel nodded in understanding and approached the grade-5 mage. However, instead of personally confronting the five grand swordmasters, he commanded the pikoosi to do it in his place. The death creature sprang into action and leapt straight into the boulders separating Saleen and his troops from the five grand swordmasters.
Saleen’s only weakness now stemmed from his bodily limitations. His combat prowess was not poor at all. However, the pikoosi was a much better candidate for this scenario. He was not only a grade-7 death creature, but he could also unleash magic three times faster than any other death creature. If the pikoosi could prevent a swordmaster from coming too close to him, it was possible he would even be able to win a fight against a black metal grand swordmaster.
The pikoosi was not scared of fighting anyone at all. He was a death creature who had an owner, after all. Thus, it would be hard to completely obliterate him. At most, he would be driven back into the death dimension. His enormous body rolled over the snow, sending clouds of it flying in all directions as he collided into those rocks.
Bang! One of the stone pillars that the pikoosi came into contact with split into half almost instantly. Like a war puppet, he could not be bothered to run in a zig-zag to avoid his obstacles. He simply flattened them.
For the first time since he had become Saleen’s follower, Daniel let out a smug smile at how much he had managed to accomplish. He felt unusually relaxed just having the pikoosi do his thing. The pirates, who were witnessing everything unfolding before them, looked at Daniel in a different light, having looks of respect and fear. A death creature as enormous as that would already have been intimidating enough, with or without its magic powers.
The pikoosi was one of the most special death creatures in existence. Senior death creatures were usually the best at death magic. However, it was not the pikoosi’s magic that made him so fearsome, but his physical strength. The horns perched on top of his heads could shoot magic spells at any opponents that crossed his path. In fact, a person could probably mistake the six horns for lances! Since all his horns contained the properties of death magic, no magically-fortified armor could withstand even one swipe of the pikoosi’s horns.
The four magic beast warriors, who had originally wanted to flee, hesitated upon the mention of over one hundred steel crossbows. Since they had just been promoted to the rank of a grand swordmaster, they were not strong enough to deal with Jola on their own, which would explain why nearly ten of their comrades had been killed off by him. Their leader had been the first one to go, and he himself had been the epitome of a true black metal grand swordmaster.
The royal magic beast knight squad were all made up of advanced swordmasters. There were only five hundred of them, with their leader being a grand swordmaster. However, because they had not truly gotten the hang of their new craft, they would not be able to escaped unscathed when faced with hundreds of steel crossbows.
Once the pikoosi made an appearance, the four magic beast knights’ faces blanched with fear at the realization that the other party had brought a necromancer with them. Fighting with Jola alone had consumed nearly half of their sword auras. They no longer had the capabilities to face a necromancer who seemed to be as strong as an archmage. Just one strike and all of them would be done for.

Jola, how dare you liaise with the Qins!
the four magic beast knights chorused angrily as they glared at Jola. They had huddled even closer together, their backs coming into contact with each other. They did not dare provoke the death creature in front of them. If the pikoosi detected a hint of a challenge, they would be flattened before they could even beg for mercy. Thus, they resorted to only yelling at Jola.

So what? I’ve always been a Qin,
Jola said as nonchalantly as possible, trying to hide the look of surprise on his face as he took in the sight of the death creature before him. However, his eyes betrayed him, for Saleen could see the shock in them. Unwittingly, he spun his Qin eight-sided sword even more quickly now, shredding the snowflakes around him into a million pieces without them even coming into contact with his weapon.

A Qin? Have you forgotten how his Majesty treated you?!
one of the four knights bellowed in indignation.

How could I forget? He sent two magic beast knight teams to eliminate me,
Jola scoffed, his tone as cold as ice. Both his parents had died when he was just a little boy. Somehow, he had ended up in the Cloudflow Empire to study the art of swordcraft. His efforts and talent had not gone unrecognized, for Emperor Jupiter had offered him a position as the mentor of the royal swordsmen. However, in his heart, Jola knew that Emperor Jupiter was just milking him for all he was worth. His success today had nothing to do with him.
If he had not been a black metal grand swordmaster, would the emperor still have treated him so well? Jola was well aware of the answer to that question.
As Jola continued reminiscing about his past, he did not forget to observe the pikoosi as well. The gigantic death creature was at least a grade-6 or grade-7 creature. It suddenly dawned upon Jola that he might have accidentally offended those people with his words. However, he was not too worried about having to deal with a necromancer. In fact, he knew that he could probably take them on with his eyes closed.
As Jola eyed the pikoosi, who was busy staring at the four magic beast knights, he decided to make a move instead of launching an attack. However, before he could even take a step, Saleen’s voice rang in the air once again,
Jola, why are you in such a hurry to leave? Don’t you have to settle everything first?

The four magic beast knights looked at one another with fear written all over their faces. Looks like this it it, they thought sullenly. They knew that Saleen was going to kill them all, and they could not do anything about it.
However, killing off four grand swordmasters was not an easy task. In fact, Saleen could even lose. With that, the four of them reignited their confidence and their killer instincts. Jola’s pupils started to dilate upon hearing Saleen’s words. He knew that the mage outside had no intention of killing them. However, he had no intention of letting them go either.
Really now? Let’s see what you’re made of! Jola thought, miffed that someone could say something so brazen.
Saleen made sure that his next command could be heard even more clearly than before.
All ten groups, scatter now and prepare the steel crossbows. Shoot anyone that moves too fast. In fact, shoot so many arrows at them that they look like porcupines. Our necromancers here do need some corpses to study, so why not?
Saleen’s words caused the four magic beast knights to discard any thoughts of fighting back. Being tortured by their enemies was something tolerable, but being tortured by a necromancer was not. They would be haunted by the necromancer even after death, with no hope of ever obtaining freedom.
Death magic by itself was not a sinister form of magic. It was the way necromancers used it that gave death magic such a horrible, fearsome reputation. Thus, many people disliked even speaking about death magic.

Discard your weapons and come out single file to my side. If not, I’m releasing my poisonous fog,
Saleen said calmly. Even though the spell would not work well in this weather, the rocky area was not a very big place. Moreover, grand swordmasters could not hold their breath for too long. Being surrounded by the poisonous fog would bring them harm sooner or later.
The pikoosi monitored the five grand swordmasters, which meant that whatever movements the five of them made would also be seen by Daniel.
Jola thought about it before deciding that fighting the people outside head-on was probably not the smartest idea in the world. He had only had a
small disagreement
with the Cloudflow Emperor. If the other party were really Qins, they would not care about whatever had gone on between him and the Cloudflow royals. In fact, he doubted that they would send him back to Emperor Jupiter for sentencing. Upon reaching this conclusion, Jola stopped brandishing his Qin eight-sided sword and slotted it into the sheath that was on his back. Putting his sword on his back was something that was rarely practiced by both him and well… any other grand swordmaster.
All forms of swordcraft required the person practicing it to focus greatly on the precision and speed of drawing their sword. It was much slower to draw a weapon from one’s back.
Seeing that Jola had kept his weapon, the four magic beast knights looked at each other, knowing that it was game over for them. The four of them combined had barely made a dent on Jola. They were all exhausted by now, and knew that they might not even emerge victorious from the fight. Now, there were more than a hundred people joining in the fun. The worst part was that there was a necromancer among them. They sighed in resignation and kept their weapons before dismounting their magic beasts and making their way towards Saleen.
Daniel, who saw everything through the pikoosi’s six eyes, let out a huff as he thought, Never thought I’d see the day where grand swordmasters would actually surrender. Saleen seems to be getting stronger and stronger. That means my chances of leaving are getting smaller and smaller.
Whatever, he thought as he continued observing Jola and the four knights. He knew that if he had honed his craft by himself, he would not have been able to enjoy the benefits that he had now. If Saleen really did become one of the legendary mages, it would not be a bad thing to continue being his follower. Daniel also knew that he was one of the lucky few people who had the chance to learn from Saleen. Other people would have killed to be in his shoes right now.
As the five of them walked out into the open, their jaws dropped in despair and anguish as they took in everything before them. The sight of three archmages riding on skeletal warhorses as well as more than one hundred knights who were also riding on skeletal warhorses greeted them.
Saleen had not actually mobilized anyone. All he had done was make a lot of noise. If they had fled in the other direction, Saleen would not have bothered to chase after them.
The five grand swordmasters gaped in shock as it dawned on them that they had been tricked by the mage.
Mages hated to be called liars because they never fibbed, at least not when they conducted business deals. Mages were too proud to lie over things such as money. However, when it came to battle, mages were sone of the most cunning people.
Even Jola realized that by now, thanks to the words of his mentor that he had recalled too late. Now, he was filled with regret.
When he saw Saleen, he knew that he was not going to be able to escape from him. The grade-5 mage smiled cheekily at him, his eyes filled with amusement. It was obvious that the black-haired mage had no interest in the magic beast swordsmen. However, it was too late for anyone to run. The gigantic death creature had positioned himself such that he was blocking the path leading to the area where they had come from. They could not just make a blind dash for it either. There were over a hundred swordsmen on skeletal warhorses waiting to slash them into pieces if they did so. If there was one thing that Saleen had not lied about, it was the fact that every single swordsmen on these horses really did have a fully loaded steel crossbow ready to fire at his command.
Steel crossbows could not be considered alchemy crossbows as it was very hard to aim with them. Thus, the arrows fired from them would not be able to hit concealed targets. However, it was because of this property that it was very hard to avoid the arrows shot from said weapon. If Jola had been locked on as a target using magic, he could easily guess where these arrows would end up. However, the steel crossbow was a weapon that was made with only lethality and strong penetrating power in mind. Even the people operating this weapon could not control it properly.
The only way to win a war using steel crossbows was through numbers. A steel crossbow could fire three steel arrows at the same time. Ten of these weapons operated at the same time would mean thirty steel arrows fired at the same time. If they were fired from all directions, the arrows would descend on their target like a net. If they were to be fired consecutively, Jola was confident that he could easily break the arrows in a few strikes. However, the party he was dealing with partly consisted of three strong mages. He would never be able to defend himself properly against their powers combined.
What Jola did not know was that both Saleen and Aini could fly. Black metal grand swordmasters could not even fly for a short distance. Some could, of course, and they might even have been faster than a skeletal warhorse. However, they would not be able to fly for a very long time.

Jola, long time no see,
Saleen said with a smile on his face, giving Jola goosebumps as a shiver ran down his spine. Why is this mage going along with whatever I’m saying? What is he playing at? I don’t even know him, let alone asking him to be my backup! Jola thought.
Upon hearing Saleen’s words of confirmation, the four magic beasts swordsmen sunk even deeper into despair. Now, they truly believed that this mage was Jola’s friend.

Jola, I got here as soon as I got your letter. Am I not the greatest friend in the world?
Saleen continued speaking to Jola derisively. Jola did not know how to respond. If he were to simply play along with the mage, who knew what other stories the mage would come up with. Jola would potentially lose the chance to convince the four magic beast knights that he really did not know the grade-5 mage if he really did come up with more lies.
However, if he did not play along, all the mage had to ask was,
So you were using me just now?
and it would be game over for him. Darn it! Why are mages so hard to shake off! Jola thought exasperatedly.

Do you want me to kill the four of them or let them live?
Saleen asked, not caring about whether Jola answered his question. Saleen had over a hundred witnesses right now, so there was no way Jola could lie his way through later on. No matter what, he was not going to let this grand swordmaster go. His city base really needed more people. Once he got this black metal grand swordmaster to become his loyal follower, his powers would be strengthened by leaps and bounds. Until he crossed paths with a holy master, a black grand swordmaster would do wonders in relieving some of his stress.

Master Mage, I apologize for being too rude,
Jola said, ultimately deciding not to play along. In fact, he just wanted to be as far away from Saleen as possible. The mage standing in front of him was just too unpredictable. One wrong move and he could end up in a trap. Getting tricked into coming out into the open had been a very good example of that. All the mage had to do now was spout a few words to convince them to drop their weapons.

Jola, since when are you so formal with me? Is it because I came too late?
Saleen asked with a sad, shocked expression on his face.