<h4>Chapter 331: Recovering the Juggernaut (Part 1)</h4>


    Trantor: 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, hemanded the pikoosi to do it in his ce. 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. Hisbat 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 froming too close to him, it was possible he would even be able to win a fight against a ck 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 topletely 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 pirs 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 ttened them.


    For the first time since he had be Saleen’s follower, Daniel let out a smug smile at how much he had managed to aplish. He felt unusually rxed 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 fornces! 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 J on their own, which would exin why nearly ten of theirrades 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 ck 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 nched with fear at the realization that the other party had brought a necromancer with them. Fighting with J 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.


    “J, how dare you liaise with the Qins!” the four magic beast knights chorused angrily as they red at J. They had huddled even closer together, their backsing 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 ttened before they could even beg for mercy. Thus, they resorted to only yelling at J.


    “So what? I’ve always been a Qin,” J said as nonchntly 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 snowkes around him into a million pieces without them evening 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,” J 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, J knew that Emperor Jupiter was just milking him for all he was worth. His sess today had nothing to do with him.


    If he had not been a ck metal grand swordmaster, would the emperor still have treated him so well? J was well aware of the answer to that question.


    As J 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 J that he might have identally 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 J eyed the pikoosi, who was busy staring at the four magic beast knights, he decided to make a move instead ofunching an attack. However, before he could even take a step, Saleen’s voice rang in the air once again, “J, 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. J’s pupils started to dte 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! J thought, miffed that someone could say something so brazen.


    Saleen made sure that his nextmand 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 ande 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 ce. Moreover, grand swordmasters could not hold their breath for too long. Being surrounded by the poisonous fog would bring them harm sooner orter.


    The pikoosi monitored the five grand swordmasters, which meant that whatever movements the five of them made would also be seen by Daniel.


    J 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, J 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 J had kept his weapon, the four magic beast knights looked at each other, knowing that it was game over for them. The four of thembined had barely made a dent on J. 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 J 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 be 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 J realized that by now, thanks to the words of his mentor that he had recalled toote. 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 ck-haired mage had no interest in the magic beast swordsmen. However, it was toote for anyone to run. The gigantic death creature had positioned himself such that he was blocking the path leading to the area where they hade from. They could not just make a blind dash for it either. There were over a hundred swordsmen on skeletal warhorses waiting to sh 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 hismand.


    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 J 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 prating 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. If they were to be fired consecutively, J 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 powersbined.


    What J did not know was that both Saleen and Aini could fly. ck 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.


    “J, long time no see,” Saleen said with a smile on his face, giving J goosebumps as a shiver ran down his spine. Why is this mage going along with whatever I’m saying? What is he ying at? I don’t even know him, let alone asking him to be my backup! J 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 J’s friend.


    “J, I got here as soon as I got your letter. Am I not the greatest friend in the world?” Saleen continued speaking to J derisively. J did not know how to respond. If he were to simply y along with the mage, who knew what other stories the mage woulde up with. J 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 dide up with more lies.


    However, if he did not y 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! J thought exasperatedly.


    “Do you want me to kill the four of them or let them live?” Saleen asked, not caring about whether J answered his question. Saleen had over a hundred witnesses right now, so there was no way J could lie his way throughter 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 ck metal grand swordmaster to be his loyal follower, his powers would be strengthened by leaps and bounds. Until he crossed paths with a holy master, a ck grand swordmaster would do wonders in relieving some of his stress.


    “Master Mage, I apologize for being too rude,” J said, ultimately deciding not to y 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 intoing 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.


    “J, since when are you so formal with me? Is it because I came toote?” Saleen asked with a sad, shocked expression on his face.