Bai Shi galloped along the direction of the Smouldering Wall.
The map of Caelid that Jerren had given him did not include Dragonbarrow.
The map only offered a simple description of how to reach Dragonbarrow.
Unlike in the ga, there was no need to jump across a chasm; the two areas were connected.
However, for Jerren and his n, Dragonbarrow was an area they rarely visited.
Many dragons lived here. Sending even a few n over was practically a suicide mission.
Furthermore, perhaps due to the terrain, the encroachnt of the Scarlet Rot was not very severe here.
As far as Bai Shi could see, he could still spot many normal trees and plants growing.
The task of cleansing the rot was not as pressing, so Jerren and Redmane Castle did not often send people here.
As a result, they had not explored Dragonbarrow much.
Thus, Bai Shi now found himself without a map to consult.
Fortunately, though he had no map to guide him, Bai Shi still had a general idea of the direction.
In any case, with Fort Faroth as the center, the Bestial Sanctum was to the east, and the Divine Tower was to the west.
It was simple and clear; he couldn't be wrong about the general direction.
Bai Shi decisively chose what he believed was the western direction and rode Torrent that way.
The Dragonbarrow Site of Grace should be over there. He would head there first and activate it.
This path happened to follow the direction of the Smouldering Wall, so he decided to follow it for now.
However, as he rode on, Bai Shi discovered that he had underestimated the trouble of not having a map.
Although he followed the direction from his mory, he had sohow ended up near a very remote evergaol.
Bai Shi circled the evergaol.
He looked at the Swamp of Aeonia below the nearby cliff and fell into thought.
"This isn't right. How did I end up here?"
"It can't be helped. We don't have a map, after all."
lina sat sideways behind Bai Shi.
She observed their surroundings while trying to recall the map.
"Our current position should be in the area directly north of the center of the Swamp of Aeonia."
"We should be very close to the path to Dragonbarrow marked on the map."
Bai Shi nodded. In any case, they were in the vicinity.
If he headed toward the Divine Tower later, there shouldn't be any problems.
But this was fine, too. He could take care of this evergaol while he was here.
Bai Shi turned to look at the evergaol.
lina also seed to have figured out what Bai Shi was thinking.
"Are you going to let the person in this gaol out as well?"
Bai Shi nodded.
"Since we're already here, I can't just leave empty-handed."
lina was a bit exasperated and silently glanced at Bai Shi.
For so reason, Bai Shi had a peculiar fondness for freeing the people locked away in evergaols.
It was as if he had so sort of collector's compulsion.
Logically speaking, the individuals inside these evergaols should have all committed grave cris.
There were all sorts of reasons they were locked away, and normally, one should avoid contact with such people.
After all, no one knew what serious cris they had actually committed.
It would be bad if he found so lunatic.
And yet, the two people Bai Shi had fished out of evergaols so far were quite normal.
Erlisa was a leader among the ancient heroes of Zamor, and Red was an equally powerful mber of the Crucible Knights.
Not only were the two of them powerful, but they were also fiercely loyal to Bai Shi.
He had even leveraged his relationship with Red to bring another Crucible Knight, Andre, under his command.
This left lina utterly unable to criticize Bai Shi's habit of pulling people out of evergaols.
He would inexplicably stumble upon an evergaol, only to find powerful allies inside.
Now, he was planning to enter an evergaol the mont he saw one.
It felt less like he was recruiting combat strength and more like he was satisfying his own amusent.
To use a term Bai Shi had ntioned to her before, it was called ‘opening a blind box,’ was it?
After a mont's thought, lina still offered Bai Shi a reminder:
"Although you've been quite successful in getting people out of evergaols so far,"
"you must be careful. If a lunatic were to feign loyalty and join Stormveil, it could cause so trouble."
"Madn in the Lands Between don't follow reason or logic. They might agree to sothing one second and betray you the next."
"Your forces have only just been assembled. It's not as though you have no internal or external threats, so it's best to be cautious."
lina didn't know that Bai Shi was familiar with everyone in the evergaols; she was just worried about him.
Bai Shi smiled. He was fairly confident.
"Yes, don't worry."
"I once learned a truth from a certain teacher: ‘If soone is insubordinate, just beat them until they submit.’”
Putting aside the matter of using force to make them submit.
The origins of the people in these evergaols could be understood from the items they drop.
So, Bai Shi had so understanding of each of their personalities, backgrounds, and so on.
Based on this, he already had the upper hand in negotiations and other matters.
For instance, the one sealed here should be Battlemage Hugues.
Hugues was originally from the Town of Sellia and studied in the Haima Conspectus at the Academy.
He was supposed to be a ‘peacemaker’ who followed the Haima philosophy, wielding cannon and sanction.
But he beca addicted to war, transforming into soone who craved conflict.
Coincidentally, there would be no shortage of opportunities for war under Bai Shi's command in the future.
He wanted war, and Bai Shi would bring it to him.
The Stormveil that Bai Shi had rebuilt was a city burning with the flas of ambition, eager for expansion, constantly gathering warriors, training its army, and preparing to help Bai Shi beco Elden Lord.
In terms of ambition and desire for expansion, Bai Shi's Stormveil was undoubtedly stronger than any other faction in the Lands Between.
The Redmane army in Caelid was troubled by the Scarlet Rot, and they remained there to cleanse it.
Their leader, General Radahn, had lost his mind to the Scarlet Rot, and the army was struggling just to maintain its current state.
The Academy of Raya Lucaria had sealed itself off from the world and had even imprisoned its true leader, Rennala, the ‘Queen of the Full Moon.’
As for the Carian Royal Family, it had declined, with only Ranni, the ‘Lunar Princess,’ remaining.
But Ranni and her forces were currently only interested in achieving her goal and had no interest in war.
To say nothing of Rykard at the distant Volcano Manor, who didn't even have proper soldiers anymore.
And the Haligtree was too distant and unreachable. Moreover, of Miquella and Malenia, one had been kidnapped and the other was slumbering.
All these factions had lost the ability and desire to start another war.
Leyndell, the Royal Capital, was quite powerful, but Morgott was unwilling to take the offensive, not even to harvest the other demigods.
In contrast to the Royal Capital, Mohg's Mohgwyn Dynasty was brimming with ambition.
But in terms of strength, they had barely enough n for guerrilla warfare.
The only enemies currently before Bai Shi were the two brothers, Morgott and Mohg.
Bai Shi would gradually absorb all the factions aside from these two brothers.
It was foreseeable that Stormveil would face many wars in the future.
Against the Kindred of Rot, the Academy sorcerers, the Mohgwyn Dynasty, and the Royal Capital of Leyndell...
This was only what Bai Shi could think of for now; the number of battles that might actually occur would likely be much higher.
At this thought, Bai Shi suddenly blinked.
Although the Hugues sealed in this evergaol was a nad individual, upon reflection, he was just an Academy sorcerer.
In terms of strength, he probably couldn't compare to Erlisa and Red.
If he was just a war hound, then perhaps he wasn't really necessary.
Whatever. He would go in and see first. If he could coax him into joining, he would. Having more hands was always good.
Bai Shi entered the evergaol.
Unlike the previous inhabitants of the evergaols, Hugues was very aggressive.
The mont Bai Shi entered, the Cannon of Haima was fired at him.
Bai Shi summoned a storm to block it, then looked toward the caster.
He was a sorcerer wearing a glintstone crown with a red cloth covering his eyes, and a pointed blue hat on top of the crown. Hugues's sorcerer attire was extrely tattered, not only full of holes, but the fabric was also worn shiny.
The ground in the evergaol was riddled with craters, not a single spot intact. It seed this was his usual form of entertainnt.
Unlike other mages, Hugues held a glintstone staff in one hand, and in the other, a thick stone club.
Seeing Bai Shi dodge the attack, Hugues followed up with a continuous barrage of Glintstone Cots.
Seeing the cots flying at him one after another, Bai Shi was pleased rather than angered.
This was a spell that only a true sorcerer of the Lands Between could master. In terms of the Academy, he was an outstanding graduate.
His locking-on speed was also quite fast. The Cannon of Haima had a rather long casting ti.
In other words, he had locked onto Bai Shi the instant he entered.
Moreover, those of the Haima Conspectus were not only adept at sorcery but also highly skilled in lee combat.
The stone club he wielded was proof of that; no one would think it was just for decoration.
Bai Shi felt that he could look forward to Hugues's combat prowess.
While swinging his sword-lance to shatter the incoming cots one by one, Bai Shi shouted to Hugues:
"Sorcerer of the Haima Conspectus, do you want to co outside with ?"
"Do you crave war?"
But for so reason, Bai Shi's words were t with no response, like a stone sinking into the sea.
Hugues just kept waving his staff, throwing all sorts of Academy sorceries at Bai Shi, occasionally mixed with Night sorceries from Sellia.
Seeing that Hugues wasn't speaking, Bai Shi didn't know why.
But it seed Hugues had no intention of stopping.
"What? Have you been locked in an evergaol so long that your desire for war has driven you mad?"
"Or is it that your hands are itching for a fight right now?"
"If that's the case, then let us begin."
Bai Shi excitedly raised his sword-lance and charged toward Hugues.
Since talking wasn't working, he'd find out what was going on after he yanked that crown off his head.
The charging Bai Shi was unstoppable. A storm enveloped his body, and he completely ignored the magic projectiles flying at him from a distance.
By the ti Bai Shi reached Hugues, the sorcerer had already conjured a blue Haima Gavel and brought it crashing down on him.
Bai Shi thrust his sword-lance to et it.
Instantly, the imnse force transmitted through the sword-lance sent Hugues staggering backward.
Lightning burst from the sword-lance, clashing with and dissipating the magic, quickly shattering the magically constructed gavel.
Hugues retreated several steps to steady himself.
The mont he was steady, he swung the stone club in his left hand at Bai Shi.
The stone club was quite crude, with the light of glintstone shining from within the rock.
It was a rough weapon made by directly cutting a raw glintstone.
So as not to lose sight of the essence of battle, Haima sorcerers would sotis defeat their enemies with their own hands, using a stone club.
Bai Shi deflected the stone club with his sword-lance, then kicked Hugues hard, causing his body to curl up like a shrimp.
Bai Shi grabbed the glintstone staff in Hugues's hand and pulled him closer.
Seeing this, Hugues took a step forward and tried to headbutt Bai Shi.
Bai Shi had no desire to test whose head was harder.
After all, the other guy was wearing a glintstone crown, while he was wearing a re decorative crown.
Bai Shi dropped his Dragonslayer Sword-Lance and swung his right fist, colliding with Hugues's crown.
Hugues was dazed by the punch and collapsed limply to his knees.
Bai Shi shook his right hand, which had just collided with the crown.
Even with the protection of his gauntlet, the punch still left his hand a little numb.
Then, Bai Shi grabbed the glintstone crown on Hugues's head.
"Let
take off your crown."
Bai Shi lifted Hugues's glintstone crown to see his current state.
As Bai Shi removed the glintstone crown from Hugues's head, a face that was already severely Hollowed appeared before him.
"It seems you really do love war."
"To be this Hollowed and still have such a strong desire for battle."
Bai Shi shook his head. This guy was a lost cause. Even if he took him out, he would be useless.
It couldn't be helped. After all, he wasn't from a long-lived race like the Zamor or the Crucible. It was sothing he should have realized earlier.
Still affected by the heavy blow, Hugues gradually recovered his motor functions, stood up, and prepared to attack Bai Shi again.
But this ti, Bai Shi did not hold back. He pierced his chest with the sword-lance.
The sword-lance took Hugues's life. As he lay dying, his lips trembled slightly, as if he were muttering to himself.
But Bai Shi sohow clearly understood the aning he wanted to convey.
"Send
to battle."
Then, a blue magical fla began to burn on Hugues's body.
Before long, his body was completely incinerated, leaving only ashes.
These were the Spirit Ashes of Battlemage Hugues.
Bai Shi collected all the ashes in his glintstone crown.
As for this sorcerer whose mind was filled with "Battle, aweso!
Reviews
All reviews (0)