Chapter 823: Second Princess arrives on thefront lines
Several minutes had passed since Bai Zemin and Lilith had said their last words before they both fell into silence.
Both of them closed their eyes and enjoyed simply listening to the sound of voices coming from the distance or the sound of soldiers' footsteps and mutant horses; sometimes, silence was a better speaker than words as many times only silence could allow us to feel with the heart what the ears could not express.
He could feel her gratitude floating in the air as she could feel his affection and love. As for why Lilith felt grateful to Bai Zemin, she knew that he knew the reason but simply said nothing to avoid bringing up a topic that would probably open old wounds.
As if they had planned it or as if they sensed each other's intention, Bai Zemin and Lilith opened their eyes at the same time.
With a faint smile, he slowly said, "Well, let's continue to look at what daddy got this time."
"Okay, Daddy Zemin."
Bai Zemin's eyes sparkled and his head lifted so fast that for a moment Lilith doubted how many points he had in his Agility stat.
"You... What did you say?" he asked with wide eyes.
Lilith pursed her lips slightly and said in an innocent voice, "At least for a few minutes I'll agree to be your little Lilith."
His eyes sparkled again this time more brightly than the previous one and he said in a husky voice, "Little Lilith, if you would call me that in bed this daddy would definitely take good care of you without having to make you suffer."
The corner of Lilith's mouth twitched a couple of times as she stared at him, "... You're quite perverted, aren't you?"
"I am." He nodded without hesitation.
"... Don't say it so proud of yourself."
"The truth is no offense." Bai Zemin said as he picked up the purple-colored dagger.
The weapon's records immediately flashed in his retina.
[Fang of the Putrid Echo (Epic Grade Treasure): A dagger that was once a Rank 6 piece of equipment with child consciousness. After its original user died and it was lost for over a hundred thousand years, the Soul Record picked it up but the child consciousness had perished. After turning it into a treasure and despite the loss of power, its rank is worthy of an Epic treasure.}
[Stats: Agility +200, Strength +200, Stamina +200, Health +50, Magic +100.]
[Normal physical attacks performed with Fang of the Putrid Echo have a 100% chance to corrode the enemy's blood once the dagger managed to come into contact with skin and flesh. The corroding will spread throughout the enemy's body, paralyzing nerves and eventually culminating in death if the enemy does not possess an antidote of Rank 4 or higher. NOTE: Only works on enemies below the user's level.]
[Once every 3 seconds, the attached skill 'Echo' will automatically activate in combat, effectively ignoring the enemy's defense as long as the armor in the attacked area does not reach or exceed 8000 physical defense points and resulting in a direct attack to the enemy's body.]
Seeing the terrifying power of the dagger in his hands and even though he had checked its records before, Bai Zemin couldn't help but sigh.
"This is the first Epic grade treasure meant for combat I have seen, and I must say it really is terrifying. This dagger alone bestows the one holding it with such an absurd amount of stats that an ordinary level 1 human could easily start slaughtering First Order soul evolvers." Bai Zemin played with the purple-colored dagger as he said with lingering astonishment, "Besides, the two passive skills this weapon has are really horrible for any enemy. No wonder Shadow Killer managed to hurt me even though my armor took practically no damage at all."
"It's a good weapon, but it's not good to rely too much on Soul Record treasures. At the end of the day, the treasures will eventually become useless to us and if our enemies manage to get us away from them our stats will drop tremendously." Lilith pointed out calmly. "Of course, that doesn't mean they shouldn't be put to good use. That dagger you have is really a good weapon, worthy of a Fourth Order soul evolver to use considering that Rank 4 antidotes aren't easy to acquire or make."
Bai Zemin nodded, "If it weren't for the fact that I have the skill Blood Manipulation upgraded to Third Order I'm afraid it would have been very hard to fight against the poison from this dagger."
He held the dagger in his body for the sake of receiving the fierce stat boost the weapon guaranteed the wielder before turning to the skill scroll that dropped when Shadow Killer died.
[Drain Life (First Order active skill) level 5: When activating this skill, the user will be able to absorb the life energy of its enemies, thus healing the user's wounds using the enemy's Health. The skill only works on weakened or restricted targets and only can be activated on one target at a time. It consumes 50 Mana points to be activated and 5 Mana points for every second the skill is active. After being activated and deactivated, the skill will go into cooldown time for 10 minutes.]
"Good skill!" Bai Zemin's eyes shone as he clenched the scroll tightly, "This skill is definitely staying with me. When I finally make it into the Second Order I must learn it no matter what!"
Lilith's eyes also lit up after touching the tip of the skill scroll: "That is indeed a good skill. For a person like you who due to using such a crazy and wild combat style, this skill is definitely like a heaven-sent gift. Especially considering that you have such wonderful skills such as your Blood Manipulation and Gravity Manipulation skill."
Bai Zemin carefully kept the scroll containing the Drain Life skill in his storage ring before finally moving his attention to the deep blue sword.
"This thing should be good, no? No matter how we put it, this sword was the weapon of one of the most powerful humans in this world." Bai Zemin lifted the weapon by the hilt and at least at first glance admitted that it looked elegant and powerful just based on appearance and aura.
The first thing Bai Zemin noticed even before the records of the sword were presented to him was that when he held the sword he felt his body temperature adjust as if by magic to the optimal point.
[Perfect Storm -
[Longsword.]
[Rank: 3]
[Physical Attack Power: 5800]
[Magic attack power: 2000]
[Options -
[1) When fighting on or under water, the magic attack power is tripled.]
[2) When fighting on or under water, the physical attack power increases by +4000 points.]
[3) Active water type skills deal 40% more damage than normal.]
[4) Once every 5 days, the user can use the skill 'Storm' to perform a large-scale magic attack capable of decreasing the Agility of all enemies below level 140 by 20%]
[Durability: 6500 / 6500]
[Description: A weapon forged 3200 years ago, being the product of the manipulation of the average blacksmith and rune-encryptor who after many years of study managed to superficially understand the true power of the runes. This is the "perfectly" balanced weapon when it comes to physical attacks or magical attacks.]
"Em, it really is a good sword." Bai Zemin nodded as he looked at the sword now not only for its elegant design but also for the power it held.
"This is the first time I've seen a skill in a weapon forged by a human." He said.
Even his Crimson Thunder Dragon's Last Words didn't have a skill.
"Well, considering that even after more than 3000 years this sword was still held as the most powerful weapon of one of the most powerful families in this world it is normal for it to at least meet certain quality requirements." Lilith shrugged her shoulders.
The sword in the hands of Bai Zemin was nothing in her eyes, but to a Lower Existence it was undoubtedly a godly weapon.
"Too bad, this sword doesn't suit my fighting style at all." Bai Zemin shook his head, "Besides, my compatibility with fire is higher than with water. I have the Endless Lotus Blue Flame, a natural flame that once had the power to kill gods; I don't need skills or items that conflict with its power."
He put the sword away in his storage ring and said casually, "I will pass this sword to Bing Xue when I get back to Earth. This sword will definitely pair well with her ice and blizzard skills."
"Why, are you now planning to add even the ice princess to your harem?"
Bai Zemin simply remained silent, wisely deciding not to want to get in another one of the mischievous succubus' pranks sitting next to him.
* * *
Because of the war, Bai Zemin had decided that it was best to give the soldiers a day to rest and replenish their energy before continuing to move in a northerly direction.
The Maiston Kingdom had lost both its king and its main army so at this point there were only a little over 150,000 capable soul evolvers scattered around the kingdom; this meant that Bai Zemin just needed to push forward and take over the defeated kingdom's territory. He did not plan to let another kingdom benefit from his efforts in any way.
According to the king of the Dazia Kingdom, his soldiers should be arriving at the border between the Maiston Kingdom and the Gales Kingdom by approximately noon tomorrow. Once the army of the Dazia Kingdom got there, Bai Zemin planned to continue moving northward and in a week at most he would not only have occupied the territory of the Maiston Kingdom but a new kingdom would have been defeated; that was how confident he was.
The army that Bai Zemin currently controlled was so large that unless other kingdoms joined in, it would be completely impossible for them to resist at all. With over 1,100,000 soul evolvers, 500,000 mounts, and 32,000 mutant beasts capable of fighting against enemies above their levels, no kingdom in the entire Eventide World would be able to stop him even for a day unless they formed an alliance of a minimum of three kingdoms!
When the troops from the Dazia Kingdom arrive tomorrow noon, the number of soldiers under Bai Zemin's power would reach a terrifying figure of 1,600,000 million!
Even if the army formed by the forces of Gales, Krap, Maiston, and Dazia were not completely united because Bai Zemin was pressuring them using force and threats, the power of numbers could not be ignored not to mention the fact that the soul evolvers that made up the army would not stand idly by and watch as others tried to kill them in the wars to come.
The next day, Bai Zemin was monitoring the movement of the troops being led by the generals to form up; they were preparing to leave in an hour's time.
"General Lazas, did you finish the job I tasked you with?" Bai Zemin asked calmly as he kept his eyes fixed on the army.
"... It's done." Lazas nodded after a few seconds of silence. He looked at Bai Zemin and said in a complicated voice, "Xavier was a great warrior who helped save the lives of many comrades as we fought orcs and mutant beasts.... I never expected for him to be a traitor."
Xavier was the name of the Second Order soul evolver who had tried to force Bai Zemin into a deep sleep using some kind of toxin he mixed into the food. After spotting a traitor, Bai Zemin did what he had to do to free himself from the plague.
"The hearts of people are as deep and mysterious as the oceans are, General. Our allies today could be our enemies tomorrow, that's how it is. Sometimes, it's best to expect the worst from everyone, even if that's not the right way to live." Bai Zemin patted the shoulder of the man next to him as he recalled all the experiences he had gone through so far during the nearly 6 months his life changed when the Soul Record arrived on Earth.
"Watching my back from my own allies? I'd rather kill myself than doubt the ones who bleed for me." Lazas shook his head and sighed. He looked at the young man beside him and asked with a complex expression on his face, "General Bai, may I ask you a slightly personal question?"
"Go ahead."
After hesitating for a moment, Lazas asked quietly, "Based on what you said just now, would it be correct for me to assume that there is no one you really trust in?"
"... There are. They are few but there are." Bai Zemin replied without looking at him.
"... If it is all right with you, could you tell me who those people are? I am curious about who might make a person who said what you said to me moments before trust."
"My family, the woman I love, the only girl I can call a true friend, the few subordinates who are under the effect of the skill Loyal Follower making them unable to betray me, and last-"
"Air-type mutant beast!"
Bai Zemin's words were cut off when a soldier shouted loudly, drawing everyone's attention to the sky.
Seeing the large snow-white bat swiftly flying towards them from the south, General Lazas' expression changed. Seeing that the mages were preparing to attack just as the archers were preparing to attack, he quickly roared loudly: "Stop!! That mount belongs to the Second Princess of our Gales Kingdom!!"
Bai Zemin watched as Seraphina's two ponytails flapped furiously as the giant white bat flapped its wings in the sky. Seeing her glaring at him with fierce eyes and making a neck-slashing gesture, he muttered under his breath, "...and last but not least, an annoying princess with a peculiar personality who saved my life and took care of me while I was helpless."