88. Teleport Guard Battalion

Seeing Mo Fei’s haggard, careworn face over the past two days, Ailin and Vivian knew they could do nothing to help him, and their hearts ached with him.

“Why don’t we use that spatial magic and bring over the Imperial City guard?” Vivian said.

When Mo Fei had first said he wanted to come to this continent to investigate, Elder Ove and the others had refused no matter what he said. Only later, after Mo Fei told them he could use spatial magic, and after they had tested it themselves, had they finally agreed to let him go. But the spell had one flaw: unless a teleportation point had already been established in a place, the effective range of spatial magic was terribly limited. Mages who understood its use could rely on scrolls for short-range transfers within the same continent. Long ago, those wandering magicians had roamed the world precisely in order to set up such spatial transfer points everywhere, so that afterward they could travel wherever they pleased with ease.

When Mo Fei had demonstrated the magic to Ove and the others, he had said that if danger arose, he could summon the guard. He had already set a teleportation array inside the palace; now, if he established another one here, he would be able to call over the berserker guard that kept watch day and night beside the palace array.

Vivian’s words lit Mo Fei up at once. Of course. How had he not thought of bringing men over? If they could cross over to his side to burn and plunder, then surely it was their turn now.

The thought had barely formed when Mo Fei suddenly turned, seized Vivian in his arms, and planted a fierce kiss on her little mouth. Before she could even react, he dashed out of the hut, leaving Ailin and Vivian staring blankly after him.

“Old chieftain—ah, no, no, Great Elder. Please find me a larger place, open and empty. I’m going to bring in help for us. If not, then once the Bear Folk finish gathering in a few days, we’ll be in real trouble.”

The old chieftain was momentarily bewildered. Bringing in help, that much he understood—but why did Mo Fei need a large, empty place for it?

“You mean to—?” The Second Elder, Third Elder, and Fourth Elder had all come out as well.

“I’m a mage. I can summon my people here to help us. You only need to clear the place. Quickly!”

“How are you going to summon people here?” The elders could not understand how such a thing was possible.

“You needn’t worry about that. Just have this area cleared and watch. Yes, clear all of it. I’m bringing people over!”

At once, the four elders stopped asking questions and hurriedly ordered the center of the village to be cleared out.

Mo Fei then had the Minotaur warriors fetch six enormous logs. There was no shortage of such straight timber in the nearby forest; he told them to cut down six straight trees, and they quickly delivered them. Then he had them dig six deep pits, each nearly two meters down, according to the points he marked out. The six huge logs were planted into the earth, and once they stood upright, a great circle enclosed by the six timbers had taken shape in the middle of the village.

Ordinarily, a single point would have been enough. But Mo Fei wanted to bring over more men in one go, and since he had plenty of help at hand, he simply set up a massive magical teleportation array. That way, he could summon over an entire berserker guard of nearly two thousand at once.

He called over several broad, towering Minotaur warriors and had them shave the inner-facing sides of the ring of logs flat. Then Mo Fei stepped before the pillars, drew that small knife from his storage pouch, and carved a series of strange symbols into them. Under the blazing sun he worked with utter concentration, while the gathered Minotaur warriors and the four elders alike grew dizzy from the heat.

At last, after carving from noon until nearly dusk, he finished.

In high spirits, Mo Fei prepared to cast the spell.

He stepped out of the circle formed by the logs and began murmuring in a low voice some incantation that, by the look of it, even he himself did not fully understand. In the beginning, he had merely tried combining the principles of a spatial transfer array with those of this world’s magic arrays. The result, unexpectedly, had been a genuine spatial scroll. Even now, he was little more than following the pattern he had once stumbled into.

When the incantation ended, all six pillars flared at once with a lightning-like radiance. The six streams of light converged in the center of the ring and slowly expanded. A hazy white circle of mist grew larger and larger. Then the six pillars trembled in unison, and Mo Fei knew the link had been made to the teleportation array already established in the royal palace.

Sure enough, before long the mass of white mist split open with a huge gap. While everyone was still marveling at the wonder of Mo Fei’s magic, Kane burst out headfirst.

“What in the world are you doing? Why are you the one who came?” Mo Fei exclaimed when he saw that Kane was the first through. “Aren’t you supposed to be guarding the city?”

“Kane missed young master. The capital’s in Shilai’s hands now. That dwarf is far better at it than I am.”

“Quit the nonsense and get the men over here.”

The words had scarcely fallen when a troop of black-armored heavy cavalry rode out from within.

“There are mountains and forests everywhere here. Cavalry won’t be all that suitable,” Mo Fei said inwardly, a little distressed at the sight.

“It doesn’t matter. Mounted, they are cavalry. Dismounted, they are still warriors that nothing can withstand,” Kane declared proudly.

Since the heavy Death Cavalry had been formed, not a single one of them had ever fallen in battle. What empire’s cavalry could boast such a record? These berserker horsemen, who only grew fiercer the more they fought, had been tempered over years of war. Now these black-clad, heavily armored berserkers, victorious in a hundred battles, carried about them an aura so formidable that even these powerful Minotaur warriors did not possess its equal.

“Just these two thousand—will that be enough, young master? If not, I’ll go call more,” Kane said with a grin. In order to be the one to follow young master, he had shamelessly used his position for private gain, driving away the infantry berserker captain originally stationed here and replacing him with a two-thousand-strong Death Cavalry unit, which had stood watch day and night, waiting for this very day.

“It’s enough,” Mo Fei said with a smile. “Too many men, and people will say we’re bullying them.”

The two of them burst into arrogant laughter.

At the sight of this force, the four elders could hardly contain their joy. It was as though they had glimpsed the day of the Minotaur tribe’s revival.

Meanwhile, the Minotaur warriors gathered at one side stared with burning envy at these imposing, magnificently equipped berserker riders, thinking: if only we had gear like that, why would we fear those damned enemies at all?

Watching the Minotaur warriors stare until their eyes nearly popped from their heads, Mo Fei suddenly thought that if they too were properly armed, their ability to defend themselves would become extraordinarily strong.

No sooner thought than done.

“Kane, go back and bring Elder Ove here for me.”

“What for, young master? If that old fellow comes, won’t he nag you to death?” Kane had already had enough of listening to Elder Ove’s endless prattling over the past few days.

“Look at these Minotaur warriors—they’ve no equipment. If we armed them up…”

“From the look of them, they’re every bit a match for our berserkers. If we had allies like them on this continent, then the next time those cursed Bear Folk dared come again, we’d have them sack their den.”

Thinking this, and taking advantage of the fact that the teleportation array had not yet faded, Kane spun around and ran back into it.

By then night had already fallen. Mo Fei figured that preparing so much equipment would not be done in a moment or two. After arranging quarters for the two thousand berserker cavalry, he sent most of the Minotaur warriors out to the sentry posts. The village simply did not have room to house so many people anyway, so they might as well begin practicing coordination from now on. With more men on watch, accidents and oversights would also be less likely. It could not have been better.

Seeing this display, the four elders all came to the same conclusion: tomorrow they must begin enlarging the village again. Otherwise, if more people arrived, there would not even be a place for them to spend the night. Fortunately, the surrounding land was spacious enough. They need only cut timber from the forest ahead and build more houses.

Sure enough, neither side on these two continents had much habit of fighting at night. The night passed without incident. Early the next morning, after breakfast, Mo Fei brought Ailin and the others to the magic array. The four elders had clearly risen far earlier than he had, and the moment they saw him approach, they came over together. In their hearts they were deeply grateful for his help.

“Why are the four elders up so early?” Mo Fei asked with a smile.

“The village has suddenly gained nearly five thousand more people. If we don’t hurry and put up some houses, there’ll be nowhere for them to stay when they return,” said the Great Elder—the former old chieftain. “So at first light we arranged for them to go cut timber and bring it back to build lodging for everyone.”

“I see,” Mo Fei said with an awkward laugh. The only time he had ever really taken part in such things had been during the construction of the City of Death. After that, all logistical matters had been handled by Elder Ove and the others—and they had done them better than he ever could. So Mo Fei had not involved himself in such rear-echelon affairs again.

“My two thousand soldiers can help as well. It’ll go faster that way.”

“No need. You are our guests. How could we ask you to do this kind of work?” the Great Elder said hastily.

“Great Elder, that’s not right. If I were still a guest, I wouldn’t be putting in so much effort. It is because you are my friends that I am helping you with all my heart through this crisis. And after this, there will still be a great many things waiting for us. If we keep everything divided so clearly, when will any of it ever be finished?”