Chapter 61: Publicity
Sending heads wasn’t a gaming term, but literal human heads preserved in lime.
The meaning was self-evident:
If you don’t surrender, we will massacre the city after capturing Olympia.
These heads are your fate.
Although the Olympia authorities implemented media control, various rumors still spread, casting a pall of grief and indignation over the entire city.
After all, Thessaloniki wasn’t far from Olympia, and many citizens had relatives and friends there, now separated by the Crusader occupation.
Along with the heads came even worse news.
Boniface, King of Thessaloniki, led the remaining 10,000 troops to the vicinity of Olympia town, joining the vanguard at the edge of the ruins.
Thus, the number of attacking Crusaders surged again. Military actions like today’s infiltration and sabotage behind enemy lines would be too risky to continue in the future.
Arriving at the arena on the top floor, pyres had been built with wooden planks, and corpses wrapped in red cloaks were placed on top, being consumed by the flames.
These corpses were both Spartans and ordinary mercenaries.
Rudashius and the Spartans stood solemnly below the pyres.
Seeing the arrival of Azure Longsword, Rudashius turned around, his gaze fixed on Asker:
“You fought well this time.” His voice was hoarse, seemingly having also suffered considerable injuries in the battle.
“Likewise.” Asker replied politely.
“No, the Spartans are not as good as you.” Rudashius smiled wryly. “At least I’m not confident in going out with nine people and bringing them all back safe and sound.”
Asker smiled but didn’t answer.
Rudashius picked up the sword placed next to the pyre, walked to Eleanor, and handed it to her.
“This is?” Eleanor asked, puzzled.
“Tullius’ sword.” Rudashius smiled, and Eleanor noticed a new scar on his lip, seemingly freshly healed. “Do you remember the Spartan warrior who competed with you at the Olympia town station?”
“Him.” Eleanor immediately recalled. “You mean…”
“Since being defeated by you, he has been thinking about avenging his shame.” Rudashius said seriously. “In today’s battle, to cover the retreat of the mercenaries, he fought to the death against three powered armor knights and ultimately died after being shot multiple times.”
“This is his family’s ancestral sword, said to be mixed with a small amount of Purgatory Bloodstreak Steel, sharper than any other sword in this world.”
“According to his last wishes, I am now giving it to you. You are the one who defeated Tullius, please carry his sword and will and pursue even greater glory on the battlefield.”
“This…” Eleanor hurriedly waved her hand. “I can’t accept this.”
However, Rudashius quickly and resolutely pressed the sword into Eleanor’s hand, then hurriedly left with his men.
“Asker…” Eleanor said hesitantly.
“If someone insists on giving it to you, just accept it.” Asker said. “By the way, have you considered learning swordsmanship?”
“Swordsmanship?” Eleanor paused. “I actually learned a little swordsmanship before.”
“Let’s not talk about the past, if you learn swordsmanship from me, you have to start from scratch.” Asker said, “In the upcoming city defense, we probably won’t have much to do for a while.”
“You’ve absorbed a lot of Transcendental power on the battlefield, and everyone must be eager to digest it as soon as possible, right?” Asker clapped his hands and said, “Everyone, get ready for a new special training!”
“Eh!” The girls immediately cried out. Why did they have to be beaten up again just after coming back from the battlefield?!
…
Siege training.
Simply put, it was one against four, training reaction speed and tactical awareness under the extreme pressure of a siege.
There were five physical melee DPS in Azure Longsword: Asker, Mia, Peggy, Eleanor, and Sidlipha. Therefore, the five of them took turns being the besieged trainee and the four sparring partners.
So this training became two modes.
Mode one: Asker led the other three sparring partners to beat up the trainee.
Mode two: Asker single-handedly beat up the four pitiful sparring partners.
To be fair, everyone preferred Mode one. Because when they were sparring partners, Asker would deliberately control his strength, maintaining the same attack level as the other three girls.
And in Mode two, Asker would transform into a demon king, mercilessly beating up the four girls.
Although this training could indeed help transform Transcendental power, it was still painful to be constantly beaten, especially when your opponent was someone who didn’t show any mercy. Even having weapons swung at their faces was commonplace.
Therefore, under the collective protest of the girls, Asker was kicked out with the excuse that “You are already very strong, you don’t need to train anymore.”
Boredly leaving Furnace Island and returning to the barracks in the real world, Asker saw Hood watching TV outside.
“Look.” Seeing Asker coming out of the room, Hood pointed at the screen and said, “Azure Longsword, you’re on TV.”
On the TV screen, the host was excitedly introducing their spoils of war: a large number of mortars and mortar shells.
To use the host’s exaggerated words, these shells were enough to kill more than half of the Crusaders.
This was obviously bragging. If they could really kill that many enemies, why didn’t the military immediately use them to fire? Why put them here for display?
Facing the audience’s questions, the host cleverly dodged the question and then shifted the topic to the heroes who captured the spoils – the Azure Longsword mercenary group.
“Hey,” Hood said, looking at the TV screen, “Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be on TV?”
“Because there’s no need.” Asker replied. “I run a mercenary group, not an idol group, why would I be on TV?”
“That’s true.” Hood nodded thoughtfully. “After all, a man who’s going to be a harem king wouldn’t tolerate his women showing their faces on TV and being ogled by other men, right?”
“That’s too much.” Asker warned. “If you provoke your boss again, I’ll deduct your salary.”
“Sigh.” Hood shook his head sadly. “The happiness of rich people, a poor guy like me really can’t imagine it.”
The host on TV began to exaggerate wildly, portraying the Azure Longsword mercenary group as heroic role models who “seek not fame or fortune, but only glory,” using this to explain why they didn’t appear on TV.
And some Siris people with a hero complex actually bought it, so much so that the host’s phone lines were quickly flooded with calls, and the scrolling comments below the screen were moving rapidly, many viewers calling and leaving messages asking:
For such a mercenary group, how can we get their autographs and photos? Are they still recruiting?
“Hehe, look, you’re really famous now.” Hood said cheerfully. “Maybe someone will come knocking on your door later.”
“Well, if crazy fans really come to our door, you can represent Azure Longsword and deal with them.” Asker said thoughtfully.
“Wait, why should I represent you?!” Hood protested. “I’m not an official member of your team! I’m just a temporary worker!”
“Huh, aren’t temporary workers used for this kind of miscellaneous work?” Asker asked, puzzled.
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