Chapter 220: The So-called Reinforcements

“Have the reinforcements arrived?”
The reinforcements sent from the capital finally arrived. The mages from the Mage Association were the first to get there because they could fly. Behind them were several Silver Swordmasters leading elite troops. As for the Golden Sword Saint, since the Female Sword Saint Abel had returned first, no further troops were sent.
It took three full days from the urgent message sent from Port Leighton to the capital for the reinforcements to arrive. In the words of the commander of the guard troops, “These aren’t here to rescue us—they’re here to collect our corpses. Those fat, greedy members of the noble council in the capital won’t miss this chance to divide the profits of Port Leighton. It would be best if Port Leighton were destroyed by sea beasts so they have an excuse to rebuild the port and extend their control to the Eastern Region.”
Earl Leighton, on the other hand, seemed more composed. Even though he was upset, he didn’t show it.
With a hint of concern, he said, “What worries me is how to get these reinforcements to leave!”
Donald thought that this lord of Port Leighton was indeed perceptive, which made him feel even more confident about forming an alliance with them.
“As the saying goes, it’s easy to invite gods but hard to send them away! If these reinforcements truly have the intentions Lord Laint thought, they probably won’t leave so easily!”
Laint immediately became angry.
“If they want to take advantage of the situation and profit from Port Leighton, let them see the power of our swords!”
Earl Leighton advised his commander of the guard troops, “Try to avoid conflict if possible. After all, they’re here in the name of rescuing us, so we shouldn’t give others reason to gossip!”
But Laint wasn’t as optimistic as Earl Leighton.
“That depends on whether they’re willing to calm down!”
“Well, we’ve invited Baron here precisely so that we can meet with the leader of these reinforcements together. They’ve been waiting there for some time already.” Donald certainly understood Earl Leighton’s intention—he wanted to use him to intimidate those from the capital. But since he had formed an alliance with the Leighton family, he naturally had to protect Port Leighton’s interests. Besides, he also wanted to see who exactly the reinforcements sent by the capital were.
When the leaders of Port Leighton arrived in the front hall of the city hall, they saw a middle-aged mage dressed in a magnificent robe sitting there, clearly impatient. Behind him were seven or eight mages with varying expressions, all at the Silver or Bronze level in strength.
“Heh! Are you the masters sent by His Majesty? So it’s Master Gold leading the team. Welcome to Port Leighton!”

Although the Leyton family’s territory was in Port Leyton, as one of the kingdom’s most prominent nobles, they had excellent information networks and wide-ranging connections, allowing them to immediately recognize that the other party was one of the five greatest golden archmages of the Mage Association.

“Is this how Port Leyton welcomes reinforcements who come to help you? I’ve been waiting here for so long with not even a single person to greet me,” the middle-aged archmage Gold snapped in displeasure, seemingly disregarding even the Earl of Leyton, one of the kingdom’s most powerful nobles.

A flash of anger appeared in the Earl of Leyton’s eyes. Even though the other party was a golden archmage, as a count and lord, he was equal to him in status. Usually, people would show respect for the strength of golden-level experts and lower their stance, but this person was so rude—did he really think he was the king?

Still, the Earl of Leyton politely explained, “I’m sorry. We just witnessed the Sword Saint Abel’s swordplay and couldn’t help but get absorbed in it, thus neglecting our guests. Please forgive us. You must not have had breakfast yet. I’ll order food prepared right away.”

The archmage nodded arrogantly.

“Hmm! Since it’s because of Sword Saint Abel, I’ll let it go this time! The king sent me to rescue Port Leyton, but I didn’t see any sea beasts attacking the city outside. Could it be that you people in Port Leyton are lying about the situation?”

With those words, it became clear to everyone in Port Leyton that this person had ill intentions.

The Earl of Leyton immediately said, “How can this master casually accuse us in Port Leyton? The reason you didn’t see any sea beasts is because the attack has already ended. The beast horde was dealt with by Baron Merlina, who arrived in time to provide aid, along with his men!”

“Him? Tch…”

The middle-aged archmage sneered disdainfully. Just a silver archmage—even if young, he was still only silver level. Though it was strange that Celt had produced such a young silver archmage, that didn’t mean he believed the man could handle a beast horde backed by a golden-level sea lord.

Even he would need to ally with the female sword saint who had returned early to have a chance against such a sea lord.

Still, it was annoying that such a young silver archmage had such great talent. So he saw no harm in suppressing him, lest the boy grow up to become another strong rival.

With these thoughts in mind, the middle-aged archmage emitted his powerful mental pressure toward the young silver archmage.

A terrifying pressure enveloped everyone. Although it was primarily aimed at one person, the others were merely collateral—unharmed, but given a lesson to show them to respect the strong. Count Leighton and the others paled at the sight of her, while only Laint, a Silver Swordmaster, could muster enough willpower to withstand her pressure, though he was unable to help the others. The young noble mage, who suffered the most from the mental pressure, showed no signs of distress, as if it were just a gentle breeze—something that made the middle-aged mage uneasy, leading him to assume the young man must have some form of protective gear. Just as the middle-aged mage prepared to intensify the pressure and inflict mental harm on this annoying young mage, he saw a smile appear on the latter’s lips, followed by a gaze directed at him. Unable to resist, the middle-aged mage looked into the young man’s eyes and suddenly felt a mighty, sacred swordlight, as if reaching from heaven to earth, attacking his soul. His own strong willpower, which had previously kept everyone else helpless, began to crumble. At that glance, Grand Mage Gold broke into sweat and was filled with shock. In the blink of an eye, the young man turned away, as if what had happened was just an illusion. But the middle-aged mage didn’t think it was an illusion—after all, the young man was just a Silver Mage. Though only a hint of that powerful willpower had been shown, it was beyond what ordinary strongmen could resist. How could a Silver Mage possess such willpower as that of a Grand Mage, even surpassing him? After calming himself down, Gold avoided bringing up the previous topic and instead asked about the battle against the sea beasts, hoping to analyze the true strength of that young mage from it. Seeing that he intended to avoid the subject, Count Leighton and the others didn’t press further and began describing what had happened. However, they hadn’t seen the critical moments of the battle due to their distance, so they could only describe Donald’s wisdom and strength, though no one could explain exactly what made him so powerful. Unable to figure out the young man’s true capabilities, Gold shifted the topic again. “I’ve heard that near Port Leighton, there’s an island occupied by merfolk who threaten ships passing by all year round. Now that the threat of the sea beasts is gone, why not let me deal with this threat for you all?” Count Leighton and the others exchanged glances, feeling both amused and annoyed by the grand mage’s greed.

Count Leighton, trying to hold back his laughter, said, “I’m sorry, Master Gold. Those merfolk have been wiped out by Baron Merlina. Even the stronghold of the Toothy Merfolk tribe on the islands has been cleared by the baron. He’s now applying to the royal family to become the lord of this land, and once the decision comes through, he’ll officially take possession of this new territory!”
Hearing this, Gold felt like vomiting. How could everything be taken by this young mage? He had only been a step late, and now he was constantly falling behind.
Now Gold truly regretted agreeing to those nobles’ plan to deliberately delay things before coming here. Otherwise, at least he could have had a share of the profits from those merfolk islands.
But then again, hadn’t he also planned to wait until Port Leighton and the Sea Beasts were nearly at war before stepping in to reap the benefits?
There were many nobles within the kingdom who were envious of Port Leighton’s wealth and prosperity. Since they couldn’t interfere normally, now that Port Leighton was in trouble, why wouldn’t they take advantage of the situation and try to make a profit?
Behind this Grand Mage of Gold were actually several nobles he had cooperated with many times before. They demanded that he delay his arrival for a while so that Port Leighton would suffer significant losses. Once that happened, they would take over the resulting profits, and he would receive a satisfactory reward in return.