Chapter 388: The Legendary Mage Colin

When Donald’s magic airship arrived at the expeditionary army’s camp on the edge of the rebel region the next morning, the supreme commander of this expedition—Sir Dorson, the King’s Minister of Military Affairs, who had received three of the kingdom’s highest military honors and was still the head of the esteemed Celtic Order of Honor—led his troops to greet them.

As both the Minister of Military Affairs and a skilled battlefield commander, Sir Dorson was well aware of Donald and his forces’ strength. Moreover, since he had good relations with the Ansel family, obtaining basic information about Donald was not a problem. Thus, he was the happiest among everyone about Dalaran’s arrival! With such a powerful ally present, his confidence in achieving victory grew even further.

Along with Sir Dorson to greet them was Duray, the king’s heir who came to boost morale on behalf of the royal family, as well as the leader of the court mages—legendary Archmage Colin!

After Donald and his group disembarked from the magic airship, Duray, who knew both sides best, introduced them: “Everyone must be familiar with our country’s most famous noble rising star, the lord of Dalaran, Baron Merlinar—Mage Donald!”

As agreed beforehand, Carlisle and Nozdorm, who had taken human form, chose to hide their strength, so Duray did not introduce them here. Everyone assumed they were subordinates of this mage lord.

“This is our royal court mage, the legendary Archmage Colin. He represents our royal family as the strongest warrior in this campaign!”

Donald was quite curious about this legendary Archmage, whom he had never met before. This archmage, who had served the royal family in Celt for over two hundred years, was arguably the first legendary human warrior Donald had encountered in his home world.

Similarly, Colin, who was aware of Donald’s rise, was also very interested in this young mage who had become a legend in his early twenties. It was a good opportunity for them to exchange information. After the introductions between the leaders of both sides were completed, Donald ordered George, Bush, and Uther, the holy knights who commanded the Holy Shield Legion, to arrange for his troops to set up camp at the locations designated by the expeditionary headquarters.

Sir Dorson, who attached great importance to this, gathered all members of the expeditionary force in the main command camp to explain the current situation between the enemy and allies to the newcomers from Dalaran.

“The rebel side, consisting of the mercenaries and bandit groups gathered by Andrew in the Six Towns to the south, captured the Six Towns along with over a dozen villages and towns, catching the kingdom by surprise.”
“From the intelligence we’ve gathered, not all of Andrew’s mixed forces are willing to be enemies of the kingdom. But due to the threat of another powerful force behind them, they have no choice but to join the rebels! This can be exploited—once we win a battle and recapture a few towns, these mercenary and bandit groups will surely be affected, leading to their own collapse and chaos.”
Donald shook his head and interjected, “Under normal circumstances, our army could indeed achieve our goals this way. But everyone knows just how formidable the force behind this rebellion is. Would they allow the rebels under their control to pose such a serious threat?”
The legendary archmage Colin immediately agreed, “Your Excellency is right! I’ve seen many of the tactics used by the Church of the Dawn during my travels across the continent. How powerful was the Kingdom of Icu, which once had the potential to become the sixth great kingdom? Yet it was torn apart piece by piece by that church!”
Earl Dawson naturally understood the reasoning behind this, but most of the middle-ranking officers and minor nobles did not. In their minds, those mixed forces of mercenaries and bandits would be easily crushed by their own elite troops as soon as they stepped onto the battlefield.
As the commander of the expeditionary force, Earl Dawson certainly wouldn’t allow such arrogance to arise among his subordinates. The officers and soldiers who hadn’t seen the reality seemed to ignore the warnings from higher-ups, determined instead to give those mixed forces a thorough beating on the battlefield.
Noticing Earl Dawson’s concern, Donald reassured him with a smile, “Although we don’t know what tactics they’ll use, as long as we proceed cautiously and strike with full force, no matter how many schemes they have, they won’t be able to carry them out!”
The old marshal, Earl Dawson, slapped the table in realization, “Thanks to your reminder, Donald! I should have realized that the key to suppressing these rebels is speed!”
If they could strike swiftly before the rebels could gain strength, then even if the Church of the Three Glorious Gods had countless schemes and tricks, they would be useless!
The old marshal and the higher-ups of this coalition had been intimidated by the sheer power of the Church of the Three Glorious Gods, losing their usual wisdom and even becoming less determined than the officers and soldiers below.

As soon as Donald arrived, he resolved the doubts in the hearts of Count Dawson and others, making them regard this young mage lord even more highly. The upper ranks of the allied forces no longer hesitated and immediately issued orders for a full-scale attack, aiming to overwhelm the rebel forces with a mighty force. On the night before the deployment, Master Colin, the royal advisor, took the initiative to visit Donald’s camp, wishing to discuss matters with this genius mage. Through their conversation, Donald learned that Master Colin was originally just a wild mage who, through chance, acquired some ancient heritage, which allowed him to reach the Golden Realm. However, due to his limited aptitude, even another hundred years would not be enough for him to advance further into the Legendary realm. That was why he agreed to King Celt I’s terms and became a royal advisor. Since the Celt royal family offered him many resources he lacked and even promised him 10% of the faith power annually until he became a demi-god—a condition he could not refuse—Colin was willing to stay and serve the royal family. Indeed, within just two hundred years, with the help of the Celt royal family, he first broke through to the Legendary realm. A few years ago, he even acquired a trace of divinity. By leveraging the faith power and the laws he mastered, he reached a high level in the Legendary realm. His next goal was to strengthen his divinity and strive to become a demi-god. By this time, after more than a hundred years as a royal advisor, he had developed feelings for Celt and a deep bond with the royal family. So although he could leave at any time, Colin, who truly cared about the fate of this kingdom, chose to stay and contribute his powerful strength to protect this land from ambitious outsiders.