Listening to his father's words, Azuhan suddenly felt a wave of helplessness wash over him.
For the first time, he thought that perhaps they might not win this war.
"Father, can we win?" Azuhan looked at Harash, hoping for some comfort.
But Harash shook his head.
"I don't know, but we can steer this war towards a place where we can win."
As he spoke, Harash pulled a piece of white paper from the pocket of his robe.
In the world of Chiyang, paper is generally made from a plant called Earth-fire Tree, which produces red paper. If one wants a piece of white paper, it must go through multiple processing steps, making it quite troublesome to produce.
However, because of this, the Fire Lizard nobility uses only white paper.
But Azuhan noticed that Harash's piece of white paper was somewhat different; he seemed to see a hint of gold along the edges of the paper.
"My son, although your wisdom is not yet sufficient to keep you alive on the front lines, the Morik Empire has more than one battlefield."
Harash handed the white paper to Azuhan, who took it and saw that the edges were embossed with golden patterns—gold, the most supreme color among the Fire Lizard clan.
When a piece of paper bears golden patterns, it signifies that it comes from the royal palace.
The content written on the paper was simple; it was a letter of appointment, designating Azuhan as the leader of an organization called the Shield of Morik, with the primary task of dealing with the wizards that had infiltrated the rear of the empire.
"Father, this is..."
Azuhan looked at Harash in confusion; he had never heard of this organization called the Shield of Morik before. How had he suddenly become its leader?
Moreover, according to the content of this letter of appointment, Azuhan realized that the organization he was in charge of wielded an outrageous amount of power.
He could even demand cooperation from all levels of internal officials within the empire.
"Due to changes in war strategy, there have been more and more wizards referred to as Black Wizards within the empire. These Black Wizards continuously harass our rear, destroy supply depots, and assassinate important officials—these are all their doing.
We must organize a group of people to deal with these Black Wizards."
Harash rubbed his son's head: "This is a daunting task. His Majesty has entrusted this mission to you, and you must shoulder this responsibility.
Do not fear failure, do not fear offending others.
Although I am no longer a marshal, I am still a general of the empire."
Azuhan stared blankly at the letter of appointment in his hand, feeling as if this piece of white paper weighed a thousand pounds.
Harash patted Azuhan on the back: "Go back and think about what to do. If you need help, I can pull some troops back... after all, the advancement of the front line depends on the wizards, not on us."
...
With the paper in hand, Azuhan returned to his room.
Harash's words echoed in his ears: do not fear failure, do not fear offending others, but how could he not be afraid?
His failure would consume the reputation his father had built over hundreds of years.
In his room, as he pondered, Azuhan felt a suffocating pressure building in his chest.
How was he supposed to organize personnel, set rules, and prevent such a powerful organization from falling into corruption?
The more Azuhan thought, the more frustrated he became, so he decided to leave his room and wandered aimlessly through the streets.
Azuhan lived in the capital of the Morik Empire, and at this moment, while the Morik Empire was mired in war, the capital remained lively and prosperous, showing no signs of impending conflict.
As Azuhan walked down the street, although he was deep in thought about how to solve these problems, he did not encounter a single passerby.
When he finally lifted his head, he realized that he was like a rock in a river, parting the crowd around him.
In the Morik Empire and indeed in all empires, the Silver Horn nobility existed as figures above all others. Even as Azuhan walked through the throngs of people, all the Fire Lizards would instinctively avoid him.
Seeing the fearful gazes around him, a flash of inspiration struck Azuhan.
There were many Silver Horn nobles in the capital; if he could get this group to join the Shield of Morik, he wouldn't have to worry about corruption or the combat capabilities of his personnel.
Even if the Silver Horn nobles did nothing, as long as they lived long enough, their strength could reach the standard of Dragon Guard Warriors.
Moreover, these individuals were used to living without restraint; the power of the Shield of Morik might be a huge temptation for ordinary Fire Lizards, but for this group, it was merely a part of their daily lives.
Additionally, many officials in the empire were related to the nobility, so their investigations would not be hindered by officials.
The more Azuhan thought about it, the more he felt that this idea was promising, but now a problem lay before him.
How was he to recruit this group of Silver Horn nobles, and how would he restrain them?
Azuhan wandered aimlessly along the street, from the blazing sun to the setting sun.
As he walked, he suddenly bumped into someone.
"Um?"
Azuhan looked up to see a female Fire Lizard draped in a white robe with golden patterns standing before him.
"Azuhan, what's wrong with you today? You've been wandering the streets all day, looking like you've lost your soul."
As Azuhan recognized the face of the Fire Lizard, he quickly bowed slightly: "Your Highness."
The princess looked at Azuhan, her golden Dragon Eyes reflecting a hint of displeasure.
"I remember telling you that you don't need to bow when you see me! And don't call me Your Highness; I have a name, call me Akala!"
Azuhan straightened up, feeling somewhat awkward.
"Yes, Your... Akala."
Akala waved her hand in exasperation: "Forget it, tell me what you're thinking. I heard that the marshal has arranged a position for you; are you thinking about how to go about it?"
Azuhan nodded: "I am indeed thinking about this matter. What do you think, Your Highness, about how to restrain the Silver Horn nobles?"
"Restraining ?you?" Akala suddenly burst into laughter, "How can you restrain them? Aside from my father, I doubt anyone can restrain them."
Azuhan scratched his head awkwardly.
Seeing him like this, Akala stopped laughing: "Are you serious? Why do you want to restrain the Silver Horn nobles? Did the marshal arrange for you to be a noble law enforcer?"
"Not exactly," Azuhan shook his head and then shared his thoughts with Akala.
After listening, Akala pondered for a moment before her eyes lit up:
"I've got it! If you want to restrain these nobles, just let me join in. Would you dare to defy me then?"
Akala's words were not arrogant; as the only daughter of the Fire Lizard king, her status was a notch above the Silver Horn nobility.
This gave her a natural legal high ground.
Moreover, Akala's strength was also considered upper-tier in the empire, at the peak of level two and about to reach level three. Few of the Silver Horn nobles left behind could defeat her.
Most importantly, she and Azuhan had grown up together, close enough to share a bed, completely unafraid of anyone trying to sow discord between them.
"This... might not be good," Azuhan hesitated.
What Akala suggested was indeed a solution, but having Akala join, given her status as a princess, was somewhat special.
"What's not good about it? I'm joining, what are you going to do about it?"
Akala looked at Azuhan provocatively, her tone quite domineering.
"Well... fine. Then I'll go back and prepare some rules, and come find you tomorrow."
With that, Azuhan turned to leave, but after taking a few steps, his tail was suddenly grabbed by someone.
He turned around to see that his tail was entangled with another tail, and the owner of that tail was looking at him with a smirk.
"Don't go back yet; I just opened a bottle of a hundred-year-old Dragon Flame Wine. How about we taste it together?"
...
The establishment of the Shield of Morik indeed brought a lot of trouble for the Black Wizards.
Under the leadership of two founders with extraordinary backgrounds, the Shield of Morik received full support from the noble class of the Morik Empire, meaning they could have whatever they wanted.
Moreover, no one dared to meddle with these two.
This also allowed them to be imaginative and unconventional in recruiting members.
Through Harash's connections, Azuhan pulled a group of Fire Lizard warriors from the front lines to serve as the foundational action personnel for the Shield of Morik, and then he recruited a batch of Silver Horn nobles for high-end combat power.
In addition, Azuhan also brought in many non-combat personnel.
These non-combat talents included royal blacksmiths, specialized hunters for Flame Behemoths, and trainers from the arena...
These individuals possessed unique abilities, and the Shield of Morik organized them under the purpose of serving the country, using them to pursue the Black Wizards.
Although their abilities were not directly related to combat power, they often proved to be remarkably effective in tracking down the Black Wizards.
Through repeated pursuits, the Shield of Morik gradually matured. The internal structure, personnel composition, logistical support, tactical arrangements, and other matters were progressively refined through each battle.
This newly established organization was steadily growing into a significant headache for the Black Wizards.
...
In a bright laboratory, a black-robed wizard was busy at his experiment station.
He was inscribing sesame seed-sized runes onto a black Rune Base Plate using magical power.
Suddenly, the crystal ball on the experiment table lit up, and a cold voice emanated from it.
"Advisor Richard, the command center has decided to deploy the Magic Support Vehicle for a mission. Please immediately rendezvous with Team 13 of the White Wizards and accompany them into battle."
The wizard glanced at the crystal ball and set down the Rune Base Plate in his hand.
"After ten years, finally a mission."
Richard tidied up the experiment station, then took out a peculiar wand from his Magic Pocket.
The upper half of the wand was plain and unadorned, with a black shaft topped with a crimson flame gem. However, the lower half of the wand was covered in countless intricate patterns, resembling entwined vines or the lush branches and leaves of an ancient tree.
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