Chapter 350
Badge in Azure
Chapter 350: Courting Trouble (Part 2)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Who cares?” Aini did not care, and replied, “This contract is of the highest standard on the Myers Mainland. Even if they possess any secrets, they will not render the contract useless.”
Saleen pondered it, then decided to suppress the uneasiness in his heart.
On the square outside the magic tower, Daniel reacted swiftly to the situation. Immediately after spotting the Holy See’s riders coming out from the teleportation portal, Daniel commanded the pirates to steer clear. Then, by himself, he led the pikoosi to block the entrance to the magic tower.
This broken magic tower only had one door. With a colossal creature like the pikoosi obstructing the path, it would be futile no matter how many more riders emerged. As the riders came out one by one, they could not really hurt the pikoosi. Furthermore, Daniel was experienced. He did not allow the pikoosi to kill the riders, simply commanding it to harass the riders to prevent them from all rushing out at once.
When the three kings descended on the square, only less than ten riders had managed to exit the magic tower.
Judikaka, who was usually calm and collected, also lost his temper at this moment. He had not expected himself to be duped by Saleen and Aini. Ten thousand years ago, the kings had been cheated due to inexperience. But after ten thousand years, they had already become kings, and yet they had still been deceived by human mages. This fact made Judikaka feel extremely humiliated.
However, the kings knew that the contract was vicious, hence they could only vent their anger on the Holy See’s riders. The violence from the kings scared the pikoosi away, and the kings began their killing spree inwards into the magic tower. By killing from the outside to the inside, they prevented any enemies from escaping.
The riders from the Holy See were considered elites. According to the secular classification of professions, almost all the riders were at the standard of a high-grade swordsman. Since the riders were proficient in combat coordination, they would be able to kill enemies of a higher grade as long as they got into formation. At the very least, the pirates were no match for them. Only the elite swordsman’s camp serving Lex would be able to match up to these riders.
Unfortunately, they had run into three fuming kings. A massive amount of power erupted from these three fellows, destroying the walls of the magic tower. A boom emanated from the base of the magic tower, and then the magic tower collapsed.
There were seven other people in the magic tower, and they managed to escape before the tower collapsed. Saleen and Aini each possessed their own flying abilities, while the faces of the five grand swordmasters turned grey in all that dust.
Saleen and Aini were understanding. They did not punish the three kings. If they had been the ones who were deceived, they would have been experiencing similar emotions as well. Saleen did not plan to use violence frequently to make the three kings to work for him.
After the dust settled, the three kings shoved the remains of the magic tower aside, revealing a magic array in the center of all that debris. This magic array was unusually sturdy, and had already been operating perfectly for tens of thousands of years. Continuous flashes of magic light came from the magic array. This magic array was about dozens of meters wide, and an endless stream of riders and holy masters emerged from it.
The three kings were enjoying the massacre. Since they had reverted to their original forms, they could slaughter most of these people with a single hit. Before becoming kings, they had experienced a protracted war back in the death dimension, so their warring techniques were also far superior to those of those riders.
Woo…
There was a long moan. Among the ruins of the magic tower, an illusory piece of holy text emerged and flew into midair. It was already approaching the boundary of the sky. Saleen and Aini’s expressions changed abruptly. That holy master had actually left a message!
“Diyabannersa!” Saleen yelled.
Diyabannersa also spotted that flying piece of holy prose. Even though he was not willing to listen to Saleen’s commands, he was afraid of Saleen’s punishment, and he was also worried that the holy prose was a marking left behind by the god. If the holy prose was not destroyed, the gods would surely learn of their doings.
Diyabannersa raised his head and spit out a ball of green flames, engulfing that piece of massive holy prose and burning it fiercely.
The piece of holy prose began disappearing at a speed which was visible to the naked eye. Just as everyone began to feel relieved, the holy prose burst out suddenly, and a blurry symbol flew out from the center. This symbol penetrated the clouds and disappeared in a flash. That green flame engulfing the holy prose was broken up, splashing across the ground. A massive cavity in the hard ground, with a diameter of about three meters, was formed by the flames, its depth immeasurable.
As Saleen stared at this huge cavity, and his mouth twitched. Diyabannersa had not been lazy. He had used his strongest attack, but it could not destroy the holy master’s skill.
“Aini, it seems like we have gotten into trouble!” After a long while, Saleen only managed to say, “Are you afraid?”
Aini clenched his teeth, then said, “It’s only a matter of time before this matter is exposed. It cannot be kept under wraps forever. We should go back early, forget about this mineral vein. The Holy See would have dug most of it out anyway.”
Saleen was dying to return to the city base. By the time Saleen returned this time around, he would already be able to officially command the three kings. Additionally, the kings would no longer be able to skive, and the city could continue its expansion. Even in winter, the movements of spirits would not be affected. The city’s defenses needed to be constructed as soon as possible. Even if this matter was exposed, the Holy See would have no choice but to wait. Saleen did not believe that the Holy See could deploy its troops and fly all of them to the city base.
If the Holy See’s army traveled by sea, they would need to spend two years building the necessary ships. And if the Holy See’s army traveled by land, they would first have to destroy two empires and half of the Qin Empire.
“It’s good if you don’t regret anything. But, we have to clean this place up first. I will not leave anything for the Holy See. As for the black mages…” Saleen pondered for a moment, but he did not continue talking. During the battle, he had not spotted any black mages at all, and there were also less evil dragons than before. Not all of the black mages were hiding here. It seemed like the black mages still had other hiding spots.
Saleen could not waste too much time in the Chaotic Swamp. He had to get back to the city base as soon as possible.
Aini was doing some calculations in his mind. He had already invested all of his savings into Saleen, and if Saleen’s city failed, he would not even get a cent back. At this moment, he could only cooperate with Saleen, and he needed to move his parents to Saleen’s city quickly.
Judging from today’s situation, the balance on the mainland cannot be sustained for long and will crumble very soon. The Clyde family should be fine, but most of Mother’s family is located in southern Loulan. They need to be evacuated quickly, as that area could potentially be the first to be implicated in the war.
The three kings cleared the remaining Holy See’s forces swiftly before charging into the teleportation portal, entering the relic from the Second Dynasty which was occupied by the Holy See.
Aini did not follow Saleen into the portal. Instead, he released his plant spirits. The bodies on the ground were absorbed into the roots of the plants, as the plants stored them for digestion.
Death mages were frequently criticized for this behavior. They could create real skeleton soldiers using the bodies on this plane, and these skeleton soldiers would be more powerful than the summoned ones and would also be easier to command. However, the secular rulers of the four empires did not like such a practice, so death mages rarely did so.
Aini did not give a hoot this time around. The three kings had slaughtered hundreds of riders who were warriors when they were alive, so they could be used to create strong skeleton soldiers. As these skeleton soldiers would possess greater offensive abilities than those of summoned bone spirits, Aini believed that Saleen would not be disgusted by him.
Of course, Saleen would not stop Aini. He followed the three kings and barged into the teleportation portal before arriving at a sealed space. The three kings led the way, and when they burst out of the bidirectional portal, they managed to kill another dozen monks who were hiding underground. Nearly the entire space had been extracted by the Holy See. The buildings left behind by the Second Dynasty had also been sent back to the Tanggulasi Empire. The only thing left was the mineral vein.
If the three kings had not been spirits, they would have hit the roof by now. Their agenda for coming here had been to obtain the things left behind by the mages from the Second Dynasty. It turned out that there was nothing left, and they had even lost their freedom in the process.
“You all… had better destroy this mineral vein. Extract whatever that you can. For those that you can’t extract, don’t leave them for other people either,” Saleen said ruthlessly.
Out of the blue, Judikaka turned around and swiped his gigantic claw at Saleen’s head. Saleen and Aini had split their rewards, and Judikaka belonged to Aini. Therefore, this attack by Judikaka did not activate the backlash from the contract.
However, Diyabannersa and Banchajanna retaliated at the same time. An attack from the left side and the right side caused Judikaka to be hurled away.
“You two!” Judikaka was enraged. He had seized the opportunity to assault Saleen when Aini was not around. Without his two companions, Saleen would never have been able to retaliate.
“Judikaka, even though we are reluctant, we don’t want to die.” Diyabannersa and Banchajanna blocked Judikaka’s path. Standing behind the two kings, Saleen sneered, “Judikaka, this will be the first and the last time. If you try anything funny again, I will mosaic you onto my ship.”
Saleen had duped the three kings into signing the contract, so he did not want to be too chummy with them. So what if they hated Saleen? With the restrains from the contract, they would be trapped in Saleen’s hands, even if they were spirit kings.
“You are right. This fellow will only live for slightly more than a hundred years,” Judikaka said between clenched teeth. Then, he turned towards the mineral vein and started to work. From his words, it was obvious that he was cursing that Saleen would never become a sorcerer. A normal professional would be able to live for one hundred and twenty years, but if one became a sorcerer, their life would be extended several times.
Saleen sneered as he observed the three kings working in this colossal underground space. This vein was almost fully extracted, but if one dug deeper, they would be able to obtain some very precious ores. Otherwise, the Holy See would not have spent so much effort here already. In truth, there were still many more black puppets digging for ores in this place, but they had been massacred by the three kings.
Saleen stood in this massive underground space and stared at the ruins. He was reeling in regret. The relic left behind by the Second Dynasty had been so majestic and beautiful, yet it had been destroyed by the Holy See. Everything valuable had been seized. Back then, Saleen was the one who had told Picasso of this location. The past few years had already given the Holy See enough time to pillage whatever that was available.
The Tanggulasi Empire, the eastern Glorious Plains, the city of oracles.
At the top story of a magnificent church, a gentle ray of light burst through a window. It was not just any light, but holy light. Inside the room, a man clad in an ancient costume was seated on a wide chair. The man’s robe was free from any sewing marks.
“Guise is dead, and even his soul has disappeared!”
He stretched lazily, looking as serene as ever, as though he was not angry that his capable subordinate had been killed. He did not even show any signs of sadness.
“Lord Fycro, is the Chaotic Swamp in trouble?” a young man, who stood behind this man, asked.
“Don’t bother yourself with this. I will settle this issue…”
This man was called Fycro, and was the leader of the seven oracles in the Holy See. This man was almost a god. He was the son of god, the star of the Glorious Plains.