Badge in Azure

Chapter 1336: Safilos (Part 2)

The hole was plugged by the Water Shield, yet there were still abominations crashing down on it. The Water Shield was capable of repelling both physical and energy attacks, but, if one were to simply reach into the spell slowly, one could actually pass through it. However, the abominations would have had to pay a huge price for doing so.

The three-layered Water Shield was actually hardly higher than a one-layered Water Shield in terms of defense. The additional layers required careful calculations to avoid adversely affecting each other. Saleen cast the spell after doing some rough calculations. The key to using such a spell correctly relied on lightning patterns, restorative water, and magic liquid to damage abominations.

All of the abominations that managed to make it through that ball of water emerged smoking and rotting all over. Some abominations even had half of the horns on their heads melted, with black smoke puffing out of the stubs. They were originally supposed to dive straight below, but, halfway through, they were already in a shambles, falling here and there without any order.

One Water Shield proved more than enough to plug the main passage from which the abominations were attacking. The four level-ten mage trainers at Safilos's side looked in awe at Saleen. While they were incapable of that very skill that Saleen had just pulled off, all four of them had just cast a huge Water Shield after much discussion among themselves. Their spell was in the usual shield shape instead of shaped like a water bubble. That Water Shield was a product of all four of them joining hands. Saleen was very impressed, thinking that all four of them had probably been learning magic together all their lives. The way the four of them worked made it look as if they were one creature with four brains. Safilos's mages are indeed impressive in their own right.

However, all four of the mages miscalculated nonetheless. They were anticipating the breakage of Saleen's Water Shield soon, which was why they did what they did. Normal Water Shields were something that could only have been quickly cast in water and were utterly incapable of being cast instantly in air. All four powerful mages were calculating the time of Saleen's Water Shield falling apart, which they would then patch with the one they had cast.

However, Saleen's Water Shield remained intact and was plugging the hole securely still, making the hole very difficult for the abominations to pass through, when their spell was completed. What made it even more awkward for the four mages was that Saleen brought his people charging at the platform, killing abominations along the way as they made it below the platform. Their Water Shield ended up breaking, yet Saleen's bubble still remained plugged at the passage, blocking the abominations' way. Saleen's spell stayed intact for more than three minutes. That would have been nothing worth mentioning, if it had not been for the fact that there were already hundreds of abominations forcing themselves through the Water Shield, and the spell had to spend a certain amount of energy to deal with the passing abominations.

There were some rules that couldn't be circumvented, and that meant that Saleen's Water Shield surpassed the spell that the four of them conjured in terms of amount of energy stored within.

Saleen brought his people up to the platform and the four mage trainers caught sight of the black ring behind Saleen, which spooked them severely.

"A magic amplifier!"

"Yes, a magic amplifier indeed," Saleen replied with a smile. It was only then that he came to realize how important that magic amplifier had been to him. The duration and strength of his Water Shield were 24 times what it should have been. Such enhancement to supportive or defensive magic robbed Saleen of his ability to calculate the actual margin by which his combat capacity had been enhanced.

"Prince Safilos," Saleen smiled and greeted Safilos. The powerful one from the Grukos was eyeing him as well.

"Your Highness Saleen."

"What happened here? How did Holy Rock City get run over?"

Sigh. Safilos sighed and said, "Spies. They broke the magic amplifier and created a space fissure, opening a portal connecting to the abomination plane right here."

"Spies?" Saleen felt something was off. There would never have been any spies among the mages of the Grukos, as there was simply no reason for any of them to become one. Royal mages received far better treatment than the ones in Metatrin City, and they were probably treated just as well as Saleen's own followers.

Safilos looked rather troubled, but he continued nonetheless, "Shapeshifting. Some from Alchemy City disguised themselves as royal mages."

Alchemy City! Saleen had some regrets upon hearing that name. He should have gone after those people instead of letting them off. The skeletal dragon might have just let him off after all. "Where is Lex?" Saleen brought up a name that Safilos was most reluctant to hear.

However, given that Holy Rock City was about to be doomed, Safilos put aside the matter of prophecies and told Saleen right away, "She is behind that door in back of me. His majesty is there as well."

"Should I help you defend the place, or should I go to check on them first?" Saleen asked in a rather discreet manner.

"No need to hurry. We can hold the line here for the time being. How many have you brought with you?"

Saleen pointed at the hole in the dome. Lightning Constellation was cast, plugging the hole, and lightning warriors pounced from within, duking it out with the thousands of abominations below. "I have tens of thousands. Should be enough to keep this place defended," Saleen said as he looked at Safilos.

"Very well, Saleen, your current powers are adequate to make you a king, one capable of taking on any enemies to boot. I don't need to fight for the throne, but if Lex intends to take it, his majesty cannot be killed. Check the level below and protect his majesty." Cold light seemed to have emanated from Safilos's eyes, as if he were trying to cut Saleen apart.

Lex's little brother, his majesty Ojarvis, was already in a critical condition. However, that condition could mean that he was ready to pass at any given moment or maybe last for several days more or even several months more. If the emperor ended up being killed by the abominations, then it would have been rather troublesome for a viscount to succeed to the throne. Safilos was not duping Saleen; that was how the rules of Qin were.

Saleen could have of course simply ignored the rules. However, if he were to do so, someone could have used that in the future to doubt the legitimacy of both Saleen and Lex. The people of Golden Plains would not have taken something like that well. If they intended to take Qin in a secure manner, they had to follow the rules. Or else, even Arbola would have turned completely against them.

Saleen never expected Safilos to say those words. It actually put him at ease, as Saleen only needed to protect the emperor until he died a natural death, then Safilos would not have laid any further obstacles for Lex. Saleen took a deep breath and called for the Winged Skull. "Keep this place defended with the prince. If things are about to give, you have permission to rescind the Lightning Constellation. After Saleen was finished giving orders to the Winged Skull, he took a bunch of scrolls from his ring and four shards of divine crystal, distributing them to the mages serving Safilos. "A greeting gift, if you would."

All four of those mages were thoroughly impressed by Saleen's skills. They did not feel Saleen's actions to be rude. The attack from the abominations seemed endless, and there was no telling how long they would have been required to hold the line. As such, all four mages thanked him and took his gift. By taking Saleen's gift, the mages were compelled to at least try to avoid confronting him head on, if they were to have a conflict of interest in the future, unless Saleen intended to kill Safilos.

The Winged Skull pushed his visor up and smiled at Safilos. His bony features made the smile look rather eerie. "Prince Safilos, tell your troops to retreat. I shall arrange for spirits to help with the defense."

An intelligent spirit! Safilos came to be envious of Saleen at this moment. It was a powerful skeleton and having one such being serving them had been a dream of countless mages. Even truly mighty beings would have been envious of one such intelligent spirit.

Safilos let Saleen enter the door behind him. Saleen took hundreds of metal angels with him, and Rafel took one look at Safilos. The prince felt shivers running over him with just one look from her golden eyes. Rafel disappeared behind the door and the Winged Skull called, "Prince Safilos, I think it is best to tell your men to pull back a little. If they were to keep holding the line, casualties will result sooner or later."

"Right." Safilos felt rather dazed. Rafel had left a powerful impression on his mind when she made a move, rendering him restless.

There was a platform behind that door and wide steps were at the front of the platform. The steps were apparently made for large-scale puppets, and there were smaller steps at the side, which were made for human use. Hundreds of mages were busy below the steps, putting together large-scale puppets. Saleen saw the puppets still being assembled, but it was almost finished. Complex crystalline structures were embedded on the puppets' heads. While it was nothing as high-level as compound eyes, the structure had a very low fuel cost. Saleen found its cylindrical head looking rather ugly, but the black gem that was embedded between the crystals and the magic array etched into it nonetheless shocked Saleen quite a bit.

The mages of Holy Rock City had developed Death Ray magic arrays! Death Ray was also an instant death spell. Its success depended entirely on luck. Mages found it difficult to transfer the spell to a magic array, making it necessary for humans to cast the spell. However, at present, that large-scale puppet actually became capable of firing a Death Ray. Even if the rate of success were only 1 percent, it would have nonetheless proved terrifying. Just like how it was with Saleen's Floating City, where the level-nine magic spells cast by enchanters would have never been as powerful as those cast by mages, but Saleen would not have been able to defend against thousands, even tens of thousands, of enchanters attacking together.

"Your Highness Saleen!" A mage walked up to him. That mage was a familiar face. Saleen had met him once in the royal place, but Saleen did not know his name. "The name's Dumont." That level-ten mage greeted Saleen amicably. Saleen did not realize that he had been seeing level-ten professionals more often than he had been seeing level-nine ones in the past. However, he was at the moment at the last line of defense of Holy Rock City. Saleen would not have found anything out of place even if he were to have seen level-11 mages here.

"Greetings, Master Dumont," Saleen nodded. Dumont looked at Nailisi and Rafel at Saleen's side, and he was impressed as well. Saleen frowned and took a look at Rafel, who smiled at Saleen, wondering why Saleen was not happy that she was being nice to others. She failed to remember that as a level-13 perfect being, her charm was off the charts. Safilos had been almost swept off his feet with just one look from her.

Safilos came to his senses on the other side of the door. He was still thoroughly shocked. That golden-eyed woman had managed to tug at his heartstrings using some eerie skills. This is bad! Safilos swung his purple long blade at that thought. His long hair billowed as he moved. A deathly aura emanated from his greyish-silver hair. That was the pure power of death. It was only when he was completely wrapped in said power of death that his grey eyes were restored to their usual state of calm.