Badge in Azure

Chapter 1339: Ojarvis

There were six mages concealed in corners of the room. The female officer who was Ojarvis's servant was a silver grand swordmaster as well. Everyone looked at Saleen as he said, "Nailisi is capable of Ultimate Shapeshifting, but she wouldn't have done such a thing."

"And why should we believe you?" An old, withered mage was heard saying from behind Ojarvis. Saleen eyed the mage with his blue eyes. This old mage looks like he is about to die, and… Man, he is a level-11 mage! However, he would never have been able to advance anymore. His life seemed to be like a lamp that had run out of oil. The wick was the only thing left, and the flames looked as if they were about to be extinguished. Even if he were to advance to level 12, it would not have extended his life by even half a day. A mage's life was extended as they advanced, but there were conditions to it. The mage in question needed to at least be brimming with life force. Someone like Saleen, who had managed to become a sorcerer at a young age, would have been able to live more than 1,000 years.

"Because I said so," Saleen answered.

Ojarvis coughed and covered his mouth and nose. Saleen smelled blood.

"I trust Saleen. Say no more. The reason why I called Saleen here was to have him deduce, using astrology, as to how the enemy managed to infiltrate the royal palace."

Saleen took a look at his wife's brother. The emperor, who was about to pass, did not seem to harbor any negative emotions from the look in his eyes. It was hard to see any emotions found within. He seemed to be in an unusually calm state.

"Astrology has its limits, especially in a place like this." Saleen did not agree to Ojarvis's request, as using astrology to deduce something of such importance would have made his astrology jump to level 11 right away, if he were to succeed. The terrifying thing about astrology was that once a person started getting into it, it would have been as if they had been absorbed into it. If he were to advance right there and then, he would have been compelled to research the art further using the vast amount of materials he had at hand.

However, he had no time for this now. Both he and Sika were giving their lives for their children right up until this moment. That terrifying priest's skill was not something that would have ended when it was used. That was something that not even Sika knew. Her life would not have seen limited extensions otherwise. Both he and Sika had to make it to level 11, or they would have aged a few hundred years. He would have ended up looking like that old mage, seeing his life gradually draining away. If he were to pass that point, advancing would not have been able to extend Saleen's life anymore.

"Saleen, help Ojarvis out." Lex was pleading. Someone had managed to disguise themselves as her and infiltrate the royal palace. It was a harrowing experience, as it meant that even beloved ones at their side could turn out to be the enemy at any given moment.

"Viscount, there are ways to see through Ultimate Shapeshifting. You haven't been seeing his majesty much. If you were as close to him as me and master are, no one would have been able to deceive me using Ultimate Shapeshifting," Nailisi explained to Lex.

"Who permitted you to speak?" Another middle-aged mage berated her.

Saleen knew that things had just taken a dive for the worse. He wanted to stop it but it was too late. Cold beams shot out of Nailisi's green eyes, and the beams looked tangible. Her Grey Memory lashed out right there and then. The mage never expected Nailisi to attack in such an environment, and it was too late for him to attack. The old mage behind Ojarvis cast light magic all of a sudden. Over a dozen beams fell onto Nailisi, locking her in place. The flash from the Grey Memory rebounded repeatedly within the beams, dissipating only after quite a while. The chest of that middle-aged mage had a gash on it nonetheless.

"Your Highness Saleen, aren't you taking this too far?" The old mage said to Saleen.

"Hardly. I'm here with Nailisi to help his majesty. Since when did he get to tell my people what to do?" Saleen then pointed at the middle-aged mage and said, "Furthermore, this guy is a spy."

"That's impossible!" Rage was seen in that old mage's murky eyes as he said, "That is my son."

"So are you saying that your son couldn't have been a spy? What logic is this?" Nailisi questioned him. The beams surrounding her had completely dissipated. The power of Grey Memory was something that not even level-11 mages could have easily dispelled using simple spells. The old mage was speechless. His words were logically incorrect. Even angels had betrayed their gods before, and there was no guarantee that his son would not have done the same. However, he had absolute trust in his son. It was logically incorrect, but not sentimentally so. However, mages did not go about doing things driven by sentiments. Nailisi's retort was something that he had no answer for.

"Your Highness Saleen, please present your evidence for saying that. Or else…"

"Or else what? The poison in his majesty's body would have only enabled him to live six days at most, no matter how hard the rest of you work. That is the time of one week, and the time it would take for the sun and moon of Myers Mainland to complete a cycle. All six elements would have finished a complete cycle of vibration. There is simply no way to cure the poison. Worse still, his majesty is under great pain now, and he might make wrong decisions due to the pain, and that would have been enough to doom the Qin Empire."

"The poison is really something indeed." The old mage said to Saleen, "But since you've accused my son of being a spy, you need to give me a reason one way or another. Or else, I'll exchange my life for yours."

Saleen lifted a finger and swung it left and right at the old mage, saying, "Your life is worth nothing. No need for threats, I'll be giving you the answer soon. I take it that all in this room have been subjected to level-11 lie detection, no?"

"Indeed!" The old mage said proudly. While he had indeed been staunch in defending his son, he had nonetheless screened his son using level-12 lie detection before letting him enter the magic cube, for fear of something going wrong. That was to show his loyalty to the Grukos royalty. He had a bit of Grukos blood in his veins. None of the royal mages were truly outsiders. When an enemy appeared, they were compelled to fight the enemy together.

"There is a Deep Hypnosis skill in level-13 divine arts, which is crafted specifically against lie detection magic. It is a dark divine art and not a skill of the Lord of Glory. Your son has been placed under control by the Heretic God using Deep Hypnosis, which would have made him do certain things and only lash out at his majesty all of a sudden, under the command of the Heretic God's oracle. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't even know of it himself."

"I want proof!" That middle-aged mage was fuming. He bought none of what Saleen said. From his perspective, Saleen was there to usurp the throne and might have even fooled Lex. This good-for-nothing from Sikeqinya, how did he manage to dupe the viscount!?

"You're a level-10 mage. Putting you under control would have proven difficult. There would need to be an evil medium put into your body. I've only heard things about the Heretic God's skills and I don't know much. I need to test it out to see if what I knew was correct, and I had indeed tested it earlier." Saleen pointed at the middle-aged mage's feet. Everyone took notice of a golden granule at the mage's feet.

"I cast my territory as soon as I entered the room. Did you all think that I was putting on a show of force?" The old mage nodded. Saleen was indeed a powerful mage, so powerful that even he found Saleen to not be someone that he would have had an easy time dealing with. Saleen cast his lightning territory as soon as he entered the room. The territory was refined to such an extent that it emanated no form nor sound. Pressure from the lightning's might was felt, yet no form of lightning was seen.

"I used Lightning Purification on you and you didn't know of it. That skill would have only worked on everything originating from the Heretic God, exhibiting a suppression effect on it. Take a look," Saleen said as he took out a crystal glass, which contained a whiff of black mist. Saleen quite literally zapped the bottle, purifying the mist in the bottle as it exited the bottle using Lightning Purification. Everyone saw the mist produce a golden granule, which dropped back into the bottle.

"This is something I acquired at Highland City, which could be purified using all manner of divine arts. A mage's skill would have worked as well."

That middle-aged mage's face was ashen as he said, "So I was the one who poisoned his majesty then?"

"Not necessarily you, but you could have been rendered under the Heretic God's oracle's control at any given moment while you were in this magic cube. With the abomination plane launching an invasion here, there would have definitely been quite a number of oracles making their way into Myers Mainland. I haven't been able to put a lockdown on the abominations at Highland City…" Saleen sighed. Even if he were to plug the portal at Highland City, it would not have done any good. There was already a portal leading to the abomination plane right there at Holy Rock City after all.

All the mages used lie-detection magic on Saleen, and he willingly was tested. Everyone disappointedly found that Saleen was not lying.

"Deep Hypnosis could be suppressed. It is just a level-13 divine spell after all."

The middle-aged mage looked dejected, and it seemed as if he was not hearing anything that Saleen said. He turned to Ojarvis and asked, "Your majesty, what should I do?"

"What should I do?" Nailisi asked with a puzzled look. She saw only anxiety in the mage's eyes instead of fear. She initially thought that the mage would have either fought for his life or killed himself, after he was ratted out by Saleen. However, he actually turned to ask the emperor what he should do instead.

The old mage then gave Saleen a detailed explanation. The magic cube was not in a complete state during its fabrication process, necessitating mages of the six major elements to man the place at the core. All six mages in the room were adept at an elemental form of magic each and had been very proficient and knowledgeable in their respective arts. It had been something that the royal mages of the Qin Empire had been preparing in secret. The son of the old mage was adept at earth magic and was one of the key people at controlling the hub.

However, now he heard from Saleen that he had been subjected to hypnosis by an oracle of the Heretic God, and could have done things proven harmful to the emperor at any given moment. The middle-aged mage was afraid that no one would be able to take his place at manning the magic cube. If the magic cube was to lack one such person manning it, its powers would have been drastically reduced and become little more than a very powerful magic tower. Many magic towers had been destroyed in the abominations' invasion. No magic tower, regardless of how powerful it might have been, would have proven adequate to stop the abominations' invasion.

"Master, I have a solution which would free you from the Heretic God's oracle's control, but it would only be a temporary one and have requirements for the environment it is used in," Saleen said.

"What requirements?" The middle-aged mage asked anxiously. The magic cube was then mostly ready. The humongous puppet would have been able to buy them several days' worth of time. When that puppet ended up destroyed, the magic cube would have been almost fully operational. It would be difficult to find someone to replace him at such a short notice.

"There are actually two options you could choose from. The first one is the Lightning Cage that I brought with me. No one outside would be able to affect you while you're in it. However, your actions would be affected, as you would only be able to stay in a single place and you wouldn't be able to leave the cage."

"What about the second option then!?" The middle-aged mage's actions can't be restricted, as it would have made it very difficult for him to man the magic cube otherwise.

"The second option would be to put you under my control. I have a secret art that could bestow your soul with powerful protection, at least when beings below level 13 are concerned. No one would be able to affect you without me giving the permission to do so. If I'm present, not even the Lord of Glory would have been able to control your soul, even if he were to intervene personally."

"But, my soul would be put under your control, no?" The middle-aged mage asked with a dejected expression.

"Not quite actually. Your soul would be controlled by my skill, but I wouldn't be able to simply force you to do my bidding. The most I could do…well, is to torture your soul forever," Saleen answered frankly.

The middle-aged mage was hardly surprised. Saleen's ability of protecting the souls of others would have needed to cast a layer of something resembling a protective shell. If this were to be added to his soul, it would have meant that his soul was imprisoned.

"Your majesty, what are your thoughts?" The mage asked Ojarvis. They all had initially thought Ojarvis to be a child. However, when the abominations struck and they retreated below ground, the mages had managed to avoid considerable losses because Ojarvis was the one in command. Ojarvis's temperament might have been a complete antithesis to Emperor Chanake's, yet he possessed the intuition and ability befitting a supreme commander nonetheless.

Ojarvis smiled and said, "If he could save me, I'd have rather yielded control of everything I have to Saleen. Too bad though…"

What he meant was that Saleen was someone trustworthy.

The middle-aged mage sank into deep thought. Everyone was looking at him. The magic cube could have still worked without him, yet the risk would have been tens times higher.

"How about this? Just use the cage then. Even if the enemy were to be able to get to you using the Lightning Cage, you won't be able to leave still," Saleen said to the mage.

"Don't worry…" The middle-aged man then asked dejectedly, "Your Highness Saleen, how would I be affected, if I were to be subjected under your control?"

"If I were to have no use of you, you'd have everything to gain and nothing to lose."

"Well but I'd need to man the magic cube. You probably don't know this, Saleen, but the abomination invasion this time is but a start. There is already another plane portal appearing in Kroraina, from the subcontinent plane this time. The subcontinent plane is tightly connected with other planes. Any plane that is frequently connected to the subcontinent plane would have been able to use it as a springboard to attack Myers Mainland."

"What do you all think?" Despite the manner in which Saleen asked, he was looking at the old mage.

The old mage ground his teeth. The middle-aged mage was his only son, and he had put a lot of time and effort in nurturing him since young. The old mage had only a few years' worth of life left at most. If he were to die, then no one would have been there to protect his son. Worse still, he would be forced to witness the soul of his son being put under control by some other people before he passed. A mage, whose soul had been put under control, would have been like having lost everything for good. A soul that was no longer free was worse than death.

The old mage looked at his son, who appeared rather dejected. The old mage then said all of a sudden, "If you don't want to do it, then don't."

"No, father, even if I'm against the idea, I have to do this."

"Well then!" Saleen said loudly all of a sudden, "I shall sign a contract with you. I shall absolutely not use the skill to force you into doing anything in the future."

"For real!?" The old mage asked anxiously.

Saleen then took out a dragonhide magic scroll and said, "I believe this should prove my sincerity."

All six of the royal mages were speechless seeing Saleen taking out a blank scroll crafted using dragonhide. Some of them were even thinking about exchanging it for their own scrolls. Saleen was seen to have been very wasteful, but nonetheless, the magic binding powers of a dragonhide scroll would have been tens of times greater than that of common scrolls. It was a testament that Saleen was indeed sincere, that he had no intentions of forcing the mage into the deal.

The middle-aged mage said to Saleen gratefully, "In that case, we shall construct a contract. As long as I live, I shall never do anything that could jeopardize the interests of you and your nation. I'll stand by your side as long as you're involved in any way, even remotely."

Saleen nodded. That was the result that he had been after. Furthermore, despite appearing very powerful, there were actually magic back doors to dragonhide scrolls. If that mage were to prove to be a liability to him in the future, Saleen would have had ways to deal with him. Saleen then took out a piece of Eternal Control Shard that he had crafted. He slapped the shard into the middle-aged mage's forehead while being witnessed by everyone else. He then began to write on the scroll.

The mages had gotten envious yet again when he was writing the scroll, as Saleen was using a bottle of true dragon blood for writing the contract.

Well then, if Saleen is already this rich, then he would definitely not be going after anything with us.

Those mages actually had the wrong idea in that case. If one were to spend 100 gold coins to buy something that was worth only one gold coin, that was not to say that they would not have been moved by 10,000 gold coins.While Saleen's dragon blood was indeed precious, he had exchanged it with Grand Duke Iron Blood using his magic power furnaces. The trade benefited both parties, as the worth of their wares were difficult to measure using money.

Saleen was after the magic cube itself. He knew that even if he were to become a prince of the Qin Empire, he still would not have been able to take everything away from the empire. The magic cube was the core of the Qin Empire. Even if the place were to be manned only by six level-ten mages, it would have nonetheless been able to withstand countless waves of attacks from the grand army of abominations.

The Heaven Knights back all those years ago had been really, really unlucky. They were not even able to scale the walls of Holy Rock City, before they all ended up dead right outside the city. If they had known that the Qin Empire actually possessed something like the magic cube, the Heaven Knights might have lost the courage to even attack the city in the first place.

The back of the dragonhide scroll was filled with polished dragon scales. The middle-aged mage wrote his name on the scroll—Isenberg—and the dragon scales at the back of the scroll turned to ash. The contract was completed. Even if there were to be a conflict of interest between Saleen and the Qin Empire in the future, he would not have been able to lift a finger against Saleen.

All of that seemed to have been done for his freedom, and yet it did not seem so. Isenberg felt rather dazed at that moment, being puzzled whether this actually had been the right choice or the wrong choice.

"For better or worse, you have chosen your path, so you might as well just keep walking it. I wouldn't do anything against you, Isenberg, so at least you won't have to worry about anyone else controlling your soul from here on out."

Lex sighed deep down as she watched Saleen work. The little mage all those years ago, that Saleen, was already a king. While Saleen's methods looked rather immature compared to that of her father, he was nonetheless capable of shouldering his responsibilities as king. Well, now I wonder if I'd ever see that mage, who had been protecting his dignity with pride and getting close with caution, again in the future. That little mage had been very cautious, protecting whatever little principles he had left back then, as he kept searching and growing, in order to survive. But that mage is no longer around somehow, and here stands Saleen Metatrin as he is now.

Saleen turned around and looked at Lex. His blue eyes looked incredibly pure, as if all that was left in them were elements and nothing else. Lex smiled at Saleen. She knew Saleen too well. He had probably been making a great many decisions before he came, and every single one of them had been ones that did not allow him to turn back. It was just like how things were when they signed the contract with the Goddess of Myers. He knew the road before him would have been one filled with hardships and obstacles, yet he chose to walk it nonetheless. It seemed rather absurd to accept one's fate and then try one's very best to resist it, but that was how Saleen was. She saw no choice but to keep walking that path with Saleen, for her choice was also one that had no turning back as well.

Lex then said, "You're dismissed. I need to speak to Saleen."

Ojarvis nodded and all six mages and the servant officer left the room. Saleen came to the emperor's bedside and stood on the floor, watching the emperor of the Qin Empire.

Ojarvis looked at Saleen with bloodshot eyes that seemed to be about to bleed at any given moment.

"Saleen, you're not telling me that you actually have ways to cure me, but you'd need my soul in exchange, right?" Ojarvis smiled.

"Your majesty, there are levels to elemental poisons. The one that is in you right now is one that assaults the soul. Even if I were to have the means to save you, I still wouldn't want to put you through all that pain. I know of one person who has had his soul trapped in a figure and suffered for hundreds of thousands of years."

"The truth often hurts. Don't you think so, my sister?" Ojarvis quipped as he saw Lex wanting to stop Saleen.

"Indeed. I know that as well," Lex ground her teeth as she answered.

"Very well then. My sister, your husband, Prince Saleen, is after my magic cube. Do you think we should give him the magic cube?" Ojarvis's words were startling.

Lex looked at Saleen in fright. She had already felt something like that, but having Ojarvis blurt that out in the open meant that her little brother's intuition was working. Saleen is actually after something of my family? The magic cube belongs to Holy Rock City. Even if I were to become empress, I still wouldn't have the right to give it to someone else.

Saleen never thought his thoughts would have been laid bare in the open like that by Ojarvis. However, he was hardly awkward, smiling and continuing instead, "Your majesty, I was thinking of relocating the magic cube to the Floating City. The cube would have only been of the greatest use in doing so. You're not a mage, but Lex is. She should be able to understand."

"My sister would understand, but I'm just afraid that she would refuse to!" Ojarvis's words seemed to have a profound sense to them.

"It doesn't matter if she refuses to. I'd be able to ask how this thing is built at least, wouldn't I? I could just make another one myself then," Saleen answered nonchalantly. He saw sadness in Lex's eyes, which was not something that happened often.

Ojarvis smiled and said, "My sister, don't think for a second that you're no longer a member of the Metatrin once you become an empress. You shall be the first queen of the Kingdom of Metatrin in Saleen's genealogy, and he, too, will become a great figure like the King of Glory. You must believe this much. I am not an astrologer, but I can nonetheless see the trajectory of fate. I've…paid my price."