Badge in Azure

Chapter 1344: Deathly Deception (Part 1)

The Winged Skull was unfazed as Rafel was by their side. An angel and a spirit fighting side by side was something extraordinarily rare. The Winged Skull brought six jade skeletons with them, and there was a spirit magic array set up right behind them.

An aura of death continuously coalesced within the spirit magic array, conjuring huge spirit runes and filling the entire space before the magic door. There were tens of thousands of abominations below that platform. Within that tight space, the number of abominations was at its highest, but it was not all that far off either.

Warriors dropped like flies on the platform. A huge number of monsters appeared among the enemy and cast Death Shock. Hundreds of thousands of deathly specters stormed the platform. They were not afraid of physical attacks at all and as such, resulted in very high casualties among Safilos' warriors.

Four level-ten mage trainers were then right behind the spirit magic array, recovering their mental powers.

They cast magic skills at the same time, protecting Safilos and the others as they retreated back to the magic door. However, those four mage trainers were thoroughly exhausted from doing so.

"Rafel, you doing fine?" the Winged Skull asked the angel at their side.

Rafel's golden pupils practically became slits then, shooting purple-golden light from within. She had all the metal angels charge and return to Floating City, as her intuition told her that Saleen would not have continued to hold the line at the underground city.

"Can't do this any longer. More powerful enemies are going to show up from the abomination plane soon," Rafel answered.

Saleen's Water Shield that had been plugging the big hole above them had long disappeared, and the cave's surroundings were filled with crimson fluid. That came from some human warriors who scrapped against the rocky walls when they were captured and taken above.

"How about we bail if we can't hold on anymore then?" the Winged Skull asked Rafel.

"What kind of attitude is that!?"

"Rafel, I'm a skeleton, not a warrior. I don't need honor or glory. Dying here isn't going to do us any good. If Master wants to leave, he won't need to go through that door at all," the Winged Skull answered with an exasperated expression, which when shown on his ashen skull face, looked rather eerie.

"You have a point…" Rafel hesitated. If Saleen were indeed able to leave the underground city on his own, then there really was no need for them to hold the line in that place. "You're just a skeleton, but I'm an angel. So what now?" Rafel asked the Winged Skull in return.

"There is a summoning array in the upper level, and there are powerful abominations showing up there. We'll just get up and break that teleportation portal then," the Winged Skull suggested.

"Don't go!" a mage trainer shouted.

The Winged Skull turned around and looked at that mage trainer with pitch-black eyes, asking, "And why not?"

That mage trainer was at a loss for words. They did not manage to get into the magic door, and their mental powers had all been spent. If the Winged Skull were to leave, then all four of them will soon be ganged up by the abomination and killed.

However, none of that had anything to do with that skeleton. As for Rafel, none of them even dared to expect that powerful warrior to fight for their sake.

The Winged Skull chuckled and spread their bony wings, and Rafel spread hers as well. That mage trainer had an idea all of a sudden and asked, "Master skeleton! Could I hire you then?"

Rafel shook her head while the Winged Skull nodded. Rafel then nodded, but the Winged Skull shook their head instead.

The mage trainer was puzzled, and the Winged Skull explained, "You could hire us, but we'd need to discuss price differently. What she wants and what I want are rather different."

The mage trainer was overjoyed and said, "It's alright. We could afford it."

The other three mages showed the same expression. They saw the Winged Skull command the spirits in battle and knew how powerful they were. The wave of attacks from the specters earlier did not manage to harm both the Winged Skull and the female warrior after all.

"Not quite. My master is His Highness Saleen, and you have no idea how rich Metatrin City is." The Winged Skull then poured cold water over the mages' ideas. However, the four mages were hardly dejected. They simply hurried the Winged Skull to name their price instead.

The Winged Skull had only been indulging their requests out of a whim. They did not mind the four level-ten mage trainers at all. If it had not been for fear of retribution from Safilos, the Winged Skull might have even wanted to turn them into spirits on the spot.

However, since the four of them came to be so eager, the Winged Skull saw no reason to be prudent.

Death wizards were powerful beings on the spirit plane. However, due to most death wizards having shattered memories, they were unable to bear their full might. Furthermore, due to their fractured mental states, their actions were rather random and ridiculous, and they often ended up being killed by spirit kings to prevent them from destroying the empires of the kings.

However, humans who were willing to be made into spirit wizards were different, as their intelligence was kept intact.

"Saving you people is easy. See that magic array over there? That is a death teleportation portal, and you all will be transported to the spirit plane," the Winged Skull said as they pointed at the magic array manned by six jade skeletons.

The mage trainers then looked troubled. The Winged Skull then continued, "Are you afraid that you won't be able to return then? Well, no worries about that. I'm a king level skeleton myself, and I have no problems giving you people some bit of protection."

The Winged Skull took out four black crystals, saying, "Hold onto these. I can summon you all back at any time."

The four mages took the black crystals without saying anything. The Winged Skull then took out four scrolls and said, "As for the fee of employment, we'll need to make this clear. I'll be able to let you leave the underground city and send you to the surface. If you want to go any further, don't count on me for escort."

The four mages were exasperated. The levels of the underground city were shut off, and if they wanted to leave, they would only be able to do so using teleportation portals. However, none of them had the means to build one, so they had to get transported through the spirit plane instead.

Seeing the four mages walking into the magic array, the six jade skeletons wore very human expressions on their faces—smugness.

The four human mages did not get transported away when they walked into the magic array. The black crystal on them melted all of a sudden and entered their bodies. Death aura emanating from the magic array seeped into their bodies in a heartbeat.

Ahhh!

Urrgghh…

The four human mages made peculiar noises. If none of them knew that they were duped even at the moment, then something would have been very wrong with them.

"What are you doing!?"

The most powerful mage among the four shouted. The remaining three were only able to moan and do nothing else.

"What are you doing!?" Rafel pointed at the Winged Skull and asked in a frustrated manner.

"What?"

"You've just violated your contract. Retribution will come!" Despite being level 13 being, Rafel did not dare to violate contracts. She got increasingly irked as she looked at the Winged Skull.

What is wrong with this guy? Don't tell me that this thing is only half-intelligent? Wait, aren't the skulls of skeletons half-open? Did their brains get dried up in the process?

"Deathly Deception! This is a skill that will keep me from suffering any punishments. Wait, are you telling me that no one knows of this magic spell?" the Winged Skull asked, feeling surprised.

Deathly Deception!

That was indeed a magic spell that death mages were capable of casting, which enabled them to evade contract rules. Rafel knew that much as well, but a spirit casting one such spell was unheard of. Furthermore, Deathly Deception was a spell that was difficult to upgrade.

How did this thing manage to dupe four mage trainers at once?

"All four of them had spent all of their mental powers, which of course prevented them from using lie-detection," the Winged Skull smiled amicably and said to Rafel. "I'm going to have four death wizards soon. Level-ten death wizards are more powerful than elemental mages. We won't need to destroy the magic arrays ourselves, as having them do it would suffice."

Rafel was speechless. While she did not get how they had been able to use Deathly Deception in a way that enabled them to dupe even level-ten mages, but the Winged Skull was right.

The four death wizards-to-be were indeed more suited to combat than elemental mages, especially when dealing with the likes of the abominations. The bodily attributes of the death wizards also meant that they would have been immune to physical attacks from the abominations.

The six jade skeletons crackled in laughter as well. The remaining warriors around them were frightened when they saw the Winged Skull duping the four mages into the magic array and turned them into spirits. They were about to charge at the Winged Skull and kill them.

Ooowwwhhh…

A mage trainer emerged from the magic array all of a sudden. Low-pitched whimpering was heard from him.

Death Howl!

The warriors who were of lower levels dropped to the floor, and the abominations rushing up to the platform were of no exception as well.

Haa, crack…

Another mage emerged from the magic array and took a look at the Winged Skull, hesitating somewhat, but was quickly smacked at the back of his head by the other one.

"Master!" that mage helplessly called out.

"Hmm, not bad. The magic array was actually meant for the abominations, and now you guys are in for a treat. The rest, just come on out. Being subjected to my control would be a far better fate than becoming abominations." The Winged Skull waved, and the remaining two emerged as well.

The four level-ten elemental mages were thoroughly transformed into death wizards. The magic array was very quick with its conversion speed, but transforming four level-ten mage trainers was nonetheless very draining.

Most of the deathly aura on the platform had dissipated. The spirit runes floating in the air were also absorbed when the four death wizards transformed.

The amount of deathly aura would have actually been able to transform tens of thousands of abominations into spirits.

The Winged Skull, however, had concerns about the success of the transformation, and so siphoned all of the deathly aura into the four death wizards instead. When a death wizard's transformation was complete, their combat capacity would be on par with that of level-ten spirits.

All four of them had been level-ten mage trainers to begin with. As the most trusted ones of Safilos, they were incredibly rich as well. At the moment, all of their riches then belonged to the Winged Skull. As such, despite having technically failed in the setup, the Winged Skull actually lost nothing.

Rafel hardly felt much about the Winged Skull successfully duping four mage trainers. While level-ten mages were not beings that she would have been able to effortlessly kill, it would not have taken a lot of effort either, unless they were someone like Saleen, who came to possess a myriad of powerful equipment.

The warriors on the platform were ganged up by both the abominations and the Winged Skull's spirits. Only a handful of them remained.

One warrior who was at a loss of what to do with the spear in their hand, turned the spear around and stabbed it into their chest. Blood splattered as the warrior yelled, "I curse you!"

Pfftt…

Their head was quickly squished by an abomination's claws before their curse was completed. Sacrificial Curse was the only curse skill that warriors had access to, and there were few willing to learn it, as cursing someone with it came with the price of their lives.

The Winged Skull laughed. That abomination was indeed interesting. If the Winged Skull were to actually be cursed, things would have turned rather troublesome. As for the warrior's loyalty and bravery, none of that affected the Winged Skull's mood at all.

Safilos had always been at odds with their master. As such, all those who were loyal to Safilos were seen to be their enemies!