Badge in Azure

Chapter 1363: Sacrifice to the Sword (Part 2)

The magic shield outside the Floating City gradually changed shape. Although the speed was hardly increased, it nonetheless reduced fuel consumption of the Floating City when moving underwater.

Countless magic beasts were harassing the Floating City on its return journey. But then again, beasts that dared to harass a monster like the Floating City were not very intelligent so killing them was a breeze.

The Floating City needed to take a detour around the abyss if it were to take to the air, making it necessary to head south for thousands of kilometers before being free of the ice on the surface.

The ice sheets covering the Oceanic Ice Block were several kilometers thick. If the Floating City intended to simply barge through the ice and fly, it would have been difficult.

Despite having assimilated the magic cube, the position of the Magical Element Tower as the command center was unchanged. There was only one place in the magic cube that could have been used for commanding forces, and Ojarvis used to live there.

Despite the magic cube's having been destroyed several times and the rooms being different from what they used to be, Saleen didn't want to assume command from that place.

Moreover, Gaine had worked on the Magical Element Tower before, making it difficult for outsiders to intrude.

Saleen was unable to help but he made some calculations using constellation power while inside the Magical Element Tower. He realized he had not been aware of what was happening at Metatrin City. This was bad. This didn't sit well with Saleen.

"Rafel, we'll be heading home soon. Nailisi, Bing, take care of things here and head straight to Nature City. Be careful about running into Grand Duke Iron Blood's fleet along the way."

Nailisi wanted to return to Metatrin City with Saleen, but his eyes told her to do otherwise. Rafel was the most powerful among the bunch. Despite being the least loyal of his other followers, she was the least likely to revolt.

That was because Rafel hardly had any desires. Her only wish was to protect the metal angels. Rafel wouldn't have been moved by temptations or anything else. Nor would she have considered offers of making her a god.

She witnessed two of Saleen's weapon spirits igniting divine fire personally, and she had probably gotten numb about becoming a god.

As for the Floating City, Saleen would have only felt safe with the two of them manning the place. His most treasured possessions and a good part of his wealth were all on that gigantic equipment. While the God of Magic Net was powerful, its weakness as a god was also very apparent.

It was especially so given that it was still a pseudo god, meaning it was still lacking in the mastery of rules. That would have been a big disadvantage if it had run into even slightly powerful opponents.

The fights between humans were entirely determined by levels after all.

The God of Magic Net was still a weapon spirit instead of a true giant.

If it had been a true giant, it would have been able to clap Saleen to death with just one hand. Neither technique nor skills would have been necessary. Even if Saleen had access to the lightning badge's powers, all he would have been able to do was injure a giant, not kill it.

The combat capacity of powerful giants was almost the highest among existing races. Evolution was just as difficult for the gods as for them, unlike humans, who were capable of rapidly advancing and evolving.

Saleen had Rafel take ten metal angels with her after stopping Nailisi, following him into the teleportation portal. The magic tower's teleportation portal had grown powerful as well. The one that Saleen drew had some of what he was able to comprehend from the secret arts added to it.

While it did not enable them to instantly traverse tens of thousands of kilometers, the portal made it easier to take some supplies and over a dozen people as opposed to the past where fuel consumption was proportionate to distances traveled.

Differences in fuel consumption with past teleportation portals between teleporting ten kilometers and teleporting 100 kilometers away were not ten times, but 100 times.

The fuel consumption of the current teleportation portal was considerably lower than it used to be. Consumption of ten kilometers would have been that of ten kilometers, while that of 100 kilometers would have been that of 100 kilometers without extra energy being wasted out of nowhere.

Saleen was able to return to Metatrin City in a blink of an eye with the angels.

The ones guarding the portal were level-10 mages from Sreeger Island. That teleportation portal was more than what it seemed. After Saleen and Jason modified it, its magic patterns were intricate enough to have level-10 mage trainers gather around to research it.

Magic was not something that would have been passed on lightly without good reason: The mages had no need to thank Saleen if they were able to figure out things from their own research. The unusual thing about it was having a chance to study something up close.

Additionally, teleportation portals held great importance. If someone were to gain control of the portal, powerful mages manning it would have been able to damage it during activation. This would have resulted in Saleen's body being transferred permanently to some weird spaces.

That opening would have only lasted for several frames, but it was more than enough for powerful mages.

That mage saw Saleen returning all of a sudden and frantically said, "My lord…"

That mage was so astonished he couldn't even finish his sentence. He was considered one whom Saleen was more familiar with and he noticed the changes in Saleen. His equipment was totally different and the power in his eyes became obviously concealed.

Saleen was consciously concealing his powers when he was at level-10. His teacher had taught him to do that.

A mage's mental powers were like a swordsman's weapon in that they needed to be properly conserved, or sheathed so to speak, when not in use. It was hard for Saleen to control his powers back then.

Those of a similar level of power would have been able to tell at a glance that he was a powerful level-10.

Things were now different. Saleen's eyes were extremely gentle just like Jason's, his teacher.

On the other hand, Jason was already capable of doing things like this when he was just level-5. That was what Saleen found most impressive.

"What happened?"

"Lord Jason and Lady Sika went to…the interdimensional space. They're not back yet." That mage stuttered when uttering those words. Saleen knew right away that something wrong.

"Are you saying there has been no news at all?"

"Indeed."

"Why wasn't anyone sent to look for them?"

"The Inter-dimension teleportation portal cannot be activated for the time being and no one dared do anything rash for fear of breaking that portal completely," the mage answered.

Saleen calmed down right away. The mages were right to wait. If that inter-dimension teleportation portal was broken, it would have required more than just space coordinates to rebuild it.

That teleportation needed the power of the God's Ring to initiate it back then.

That power came not from Sreeger Island mages but from Lex. If Lex was unwilling to help, the connection between Metatrin City and that interdimensional space would have been severed once that teleportation portal was broken.

"Who's in charge of Metatrin City now?"

"The mages. As for administration duties, we have called Grand Duke Renee back."

Saleen thought for a moment before saying to Rafel, "Wait here. I'll go get someone." Saleen pivoted and headed back to the Floating City through the teleportation portal.

He brought back Daniel and the Winged Skull and left the others to Nailisi.

Daniel was well-versed in administration. Nothing would have turned into a mess for the time being with him taking care of Metatrin City.

A death mage's ability to monitor things far exceeded that of elemental mages unless they were like Saleen, who possessed a huge number of lightning warriors and star figures.

Saleen had Daniel look for Renee first. He specifically told him not to be too pushy. As for things in the temple, he left that to the Winged Skull.

Saleen could rest easy with those two around.

He then asked that mage, "Did anything happen to Metatrin City?"

"An emissary from Holy Rock City came and was waiting for you in the palace."

"The palace?" Saleen frowned. He was already married and the palace should not have been a place that just anyone could stay in. The mages paid no attention to such matters, however, and it wasn't right to berate them for that.

But then again, the same could not be said about that emissary from Holy Rock City. That just went too far.

"Tell the emissary to come to see me. If he refuses, kill him," Saleen ordered.

"Yes, my lord," That Sreeger Island mage did not ask about the reasons. It would have sufficed for him to just kill anyone Saleen asked him to. He did not need to know the reasons.

The emissary might have wanted to see Saleen very badly, so when the mage went to look for him, he came immediately to the temple.

Saleen looked at the emissary, a golden grand sword master. He was not that old, maybe a little over 30. He seemed well-equipped but looked too haughty. The arrogance on his face was unmistakable.

The emissary simply folded his hands when he saw Saleen without bothering to even lower his head as he said, "Congratulations, prince."

Saleen didn't respond to his greeting and immediately asked, "Why are you staying in my palace?"

Puzzled, the emissary responded angrily, "I'm an emissary from the Qin Empire. You might be a prince and this might be your country, but that doesn't give you the right to be rude!"

"I'm being rude?" Saleen chuckled and the hovering ring behind him appeared all of a sudden. A specter shot out from the ring and brought a sword down onto the golden grand sword master's head.

His crown was unable to block that weapon spirit's sword.

The attack split the emissary's head in half while keeping most of his neck intact. His blood and brains were all absorbed by the sword. After the weapon spirit finished killing its target, it flew back into the black ring that slowly disappeared as it was concealed again.

Saleen had no time to waste with people like that. Even at this juncture, that person actually thought Saleen's status and title were given by someone else. That guy must have had a death wish for daring to talk like that in front of a level-11 mage like Saleen.

Even though Saleen had his own nation that he needed to be concerned about, that did not mean he would allow someone like that to have his own way.

It seemed that the powers of Myers Mainland were severely loosened at that point: it wouldn't be long before he advanced again. That was because it had been much harder for silver grand sword masters to advance than mages.

Yet, a nobody emissary like him had been able to become a golden grand sword master.

That mage was dumbfounded to see Saleen kill that emissary. It wasn't because Saleen had killed someone. That emissary had been arrogant and even he would have considered killing him.

Saleen did not ask for that level-10 mage to run any more errands for him. He instead summoned a supreme demon and said, "Go to my palace and slaughter every single one of the emissaries from Holy Rock City except one. Let the lone survivor bring the bodies of the others back home with him. Give him a large carriage, cut up the bodies and put them into a space box. Don't waste too much of my equipment."

Saleen felt easier having that supreme demon get the job done.

That might not have been Lex's idea, but if Lex wanted to say anything, she could have easily come through the teleportation portal herself. Sending emissaries meant that there had been some problems with Golden Plains.

Lex probably didn't want to have a falling out with Golden Plains, so she had Saleen do it.

Saleen did not concern himself too much with Arbola. Falling out was hardly difficult for him. Backing Lex to ascend the throne did not mean she could have made Lex a puppet of Golden Plains.

The emissary was unlucky. Saleen's secret arts demanded that a finished weapon have some kind of sacrifice to initiate them.

It was said to be a tradition called "sacrificing to the sword."

After advancing to level-11, Saleen felt that his thoughts had never been clearer. Lex had done nothing, yet he could already tell how things were going at Holy Rock City.

She still needed her own power to keep the throne. Borrowing powers from outside wasn't such a bad idea after all.