Badge in Azure

Chapter 1366: Battle of Interdimensional Space (Part 1)

"I'm not doing this!" Nailisi objected loudly.

"Nailisi, it's time for you to grow up." Saleen paid her no mind as she went to the corner and began to weep softly. He summoned the God of Magic Net and let it swear that if he was unable to return and not dead yet, to follow Nailisi's command.

If Saleen died, the God of Magic Net would follow Nailisi for 10,000 years.

Ten-thousand years was long enough for Nailisi to become the strongest devil ever; she already had the 12 Notes of First Purgatory. If she couldn't realize her full potential by then, there's nothing more Saleen could for her.

He went about his business carefully as if he were putting his affairs in order before he took his last breath. Then he took Rafel to craft a magic array.

When they reached the 17th floor of the Magical Element Tower, Rafel asked Saleen "When I'm by your side when you're on a dangerous mission, are you ever concerned about my welfare?

"That's because you're the strongest of the bunch," Saleen answered.

Rafel shrugged. It was something she had learned from someone else.

"It's not my fault I'm so powerful. Is it your fault you people are so weak?" Rafel asked.

Saleen nodded and answered, "It is indeed. A weak being is fully aware it could be eaten up at any moment, and it has to be prepared for that. Aren't the gods like that all the time?"

Rafel thought his answer was reasonable. Divine kingdoms of weak gods were built in desolate or dangerous places so that the powerful gods would be less likely to stir up trouble.

A high-level god would have destroyed surrounding divine kingdoms in order to replenish its believers. Humans might enjoy friendship with each other; among the gods, there were only alliances.

For example, several level-15 gods might band together to fight a level-16 god just to avoid being devoured. If one of the lower gods advanced to level-16, it would have allied with other level-16 gods and then returned to wipe out the level-15s, dividing the spoils later.

"Well, Saleen. If I end up dying, would you continue looking after those metal angels?"

"I would. I'm a mage. Since you've paid the price, I will return the favor amply."

"How do you define 'ample' in this case?"

"Ample is….what I deem fair," Saleen answered.

"That'll do. You're far more compassionate than the gods." Saleen found it ironic that Rafel chose the word "compassionate" and thought to himself, does she have any idea how many beings I've killed?

Saleen began laying out his magic array. Opening a space portal was completely different from activating a teleportation portal. With the latter, there was no fear of matter disintegrating which meant they could always return to their previous form.

Space portals, on the other hand, would have caused any disintegrated body part to be lost forever.

That's why Saleen didn't allow the enchanters to work on such magic arrays. They definitely wouldn't be as meticulous as he was. With Saleen's current mental powers having evolved to the power of the soul, he was now above level-13 where such powers were concerned.

Saleen found that the power of his soul had been amplified 64 times to what it would have been under the workings of the Ring of Cosmos. It felt different because the enhanced powers also significantly boosted his speed of thought.

He could now control many star figures or ancient warriors at a time; however, he was unable to assess the limit in regard to quantity.

The magic array was drawn on a golden platform constructed from attribute-less granules serving as the most stable base for a magic array.

Even though Saleen was only a level-10 at the moment and still unfamiliar with the power of the soul, he was capable of drawing a perfect magic array.

The success of a mage's experiment had a lot to do with the materials used. Some of the skills passed down from those who came before would have been lost forever; at the same time, there were definitely parts that could not be replicated by those who came after.

Mages were forced to look for substitutes of many living beings or minerals exhausted throughout the ages. The problem was that the substitutes didn't allow mages to experience what it would have been like for their predecessors. No one could do anything about that.

When magic was passed down, it needed more than just lineages; continuous creativity was also vital.

But Saleen had no time to create new things now. Luckily he had ample materials to draw a magic array to open a space portal.

Magic materials dissolved by Six Elements' Heavy Water mixed with dragon blood were used to draw the required magic array on the large golden platform by Saleen. How Rafel envied him!

She was savvy enough to understand that gods had collected a lot of materials and that some were things that not even her god would have been able to get its hands on.

It was especially so in the case of Six Elements' Heavy Water: Only level-18 gods could acquire something like that. Not all level-18 gods had those abilities.

Six Elements' Heavy Water had been a rare commodity even when there were many level-18 gods around, yet Saleen simply used it to dilute his materials so they would mix well with dragon blood, which was then used to draw one magic portal for two beings.

If Saleen were of an adequate level, he would have only needed one-tenth of those materials to draw a simple magic array. In addition, he would have been able to traverse planes with it all the same. If he reached level-16, he would have only needed space coordinates to open a portal using his very own power.

Level-11 was too weak to pull off such a feat.

Saleen didn't need to go that far but hoped to create a magic array that could be used repeatedly, thereby allowing the space portal to be restored. The secret arts' understanding of such portals was deeper than that demonstrated by mages.

Space portals didn't exist independently. Through the use of special powers, they would have only stayed open for a set period.

Once upon a time, the space portal calculated by the enchanters existed between Myers Mainland and the interdimensional. What Saleen did was simply to restore it using a magic array. As long it stayed intact, the portal could have been used repeatedly until the magic array was destroyed.

But the mages had never verified any of that before. Saleen was also afraid there might have been too many differences between the rules of two different crystal wall system: Essentially, he was getting ready to embark on a journey from which he might never return.

Saleen spent nearly four hours drawing that magic array. He had been manipulating Water Flame throughout the whole process by using his power of the soul, refining the fluid he was using to draw the magic array.

The magic array was nearly perfect. Saleen activated the magic power furnace's power and brought the magic array to life without hesitation after drawing the magic array.

Whooooo…

A howl that sounded as if was coming from an angry wind god reverberated through the magic tower. A two-meter-tall black portal appeared in a twisting manner in front of Saleen and Rafel.

Saleen's Elemental Eye could only see three meters in front of it in that black portal. He was only able to make up some rules of space controlling the portal, shaping it into a tunnel. A dark element seemed to be at work, but at the same time the power of light emanated from it.

Only two of the six elements were found within the portal.

Saleen didn't let Rafel take the lead. He shot a beam of constellation power from his finger so that the power of the stars could guide them.

After seeing Saleen, Rafel walked right into the portal without hesitation.

Both he and Rafel were drawn in by intense energies. Instead of just going with the flow, Saleen kept his eyes on that beam of starlight.

That starlight, which was being twisted by the colossal power of space within, did not dissipate. It was originally stored by Saleen to be used on a level-19 Star Gathering Needle.

Saleen glittered with golden light throughout his being, and Rafel was almost sticking to him, relying on the golden light for protection while allowing her to conserve power. The golden light originated from the power of earth element.

Saleen had substantial quantities of bone crystals of the giant on him. He used them as magic nuclei by activating them inside the Thunder Dragon Bangle to form a pure elemental shield.

Rafel's control of the elements was not on par with Saleen's. Her body was that of a body to begin and possessed great power. She believed in the Metal God and the godly items in her possession were the sharpest in the world.

Even though oracles seldom used magic, that didn't mean she was incapable of drawing power with magic.

The golden glimmer also shrouded Rafel. Before they knew it, the two of them came to the end of the portal. Saleen conjured a thick armor of ice on his body and disappeared after reaching the end of the portal. Rafel flapped the wings on her back and charged outside. The portal began crumbling after she left.

Saleen had to take the risk and charge out of the portal because the bit of starlight had broken up and he was able to foresee what was about to happen.

His ability paled next to Ojarvis's, but Saleen was still a mage who had seen a good number of battles. Something was wrong if Sika and the others hadn't been able to return. Essentially, his speed of action exceeded his speed of thought and his body reacted right there and then.

There were tens of thousands of enemies right outside the portal. The first one Saleen saw was the one closest to him who just happened to be the most powerful.

That holy master appeared to be even more powerful than Fycro. Saleen was totally unfazed as he pointed his finger.

Pfftt…

That holy master's head split open and Saleen froze. Coincidentally, Rafel had charged right immediately before this happened. She spun around the red spear she was holding with finesse: It's tip glistened with crimson light from cutting up an ascetic that had charged toward her.

Saleen remained cool and calm. Using the Crystal Finger had cost him half his magic chords—and there were still tens of thousands of ascetics, knights and holy masters.

That was the interdimensional space, and it was being invaded by the Holy See without warning.

Looks as if I totally underestimated the Holy See!

Saleen summoned the Lightning Constellation and lightning warriors of far larger numbers than the enemy charging outside. The magic amplifier was hidden right behind him. The golden weapon spirit charged and protected Saleen with the sword in its hand.

"Rafel, kill as many of them as you can," Saleen said as he began moving.

Saleen's territory was completely opened with the Lightning Constellation at work, shrouding tens of thousands of enemies inside. He did more than just overpower them. While Dante slept, Saleen took control of the Lightning Constellation himself.

His power of the soul was already in full bloom. From the Lightning Constellation above, thick bolts of lightning rained down in a frenzy on the enemies within the territory.

Although the power of the bolts was insufficient for killing the enemy, the bolts totally paralyzed the enemy. Lightning warriors dropped out of the constellation in droves.

Those that were paralyzed before the bolts had no way of fighting back and were quickly cut down.

The souls of those killed by the lightning warriors would have either dissipated or broken up.