Badge in Azure

Chapter 1470: Before the Breakup (Part 2)

Saleen's plan of taking the Lightning Moon and throwing in the three weapon spirits to complete the process seemed like a good idea at the time. What he didn't expect was the Lightning Moon to be sucked into the Ring of Cosmos.

Neither could he control the rate at which the elemental lakes and god creatures were being pulled into the ring.

His only recourse was to toss the ring in the air and let it keep doing its job while he sat down and calculated in silence.

The ring's actions were guided by a higher crystal-wall system that was also beyond Saleen's control. But there was no doubt that the ring had accepted Saleen as its master. This is because it had once siphoned energy to Saleen's family badge, enabling him to use it in quick succession.

Saleen didn't seem concerned. He felt safe: The Ring of Cosmos had detected events capable of putting its master in danger and responded by immediately tearing apart the setup in that place.

It was an eerie piece of equipment.

Saleen smirked bitterly, an expression seen only when he ran into unsolvable problems. He knew he couldn't afford to cast off the ring away. Without it, he would have only been a powerful level-14 mage. The ring allowed his combat capacity to rise to level-15.

His most powerful attack would work when aided by the immense power of the soul, an effect so intense it even diminished the Crystal Finger's power.

Ultimately, the ring was a piece of equipment Saleen could neither throw away nor control He had to make do with this exasperating fact.

It's only controllable attribute was the amplification of his power of the soul. Regardless of how wealthy Saleen could have been, there was no way he could simply throw that thing away. It had consumed his family badge, and Saleen had no way of retrieving it.

He had just killed 24 level-14 heroic spirits, yet he was unable to muster the strength to deal with those broken souls.

He cast Dance of Electric Snakes and cleaned up the place before summoning Rafel.

As soon as she arrived, she listened attentively as Saleen poured out his troubles. After all, Rafel had once served a powerful god and he was hoping she could offer some suggestions on how to deal with this powerful equipment.

"Congratulations, my lord." Rafel decided to start the conversation on a positive note by acknowledging his efforts.

Saleen looked puzzled. She then continued, "My lord, there are only two ways something from another crystal-wall system could have come to us: It either traveled here on its own or was brought here by a powerful being."

Seeing the perplexed expression on Saleen's face, Rafel added, "I assume the ring was broken when it came into your hands, is that right?"

"Very much so."

"Well, then it came here on its own. Its weapon spirit was already dead." Saleen showed signs of joy after hearing Rafel's words.

His preoccupation with his family badge had begun to cloud his judgment. But what Rafel said made perfect sense. If this thing had been brought here by someone else, it would have caused me a lot of trouble. But it passed through the crystal-wall system without a weapon spirit. So, yeah. The ring was damaged when it got here, and I fixed it. That thing had no master before.

Master-less and spirit-less—the ring couldn't be controlled because Saleen was unfamiliar with the rules governing its use.

Seeing Saleen's mood brighten, Rafel reminded him, "If you happen to run into someone familiar with the rules within, be careful: he might try to take the ring from you."

"What should I do?"

"Rework the equipment thoroughly." Rafel might as well have kept her mouth shut for all the good her suggestion did.

If only he possessed the skills to revamp the Ring of Cosmos.

"My lord, have you melted down the weapon spirits yet?" Rafel detected something peculiar in his reaction.

"Yes, I have." Saleen nodded dejectedly.

"Are you planning to take on Myers?"

"No. The general," Saleen answered. Rafel was nonplussed.

"I already killed Myers' oracles. Although they weren't close to her, the normal reaction would have been to avenge their death. But Myers didn't do that. Instead, she sent her divine beast to the Imperial City of the Abyss to check on things…"

"Ah, now I understand." Rafel nodded. She didn't know what to say next.

Saleen was becoming an enigma to her. Who could understand what was going through his mind unless he explained himself?

If the goddess didn't bother avenging the death of her oracles, she probably wasn't angry. Moreover, her reservations were with the heroic spirits in the Imperial City of the Abyss. Regardless of how powerful Saleen would have become, the goddess had no reason to fear him.

Resisting his attacks would have been so easy. All she needed to do was restore her powers. Lightning skills were lethal to other gods but not to the Goddess of Myers. Rafel remembered that the magic Myers had cast contained lightning-magic patterns.

"I'm breaking up with the general. It wasn't a big deal that he wanted me to take on Myers. But if she was out to destroy the mainland, she wouldn't have gone into hiding right away and she would have restored her powers as soon as possible. I'd still be able to talk to her. But the general had me sign soul bonds with 24 heroic spirits. That was his way of limiting my progress. This is personal!"

Saleen worded everything in his usual straightforward manner. His goal in life was no longer to fill his belly but to seek out the truth, and that he could do only after reaching the highest level. The general had set him up in a very clever way with an impeccable plan. He had to be stopped.

If it had not been for the Ring of Cosmos, he would have fallen into the trap the general had laid for him.

By the time Saleen realized how much of a threat the 24 supposed bodyguards were, they would have developed ways to strong-arm him further to prevent him from nullifying the contracts.

"Breaking up seems like a sound plan. I have a favor to ask of you, my lord."

"The bodies of the gods?"

"Indeed."

Saleen smiled wryly land said, "You're finally advancing, right?"

"Yes, and I would be able to keep it in check," Rafel gritted her teeth while answering.

"Well then…What kinds of god creatures would you need?" Saleen knew that Rafel wanted to advance so she could take part in the upcoming battles on Myers Mainland. Those wars would no longer involve infighting between residents of the mainland. The Lord of Glory might have sent a double, or maybe he would advent himself. The most probable thing to happen, however, was to build a bridge between his divine kingdom and Myers Mainland.

There would have been over 100 million angels in a divine kingdom. Greater gods might have commanded over one billion angels. That number even eclipsed the mainland's entire population.

While Rafel and her metal angels were few, they were nonetheless excellent drill sergeants and coaches. Saleen would have depended entirely on them to train his people to fight the angels.

But Rafel's level was still low. If she were to run into the Lord of Glory, she would have probably been able to withstand no more than two hits. Her proactive request was to advance to the same level as Saleen so that she could ably command his armies.

It had taken Saleen a long time to get Rafel to yield, making her willing to fight on his side. It was not joy he felt but a faint melancholy.

"Rafel, is this the work of fate?" asked Saleen while looking at the ring suspended midair, still sucking up the god creatures.

"I don't think so. I have nowhere else to go and you need muscle on your side. It's pure coincidence."

"Yeah, coincidence." Saleen nodded. He wondered how many years it had taken for such a coincidence to happen. Rafel had spent at least 2000 years with him in the Hall of Gods.

Rafel had nowhere else to go and I needed more muscle? It was sad but true.

The more Saleen thought about it, the more melancholic he became. The people around him would have all died sooner and later, and he wondered if it was his turn to have nowhere to go to. Even if he became a god, such a day was inevitable.

Rafel sensed Saleen's changing mood. Pointing at the ground, she said, "My lord, the soil here is probably worth a lot of money."

Saleen flashed her a smile. With the bone crystals of the giant piling up at the place before, Saleen never paid close attention to the ground below them. The ground was of true soil, but materials materialized from elements, and they were rare gel-like substances.

Those materials could absorb massive amounts of force. If they were to be used to make armor lining, it would have strengthened the armors considerably, making them capable of taking on heavy weapon attacks without stunning the ones wearing them.

But then again, that was not the most important attribute to them. Saleen's Floating City was simply too hard in a manner of speaking. If he were to add those materials to his massive equipment, there would have been no concern about it shattering into bits and pieces even if it crashed to the ground.

Those materials could be used to lay magic arrays. Calculations could have been to alter the material's internal structures, enabling incredibly complex and malleable magical arrays to be laid.

The only reason for the exorbitant prices to such materials was the length of time it took to create the arrays. Worse, there could be no cutting corners during the crafting process.

The ground of the cemetery of the giant was filled with the gel-like earth element, a result of the ground having been subjected to tens of thousands of years of continual blasting by lightning powers.

Saleen could have crafted such materials himself, but he was not willing to spend so much time and a ridiculous amount of manpower to work on something like that.

Rafel's words brought him back to his senses.

To hell with future and whatnot! Live for today and rejoice in the present! That's how it should be. Without the Ring of Cosmos, Saleen would have ended up dead. That cemetery was a trap and one that was extremely intricate.

"What now?" Rafel asked.

"What do you mean 'what now?' "

"That thing you promised…" Rafel pointed at the god creatures that had yet been sucked into the ring.

Saleen suddenly realized what she meant and said, "I'll give you a level-16 god creature's body when we return. That should do enough, no?"

Saleen went on to pick the cemetery clean. Myers had acquired all the intelligence she needed in that temple in the middle of the Purgatory Dessert.

"The general lives then?" Myers looked at the projections at the cemetery and frowned.

The general was not a common warrior. He was both valiant and cunning. He had few adversaries back in the empire before. Furthermore, his godly item was ranked sixth in the entire empire, which was considerably more powerful than what she owned.

With his temperament, she thought he would have covered for his subordinates and died before they did. She never expected him to be so lucky that even after providing power of life in the cemetery to his subordinates for so many years, he was still alive and kicking.

A sharp glow was seen in the goddess's eyes. Her entire bearing changed: She looked as if she was the one true lord of Myers Mainland, looking down on everything below.

"Now that you're still alive, I'll make sure Saleen kills you." The sharpness in her eyes faded, and she reverted to her usual gentle, smiling expression.