Badge in Azure

Chapter 1481: Getting Ugly (Part 1)

Lex's personal guards were not actually meant for guarding her, as there were mages from Golden Plains and soldiers from the Royal Swordsmen Camp at her side almost all the time. They were all more than capable of handling such unforeseen circumstances.

The personal guards had been around Lex since she was young. They were put at her side to broaden their vistas and learn. They could become generals when assigned elsewhere.

Rodick had served Lex when she was young. He had advanced to become a golden grand swordmaster and his journey had been arduous, but he died protecting his liege.

Lex was infuriated and Saleen walked up to her, looking around for a bit before saying, "Lex, this is the work of the god creatures."

"The god creatures?" The mages of Golden Plains perked up, listening to Saleen's words attentively.

"I've destroyed seven demigods for the past half-year. The demigods did not have angels with them, as they had been reluctant to create angels, but they had god creatures. I was unable to wipe out all of the powerful creatures. It would be someone else who had escaped as well. There are too many portals around, and it's entirely possible that they were not thoroughly wiped out."

"Why the god creatures?" Lex asked.

Saleen lowered his head and pricked Rodick's finger, flicking a drop of blood. A mage by his side collected the drop of blood with a crystal bottle and mixed a pre-concocted potion in it.

"See that?" Saleen pointed at the clear liquid in the bottle. "The power of the Source in his blood has been taken away. Only god creatures would do that. They wouldn't have wanted to let any bit remain, even if it was miniscule."

Lex sighed. The matter was tricky. Neither her nor Saleen had powerful summoners. Searching for escaped god creatures would be tiresome.

"Lex, I'm staying around for a bit. We can talk about this later when we catch the guy responsible."

Lex was in a bad mood. She nodded and told the mages to preserve the body to be brought back to the Principality of Bitterwater for a burial.

Saleen stayed in the royal palace. He kicked all of the mages from Golden Plains out. The mages were irked but Saleen only said, "I don't want someone keeping an eye on us, while I'm with Lex."

The mages from Golden Plains no doubt did more than just keep an eye on Lex, as they were tasked with her protection as well. However, none of them had been able to do anything when the two assassination attempts happened. What Saleen said was a sarcastic jab at them.

They were unable to do anything about Saleen's sarcasm, as there was no one who served Saleen that they could reason with. There was no need to clash head on with him. Golden Plains conquered six planes. If there were a conflict between the two parties, they would not be able to resist him, as their forces had been stretched thin.

Saleen kicked out the mages from Golden Plains for more than just him not liking them. His current level meant that he was able to do as he pleased, and he saw no reason to play nice with them.

The main reason he went to Holy Rock City was to deal with the problem surrounding Golden Plains. Lex's position as empress would not be stable as long as she failed to produce an heir.

It would not have been a problem if the Golden Plains were not in the picture. Lex's life was long, and she could stay as she was for another 30 to 50 thousand years still. However, that pressure from Golden Plains would not do her any good.

Saleen had to do something. That was the conclusion that he came to.

Lex stayed cooped up in the magic tower behind the study in the royal palace of Holy Rock City. She did not bother constructing a bedchamber for herself. She was a mage, and no one would hold such a course of action against her.

The magic tower had 13 floors constructed by mages sent by Saleen.

Lex gazed far away from the 13th floor. Saleen stood behind her and felt that she looked lonely. That was no longer the stubborn, headstrong young woman he knew. Lex was the empress, and she had a huge load on her shoulders.

Saleen was unable to understand before he was chased by the Lord of Glory's double. He only realized after staring death in the face several times that there were so many lives that depended on him. If he died, all of the people would be done for as well.

That was the case with Lex. Her responsibility was hardly any lighter than Saleen's.

"Lex, have you recorded the appearance of the assassin?"

Saleen was not in the right position to make his objectives clear, so he chatted with Lex instead. They were husband and wife, but Saleen felt that he had been keeping Lex at a distance.

Lex took out a memory crystal and played the scene of the assassination attempt for him.

The first assassination attempt occured was when she was on her way back to the royal palace. When Lex's magic chariot passed a bridge, five people charged from under the bridge. One of them was blocked by the baseplate of the chariot and escaped back into the water. The remaining four came at her from the sides.

Saleen noticed that none of the assassins cast any divine spells. They all used martial arts instead.

If it had not been for his powerful Eye of Souls, he would not have been able to tell that they were god creatures. Many god creatures had uncanny resemblance to humans in appearance, and only enemy holy masters could tell that they were not humans.

"Standard weapons used, commonly found throughout Qin. Too bad that there weren't any of them left behind."

"Lex, I sent Rafel out to look into this. She is a metal angel and will be able to sniff the god creatures out."

"So you're here to talk to me about this?" Lex did not turn around.

"Well, not really?" Saleen did not know what to say.

"Well then, what do you want?"

Saleen was triggered. "When will you stop being the empress and leave with me?"

"Leave?"

"Well, you and I are husband and wife. What is the point of staying here? Come with me to the interdimensional space. I've conquered quite a lot of land, and they are larger than Myers Mainland when combined."

Lex smiled and turned around, "If I'm able to leave, Saleen, I will."

"What do you mean?"

"You crushed the Holy See and sent a bunch of prisoners here, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember. What about them?"

"I've interrogated them personally, and I found that my father's death was caused by a mole in Qin."

Saleen was baffled for a bit. Was Emperor Chanake that powerful? The Holy See had deployed most of their forces other than Black Dungeon Island. Even the Oracle Corps was involved in the attempt.

Worse still, it was only possible due to a mole being in the empire's midst. If there had not been a traitor, Emperor Chanake would have possibly survived.

It had happened such a long time ago, and investigation would be extremely difficult.

"Saleen, if I am able to find out that my father's death has to do with Golden Plains, what would you do?"

"I crushed the Black Dungeon Island. It hardly matters if I add Golden Plains to the list."

"Good to hear. The one who tried to assassinate me probably had to do with the Lord of Glory. The reason why I'm so angry is because all of this has to do with Golden Plains again."

"Is Arbola involved?"

"No, not her. She has too much pride. There are many ambitious people in Golden Plains. It has been so many years, and that was the first time someone turned their back on the treaty, and that someone was in bed with the god creatures."

Saleen thought for a bit and then said, "Lex, are you lacking any decisive evidence now?"

"Indeed."

"Do we still need any evidence? So long as you're sure that Golden Plains is responsible, I'll crush them for you right away."

"No, Saleen. I can't just let my father die without knowing what happened. I have to get to the bottom of this. Before I do that, I sent out everyone around that I found useful, and I need some men from you."

"Who would you need?" Saleen felt curious. Lex had never asked Saleen to lend her his people before. Many of the mages that she personally fostered had advanced beyond level ten. The bloodline of humans in the main plane was the most pure. Once the plane rules loosened, the subcontinent planes would not be able to compare to rate at advancement on the main plane.

"I'd need Gusion. You have Eleanor so I'd like to borrow Qin as well. As for mages, I need ones that you trust the most. Get me six level 12 ones from Sreeger Island, better still if you could manage to get six who excel in one of the six major elements each, and I need them to be balanced. I have assassins, and if you see any suitable demons up for the task, I'd need two battalions.

"That many?"

"Indeed. I need the demons. Holy Rock City's defence is slacking. You might see soldiers everywhere, but if a portal showed up here, there might be a grand army on the other side."

Saleen nodded. He had overlooked that. If a portal appeared near Holy Rock City, Lex would not have enough hands to get a decent defense set up.

While Holy Rock City had been restored, the magic clocks were still broken, which cut down on their defense considerably.

He had incorporated the magic cube into his magic amplifier, which was the only way to make his magic amplifier indestructible. It was impossible for him to just return it to Holy Rock City. Saleen's magic amplifier was invisible as it hovered behind him, which was equal to a powerful shield covering his back. It was impossible for any assassin to ambush Saleen from behind.

Suddenly, Saleen said, "Lex, we never had a child…"

Lex walked towards Saleen. She tapped Saleen's head with her white, slender fingers. "Are you that anxious?"

Saleen shook his head.

"We'll wait then."

"Huh?"

"I'm a target of the god creatures. Having a child inside me would be a lot of trouble," Lex said plainly.

"So you're saying that once we get rid of the assassin, we could…"

"Hell, if you have the time to tangle with me, it's best for you to just make more with Sika." It was apparent that Lex was being jealous, and she knocked Saleen's head with her fingers again. She was considerably shorter than Saleen. She looked up and Saleen saw the sheen in her eyes.

"Why do we have to wait? Let me take you somewhere. 30 to 50 years would pass in the blink of an eye, and you could just let the kid take the throne." Saleen pulled Lex in by her waist.

"Don't get naughty. There are people outside!" Lex wanted to push Saleen away.

"Relax, Nailisi is far away and the Winged Skull is not here. No one can look in." Saleen cast the lightning territory. 12 Thundering Phantasms circled around them. They were translucent, just to avoid making Lex feel awkward.

A level ten mage was watching projections on a surveillance magic array in a clock tower outside of the royal palace, and 12 illusions popped out of nowhere. They instinctively probed them and thundering sound rattled their brain. They dropped to the ground with a rumble, their brains shooting out of their nostrils with their blood.

Saleen's face appeared in the magic projection. "Come to the royal palace and tell me who told you to do this. If you refuse…"