Badge in Azure

Fycro was at a loss for words. A level 17 godly item was indeed not something his body would have been able to take. But then again, it was not necessarily a requirement to fuse the powers with his Source if he were to absorb it. The way the Winged Skull put it made it clear that they were not giving Fycro a chance to rebel.

If that godly item were to fuse with his Source, that would have been the highest level he would have been able to achieve in his life—level 17.

That meant that there was no way Fycro could ever reach the pinnacle, with the highest being only at 17.

Saleen was at level 17 currently. So long as he managed to stabilize his level, he would be able to suppress Fycro securely using the power of lightning.

"Alright, I'm up." Fycro clenched that godly item hard. He was thinking deep down that it still would have been better than getting eaten by that demon. Furthermore, there was no telling that he would not be able to advance further if he were to fuse that godly item with his power of the Source. So long as he was able to accumulate enough power, it still would be possible for him to break through the godly item's bonds.

"You do know where you should stand." The Winged Skull appraised him with one simple line. They pointed at Nailisi, telling him to follow her.

Nailisi waved at Fycro and said, "Abyrus is still considering. If it weren't for that angel, I think you wouldn't be standing here today. If the angel refuses, think of a way to deal with it first. If it was willing to surrender, the angel will be yours to command from here on out."

Fycro let a bitter smirk stretch across his face. That demon really was with the Winged Skull, as they were both just as brutal with their way with things. He and Abyrus had to surrender eventually, and they even had to be at odds with each other to do so.

Abyrus moaned and lowered its prideful head.

"Alright, now that you both are willing to surrender, I won't be doing anything untoward to you. Serve Dante well, and you'll get your chance at being something bigger." Nailisi persuaded them perfunctorily, before beginning to summon her army of demons from the Purgatory of Demons.

The army was divided into battalions consisting of 1,000 units. One battalion after another appeared on the divine mountain. Nailisi lacked underlings like the jade skeletons of the Winged Skull. Her most loyal servant was only Cuisi, but Cuisi was in charge of things in New Demon City, and there was no way the demon would follow her troops into battle anymore.

Each battalion of Nailisi's demons was led by supreme demons, and they all were put under devil commanders that Nailisi had subjugated.

There were huge numbers of supreme demons and devils in the Purgatory of Demons. As Nailisi's level climbed, all of the devils were being subjugated one after another. If it had not been for the fighting at Saleen's side being so intense, Nailisi would have returned long ago to reign supreme in the demon plane.

The demons were all prepared and ready at the divine mountain. Nailisi and the Winged Skull began distributing weapons and equipment. Most of the equipment was complete, with the only thing lacking being powerful weapons for the commanders in the battalions meant for taking on angels.

Saleen returned outside the divine kingdom's gates. Baldur's Gate had put the divine kingdom in lockdown. He entered Baldur's Gate and began to amass armies to invade the divine kingdom.

There were large legions of angels near the gates, but Saleen had no need for soldiers. Without the threat from the Lord of Glory, he alone went to slaughter the angels with 500,000 lightning warriors by his side.

He became capable of casting magic spells above level 13 in massive areas. They possessed characteristics of forbidden curses, but lacked their power.

Saleen cast level 13 magic spells against the army of angels, and that worked far better than going at them head on. There were powerful angels intending to take to the sky and fight Saleen personally, but they were quickly repelled by his lightning territory. Countless electric snakes shot out under the workings of the Lightning Moon, killing the angels one by one.

In the eyes of the angels, Saleen was like an abomination from hell.

However, the humans and demons in Saleen's camps cheered, very confident of securing victory. In their eyes, Saleen's Thundering Phantasm constructs, which were over ten meters tall, looked far more majestic than gods. That was their banner of victory, as well as the hope of the armies.

A level 17 mage made an announcement to all the troops in the armies. All of the people knew that the power of their master had reached the pinnacle of the world, and none of them had any fear anymore.

Baldur's Gate locked the exit of the divine kingdom down. The angels and god creatures had nowhere to run.

Saleen sealed the gates shut, intending to render the divine kingdom extinct. At the temple of the Goddess of Nature in the center of Purgatory Dessert, the goddess frowned as she looked at the sealed gates of the divine kingdom on the plane map.

There were 12 men and women who dressed differently behind her.

"My lady, that thing has locked the divine kingdom down. He's trying to take it for his own!"

A stout man who had a huge behind and was baring a chest full of black hair said to the goddess in a very displeased manner.

All 12 of them had gotten rid of their bloodline of god creatures and were restored to their human bodies. That was the reason why the goddess had to go through so much trouble to resurrect those people.

The goddess chuckled and said, "It's not that he wants to take the divine kingdom for his own. He was the one who invaded and won that place over after all. I'm the one who intends to take it for my own instead."

"Hmph, he wouldn't be where he is without you, my lady," another female mage added coldly.

"That's not how it works. Our intention has always been taking over a divine kingdom. Tell me though, what do you think about our chances?"

"100 percent, of course!" A red-haired young man added. He wielded a long whip, which was wiggling on the ground on its own.

"We know little of the secrets of Baldur's Gate," the goddess responded concernedly.

"Anyone who dares to side with that mage, we'll kill every last one of them," A pale, tall man then answered.

"Kill every last one of them? There are a good number in my Nature Faith who are his supporters. Don't underestimate this puny mage. He has pinnacle combat capacity at level 16 after all, and that would make him someone even back in our time."

The goddess was able to assess accurately. While Saleen had indeed blitzed through the levels, his combat capacity looked to be at the pinnacle of level 16, and many level 16 professionals would not be his match.

"How is that possible?" A professional who looked like a child looked at the goddess with a shocked expression. The people all held unparalleled reverence to the goddess, and they found it unbelievable that there were believers of the goddess who had more faith in the mage.

"Don't you think it's a good thing? Believing in a mage is more meaningful than believing in a god," the goddess smiled and added.

The followers were all rendered speechless. The eldest mage among them asked, "what should we do now then, my lady?"

"When my Nature Legion resurrects, I'll negotiate with him. We'll need a place of our own, after all, and I don't want to stay on Myers Mainland any longer," the goddess answered.

They were all silent. It was obvious that the goddess saw Saleen to be an adversary worthy of respect.

Few knew about the Nature Legion, the Goddess of Myers' personal army, even in those years. The Nature Legion was more powerful than the angel armies of any god. The units of the lowest levels in the Nature Legion were at level 13, which made them equal to pseudogods.

"Alright, get yourselves prepared, everyone. My Nature Legion will be able to all resurrect in about 100 years or so. More planes will appear by then that can directly connect with the mainland. Sigh, seems like getting resurrected is boring, with us still having to fight wars with no end." The goddess sighed and waved her hand. The 12 powerful followers excused themselves from the temple, leaving the goddess and her divine beast behind.

The war on Myers Mainland continued even though the gates of the divine kingdom were sealed. Saleen's followers led grand armies and took over all the passages leading to other planes, and they proceeded to conquer all those planes.

That was the advantage of being the main plane. The rise of powers in subcontinent planes was extremely slow. They would not even advance without being connected to the main plane.

As such, when the planes became connected, the pinnacle professionals would basically be level nine, which was the lowest requirement for a plane.

The advantage afforded by Saleen's wealth was finally seen. His personal armies were all armed with the best equipment, even those ahead of their time. With the several alchemy factories of his toiling day and night, even the armies not under his personal command had been able to gain absolute edge in battle. The nobles who refused to submit were slowly ground down and assimilated, effectively rendering the clans extinct.

The nobles who sided with Saleen the earliest were the ones to gain the most.

100 years was hardly considered short. Myers Mainland was constantly at war. To many common folks, the 100 years were insufferably long, and that period of time was the darkest and most painful of times in their history.

The Nature Faith struggled to maintain itself, as the goddess never gave another decree ever again, resulting in the faith being splintered into two factions—one electing to only believe in the goddess, while the other believed in Saleen.

Saleen was never seen again, but his children and wives were fighting wars everywhere, gaining renown wherever they went.

Some minor gods also appeared, and the Nature Faith would, of course, pounce on them, annihilating the minor religions. If gates of divine kingdoms opened, the Kingdom of Metatrin would be the first to respond by deploying troops to the gates.

The Fifth Dynasty gradually stabilized, but the wars did not stop. It was as if the Lord of Glory's curse had been realized. Many would have definitely thought the century to be the darkest era of Myers Mainland.

Saleen was helpless to change any of it. He had been spending his time on the Floating City during the century.

The Floating City flew everywhere in the divine kingdom, attacking any resistance forces found. Saleen's level was stabilized at level 17 due to his constant training. With the use of divine personas in the Hall of Gods, he also gained corresponding time.

The Lord of Glory left too many divine personas behind, with every single double harboring a level 15 divine persona in them. The divine persona of his own was even more shocking, as it was an amalgamation of over 100 level 15 divine personas.

The Lightning Moon hovered quietly above the Floating City. All of the enchanters managed to advance with Dante's help. Having fought 100 years, Dante had ended up razing almost all of the resistance forces in the divine kingdom, gaining believers in billions along the way.

Among those believers, there were those who chose the faith of power, and then they were those who chose the faith of magic. There were some that chose to believe in lightning.

Regardless of the type of faith they took up, all provided massive amounts of power of faith to Dante. The weapon spirit god managed to advance to level 16 in 100 years, a speed which was considered phenomenal, as even the Lord of Glory failed to advance even after working on it for billions of years.

Saleen looked below him, feeling rather lonely. It was the last hidden city of angels below the Floating City. It was the last bastion of faith in the Lord of Glory's divine kingdom.

He had no need to do anything, as he simply needed to wait and see if anything unexpected was happening.

The one to lead the charge was Abyrus, who had once been an angel, and at present, a servant god.