Badge in Azure

Chapter 226: Devil's Magic (Part 1)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Without hesitation, Lex and Saleen dived into the ocean, hot on Fellett's heels. By then, the flames on Lex's body had been completely extinguished. Her face was sallow, and the golden glow that shrouded her entire body had dissipated long ago. Saleen, on the other hand, felt like he had been struck in the head a million times over . Maneuvering the ice crystals and making sure that they fatally struck Fellett had used up all of his mental power. This spell was too hard to control. In fact, it was so difficult to contain that he was only able to store one spell of this magnitude per day in the demon's spellbook.

Lex was doing better than him though. At the very least, she could still control her ability to fly. Saleen's new powers had already disappeared as soon as the spell ended. All that was left was a thin veil of fog that surrounded his entire body as he dove into the depths of the ocean.

The storm showed no signs of ceasing. The waves were so high that they could tower over city walls. Spine-chilling crashing sounds were heard as the waves rose and fell.

Daniel was nowhere to be seen, while Sika stood on one of the larger remains on the ship, alone and drenched in blood. She looked as if she had been scratched and clawed by over a few hundred magic beasts. Sika started chanting. Instantly, runes started flying out of the bone necklace and surrounded her, effectively sheltering her from the harsh winds. Sika watched as her wounds rapidly healed under the power of the runes.

In the sea, Saleen felt unstoppable, as though he was nimbler and more agile than even the fastest fish in the waters. Nailisi, on the other hand, continued sinking quickly as though she had an anchor attached to her leg. It was obvious to Saleen that Nailisi had lost consciousness. His body's vapor seeped from his frame into the ocean to form a layer of creamy ocean foam. Kicking his legs back, Saleen launched himself further into the depths of the sea.

This ocean was very deep. If she continued sinking, even if she did not drown, she would be crushed by the immense underwater pressure.

Out of the blue, Saleen heard a humming sound. From the corner of his eye, he saw Fellett, who was completely unconscious by now, brandishing his sword and aiming it in his direction, his entire body now under the armor's control. His eyes were squeezed tightly shut and one eerie-looking three-dimensional magical pattern was suspended on his forehead. It was opening and closing, almost as if it was breathing, as well as observing its surroundings.

Fellett's, or rather, the armor's, move caught Saleen completely off guard. He had exhausted too much of his mental power. If he had not been accustomed to training with his badge, he probably would not even have been able to lift any of his limbs at this point. This attack was completely unexpected. Saleen could sense Fellett's life force fading further away by the minute. He certainly had not expected a half-dead person to be able to attack him like that.

Lex, on the other hand, was struggling to keep up with Saleen. She had suffered more serious injuries. Plus, utilizing her family's secret battle techniques to deal with Fellett's sword aura had taken a serious a toll on her. Lex's entire body felt like lead, although she was not running too low on her mental power, meaning that she was still able to cast magical spells. Seeing Saleen's life in danger, Lex used a Binding spell to sweep him away along with the water currents, effectively shielding him from Fellett's attempt at ending his life.

The way Fellett was attacking was completely atypical of his combat style. The armor was in full control of his limbs. Although he was stronger now, Fellett's move did not epitomize anything he had learned in swordcraft. It was obvious to Lex and Saleen that the armor was attacking only out of instinct. Lex was particularly unnerved by the sight. She knew that if the male mage ever came into contact with Fellett's long sword, he would be split into half regardless of whether he used magic to defend himself.

Roar! A deafening sound filled the air, almost bursting the eardrums of everyone present. Saleen turned in the direction of the voice and saw a human face emerge from Fellett's armor. He had no eyes and looked like a tortured soul with the facial expression he was sporting. The roar was no ordinary yell. Instantly, an earthquake-like vibration blasted towards the two mages from all directions. Lex and Saleen felt as if they had been struck by an icicle attack over a million times. The ice plate armor that Lex had donned completely shattered from the force of the blast. Almost instantly, blood starting spurting out of their bodies.

Demonic tool! This is a demonic tool?! Saleen thought frantically as he felt his mental power slip away even more. He turned his head just in time to see Lex's eyes roll over. She was struggling to keep the water from entering her mouth and nose. Saleen was so weak that even if the demonic tool stopped attacking, he was not sure he would be able to get Nailisi and Lex out of here alive.

With Lex looking like she was about to drown and Nailisi sinking like there was no tomorrow, Saleen had to make a quick decision. Without hesitation, Saleen twisted his body and grabbed Lex's waist with his legs, deathly afraid that his female comrade would be swept away by the choppy waves. Using a great deal of effort, he took out his demonic spellbook and began flipping the pages. A water dragon appeared in front of Saleen almost instantaneously, shocking him. He had not expected the current cutter to morph to such a large extent under the influence of the ocean currents.

With a wave of his hand, the water dragon pounced towards Fellett, wrapping its body tightly around his glittering armor. Alas, this was just a basic level-4 magic spell. Even if Saleen had managed to push it up a notch to make it a level-5 spell, because of the fact that the spell itself was not a strong combination of all six elements, it was no match for the sword aura. A golden light emerged from the armor and destroyed the water dragon immediately.

Not willing to give up just yet, Saleen frantically flipped through the pages until his hand rested on another one. He unleashed yet another Current Cutter spell. As he placed his demonic spellbook back into the Ring of Gifts, the eyeless face that was sported on Fellett's armor turned and growled at Saleen again.

The ocean waters started to heat up rapidly as a huge invisible force suddenly struck Saleen, causing him to fly backwards. Although Saleen was reeling from the force of impact, he still tried to keep his legs as tightly clamped around Lex's waist as possible.

Nailisi! As soon as Saleen sensed that Nailisi was regaining consciousness, he screamed into the soul bond, trying to communicate with the imp.

Crack… crackle…

The armor made its way towards Saleen, dragging Fellett along with it. The host was slumped like a stuffed toy, his neck hanging limply. The only thing moving on his body besides the armor was a lone rune which hovered above his forehead, shining brightly. Saleen immediately fished out his badge. One chance. That was all he needed. If he could get the badge on the armor, no matter how strong of a demonic tool it was, he could successfully disable it.

Shing! Fellett's arm that was carrying the sword, now fully under the armor' control, swung towards Saleen's lower abdomen. Saleen was at a loss for what to do. All he did was clamp his legs tightly around Lex's waist. He knew that once he was stabbed, the result would not be as simple as a knife wound. The sword aura carried within the sword would mince his insides to mush.

The sword aura's golden light had surrounded Saleen and Lex as well as the area ten meters away from them. Even if Saleen decided to abandon Lex now, he would not be able to escape in one piece. That was when he began to regret not having taken action sooner . If he had pitched in earlier, he might have been able to buy Lex time to break the god's ring and release its powers from within, effectively killing Fellett. Perhaps then, they would not have ended up in this situation.

Saleen realized then that a person always needed to look forward. Running away from one's own problems was the worst thing anyone could do, especially during battle. Alas, there was nothing he could do now but protect Lex and himself. With all the mental power left in him, Saleen willed the two water shields to appear and surround the both of them.

At this point, he was unable to strengthen the water shields, nor was he mentally strong enough to calculate his opponent's moves. Unable to control the shields any longer, Saleen had no choice but to watch as the two shields charged towards the golden sword aura.

Boom! Saleen looked up just in time to see the mutated water shields be smashed into a million pieces upon contact with the sword aura. If he listened closely, he could swear that he heard howls of pain come from the shields as they disintegrated. Instantly, the spell returned back into the Ring of Gifts. No matter how hard Saleen tried, he was unable to unleash the spell again. On the bright side, Fellett, as well as the sword aura, had been slowed down by the impact of the water shields colliding into them.

Knitting his brows together, Saleen grit his teeth while preparing to slap the badge on either the sword or the armor. He knew that even if he did succeed in his plan to stop Fellett, or rather, the armor, from killing them, his hand would not be able to withstand the impact of the sword aura's attack, meaning that it would be crushed and deformed, and could never be used again. However, Saleen knew that it was now or never. It was either his hand or his life.

Just then, Saleen saw someone swimming towards Fellett from below. Taking a closer look, Saleen realized that it was actually Nailisi. Her abdominal wound was terrifying, to say the least. A deep laceration the size of a fist had formed, and a person could see her insides, which were badly mangled. If Nailisi was in pain, she did not show it. Instead, she focused on elongating her body and whipping out her tail. With a swipe, her tail pierced through the arm that was carrying the sword.

After piercing a hole through the armor, Nailisi's tail slowly made its way to the pauldron. With a strong tug, she detached the armor from Fellett's body and flung it as far away as she possibly could. If only Sika were here. Her wooden cudgel would be able to break open the armor, Nailisi thought, suddenly missing her ditzy comrade. Alas, Sika was not as good of a swimmer as she was and was unable to dive into the ocean to help them.

The armor was flung over a hundred meters before it abruptly halted. The eyeless face made an appearance again. Growling loudly, it attempted to charge towards the two mages once again so that it could finish what its host had started. Just then, a green flame came hurtling towards Fellett and went straight into his nose. The eyeless face made a contorted expression of pain as it roared again, sending vibrations travelling through the ocean floors.

It was Daniel who was responsible for the green flame. He had lain low when the two mages were battling it out with the sword aura, and only attacked when he had found the perfect opportunity. Even though the demonic tool contained evil spirits, Fellett was not dead, only unconscious. The death flames, having entered his body, instantly took control of his soul, forcing the eyeless face to go back to where it had come from - the armor. By then, the lone rune perched on top of Fellett's forehead had disappeared as well.

Grabbing onto her master's belt, Nailisi swam towards the surface. Meanwhile, the green flame was still battling for control over Fellett's body. Within seconds, Fellett's soul lost, unable to resist Daniel's power any longer. As soon as that happened, the golden light emanating from the armor disappeared. Fellett lay unconscious with a particularly calm expression on his face as he was dragged along with Saleen towards the surface. .

By the time the battle between Fellett and the group of five had ended, the storm had passed as well. They were no longer in the heart of the storm anymore. If they had been, Saleen would not even have focused on defeating Fellett. He would have been busy trying to prevent himself from being torn apart by the harsh wind elements.

"Saleen…" Sika wheezed as she saw Saleen emerge from the depths of the ocean. Even though her wounds were completely healed, she still needed more time to regain her strength. The sword aura had knocked the wind out of her. Priests were different from holy masters, after all. Although priests were able to heal themselves naturally instead of relying on magic, which would lead to slower recovery, their recovery rates still paled in comparison to those who had divine powers.

"I'm fine," Saleen whispered hoarsely. As he was about to continue reassuring Sika, dark purple blood started dribbling from his mouth. That could only mean one thing. His internal injuries were too serious for him to cast a Chunlin spell. Moreover, his mental power was next to none at the moment, making it even more impossible for him to cast any healing spells on himself.

Lex, on the other hand, did not look any better than Saleen. She had regained consciousness by now, and was currently coughing as she struggled to breathe properly. The reason why both Lex and Saleen were still alive after fighting the golden sword aura was because of their robes. They added an additional layer of protection for the mages, preventing them from dying too easily.

Seeing that Saleen and Lex were still in the water, Sika immediately reached out to pull the two mages onto the wreckage that she was on. There was not much space for all of them, but they made do with whatever they had. Nailisi clung onto the same piece of wreckage the trio were on, her face contorted into an expression of pain. That kick had done a number on Nailisi. It had pierced directly through her dragon-skin armor and into her lower abdomen. If she had not been a demon, she would have died a long time ago.

As long as the hearts of demons remained intact, other injuries, no matter how severe they seemed, only served to weaken them or leave them in pain. Legend had it that demons who were presumed dead could resurrect themselves as long as their hearts were still whole.

Just then, Daniel emerged from the ocean waters as well. The green flame trailing behind his body was slowly diminishing in size. However, Saleen managed to spot the silhouette of Daniel's winged skeleton hiding within the dancing flames. The fact that Daniel had been able to reunite with his long-lost magic pet was very impressive. After the winged skeleton had been driven back to the death dimension, Saleen had thought that he would never see it again. Saleen was happy for Daniel though. Not many people were as fortunate as he and Daniel to be given so many chances in life.