Badge in Azure

Chapter 306: The Long-term Plan (Part 1)

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

Capturing the black armor warriors from the inquisition was not a difficult task. In order to save their own lives, the warriors fled in all directions, thus their power was dispersed. As the mages and swordsmen from Sregl Island worked together, they quickly captured more than twenty prisoners. They did not bother pursuing the remaining black armor warriors.

Under the interrogation by Nailisi, the assailant only held out for less than a minute before spilling the beans on the secrets of this operation being conducted by the Holy See. Nailisi then fulfilled her promise by giving the assailant a quick death.

Out of the four blades which the two assailants had wielded, two of them had been ruined, and Saleen put away all of them. The material of these blades was very special. Even though Saleen was well read, he could not identify the material from any of the books which he had read in the past. Since Nailisi's dagger had been destroyed, the material from these four blades could be used to help her produce a new weapon.

Using three times the times the speed which he used to fly to the forest, Banchajanna flew back to the city. He only revealed to Judikaka that he had let a high grade believer escape, but he did not mention the conflict between Saleen and himself. In Banchajanna's eyes, Saleen was insignificant. Saleen should not be unsatisfied with his actions.

In the death dimension, power decided everything. An inferior being should always obey the orders of a superior being without any grudges or complaints. However, Banchajanna had forgotten that most spirits did not possess intelligence. On the other hand, humans were the most complicated creatures out of all the creatures across the different planes. Using the lifestyle in the death dimension to judge a human being would cause Banchajanna to lose out.

Saleen secretly led the prisoners back to the pan's turtle alchemical boat. These prisoners already regarded themselves as dead people, and did not give it much thought. After death, they would be able to enter the heaven belonging to the Lord of Glory, and it would be a form of relief for them.

The winged skeleton was still inside the colossal crystal, and he could now control the entire alchemy ship. The magic array onboard this boat allowed his perception to spread out for thousands of meters. With this distance, he would not need any help from magic to be able to track his targets.

This feeling was immensely pleasing, and it caused the winged skeleton to become a little obsessive. Ever since the winged skeleton had become an intelligent spirit, he had been craving freedom. However, within the death dimension, he had been under the control of high grade spirits. He had then come onto the Myers Mainland under Daniel's summoning. Originally, he had wanted to stay by Daniel all his life, never to return to the death dimension.

Unfortunately, Daniel had abandoned the winged skeleton, causing him to be severely hurt.

Luckily, Saleen treated the winged skeleton well. The new master treats his subordinates well. Even that demon who only creates trouble is living a good life. Now that the winged skeleton enjoyed relative freedom, this powerful alchemy ship would shelter him from the various dangers present on this plane.

The sea magic beasts fought solely for survival. Since this alchemical boat did not have any flesh, it would not provoke any aggression from the sea magic beasts. By controlling this boat, the winged skeleton was considered free. The contract with Saleen was no big deal. The winged skeleton loved following a human, and when Saleen died, the winged skeleton would enjoy even more freedom.

The winged skeleton and Nailisi were different. Indeed, the two of them would have very long lives. However, the winged skeleton had not signed a soul contract, he had signed a summoning contract. If Saleen died, he would not die.

The winged skeleton was extremely confident that it was only a matter of time before Saleen became a sorcerer. Thus, Saleen would also enjoy a fairly long life. Before Saleen died, the winged skeleton would also be able to advance to grade-8. By then, the winged skeleton would no longer need to rely on humans to be able to stay on this plane. This logic was identical to that of the arrival of the three kings on the Myers Mainland.

Even if Daniel died, the three kings would not be banished to the death dimension.

"Master, what are all these slaves doing here?" The winged skeleton curiously sized those black armor warriors up. When the black armor warriors entered water, they had not received any protection, so most of them were coughing their lungs out. Anyway, these people were already dying. Saleen would never waste his magic chords on them.

After noticing the winged skeleton inside the crystal, the black armor warriors began panicking. They could guess what Saleen was going to do next. A few warriors, who had weak willpower, had already begun begging for mercy. They even started berating the Holy See for its ruthlessness and ridiculousness. They had only been trying to make a living by staying in the inquisition.

Saleen could not be bothered with these black armor warriors. The hearts and minds of the people inside the inquisition were crooked, in stark contrast with those of the pivotal council.

From time to time, the red bishops would bring their men to do some good deeds, instead of merely spreading the teachings of the god. But what were the people in the inquisition doing? Exterminating the dissidents and being unscrupulous. Even if Saleen was prone to feeling sympathy for others, he would not feel any for them.

"Stop making a ruckus. This is judgment time." Saleen converted the restorative water into a mist, before delivering it into the noses of those swordsmen. By suffocating the swordsmen through forcing restorative water into their lungs, their injuries actually became better.

"Winged skeleton, do your thing."

"Master, doing so will attract trouble." The winged skeleton hesitated as he looked at those swordsmen. By doing such a thing, Saleen's actions would be equivalent to spitting on the face of god.

"Soldier, gods are not able to directly descend onto the Myers Mainland. The people in the Holy See will not know who it was. At most, they will suspect Banchajanna. Even I am not scared. What are you afraid of?"

"Master, I am not afraid. It's just that these people…"

"They have harmed tens of thousands of barbarians in the north all these years by turning them into blood cavaliers. I have said that this is judgment time." Saleen's expression remained the same. After detecting Saleen's determination, the winged skeleton was also helpless. Since these people were evil, Saleen's idea could not really be considered overboard either.

"Then… I shall obey your wishes." As the winged skeleton spoke, he walked out from the massive crystal.

The winged skeleton no longer looked as he had when he was with Daniel. His height had shrunk by a great deal, and he was only one head taller than Saleen at this moment. The bones on his body had become white and crystallized, with some vague scale-shaped magic patterns on them. His two pairs of bone wings had been fully retracted and folded behind him. A layer of faint green flames enveloped the exterior of his bone wings.

Those were the death flames, but Saleen was not a death mage. When the winged skeleton had left Daniel, he had attained his own death flames, which could be used to absorb power from the death dimension in order to make progress. Nailisi's power was directly affected by that of Saleen's, exactly like the case of the winged skeleton. The winged skeleton's advancement was related to the death flames. His contract with Saleen only allowed him to fight for Saleen.

Saleen's words might have been quite cruel, but he did not actually like watching people be tortured. A person's attitude was perverted if they derived pleasure from cruelty. After instructing Nailisi to stay behind and assist the winged skeleton, Saleen left the alchemy ship and returned to the city.

At this moment, the three kings were still reading the books provided by Saleen. Their style of reading was very special. Not only did they read the words, but they were also searching for a familiar smell from the books. This made their reading speed painfully slow. However, the three kings had very long lives, so they did not give a hoot about this amount of wasted time.

Saleen summoned the mages from Sregl Island and began discussing the plan on his mind.

"Pasatilo, Kanuka, I need you two to do something for me." Saleen waited for the mages to finish setting the mute enchantment before continuing.

"Mage Saleen, are you going to deal with the three kings? We don't have the ability to do so yet."

The mages from Sregl Island had learned of the event which had taken place outside the forest, and now, they were also thinking of dealing with the kings. However, this was not Sregl Island. If they had been on Sregl Island, the three kings would have been small fry in the face of the combined power from the over thirty sorcerers and magic towers. However, there were only two grade-5 mages here, and it would be too easy for the three kings to retaliate.

Saleen laughed, then said, "I am not that dumb. There is no need to rush this matter. Lex will only reach her destination by April of next year at best, but before that, I still need to rely on their abilities. However, you know what happened today. The three kings are not reliable at all. Hence, I intend to get some help."

"Mage Saleen, Sir Jason wishes that the city remains unrevealed for the moment," Pasatilo advised Saleen seriously. Pasatilo was Jason's newest subordinate.

"Don't worry. The person I am looking for does not have much ambition right now, but it will be hard to tell in the future." When Saleen thought of Aini's temperament, he became doubtful. After being separated for such a long time, would Aini still remember their friendship? With that being said, Saleen possessed an item which had been gifted to him by Aini's parents, so Aini would likely not harbor any ideas at the moment. The Clyde family might have been huge, but they were small fry compared to Lex's authority. Once the rest of the mages from Sregl Island arrived, Aini, being a smart person, would naturally choose to side with Saleen.

In merely three years, Aini should not have transformed into another person.

"But if we are gone, who will ensure your safety?" Pasatilo and Kanuka asked worriedly. It was very fortunate that Saleen had survived this ordeal. It was possible that he would not be so lucky the next time around.

"I am a grade-5 mage already. Besides, I will not travel far. Before Lex comes back, I will only carry out my activities within the area protected by the three kings." Saleen gave his word to the two mages. He knew that if something really happened, Pasatilo and Kanuka would inevitably be implicated.

"Take this, then go… go to the Glorious City. There is a stronghold belonging to the Clyde family. Hand this badge over to someone called Aini Ou Clyde. Just tell him that I am in trouble, and that I need his assistance."

"That's it? Who is Aini?" Pasatilo was a little naggy, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Saleen was still young, and Jason had specially instructed Pasatilo to take care of everything.

"He is my friend and I also know his parents, just relax. In addition to looking for him, I also need you two to recruit some reliable people within the Clyde family. This city will need businessmen and soldiers after it is constructed. The mages from Sregl Island can't possibly do such things. Of the four business clans in the empire, I only enjoy cordial relations with the Clyde family. If Aini is able to hold a position within the Clyde family, then our lives will be easier in the future."

Kanuka furrowed his brows, then said, "You need the two of us to look for someone like that?"

"There are no disadvantages to being more formal. I am also going to write a letter to Aini. This letter cannot be seen by anyone else. If you cannot guarantee the security of this letter, you must use magic to burn and destroy it."

Saleen had already made some decisions in his heart. Once the city was fully built, there would be various benefits. The mages from Sregl Island would dominate the magic benefits. Some commercial benefits would also be given, and the city would be dead if it solely relied on Sregl Island. There was a mine in the north. In the future, the city would sell food, metals, and various kinds of magic materials. Saleen had already decided to use his own power to help Aini prosper, so that Aini would be able to attain a high status within the Clyde family.

This cooperation would be much happier than if Saleen had cooperated with the earl. Aini might have been a little callous, but he valued relationships more than that cunning old earl. If Saleen waited until Aini became an adult, their relationship would only become increasing diminished as time went by.

Relationships needed to be cultivated. At the start, hadn't Saleen also treated Nailisi harshly? However, in this moment, he had even become depressed because Nailisi was injured.