Badge in Azure

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

When the metallic stone tablet consumed a Holy Master, a huge wound would be repaired. It did not possess too much intelligence since it was just a part that was forcefully cut out from the Mechanical Soul's body and infused with a little soul flame.

It was not aware that it would not survive for too long. The reason why Bain wanted something like that was just to suppress the power of glory in the altar.

Although glory divine spell was especially effective against spirits of the dead, this applied both ways. The unique undead attribute of the Mechanical Soul meant that the glory divine spell had to expend even more in order to achieve the usual effects.

A towering metallic stone tablet was able to suppress the core of the entire altar. In order to utilize divine rune charm array, the tablet had to be destroyed first. In order to do so, one would have to attack it continuously to weaken the soul flame within it.

On the plaza beneath the altar, at least half of the assassins had begun to make their move. Their targets were the high priests that were trying to keep everything organized. They would not be responsible for assassinating someone like a Red Bishop. Their goal was to create chaos and disorder so that Glorious City would not be able to form a resistance of any scale quickly.

The west side of the Glorious City was the Church of Paul. More than ten Red Bishops of the Pivotal Council were drinking and making merry. They were a bunch of pathetic people who had lost any form of authority and only dreamt of gaining the Pope's favor so that they could be sent to Holy City.

When the siren sounded, the Red Bishops were not able to react in time. It wasn't until there was a loud explosion at the plaza that they finally rushed to the top of the church to observe what was going on.

No one knew what was going on. Although the disciples in the Glorious City were still holy, they were not part of the core of power. The place was so peaceful for so long that even the people of the Supreme Court could not be bothered to find trouble there.

It was a realistic world, but Heaven was illusory. When the Heavenly Knights were eliminated, the Pivotal Council no longer had any means to resist the Pope.

Theocracy was supposed to function in a way where the Pope would lead the Oracles, the Pivotal Council would control the Pope and the Supreme Court would monitor the Pivotal Council. The Oracles had become independent and the Pivotal Council had lost all their powers, theocracy still worked three-way, but Red Bishops were completely out of the picture.

After a short period of chaos, the Red Bishops summoned their subordinates to gather the Glory Knights. In the entire Holy See, there were only three groups of Glory Knights that were at full strength. One of them was in the Glorious City, where there were twelve-thousand of them in total.

Those twelve-thousand Glory Knights were spread around the entire Glorious City and it would take some time before all of them could be gathered. After about half an hour, only about two-thousand knights charged into the plaza along with their squires.

At the altar in the middle of the plaza, Bain and his two assassins had already slaughtered all the Holy Masters there.

There was a total of one grade-8 Holy Master, two grade-7 Holy Masters, over thirty grade-4 Holy Masters, and more than one-hundred ordinary grade-2 High Priests.

The metallic stone tablet howled in pain as a giant crack appeared on the altar and slowly extended to both sides. The metallic stone tablet was only infused with a little power from the Mechanical Soul. It could not move and could only consume things on the spot. Bain could no longer replenish it with energy, so it had no choice but to try and absorb energy from the altar.

There was no way it could do that though. Although the altar looked broken, and was on the brink of collapse, the source of its power was from the death dimension. The collapse of the altar has broken off what little connection it had with the death dimension.

The soul flame in the metallic stone tablet was frantically trying to burst out but it was tightly sealed by the holy power.

With a shout, Bain jumped down from the altar while the other two assassins followed behind him, silently blending into the crowd.

On the altar, the metallic stone tablet screeched in such a high-pitched tone that it pierced through the clouds for more than ten miles. More than ten Holy Masters were flying towards the altar and they screamed in horror when they saw the tablet. They quickly cast divine spells to destroy the strange spirit of the dead.

Bain did not try to escape out of the city, as it would be too obvious. He brought more than ten assassins, who had yet to strike, along with him to follow behind a Red Bishop trying to organize the disciples. At that moment, Bain's moustache was gone and the garment that he wore had changed to a white robe. Right then, he looked just like a white High Priest that was working for an Oracle.

Growl…

Bang!

After a sharp explosion, the altar finally collapsed. The collapse was not caused by the metallic stone tablet, but more of the altar not being able to withstand the unleashing of the power of divine spells.

The metallic stone tablet also broke in half after losing its foundation. The soul flame in the tablet became stronger instantaneously. It was screaming even louder, as if it finally understood what was going on.

"Bain, damn you, I will kill you!" The soul flame that was split out from the Mechanical Soul finally possessed some intelligence when it was on the brink of destruction. Bain had used it as a cover for him to escape the Glorious City and the tablet understood that immediately. Since it was not the real Mechanical Soul, and its soul flame was too weak, it could not transform its form and could only watch as Bain fled further and further away.

After leaving the altar, Bain counted silently and realized that he had only managed to kill three High Priests of the level of Red Bishops. That was too few compared to what he had planned. Although the Red Bishops in Glorious City were weak, he could not stay any longer, or he would find himself surrounded by his enemies. He was not a grand swordmaster and would not be able to get himself out easily.

The metallic stone tablet's fury could not be contained. In the sky, the Red Bishops were certain that it was the source of all the chaos, so they took out their equipment and cast their divine spells at it freely.

Every glory divine spell that struck the stone tablet caused some damage. It was difficult for the undead attribute of the Mechanical Soul to be demonstrated on the stone tablet. In their rush and desperation, the Holy Masters were casting middle-level divine spells. Not a single high-level divine spell was used.

More than three-thousand Glory Knights surrounded the collapsed altar while the High Priests outside were still ensuring that the disciples left the battlefield in an orderly fashion. The tens of assassins that started the chaos had already been revealed. They charged towards the altar with crazed abandonment and sacrificed their lives in exchange for those of the Glory Knights.

None of the Knights would be a match for the assassins if the latter had attempted the assassinate the former. The assassins were far outnumbered though, the Glory Knights were able to wield their weapons calmly under the protection of their squires and stab at the assassins.

When more than ten assassins were killed that way, the remaining ones began to turn around and flee, but the direction they took was the same as Bain's. These assassins had already accepted that their deaths were imminent, so they did not head in the same direction as Bain, so they didn't drag him down with them. Instead, they were giving him a chance further fortify his identity.

Bain knew what those men were thinking, and he was torn. Would he have to do it himself? Sometimes, loyalty was such a curse!

Bain took a flail and smashed it in the face of an assassin. As this assassin's brain juice seeped out, Bain only remembered the smile on his face before his death.

This man had been following him for twenty yards. The Princess was born not long before that, back then.

The flail swept across and struck the waist of another assassin, breaking his body in half. Ahead of Bain was the half-sword of another assassin that was coming at him. Bain knew that even if he did not duck, the half-sword would only strike the side of his heart and would not be fatal.

Crack…

The half-sword was smashed into pieces amidst a white glow. A hole also appeared in the chest of that assassin.

Bain felt unbearable grief. All the assassins were dying in the hands of the Holy Masters and all he could do was to help the latter carry out this massacre. This was because there were even more assassins still hidden in the plaza. When the opportunity presented itself, the assassins would target the Red Bishops.

The assassins might not be of very high levels, but they were very skilled and could unleash powerful abilities in an instant.

"Go to hell!" An assassin's face suddenly turned red. The half-sword in his hand turned into the same shade of red as his speed suddenly increased by ten times and he pounced at a Red Bishop.

The Red Bishop, who had been leading hundreds of people, did not expect the assassin to manage to pass through Bain and reach him. Although the defense of the red robed man could be activated instantaneously, it could not block the assassin's strike.

Bang…

Bain turned around and smashed the flail onto the assassin's back. The assassin slid onto the ground while the blood-red half-sword exploded in the Red Bishop's chest.

Everyone witnessed that Bain had tried to save the Red Bishop, but only managed to kill the assassin.

Bain knew that even if he did not kill this assassin, the latter would not survive for more than a day anyway. The assassination had already used up all of the assassin's life. Nevertheless, Bain could not deny that the assassin was still murdered with his own hands.

That was absolute loyalty!

Becoming an assassin was depressing because they all ended up the same, which was to die in a mission. Only mages died of old age, never assassins.

"Bain, I am going to entrust Lex to you. Will you pledge your loyalty?" As Bain wielded the flail, his eyes blurred, and he recalled what Grand Emperor Chanake once said to him.

"Yes, I am willing to use my life to protect the Princess…"

"In that case, give up swordsmanship and train to become an assassin. Lex is a mage and will be susceptible to assassinations when her grade is still low. Only a powerful assassin can protect her. Only then can I feel assured," Grand Emperor Chanake said.

"Yes, your Majesty. I will give up swordsmanship."

"Good. Bain, this is the deposit of the Empire's bank. Take this money to find more men to become your subordinates. I need a group of assassins. Lex will need all of you sooner or later."

"Yes, your Majesty…"

The past had never been as clear as it was then. He felt as if Grand Emperor Chanake's voice was just beside his ear. Bain's heart was in such great pain.

That was his mission! He must never give up!

Bain's flail struck the legs of another assassin. Behind him, the Glory Knights had finally caught up and he would no longer have to kill the remaining assassins with his own hands. They had nowhere to run any longer.