Badge in Azure

Saleen took out the level 19 Star Gathering Needle carefully. There was nothing like Principle of Crystal Coffin with the needle. If he activated its full power, it would bring about a greater catastrophe.

Saleen had not been able to activate the powers of the Star Gathering Needle, but since Gaine had raised his level at astrology to level nine, he became able to use part of the needle’s powers.

Saleen was extremely nervous and shut the Magical Element Tower off from the outside world completely. He then stuck the needle into Sika’s armor.

Astrologers were very familiar with destroying gods and signs of divinity. It was the very reason why astrologers were so popular back in the days.

Even gods were unable to escape the machinations of fate.

Sika and Lex were right in front of Saleen. Sika’s breathing was so light that he was hardly able to sense it. Lex’s breathing vaguely resembled the frequencies at which elements vibrated. Her frequencies were different from Saleen’s, as hers were much higher than normal mages.

Saleen personally crafted Sika’s armor, and he was about to throw it into the Water Flame once again. Saleen did not dare to throw the bone crystal of the giant into the Water Flame as well.

He feared that if they entered the cemetery in the future, Sika might as well paint a big red target on herself wearing such armor.

It was fortunate that he acquired quite a substantial amount of high level materials from the grandmaster. Saleen took a ten-meter long strip of Starline cloth and merged it with the lining of the armor. Saleen finished fixing Sika’s armor in about four hours.

The Star Gathering Needle destroyed all elements related to the Goddess of Myers, and Saleen placed the armor beside Sika. He then left the magic tower.

Saleen was concerned about the battle on the east side of the city. He wondered what happened after four hours.

Saleen called Nailisi over secretly and went to the east side of the wall, peering over it. The red army of the Holy See completely blocked off the exit of the cemetery.

Twenty-four punishers stood in front of the exit and crushed any fossilized gods that made it outside. The punishers’ power seemed endless.

The crushed gods’ souls were sucked back into the cemetery. Soldiers from the tribunal immediately picked up the bodies of the fossilized gods.

“Saleen, we can’t let this go on!” It was a surprise to see Jalin keeping watch at the wall. She even greeted Saleen at her own will when she saw Saleen around.

Nailisi smiled at Jalin, without showing any hint that she had taken a devil form and held Jalin by the neck, fully intending to kill her. Jalin also seemed to have forgotten the displeasure from before and nodded at Nailisi.

“What happened?”

“Look.” Jalin tugged on Saleen’s robe and pointed below the city. “The fragments of the fossilized gods are the most prized materials among the divine smiths. Even if the materials prove useless at the moment, they would be turned into a huge number of powerful equipment once they are delivered to the Holy See. By powerful, I mean equipment capable of boosting the power of common adherents by tens of times.”

“There is a price to be paid for acquiring any type of power, they…” Saleen stopped before he finished his sentence.

Would the fanatics even care about the price they had to pay? Adherents aside, even Blood Knights that were forcefully created would have their lifespan shortened to a couple of years, acquiring power by burning the power of life.

The Holy See did not care about such costs.

What kind of powers would the shells of the fossilized gods hold? The power to force something against their will!

Saleen looked at the Holy See army with a solemn look. He pondered for quite a while before saying, “let them continue killing. Deploy the metal flyers once every hour armed with half the magic fire shells and drop the shells from a height of 1000 meters.”

“Yes, sir,” the herald at the wall answered. Saleen took out a badge and handed it to the herald, sending them to execute his orders.

The Tribunal’s army grew, with the majority gathering at the east side of the city. The land that had been under Daliang City’s control was filled with the Tribunal army. They were gathering at Daliang City under the orders of two head inquisitors.

The news at Daliang City was relayed back to the Tanggulasi Empire. The Tribunal and the Pivotal Council were elated over the samples of fossilized god fragments, especially the divine smiths at Black Dungeon Island.

The rules contained with the fragments were unique. Even Pope Theisio, who had disappeared for quite a while, appeared to deal with the fragments, requesting for the Tribunal to lend some divine smiths to the Pivotal Council.

The main objective of the Holy See’s tactics changed as well. Allying with Sikeqinya Empire no longer seemed that important, and they recalled all naval forces fighting in Ceylon City waters.

The armies on land were being recalled one after another as well, returning to the God Grace Duchy. Even the battle north of Qin was affected by the affairs at Daliang City.

Most of the Holy See’s armies retreated and the holy masters within the armies gathered at Daliang City. The Pivotal Council, the oracles, and the Tribunal all sent more powerful ones to Daliang City.

There was no way to keep mobilization of forces at such a large scale under wraps. The spies that Lex placed in each country delivered messages back to Daliang City.

The battle beneath Daliang City seemed to have no end. Saleen deployed the metal flyers and dumped magic fire shells, causing a lot of trouble for the Holy See army.

While magic fire shells were expensive, they did wonders in causing damage to the enemy. The metal flyers flew at extremely high altitudes and every deployment was accompanied by ancient figures.

The two head inquisitors dared not take to the air, fearing traps laid out by Saleen. Daliang City had air superiority.

Saleen allowed the Holy See no respite. He had catapults taken apart from other places and reinstalled on the east side of the city. They lobbed stone projectiles below the city nonstop.

Saleen lost his chance at assassinating the other two head inquisitors. While the fifth and the sixth head inquisitors’ powers were inferior compared to the fourth, the fourth inquisitor’s luck was in the gutter. He appeared where he should not have and faced off against Saleen.

It was not that he was weak. Not many that Saleen killed personally were weaklings.

Both Saleen and Lex were unable to sit around after hearing news from the Holy See. They gathered their trusted people at the Magical Element Tower to discuss a way out of their current predicament.

The stance that the Holy See had displayed resembled the time when all four major empires were being established. The Heaven Knights attacked Holy Rock City.

That battle caused the Heaven Knights to almost be wiped from existence and Holy Rock city suffered dire losses, preventing the Qin Empire from fulfilling their dream of uniting the mainland under one rule.

Lex looked at the others in the Magical Element Tower. “It is a given that we cann’t hold Daliang City for long. I’m thinking about inviting Holy Rock City and Alchemy City to join the fray. We cannot let the cemetery fall into the hands of the Holy See!”

Sika shrugged. “Daliang City is yours. Whatever decision you make, you have our support.”

“No, this is something that concerns all our futures. Every one of you has a part of the cemetery; it isn’t my place. The outcome of inviting Holy Rock City and Alchemy City is unpredictable. I’d like to hear suggestions from all of you.”

“Contracts.” Saleen said only one word.

“Contracts are not a end-all-be-all thing,” Lex retorted.

“We need to repair the magic tower,” Eleanor said. A Magical Element Tower that was unable to fly proved severely restrictive to Saleen.

“I need to open the fourth purgatory,” Nailisi said out of nowhere.

“What do you mean?” Lex asked.

“I’ll enter from the other ear hole of the statue, punching through the dirt seal. I’ll use the 12 Purgatories of First Note to absorb as many fossilized gods as I’m able to, which would be enough to complete the fourth purgatory. That purgatory is capable of housing normal humans. Viscount, I’d be able to transport 600 thousand of your elite troops anytime anywhere by then, leaving Daliang City guarded by demons. Once that is done, it would be difficult for either Alchemy City or Holy Rock City to bag this place for themselves.”

Nailisi spoke with incredible seriousness. Jalin listened from the side and calculated to see if she was able to enter the cemetery again. It was only lethally dangerous after entering the energy barrier inside the cemetery.

There was a lot of equipment and materials scattered outside, which were quite a fortune. Furthermore, there was more than one body of giants in the cemetery, which meant that there were definitely remains of giants who were weaker.

She would be able to break through level nine with just a little bit of the materials. When she finally reached level ten, there would be no need to be wary of the people around Saleen.

Jalin failed to notice that she never thought of leaving Saleen’s side; she was thinking all about fighting the people around him.

“You sure about that?” Saleen looked at Nailisi. The only certainty he had was that if Nailisi did what she said she needed to do, it would do him a lot of good as well. But would that be enough to keep Daliang City safe? He dared not believe in that.

“I can’t actually be sure, but this is the only way of taking the viscount’s elites away. If we used teleportation portals, you both would go bankrupt. No, even if you both went bankrupt, there is still no way for you both to teleport so many away,” Nailisi pointed out Lex’s weakness without reservation.

Daliang City was a dire place to be. All soldiers were trapped, becoming hostages. If there were powerful ones in hundreds coming at them, Daliang City would soon turn into yet another Ironwall City.

“Alright, see to it then!” Lex made a snappy decision. The army gathered at Daliang City would not become a burden if they were sent elsewhere.

However, with things at Daliang City as they were, the city had become a focal point of the entire mainland. The enemies they were about to face would be the most powerful group of powerful ones that the Holy See was able to gather.

That was how Father died.

“I need Jalin’s help,” Nailisi requested.

Saleen looked at Jalin. In their current environment, Jalin’s abilities were powerful. It was evident from the fact that she was able to escape the cemetery of giants.

“I need a giant bone crystal,” Jalin requested instead of rejecting outright.

“No problem,” Saleen said as he took out a crystal. Jalin continued instead of taking the crystal right away, “I need you to craft me a magic staff. Mine was broken by Sika.”

“Alright, no problem.” Saleen quickly took out a magic staff and conjured his Water Flame, crafting the requested staff by adding the crystal onto it. Saleen even asked Jalin about what to look out for as he crafted.

Jalin told him everything she needed without seeming to hold anything back. Saleen could have determined some magic rules from Jalin’s needs. Jalin’s unique skills were movement abilities based on earth magic.

“I’ll contact Holy Rock City.” Lex glanced at Saleen and headed for the 17th floor. Saleen crafted the staff slowly, calculating the rules of earth magic in his mind.