Badge in Azure

The gravely injured oracle looked even more tense as soon as Nailisi appeared. They dragged their broken bodies to sit up and instructed two of the creatures to stand before them, but did not tell them to attack, but opened their big mouth and swallowing one of the creatures, which was about their size, whole.

“Too late.” Nailisi took out all of her weapons and charged at the oracle, waving all four of her arms. The Sword of Rules was brought down quickly. The surface of the oracle’s body shimmered with thick holy light but was quickly torn apart by the Sword of Rules, which went right through their heart.

The oracle was dumbfounded, refusing to believe that such a low level demon was able to break through their defenses.

After having her attack land on her target, Nailisi opened the purgatory of purification and threw that oracle inside. The other dozen or so creatures of the gods gave up attacking the light barrier and pounced at Nailisi, but they were sent flying with Nailisi’s big shield, making them incapable of getting near her.

Saleen and the others had an easier time. The oracle suffered grave injuries and was unable to move, making them easily controlled by Nailisi. The remaining dozen of creatures were far easier to deal with afterwards.

Saleen had no fear even if that oracle did not suffer any injuries. There was no doubt that his Thunder Dragon Blaster would make short work of the oracle, which would then be left to Nailisi to deal with in the purgatory of purification.

What Saleen feared was being outnumbered. There was no certainty that his Thunder Dragon Blaster would be able to kill enemies of levels that were too high, and worse still, the blaster had a limited number of times it could be used.

The light barrierwas still there. Saleen came before the barrier and looked at the middle-aged man keeping the barrier up. The man held a short spear and stabbed it into the ground. The energy emanating from the shaft coalesced into the small barrier. The barrier held two within it, which seemed to be a little too narrow.

“Isabella, I’m sorry I took so long to find you,” Saleen looked at the middle-aged man despite speaking to Isabella.

That middle-aged man returned the gaze. The ends of his hair were light grey. It was hidden by the light, and he would not have noticed if he did not walk up to the barrier.

“So you’re Isabella’s master?” That man finally spoke, which sounded rather different from the time he called for help. The man did not bother masking his voice, which sounded like rusted metal being snapped.

Jola and Sul drew their swords and went up, helping Nailisi throw all of the remaining creatures of the gods into her collection of purgatories. The middle-aged man shuddered, seeing what was happening before his eyes. If it had not been for the oracle commanding the creatures, he would not have feared them, but it was beyond him to be able to make short work of them without breaking a sweat.

“Regardless of who you are, let go of Isabella,” Saleen said patiently. Nailisi looked at the light barrier with curious eyes. She drew a gash at the barrier with the Sword of Rules, but the sword was repelled and the barrier was hardly affected.

There was no wonder why the dozen of creatures were unable to destroy the light barrier despite attacking it so frequently.

“I’m thinking the same thing, but I can’t dispel this thing,” the middle-aged man answered with a bitter smile.

The reason he brought Isabella there was because his comrades left a map, which stated that there had been a small battlefield there back in ancient times, and there were some weapons left behind by the ancient gods.

The God-hunting Spear was his target, but he found soon after entering the place that there was already an oracle figuring ways of bagging the equipment. However, the spear repelled the gods. The spirit housed within the weapon dissipated after injuring the oracle, and made it easy for the man.

However, with the oracle summoning creatures of the gods to surround him, there was no way for him to escape, and he activated the divine spell within the weapon. It was too bad that the divine spell ended up being one he was unable to control. Until all the energies within the spear were depleted, there was no way to dispell the spell.

Saleen looked closely at the barrier from the outside and found the flow of energies on the barrier had energy balancing rules. If no one attacked or dispelled the barrier, it would probably be able to last for hundreds of years.

The Thunder Dragon Blaster would probably be able to destroy the light barrier. The only troubling part was not knowing if the short spear that was stabbed into the ground would have other means of retaliation. Nicholas walked up as Saleen hesitated and poked the barrier with his Scepter of the Fallen, before telling Saleen, “My liege, this is troubling. There is no way to pass through the barrier, but voice can still get through. This isn’t something that can be pulled off by something lower than level 13 pseudogods.”

“How long have you been inside?” Saleen looked at Isabella.

Isabella’s eyes were bloodshot. “More than ten months now. The flow of time inside is different.”

Saleen shuddered. The power of that short spear had made a mage lose her sense of time, which meant that it was a powerful piece of equipment. If he were to use his Thunder Dragon Blaster against it…

I’m so stupid! Saleen slapped his head. The barrier was pure energy and there was nothing easier to break than that. He took out his family badge. “I can let you out, but you’ll need to sign a contract with Isabella.”

“What contract?” The man did not refuse. He had been relying on the bit of food left in Isabella’s space equipment to survive. If they were stuck for another year or so, there was no doubt that both of them would die of starvation.

“I don’t know who you are in the Holy See, but I need you to fall,” Saleen said seriously.

“To fall eh,” the man said plainly. His eyes turned even paler, so pale that they looked grey. Isabella, who was beside him, felt incredibly cold. The man had actually dropped the temperature within the barrier to freezing.

“You don’t want to?” The Thunder Dragon Blaster was already equipped on his left arm. He would be able to kill the man with one shot after his family badge absorbed the light barrier. He would not have wasted his time talking to the man if he was not concerned for Isabella’s safety.

” I fell quite a long time ago. It’s just that Theisio won’t admit that I did,” The man’s words made Saleen feel a tinge of pity. Saleen mumbled a chant in his mind and a thunderous rumble shook his mind, dispelling that feeling.

Nicholas said angrily, “My liege, he’s attacking you.”

“I can tell,” Saleen said as he put the badge on the light barrier. Saleen said to the middle-aged man after pressing his badge against the barrier, “if you’re unwilling to sign the contract, I’ll have to take the risk then.”

“Is Isabella that important to you?” The man looked at Saleen and found it rather unbelievable.

“No mage should’ve given up on their followers. I’ve been looking for her for a long time, and it was only today that I was able to find some clues. I was surprised that you were so close to Daliang City.”

“You’re called Saleen, right?”

“Indeed.”

“If I choose to turn my back on the Holy See and follow you, what would I get in return?” the man asked. Saleen had no idea of how to answer. The first time he met someone from the Holy See offering to follow him at their own will was Nicholas. Even then, he had spent quite some time before he was able to have Nicholas truly submit to him.

“Who the hell are you?” Saleen asked in return.

“My name… is Sukcha. I was a commander of the Heaven Knights.”

“The Heaven Knights are long gone.” Saleen did not buy that man’s words. When Qin first established their empire, the Holy See attacked Holy Rock City and every single member of the Heaven Knights died below that city.

“The Heaven Knights have been rebuilt four times and I served as commander the last time the corps was rebuilt. I went by another name: Don,” The man elaborated, but Saleen felt as if he was telling the story of another man.

“I had been imprisoned by the pope, but he wanted to rebuild the Heaven Knights so he found a reason to release me.”

“I don’t know why should I trust you.” Saleen looked at Don. The man’s face was peculiar. Despite looking about 30 from afar, he actually looked very old upon close inspection, as if he had been living for hundreds of years and had gotten tired of living.

“Why trust me? I’m as good as dead. The only reason I didn’t destroy myself was so that I would see the Holy See fall in the end.”

“That is not enough,” Nicholas, who was standing beside Saleen, cut in. “Our lord would not let someone who is tired of living to be by his side. Doing so is just too dangerous.”

Don looked at Nicholas, and his eyes sparkled for a bit.

“A fallen holy master. There are actually fallen holy masters now, and one who is at level nine. Looks like the Holy See’s days just got worse and worse.”

“Quit wasting our time,” Sika said impatiently. “Saleen, just hurry up and get rid of that fellow.”

Saleen was able to tell that Don wished Isabella no ill. He said, “there is only one condition for you to become my subordinate.”

“Please, go on.”

“I want to build a Guardian Knights corps of the Nature Faith, and I want you to be the commander.” Saleen smiled.

“Nature Faith? Myers had already fallen!” Don’s curiosity was piqued. Despite being imprisoned in the Holy See, he was still able to tell that the Nature Faith had gradually disappeared after the goddess had fallen, and there was no trace of the faith to be found.

“Then we’ll just resurrect her. She would serve well to fight the Holy See and besides, it looks fun,” A clear plan laid out gradually in Saleen’s mind. While the resurrection of the goddess was a very long process, building an army for the Nature Faith was something he was able to do early.

While it was absolutely forbidden to have an army of the Nature Faith within his own kingdom, he would be able to do it outside, and it would be best to start with the Sikeqinya Empire.

“Alright, your highness Saleen. How many men can you get me?” Don asked seriously.

“None. You will be the only one. If you want men, you will need to capture them yourself, and you’d best start with capturing people of the Holy See,” Saleen beamed, and Don smiled in return.

“Alright, a knights corps with me being the only member. I don’t have any equipment though.” Don’s eyes were on the God-hunting Spear.

“If you swear loyalty to me before the Goddess of Myers is resurrected, that piece of equipment is yours.” Saleen was hardly fettered. The man had served as a commander of the Heaven Knights, which meant that he had ample experience in creating a corps, and he was adept at battle and management as well. He could be entrusted with propagation of the faith as well.

Saleen felt rather reluctant to have Nicholas do all that.

Don sighed and nodded. “I never expected this. A commander of the Heaven Knights, betraying the Holy See at his own will and is able to get nothing in return. What has the world come to…”