Badge in Azure

Sul was armed with a slender sword that was covered with magic patterns, which was a new weapon that Saleen crafted for him. Sul used a crystal to polish the edge. Most magic weapons were incapable of being polished, yet Sul had his own ways of maintaining his weapon.

However, in the sub-mainland plane, crystals capable of polishing magic equipment were simply too expensive, and his family was unable to afford to let him splurge like that.

The mystical energies in the crystal were squeezed out by golden sword aura, seeping into the edge of the blade. No sound was made when the crystal scraped against the edge.

Don held the God-hunting Spear in his hand. Seeing Sul eyeing him, he asked, “are you feeling frustrated, thinking that you’re a follower and yet a weapon like this is given to me?”

Sul chuckled. “I’m not a beggar. My liege wouldn’t just give me any junk he found, unless he deemed it a weapon fit for me. I learned how to use a sword, but what did you learn to use? Your tongue?”

Sul’s words were sharp. He did not envy Don for possessing the spear. While his sword was inferior to the spear in terms of materials used, all of the sword’s attributes were very fitting for the sword techniques and sword aura he employed.

If he were to be jealous of anything, it was the fact that Jola had Tears. Jola crafted using rules it he came to comprehend. While Sul’s slender sword was sharp, it was devoid of any rules he had come to comprehend.

“I’m not a beggar either. I’m just thinking of killing a few more before I end up dead.” Don’s voice was coarse, like broken metal.

“That will do fine. After you’re dead, your soul will still be of good use to our lord. Maybe that will be the only time we will get to fight alongside each other.”

Don frowned. “What have I done to irk you?”

Sul’s crystal scraped against the edge and this time, a light ting was heard.

“All those around our lord worked as a team, having each other’s backs. You took Isabella away and you never apologized for it.”

“Why should I apologize? It is all just a trade between me and His Highness Saleen. It’s just that this trade will be a long one, lasting for a thousand years. Sul, you’re golden grand swordmaster, but I am a level nine knight. If you’re going to talk to me like that, I’d say let’s just duke it out.”

Sul sheathed the sword slowly into the scabbard at his hip and smirked. “Duke it out? I’m telling you the people around His Highness work as a team. If you’re really going to fight me, regardless if you end up winning or losing, you’ll have to fight all the others one by one, and you can’t even defend against one strike from Sika. And now, you have the guts to challenge me. I wonder if I should consider you brave or stupid.”

A tinge of anger welled up inside Don. That strike from Sika left me a huge impression on him. Sul was poking where it hurt, wounding his pride. Sika’s age was apparently very young.

It was an incredible insult for someone like him, who was more than a hundred years old, to be defeated by a warrior like Sika.

“There is no need for you to get angry. You’re lucky to tag along with him. You really think that death would be the end? I heard that the souls of all those who betray the Lord of Glory are to be thrown into purgatory after death. And I’m telling you this: betray him, and you won’t even get to enter purgatory.”

Don faced the young grand swordmaster and said slowly, “do you really think I’m no match for Sika? If I hadn’t been locked up in that place for so long, I wouldn’t…”

“Sika wasn’t out to kill you. If she had wanted you dead, you wouldn’t have lasted three seconds,” Sul finished and stopped paying Don any heed. He lay down and observed the snuffed out fire, gazing at the glimmering red light on the pile of ashes.

They were bits of fire element. If the enemy were to pass that point, not only would they need to kill both him and Don, but they would also have to face the magic trap.

Don pondered Sul’s words. The group around Saleen worked as a team covering each other’s backs, while he was just an outsider.

He had nothing against apologizing to Isabella as he had no hatred for the little mage. Or rather, he actually took a liking to her. Isabella’s eyes resembled his daughter’s, very much so.

But would there be any meaning to doing all that? I can apologize and Isabella still won’t feel any better. Would I need to be a part of that team? Ridiculous.

What he wanted was to see the monster that was the Holy See crumble and fall. He would kill any that was left of them.

Warmth, comradeship. He had no need for any of them.

His brothers were long dead, all of them perished while clearing out infidels for the Holy See. If he were to have such emotions again, he would be even more tethered to the world they were in.

Don held the spear in his hands and veins were bulging, but his breathing gradually eased.

Sul’s words were unable to incite him, all but the part where Sika was brought up. He seemed to still have a bit of pride left as a powerful one.

At the end of the long, winding river valley, beneath the slopes more than a dozen miles away, a group of gold-armored warriors struggled at pulling their horses, taking a detour through the woods. The great head inquisitor was still on his horse, while the 12 adjudicators followed behind.

They arrived at the end of the river valley.

Level four warhorses were capable of scaling mountains but were unable to do it with the ease demonstrated by the Nightmares. The adjudicators dismounted and looked for signs of their prey in the valley.

Saleen did not cover his tracks there and had instead let the Nightmares step on the ground deliberately, leaving burn marks.

“Sir! They were spirit creatures!” The voice of the adjudicator was a little too loud, and the great head inquisitor frowned.

It was incredibly easy for sound to reverberate in such a terrain. A common person could shout and the sound would travel tens of miles away.

The young adjudicator knew that he was too excited and hung his head low in apology. The great head inquisitor said, “we’ll camp out here and rest for eight hours.”

The adjudicators looked at each other and the great head inquisitor said, “that is the sign of our prey having discovered us and wanting to meet and fight us. I’m not here for a fight. I want to know the destination of our prey and what are they looking for. That Saleen wouldn’t have left the battlefield at Daliang City behind and sneaked out just so that he can go on a trip.”

The adjudicators nodded in agreement as they took out tents from their space equipment, handing them over to the gold-armored warriors and setting up the campsite.

The two parties, more than a dozen miles away from each other, set up camp. Saleen walked out from his tent the next morning and saw Nailisi in her devil form resting on a piece of huge rock, protecting his tent.

“Nailisi,” Saleen called out with a smile. His mood had gotten better as he had decided what to do in the future. Regardless of how powerful his enemies would get, the mage was hardly bothered.

Mages feared losing their way more than anything. Once they had a clear goal ahead of them, everything else could be analyzed and calculated.

“Master.” Nailisi jumped down from the rock. “I found something. A demon died.”

Saleen asked, feeling peculiar, “and that didn’t provoke them into attacking?”

“Master, I’ve looked at the people behind us. They seem to be waiting for us to reach the next temple.”

“You have a point. This is troubling,” Saleen no longer smiled. He had the demons call out to the others and gathered them around, making preparations for departure. He started figuring out how to shake his enemies off or incite them into fighting.

It was a hassle to turn back to look for the enemy and it was a bad move. Doing so would make them fall into the enemies’ fighting tempo. However, it was also bad to have their enemies continue to tail them all the way to the temple.

Everyone gathered and Saleen took out a magic map. He looked at it for a bit before saying, “Nailisi, let’s change course for a bit and take this path.”

Saleen activated the water element around him with his hand and drew a path. The path required them to pass through the mountains, moving into the territory of Titan Duchy, which would definitely lead them to their enemies.

The region north of Titan Duchy had been taken over by forces of the Tribunal. The northern nobles of Titan had a choice of either surrendering or retreating back to the southern bank of Red River.

Nailisi asked nothing. She nodded and let the two supreme demons take the lead, forming a 200 strong group and letting them open the path in front. Saleen and the others rode their Nightmares and followed behind.

Knowing that their enemies kept tailing them and refused to come up to fight, Saleen stopped increasing their speed. They simply followed the demons and changed course.

The marching of the demons was not slow, as they were capable of moving at speeds of over 50 miles per hour. Conventional armies were unable to keep up. Only elite cavalry were able to keep up with demons, provided that they were not carrying any supplies.

Nailisi kept her devil form instead of returning to her true form as they followed the group of demons.

The group quickly passed through the mountains and reached the northern plains. It was early autumn and ripe wheat fields were everywhere. There was no fires of war to be found within Titan territory after simple restoration efforts any longer. Everything looked peaceful.

Saleen sighed. Give the Holy See several decades and every piece of land that the Holy See took before will be completely absorbed by the Holy See.

Grudges can be forgotten, especially in this case of the Holy See, who excels at brainwashing. They are better at turning their enemies into sheep than anything else.

The demons marched within Titan lands in broad daylight without concealment. The farmers in the fields all hid out of fright, seeing the ferocious-looking demons.

Even young men who had joined the army hesitated to provoke them, seeing that the demons were over five meters tall, with huge horns on their heads, and armed with humongous halberds.

Nailisi looked forward, feeling rather bored. She complained, “why is there no church to be seen? What a terrible country!”

Even Sika knew what Saleen was up to. The people on their tail would be unable to escape Saleen’s Elemental Eye, and they in turn, had ways to keep their eyes on Saleen’s group.

The demons slowed after walking for half a day. They were not tired; they simply found a village.

Nailisi turned back and looked. She quickly flew into glee, seeing Saleen nodding to her. She split the demons and walked up to the front. The two supreme demons bowed courteously to her. Nailisi said, “Harm no ordinary people but adherents. You hear me?”

She was speaking demonic tongue. The two supreme demons asked in confusion, “my king, how should we tell ordinary people and adherents apart?”

“Get a church and follow my lead. You’ll know soon enough.” Nailisi took the army of demons with him, walking into the village with impunity.

There were several hundred households in the village and there was a small fort at the entrance. However, the troops simply cowered in their forts seeing the army of demons and Nailisi, who was over ten meters tall. None dared move against them.

With the troops not doing anything, the auxiliary troops dared not cause a ruckus either. All of them pretended as if they saw nothing.

Nailisi walked up to a child playing at the roadside. The child looked to be about seven or eight years old and was playing with a cat. He was not frightened by the sight of the demons, and simply looked at the oddly shaped creature before him.