Badge in Azure

Every single piece of equipment that Saleen crafted for everyone present had magic arrays capable of defending against prophecy spells etched into it. Saleen was considerably relieved after handing his people their equipment.

At the very least, if they were to run into people from the Tribunal, their enemies would no longer be able to take all of them down with one single skill.

Saleen had to reflect on his own mistakes as well. If he had put on the mask of his Starline Armament, it would form a complete layer of defense and would be able to somewhat defend against prophecy spells.

However, his Figure of Fate was damaged because he was used to not wearing his mask.

The only regret he had was having the house torn down just as he and Sika were about to finish her equipment. It robbed him of his chance to be naughty with Sika, and it was ridiculous for him to repair it just to do so.

“Let’s go,” Saleen uttered in a rather dejected tone, and none of his followers knew why.

Nailisi put away her demons, even the hundred that she gifted to Don. There was little in the valley worth taking, but Saleen still had Nicholas cast a fallen divine spell to erase the signs of them having set up camp there.

Everyone changed into their new equipment and headed north, arriving at a tributary of the Red River.

The tributary was incredibly rare in how it was able to maintain depth and width despite winding through the mountains, making it seem like it was carved out by humans.

Saleen took out the dragonboat he made. The underwater boat made from thunder dragon hide was only 18 meters long. It was translucent, and there were more than a dozen individual pockets in it, which served as rooms.

Saleen and Sika got the largest pocket. The others looked at each other and found their own pockets. The translucent dragonboat sealed itself up after everyone was in.

The pockets were sealed as liquid filled up outside the pockets. All the occupants were high level professionals, and thus, they were able to tell that the pockets were capable of taking in air from the liquid outside for the occupants to breathe.

Eleanor had no idea how Saleen had made it. Isabella, whose level was lower than everyone else, grew very curious.

Saleen took control of the dragonboat and the mechanical parts began to move without making a sound. Eight claws below the dragonboat pushed away from the ground and began to crawl into the river.

The dragonboat sank as soon as it entered the river. The claws were only taken out again when it reached the bottom. It began to crawl forward.

The dragonboat’s crawl felt amusing to the ones in it. The pockets were unstable, and it felt as if they were riding a huge magic beast. The gentle swaying made it feel comfortable.

The appearance of the dragonboat was a piece of shed hide of a thunder dragon. They were special in that they had no scales, turning translucent after being crafted.

Saleen spent a lot of time filling the inner parts of the dragonboat with restorative water. The pockets were made from the swim bladders of large fish, originally meant for crafting magic pharmaceuticals.

Saleen crafted them to be small holds capable of fitting people. The holds were also capable of breaking down gases using restorative water and excreting waste gases.

Saleen had long thought of such designs and was simply testing them out. It turned out to be a huge success.

The dragonboat moved against the flow of the river, relying on the eight mechanical claws beneath for thrust by crawling at the bottom of the river. It was capable of reaching an astounding speed of over 30 miles per hour.

It exceeded the speed of what a small magic power furnace was capable of producing. However, the special qualities of the thunder dragon hide allowed the dragonboat to move underwater with little resistance.

Saleen crafted the bone structure according to the physiology of thunder dragons, making the movements very smooth.

It was definitely slower to move underwater than to fly. They were moving slower than when they were riding on Nightmares. However, the Red River tributary was incredibly deep. Unless someone observed from a very close distance, it would be very difficult to detect the dragonboat.

The dragonboat had natural lightning patterns all over it, making it difficult to be detected using prophecy spells.

It was Saleen’s first time riding in something like this. He would not have dared craft it and put it to use before proper testing if the ones around him were not all powerful professionals.

He did so only because the river was only about 20 meters deep. The stream’s depth did not exceed 100 meters even back in the flatlands. If something happened to the dragonboat, it would be easy for them to escape to the surface.

Saleen held Sika in his arms. He was able to see through the clear waters easily. Manning the dragonboat was a new feeling.

He was not the only one. Many were admiring their underwater surroundings during the trip.

There were all sorts of living beings in the tributary of the Red River. Whatever magic beast they encountered were completely normal given that they were traveling 20 meters deep.

However, all of the magic beasts were frightened by the thunder dragon’s aura, preventing them from causing trouble for Saleen’s party.

The dragonboat’s design was exceptional. The only trouble was the inside. No one but Saleen was capable of casting any attacks from within.

What was more amusing was that fish and magic beasts of higher levels circled around the dragonboat as they traveled, while weaker beings were unable to sense any danger. Some even stuck close to the dragonboat.

Saleen was in no mood to attack any of the creatures. The dragonboat seemed to move like a living thunder dragon as it made its way upstream.

“Sika, I really regret crafting this thing transparent.”

Sika pinched Saleen. “Keep those thoughts in check and your eyes forward. Don’t overturn the boat.”

“I can cast Quickcloud and let Nailisi take control of the boat through Sensory Sharing.”

Sika pinched Saleen’s leg again and said with a stiff tone, “Sensory Sharing? What do you intend to share with her?”

Saleen explained exasperatedly, “She’d know anyway. The soul bond…”

“If you do that, I’ll share senses with Nicholas and the others. Don’t even think that you’re the only one that knows how to use the skill. Nature priests are capable of connecting thousands of Caucasians at the same time after all.”

Thousands? Saleen surrendered immediately. That would take the joke a little too far!

“But Sika, if we’re not leaving the river, we need to travel for at least another 7000 miles or so. Even if we go full speed, we’re only able to cover about 700 miles a day, which means we’ll get to our destination in ten days. Ten days could be very boring, and I can’t use Water Flame in a place like this.”

“You can talk to me, Saleen. Are you telling me you don’t like that?”

“Oh, I love it. What are we going to talk about then?” Saleen abided by Sika’s wishes and asked.

“Why don’t we talk about Lex, then?”

“Lex? What’s there to talk about?” Saleen was reluctant to talk about Lex in front of Sika. Women always wanted their men to be their only one, even though many men in this world had two or more women.

Saleen did not want to boast about Lex in front of Sika and hated the idea of speaking ill of her even more. He had no idea what to talk about even though Sika let him.

“Saleen, if we were to lose everything, will Lex still stick with us?” Sika asked, lying in Saleen’s arms.

“She would.”

“Why are you so sure about that?”

“Lex is the daughter of Emperor Chanake, and since the emperor gave her a boy’s name, it made it difficult for her to make friends. Who treats her like an equal but us?”

“Heh, well let’s just assume that, in the worst-case scenario, we lose to the Holy See and we have to run, leaving Myers Mainland and going to the sea, looking for a place to survive in the eastern seas. Would Lex give up her kingdom and her nobles?”

Saleen thought for a bit. “I don’t know, Sika. Lex’s not like you. You know what you want. She is shouldering too much and wanting too much as well.”

“Well then, I treat you better than she does, is that it?”

Saleen was silent. While the union between him and Lex felt rather rushed, and it could be little more than a marriage alliance, he knew what Lex felt about him.

Lex would not have chosen anyone but him. She had no time to talk about relationships. The only time, however little, that she did so was when she was spending her days with him in the Hell of God’s Punishment.

It served as a warm reminder in Lex’s life. Even if they had no future, the memory would be enough to console Lex.

“Yeah, you don’t have to say anything. I know what you’re thinking. You really don’t know how to sweet talk girls, Saleen.”

Saleen did not keep quiet this time. He said rather seriously, “That’s because you’re the best, Sika. Other than me, you seem to care little about anything else.”

“Finally, some words pleasing to the ear. That’s why they say to never marry a mage. You don’t even know how to comfort people.”

Saleen chuckled. Sika might have been strong, but she was still a woman. He lowered his head and breathed at Sika’s ear. Sika flinched. “What was that for?”

“I can’t keep myself in check anymore.” Saleen tried his best to sound less horny, but he felt embarrassed for saying such things in such a place.

“You’re their lord!”

“I can control Quickcloud. No one would be able to see through the mist.”

“This is embarrassing, Saleen. If you dare share senses with Nailisi, I’ll turn you into meat pie when I’m done!” Sika said rather ferociously, but she was unable to keep up the act for long.

Saleen was overjoyed. “No need for that. I’ll just get a little busier, keeping the boat controlled while we’re at it!”

“Saleen, why do you want me so much all of a sudden? Are you suffering from some aftereffects of the prophecy spell?” While Sika was aroused, she was alerted.

“Something to do with it, I guess, but the calamity I should have faced was all taken by the Figure of Fate. The world is balanced, so my powers got somewhat stronger. You have no idea that I get so invigorated as of late that I can’t even sleep. Even if I don’t meditate, the restoration of my mental powers is ridiculously quick.” Saleen told her of his troubles, slithering his hand before Sika’s belt as he did.

He was the one who crafted Sika’s armor. One push and Sika’s armor would come loose and retract into the belt.

Sika grinned. “Now I’m starting to think that you crafted the armor for me just for this very day.”

“Maybe,” Saleen replied. His mental powers were so overflowing that he was troubled, as if his veins were about to burst. While his powers had increased, his magic chords did not.

Saleen even began to have delusions that if he started training in the art of the sword, he would advance to black metal grand swordmaster right away.

Sika gave up resisting and let Saleen take off the last of her clothes. It felt very exciting. A layer of thin mist was all that kept everyone’s sight off them. Saleen cast Water Shield to block off any sound from leaking.

Then Sika let Saleen get into her. The dragonboat had always been unstable with its movements underwater. Sika sat on Saleen and did not even need to do much. They simply enjoyed the exciting and new way of tangling with each other.