Badge in Azure

It was the first time that Saleen’s lightning icicle did not work at all. Not even the pope’s territory had been penetrated.

Saleen was dumbfounded and Theisio was utterly shocked. His Eternal Blessing had been used!

Eternal Blessing was an ability that could be used repeatedly. There were three of those spells within the God Grace Staff. With the great head inquisitor taking one away, two were left in the staff. Eternal Blessing was a blessing bestowed by the gods, meaning that they had rule powers at level-15.

There was no skill below level-15 capable of penetrating Divine Blessing that was also buffed with Eternal Blessing. Those were the rules and only rules of higher status would have been able to fight against it.

Saleen shot seven lightning icicles from the Thunder Dragon Blaster, but they were all absorbed by the Divine Protection and converted into power for the territory. However, the power imbued within the lightning icicles had nullified the Eternal Blessing.

While the Divine Protection had been rendered even more solid and powerful, losing the help of rules meant that if Saleen were to have another seven lightning icicles to spare, that layer of Divine Protection would only last for seconds against them.

Theisio almost felt utterly terrified. If it had been someone else in his place, Saleen would have killed them outright!

There were only three Divine Blessing spells within the staff, and replenishing it required Theisio to communicate directly with the Lord of Glory. He needed to ask for his god to bless him again.

“Hmph, we’ll see each other again soon enough. Your Metatrin City won’t be standing around for long.” Theisio left after uttering his threats.

A thick mist rolled off Saleen’s body. Pure, elemental crystalline coalesced into mage armor on his body. Saleen appeared right behind Theisio.

He then pointed with one finger!

Pfftt…

A bloody hole appeared in Theisio’s body. The pope shouted in terror and Saleen lost a finger, retreating right after that.

The ambush injured Theisio. While the Crystal Finger did not end up killing the pope, it opened up a huge wound over the pope’s heart. Theisio’s heart almost split apart. The third Eternal Blessing came into effect in an instant, mending his heart before he ended up dead.

However, there was no way for the scar on his heart to be restored. Raphael created the Crystal Finger specifically to deal with the Holy See. Healing Arts of the gods were almost ineffective against the Crystal Finger.

If it had not been for the fact that Saleen’s level was too low, far lower than the Lord of Glory, Theisio would have been killed right there and then.

Golden light from the Bramble Crown covered Theisio’s entire body, forming a long golden robe. Theisio was almost killed by Saleen and his rage dissipated in an instant. That mage had been powerful enough to talk to him face to face.

Saleen sighed deep down. If his family badge had still been capable of casting lightning attacks, he would have been able to kill Theisio right there and then. Ambushing Theisio would be incredibly difficult from then on.

Saleen had taken his medicine and applied it externally to his broken finger. The bones were quickly mended and patched up with the help of level-10 magic.

The grandmaster’s gloves were of a very high level. The assassination put a toll on Saleen that he had never experienced before. If it had not been for the glove, his entire body would have exploded from using that move.

The Crystal Finger had destroyed a blessing from a level-15 god. The rule powers were nullified by the Crystal Ring by 90 percent. Then the remaining 10 percent was reduced by the grandmaster’s glove by 90 percent. The recoil that Saleen suffered was less than one percent of the spell’s true might.

As such, he’d only paid the price of one finger.

The Thunder Dragon Blaster, the Crystal Finger, and the family badge were three of the most peculiar objects Saleen had at his disposal. They were also his most powerful.

Of all three skills, only Crystal Finger could be used repeatedly. However, Saleen had ended up spending half of his magic chords after using the move just once. If he were to use it again, he would have had to call it a day right after.

The power of the Crystal Finger grew considerably after he advanced to level-10. Its properties became ferocious. While Saleen had been unable to kill Theisio, he was nonetheless satisfied. It was an experience that could not have been bought, regardless of the amount of money he was willing to pay or the amount of time he was ready to spend.

He was not a genius. He was unable to comprehend and develop anything that he learned as quickly as Jason. However, Saleen’s abilities in certain areas were something that most mages were unable to compare with.

Saleen was absolutely one of the most resilient beings in existence. He was able to endure all manner of negativity his family badge put onto him, year after year. Even if the path leading to strength was set before one’s eyes, there were not many who would be able to tough it out or torture themselves to the extent he had, over and over.

Such torture enabled Saleen to never panic in battle. He was never subjugated by the stunning skills of any enemies.

Saleen had endured all manner of suffering that life had thrown at him. His temperament was not one that could have been fettered by suffering. Even when his finger was broken, Saleen hardly felt any pain. He had instead ingrained all that he had learned from the battle into his memory.

It was the dream of every mage to achieve such an indomitable state of mind.

Saleen wouldn’t be frightened even if the entire plane crumbled right before his eyes. Due to having acquired such a stable state of mind, even though Saleen might have lacked some talents, he was able to keep the rate of advancement on par with common mages.

He did not pursue Theisio who had returned to the side of his 49 red-robed bishops. Many skills of the Holy See were used in tandem. The combined powers of the 49 red-robed bishops were anything but weak. Said powers could be somewhat more terrifying than what Theisio had already displayed. The only difference between those people and Theisio was that they lacked powerful pieces of equipment like the three godly items he had.

If Saleen’s Thunder Dragon Blaster recovered, there were still other ways to take on the pope.

The Flower of Evil disappeared and Theisio took the red-robed bishops into the portal behind the gravestone.

Theisio did not pay any heed to the curse of the King of Glory.

Saleen did not pursue them. The Thunder Dragon Blaster would be recovered an hour later and his magic chords would be replenished by then as well. He stood before the cemetery’s portal and said to the ones behind him, “Do any of you fear the curse?”

“We do,” everyone said at the same time.

“I’m going in, are you people going to follow me inside?”

“We will!” No one hesitated then.

“Don’t let it get to your head. Hold on for a bit,” Saleen said as he took out some star figures and handed one to each of his followers.

Saleen smiled and said, “I’m an astrologer. While there is no way for me to resist the curse of a level-18 professional, I can do something to deflect the curse nonetheless. Wait for me for about half an hour. I’m about to advance.”

Saleen was going to advance to become a level-10 astrologer. When he reached level-10, he was certain that he would be able to lower the power of the curse. Level-9 astrologers had hardly been considered powerful in ancient times.

Lex had the protection from God’s Ring. Saleen did not need such protection for himself. However, he did not want any harm to come to his own people. By getting to level-10, he would be able to use more of the Star Gathering Needle’s power, enabling the star figures to take the curse in their steed.

However, he needed to fulfill his promise and return to the Imperial City of the Abyss after advancing to help Gaine find a level-19 Star Gathering Needle.

Saleen did not mind at all. He had a level 19 Star Gathering Needle in his hand to begin with. Even if he gave that to Gaine, he still had the Ring of Cosmos. Saleen deemed its powers more useful than those of the Star Gathering Needle.

Saleen had no intention of wasting more time on astrology after getting to level-10. The level-19 Star Gathering Needle was little more than a weapon to him, resembling something like the Dragon Crystal Needles.

Saleen had made up his mind—give up on further training in astrology and continue to research magic.

If he were willing to continue training in astrology, Gaine would definitely be willing to stay within their plane and continue to guide him.

However, there is no way Saleen will give up magic!

Regardless of how powerful Gaine was, Saleen deemed that Jason could give him more.

Nailisi, Eleanor, Jola, Sul, Nicholas, Isabella, Daniel, and the others looked at Saleen. He took out the Magical Element Tower and said, “I can train anytime, anywhere. No worries, people. Even if Theisio comes back after getting in there, there is nothing he can do to me.”

Despite what he said, he still felt somewhat disappointed. He had even managed to pierce Theisio’s heart, yet the pope lived.

Theisio would have to be prepared for their next encounter. That skill of his could be nullified by Theisio’s equipment, making it difficult to use on the pope himself.

Seems like the only option left for taking on Theisio is mastering balls of lightning.

Saleen knew that he had been able to hurt Theisio because the pope had underestimated him. Furthermore, the pope was not used to the way he fought.

There was no other mage that was able to move as quickly as Saleen. The pope was unable to calculate Saleen’s movements. That enabled the Crystal Finger to be so powerful. The range of its attack was simply too short. Even when it was used in conjunction with Comet Flash, there were still some loopholes to be exploited.

Those few microseconds were more than enough for Theisio to prep his defenses.

The Magical Element Tower blocked the portal of the cemetery of the giant. Saleen was not concerned about anyone making it out. In actual fact, he would be able to trap everyone inside using such means. However, although Theisio possessed all three of the godly items, Saleen would be able to hold Theisio back for half a month if he used the tower.

With so many red-robed bishops around the pope, they would be able to cast some skills to push the tower further away.

The entrance would truly be sealed off if the tower merged with the cemetery of the giant. It would trap those people inside forever.

The advancement of astrologers was a far more quiet affair than the advancement of mages. They did not even need to lay star charts out. Saleen only needed to absorb the power and knowledge that Gaine had hidden within the level-16 Star Gathering Needle and he would naturally make it to level-10 as an astrologer.

Saleen reached the edge of level-10 after multiple uses of astrology. He even came to possess the power of the level-10 astrologers. It was a benefit brought to him by the level-19 Star Gathering Needle.

Starlight filled the insides of the tower. The space created by the mechanical core of Sky City seemed to have truly been turned into a natural world. If not for the fact that it was only 360 meters in diameter, such illusions would be near-impossible to see through.

Those starlights possessed equal power to the constellation. They basked in every single one of them as if they were being blessed by divine spells.

Eight star-figures were lined up before each of their owners. Saleen took out the level-19 Star Gathering Needle and began infusing power into the figures.

There was a starry sky contained within the level-19 Star Gathering Needle. The power of that sky was ample and seemingly bottomless, enabling Saleen to siphon power from it almost indefinitely.