Badge in Azure

“But, if you were to follow me, it would mean that you’ve fallen all the same,” Saleen said with a plain tone.

“Your highness, the way I see it, betraying the Lord of Glory would not be considered as falling. Besides, Lord Fycro has already written my name on the Book of Salvation,” Picasso answered sincerely.

“What do you mean by ‘Book of Salvation?’”

“It’s a godly item, capable of preventing one from suffering the effects of falling,” Picasso answered.

“Did Theisio know that such a piece of equipment existed?”

“That’s a secret of Lord Fycro.”

“Why would you tell me then?”

“Lord Fycro told me to be upfront if you were to ask about it. He had also asked that you keep this a secret.”

Saleen nodded and said, “I would bring this up with Fycro if you’re willing to come to my side. My Nature Faith lacks people. If you don’t like religions, there’s no need for you to embrace it… I’d set up a Fourth Pivotal in the Nature Faith and you’d be in charge.”

“What would this Fourth Pivotal be?”

“There are the Temple Knights, Temple Pivotals, and Oracle Temples within the ranks of the Nature Faith. All three of them have adherents in them. As for your Fourth Pivotal, it would serve as something resembling the Tribunal, taking care of things and people that the faith finds inconvenient to deal with.”

“How many among my people would be adherents of the faith then?”

“None. The Fourth Pivotal answers to me at the end of the day. Not even the pope would be able to command you.”

Picasso was smart enough to realize right there and then that it was a measure for Saleen to keep the Nature Faith in control in the long run. As for Picasso, it was actually a good thing.

Embracing the faith of a god was troublesome business and he had long ago seen through the flaws. Fycro was willing to dig Picasso up because of Saleen.

“Thank you, your highness. If Lord Fycro is willing to set me free, I shall do my best.”

“Now that you have left the Pivotal Council, what are you exactly?”

“The Book of the Fallen erased my name in the list of believers. My divine arts are still intact, yet they lean towards darkness. I’m now a dark holy master,” Picasso answered.

“The Lord of Glory sure is interesting,” Saleen quipped, then said no more. Picasso seemed to have been prepared long ago and was reluctant to talk any further with him. He bowed and left the carriage.

The Chaotic Swamp’s area was small and the carriage ran on the swamp as if it was on flat land. It was capable of treading over mud without any problems. The carriage brought Saleen before a tower after traveling for hundreds of miles.

Saleen got out of the carriage and looked at the tower, then struggled to keep from bursting into laughter. Fycro had simply rebuilt the magic tower. That place had probably been a magic tower built by a powerful mage of the Second Dynasty and had long ago been destroyed.

It was apparent that Fycro had not looked for the temple where Saleen found had Nailisi. There was a small city behind the tower. The city was entirely white and built from stone. The stones that were used in its construction were not of the same material.

They were refined using divine arts, turning them into stones of the same material and the same color.

There was a rocky mountain behind the small white city, a steep one. There were poisonous swamps at its flanks and it was apparent that there were huge divine rune charm arrays placed throughout. There was a huge fissure behind the tower and before the white city with a wire bridge across it.

The white city had no creativity in its construction and had been built square and sturdy. Saleen thought for a bit and realized what had happened.

The carriage had taken a detour around the tower and entered the white city through the wire bridge. Saleen looked into the fissure on the ground as they went across the wire bridge. There were signs of space fractures below the fissure. The fissure was not formed naturally, but something created forcefully by powerful professionals.

After crossing the bridge, Saleen found that there seemed to be hundreds of thousands of worlds within the fissure. Boundless energy rules were in chaos, making detection impossible. It was a result of a clash between some unknown skills cast by two powerful professionals.

The carriage was going very slowly and Saleen tried to commit everything to memory. It was deliberately being shown to him by Fycro as a gift. He would not have let others cross the bridge without good reason.

One would have been able to take the chance to look into the rules of power within the fissure when they were moving at certain speeds on the bridge.

Fycro’s vista was bigger than Theisio’s!

Saleen had his worries but quickly put the, aside. It was impossible to expect his future enemies to all be unbearably weak. If he were to accomplish what he set out to do, then it would mean that he needed to raise his powers to a level where no one else could reach. It was the only correct way to do so.

Fycro never dismissed his own thoughts and simply worked on them. It was a testament to Fycro’s confidence that he would one day become a god.

There were countless geniuses throughout the mainland. If one were to kill every single one of them, one would have exhausted all the time they had, meaning that they would have been left with no time to do what they had to do.

The inside of the white city hardly differed from any common city. The entire city seemed like a factory. Saleen did not see a church but found a huge altar with countless idols of gods on it instead. The idols were all made with the fragments of the fossilized gods and were imbued with divinity.

It seemed that Fycro had people in either the Pivotal Council or the Tribunal. Materials like that would not have fallen into his hands otherwise. The Oracle Corps did not send people to fight at Daliang City after all.

Saleen came to realize that Fycro had long intended to negotiate with him. It seemed that Fycro had quite an understanding of fate as well. When dealing with fate, resisting it through and through was not the right way to go, as fate was devoid of any sentiments.

The powers that be and life itself seemed to have nothing to do with each other.

Regardless of whether one resited or went along with it, fate would always flow like a great river.

Astrologers knew their fates, but that did not prevent them from going extinct. The profession was not even comparable to mages, as mages left behind a great deal of knowledge.

Besides, as the power of mage continued to grow at such frightening rates in the present day, there would probably be mages standing at the very top every time the power across Myers Mainland was raised.

Astrologers kept advising others to go along with fate, but they themselves kept resisting it.

Fycro’s residence was a three-story house. There were no defenses around it, only two knights waiting for Saleen at the gates. They were not wearing official armor and they were unarmed.

Saleen and the others were invited into the house. Fycro sat waiting for them in the living room, researching a piece of metal machinery. Fycro smiled and bowed as Saleen entered. Saleen returned the gesture and Fycro said, “Your Highness Saleen, would you mind helping me to find out what is wrong with this thing?”

Fycro behaved very politely and amicably as if Saleen was an old friend of many years of his.

Nailisi pouted and followed behind Saleen. She held a Sword of Rules in her hand, getting ready to deal with the fellow before them.

Saleen was not as tense as she was. From Fycro’s perspective, the two level-12 oracles were giving him a lot of pressure, so he needed an ally to deal with them. While Saleen was reluctant to become an ally of Fycro, there was no doubt that they would be able to take on the oracles together.

Jola and the others were tense as well. Nicholas was even more on guard against Fycro than anyone else in their party. He clenched the Scepter of the Fallen tight, getting ready to burst with the most explosive of his attacks.

Eleanor simply stood at the door and did not bother to go in.

Fycro seemed not to see any of them as he only greeted Saleen.

Saleen came before the table. There was a piece of complex metal machinery on it that looked like some huge bug. It had over a dozen metal legs and there were long, foldable wings on its back. The wings were translucent and were completely opened. There were two complex eyes on the head of the metal bug.

The eyes were filled with layers of holy prose. Saleen only took one look and it caught his attention.

Insects were comparatively low-level creatures, yet their eyes were very intricately built. The eyes of many insects were so complex that not even mages were able to research them.

The metal bug that Fycro showed Saleen had actually managed to replicate the compound eyes of insects, and furthermore, they actually displayed the properties of compound eyes.

Mages hoped to be able to create such compound eyes to be used on combat puppets. Conventional puppets only needed eyes created using crystals, but combat puppets needed to be aware of complex directions and positions in order for them to cover all angles when doing battle.

However, that was not the point. There was nothing wrong with the metal bug’s compound eyes. What was problematic was the internal structure of the bug itself. The internal structure of bugs in nature consisted mostly of liquids, yet that metal bug did not replicate that part, as its internal structure consisted of complex machinery.

However, all of that machinery consisted of tiny metal balls that were interconnected yet capable of working on their own.

The problem was with those tiny metal balls. The machinery would have been able to work normally despite losing half of their metal balls, yet the bug jammed at present.

Repairing it would not have been difficult for Saleen. His calculative abilities were such that there were hardly any among level-10 mages would have been able to compare to.

“Fycro, you’re not telling me that you’re giving me one huge gift, are you? Saleen looked at Fycro and asked. The calculations involved could have been more complex and it would not have bothered Saleen at all. He had a huge group of mages at his disposal after all.

“You could say that,” Fycro said in a composed manner. “You provide me with similar help, and I will give you detailed schematics of that pair of compound eyes. Your abilities are such that you’d be able to create something suitable for the mages’ use.”

“Would such cooperation require you getting me to come here all the way?”

“Of course it would. Well, I lack the help of mages right now. There is little to talk about between me and Alchemy City. The only one that came to mind was you,” Fycro answered with immense sincerity.

“Let’s talk about the important part of the deal.” Saleen was unmoved. If what Fycro wanted the most was not something within Saleen’s ability to help with, then there was simply no need to talk about the smaller problems.

“No, we’ll get to the deal later. Saleen, I want to cancel the contract with you.” Fycro’s had just uttered unbelievable words.

Saleen was dumbfounded. The contract was one that benefited Fycro immensely.

“It was my fault back then for forcing you to sign that contract. And the one with Lex, let’s cancel all of them,” Fycro said to Saleen with a smile.

“Are you worried that my level will get higher than yours?”

“No, Saleen. I’m worried you are thinking that I’m not being sincere about wanting to work with you. You see, I could have taken your life any moment that I wished back then, but I didn’t because I thought that you were someone blessed by fate. It would benefit Myers Mainland if you grew.”

“What do you mean by that!? You’re a holy master, aren’t you!?”

“Holy masters are people too. Saleen, canceling the contract does you no harm, so why not do it?”

Saleen thought for a bit and smiled. He then said, “Alright, we’ll cancel the contract. But, even if the contract is canceled, it does not necessarily mean that I will agree to what you’re going to propose.”

“Don’t you want Picasso?”

“I do!”

“Well, we’re back in business then,” Fycro said as he took out a peculiar-looking scroll.