Badge in Azure

Chapter 1489: Agares’ Shadow (Part 3)

A level eight dark flame ogre?

Arbola observed the creature carefully, wanting to be sure that her assessment was not faulty.

“I once belonged to a human, and they shared a similar presence to you, so you two are probably from the same plane. You’re powerful, human mage, but you’re unable to go home. Sign a contract with me, and you shall get a set of plane coordinates. With that, you’d be able to return to your plane. It’s only a technical problem.”

The dark flame ogre tempted Arbola. Even though she knew that the creature was up to no good, if she signed such a contract with it, she would be able to take control of its life. One way or another, she would not be put into any danger.

Just a contract slot wasted, that’s all. She convinced herself and took out a blank scroll, beginning to write the contract. Low level creatures like that dark flame ogre were usually beneath signing a soul bond with. Arbola changed her mind, and her magic pen was seen writing something different, drafting a slave contract instead.

The scroll was finished and it was sent flying to the dark flame ogre, who looked and quickly pricked its tail. A drop of flaming blood shot out and seeped into the scroll, which burned the scroll to cinders.

“Hehe.” The dark flame ogre chuckled and shot into Arbola’s body.

Arbola was alerted. That dark flame ogre’s attitude suggested that it was her who had been set up. She wanted to drive the dark flame ogre out of her body, before finding that the creature had disappeared without a trace.

How could this be possible? Arbola searched her soul. She was of equal level to Saleen, but her soul was not as powerful as his. Only one of the three parts of her soul returned to her body. The contractual brand with the dark flame ogre on that soul was still there, but it was fused with another contract.

Arbola was totally frightened. Just what the hell is that thing? How could it violate the power of rules and alter the contract!?

“Your reputation precedes you, Lord Arbola.” A man was heard behind her.

Arbola turned around furiously. Her skin was covered with goosebumps.

She recognized the man who was behind her. He was none other than the emperor of the Cloudflow Empire, Agares.

“I’d like to thank Saleen for giving me Snakerun. I sure as hell did not expect that it would trigger my special powers. I wouldn’t have been a match against you otherwise.” Agares smirked and extended his hand, touching Arbola’s face like a child looking at a toy.

Arbola discovered that not only were her arms and legs were stiffened and bound, but she was unable to even command the Mark of the Six-winged Flying Snake with her power of the soul anymore.

How could Agares be this powerful?

“This is only a technical problem.” Agares smiled. “I have Saleen to thank for everything that has happened so far. He is a pesky fellow and is much better off dead.”

Arbola became dazed by Agares’ voice. That brand deep in her soul became even more powerful without her realizing it. If she had been fully awake and willing to get severely injured, she would have had a chance of shaking free of his control. However, her immense pride had been completely shattered, preventing her from being able to react in time.

If it had been Saleen or Sika in the situation, they would choose to harm their enemy at their own expense right away, burning their own souls together Agares’.

The mages of Golden Plains, as Saleen put it, were all just people with frail minds under their prideful facades.

Agares waved the dagger in his hand. “This is Snakerun, which was crafted using 12-dimensional metal. The amount of such metal available on every plane would be enough for making only a single weapon. But it would be possible to make several weapons of such small sizes. Saleen kept quite a lot for himself.”

“How did you…” Arbola struggled and managed to only mutter a few words, before losing control of her body again.

Agares spoke carefully, “there is no need to rush. I possess the ability to traverse spaces, and that ability comes from this weapon. But the spaces I can travel to are limited, so I chose somewhere more remote and hidden, which is right where we are standing. My eyes allow me to see through the barriers of space. Before you and that holy master showed up, I’d already been waiting for quite some time.”

Agares was not actually telling the truth. He had been keeping an eye on Saleen, hoping to get something from the mage. He was able to see Saleen’s luck and knew that it was not time for him to get on Saleen’s bad side, so Saleen’s enemies became ideal candidates for him.

When Van Gogh exiled Arbola, Agares followed. He used the most powerful skill he had—Assassin’s Shadow.

The skill was conjured into a dark flame ogre, tempting Arbola to sign a contract with it. Arbola was too prideful to sign a soul bond, enabling him to exploit the opening.

Everything proceeded per Agares’ calculations. Even Arbola’s current hesitation was well within his predictions.

If an assassin were unable to keep the situation under control and use whatever was available to their advantage, then they would never amount to much in their lifetime.

Arbola listened to every word he said without realizing what she was doing. The fusion of the contractual brand in her soul was already unstoppable.

“You really shouldn’t get on Saleen’s bad side. Even I, a great assassin, was forced to put the plans to assassinate him aside. I could only stalk him like a snake.” Agares smirked and saw Arbola’s shadow gradually disappear. The snakes from the Mark of the Six-winged Flying Snake returned one after another. Without the snakes in the way of the abyssal creatures, they quickly overran the valley.

Agares slashed his Snakerun in front of him, creating a huge fissure. The valley was cut in half. The abyssal creatures shrieked in pain as they were cut to pieces.

“I might be an assassin, but I like to pretend to be a swordsman at times.” Agares looked at the effects of his attack and felt pleased with himself. He drew a hexagram with his dagger and a huge black hole appeared behind him.

“Come with me, Arbola. I did say I’d bring you hom.,” Agares leapt into the black hole. Arbola followed, still dazed.

A swamp was found on the other side of the black hole. A man and a woman had already been waiting for Agares. They were none other than Van Gogh and Jalin.

“How was it? You got what you came for?” Van Gogh asked anxiously. If Arbola was not kept on a leash, then Jalin would be a problem sooner or later. Worse still, he was very reluctant to kill Jalin off.

Agares smiled and Arbola followed right behind him, emerging from that black hole.

Van Gogh was relieved. Agares’ skill was indeed superb when used in conjunction with his own. He took control of Jalin while Agares took control of Arbola.

If they did so more often, both his and Agares’ powers would grow exponentially.

However, it was still thanks to Saleen, in a weird way. Becoming an enemy of Saleen had a way of severely messing up one’s luck. Van Gogh found that out the hard way.

“So, what are we going to do next?” Van Gogh asked. He knew that Agares was a lunatic. If he maintained a working relationship with the assassin, he needed to show more respect.

Van Gogh did not care for superficial things. He deemed that there would be a day, when he had grown powerful enough, that he would be to kill Agares off. The best companion was also potentially the greatest enemy.

“We’ll need to get more enemies for Saleen. He has superb luck, and that won’t work well for his enemies.” Agares laughed. While he was a lunatic, he did not dare to move against Saleen for the time being. Saleen’s lightning skill prevented his skill at deception and shadows from finding an opening.

Van Gogh did not think as highly of Saleen, but he dared not become Saleen’s enemy on his own. He was unable to manipulate Saleen. He had once intended to use the three mages of the Elemental Hand to keep Saleen in check. However, the three mages ended up nowhere to be found, and Saleen did not even bother asking about their whereabouts. He simply got someone else to replace them.

Van Gogh had gotten exasperated. If it had not been for Agares, who proposed to work with him, Van Gogh would have been run over by Saleen. It was the Goddess of Myers’ idea to have him gain luck from the temples. However, it was not known if the goddess truly intended to back him, or simply used him to train Saleen.

Van Gogh kept his guard up against gods. There had never been a god who made a move without a good reason, and it was not their nature to simply give and not ask anything in return.

“Well, we’ll need a specific target for starters.” Van Gogh communicated with Agares patiently.

“Target? Do I really need to spell it out? Van Gogh, is the man you hate and resent the most Saleen?”

“Of course not. I don’t resent Saleen for anything. He’s just an enemy, that’s all.”

“You said it yourself then. An enemy like Saleen can always be dealt with later. You may not even need to face him up close and personal forever. But there is one enemy who will always haunt you until you get rid of them. Well, no need to get rid of them actually. They would serve as one hell of a shadow for me.”

“Who would that be?”

“The great Lord of Glory, of course! That god you used to sing praises to.”

“The Lord of Glory!” Van Gogh gritted his teeth immediately. He only discovered after advancing that his soul was incomplete, as he had given some parts to his god.

Humans really were stupid, giving up their most precious thing just for that bit of temptation.

But he did not become a holy master by his own will. Only by killing the Lord of Glory would he be able to reach the pinnacle of human profession. His incomplete soul would mean that he would be unable to move past level 16 otherwise.

“Right. If I took control of the Lord of Glory, I’d return the bits of your soul to you. If I can’t control him, we’ll just kill him and you’d be able to mend your soul. This is all in your favor one way or another, don’t you think?” Agares smiled.

“Indeed.” Van Gogh was rather irked, but it was all an act he put up in front of Agares. If he were fine with everything, then Agares’ would be unhappy.

Agares laughed even louder after seeing Van Gogh feeling angry.

“Don’t be angry, Van Gogh. I know a way to connect the Lord of Glory’s divine kingdom to Myers Mainland. Doing so would cause countless angels to flood the plane. What do you think would happen then?”

“That would be beautiful…we could kill to our hearts’ content!” Van Gogh answered.