Badge in Azure

Saleen did not interact directly with Bifano. Instead, he came beside Lex and whispered to her, describing everything that was happening outside.

Lex also got a headache. Compared to Saleen, she had a greater understanding of the Agares family. Other than Titan, the Agares family still had various hideouts throughout the mainland. By returning to Fire Dance City and wanting to establish the temple as his base by putting up a strong resistance, Bifano wanted to send a symbolic message to the people ruled by the Agares family. That was that the family they were serving had not collapsed.

This was an intelligent move. As the representative of the Agares family, Bifano simply needed to remain active in Titan to give hope to the people ruled by the Agares family. They would not be seized by Cloudflow.

The Qin Empire, though, did a thorough job. After the Grand Duke of Phoenix died, Holy Rock City immediately assigned a youth to inherit his position. Even though Phoenix Duchy objected strongly, it still gave in eventually.

If Bifano was killed now, it would mean that the Agares family would lose most hopes of regaining their duchy. Even if there was an opportunity to integrate the powers, too many advantageous terms would have been lost. This would be the hatred caused by the dissolution of the duchy. By then, the powers that belonged to the Agares family, would definitely seek harsh vengeance.

A large duchy would definitely have a sorcerer. Phoenix’s sorcerer had been sent away by Holy Rock City, but Cloudflow did not have the authority to do so.

“If the Agares family’s sorcerer was deployed to deal with me, there will be a lot of trouble.”

Lex glanced at Nailisi in exasperation, “This strange woman has created so much trouble. Judging by Saleen’s attitude, he still won’t abandon her.”

“At least one month will be needed for the Metatrin City to calculate the position of the main temple. We will remain here, and Bifano cannot be killed. If he is killed, we will need to act immediately and rush to the Purgatory Desert.” Lex paused for a moment, then continued, “We will need to wait in the Purgatory Desert for half a month.”

“Does the Agares family have the ability to intercept us?” Saleen probed.

“They can’t, but as long as news of me in Titan is leaked, Cloudflow and Tanggulasi will deploy massive manpower to capture me.” Lex’s tone inevitably had a tinge of annoyance.

She had the God’s Ring, which could withstand a blow from a grade-9 sorcerer. That was only one chance. After usage, the God’s Ring would need to be recharged. If Cloudflow or Tanggulasi was pursuing her, the number of people deployed would be humongous. They would also clip her wings first. By then, she might not be able to protect Saleen and the rest anymore.

Originally, the cooperation with the Agares family was going to be a long-term affair, and Bifano was a crucial part of it. If Lex wanted to kill him, she would need to wait until Titan was stable. Lex had the same thoughts as Saleen. Anything else would have to wait until after entering the main temple and obtaining the seeds belonging to the four divine trees.

At the moment, Nailisi had messed everything up, it would be useless even if she was handed to the Agares family. five-thousand elite soldiers from the Agares family had been wiped out, this was no small matter. These five-thousand men had the ability to withstand two regular swordsman’s camps from Cloudflow.

Saleen clenched his teeth, and said, “I will not abandon Nailisi. Since the deed has been done, it should be done thoroughly. We shall leave immediately and enter the Purgatory Desert, I don’t believe those people can chase us all the way there.”

Lex nodded her head ruthlessly, as she thought, “If I knew this would happen, I would have brought Daniel along so that Bifano could be converted into a spirit, and more information could be obtained. It is impossible to obtain the secrets of the Agares family by interrogation. These pedigree descendants have a special secret skill to protect themselves. Even if I was imprisoned, I will not reveal the secrets of the Grukos family.”

“What are you trying to do?!” Bifano struggled wildly as he tried to sit up, but Jola simply kicked him in the waist. Bifano had already lost his Sword Aura, so it felt like his intestines were being stabbed by hundreds of small knives. He spit out blood and lost consciousness.

Bifano was being a smart aleck. Even if he did not transmit a message to the outside world, Lex and Saleen also would not kill him immediately. As long as Bifano remained alive, there would be another chance. At this point in time, Saleen had no choice but to enter the Purgatory Desert earlier. Bifano could not be kept alive any longer.

“Let’s go, we shall leave.” Saleen released the skeletal warhorses from his Green Spirit, while two fully constructed puppets were in charge of steering the chariots. Lex’s swordmasters also got on the skeletal warhorses. As the doors to the hall were pushed open, a thick bloody smell filled the air. Other than Nailisi, everyone else stared at the scene outside in horror.

Bloody corpses were strewn across the ground. Countless bugs were perched atop the bodies. The largest bug was as huge as a warhorse while the smallest was only the size of a fist. Deafening creaks filled the air, as the bugs devoured the bodies and the armor of the fallen. To make things more ridiculous, there were four alluringly beautiful ladies standing amidst all the bodies, their beauty was unparalleled.

These four women wore pale-colored long dresses, without a single stain of blood on them dresses.

Nailisi knocked on the chariot’s window, and told the four ladies, “Come onboard.”

The four demons boarded the magic war chariot in an orderly fashion, and they immediately noticed that a young mage was observing them. That mage had a pair of azure eyes, and his eyes contained a symbol which flowed about constantly. The symbol contained a kind of destructive power. The scary thing was, his soul was even mightier than all their four souls combined!

Saleen’s eyes contained the secret lines of lightning which originated from the badge. Unknowingly, in the process of rearing the lightning dragons, he had forged stronger bonds with the badge.

The four demons knelt down at once in front of Saleen and addressed him as their “Master”.

Saleen sighed, “These four are the demons, it seems like their offensive powers are almost the same as Nailisi’s. They will definitely be of great help to me.” The demons had appeared at an inopportune time though, Saleen had no way of explaining it to Lex.

“Go sit in the corners. Take care of everyone in the chariot, no one should come to harm.” Saleen gave the first order.

The four demons nodded their heads in compliance, then they took their positions at both ends of the cabin. Lex stared at the four ladies strangely as they possessed neither magic chords nor the Sword Aura, which was extremely similar to Nailisi.

Cuisi lowered his eyelids, catching sight of the ring on Lex’s finger. He was astonished by it, it was godly equipment! Unlike the other three demons, he had attained very high status in the demonic dimension, he did not even need to behave lowly in front of the devils. Cuisi had a wider exposure. The Monarch of Demons possessed powerful equipment too, but none could rival the ring on that woman’s finger.

The magic war chariots left the square in haste, as hundreds of magic bugs abandoned the corpses and followed behind stealthily. The swordmasters following the war chariots felt chills in their heart, but they did not dare make any noise. They simply rode on the skeletal warhorses, silently tailing the war chariots. Fortunately, the magic bugs did not get aggressive.

In front of the main entrance to the temple, Saleen looked at the two colossal walls regretfully. At least for now, he had no way of obtaining those metallized steel rocks. If he knew this would happen, he would have dug at the walls first.

“Saleen, this chariot is too packed.” Lex did not say anything else, she simply shoved open the doors and flew into the other chariot. Saleen was too embarrassed to hold her back. It was indeed more packed now that there were four more demons inside.

“Master, is the viscountess angry?” Nailisi asked gingerly.

“Who cares.” Sika patted Nailisi’s shoulders. For the first time, she felt that Nailisi had done a good job. Finally, Lex had been driven away. While Lex was here, Sika felt very uncomfortable.

Since Sika had said that, Saleen did not have any other opinion. As the war chariots exited the gates, Saleen used the Ring of Gifts, given to him by Eleanor. He used it to open the channel, and the whole group of them left the temple.

In Saleen’s hands, this ring became totally different. Saleen had a deified left hand, he could exert divine strength at will, so the openness of the temple was no longer limited by time. After leaving, Saleen did not forget to re-seal the channel. The magic bugs and remaining soldiers in the temple would never be able to leave.

Unless someone opened this channel from the outside, those humans would starve to death even if they did not get killed by the magic bugs. Long ago, the temple which Nailisi sought refuge in contained many devils who died as a result of being trapped inside.

Previously, when everyone entered the swamp, they behaved cautiously. Without the burden of the army, this perilous swamp was akin to a piece of flat land for these magic war chariots and the forty riders.

In the other magic war chariot, Lex had a face full of worry. Other than the four grand mages serving her, there was another middle-aged man too. He was Bain, who had been in concealment all this while.

“Viscountess, why are you worrying, Saleen doesn’t have any intention to kill you.” Seeing that Lex never spoke a word, Bain decided to console her.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course, when those four monsters came onboard, Saleen felt even more anxious than you.” Bain noticed every single detail, but he also could not decipher much about those four people. He could see right through Saleen though. In that moment, Saleen was ready to spring into action.

“Those things, are magic bugs right?”

“You are a mage, you should know more than me.” Bain smiled. His powers had increased dramatically, he was now Lex’s number one subordinate. After Faerun died, he had unknowingly become Lex’s most trusted aide.

“Since they are magic bugs, those four women should be demons then,” Lex mumbled to herself.

“Nailisi should be one too, didn’t you hear them addressing Saleen as their master?” Bain reminded Lex.

“This is too dangerous.” Lex was extremely concerned. As a mage, she knew how difficult it was to control a demon. She would never expect Nailisi and Saleen to have the most stable connection, a soul contract. Those four demons were wrapped around Nailisi’s fingers, they would not dare rebel.

“Viscountess, Saleen must have his way of controlling a demon. Long ago, Nailisi had followed him to the Bitter Water Prefecture. If something could happen, it would have happened, it wouldn’t be delayed until now.”

“What do you mean?”

“If possible, you should get Saleen to help you subdue a demon.”

“I have you around, I don’t need a demon,” Lex interrupted Bain’s sentence.

“Viscountess, my training has run into some problems. Even though I can withstand a single blow from a Golden Grand Swordmaster, I am not a Golden Grand Swordmaster. I am also old, I will not be able to follow you for long, but a demon is a creature with a very long life.”