Badge in Azure

Lex was dumbfounded, “This mountain will give birth to gods?”

Thirty-six-thousand years might seem like a long time, but the history of humans’ disappearance was already about thirty-thousand years long. No one knew exactly when humans moved this mountain there, if…

“Did the stone tablet record the year?” Lex recognized too few holy words to read, so she could only ask Saleen for help.

“No, humans back then didn’t seem to have the concept of era. The Kuseela dynasty dates back longer than we think. Their calendar is calculated according to the paths of the constellations. It is different from our methodology. I only know that this mountain has been standing here for more than thirty-thousand years.”

“If gods are born here, there will be many new species appearing at the same time too,” Lex said astringently.

“Along the way, we didn’t even see any powerful creatures.”

“Many new species will appear… on this land, this is the goddess’ world. She wanted to create a new world.”

“But why didn’t she leave behind a religion? Some powerful believers should have survived!”

“The new goddess isn’t the original Myers.”

As Saleen and Lex conversed, some problems became increasingly clearer.

“The death of two mages is just the beginning, if we do not return soon, the people at the bottom will be in peril.” Not hesitating anymore, Saleen said, “In that case, we shall not conserve the scrolls, with your scrolls and mine, we should be able to wipe out the dwarf demons soon. We must return within three days.”

Lex and Saleen’s analysis was not accurate, but they reached the right conclusion. In the past, two goddess’ envoys had stayed behind, and these two people did not know what methods the goddess had employed. They only lived in the periphery of the temple, waiting in loneliness. The power of these two envoys struck fear in all life in the space created by the goddess, even the gods who had yet to be awakened did not dare to increase their powers blatantly.

The two goddess’ envoys had only left for a brief period, but these gods had already begun creating new species, intending to dominate this space. The parasitic body was just one of them. If the goddess’ envoys were still around, these things would have been exterminated the moment they appeared.

Lex and Saleen opted to use level-7 magic scrolls, starting a straightforward massacre. Lex was naturally anxious since she had lost two grade-5 mages. Now that she knew this place would give birth to gods, she got even more uneasy. The birth of a god was an extremely protracted process. Before it some creatures would appear in this space. Such creatures would become increasingly stronger, and the strongest of them all might even become a demigod.

These creatures would defend the birthplace of the god, and provide food for the new god. What did a god want? Souls and faith!

The cleaning of the underground palace took up another two days. Lex and Saleen had used all their high level group attack scrolls, they were only left with single attack magic scrolls at the moment. The five people began a search of the underground palace, as they made preparations to leave.

The area of the underground palace was slightly larger than the one on the surface, it also had two stories. The underground palace did not have an altar nor accommodation for believers, it only contained warehouses, warehouses, and more warehouses…

Saleen and Lex found a substantial amount of rations, but in comparison to the larger warehouses, these rations could only be considered dregs. The weaponry had been destroyed by the dwarf demons. Anything edible had been devoured by the dwarf demons, including magic heads, beast skins, magic nuclei and medicinal materials. Many crates found in the warehouse could maintain the quality of food for countless years, but they were also eaten by the dwarf demons.

Other than metals, stones, and some poisonous items; the dwarf demons had transformed the underground palace into a junkyard.

Bones, fecal matter, and the disorganized armor and weapons crafted by the dwarf demons accumulated over a long period filled the place. Saleen and the rest patiently searched every corner, killing all the remaining dwarf demons. Thereafter, they collected every edible item, including the remains of the dead dwarf demons.

Lex used a level-7 spell to seal the exit tightly. There was nothing edible left below, even if there were some surviving dwarf demons, it would be impossible for them to reproduce anymore. The sixteen yard deep hole was covered by the Elemental Rock. In order to create an opening, there had to be at least more than ten-thousand dwarf demons taking turns to excavate.

After settling all the matters in the underground palace hurriedly, Saleen, Lex, and the rest of the people left the temple, rushing down the mountain peak.

It was much easier flying downwards, their speed was doubled. In about a month, Saleen and the rest had arrived outside the camp compound.

The camp compound was an utter mess, it had been besieged by some unknown creatures. The exterior metal wall had been repaired countless times, the barracks within the compound were also reinforced with many layers of metal materials, while the four battlements leaned against the body of the mountain. They were almost fully sealed.

Atop a battlement, a hole was revealed, and Nailisi’s face poked out. From afar, she yelled, “Master, come in now, it’s going to be dark soon!”

The magic trap in front of the camp began flashing immediately, and the all-clear logo appeared.

Saleen and Lex waved over, then returned to check their own barracks first. In the barracks, Jola was watching over Eleanor alone. Eleanor laid on a bed and she was obviously injured.

Seeing Saleen enter, Eleanor smiled, then said, “I knew you didn’t die, my magic liquid has been used up.”

Saleen immediately took out some magic liquid, giving it to Eleanor. Sika asked, “Where are the rest?”

“The demons have gone to assist Lex’s swordmasters, Su is helping Nailisi man the battlement,” Jola replied.

“Well done. Eleanor, tell me, who attacked all of you?”

“It was a kind of magic beast, they looked like monkeys and are not very big in size. They can use magic attacks and moves pretty fast too.”

“Do you not recognize them?”

“I do not, they are not even listed in the illustrated book,” Eleanor replied. Saleen knew that Eleanor recognized many more magic beasts than he did. This elf was much older than himself after all. Other than progressing slower in terms of magic, Eleanor’s knowledge and experience was more profound than Saleen’s. If even Eleanor could not recognize them, then it was possible it was a new species.

“Did they have a leader?”

“They didn’t seem to have one, but these magic beasts knew how to use simple weapons, they should have a common language I guess.”

“Why didn’t you all leave?”

Eleanor laughed bitterly, then said, “Lex’s men weren’t willing to descend the mountain, and it is also easier to defend on a slope compared to flat land.”

“Understood. Cuisi, switch with Nailisi, ask her to come see me.”

Cuisi nodded his head and left the barrack. When Nailisi saw Saleen, she immediately dashed forward and hugged Saleen, saying, “Master, you didn’t die, that’s really good.”

Saleen did not know whether to laugh or cry, then said, “Quit fooling around, if I were dead, you would be the first to know. Tell me, what happened?”

Nailisi then revealed that she had sent Luola to follow the two mages, and thus obtained information about the parasitic bodies. She also disclosed the theological knowledge she had gotten from Ismail, as well as her own deductions.

“Tell me, why did the magic beasts only attack at night?”

“In the beginning, there were magic beasts harassing the camp compound in the day. After getting hammered by Lex’s mages, those magic beasts then decided to attack at night,” Nailisi answered.

“Eleanor, your injuries…”

“I was only using my magic too frequently without rest, I will make a full recovery in a day or two.” After consuming magic liquid, Eleanor looked much better already. She consoled Saleen, and did not conceal any information about her own health.

“Jola, go look for Lex, ask her to come over and discuss the matter of leaving.”

Very soon, Lex came to Saleen’s barracks. The mages in her team had used the crystals to record the scene during battle, so she had a more detailed understanding about the magic beasts who attacked the camp compound. Nailisi did not vie for the battle spoils with Lex’s men, all of the corpses were managed by Lex’s warriors.

Lex had brought along a batch of intermediate level magic nuclei, while those magic beasts who attacked the camp compound were all creatures above grade-4.

A lone grade-4 creature was no big deal, but if in groups, they would be very troublesome. No wonder even Nailisi was not willing to leave the camp, she would rather defend this place until her last breath. The sturdiness of this camp was equivalent to that of a miniature fortress. With alchemical crossbows and ten swordmasters taking turns to guard the main entrance, the camp would not suffer a sneak attack.

The flesh of these magic beasts was toxic, while the rations left behind by Lex were about to be finished soon. If Lex still did not return, these people would have to take the risk of ascending the mountain to look for her.

Saleen listened intently to the description of the battle by Lex and her mages, as he thought to himself, “It is obvious Nailisi didn’t tell Lex’s men about the goods I have given to her. If I reveal it now, there may be some misunderstandings. Seems like I have to have a good chat with Nailisi. To Lex’s men, you cannot take everything out, but you cannot sit aside and watch them sink into danger either.

“Viscountess, it seems like the attacks by the magic beasts are not very frequent, we can still take turns to rest in the day. We shall rest for two days, repair all the armor and equipment first, then we will breakout and leave.” Saleen was of course worried about Eleanor’s injury. He only had this one mage with him, while the rest of the people were very energetic, especially the few demons.

The moment a battle erupted in the demonic plane, it would either end very soon, or it would result in several months of pursuit and extermination. The demons had long acclimatized to such a life.

“Okay, take this, I will let Nailisi’s subordinates give you a hand.” Lex did not say anything. The Spirit Snake Armor of her swordmasters was in need of huge repairs, their weapons were also greatly damaged. As the spatial equipment of those mages was too small, the mages could not bring along too many resources, they could only help replenish the depletion of magic nuclei.

From this location to the desert, the journey would take a few days. It was likely that the team would meet with danger along the way, so they had to be sufficiently prepared before leaving.

Saleen received the memory crystals. Seeing that Lex had left, he then glared at Nailisi and asked, “Why didn’t you help Lex’s people? You had food and water.”

“They suspected me of killing those two mages, if they had sufficient food, they might have targeted me,” Nailisi argued. Even though Nailisi’s words made sense, Lex’s men would not try to kill her because they would have considered Saleen’s relationship with Lex.

Saleen snorted, the demons had already returned at this point in time. When Saleen noticed the tattered and torn armor on the demons, he knew that the battle was indeed very tough, so he stopped berating Nailisi. He instructed the demons to remove their armor, then he began repairing their equipment.