Badge in Azure

Fycro!

Upon hearing this name, Saleen felt like giving up. Fycro was the first oracle of the Holy See. There was no way he could not tell that Saleen possessed the godly power of the Goddess of Nature. Without a doubt, both of them stood on opposing sides and no amount of strategizing or pleading would change that.

“You should not have come.” The first words out of Saleen’s mouth were not what Fycro expected.

“Why shouldn’t I have come?” Fycro was curious and asked. He had enveloped Saleen into a dimension that he had refined so the people around him would not be able to find him. Although Saleen was a grade-6 mage, there was no way he could fly straight up to heaven.

Saleen thought about using his clan badge to attack him by surprise. In this dimension, aside from the white light, he could not sense any other elements and his mental strength had also been slowed down greatly though. If only he still had the ring of gifts. Now that he had kept the badge within the demonic ring, he was unable to retrieve it.

Fycro was standing only five yards in front of Saleen, but Saleen did not dare to attack him with the crystal finger. By attacking someone as strong as Fycro, even if he was only injured, Saleen might not survive the counterattack. Saleen could clearly remember a similar incident in the past. The crystal finger was powerful enough to kill people that were two or three grades above him, but the price to pay was great.

If Fycro was hurt, Saleen would probably lose his life very quickly too.

Whatever he had learned in the past would have no effect on Fycro. The first oracle of the Holy See looked about Saleen’s age, but the former only looked youthful on the outside. His eyes showed maturity. When he looked at Saleen, he did not look down on him. Instead, he was smiling as he looked at Saleen as an equal.

The God’s pet possessed a humble character and the brightest stars. He was a flawless disciple.

“These are the lands of the empire. I recall that there is a bond between the Holy See and the empires that stated that should someone of your grade come to our lands, it was equivalent to challenging the pride and honor of Alchemy City.”

“Mage Saleen, you must be reasonable.” Fycro’s reply stunned Saleen. “This fellow wants to talk reason with me? Who could believe him?!”

“Indeed, there is such a bond in existence for the past one-thousand years. I am afraid that you might not be too clear about its details. As a mage, you killed my subordinate, high priest Kosian. I have the right to look for you on my own. You see, I have been here for a few months now and I have not done anything in revenge. In fact, I have even helped you solve some problems in your city.” Fycro said to Saleen with a smile.

Saleen might be able to deceive Picasso, but that would not work on Fycro. He did not have the courage to refute Fycro’s claim that he killed Kosian. Saleen discovered something strange in Fycro’s eyes that should not be there; arrogance.

It was not that Fycro could not destroy Metatrin City if he wished, it was that he simply did not care to do so. Even the Lord of Glory said that he was a humble guide, so why was there arrogance in his eyes?

Even if that was the case, Saleen had no intentions of admitting defeat. Fycro did not try to kill him immediately so that meant that there was still room for negotiations.

“You did not come to kill me, right?” Saleen decided to keep his water shield. Fycro’s powers were immeasurable. Putting the water shield aside, even the grade-8 crystal reflection would not have been able to defend against his attacks.

“Killing you is just one of the options. I hope that things will not have to end up that way.” Fycro did not care that Saleen knew his demands or whether Saleen had anything to threaten him with. If Saleen refused, Fycro would just have to kill him. He would rather think of other ways to reach a compromise with Saleen.

To reach a compromise with a mage would be a stupid decision. A mage’s bond possessed a restricting effect that was as powerful as godly strength.

“Even if I do not agree to whatever you are going to demand, wait for a few more months before killing me.”

“After a few months?” Fycro did not know whether to laugh or not while looking at Saleen, waiting expectantly for him to elaborate.

“I have an appointment with someone. If I don’t turn up, he will be upset. I am afraid of that.”

“Someone with as much guts as you yet you is afraid? Who is this person you are meeting? I am interested to know.” As Fycro said this, Saleen caught another hint of arrogance in his eyes.

“A person named Joey in Holy Rock City.”

Fycro became serious and stared at Saleen and asked, “Does he have a head full of red hair?”

“You don’t have to test me. His hair is green,” Saleen laughed coldly.

“Green? He has actually reached grade-10. Unbelievable. So, do you plan to die or collaborate with me?” Clearly, Fycro knew who Joey was, but he was not about to be thrown off by what Saleen said.

“You threaten me with death. Is that still considered collaboration?” Saleen could tell that Fycro did not come to kill him or he would not have spent so much effort talking. With his abilities, Fycro could enter the purgatory desert alone. Saleen was basically nothing to him. Saleen realized that he had been too full of himself just because he was able to become a grade-6 mage at a young age and had been recognized as a genius. He thought that he would be able to overcome any danger, and yet look at what was happening now. It was only when the first oracle stood before him that he realized that the little bit of magic he knew was pathetically insignificant.

“How can this be a threat? If I wanted to threaten you, I would have told you that if you do not give me what I want, I will trap your soul in the purgatory fire to be burnt forever even if the Gods fell.”

Saleen’s eyelids jumped. What Fycro had just said was not very respectful to the Gods. When he mentioned the gods falling, he was clearly referring to the Lord of Glory. Fycro definitely had the ability to trap his soul. Killing him was a lighter punishment in comparison.

“Tell me what you want. If I cannot agree to it, I can only say I am sorry.” Saleen continued to maintain his composure even though he was actually so scared that his sweat had already evaporated.

“Of course, it is to join forces. Your left hand and my right hand.” Fycro stretched out his right hand. There was a warm and white glow on his flawless right hand. This hand possessed surging godly strength and this strength was clearly not borrowed. Instead it has already fused into Fycro’s body. It could regenerate on its own without praying even if it had been used. It was exactly like the left hand that Saleen was stretching out now.

The left and right hands of God!

“I have prepared a dimensional teleportation portal that requires your godly strength. Are you willing to help?”

“Ha!” Saleen thought he had just heard the funniest joke in the world and said, “You are the first oracle. You already have so much godly strength, why would you still need me? Do you think I will believe you?”

“This is the only way for me to transport my disciples safely out of the Myers Mainland. Saleen, war is coming and many will die. I do not like that. If you agree to help me, I will be able to help countless disciples leave this dimension.”

Saleen calmed down at this point, but he did not believe in Fycro’s words. Since when did people dying ever matter when different religions clashed?

“Originally I may not even need you alive. But for this matter, I also need Lex’s help.”

“Oh, you have not convinced her?”

“Might as well do it together.” Fycro stretched his hand into the white light behind Saleen and pulled. Lex suddenly appeared in a state of disorder. Her hair was messy and she almost knocked into Saleen’s chest.

Saleen helped steady Lex and said, “You want her God’s ring? You can just snatch it from her.”

“Don’t be silly. I am a disciple of the Lord of Glory. How can I use the God’s ring?” Fycro did not mind revealing his weakness. He needed both the left hand of God from Saleen and God’s ring from Lex, but he was not able to use those two powers himself.

It was the first time Lex felt so embarrassed. The powers of the God’s ring could not be used because she lacked the abilities required to activate its true potential. Fycro captured her so easily with just a pull and she did not even have the chance to retaliate.

When she finally had the chance to speak, Lex adjusted her magic robe and said to Fycro, “Of course, you can use the power of the God’s ring. Once you used it, it would mean that you have also betrayed the Lord of Glory, am I right?”

“There is some sense in what you said,” Fycro replied without any care or concern.

“In your eyes, I am a heretic. Even if I helped you, I will not have a good ending anyway right?”

“That may not be the case, your Highness. If you can help me to open up the channel to an interdimensional space, we may never meet again. Whatever you choose to believe in will have nothing to do with me.”

Lex did not know what to say to that. Fycro’s words were treasonous. If the Lord of Glory heard what he said, even if Fycro was the first oracle, he would have been banished to become a useless person.

“You want to betray the Lord of Glory?” Saleen’s tone was bitter. The meaning behind what Fycro said was even more incredible than him letting Saleen go.

“How is that possible? I am just helping God save the lives of his disciples. I do not foresee that the war on the mainland will end up well. By helping these sacrificial lambs find a way out and creating a heaven, that is the truest and purest form of faith.”

Saleen and Lex looked at each other, both not knowing how to feel about this absurdity.

“If you are agreeable, then sign the bond,” Fycro said and flicked out a cluster of white light. The light gradually materialized into two scrolls of contracts.

Saleen knew that no good would come out of resisting, so he took the scroll to have a look.

The words on the scroll were plenty and were written in the ancient Myers language instead of the magic language. As for the contents, Saleen already knew that as long as he helped Fycro to build a stable dimensional teleportation portal, Fycro would not bother him anymore and would pretend that Metatrin City did not exist.

Saleen looked at the scroll in Lex’s hands. The contents were simple; Fycro wanted Lex to use the God’s ring to help him open up an interdimensional space channel and determine the coordinates of the dimension.

“So, you intend to hide this from the Lord of Glory…” Lex understood what Fycro was trying to do now. Fycro could have used his own powers to build a dimensional teleportation portal, but this would not go undetected by the Lord of Glory.

Fycro smiled and said, “You see, this is such an important matter that I am not hiding anything from you. If you don’t sign the bond, there is no way I will let you leave. If you were to spread this to others, I would have no choice but to leave this dimension on my own. You have nothing to gain from that.”

Saleen and Lex laughed bitterly. Fycro made himself out to be pitiable, but was there any chance they could say no? If they said no, they would die immediately. Fycro’s request was not unreasonable. In fact, this might even benefit both Saleen and Lex. They already planned to overthrow the Holy See. By bringing away such a large number of disciples, Fycro was actually doing them a favor.

Within the Holy See, the most powerful group were not the zealots in the supreme court, but the ascetics under the oracles. The zealots were warped in their hearts while the ascetics were pure. They also possessed greater strength and were more likely to receive blessings from God.