Badge in Azure

It began to snow suddenly outside. Pure white snow danced wildly in the wind and gently splattered against the glass windows. Saleen and Sika laid on the bed. The ice arrow that Saleen cast earlier into the hole in the wall had now disappeared. It had become water element that was without shape or form and has dissipated into the air.

“Saleen, suddenly I cannot bear to see you get married,” Sika spoke out of the blue while looking at the ceiling.

Saleen said happily, “Have you decided to make yourself available for marriage?”

“How can I? I have to dedicate myself to nature eventually. Nature priestess’ cannot marry or they will lose their abilities as a priestess. I don’t really care about that since I can fight as long as I have powers. Only by being a nature priestess will I be able to live as long as you. If I die early, you will still look for other women after that. I might as well live for a thousand years or so then I can look after you and you won’t be able to find other women.”

“I am a mage. Other than being with you, where will I find the time to look for women?” Saleen asked.

“Humph, I think your female servant has set her sights on you. Nailisi, am I right?” Sika suddenly shouted. Saleen felt a bit awkward.

“Yes, I like Master,” Nailisi replied through the adjacent wall. To professionals of their grades, the hole in the wall was like a door that had been opened wide. Even the softest sounds could be heard.

Sika laughed and Nailisi was secretly pleased by that. It seemed that Sika no longer detested her as much as before, that meant one less enemy. Nailisi was not too worried about Lez either.

“Why don’t we get up?” Saleen said to Sika.

“No, I am not going back today.” Sika leaned on Saleen’s body and pressed tightly onto his arm. There was no way Saleen could get away from Sika. He did not have the strength.

Saleen did not wish to leave Sika of course. Sika said she was not going back, so he decided to go along with it. Ever since he started learning magic, he had been training hard every single day. He had forgotten when the last time he laid on the bed like this was. The only thing that troubled Saleen was that Nailisi was only next door and the hole in the wall had yet to be mended. If only he knew ground-element spells.

“Saleen, do you like Nailisi?”

“What?!” Saleen was nervous. Nailisi was an imp so Saleen never thought about her that way. Nevertheless, he could never forget how she looked when Saleen first met Nailisi. She had silver magic patterns, green scales and a pair of beautiful horns. From a mage’s perspective, he loved Nailisi. To be with her though? It was not like he was a demon himself.

“The two of you are bonded by your souls. That’s very troublesome. You cannot hide from her so you might as well treat her like a human female servant.” Saleen breathed a sigh of relief after hearing what Sika said. He could never treat Nailisi as a female servant. In his plans, Nailisi would eventually lead a demon army.

“Sika, let’s talk about this again another time.”

“What’s there to talk about? Nailisi, are you still there?”

“Yes,” Nailisi replied from the other side. She could clearly hear Sika and Saleen’s conversation. She had always been afraid of Sika, but at that very moment, she felt close to her.

“If you are there, then come over and serve us. Help us pour the water,” Sika ordered.

“Yes, Sister Sika.” Nailisi was overjoyed. She dashed out from her room and reached Saleen’s room in no time.

Saleen could sense the joy in Nailisi’s soul. Although he and Nailisi were not connected telepathically, strong feelings such as this could still be felt by the other person. He sighed and did not say anything.

He would be glad if Sika and Nailisi could maintain an amicable relationship. Although Sika was powerful, he would feel more assured if she was protected by Nailisi. Nailisi could easily turn out to be a mistake. Sometimes, even a master might not be able to figure out what their demon was thinking.

Nailisi came to help Saleen change water. Both Saleen and Sika were drenched in sweat so it was extremely comfortable to soak themselves in warm water.

Nailisi obediently stood behind and massaged Saleen’s shoulders. The big wooden tub was made from dried ancient trees that could only be found in Metatrin City. The entire body of the tub was dug out from the huge branches rather than being pieced together. Sika’s eyes were half-closed. She was face to face with Saleen and could see Nailisi who was standing directly behind him.

“Nailisi, what are your plans?” Sika started.

Nailisi said, “Of course, I will listen Sister Sika.”

“Hmm, Saleen will be busy doing big things in the future. Most likely, he will really not have the time to find women, but nevertheless, you must still look after him for me.”

“I wouldn’t dare to look after Master!” Nailisi laughed and while she did not make the promise, she had already acknowledged Sika’s request in her heart. Whatever she did in the future would have been according to the wishes of Sika anyway so Master could not be angry with her.

“The four female servants that you found for Saleen are all demons?” Sika did not persist for an answer. Sika might be a simple person, but she was very clear about what Nailisi was thinking.

“Yes, they are demons and they are all males,” Nailisi did not wish to hide anything from Sika.

“In that case, you can summon large numbers of demons, right?”

“Not yet. Summoning demons will use up magic nuclei.”

“Do you still have enough magic nuclei? Find me two powerful demons too. My current two guards are males and it’s inconvenient,” Sika did not stand on ceremony. Nailisi said happily, “Sure, Sister Sika. Let me think of a way to lure two powerful demons over.”

Caught up in a moment of excitement, Nailisi accidentally revealed that she had been using a deception technique instead of summoning spells. She would lure the demons over first before defeating and conquering them.

“Sika, what do you need demons for?” Saleen did not understand. Caucasus people usually were not fond of demons.

“I can fly now but none of my Caucasus people can do so. I want two subordinates that can fly,” Sika revealed.

“Oh yes, you can fly now.” Saleen was thinking which of the diagrams given by Joey would suit Sika. He wanted to create a suit of armor for Sika that was better than devil armor.

“Sister Sika, demons… are hard to subdue. Why don’t I teach you some methods to control demons?” Nailisi tried to be nice. She knew the way Saleen thought. As long as she pleased Sika, Saleen would forgive her for anything she did.

“No need. I have my own way of controlling them.” Sika opened her eyes and looked at Nailisi with a half-smile on her face.

Nailisi did not mind and focussed her attention and massaging Saleen. Saleen was not as awkward now. He felt troubled by what he should do with Nailisi. Breaking the soul bond was impossible even if Saleen might be willing to do so. There would definitely be consequences if he broke the soul bond and Saleen would rather not try unless necessary.

If he decided to keep Nailisi then he would have to think through how they would all get along. Demons usually thought very differently from humans although Nailisi was not too different. There were a few demons under Nailisi that Saleen was not confident of controlling unless through combat skills. Once the demon surpassed a human by two grades and above, the former would become ambitious and uncontrollable.

“Nailisi, do you have any solutions to completely control demons? I am referring to a large number of demons.” Saleen brought up a question that he has been thinking about for a long time. For the past one-thousand years, mages have not had much success controlling demons. Even powerful sorcerers could only control one to two demons. As for supreme demons, only grade-9 sorcerers would dare to give it a try. None would keep a demon by their side like what Saleen was doing.

“Master, if you have the guts…,” Nailisi paused for a moment before slowly saying, “Then build a demons’ city on the Myers Mainland.”

“A demons’ city?”

“Yes. In the demon dimension, there were supreme demons or devils that would build demons’ cities. Demons and supreme demons that had been subdued would never rebel once they became a part of demons’ city. It is a gigantic demon magic array. As long as a demons’ city was still around, the demons would never rebel. If the demons’ city was destroyed, the demons would die along with it.”

“That’s ruthless!” Saleen was given a shock. This was a paradox. Such a secretive spell was already imbalanced. He had heard that demons’ cities could contain millions of demons.

This was different from controlling the Three Kings. The Three Kings were now controlled by Saleen and Aini, but it was not stable and the former could still find a way to escape back to the death dimension if the latter were not careful. Saleen and Aini’s grades would determine if the Three Kings would backstab them. As for controlling demons, one might as well let them die along with their city.

“Demons’ cities will boost their strengths like the Holy See’s praying technique,” Nailisi added carefully. It might not be difficult to convince Saleen to build a demon’s city, but once humans were aware of it, Nailisi knew very well what their reactions would be like.

Demonic spirits and imps could reproduce very quickly while demons and supreme demons were the opposite. As such, it would be dangerous to the Myers Mainland if they allowed too many imps and demonic spirits to come through.

Saleen leaned against the wooden tub and laughed, “What am I afraid of? Nailisi, Sika, don’t you know that I have nothing to lose? Use the port seven-hundred miles south from here to build the demon’s city. I was troubled over how to improve that city anyway.”

Indeed, Saleen had nothing to lose. He had signed a bond with Goddess of Myers to spread her faith within one-thousand years. It might seem a long period of time, but it was actually very short, especially when it came to matters such as the spreading of faiths.

Not only would Saleen have to overcome the fact that humans had already forgotten their own Goddess and Myers Mainland’s guardian, he would also have to face the threat of the Lord of Glory’s disciples. The Lord of Glory would never allow the existence of another faith on this dimension. Any disciple of the Goddess of Nature was immediately the enemy of the Lord of Glory.

Sika did not ask Saleen for the reason. No matter what enemy Saleen would face, she was determined to face them with him. Nailisi did not ask either. She knew that Saleen would not have hidden it from her if he could say it directly.