Badge in Azure

Isabella could not comprehend the relationship between Saleen and Lex. In her eyes, Sika was someone who must not be offended.

Although she had never fought against Sika before, she noticed that everyone around Saleen was always polite and respectful towards her. Such respect was definitely not due to the private relationship between her and Saleen.

Sika was powerful and Isabella’s instinct told her that she should never be in the wrong side of this Caucasus priestess. She knew very little about priests. She only knew that if Sika was her enemy, she would never go within fifty yards of her.

The afternoon sunlight shone in Metatrin city, it was a warm place in the middle of July.

Lex fell asleep in front of Saleen even as he took out an item and cast water flame to refine equipment that he had been occupied with for more than half a year.

It was a weapon that was curved in the shape of a leaf. It was dark green in color and was less than a foot long. This weapon was narrower than the boomerang that Sika destroyed. The blades on the interior and exterior had very small teeth that could barely be detected.

The material that Saleen used to refine this weapon was the dried leaves of the divine tree.

Prior to receiving the book from Isabella, Saleen was close to completion in refining this weapon. He managed to gain some understanding of rules, hence he decided to modify this weapon further.

A total of one-hundred-twenty-four-thousand and eight-hundred leaves of the divine tree were refined together to form a perfect cycle. This cycle included the basic transformation of the Figaro Magic Formula and the six great elements achieved perfect balance within it.

If a mage possessed this leaf-shaped weapon, they could definitely use it as if it was a magic staff and the power given by this weapon would surpass any high-level equipment. This weapon would be the perfect container for Sika as it could contain any kind of power.

Other than the techniques of worship, the boomerang was the ranged attack that Sika was most familiar with. The boomerangs wielded by Caucasus people were one-hundred times more difficult to use than flying axes and their abilities were incomparable.

As long as the boomerang was not taken down by enemies, it could still fly back on its own after striking down the enemy. The more powerful Caucasus warriors would even be able to control how many targets their boomerangs would strike.

With this new weapon, Sika would no longer have to engage in close combat. Saleen refined the weapon patiently even as he waited for Lex to wake up.

Isabella saw Saleen wearing a gentle smile on his face and thought it was because of Lex. Little did she know that Saleen was thinking about the time he spent with Sika when they were lost in the mountains. At that time, Sika was lost and he did not know the way either. As a mage, he could only follow the stars to try and find his way.

As lost as they were, he still managed to lead Sika out of the mountains without getting eaten by magic beasts.

Why did it feel like those days were ten-thousand years ago?

Lex let out a sound and opened her eyes. A simple nap like this already allowed her to recover her energy. Lex smiled when she saw Saleen and two followers standing at the side.

“Saleen.”

“Hmm?” Saleen began to keep his water flame slowly. The weapon meant for Sika was only lacking in the last rule. Saleen was not confident in rules so he could only refine repeatedly and would stop when the equipment and rule coincidentally fit each other. That was when he would produce a weapon that even he would be pleased with. It was not all within his control.

After seeing Saleen keep his water flame, Lex said, “I have made you wait…”

Without a word, Saleen shot an icicle towards Lex. Isabella and Nicholas were taken aback by what Saleen did. Subconsciously, Isabella prepared a grade-4 spell in her hands while a book with a black cover appeared in Nicholas’ hands as well.

Did Saleen want to kill Lex? He would not be able to do it alone.

Before Isabella and Nicholas could react, a phoenix flew out of Lex’s hands and both spells were annihilated when they clashed together.

Nicholas’ face turned red as he put away his black book quickly. A grade-9 mage had misjudged the situation. Saleen and Lex had clearly done this many times. It was only a joke.

Isabella’s face was red too. By canceling a grade-4 spell, her mental strength was quickly depleted and her magic chords were used up at the rate of casting two grade-5 spells. She did not possess such excellent teachings like Saleen and Lex. Canceling spells was an extremely difficult technique. A normal mage would not have managed to learn it. Isabella managed to teach herself by studying the description of a similar technique recorded in her teacher’s magic notes.

Isabella could be considered as a genius in magic. Without a good teacher, she still managed to train herself to reach such a standard. She even managed to discover some special techniques on her own.

Lex smiled and said, “Didn’t I say you can take your time? This time around, I have given you a very short lead time to give me the resources that I want. You have still managed to gather so many for me. I don’t know what to say.”

Saleen’s intention for using the icicle was clear. Both of them had been on the brink of death together. There was no need to be so courteous to each other anymore. Lex immediately recalled the days they spent together in the hell of god’s punishment, where both of them underwent intense magic training. By casting such spells at such a close distance, any minor mistake could lead to severe injuries.

“What do you intend to offer me in exchange for these one-hundred-thousand sets of equipment?” Saleen did not stand on ceremony and was keen to start discussing the terms and conditions. Lex did not lack gold coins so she could easily have purchased tens of thousands of sets of equipment from Qin. Since she decided to ask Saleen, that must mean that there was something in it for Saleen.

“You sent a letter saying that Ojarvis has allowed you to enter Laiyin Duchy?”

“Indeed, but I have decided to build a city on the outside for now. As for when I will launch an attack, it will depend on Holy Rock City. If they start a war with Sikeqinya, I don’t mind joining in by attacking Laiyin.”

“I have come back to sign a treaty with you. It wouldn’t do to just enter Laiyin. You have to be able to enter Luolan in order to be part of the battle. You will not be able to gain a foothold in Laiyin in the future otherwise.”

“What do you mean?” Saleen was curious.

“My brother…he can control the royal swordsmen battalion and palace mages. All that he can promise you is that Holy Rock City will not interfere with the armies that you send to attack Laiyin. If Phoenix Empire attacks and you are not able to defeat them, you will not be able to retreat back to Luolan. We sign the treaty and your soldiers will fight at Luolan now. If my uncle’s armies don’t allow you to enter Luolan, I will support you from behind.”

“How will you support me? Although Luolan is only a duchy, its eastern side is more than five-thousand miles. If something happened to me in Laiyin, how would you be able to send reinforcements from five-thousand miles away?” Saleen asked directly.

“Laiyin Duchy is very stable now. You might as well attack from the southeast of Luolan with me. Do you remember what we did in Titan Duchy? There is nothing in that place now.”

Saleen immediately understood what Lex was planning. Laiyin Duchy was still in perfect shape and its powers were still preserved. On the other hand, Titan Duchy had already been devastated.

The small Duke was defeated by him while the old Duke had gone into hiding. Now, Titan Duchy had been split in half between north and south. The lands south of the Chishui river belonged to Cloudflow Empire while the lands north of the river had been completely destroyed and had become the exclusive domain of the Holy See.

The location that Lex had chosen was north of the Chishui river, which was close to Titan. No one knew why the Emperor of Cloudflow had yet to cross the river in retaliation. It was still a good opportunity for Saleen and Lex to ransack all the temples in Titan Duchy.

Not considering the purgatory desert, there were twenty-four temples left behind by the Goddess on the entire Mainland. The amount of wealth in these twenty-four temples was astounding. Saleen was worried about the lack of resources, but if he could somehow get his hands on the temples, he would not need to worry anymore.

Most importantly, these twenty-four temples would become the center from which Saleen and Lex would spread the Goddess’ faith.

After the Pink Bandits managed to take over a secret temple, they were even able to survive the powerful attacks from the Duchy. In the future, Saleen would be able to use these temples as his base for expansion.

“I will give you another battalion of soldiers. Lead my two battalions into battle and train them on the battlefield. Once you feel they are ready, I will rotate another two battalions. After I have settled my things here, I will go and look for you.” Saleen considered for a while and gave his own suggestion.

Other than the one-thousand heavy-armored foot soldiers and two-thousand heavy-armored knights from his sixth battalion, he did not have any more elite soldiers that could be compared to those in Lex’s armies. Sending them to the frontline was the best way to train them up.

“Hmm, I will launch an attack before September and finish the battle by the end of December. Remember to come over by then. Let’s go and take a look at the equipment.”

Coincidentally, a Caucasus guard reported that Nailisi had arrived.

“Ask her to wait for me at the temple. We will dine with the vice Princess tonight,” Saleen gave his orders to the soldier before bringing Lex to the warehouse in the north of the city.

Most of Qin’s warehouses were built underground and Metatrin was no exception. It was a warehouse that had been strengthened with spells and magic arrays. The items it contained would hardly decay and it would be rare for a fire to break out.

Barbarians and Caucasus people were in charge of guarding the warehouse. These two types of people were extremely stubborn and one might as well forget about trying to sneak in by using some ploy. The tens of Caucasus people guarding the door even wanted to examine Saleen’s badge, as if they did not recognize him.

After inspecting the badge, the guards bowed and said, “Your Majesty, you may enter.”

Saleen did not know whether to laugh or cry, but Lex was envious. She said to Saleen, “Can you give me some men that are like them? I will let them guard over the logistical supplies.”

Lex did not bother to look at all the items in the warehouse. She went straight to the armor and weapons and stored them in the God’s ring. Saleen said that he had prepared more than ninety-thousand sets of equipment, but he had exaggerated. Some of the equipment still needed to be repaired slightly to be in passable condition. Fortunately, Lex had a large group of craftsmen, it would be much faster for her to repair the equipment compared to Saleen.

Saleen decided to give Lex some of the small equipment components that he had no use for. These components would still be useful on the battlefield. Take a uniquely shaped leaf for example; making one alone was expensive, but would be much cheaper if they were made in large quantities. Saleen gave Lex many of such components because he would have no use for them very soon.

Saleen’s army would have their own unique equipment that was different from the other Empires in the dimension.