Badge in Azure

It was common for Cloudflow people to use such flying magic beasts to attack cities, but even if was the Qin Empire, only such tactics thought out by Saleen could be employed. The no-fly zones that could have been controlled by the magic towers were no more than two-thousand yards.

Only by deploying sorcerers to kill all of the magic beasts, would they be able to defend against fire attacks from the enemy.

Saleen quickly killed more than a dozen flying magic beasts at the center of the city. All of a sudden, he felt himself being targeted. Since six hours had yet to pass, he was not able to activate the Phantom Flurry spell affixed to his devil’s armor.

Saleen turned sharply in the cloud, detecting a hidden a sorcerer above with his Elemental Eye.

Saleen knew well that the sorcerer dare not dive downward. Once they got within range of attack of the magic tower, they would have definitely been killed, with the chance of escape being zero. That meant that Saleen was able to return to the tower for protection. As such, he did not bother with the sorcerer hidden above, and headed for another magic beast instead.

Up in the sky at the height of more than fifteen-hundred yards, a black-robed mage watched the slaughter taking place beneath with cold eyes.

As a grade-8 sorcerer, this mage was very interested in the Flying spell of the grand mage beneath. “A really powerful equipment, perhaps?” The sorcerer counted carefully every time Saleen launched an attack, calculating how much the total drain of magic chords was thus far.

Their body was levitating completely in the air, with a plane of light beneath their feet. From the perspective of the sorcerer, that plane of light melded seamlessly with the moon, meaning that they could not have been detected at all.

The sorcerer smirked. “That grand mage below is indeed powerful, probably the strongest of all grade-6 mages. This mage, is really wasting his talent.

In the eyes of the sorcerer, mages who knew little else other than throwing fireballs all over the place were not good mages. While Saleen unleashed a great deal of magical powers, there had yet been any repeats seen; a testament that he had little experience.

“There is no need for deploying such powerful magic to kill grade-3 magic beasts. He really knows how to waste his magic chords. Whatever that mage has been employing, as soon as he has exhausted all his magic chords, one strike will be all it takes to kill him. It is best to leave him alive though. Such good flying, it is really making me jealous!”

The hidden sorcerer had absolute confidence in his stealth capabilities, as no one had yet been able to track him down. That was the pride of a sorcerer, knowing how stunningly well they were able to wield Light Magic, so much so that they deemed themselves more capable than notable assassins. He was someone who was capable enough to hide in the air, where there was nowhere to hide. “Such should be the way to use magic, unlike the buffoon down there making himself out like a moving magic cannon. Is it about time to make a move then?”

The sorcerer up in the sky calculated Saleen’s magic chord drain, deeming that the grand mage below had had only enough magic chords to conjure one grade-6 spell. “Alright, I shall steal this buffoon away for myself, and have him tell me secrets regarding his flying abilities, by any means necessary.” The sorcerer thought as the plane of light expanded almost instantly, by more than one-thousand yards. They made their way to be right above the clouds Saleen was fighting in.

They finally give up waiting, eh?

Saleen smirked coldly. The spells he conjured were of grade-4, but unless one experienced taking on the spells themselves, these spells would have been easily mistaken as grade-6 ones. His movements in the cloud were a blur to his enemies. Saleen had only been using a staff most of the time, unleashing all the stored magic within.

Speaking of magic staffs, Joey was very generous indeed. Not only did he gave Saleen a lot of them, but also every single one of them had magic that could have only been conjured by grand mages stored in them. To Joey, that was nothing. Eating and drinking would have easily proven more tedious.

Saleen had been calculating all along that the hidden enemy had also been calculating to see how much was his magic chords drain.

“Cloudflow people are indeed a disgusting bunch. A grade-8 sorcerer, sneaking up on a grade-6 grand mage. What was worse, the grade-8 one is waiting for the grade-6 one to drain all his magic chords. If all Cloudflow people had been such people, it was no wonder why the fourth dynasty fell into ruin.”

Grade-8 sorcerers had had an overwhelming edge over grade-6 grand mages, especially in aerial combat. Sorcerers were more powerful than grand mages by several orders of magnitude.

Of course, Saleen was an exception. His way of flying could have been said to be one of a kind, so unique that it piqued the sorcerer’s interests, urging them to come take his equipment by force, or interrogate him to find out the secrets regarding such magic.

Saleen broke out his seventh magic staff, unleashing the magic stored within and cutting the wings of the flying magic beasts coming for him to ribbons. At that instant, the sorcerer hidden in the air was finally done waiting. Saleen had been unleashing waves after waves of grade-6 magic, and every single one of them could have been said to be perfect, for every single one killed the magic beasts from Cloudflow in an instant.

“If I was not here to take you alive, I wouldn’t have allowed you to kill so many.” The sorcerer’s grin widened. They broke the plane of light about five-hundred above Saleen and dived for him. “I will take you alive and take my sweet time interrogating you. No secrets can be kept in the face of a magical interrogation.”

The sorcerer gave up hiding themself altogether, locking onto Saleen using mental power and conjured a Light Cage spell.

Tens of thousands of beams of light dispersed the cloud Saleen was in, revealing his entire being and began to weave themselves into shape around him, forming a net.

Water Shield was activated around Saleen’s body. The sorcerer laughed as he saw the beams of lights crush the enemy’s protection magic without effort. “Kid, you are mine once I break your arms and legs!”

The cage was a light spell, even though it was only a grade-7 one. Targets trapped within the cage lost all sense of direction, as whatever the target was able to see was all illusions conjured by light. Sight would have lost all purpose within the cage, and sensory powers were rendered severely affected by the light element. Anyone trapped within would have no choice but to keep defending, even if that someone was a grade-8 sorcerer.

Light Magic attacks were lightning-fast. Being trapped in the Cage was incredibly draining for a mage. If a grade-7 mage was able to develop good mastery over this skill, it was not impossible to even break the shields of a grade-8 mage.

Water Shield was only a grade-4 spell. While the defensive effects might have been amplified using various tricks to reach the defensive capabilities of a grade-6 spell, it was still no match for the cage.

Saleen calmly paid attention to the sorcerer attacking him, inside the cage and his broken bubble. “A powerful sorcerer indeed. Too bad, they’re not the one I’m looking for. May this one is just too sure of themself, flying alone into the airspace of Daliang and all that.

It was no secret that Daliang had no grade-9 sorcerers. In the eyes of the Cloudflow people, the grade-8 sorcerers of Daliang were only powerful enough to hide within magic towers, and would have never dared engaging in airborne battle.

“Well, that is because there is indeed a very powerful grade-9 sorcerer on my side. You dare look down on me?” Saleen found an expression suggesting that his enemy was a sorcerer who took pleasure in toying with lower level living beings. “You Cloudflow scum, you are not fit to be a mage!”

Darkness began engulfing Saleen’s surroundings as the bubble broke completely, taking the shape of a three-dimensional shield. This was one grade-7 spell that had taken him considerable time and effort. Saleen had even neglected practicing crafting of magic liquids, due to having all the time he could have spared to perfect this one spell.

As two grade-7 magic spells collided with each other, the sorcerer realized there was no reason they should be laughing.

The forceful collision was not of their choice, as the cage was a complex spell. Once the cage had been erected, even the conjurer themself could not just simply deactivate it.

The sorcerer felt a chill building within them as the light was engulfed by the darkness. That was due to having seen the trapped grand mage conjuring the spell personally, instead of relying on magical equipment.

How could he possibly have so many magic chords left!?

The Darkness Shield was a spell that was even more difficult to master than the Light Cage spell. To make matters worse, the spell was not instantly-deployable. As such, not many mages would have been willing to spend their time, learning a defensive magic that proved incapable of saving them in an instant.

With Joey’s help however, this spell was fused with the Water Shield. The Darkness Shield was completed as the Water Shield was completely broken.

The grade-8 sorcerer felt as if they were being robbed of their sight, and had fallen into an endless chasm of darkness. That was no common void, as they felt their own magic robe began to dissolve, turning into nothing within the endless void.

Endless Night!

Grade-7 Dark Magic was even more unpopular than the Darkness Shield spell. This was a spell that was affixed to his devil’s armor, as well as Saleen’s most powerful attack beside his crystal ring and family badge.

The sorcerer screamed in terror. They were so terrified that they had even forgotten that they were capable of the Wind Travel spell.

Their flight capabilities were based on light magic, as such spells were quick to conjure and good for stealth purposes. Within the Endless Night, any light elements were quickly disintegrated, leaving only endless, pitch black darkness.

The sorcerer quickly fell downwards with their arms and legs flailing about, like a grade-5 mage who was having their first lesson with flying.

The Endless Night spell was said to be insanely effective against light magic. The sorcerer lost their flight capabilities in an instant. They only managed to conjure the Wind Travel spell after falling for several hundred yards. The principle of the Wind Travel spell was one that utilized the wind element to enable the sorcerer to levitate and fly.

The Endless Night continued dissolving and consuming the wind element, converting it into the dark element. Even when going all out, the Wind Travel spell had already lost its original level of power. The sorcerer continued falling, only at a lower speed.

Saleen’s left hand held onto his family badge. Without knowing where the grade-8 sorcerer actually was, the badge could not be used under any condition.

Saleen unleashed the Roar of a Fire Spirit spell from his devil’s armor without a second thought. He conjured the Quickcloud spell again, but this time, a pair of gigantic Wings of Flame were conjured in the clouds instead of tornados.

The Wings of Flame and the summoned Fire Spirit almost fused into one single being. The Fire Spirit summoned randomly was a grade-7 salamander. The living being manifested from the fire element took Saleen up and went straight for the sorcerer trapped within the Endless Night. A six yard long azure-colored water current wrapped around his body, and a wooden sword Joey crafted for him was in his right hand.

Saleen had decided not to use the powers of the badge. He had instead, decided to cut the grade-8 sorcerer down personally.