Badge in Azure

Lex’s team was about to depart for the secret passageway to Sikeqinya through the Chaotic Swamp. Saleen drew up the map and handed it to Lex. That time around, Lex would have to redraw a real magic map in order to fully grasp this secret passageway. The passageway was formed naturally but could be transformed into a man-made passageway with both entrances sealed. It could become a passageway controlled by two countries, not allowing anyone else to sneak in.

Death mages, grade-8 archers, golden grand swordmasters, magic beast swordsmen, sorcerers, Caucasus warriors, barbarian strongmen…

Saleen had given Lex all the best people he had. In addition, Lex would also be bringing along one-hundred of Saleen’s bodyguards, who were armed with elf alchemy crossbows. Daniel had brought along a death troop of more than two-thousand, while magic beast swordsman Lola brought two-thousand demons. They would all follow Lex to the west and would enter Sikeqinya through the Chaotic Swamp.

After entering Sikeqinya, Lex’s team would go around Didypus and cut through the mountainous regions of Sikeqinya to reach its western part and look for Bain.

Lex did not bring along too many human soldiers, only a regiment of heavy-armored magic foot soldiers. The regiment of soldiers could be disguised as mercenaries to lie in ambush in Sikeqinya.

Saleen was not too worried about Lex’s safety since she was a grade-9 sorcerer. Although the powers of humans on the Mainland had been increasing, grade-9 sorcerers were still the most powerful beings at the time. Besides, after advancing to grade-9, her God’s Ring could wield even greater power. In other words, Lex was practically unbeatable as long as she was not surrounded by too many powerful opponents.

After sending Lex away, Nailisi and the winged skeleton fell into a temporal and deep sleep. That time, the winged skeleton and Nailisi were advancing for real. Previously, they were restricted to utilizing the abilities that they should possess, but their actual grades were still limited by Saleen.

Once Saleen advanced into a grade-8 sorcerer without any problem, Nailisi and Soldier were completely free to advance into grade-9.

The rule of the Myers Mainland had also brought about benefits for Nailisi and the winged skeleton. This advancement was smoother and shorted than their previous ones. Within a month, both of them woke up from their deep sleep.

It was already December and all of Metatrin City was full of ice and snow. Only the surroundings of the temple were still full of greenery, due to the ancient elvish trees.

The Sregl Island mages loved the four ancient elvish trees and they were often watered with restorative water.

Saleen was prepared to head out to sea again. The port of Metatrin had already been sealed up by ice and the dragon skeleton combat vessels and Sregl Island combat vessels were docked on an island far away from the Metatrin port. The island was not sealed by ice. Saleen could then afford to bring the pan’s turtle alchemical boat and dragon skeleton combat vessel out to sea at the same time because Metatrin City could be protected by the Sregl Island combat vessels.

In terms of manpower, the winged skeleton, Nailisi, and Eleanor would all follow Saleen to the Oceanic Ice Block. Now that Jason was managing the temple for Saleen, the latter no longer had anything to worry about.

Although Saleen was worried about Isabella’s disappearance, the person that had taken her away had yet to establish any contact with Metatrin City. Daliang City had sent out many people to search an area of one-thousand miles, but there had been no traces of Isabella. If they extended their area of search even further, they would reach the restricted area of the Holy See, and there would be no hope of finding Isabella there.

Going out to sea again, Saleen did not activate any one from Sregl Island, including their combat vessels. Although skeletal warships might have been defeated by Cloudflow, their attributes made them perfect for hunting. In terms of both speed and the load that they could carry, skeletal warships were the best out of all warships of similar size.

The entire crew was made up of spirits of the dead. Sika did not request to follow Saleen. She knew that if she followed Saleen, his boat would only go around the boundaries of Oceanic Ice Block and not into its depths.

Saleen was surrounded by his followers, including Nicholas. The Fallen Holy Master no longer feared the Holy See as much after realizing the true powers of Metatrin City. He knew that as long as he stayed at the back, there was nothing that the Pope could do to him, even if he came personally.

Eleanor had become a grade-7 sorcerer. Saleen did not arrange for her to enter the Six Elements’ Space and allowed her to follow him out to sea instead. Saleen already had a plan for Eleanor. As long as she was on the Myers Mainland, she would not have any problems advancing to a grade-9 sorcerer, even if she might be a bit slower than the others.

Eleanor had a long lifespan, so the Six Elements’ Space was not as important to her as it was to others.

After preparing for half a month, the fleet finally managed to go around the islands controlled by Metatrin City and headed north.

The naval route that Saleen used in the past was provided by Irene. That route was full of uncertainty and the magic compass often went haywire. They managed to reach the Oceanic Ice Block only because they had experienced sailors that made use of the stars to guide them. After the winged skeleton had explored it for the past three years, he was finally able to develop a real naval route that led to Oceanic Ice Block.

The route would head north-east for about eight-thousand miles before heading north. That was the shortest naval route to lead to the Oceanic Ice Block. Not only were the other routes more dangerous, they were subjected to the constraints of weather and geographical elements. Only three months out of every year were suitable for vessels to pass through.

Even though they possessed the naval route, they still needed to figure out the details. It would take about a decade before Metatrin City would find the most stable naval route. It was possible only because the ones doing it were spirits of the dead created by the winged skeleton to possess intelligence.

The entire naval route was about twenty-eight-thousand miles long. The route was not entirely straight as it required ships to go around a few islands and change directions in order to avoid the dangerous regions. Although it might seem like the traveling distance had increased, Saleen had no need for stopping nor battling any powerful magic beasts from the ocean. The fleet would be able to go full speed ahead.

Traveling at one-hundred and twenty miles an hour, the dragon skeleton combat vessel led twenty-four skeletal warships. They formed a straight line with less than a mile in between them.

The winged skeleton had twenty-four jade skeletons for him to command. That time around, he did not utilize the pan’s turtle alchemical boat at all. Instead, he joined Saleen in the dragon skeleton combat vessel to head towards Oceanic Ice Block.

The winged skeleton did not give up even though he had been through failures. He refined the dragon skeleton combat vessel once again and the vessel was one-hundred and eighty yards long. The dragon-head at the front was black and ominous-looking. The vessel had completely given up on a sail as the auxiliary motor was changed to using a paddle wheel. Paddle wheels could be interchanged more easily and the motor it provided made use of magic nuclei. At that stage, Saleen no longer needed to save on such little energy.

The dragon skeleton combat vessel could travel much faster than skeletal warships and it was operating by using the most energy-efficient magic nuclei method, so it could travel side by side with skeletal warships. A pair of skeletal wings were tucked into both sides of the warship. The winged skeleton even refined magic stone artilleries on the skeletal wings. The magic stone artilleries were very light and fragile as they were refined with thundercloud wood.

The entire warship looked like a live ancient giant dragon, which was horrifying.

The vessel was not turbulent at all as the giant dragon’s ability to control water elements was even stronger than Saleen. There would be no accidental tilting or falling of any objects, even if one was playing skeletal card games. That also guaranteed that every alchemy crossbow on the dragon-remains combat vessel would be able to take aim with accuracy and the mages would be able to save a lot of time in their calculations.

What interested Saleen the most was that even if the combat vessel was not suppressing its powerful aura, there would still be flying fish and all sorts of birds that accompanied the vessel by using its high speed to reduce air resistance for themselves.

Nailisi had brought along about one-hundred demons. As the demons were summoned from the demon dimension, their brains were warped by the magic array and they were not very intelligent. Nevertheless, their instincts could never be erased completely, so with some guidance from Nailisi, the demons very quickly learned how to hunt for fish.

Their method was simple. They would be armed with javelins, standing at the sides of the vessel. Once they discovered their targets, they would be able to accurately hit their targets with the javelins. The javelin was connected to a thin and long metal chain that was strong enough to withstand the impact of the vessel’s speed.

Nevertheless, they were deep into winter by then, and as they headed towards the north, the creatures on the surface of the ocean became fewer. What the demons managed to hunt were just enough to feed themselves. Nailisi did not allow them to consume any magic nuclei. If they managed to kill any creatures above grade-3, the magic nuclei must be given to her.

Once she obtained the magic nuclei, she would use her teeth to cut them out and keep them in her bracelet. Nailisi was not familiar with the new naval route. The areas that she was familiar with had many sunken ships, but along the new route, it seemed as if there were no traces of humans.

That was normal because the humans of the past would purposely choose the naval routes that were more dangerous. They believed that the more dangerous it was, the more rewards there would be. The ancient naval routes were basically what the humans in the past used for hunting.

Saleen spent each day refining equipment and meditating. He felt extremely at peace. If he urgently needed to advance to grade-9, he could use the Six Elements’ Space and would be able to advance successfully in three months’ time. Having such a back-up plan allowed Saleen to feel calm and unhurried.

On that day, Saleen was chatting with his followers in the cabin. When he asked what each person needed for their equipment, Nicholas spoke up unexpectedly.

“My Lord, there is too few equipment that is suitable for me. After I have used my soul bead, it needs a period of recovery. I am also only left with one Fallen Code.”

“I have limited understanding of fallen divine spells. Nicholas, do you wish to discuss something about fallen divine spells with me?” Saleen had nothing much to do, so he began to engage with Nicholas.

That was exactly what Nicholas wanted. Although he had already gotten Daniel onto his side, there was still a distance between him and the other followers. Everyone had little understanding of him and fallen divine spells, so all of them were unaware of many things.

Nicholas knew in his heart that if he wished to maintain a veil of secrecy about himself, he would have to put up with loneliness and discrimination. It was useless even if Saleen saw the importance in him as everyone around Saleen was brilliant. He needed to use equipment as an excuse to talk about fallen divine spells with Saleen, so that the people around them would be able to accept the abilities that came with such a profession.