Badge in Azure

Water puppet looked at the young sorcerer and analyzed them carefully. The opponent was only twenty yards away. If they were ten yards closer, it would be able to kill him with one finger.

It had no idea how agile the sorcerer was. If possible, it was still better to use a magic staff.

The sorcerer saw what looked like Saleen looking at him without any fear. He raised the magic staff in his hands and pointed ahead, unleashing the grade-9 spell stored in it, which was the Vacuum Imprisonment spell.

A huge bubble appeared from the surface of the water puppet’s body, keeping Vacuum Imprisonment away. After Saleen had advanced into a grade-8 sorcerer, his water shield evolved as well. His water shield had become a grade-7 spell even though its appearance was still the same.

Grade-7 water shield could only keep Vacuum Imprisonment out for up to three seconds at most before it would be erased by the grade-9 spell.

Three seconds was too long for a mage. To a water puppet, it was just enough for him to take out a new magic staff and cast a grade-9 spell.

With a clap, the bubble broke and the water puppet cast a grade-9 spell, Ice Storm.

Above the sea, there was unlimited water elements. Ice Storm triggered the water elements, and then the space around the water puppet was filled with water elements that were still growing.

There were huge ice crystals amidst the wind and the damage that each of them could cause far surpassed ordinary alchemy crossbows. Vacuum Imprisonment was a powerful restraining spell that could last for a significant period of time, but compared to Ice Storm, which was of the same grade, the former was full of loopholes.

The water puppet calmly ducked through the loopholes of Vacuum Imprisonment and appeared right in front of the sorcerer. The magic staff in his hands shone and the same grade-9 Vacuum Imprisonment spell captured the sorcerer. A layer of blue on the sorcerer’s black magic robe shimmered and his face revealed a smile of ridicule.

Wind-element spells were his specialty, it was laughable that his opponent was trying to use Vacuum Imprisonment against him. His finger was not affected by the spell at all and pointed forward. A beam of white wind elements changed into the form of a thin needle and pierced through Vacuum Imprisonment, aiming towards the water puppet’s abdomen.

Water puppet smiled deviously as well. They were eight yards apart. He pointed his finger forward as well. A white beam of magic light lit up and the sorcerer’s smile froze on his face.

A gust of unstoppable power shot out from water puppet’s finger. Water elements seemed to have been compressed thousands of times before vibrating and shooting into the sorcerer’s brain.

Blood shot into the sky as the sorcerer’s brain was crushed by crystal finger. In the end, the grade-9 sorcerer still could not figure out how his opponent, a grade-8 sorcerer, was able to cast a spell that could penetrate through his defense. After all, his equipment had provided him with a grade-9 defense, which was Crystal Maze.

The water puppet’s abdomen was pierced through by the needle formed by wind elements, creating a hole that was bigger than a plate. The air current formed by wind elements spun violently. The attack, that was in the form of a needle, caused more damage than a magic alchemy crossbow.

The water puppet held onto some pieces of dragonshard, and after a few breaths, the wound in his abdomen had already recovered. His finger has already broken off and the crystal ring was barely dangling on what was left.

Water puppet switched the ring onto his right hand and dashed forward to snatch the sorcerer’s corpse before throwing it into the leather bag on his waist.

Saleen witnessed the entire battle and felt a tinge of regret. The water puppet was still not well-repaired, and its intellect was still lacking. Its estimation was far from his own. The enemy was only a grade-9 mage, so there was no need to use crystal finger at such a high-level.

The counter reaction force of crystal finger was not something that could be repaired with dragonshards. For at least a week, the water puppet would be without its finger.

Another issue was that, while the incredible power of crystal finger was undoubtable, its attacking range was too short. A range of more than ten yards would severely reduce crystal finger into an ordinary spell. The spell was meaningless if the enemy was not close enough. It was best if no one knew of the existence of crystal finger, but the moment it was known, it would be close to impossible to surprise enemies with it in the future.

Grade-9 opponents could generally move fast, so if their intention was to increase the distance between themselves and Saleen and water puppet, it would have been difficult for the latter to do anything about it. In the midst of the chase, the enemy could easily counter their attack.

In a narrow and enclosed environment, crystal finger was still a good option.

Saleen thought about it and gave water puppet a command to converge with Nailisi.

The top three levels on the ancient combat vessel should already have been occupied by people who were also controlling the core motor. Nailisi rushed towards the core motor. Once she killed the people controlling it, this vessel would more or less be under her control.

The water puppet turned around and led the spirits of the dead to the front of the combat vessel.

Nailisi and the water puppet were two powerful beings that left a trail of destruction behind them. The water puppet cast grade-8 and grade-9 spells without any hesitation while Nailisi, after transforming into three-faced bone demon, could inflict powerful damages and could create even more spirits to become her cannon fodder.

The enemy corpses were turned into undead soldiers, and those that were of better quality had their flesh and blood peeled off to turn into blood warriors.

Blood warriors were grade-5 spirits and their combat abilities were much stronger compared to ordinary soldiers. Under the urging of the spirits, Nailisi turned the first level of cabins beneath the deck into a bloodbath.

There was an incredible number of enemies on the ancient combat vessel and quite a significant number of sorcerers and grand swordmasters as well. As the cabins were spread too far apart, they were unable to communicate with each other and the water puppet was able to use powerful spells to eliminate them all one by one. Other than suffering severe injuries inflicted by the grade-9 sorcerer, the water puppet did not encounter any worthy opponents.

The human soldiers had already returned to the dragon skeleton combat vessel. They were no longer needed in the battle. There were over one-hundred demons on the deck of the combat vessel that were on alert but did not follow Nailisi into battle.

“Master, take a look at this.” The winged skull saw that only Eleanor was left in the cabin and took the chance to show Saleen the broken jade of Judikaka’s soul flame.

Saleen was able to immediately detect the rule power harnessed within. He was shocked and asked, “What is this?”

“This is what was controlling the Three Kings. A terrifying living creature is hidden within it but… it has vanished. Master, you can use this to control the Mechanical Soul.” With that, the winged skeleton quickly transmitted everything that he had researched on the rule and the usage of the broken jade into Saleen’s mind.

“The Mechanical Soul? You can just continue to control it.” Saleen had no idea why the winged skeleton was trying to give him that. The Mechanical Soul had been very useful and could wield great power, especially in battles against armies.

The winged skeleton thought to himself, “I tried so hard not to allow the bond to vanish. If I continue to use this broken jade and control the powerful Mechanical Soul, I’m afraid I will evolve again. By then, I will probably have to leave Master forever.”

“Master, this broken jade harnessed the rule to control. You will need to control a lot more people in future. Grasping this rule is much easier compared to getting people to be bonded to you one by one. Look, although Three King’s Master has disappeared for so many years, they were still unable to go against him.” Seeing Saleen’s hesitation, Soldier spoke again, “Master, I wanted you to control the Mechanical Soul because it is the only one that can truly control this combat vessel.”

“Alright!” Saleen no longer hesitated after hearing that.

The winged skeleton was pleased once Saleen gave his consent, and he said, “Master, familiarize yourself with this broken jade first. Nailisi should still have two more pieces with her. Each broken jade can control a powerful living creature. The rule within the broken jade is even more powerful than soul bonds. Once you are familiar with it, you can refine it yourself too.”

Saleen no longer hesitated and poured his mental strength into the broken jade.

The mental strength space within the broken jade was huge. Saleen saw countless ancient runes lined up in the broken jade in an orderly manner.

The runes were the same as those refined from Judikaka’s staff. Saleen had studied the Three Kings’ staffs and managed to understand what they had gone through all those years.

Their souls were completely controlled with no possibilities of escaping, unless the Three King’s improved so much that they could overturn it.

The broken jades were hidden in the soul flames and could not be taken out; hence Three Kings’ actions had always been affected. They might have possessed the power of the staffs, but they had to pay the price of having their personalities changed.

For so many years, Three Kings had never been themselves.

The powers of Truth, Deception, and Absurdity were what created Three Kings’ eccentric and extreme personalities.

The power of deception was what gave Judikaka his power and intelligence. Once one saw through all deception, that was when the world would become real once more.

The most mysterious thing was that Saleen saw the rule of conservation within the broken jade. The rule was even more powerful than those he read in the books. If not for the fact that Saleen already fully understood the rule of balance of energy, he would never have been able to understand the rule of conservation so quickly.

With the broken jade, not only would Saleen be able to control the Mechanical Soul completely, it would continue to be that way even after Saleen died from old age.

“Master, how is it?” Although the winged skeleton could understand how Saleen was feeling, he still decided to ask anyway. He did not wish to influence Saleen’s feelings as it was inappropriate for him to peek into his master’s train of thought. Even so, the winged skeleton had no desire for such an ability to be taken away from him.

“It is really good. Although I can’t understand it all immediately, it can be perfected with time. Anyway, the staff is in my hands.” Saleen smiled. He had not been able to break down and analyze the materials of Three Kings’ staffs, so he had been keeping them all that while. It would have been such a waste if they had been destroyed.

Three staffs would allow him to control three powerful living creatures.