Badge in Azure

Nailisi was emotional when she received the fully-restored Twelve Notes of Purgatory. The weapon was only second to her Gray Memory. After it had been fully restored, the dimensions in the Twelve Notes of Purgatory would be expanded to a terrifying extent. She had never heard of any other equipment that contained such a massive space.

The Twelve Notes of Purgatory formed a complex structure, which was bonded together by very tight links. Six of them were elemental purgatories while the other six were rule purgatories. The Grandmaster was upset with the demon’s greed and took away the weapon’s spirit, as a form of compensation to himself.

That meant that Nailisi would have to control the equipment on her own in the future, but it also meant that others would not be able to snatch it away from her. The Grandmaster had utilized a loophole in the rules and Nailisi did not mind him doing so, but she could never take it lying down that the 12 powerful weapon’s spirits had been taken away.

After taking over the Twelve Notes of Purgatory, Nailisi decided to mark it with her own Spiritual Imprint. She would have marked it with a Soul Brand if she was of appropriate grade as that would be safer.

After putting away the Twelve Notes of Purgatory, Nailisi did not bother checking its interior. Instead, she quickly shouted, “Grandmaster!”

That time around, there was no laughter in the graveyard because the Grandmaster’s expression was clearly a terrifying one. If Nailisi dared to make another request, the Grandmaster would kill her immediately.

“I do not request for anymore equipment. I do have four subordinates who are demons that have signed soul bonds with me though. They are weak. I hope that you can find a way to boost their powers.”

“Only four demons?”

“Of course. If the Grandmaster is willing, you can supply some equipment for my demon army too. There are only about 50,000 demons.”

The Grandmaster wished he could slap himself. He should not have asked that unnecessary question, but since he already did, he had to do something about it.

When the conversation ended, the souls in the graveyard began to cheer again.

“Demons! I love demons the most! They are loyal to their masters, and cruel to their enemies!” One of the fellows shouted.

“I love demons too! With great life power, they are the best bodyguards.”

“Demons can train in magic too. What an incredible species!”

“Yes, demons are born fighters and they are intelligent too.”

“Shut up!” Grandmaster shouted furiously. The graveyard became silent immediately. He was really angry. The rest no longer dared to tease him, for fear that he would just leave on the spot. “Your slaves are not your weapons. A demon army of a few tens of thousands? Find a way on your own.”

The Grandmaster tried to twist his words so that he would not have to help Nailisi anymore. That was not fitting of his status, but strictly speaking, he was not going against the contract.

“Oh, Grandmaster, but I realized that there were supposed to be quite a few divine crystals in this equipment of mine. Where have they gone to?” Nailisi did not fear the Grandmaster at all. According to the rules of the contract, Nailisi and her Master were absolutely safe, as long as they had yet to depart.

“Divine crystals?”

“Grandmaster!”

“What have you done…” Even Aragorn had stepped out from his tombstone and was glaring at Grandmaster.

“They are not real divine crystals.” A colorful divine crystal appeared in the Grandmaster’s hands and he showed it for everyone to see. Most of the souls saw it and felt that it was not of impressive quality and returned it back to their tombstones. They were of much lower grades compared to the four leaders, so it was not ideal for them to leave their tombstones for a long time. Only Aragorn remained, and he continued staring at Grandmaster.

“General, this is not considered as a divine crystal, right?”

“It is, to me!” Nailisi refused to relent. To think that the Grandmaster was trying to weasel his way out from her request. It might sound like a demon army of a few tens of thousands might need a lot of equipment, but in actual fact, very few demons were over grade-7 so most of them only required equipment of very low grades. To the Grandmaster, such equipment was almost like trash.

Nailisi was upset. She was determined to make the Grandmaster pay for that. No matter how stingy a person might be, he must be prepared to pay a heavy price when he encountered a greedy demon.

The Grandmaster held the divine crystal awkwardly. It was true that he had promised to help Saleen repair and make equipment, but they never mentioned that Saleen must supply the necessary materials either. Being caught red-handed by Nailisi for trying to steal the divine crystals was rather embarrassing.

By right, Nailisi should not have done so since he has already provided her with so many high-quality materials, but Nailisi was a demon, a greedy demon that was not going to give in an inch to the Grandmaster.

“There is no point for you to keep this fake divine crystal. I will exchange it with materials that can replenish mental strength for you.” Grandmaster spoke slowly. The way he looked at Nailisi was a thousand times scarier than the Angel of Fear.

Nailisi was slightly terrified but she refused to give in and there was no way she could take back her words anyway. She continued, “Grandmaster, it’s ok if you don’t wish to make the equipment for my demon army. If you leave out any equipment for the four creatures bonded to me, don’t regret if the effect of the contract wears off though.”

“I know the rules of the contract very well!” The Grandmaster was infuriated by the demon. He did not bother to change his tone nor look at Aragorn.

“Fine, fine, fine!” Nailisi began to pack up all the materials that had been left behind when the Grandmaster was refining weapons for her, including the long lance that Saleen wasted six Eyes of Rules on. The lance might be nothing to the Grandmaster, but it was still an outstanding piece of equipment to Saleen, who could give it to a golden grand swordmaster.

Nailisi packed up the items and even stretched out her hand to the Grandmaster, saying, “Give me back the divine crystals. I don’t need to exchange anything of equal value with you.”

“This will not do you any good.” Grandmaster began to threaten Nailisi.

“I will not come here again then,” Nailisi replied even more decisively.

“I don’t believe that your Master wouldn’t come either!”

“Grandmaster…” Aragorn called out. His tone was ominous. A green light shone on his war hammer. Saleen and the rest were paralyzed instantaneously, and they almost felt like their hearts would stop beating any moment. They had lost complete control of their bodies. Aragorn, as an ancient general, was more terrifying than a giant dragon when he was angry. At the very least, Saleen could still fight back against dragon’s might.

“You are a Grandmaster, yet you are squabbling with a low-grade demon like this. I am very disappointed.” Aragorn raised his war hammer slowly. The expression on the Grandmaster’s face changed. In the end, he dared not upset his general.

“Alright.” The Grandmaster returned the hundreds of colorful divine crystals to Nailisi. His expression was cold and aloof.

“That is very impressive of the Grandmaster,” Saleen finally began to speak to the Grandmaster, “There are many areas on this devil suit of mine that can be improved. Surely you won’t use some cheap and lousy materials on it?”

The Grandmaster was stunned. He did not expect Saleen to speak to him with such an attitude. Saleen was a mage, so he should know his limits. Nailisi was only a creature bonded to him, why would Saleen risk offending him for Nailisi?

In any case, the mage and demon were just like ants to him. The contract was so powerful that no one would dare to risk going against it, so he would have to come back there anyway.

“The devil suit is nothing. Let me give you another suit.” The rage in the Grandmaster’s eyes vanished. He did not require Saleen’s magic equipment. Instead, he took out a complicated-looking magic suit from thin air. It looked like a suit of armor worn by a general. It was majestic, grand, and was filled with many detailed magic patterns.

There was also a mask that was made of transparent crystal. Crystals without any particular attributes were rare. On the forehead was a dragonshard that shone brightly. It has been cut and sliced before, so it was quite a small piece.

“A magic book, a magic staff, and magic nuclei.” Saleen read out the items he needed one by one. The Grandmaster gave them to him accordingly. The second set of magic books that was given to Saleen still consisted of six books, from bronze to elemental magic books.

“Grandmaster, I know that elementite can be refined and advanced further, but this is a material of only grade-16 while my magic tower is made from grade-18 materials. This is not fair.”

“So, what do you want?” The Grandmaster asked with a smile.

“I want the method to build magic power furnaces,” Saleen said.

“Sure.” With that, the Grandmaster took out a magic notebook. The magic notebook was about two-thirds bigger than an ordinary notebook. Its cover was black and not a single word was written on it. Saleen thought it looked familiar. All of a sudden, he recalled that the cover of the notebook was similar to the one that belonged to Isabella. It was the one where the rule of balance of energy was embedded.

“This notebook contains all the methods of building a magic power furnaces that I know of. As for the materials, you will have to find a way yourself. This is beyond the contractual obligations.” Grandmaster gave Saleen the magic notebook and stared at him coldly.

“I also need a lot of grade-12 magic papers, so that I can record the techniques on the tombstones,” Saleen said, while pointing at the countless tombstones in the graveyard.

“Alright. I can refine them for you now…” The Grandmaster continued staring at Saleen.

“Many thanks. The general took away my God’s Left Hand. Now, there is a technique that I can no longer use. I need to strengthen my hands to an extent where they can repel the counter-effects of any spell.”

“Only your hands?”

“Yes.”

“This is for you.” Grandmaster handed over a pair of gloves to Saleen and said, “This pair of gloves is able to handle the counter-effects of spells up to grade-16. Will you still bring up the matter of the General taking away your God’s Left Hand?”

“Saleen took over the gloves and said, “No.”

“Very good. What else do you need?” The Grandmaster’s attitude worried the winged skeleton. His master still needed to return to that place. By then, he might not be able to leave again. The winged skeleton looked at Nailisi with hatred. She pretended not to notice Soldier as she looked up at the sky. Above her were dark sea waters. The senses shared between Saleen and herself only allowed them to see as far as 100 miles. Beyond that, there was only darkness that knew no bounds.

“Can you help me to gather the elemental badges?”

“Of course. Anything else?” The Grandmaster looked at Saleen and could not understand why the latter was so confident. The next time he returned to that place, should he not be afraid that he would be locked up here forever?