Badge in Azure

The girl’s eyes turned from transparent to green, making her face look more and more like the Goddess of Myers’ face. Saleen observed these changes and silently went to unleash all of the elemental creatures in the badges before distributing them throughout all of the floors of the magic tower.

Level 12, eh? Putting all of the Midnight Fangs on the line and risking many deaths, including the leader’s, should be sufficient cause to make her stop, at least momentarily. If things go further south, there will still be the family badge… Saleen had a cold smirk on his face as he thought of these things.

That girl still thought that he had no way of dealing with her. If he had not been eyeing the energies that were coursing through her body, he would not have dragged things out so long with her.

Time went by slowly, one second after another, and Saleen wished that a miniature magic cannon would emerge from the teleportation portal soon. There were nearly 500 level nine believers that were gathering beside the girl, which symbolized the presence of a very large-scale power. However, without help from that Divine Baby, those believers would returned to being mere monsters!

The hands on the magic clock turned so slowly, Saleen was even able to hear the tiny metallic friction sounds created by the alchemy machinery…

Clack, clack, clack.

At that moment, an incredibly bright magic light emerged from the teleportation portal. Lex had activated the magic array at Royal Harbor. For the sake of safety, all of the magic nuclei that Lex had used were level nines, which enabled the magic array to be extremely stable.

As the miniature magic cannon emerged from the teleportation portal, Nailisi rushed up to it, and after the magic light grew weaker, Nailisi cradled the cannon in her arms. After the supporting struts of the cannon had been taken apart, the cannon was only a little more than three meters in length.

Nailisi saw that there was a level nine magic nucleus that had been installed at end of the cannon. After she saw it, she made a snap decision and removed the level nine magic nucleus, replacing it with a level 12 one that Saleen had acquired from the Imperial City of the Abyss.

Only then was the cannon able to unleash its full power. Saleen initially did not have access to any magic nuclei above level nine, so all of the ones that he used for experiments were level eights.

Nailisi knew very well that, should he have had access to greater powered nuclei, Saleen would definitely have not been reluctant to these materials against a foe of such power! After all, he was willing to pay any price to kill that Divine Baby!

Energy coursed through the magic patterns of the miniature magic cannon as soon as the level 12 magic nucleus was installed. A pale light shone throughout the entire cannon.

Upon seeing the magic patterns that were flowing on the body of the cannon, Saleen was elated. He thought… So, this thing only works at its fullest power, when level 12 magic nuclei are installed! If the power source used was comprised of levels that were too low, not even shards of dragon crystals would have been able to activate it.

“Vinny!” Saleen called the leader of the Elemental Stone Statue Soldiers, then let Nailisi hand the cannon over to the leader.

All of the elemental creatures within the magic tower were currently in their elemental core forms, which meant that they all were just a little over 2 meters tall. Thus, as Vinny cradled the miniature magic cannon, it looked somewhat ridiculous.

“You see that altar?” Saleen transmitted a question to Vinny. As the two shared senses, they were able to communicate wordlessly. Also, Vinny’s soul was under Saleen’s control, and this kind of Sensory Sharing was a much more efficient means of communication, as it put less strain on one’s mental powers.

“I see it…” Vinny transmitted the thought back to Saleen.

“Shoot her with that cannon nonstop!” Saleen wordlessly commanded.

“Understood, master,” Saleen wordlessly responded.

Vinny thought for a moment before coming before the front of the wall. Saleen then controlled the Magical Element Tower and caused one of its windows to open. However, Saleen did not dare to let Vinny go out of the window.

Vinny’s lower body gradually turned soft, like mud, before it eventually took on the shape of a turret. However, his upper body remained like that of a humanoid. Vinny then took ahold of the miniature magic cannon at his side, activating the magic array on it.

At that moment, seven level 12 magic nuclei provided massive amounts of power to the cannon. Saleen even felt the entire Magical Element Tower shake due to its intense power! A blinding light shot through the window soon after that, then headed straight toward the distant altar.

Seawater filled the huge crack, and when the cannon was fired, round vacuum tunnels formed wherever the light beam passed. However, surprisingly, all of the seawater was not evaporated by the beam, but was completely purified by it instead!

That one shot hit the altar squarely, and the four believers who were receiving their blessings before the altar were reduced to dust in an instant. Luckily, the girl was able to react before the cannon was fired.

However, she was still unable to save her believers. In an instant, she leapt up and retreated to the center of the altar. At the same time, a charred circle that had a diameter of five meters appeared on the steps of the altar.

“Keep at it!” Saleen said upon seeing that the level 12 magic nuclei on the cannon were hardly depleted.

Such a thing was better left to a mage of level ten and above to handle. While Vinny was a level ten elemental creature leader, Vinny’s magical abilities were still far below Saleen’s.

“Da*n!” The girl was startled by the magic tower’s sudden attack. In fact, if she had not been so quick in her response and had been able to escape, the shot would have seriously injured her.

As her body had yet to grow to that of a true pseudogod stage, an attack from a magic cannon could have been fatal to her! As she thought of this, she looked at the believers that were by her side and felt frustrated. If only I had more time. After all, there aren’t even 600 of them here!

She then lifted her hand and pointed forward, where a translucent green barrier had just emerged at the edge of the altar. The Goddess of Myers’ Life Protection divine spell was equal to the Divine Protection of the Lord of Light. In fac, it was actually even stronger!

“Owww… Grrr!” The girl let out a shrill shout, as the humanoid creatures, which numbered nearly a thousand and had all yet to receive their blessings right outside the altar, descended into chaos. They then all turned around and looked at the other end of the crack.

Vinny had initiated a second attack after resting for several seconds within the tower! Instantly, magic patterns flowed on the miniature magic cannon, keeping the cannon in a cold state.

This was different from before, where the temperature of the magic cannon rose with every shot it burst forth. While it had been a hefty price to pay in order to use the level 12 magic nuclei to power the cannon, it had clearly improved the cannon’s efficiency exponentially.

The humanoid creatures, which were nearing a thousand in number, rushed at the crack, intending to pass through it and attack Saleen’s magic tower. Although Saleen did not fear the level nine creatures themselves, he knew that if he needed to fire the cannon, he would have to open a window, and at that time, it would be disastrous if those level nine creatures rushed in through the window!

The second attack of the magic cannon burst through ranks of the level nine creatures, reducing dozens of them to dust. The magic cannon hit the Life Protection accurately, and the dazzling light hit the green barrier squarely before being snuffed out entirely. Then, the translucent green shield was left with only ripples upon it.

Nicholas was startled, yet Saleen was overjoyed. This was because he saw that there were nearly 600 followers at the altar, one of whose body shuddered. The follower’s face turned pale before the follower then sat on the ground and never got up again.

While Life Protection was a powerful divine spell, it had its cost nonetheless. Defending against an attack from a cannon like that would have robbed a believer every shred of strength.

The Goddess of Myers’ natural divine spells were most effective for healing, and as the level nine believer lay on the ground, even though the Divine Baby Girl shone with green divine light and attempted to heal him, the believer was still unable to stand up again. The might of the magic cannon was simply too great, leaving the believer with no life left within him whatsoever.

Saleen waved his arm, sending more than a hundred elemental creatures to surround the outside of the magic tower in order to protect it. Meanwhile, the level nine creatures in the crack avoided the cannon’s firing trajectory. This is because they cleverly approached it from below, intending to attack Saleen’s Magical Element Tower that way.

Saleen was careful to not unleash all of the elemental creatures at once, as his elemental creatures were rather slow to heal, and since he intended to head for Ceylon City right after leaving that place in order to expand his territory, if he lost too many of the elemental creatures, the adventure would prove too dangerous.

This was because the geographical location of the city was such that the Holy City could have attacked from the sea, while the Sikeqinya Empire could have launched an attack from three directions on land. Thus, he needed to prepare for the worst.

Ceylon City could not have been adequately protected with just the army of demons alone, and as that was Saleen’s home city, he did not want to see it burn within the flames of war.

“Keep attacking!” Saleen ordered Vinny to attack with the cannon for the third time.

As soon as the command was issued, an energy beam shot out of the magic cannon. At that moment, the Divine Baby Girl’s face turned completely pale on the altar that was located about a mile away. The third attack landed right beside the Life Protection barrier, causing yet another level nine believer to fall to the ground and never wake up again!

Luckily, the Divine Baby Girl had been smart enough to decide on the safest place to sit, having all of her believers surround her. At that moment, over 500 believers began praying as they knelt before the Divine Baby Girl and recited words altogether…

“O’ Myers almighty, guardian of the plane and the goddess of nature, we’re willing to dedicate my life to follow your will. Be it an abyss or a purgatory of evil before us, we vow to continue moving forward, without any intention of backing away!”

The violent energies within the Divine Baby Girl became suppressed as the believers continued praising her and chanting. Those energies were then quickly absorbed, which simultaneously sped up the Divine Baby Girl’s growth rate.

The green transparent barrier rippled again, causing yet another believer to slump over and die at the altar, killed in mid-chant. The surrounding believers behaved as if they had seen nothing, while continuing to bow and pray to the Divine Baby Girl.

More than 800 level nine monsters charged through that crack and came before the Magical Element Tower, fighting the elemental creatures in fierce battles. Nailisi felt anxious and wanted to help, but Saleen said coldly, “I’ll need you to help here later. So, you must stay here!”

While all of them were level nine creatures, the blue humanoid creatures were at a disadvantage in terms of power. All of the elemental creatures were at least 20 meters tall and didn’t need to defend themselves during times of war.

In contrast, the blue humanoid creatures were utterly incapable of defending themselves against attacks from elemental weapons. Things quickly escalated into a complete bloodbath as the elemental creatures killed four blue monsters before having their elemental cores broken and returning to their respective badges.

Midnight Fangs were the most special, as their attacks were the most powerful. After their energies were depleted from killing four monsters, they would have returned to their badges, except for the fact that their restoration speed was so quick that the enemy was incapable of destroying them.

At that moment, costs no longer mattered to Saleen, as he wanted to get rid of the Divine Baby no matter what price he had to pay. He decided to keep only 24 of each elemental creature with him, sending all of the other remaining ones outside the tower.

He was unable to restore the number of lost Blue Ice Maidens. Hence, if any of those elemental creatures were taken out, he would not be able to mobilize them again within three months’ time.

Then, both sides engaged in fierce fights with each other yet again. There were still blue humanoid creatures that were climbing out of that same crack out in front, and it seemed that every attack from the magic tower killed one believer at the altar.

Hence, the number of believers at the altar quickly dwindled, and the growth rate of the Divine Baby’s power began to slow drastically. The elemental creatures that were guarding the tower also dwindled gradually. Although the speed at which the monsters were emerging from the crack was slow, the monsters kept coming nonetheless.

Saleen felt exasperated as he took out his War Drum of Fear and placed it before him. Although none of the pests within the drum were over level eight, at least the crisis would be averted for the time being if they were unleashed…