Badge in Azure

Chapter 1408: Cunning Weapon Spirit (Part 1)

The corner of the Winged Skull’s raised as they smirked at the mages on the other side of the crystal wall.

The mages no longer laughed. That meteor hammer was indeed powerful. A crack was seen on the wall. It was only healing gradually with the Book of Gaia at work.

The nine mages were thinking that the Winged Skull would have only been capable of dishing out such attacks once, as it would have expended quite a lot of power. However, when the Winged Skull lifted their weapon and brought it down on the wall again, the crack on the wall extended for several centimeters more.

Impossible. That’s impossible! There is no way that thing could keep on attacking like that!

The mages repeated that to themselves in silence, so much so that they have forgotten to cast magic to attack the Winged Skull.

Boom!

The Winged Skull picked up their paces and the crack on the wall expanded yet again.

Saleen did not bother with the Winged Skull. Regardless of how hard that crystal wall would have been, it was not a godly item. The wall was but a window for observation. If the Winged Skull were to be unable to break even that, they should have their equipment swapped out and there was no need to use that weapon ever again.

The very reason the Winged Skull kept that meteor hammer was so to deal with situations like that.

What Saleen paid attention to was what lied beyond the crystal wall. The nine mages were the leaders beyond that wall. There were also mages who were standing at the side who wore red magic robes. Those were level ten mages.

Saleen paid no attention to levels. His powers enabled him to deal with anything below level 12 after all.

If those mages were to have someone at level 13 among them, they would have thought about taking on that skeletal dragon at Alchemy City. With a godly item in hand, a level 13 professional would have been able to try to subjugate that skeletal dragon.

If the skeletal dragon were to be made a bonded creature of theirs, then Alchemy City would have reigned supreme in the mainland for the time being.

The nine mages sat around a magic array, which was the most lavish that Saleen had ever laid eyes upon.

The core of the magic array was a perfect crystalline body. Magic patterns were crafted into the crystalline body itself, which was free of impurities and filled with power of the six major elements. Those power ebbed in the magic pattern, making the crystalline body looked like living being.

Saleen took one look and had almost succumbed to it. The mages of the Elemental Hand were unable to see clearly due to insufficient level. However, Saleen was able to see that at the core of that crystalline body, lied a living being, which was looking outside in silence.

That magic array is alive?

What kind of damned mage would create something like that? Who knows if someone would become a god after using that thing for too long.

However, Saleen quickly realized that that thing might have been something similar to Dante and the others. It would have been peculiar instead if the Baldur’s Gate were to not have a weapon spirit.

The mage who crafted such a huge space would not have bothered to spend their time managing every detail of that space all day long.

The mages of Alchemy City had not realized that. The attack outside would not have been carried out so smoothly otherwise.

That weapon spirit clearly was capable of thought, and yet it refused to help the mages of Alchemy City. Saleen found that to be rather amusing. He had been worried if the mages of Alchemy City would have gained control of the Baldur’s Gate all of a sudden.

If that turned out to be the case, almost all of the soldiers that he brought there would have died within.

Without the help of a weapon spirit, the Baldur’s Gate would have been little more than a collection of scattered parts, which would not have posed much of a threat to people of Saleen’s level.

That weapon spirit looked at everything taking place outside in a lethargic manner and sensed Saleen’s eyes all of a sudden. It startled the weapon spirit at first, but it quickly turned overjoyed.

Its master once said that there would have been a day that a mage would keep their eyes on it, and that would have been the time it gain freedom.

Saleen was looking at it with complicated eyes.

The former master of the Baldur’s Gate left the equipment behind and the weapon spirit was waiting for the one to claim it.

Is this fate? The thing that Alchemy City poured their heart and soul into acquiring, turned out to be something they could only use the most basic of powers of. That core of the Baldur’s Gate, the weapon spirit didn’t bother with any probing from the Elemental Hand.

That weapon spirit was not a prisoner. It was simply waiting, waiting for the one who could truly master the Baldur’s Gate.

One without powerful power of the soul would not have been able to see that weapon spirit.

Saleen thought that the Elemental Hand would have wasted all of their efforts eventually. He came to wonder if he would have acquired the Baldur’s Gate only to pass it on to someone else.

His luck had been getting better and better all these while, yet it had been quite a while he last searched for a temple. Most of the temples were still scattered throughout Myers Mainland.

If someone were to find them and inherit the mission to resurrect the goddess, they would have divided his luck. If my luck were to prove inferior to others...

No, I’m a mage. Don’t go about blabbering about luck.

Luck favors the brave ones. Mages shall not be people who constantly look fore and aft, worrying about gains and losses needlessly.

Saleen cleared all that distractions in his mind in an instant. Acquiring the Baldur’s Gate proved more important than searching for temples. The Baldur’s Gate would have been the best equipment there was for transporting troops. His own Floating City proved to be too complex and troublesome.

It would have sufficed flying around in Myers Mainland, but if he were to travel between the mainland and the interdimensional space, he would have needed a piece of equipment like the Baldur’s Gate.

The 12 Notes of First Purgatory was essentially a weapon. Warriors would have sustained damages when they enter. Even if those damages were to be patched up, it would have affected their future training nonetheless.

As such, Saleen never used that collection of purgatories to transport human troops. He only used it to transport demons.

Boom!

Crystal dust flew everywhere. Fundamental changes finally took place on the cracks on the crystal wall after it was being banged on over 100 times. The restorative powers of the Book of Gaia was no longer able to keep up with the Winged Skull’s speed at breaking the wall.

A hole as large as a bowl appeared at the center of the crystal wall. Saleen said while facing the hole, “Leave, while you could still make it.”

The nine mages of the Elemental Hand were rather irked by then. Is Saleen taking us to be little more than trash? Even if he were to have many followers, we still have tens of mage trainers here.

Saleen threw eight Armoring Lightning Beads inside. The mages put up their shields. The beads did not seem to be of any threat and they had properties similar to Water Flame. Their offensive capacity was not all that obvious, and yet they were unusually lasting.

The Armoring Lightning Beads in his territory were capable of collaborating with skills of the Water Flame. Saleen sent Water Flame into the room at the same time. Snowkill and Tornado manifested at the same time and were mixed together.

The level ten mages had no choice but to put up multilayered shields while activating defensive attributes of their equipment. Uncountable number of snowflakes danced in the tornado, making them more terrifying than carborundum in magic machinery.

Cutting, low temperature and blinding flashes were thrown all over the room.

The Book of Gaia was having a hard time resisting after the Water Flame entered the room. Or rather, the weapon spirit of the Baldur’s Gate began to absorb the power of the godly item all of a sudden, making the powers of the godly item no longer targeted at Saleen.

The mages of the Elemental Hand were perceptive enough to realize that. Saleen smiled as he watched. That weapon spirit was still looking at him, and it did not bother to do anything.

Seems like I won’t be able to earn that weapon spirit’s approval until I take out all those mages then.

Saleen was actually wrong. The mages of Alchemy City did not know of that high level weapon spirit’s existence, and so they attempted to craft the Baldur’s Gate, but they were unable to succeed thus far. However, that crafting process sealed the magic array that the weapon spirit used for going in and out.

That weapon spirit had been spending over 10000 years in the Baldur’s Gate and became rather weak. With the mages using the magic array to invoke the Book of Gaia, it only dared to take the Book of Gaia’s power while the mages of the Elemental Hand’s attention was drawn to Saleen.

It was only sipping and nibbling at the start, but when the Elemental Hand mages realized something was off, the yellow light on the Book of Gain had dimmed.

The nine mages let out high-pitched shrieks, which sounded like metal grinding on glass. That sound magic was very effective against the likes of weapon spirits.

“Shut up. You people are too much.” Saleen cast Thundering Explosions, wrecking all of the attacks from the nine mages.

That Armoring Lightning Beads were still hovering about in the room, as they kept finding ways to attack the mages. The beads actually had formidable power, yet Saleen only used them for scrubbing off impurities on equipment or consciousness left behind by others.

They behaved more or less like Water Flame when used for attacks.

With the Water Flame participating in the attack as well, the Winged Skull stopped altogether, letting the hole on the crystal wall slowly patch up on its own. With a considerable portion of the power of the Book of Gaia being absorbed, it would have taken about an hour for the hole to get completely restored.

The Winged Skull could have continued to attack. It was not a big deal for them to just smash the wall itself to pieces.

However, there was no need for it. Saleen was able to calculate how things would have worked. The mages would have needed to use teleportation portals to leave the sealed room, as it had no doors. Even the teleportation portal was built after they came.

The first mage that got in did so using special powers of equipment, who then toiled in that room alone for months, before building a teleportation portal that was linked to the outside.

Ancient humans would not have needed doors to get inside.

If the mages of Alchemy City were to get out, they would have needed a stable elemental environment. Saleen never thought about killing those mages quickly when he sent the Water Flame and the Armoring Lightning Beads into the room. The power of those mages were hardly any weaker than his after all.

However, that weapon spirit would have been able to take control of the Baldur’s Gate as soon as it regained its strength. Saleen was able to tell that the weapon spirit would not have helped the mages of the Elemental Hand.

As for whether the weapon spirit would have attacked him, Saleen did not mind at all. If that weapon spirit did intend to do so, it would have had to take on the Elemental Hand mages first. Saleen had many ways to subjugate that weapon spirit.

Killing the Elemental Hand mages would have proven trickier. That weapon spirit would have been like meat on a chopping board, to someone armed with lightning skills.

Saleen only needed to watch from outside. It was an outcome that he never expected to see himself.

Saleen elaborated what he saw with Safilos while being under his territory. Safilos’ towering spirit disappeared without a trace after that.

He was in there to fight with all his might. If they were to be unable to get rid of Alchemy City, it would have turned into something akin to a cancer in the future, hurting Qin Empire severely.

Safilos, who had been ready to fight to the death, was told by Saleen that he needed to do nothing but wait and see. It would have caused anyone to be dejected.

“Saleen, you’re kidding, right?”

“If I’m indeed kidding, I’d have told you so three days in advance.” Saleen was truly kidding with that line. Safilos sheathed his blade and looked glum.

“Don’t get angry, prince. If we were to take the place without doing anything, you would suffer fewer casualties and I’d give you more loot. Of course, I’m having some regrets now, if only I knew it was something like this...” Saleen said as a shadow appeared behind him.

A level 11 assassin!

Safilos kicked the assassin’s back. His leg curved at an eerie angle, which looked like someone had just broken his leg with a stick.

Saleen smirked. Safilos has finally taken his role as an ally seriously eh.

There was no way Saleen would not have noticed that assassin being inside his territory. There was no fooling Saleen’s perceptions, even if Agares himself were to show up.