Badge in Azure

Chapter 1437: Resurrection (Part 2)

The demons were behaving cautiously on the island, producing iron ore while supreme demons stood guard around the teleportation portal. They had never seen Saleen in such a foul mood before.

He did not vent his anger and frustration at the demons, however: He was a mage and would never do something like unless there was a good reason.

Furthermore, the grandmaster said that luoluokaluo was tough to kill, to begin with, and the contract within his soul had not disappeared. The chances of seeing Nailisi resurrected were high. That was good news.

But there was little hope for Rafel. The truth is, the combat angel had no desire to continue living after her god had perished. What made her stay behind all these years were the metal angels in her care. There was no one else to look after them.

That is until Saleen promised to watch over them in case something happened to her. Once that arrangement was in place, there was little keeping Rafel tethered to the world. After the metal angels embraced the faith of the God of Magic Net, they could be resurrected in the divine kingdom of the God of Magic Net, as long as that god stayed alive. In other words, the metal angels were in good hands.

Generally speaking, if difficulties arose with resurrection, the gods typically gave up on their angels. Rafel knew that Saleen would honor his commitment and do right by them. After all, those angels were still more powerful than level-10 humans.

A level-10 human was capable of leading a squadron of elite soldiers even in ancient times.

People like Saleen were good to their subordinates, which put Rafel’s mind at ease and allowed her to go all out in the battle with the Lord of Glory’s double. She was more worried about the God of Magic Net getting killed than her own death. The battles between the gods were brutal. Few prisoners were taken, and it was common practice for the winners to devour the losers.

Only newly emerged gods would have thought of taking in servant gods.

As a veteran god, the Lord of Glory had more than enough subordinates to spare. If the God of Magic Net fell into his hands, he would have suffered a brutal death, and the metal angels would have gone down with him.

When Saleen passed through the Oceanic Ice Block on his way to the Imperial City of the Abyss, hoards of magic beasts ganged up on him. Saleen didn’t bother with any of them. He simply spread his lightning territory wide open and pushed all those magic beasts outside.

He had no time to hunt those ‘moving-treasure troves,’ as they were popularly called. Saleen just dived into the abyss and headed for the Cemetery of Heroes.

What he saw upon his arrival was shocking.

It was a long table with heroes seated on both sides. They were all holding exquisite cutlery while enjoying an aromatic meal. Mmmm.

Saleen had no doubt about where that food came from—the double of the Lord of Glory.

While those heroes were savoring each mouthful, Saleen scanned the food with his Eye of Souls and found that it was manifestations of energy purer than magic nuclei instead of the joints of meat as he imagined.

The general was seated on one end of the long table; a piece of broken-divine persona graced his plate.

The general then called Saleen when he saw him and said, “We heroes have long lost our sense of taste, Saleen. If we were to enjoy ourselves, we could only look for it in the gods. Since you’re here, I’d like to share something with you if I may. Let me tell you how to absorb the power of gods.”

Saleen walked toward the general but didn’t see the grandmaster at his side. He bowed and said, “General, my bonded creature, a luoluokaluo, was killed by that demigod. Please do something to save her.”

Humans had shared amicable relationships with demons in ancient times. From the general’s perspective, such a request from Saleen was quite normal. Humans back then did not fear demons.

“Saleen, you’d need to strengthen your soul before I can find a way to save her. For now, do please join us at the table, mmm?”

The general pointed to the chair at his side. The hero seated on his left gave up his seat voluntarily. A new chair was put in its place.

Saleen sat down as requested, and the general continued, “We all served a king back in the magic dynasty when we were alive. The Imperial City of the Abyss had originally been a territory of that king. No need to tell you how the place sank to the bottom of the ocean. We all knew it would happen sooner or later. All of us who died in that battle transformed into heroic spirits.”

Saleen had no idea why the general was going on and on about this ancient history! He had no choice but to listen quietly and patiently until the general got to the point. Surely there was one!

“After we were transformed into heroic spirits, we were protected by our graves, which meant that we were almost prevented entirely from getting a true death. But then again, that simply means that we’re suffering indefinite imprisonment. His majesty all those years ago built a huge cemetery to keep us from feeling as if we were suffering. Regardless of how large the cemetery is, to us it’s a cage. Further, this place is already run down and no one ever comes here. What would be the meaning of our continuing to live then?”

Saleen couldn’t imagine what that felt like...nor was he interested in finding out. His mind kept wandering back to Nailisi’s corpse lying in the crystal coffin. That meant her body would be preserved perfectly for the next three to five thousand years. Saleen was still feeling very anxious.

“Alright, I’m telling this to you and hope you’ll partake of this delightful meal with us. Consider it a reward for baiting the demigod here. No need to hurry. I know how your bonded creature died—her heart was torn up. It would have been the end for other creatures, but this luoluokaluo of yours should have gained several powers, making resurrection quite easy. On the other hand, think about it. That would leave her with seven types of powers from now on. And her lifespan will be more than halved as well.”

Saleen was stunned. He knew nothing about that?!

“Your power of soul is still too weak. The reason I invited you to dine with us is to strengthen it. Then I’ll find the demon brand on the luoluokaluo within. By doing so, she will be almost completely resurrected.

Saleen sighed a long breath and said, “Thaaank you.”

“Ach. ‘Twas nothing. One condition though.”

“Please.”

“You’re not allowed to use loopholes of rules. If you come here again, I shall personally ensure the safety of you and your men. The grandmaster shall never look for trouble with you ever again,” the general said glowering at the grandmaster.

The grandmaster was silent. He knew deep down that Saleen was probably one favored by fate and that there was no way he could take Saleen to be a mage of no importance anymore.

Some decisions Saleen had made could even change the course of the plane’s history. Although he was more powerful, he had been forsaken by fate before and thus knew how terrifying the implications could be.

A thought popped into Saleen’s mind, and he read between the lines of what the general was telling him: The grandmaster had been thinking of looking for trouble with him and would have targeted those around him too. But wouldn’t those concerns be too petty for someone like him?

Saleen quickly realized that they had always been scheming against each other. The grandmaster couldn’t squeeze anything more out of Saleen. Saleen, on the other hand, hadn’t been all that respectful to the grandmaster. To people like the grandmaster, if something like that happened out there, he would snuff him out...no questions asked!

Souls trapped in the Cemetery of Heroes would not be preserved indefinitely because of the time limit. In an effort to escape the current predicament, the grandmaster had to hold it all in.

Despite none of that actually being Saleen’s fault, it was definitely Saleen’s fault from the grandmaster’s perspective.

He was far more powerful than Saleen, after all. In his eyes, Saleen was just a scrawny little nobody, a nonentity. But said scrawny little nobody had infuriated the grandmaster. So why didn’t the grandmaster didn’t kill him? Why didn’t he take action against those around him?

“Alright, you have my word,” Saleen did not answer in a clear-cut manner but he was nonetheless quick.

Initially, he had no intention of helping those heroes. When he baited the Lord of Glory’s double, he heard the amusing conversations between the heroes and that triggered something in him. Those heroes were also ordinary humans when they were alive. They had the full spectrum of emotions and were hardly different from contemporary humans, except that they were noticeably stronger.

If none of those people were to be his enemy, then there was no need for him to see that they all remained trapped here.

Further, those people were all good role models when it came to accomplishing goals. He would have standards to measure himself against when he advanced in the future and he would have known exactly where he actually stood.

Clearly, it was only a matter of time before he surpassed the grandmaster.

The way Saleen saw it, all those schemes between him and the grandmaster were a joke. If he failed to show up, the grandmaster might kill everyone around him just to vent his anger. While Saleen had no idea what kinds of skills would allow the grandmaster to do that, the general’s words suggested it would not be hard to pull off.

The general then elaborated on the secrets of the bodies of gods to Saleen. As a warrior, it was a miracle to get to level-18. The understanding of magic and elements the general had even made Saleen doubt if he was the magic apprentice there instead.

“The fundamental difference between gods and elemental creatures was enormous. Look.” The general then motioned at the cut of meat on the plate and said, “The package of energy is hardly different from the meat we used to eat in terms of appearance, and they had more or less the same function as real meat. When gods advanced to the final form, they wouldn’t turn into a blob of energy. Energy creatures would have instead drowned in energy if they were to not become gods eventually. That is why the energy of gods is indeed the most delicious thing in the world.”

Saleen felt repulsed seeing the grandmaster biting into the flesh of the Lord of Glory’s double, but he quickly got used to it. To Saleen, the Lord of Glory was not very different from those magic beasts he hunted.

Saleen was still observing with his Eye of Souls. That piece of meat quickly liquefied when it was put into the general’s mouth, transforming into a blob of energy, repairing the power of soul that the general had lost over the years.

Following the general’s example, Saleen put a piece of meat that was thinner than the edge of a blade into his mouth, absorbing it with his soul.

He found it was indeed a form of energy capable of replenishing his power of soul, which meant that the outer shell of a god’s form was capable of providing sustenance for souls. It was no surprise that the Lord of Glory’s double could freely cast power of light after he arrived at the Imperial City of the Abyss.

The gods were a world unto themselves.

The most important part was the divine persona, which the general was about to chomp on. Yum. Saleen had a divine persona of an even higher level embedded in his Thunder Dragon Blaster, which he dared not reveal for fear that the heroic spirits would go berserk. He simply kept it hidden in his Thunder Dragon Bangle.

Watching the general cut the secret of the general up bit by bit, all trauma that the Lord of Glory’s double left in Saleen’s mind disappeared. Gods were not actually some undeniable beings after all. They were simply more special than most.

As to their combat skills, untrained humans could reach the height of gods regardless of their level; however, trained humans could surpass the gods even if they were of a lower level.

The general stated frankly that when he was at level-17 back in the day, he’d already challenged a level-17 god. But he had to rely on the power of equipment. There was nothing unfair about that. Didn’t the gods also use the equipment? Moreover, they were all armed with godly items.