Badge in Azure Chapter 178

Chapter 178: Death Trap (Part 1)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
If a person wanted something, they would need to give up something of similar value. This was a saying which all mages believed in.
Daniel did not believe that someone he had met by chance would go against the black deacon of the tribunal simply because of his plight. Saleen looked young, but he certainly did not look stupid. There were no signs of rashness in his blue eyes, and Daniel knew that he would need to give Saleen something that would satisfy him in order for him to solve his problems.
“That map of the ocean, do you still have it with you?”
“Yes.”
“That’s good. Once the black deacon is dead, give me the map of the ocean. I will use detection magic to check if it is real.”
“That’s all?” Daniel was a little shocked. He had thought that Saleen would want his death flames.
“Yes. This is too small of a price, so you will owe me a favor as well,” Saleen replied cheerily. He knew in his heart that even if he did not help Daniel, Lex would not let the people from the tribunal go. Her hatred of the Holy See could not be resolved.
He was only helping him because it was convenient. The fact that Daniel had been able to avoid being killed so many times meant that he must have been quite talented. Moreover, he was a death mage, which was a rarity. He might as well have gotten into Daniel’s good books to learn more about the secrets of death magic.
“Alright. I will draw it for you now,” Daniel answered candidly.
Saleen could understand vaguely why Daniel had been able to survive. He had been crying just now, but it was all just a façade. Deep inside, Daniel might just have been an incredibly powerful person. If he had lacked the wits and decisiveness, he would not have been able to escape here from the Tanggulasi Empire.
When he had first met the white deacon back then, he could not even have escaped. The only reason he had not died back then was because Picasso had been in a good mood.
Nailisi watched from the side and began to think. Master is becoming more evil by the day. He is the one who wants to kill all of the people from the tribunal to make Lex happy, but here he is trying to be nice about it.
Lex, however, did not think of it that way. She had keenly related two things together. The appearance of the rare tiago dragon and the people chasing after it being people from Cloudflow, and the Gauss family from Cloudflow owning a large island filled with rare magic beasts.
Could the tiago have come from the mysterious island? The map of the ocean that Saleen wanted from Daniel was not worth much money since Daniel did not have the ability to go to the island and chase away the Gauss family. He did not even have a chance of returning to Cloudflow.
However, behind Saleen was the Bitter Water Prefecture. One day, Lex would have enough power to seize that island, and even if she had no plans to do so, selling the map to someone from Alchemy City would net her a huge fortune. Saleen only needed to use a piece of tiago’s bone to prove that it was real. Fresh bones from a giant dragon and a mysterious island were enough to make a mage from Alchemy City go crazy.
Saleen only needed to find his teacher to safely sell away the map of the ocean, and it was possible that he would even gain some profit from the island. The Gauss family was not of the Cloudflow Empire and they could not command the Cloudflow Navy. If the mages from Alchemy City insisted on obtaining the island, the Gauss family could only begrudgingly accept it since broadcasting it would only lead to the royal family of Cloudflow seizing it back.
He was definitely someone from Sikeqinya, possessing such accurate judgement of the prices of goods. If Saleen used his wits in the political battlefield, it just might have been possible that he would become someone important in the empire.
“Daniel, I haven’t told you my name. I’m Saleen Metatrin, a grade-4 mage. I have a plan now. The people from the tribunal will be split into three teams. We will need to gather them together so that none of them can escape, and this will require your help.”
“What can I do?”
“Bait them.”
Daniel shuddered but did not back off. He nodded in agreement.
“Relax. I have enough manpower to deal with the people from the tribunal.” Saleen looked at Lex and hesitated before introducing her. “This is Lex, a grade-6 mage.”
Saleen was afraid that Daniel would back out at the last minute and needed to reassure him using Lex’s identity. Daniel indeed heaved a sigh of relief, and Saleen said, “You are only a grade-3 mage. If they dare split into three groups, it means that there is at least a grade-5 elite in each group. A grade-4 elite might not be able to defeat you.”
“Yes, there is at least one high priest in each group, along with an assassin.”
“To get them to gather, you need to show them your level-4 skills. Can you create a magic beast skeleton?”
“I…do not have any magic nucleus left,” Daniel said, ashamed. A mage who did not even have any magic nuclei surely lived a miserable life.
“Don’t worry. You can count on me,” Saleen said confidently, patting Daniel on the shoulder.
Saleen’s plan was not complicated. Death mages could call upon living creatures from the death dimension. However, there were not always living creatures lurking around the passageway in the death dimension. There was a low chance of success, and the creatures needed to be taken care of, just like Daniel’s winged skeleton. Hence, death mages had thought of a way to replace them and created skeleton puppets instead. Their combat abilities might not have been as good as those of a living creature that was called upon, but they were meant to be sent to their deaths, and so long as one possessed the materials, one could create them.
Saleen would definitely not give the dragon bones to Daniel for him to waste. He still had some magic beast skeletons from god’s hell. Besides, the three war horses that the giant dragon had killed were still around, and they could be used by Daniel to make skeleton puppets. He could add human skeletons on top of them and pass them off as mid-grade summoned creatures: skeleton riders.
With three skeleton riders and two magic beast skeletons, it would be enough for the tribunal to direct their attention to Daniel again. They would call upon their comrades out of caution and strike together. With Saleen and Lex securing the ends of the village, they would be able to take down all the people from the tribunal.
Daniel was only a grade-3 death mage and grade-3 magic nuclei were enough for him. Saleen took out an entire box of grade-3 magic nuclei and handed it to Daniel. Tears flowed out from Daniel’s eyes. He had not touched a magic nucleus in a long time, and whenever he had been in battle, he had been extremely nervous. Without any magic nuclei, his death flames had not been able to exert much power in combat.
Death flames were like the magic chords of an elemental mage, only much more mysterious.
Saleen still had many magic nuclei on hand, and now that he was already grade-4, the low-grade magic nuclei were not too effective for him and were only valuable items. However, they were exactly what Daniel needed, and as he watched Nailisi take out a large number of magic beast skulls, he was shocked. He could not feel any magic powers from Nailisi, and yet she could use spatial equipment. Could this lady be a grand mage too?
The winged skeleton was a summoned creature and Daniel quickly picked over a dozen bones and assembled the wings of the winged skeleton.
Saleen’s plan required them to wait until everyone from the tribunal had entered the village before they could take action. This was a true battle, and counting on skeleton puppets would not work. A winged skeleton was a mid-grade death creature and had a higher combat power than Daniel. It could fly as well, and was the main reason why Daniel was still alive.
Having finished with the assembly of the wings, Daniel silently muttered a curse and a ball of green flames appeared behind him. This green flame gave off a cold chill and started floating behind Daniel, being about as tall as a person. The winged skeleton was absorbed into the death flames and its wings slowly fused together.
Seeing this mysterious magic, Saleen could not help but feel envious. He used his icy sight to observe and caught a glimpse of the secrets of death magic. The death flames were an entity of pure energy and had nothing to do with the six types of elements. Instead, they had something to do with the powers of life of the Goddess of Nature.
Saleen’s left hand had been modified by this power and he had a feeling that if any death flames were to enter his left hand, their structures would be completely destroyed and any death creatures inside of them would be killed.
It was similar to how light elements and dark elements could neutralize each other. If one was stronger than the other, the other element would be completely suppressed. There was no chance of one converting the other.
Saleen was slightly relieved. The powers within his left hand had come from the Goddess of Nature and had no effect on his elemental magic whatsoever, yet they could suppress death magic. At first, he had been slightly worried that the death magic would possess something to it that would render him unable to control it.
The three dead horses still had their flesh and blood, and their bones were intact. Daniel took out part of the green flames and began to burn them. Creating a skeleton was a little troublesome, since nobody wanted to carry a dead person around.
To create a fake skeleton, one needed to use the bones of a magic beasts. Daniel was a little troubled. Humans had two hundred and six bones, and carving them out was a very cumbersome thing to do. Of course, the puppet created did not have to be perfect and only needed to be good enough to fool others. To create a skeleton rider with graceful actions, a person needed to replicate the body of a human.
Saleen told Daniel not to worry and to let Nailisi deal with it. Nailisi’s teeth could process even tougher materials, and she was very familiar with the structure of the human body. Saleen’s knowledge of the human body had come from books, while Nailisi had actually eaten a few people herself.
A magic beast skeleton was easier to fake. The creatures in the death dimension were a mystery, and the weirder they pieced it together, the better.
Daniel worked throughout the day and the night, and Saleen did not see him take a break at any point. He curiously asked, “If there were enough magic nuclei, would you be able to continue fighting?”
“Of course not. The death flames are depleted even faster in battle, just like the magic chords of an elemental mage. I can only release twelve level-3 spells consecutively before the death flames dissipate. I will need to regather them by meditating.”
“What about commanding a summoned creature?” Saleen asked, unfazed.
“Summoned creatures, skeleton puppets. They barely use up any death flames. However, the skeleton puppets require focus and aren’t as good as summoned creatures.”
Saleen could vaguely understand. The winged skeleton was similar to Nailisi. Both were creatures from another dimension, and Nailisi did not use up any of his magic chords while in combat. It was the same for the winged skeleton. However, for the winged skeleton to recover from its injuries, the help of a death mage was required.
When everything was ready, Saleen asked, “Daniel, are you afraid?”
“Yes.”
“That’s good. If things get too dangerous, abandon the winged skeleton. I will provide you with some mid-grade magic nuclei for you to call upon another death creature.”