Badge in Azure Chapter 347

Chapter 347: Guise’s Death (Part 1)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Every story of this magic tower was six meters tall. On the other hand, the skeletons which the three kings had transformed into were only about two meters tall, so they could easily enter the magic tower.
Saleen looked back and said, “Daniel, get some soldiers to stand guard outside, and clear the remaining puppets.” Then, he took out six grade-5 magic nuclei, handed them to Daniel, and said, “If anything happens outside and you cannot hold the fort, go inside. There should be a short-distance teleportation portal inside. Use the magic nuclei to stimulate it.”
Daniel nodded in agreement and accepted the six magic nuclei. Usually, Saleen would give him grade-3 magic nuclei, and Saleen rarely gave him grade-4 ones. This time around, the grade-5 magic nuclei were for contingency purposes. Daniel also knew that even though the number of puppets was not small, he would likely remain unharmed because the spirits summoned by the three kings were around. Saleen had given him these magic nuclei only in case of an emergency.
Saleen followed the three kings and entered the magic tower. Beside him were Jola, a few grand swordmasters, and Aini. Saleen did not lead the pirates into the magic tower. He had decided that the pirates could be put to better use.
These ill-disciplined pirates needed to have an authoritative leader. As long as Saleen could change his position to that of the pirate captain, the pirates would easily be controlled. Previously, when he had commanded Gurney to kill dozens of insignificant pirates, the other pirates had not rebelled. Instead, they had become respectful of Saleen.
An approach needed to fit the personalities of the target audience. Even though the pirates had lost a few comrades, they did not hate Saleen. Instead, they hated Gurney. Saleen’s dominance had won the respect of the pirates. Following that, the pirates would try their best to accomplish whatever orders Saleen gave. If a task was not completed satisfactorily, then the problem was with the pirates’ capabilities, not with their attitudes.
Keeping these pirates by the side would be of great use to Saleen in the future.
Not many people entered the magic tower, but it already felt cramped inside. After the three kings entered the magic tower, they saw a teleportation portal on the first story. Then, they looked up and suddenly froze in their tracks.
The teleportation portal on the first story was the entrance to the relic, and it had just been used not too long ago. To the three kings, it was even possible for them to use their own powers to activate this portal, because such a portal would not consume much power. However, there seemed to be vibrations coming from a source of holy power on the upper stories.
Those vibrations definitely had not come from the gods created by the black mages. They originated from a real god. The three kings were on the verge of leaving already. Although they knew that it was impossible for a god to be here, it was merely a believer who was causing all this.
The three kings only had scant knowledge of the issue between the black mages and the Holy See. Judikaka pondered for a moment, then decided that the person above was a blasphemer who had betrayed his god.
“To the person above, you can come down now.” Judikaka’s voice was majestic. Then, he said coldly, “Let us kill you. Don’t bother hiding, there’s no point.”
“Filthy spirits, it is an atrocity for you to have come onto the Myers Mainland. In the name of god, be cleansed!” Guise’s voice was loud and clear as it emanated from the fifth story.
Suddenly, a gentle white light flooded the first story. This white light could not be deflected, and it landed on everyone’s bodies. Saleen raised his water shield in time against the oncoming light. The white light landed on the water shield, creating a ripple on the surface of the shield.
Saleen had already prepared himself psychologically. His water shield was not mixed with any other types of power, being purely elemental power. After the white light and the water shield came into contact, they did not attack each other, they merely separated gently.
However, the three kings were not so lucky. This holy light was directed at spirits. Crackling sounds were given off from the surface of their bodies. The grey radiance intertwined with the holy light, giving off abrupt explosive noises.
Guise had actually harnessed the power of the magic tower to increase the offensive power of his holy light. Furthermore, this divine spell was targeted solely at spirits. The three kings groaned at the same time. Diyabannersa spit out a ball of spirit breath, causing a thick grey radiance to envelope the three kings and Aini.
Jola and the others were not affected by this attack at all. This divine spell was targeted too specifically. Its offensive power against spirits had been increased by dozens of times, but in return, it would not attack any other beings.
Guise had no choice either. The three kings were simply too mighty. If he had not cast this divine spell, he suspected that he would have been killed in an instant by those three fellows.
The three kings were very doubtful. The divine spell cast by that man was of extreme purity, it could not be casted by a blasphemer. This meant that he had not yet been abandoned by the god!
The cleansing light streamed out endlessly from the walls of the magic tower, trapping Aini and the three kings.
Saleen sneered. At this critical point in time, the three kings were still being so overly cautious. It seemed like the trap in the contract would definitely take effect this time around. When Saleen thought of this, he signaled to Jola, then began making his way up the magic tower in a haughty manner.
“Saleen!” Judikaka cried. Saleen did not even turn his head and his shadow disappeared at the bend in the stairway.
“What now?” Banchajanna asked Judikaka hesitantly. They did not wish for Saleen to take the initiative to attack. The outcome was very unpredictable in a conflict against the believer of a god.
“We will go down!” Judikaka clenched his teeth, and was about to make his way to the teleportation portal. At this moment, he had decided to abandon Saleen. This mage made him feel very uncomfortable, and he could hardly be controlled too.
“Let me go, I want to help Saleen!” Aini hollered, concealing the smugness in his heart.
“Hmph, follow us.” Diyabannersa grabbed Aini’s neck and raised him up in the air. Aini’s body was much weaker than Saleen’s. Even if Aini was stronger than Saleen, he would not have been able to withstand Diyabannersa’s grip either way. He was like a small bird, being carried by Diyabannersa towards the teleportation portal.
“Judikaka, we have a contract between us, are you thinking of violating it?” Aini could still talk, and he decided to yell.
“Contract?” Judikaka glanced at Aini, then sneered, “At most, we will suffer the backlash of the contract. Do you really think that you can manipulate us? Ha…”
By the time Judikaka finished talking, a hint of red magic patterns had already appeared on his forehead. At the same time, the three kings felt that there was a crack in their souls. A mysterious force had imprisoned their souls, and then carved a layer of intricate magic symbols onto them.
“Diyabannersa, you can let me down now.” Aini laughed, “The power of this contract is immense. As long you are on the Myers Mainland, this contract will definitely be effective. In order to keep the contract dormant, there is only one solution. That is, that you do not violate the terms in the contract.”
“Aini, what have you done?!” Judikaka was terrified. He wanted to grab Aini, but he realized that he could not move his limbs at all.
“Mm, Saleen, you can come down now.” Aini might have been grinning, but his gaze was frigid. Indeed, these three fellows did not harbor good intentions. They had already been thinking of deserting Saleen.
Saleen had been waiting just beyond the bend at the stairway. He was not so dumb as to duel with the holy master. At this moment, the most important task at hand was to subdue the three kings. What Saleen had not expected was that the kings would go back on their word even before reaching the relic. In fact, that was better. Saleen could leave right away. He did not really care about the things in the relic. His only motive being here had been to subdue the three kings.
Saleen had experienced many events in his life, and this, by far, was the smoothest one.
Saleen returned to the first story of the magic tower. He adjusted his magic robe and chuckled as he stared at the three kings, unable to contain his jubilance anymore.
“Aini, which one do you want?”
“Judikaka, I like smart people.”
“Fat hope!” Judikaka mustered all his strength and pointed his scepter at Aini.
“Judikaka, you had all better wise up. Otherwise…” Saleen pointed at Banchajanna. In the past, these two fellows had tried to kill Saleen. Hence, Saleen had decided that he would do a demonstration first.
All of a sudden, Banchajanna collapsed onto the ground, twisting in agony. Vigorous grinding sounds emanated from the joints of the illusory skeleton which had been transformed from Banchajanna, as if a metallic war chariot was running over gravel.
“Just use the power of the soul. It will be more effective against spirits.” While looking at Judikaka, Aini bent his finger. Immediately, Judikaka felt like his senses had been blurred. Judikaka was in disbelief. Even though there was an undeniable difference in their grades, he could not resist Aini’s commands.
“Hmph…” Banchajanna sprang up from the ground and lunged at Saleen. He was indignant that he was going to be controlled by a tiny mage. Saleen did not move an inch at all and stood there waiting for Banchajanna’s attack. Even before Banchajanna’s bone finger touched Saleen, the red magic patterns on his forehead had already burst with a ray of red light, causing him to collapse onto the ground once again.
Jola and the others were aghast. This transformation was too astounding. They already knew that the three kings had not been summoned by Daniel and that the three kings were simply staying by Saleen. Jola had been extremely wary of the three kings. He had been afraid that the three kings might harm Saleen should they become angered. They could never have imagined that in the blink of an eye, Saleen and Aini now controlled the kings’ freedom.
“I thought it’d be quite troublesome. Mm, Saleen, we should kill the guy up top first. We can afford to not go into the relic, but that fellow is very dangerous,” Aini said to Saleen as he pointed upwards.
Saleen pondered. The holy master up above might have been extremely powerful. If he were to leave now, the holy master might be able to track him down. By then, Saleen would have no control over the situation anymore.
He could abandon the remaining pirates and instruct the three kings to fly the rest of them back to the city base. Given the kings’ flying speed, Saleen believed that the holy master would never be able to catch up.
Outside the magic tower, a continuous stream of different puppets blindly continued the offensive against the spirits. Judikaka had summoned more than four thousand spirits, hence outnumbering the enemies. Also, three evil dragons were slaughtered by Banchajanna. Even though the headless riders had an advantage over the low-grade spirits, there were not even one hundred of them. It was obvious that the situation was irreversible.
Black puppets were being continuously massacred. Bloody flesh was strewn all over the ground before it slowly converged together. On a distant hill, a poly spirit beast stood on the peak of the hill, staring coldly at the ongoing massacre. Following the deaths of the many black puppets, countless soul shards gathered together, forming new poly spirit beasts. The new poly spirit beasts climbed up from the ground, but they did not enter the battle.
There were less than ten poly spirit beasts. They occupied the four corners of the square outside the magic tower, and stealthily began surrounding the pirates.