Badge in Azure Chapter 531 - Tailing (Part 2)

Chapter 531: Tailing (Part 2)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
On another sand dune nearby, the two wardens were also spying on the camp. They did not have the ability of God’s Vision, and could only rely on mage equipment and Alchemy Binoculars.
The only thing that the spies on the two sand dunes were afraid of was that Lex would suddenly uproot camp, causing them to lose their target.
If Delase still had five-hundred wardens, he would not have to carry out the spying personally. Now, he could only spit out the sand in his mouth in anger and scolded, “Wait until I catch that woman. I will throw her into the Black Dungeon, then send magic images of her to the Grukos family.”
Along the seas of Tanggulasi, there was an island in the central area. That was where the Supreme Court’s prison was located. The Supreme Court knew it as the Black Dungeon, but outsiders called it by many other names, none of which sounded pleasant.
The people of the Supreme Court were aware of how outsiders thought of them, but instead of feeling sad, they took pride in it. Delase did not dare to face Lex head-on at the moment, so he could only settle for cursing at her.
Humane was a foreign concept in the Black Dungeon. Even if a sow was thrown in there, its suffering would be unimaginable, what more a pretty lady like Lex.
After close to twenty hours of travelling, Lex finally set up camp again. The night was extremely cold. Lex used magic to measure the temperature and realized that it had dropped to seventy-two ice points.
How cold was seventy-two ice points? If the swordmasters did not have the Spirit Snake armor, they would have lost all their sword aura within three minutes and become completely frozen. The two Black Metal Grand swordmasters might last up to half an hour while Saleen’s two Silver Grand swordmasters might last until close to dawn, but they would definitely not live to see the sun.
Luckily Lex brought along these special barracks. They were made of one-yard thick lightweight stone materials which were internally filled with small holes like air bubbles. As a result, its insulating effects were superior to most other buildings. In the northern cities, this type of stone materials created by magic were so expensive that only clans of Earl status and above could afford them.
The average clan would usually use these materials to repair their bedrooms. The cost of the materials was inexpensive, but the difficulty lay in finding mages to create them for you.
Within the barracks, specially-made bronze urns were filled with burning charcoal. The smoke produced by the charcoal flowed out of the barracks through a pipe, while a water container boiled on the urn. There were several shelves of human-height placed around the walls of the barracks for swordmasters to store their Spirit Snake armors. The mages washed the armors with magic before letting them dry naturally.
Although the temperature in the rooms were more than seventy degrees, the swordsmen were still wearing their woollen coats.
There were a total of three such barracks, and they had been arranged together in the formation of a triangle. There were two swordmasters standing guard outside. They would patrol in their armor in the bitter cold for two hours before ending their shift.
This was also why Lex refused to bring low-level soldiers along, because only warriors that were swordmasters and above were able to adjust their sleeping patterns automatically.
Saleen’s barrack was filled with people.
Sika, Nailisi, four demons, Eleanor, Jola, and Su were inside. The six-legged flying dragon was too big to enter, but luckily it was a half-dead like Ismail, so they possessed very high tolerance towards extreme temperatures.
Aside from Su, even Eleanor warmed up towards Saleen as the atmosphere within the barracks was relaxed. Ismail was not in the barrack so Saleen laid on a piece of animal hide, almost buried within the long white fur.
Nailisi was not tired either so she stayed by Saleen’s side. The four demons stood guard at the door.
Su was uptight. He knelt in front of Saleen while wearing a black hide. Saleen asked, “Two stalkers have been tailing us, but I cannot pinpoint their location. I can only conclude that the two of them must be much stronger than me. Does anyone have any suggestions?”
“Let them follow then, Lex will be the one dealing with them anyway,” Nailisi said as she massaged Saleen’s arm.
“If you could detect their presence, surely Lex must also be aware too?” Finally Sika and Nailisi came to the same conclusion. She did not approve of Saleen handling these two stalkers either. Anyone who could enter the Purgatory Desert must have a certain level of power. Although Saleen’s companions were powerful, Lex had more mages, and an assassin that had been a source of worry for Sika.
Nailisi and Sika had nothing against Lex, but both of them disliked the assassin. Once an assassin reached the level of Bain, fewer would like him because even a sorcerers might not be a match for him.
It was obvious how this could impact Sika and Nailisi. Nailisi’s role was to protect Saleen at all times. With this assassin around, she was constantly on her guard.
The God’s Ring that Lex possessed would protect her from any harm, so there was no way Nailisi would be able to use her to threaten the assassin. One way was to spring a sudden attack on the assassin by holding onto him and using Lightning Guardian to paralyze him. The problem was that the assassin’s speed was scarily fast, so such a plan was never going to work.
“How about we let Ismail handle them?” Jola had no love for that creature. Beneath Ismail’s expressionless face must hide many cruel intentions.
“Forget it. If he goes, he will only bring more trouble.” In Saleen’s mind, his fear was that if the Holy See knew about a purgatory creature travelling with him, they would immediately send over someone of Oracle level.
The purgatory dimension was like a hornet’s nest to the Holy See. If Saleen could provide the coordinates of the purgatory dimension, the Lord of Glory would probably give a God’s Order immediately to pardon him for all his past doings. Even the Gods could no longer locate the purgatory dimension.
The opposite of heaven was the purgatory. The Lord of Glory used the purgatory to illustrate the fate of blasphemers and non-believers.
“Let’s put this aside first. Now, I will tell everyone your roles in battle from now on.” Saleen knew that things would get worse if he asked Ismail to look for the two stalkers. He decided to focus on the more important task at hand; reassignment of roles.
“Now we have two mages. Everyone has also witnessed Eleanor’s powers. Eleanor, will you choose to follow me from now on? If you are willing, please take a look at this contract.” Saleen handed over a contract to Eleanor.
Eleanor gave a sweeping glance indifferently and said, “Ok.”
She read it very clearly. There was an end date to her contract; one hundred years. Without this contract, she would still be willing to fight alongside Saleen if he met with danger. In this dimension, there was no one else she could trust except for Saleen and his team.
The contract automatically burned into ashes. Only then did Saleen say, “Daniel is a Death Mage. Death mages that manage to level up to grade-6 will become a force to be reckoned with. Eleanor is an Element Mage and has superb archery skills. Close combat skills are not her forte, unlike the swordmasters. Jola and Su, the both of you will be responsible for Eleanor’s safety from now. Nailisi alone will be responsible for my safety instead.
“My Lord!” Su was unwilling.
Saleen smiled and said, “This is only a temporary arrangement, since we are here. Once we return to Metatrin City, all of you will be given new assignments again. Su, have you recovered completely?”
“Yes, thanks to the Lord’s magic liquid.”
“We now have two mages who will lead our attacks. Cuisi, your abilities are suitable for attacking rather than to protect. From now on, you will be responsible for keeping an eye on Ismail. If he tries anything funny, you need to delay him for more than one second.”
“Yes, my Lord.” Cuisi was satisfied with this task because Saleen did not specifically tell him what he should or should not do, and how much power he could use. If the right opportunity came along and Ismail was killed, Saleen would not blame him..
“The three of you will be responsible for the six-legged flying dragon,” Saleen ordered the other three demons. Although he did not know how Ismail was planning to leave, when he did leave, Ismail would definitely attack him. Trusting demons was ridiculous enough, but if he were to trust purgatory creatures as well, then he might as well commit suicide.
Saleen was not worried about Ismail’s fighting abilities at all, because of the trap that he had set in the contract. If Ismail decided to go against him, he would be on the receiving end of a severe punishment. Even if that did not kill him, it would at least weaken him so much that he would not be able to use his powers fully. Saleen was confident that with four demons and Nailisi by his side, they would definitely be able to overpower a weakened purgatory dweller.
Of course, these were just preventive measures. As of now, Ismail was still extremely useful to Saleen.
“Eleanor, I will refine a Crystal Arrow for you. Don’t use the Life Arrow anymore.” Saleen recalled that ordinary-looking arrow that wiped away ten years of her life just like that. No words could describe how he felt. Although elves typically lived very long lives, there was still a limit. If she used this ability too often, even Eleanor would eventually die of old age.
Followers were not squires. Their lives could not be sacrificed for victory.
Eleanor’s facial expression did not hint at any appreciation, and she only agreed indifferently. Saleen spoke to Sika again, “When you will finish refining the Bone Totem?”
“If the team stops, I can complete it within three days at the most. If we continue to proceed, I should be able to complete it by the time we reach the temple.”
“What abilities will you have?”
“A lot. Most importantly, I will be able to fly. You have to make a weapon for me.”
“What weapon?”
“I will draw a diagram for you.” It was rare for Sika to be so secretive.
Outside of the barracks, Ismail climbed on top of the six-legged flying dragon before they rose into the air. Six-legged dragons’ flying abilities were far superior to ordinary double-legged flying dragons. It could suspend itself in mid-air by fully controlling the air currents within one yard’s range.
The moon hung brightly in the night sky and the black sand below was piercingly cold. Ismail peered at a sand dune that was far away, and his eyes revealed murderous intentions.
“Under which God were these disciples? They have such a disgusting aura!” Seeing that there were no clouds in the night sky, Ismail commanded the six-legged flying dragon, “Fly higher, I want to see what the enemy looks like!”
The six-legged flying dragon obeyed and rose another five-hundred yards. At this distance, the barracks on the ground were the size of toys. Behind him, a huge phantom shadow in the shape of an eye appeared.
Within a few miles of his circumference, Ismail could see everything in great detail. On a sand dune that was a long distance away, two wardens were using an Alchemy Binocular to look in their direction. As Ismail flew higher, they raised their binoculars as well. When they saw the gigantic eye behind Ismail, the two wardens were stunned.