45 White Deacon Part 2 (1/2)

Someone had come to the pool! This person had been able to kill a hill cyclops. Could it have been an oracle of the sacred Holy See? Saleen could continue pondering underwater, but Canghong and the others could not. They started to float above the water and Saleen had no choice but to follow. Because Canghong was also a smart person, upon seeing the dead body of the hill cyclops, he knew that the danger hadn’t lessened but increased.

Climbing ashore, Canghong went up to the head of the hill cyclops. Its head, which had been chopped off by a sharp blade, was taller than his body. What kind of weapon could it have been to have caused such horrifying damage?

Swordmaster!

Canghong’s heart trembled. To him, a swordmaster was even more terrifying than a grand mage. Grand mages were rare, but swordmasters had only grown in number. Under normal circumstances, unless a mercenary went near a magic tower to cause trouble, there was little chance that he would interact with a grand mage, much less a sorcerer. However, any Grade 7 mercenaries would definitely have a swordmaster.

A swordmaster’s sword aura could fend off magic abilities and could also attack from a distance like magic. What was most terrifying was that a bronze swordmaster possessed a sword aura that even allowed him to fly for a short while.

The person who had chopped off the hill cyclops’ head had to have been a swordmaster and not a holy master!

Saleen walked over and circled around the head. The back of the hill cyclops had a large hole where evidently the magic nucleus had been taken away. Nailisi discreetly spat out twenty magic nuclei larger than a finger and kept them at her waist. Since master’s pockets are already full, he couldn’t possibly care about these.

”Canghong, let’s part ways here. You shouldn’t go to your ruins either,” Saleen said

Saleen didn’t want to have anything more to do with Canghong. It had been a fruitful mission and if they split now, whoever was caught by the people of the sacred Holy See would be the unlucky one.

Canghong naturally understood this. He nodded his head and did not say a word. Saleen unwove the golden bottle on his waist and passed it to Canghong. The bottle was filled to the brim with restorative water, the rest of the magic medicine and the items bought in Didypus having been thrown away. This gold bottle was the only thing he had that would be of help to Canghong.

Time in the temple seemed to have passed differently from the time outside. It was evening, and the setting sun hung just over the horizon, giving an orange glow to the empty field and dissipating heat. This did not seem like an autumn scene that belonged to a place like the Chaotic Swamp.

Sika was laughing as she waved goodbye to Canghong and Sarah. This helped dull the emotions of parting.

”Mage Merlin, thank you for your hospitality all this while.” Sarah gave Saleen a bow, took Canghong, and left. Saleen watched their backs in the setting sun with an uncomfortable feeling in his heart.

The two of them had not spent much time together and would not even have considered each other as friends. However, despite going through many rounds of fights together, he hadn’t even told them his real name in the end. That feeling left Saleen feeling somehow dejected.

Would he need to spend the rest of his life in hiding? The threat of Earl Sufonso might not have been as big as that of the sacred Holy See, but so long as his hatred existed, he would not be able to return to his hometown. He wondered how his teacher was doing. Was he occupied with his own troubles?

”Master…”

”Alright, let’s go. Nailisi, you should really learn some mainland common language.” Saleen interrupted Nailisi and walked in the opposite direction. Canghong and Sarah were walking south, while Saleen was walking southeast. The southeast was where the Qin Empire was, and passing through the Chaotic Swamp, they would reach the Phoenix Duchy.

The Phoenix Duchy was attached to the Qin Empire. It was small and surrounded by the Chaotic Swamp. Once they reached Phoenix Duchy, they would be under the protection of the Qin Empire and the people from the sacred Holy See could not dare enter as they wished.

As Saleen and the others walked away, five shadows appeared at the other end of the pool. The first was a young man wearing a white robe, and he was a deacon of the Holy See, Picasso.

”That’s interesting. We actually saved those heretics.”

Picasso’s words left the other four shaking in fear. If word of this reached the ears of the others, even with the oracle’s protection, they would not have any pleasant days ahead of them. They would either be sent away to the Cloud Empire as spies or thrown to the tribunals and imprisoned.

”Are you all scared now? If you are all scared, do not mention a single word about today. You will all chase after the two mercenaries. I will deal with the mage,” Picasso said, not bothering to ask for the opinions of his subordinates. He took a step up and walked on air, quickly disappearing from the sight of the four Holy See warriors.

Picasso was enshrouded in a divine glow. As he rose higher into the sky, his speed increased too. His white robes fluttered in the wind, his clothes apparently not being protected by the divine glow.

As Saleen was advancing, he suddenly became alert. He stopped abruptly and turned around. There was nothing in the empty field behind him, not even the shadow of a magic beast.

”That is interesting. You can feel my presence!” Picasso was already directly above Saleen and the others. He stopped controlling his divine glow and the sky was instantly lit up. It was almost as though the sun had risen again.

Saleen immediately activated the Invisible Shield on his mage robe and generated the Ring of Fire. Now that he was wealthy, he didn’t care about running out of magic nuclei.

”Who is it? Come out!” White light appeared between Saleen’s fingers. He was ready to cast a Grade 1 spell.