227 Devil’s Magic Part 2 (2/2)

However, he was not using his magic to fly. The winged skeleton made another appearance and lifted Daniel’s body up into the sky as they skimmed past the ocean waters. The magical patterns on Fellett’s armor had not disappeared. Even the golden light that had faded away earlier made another appearance. This time, however, the armor was not able to do whatever it wanted. Its host had been controlled by another magical presence. Thus, Fellett’s body could do nothing but push the board that Saleen was on towards the south as the gang trailed behind Daniel.

Saleen lay on the wreckage as he pondered: Daniel had been improving by leaps and bounds, and even though he had not been promoted to a higher grade, his abilities would easily rival that of a grade-4 mage. If he displayed any signs of weakness, Daniel would only be more tempted to harm him.

Fortunately for Saleen, Daniel did not seem to understand the source of his divine powers. Saleen guessed that the reason why Daniel had not attacked him yet was because of the latter’s huge misconception regarding the source of his new powers. He probably thought that releasing a spell of that magnitude had required a physical sacrifice, be it a body part or even his own life. Daniel had probably come up with this false conclusion after seeing how Saleen’s hand had shrivelled up upon casting the divine spell.

Saleen was not wrong. The part where Saleen unleashed his divine powers would forever be etched in Daniel’s memory. After seeing how Saleen’s hand had not even showed the slightest bit of recovery, Daniel had hastily jumped to the very same conclusion that Saleen had predicted he would come up with. Because of this, he had also thought that divine powers did not necessarily come at the expense of the magic chords. As long as Saleen was able to chant some short prayers, he would be able to release even more powerful divine spells.

This is probably theoretically true, Daniel thought to himself.

Daniel tried to reassure himself that he would be courting death if he had acted on impulse. It was possible that the grade-4 mage would sacrifice another body part to preserve his life. If Saleen unleashed another divine spell, who knew whether his winged skeleton could survive another attack like that? Losing a maturing winged skeleton would be like losing an arm and a leg. All the money in the world would mean nothing if he did not have his beloved magical pet.

Even though Saleen had managed to scare Daniel into not harming him, he still proceeded with caution. At the moment, Fellett was completely under Daniel’s control. Even if Daniel was not as adept in manipulating corpses like the black mages, as long as Fellett was still alive, Daniel could still use the death flames to torture his body and soul.

The only way for Fellett’s soul to be completely overwhelmed by the death flames would be if Fellett kicked the bucket. What would happen right after that was that his soul would be sent straight to the death dimension. Right now, Fellett was still a danger to Saleen, Lex, and the others. Daniel had refused to end Fellett’s life, for reasons unknown to Saleen. Saleen did not know if Daniel was preserving Fellett’s life because of the value of the armor he had on, or because it was his way of guarding himself against Saleen.

The armor… the armor was a demonic tool. If it controlled Daniel instead of Fellett, Saleen knew everyone would be in deep trouble. No sooner had he been reminded of the fact that the armor was a demonic tool did he turn towards Nailisi, who was still in the water, and ask, ”Are you able to identify the magical presence inside the armor?”

”Unfortunately… I can’t,” Nailisi replied cleverly. Saleen understood what she meant. The magical presence inside the armor had not come from the demon dimension. Back in the olden days, humans had captured so many creatures from so many dimensions that they could not remember the origins of some of them.

To the humans then, demonic tools had been but toys to play with. Now, demonic tools were regarded as double-edged swords. Not only could they harm a person, but they could also hurt others around them too. Saleen did not want the people dearest to him to wield those magical objects. Just one slip and they would end up like Fellett.

Nailisi tilted her head to the side as she studied the armor that Fellett had worn. This demonic tool doesn’t seem too impressive to me. Demons should be able to wear this armor. Fellett was never strong enough to begin with, so being controlled by the armor was a given. Even with the help of the contract magic array, he shouldn’t have been so ambitious, Nailisi thought.

Fellett had been hurt so badly in the battle against the group of five that he had lost his sense of consciousness, allowing the spirits inside the armor to take control of his entire body. If Daniel had not caught Fellett by surprise by directly having the death flames wrap themselves around Fellett’s soul, who knew how much scarier the armor could have become?

”Master, I can try on this armor if you’d like,” Nailisi said in ancient Myers language. Her expression was oddly gentle and seductive. If Saleen had not understood ancient Myers language, he would have thought that Nailisi was flirting with him.

”That’s a no-go Nailisi. This thing is dangerous. With your current strength, you wouldn’t be able to control it,” Saleen replied as he smiled gently as though he were the best master in the world and Nailisi was his dearest maidservant.

Gripping her hands firmly onto the wreckage, Nailisi hoisted herself up before lowering her head and resting it in Saleen’s hands. ”Master, what are you so scared of? I still have you to save me if I do end up being unable to control the spirit. Don’t forget, we are connected via a soul bond. No magical being has mental power that exceeds the two of ours combined.”

”No means no. I can hold onto the armor for now. Daniel would not dare defy me. I’m sure Lex doesn’t want ‘spiritual armor’ anyway. All she wants is something that soldiers can wear to the battlefield. I’ll let you try on the armor once I feel that you’re strong enough to deal with the spirit on your own, okay?” Saleen said in a sincere tone.

Not only did they have a special connection between them through the soul bond, but Nailisi had also saved Saleen countless times. Over the years, she seemed to have become even more attached to him. Even though many magic books had made claims about the questionable behavior of demons, Saleen did not want to torture Nailisi by making her wear the armor. After all, Nailisi was not only his bonded creature, but also his partner and friend.

”Master, don’t treat me too nicely. See, Lex looks unhappy,” Nailisi giggled sweetly as her eyes darted over to Lex. Lex’s ears instantly perked up. She might not have understood what the two of them were talking about, but she swore that she heard her name mentioned.

”Hmph!” Lex grunted, deciding that she was not going to try and understand anything that they were saying. Instead, she chose to close her eyes and meditate.