571 Coercion Part 2 (1/2)
The terms and conditions that Fycro was offering were attractive. Not only would his people not bother Lex and Saleen anymore, he would leave Metatrin City alone too. Besides, the teleportation portal that Fycro wanted to build was in five years' time.
”May I know where will this teleportation portal be built?” Saleen asked carefully.
”Chaotic swamp.” Fycro had no intentions of hiding it. Both Saleen and Lex would not be able to leave if they chose not to agree. There was no one in Metatrin City that would pose any threat to him so he was not worried at all that Saleen and Lex would be able to flee.
”Then I would like to add another condition. If not, you can kill me.”
Fycro smiled and asked, ”Mage Saleen, what earth-shattering condition is this? Do tell.”
”I want to build a tunnel for smuggling purposes in the chaotic swamp. You cannot bother the group of people involved in the smuggling.”
”Ah? Smuggling? Sure. You write the contract and I will sign it.” Fycro did not seem to mind, which made Saleen doubt if he meant what he said. If he signed a bond with someone of grade-10, would the restricting powers still take effect?
Since Fycro had already agreed, it was better than nothing. As Saleen took out a magic scroll, he felt that the pressure on his body has lightened and his mental strength could be adjusted freely again. There was an impulse to take out his clan badge, but Saleen was afraid that he would not be able to kill Fycro with it. He chose to take on a passive approach and took out his magic brush from the demonic ring and began writing the bond.
When the bond was being signed, Saleen felt that something was very wrong. Although he was being forced into all this, the terms and conditions of this bond were actually beneficial to him. If the oracle had not done what he did and the Holy See decided to attack the city, it would take at least two years. The reason was even if the Holy See had vessels, they would not have been able to deploy enough holy masters to follow the troops.
Once the battle on the mainland began, it would be too late to try and build a navy.
Even if the Holy See was given another two years, they might not be the clear winner. It would depend on the progress of the battle at Luolan, whether Cloudflow's combat vessels would carry out any harassments on the sea and other factors that might crop up.
Saleen was aware that his ability to analyze the big picture was weaker than Lex's. He decided to keep quiet and would discuss it with Lex when they returned.
There were three bonds in total; two were written by Fycro and one by Saleen. There were no traps in Saleen's bond because he was afraid that Fycro would be able to find them. In any case, not setting a trap was also advantageous for Saleen. Once the tunnel in chaotic swamp was completed, the armies of the Holy See would not appear here.
If the Sikenqinya and the Tanggulasi empire started a war with each other, Saleen would be able to use this tunnel to sell resources to Sikenqinya. If both empires formed an alliance, the tunnel could be used to spring a surprise attack on Sikenqinya's flank. As for unifying the mainland? Saleen estimated that it would take one-hundred to two-hundred years at least.
The fourth dynasty's collapse spanned across two-hundred years. Adding another one-hundred years of fighting, the dynasty basically survived three-hundred years of turmoil. Saleen's goal of reviving the Goddess' faith and unifying the mainland would surely take longer than that.
There were no signs that Fycro was going to disappear, but once the bonds were signed, the three scrolls turned into bright spots before vanishing into thin air. With that, Fycro's body vanished as well as if his body was devoured by the elements.
What technique was this? It could not be stopped!
Saleen was taken aback for a moment then decided not think about it anymore. Lex and he reappeared on the pier and found themselves surrounded by close to one-thousand soldiers. Once the both of them appeared again, Su rushed to them and looked nervously behind Saleen.
”It's okay. Dismiss everyone. The viscountess and I need to talk. Hmm, Lex, let's go to my temple.” At this moment, Saleen also realized that he would probably need Eleanor's help as well. That elf knew more about gods than any humans could.
Once Saleen and Lex left, the pier quickly went back to normal. The soldiers returned back to their ambush spots while some of the sailors, who had been shocked by what happened, could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
When they were back in the temple, Saleen went straight to the fifth level, which was where he lived. Nailisi appeared soon after, but Sika was nowhere to be found.
”Go and get Eleanor here. We have some things to discuss.” On the fifth level were all of Saleen's trusted aides. Saleen brought Lex to the canteen, sat down, and began to tap his fingers on the table impatiently.
Eleanor was also staying on the fifth level. Saleen did not wish to alarm too many people and decided that the fewer the people that knew about this the better.
The doors of the canteen were shut and the canteen was left with Saleen, Lex, Su, Jola, Eleanor, and Nailisi.
After the magic arrays had been set to contain their voices, Saleen recounted everything about how they signed bonds with Fycro. He then asked Eleanor directly, ”What do you think?”
Eleanor was stunned for a while and said, ”It's very simple. This Fycro, he wants to become a God himself and wants to lead the disciples to an interdimensional space that the Lord of Glory would not be able to find. There are already so many disciples on this dimension, he just needs to take some away and turn them into his.”
”He wants to become a god?”
”Yes, he must have already possessed the ability to retain faiths. Didn't you say that his right hand contained divinity that was independent on its own?” Eleanor shared freely, as if these were very common and normal incidents. Her knowledge of theology was rich and she understood many of gods' secrets. In fact, elves probably did not respect gods all that much because they already knew of the many flaws of gods.