934 Those who oppose me, Die? Part 1 (1/2)

Badge in Azure Deathstate 48530K 2022-07-23

They finally reached the edge of the palace after getting over the palace walls. Saleen dared not let his guard down. He had no idea yet where the demons were locked up. Other than the four demons, there were others from the demon army imprisoned as well, and he intended to save as many of them as he could.

He looked at Nicholas, and the old holy master returned the look.

”Nicholas, can you...”

”Lesser prophecy magic can locate the demons, so long as you don't mind getting your cover blow,” Nicholas answered in a straightforward manner. The island was only fifty miles wide, locating the demons using lesser prophecy magic would be a piece of cake. Grade-9 lesser prophecy magic definitely would emanate a Fallen Divine Glow, which was something any mage would have been able to see on the island.

”There's no other way to go about it?” Saleen asked, looking at Nicholas.

”A very slow one...” Nicholas sighed and took out the body of a dead rat, and then drew a blood soul tower with the blood on his hand. A ray of gray light entered the body of the rat. The animated rat rolled about on the floor, before bowing to Nicholas.

The rat was a specialty of Metatrin City. It was known as an ironbone rat from the cold, barren lands of the north. Most rats lived only for a few years, but the ironbone rats were grade-1 magic beasts. They were capable of living for more than fifteen years. Saleen had formed exterminator task forces consisted of mages specifically for eliminating them, so as to open up lands for farming. That was why he was able to recognize the animal.

It was totally unexpected that Nicholas was capable of having souls possess dead bodies. To mages, such an ability was a skill acquired after advancing to grade-10, but Nicholas seemed to be very familiar with it, suggesting that he had been practicing the skill for a very long time.

Sensing Saleen's heated stare, Nicholas elaborated, ”Descension spell. Something used only when there is no other way around it. The skill damages souls. If it were to be me, I could even possess a living person.”

Saleen did not continue asking, as it did not seem like something Nicholas would be willing to use in most cases. It probably had something to do with the Holy See. ”Descension spell? I know something about the gods being able to possess the bodies of adherents by crossing through planes. I should take note of this then. If grade-12 professionals appear on the Myers Mainland, that would mean grade-12 greater oracles could be here as well. The powers of the Holy See would be terrifying by then.”

Nicholas spoke to the ironbone rat in some unknown tongue. The rat turned and left. Nicholas then said, ”My liege, we best find somewhere to hide.”

”Where is that thing?”

”That thing can smell me. It will be able to find its way back to me so long as I stay on the island,” Nicholas answered.

Saleen developed a new understanding regarding the Descension spell. The spell not only retained the descended one's own ability, but also allowed use of the possessed one's. Ironbone rats had an impressive sense of smell, yet their eyesight was terrible.

The spell was a troublesome thing, as it was unknown what kind of skills would be able to counter it. Saleen did not feel alright inside, but he did not let that hinder his movements. His senses were the best in the team. The two dozen of them could not have been able to keep hiding within the mist at the wall. The mist would disperse sooner or later.

The island's terrain was uneven, and the palace meandered with the mountains, spreading the area throughout the curves. They passed through tens of alleys under the cover of the mist and stopped at a warehouse. Saleen's senses told him that there was no one around, and he immediately went about cutting the warehouse's walls with current cutter, taking the group inside.

The warehouse was a big one, yet stored only consumable equipment, weapons, armor, and food for normal soldiers. The inventory of the Cloudflow warehouse differed from that of the Qin people, as a lot of different things were put inside one place. While it facilitated ease of distribution, storage would be very troublesome.

Saleen looked around before bringing the group deep inside the warehouse. Maintenance of all those things put under one place would have been difficult. As such, it seemed that the grand duke had no plans to stay there for long, all the materials stored here were things that needed to be used soon.

”Attacking Lianyun City? Heh, I will see what Alchemy City is going to go about it!”

Saleen became rather reluctant to kill Grand Duke Iron Blood after the thought came to him. While the grand duke had indeed taken the four demons as his prisoners, as well as sacking the merchant ships under the protection of Metatrin City, his target was Lianyun City. Saleen was then forced to reconsider things.

Lianyun City was, at the moment, easy to defend and difficult to take down. With the armies of Holy Rock City garrisoning the place, just what enabled the grand duke to have so much confidence that he can take the place down?

Saleen had spies planted in Lianyun City, so he knew that Lianyun City had erected six magic towers, bolstering their defenses by more than ten times. Great amounts of supplies were also stored within Lianyun City, ensuring that the city would never again fall from being surrounded.

Shelves in the warehouse were erected all the way up to the ceiling, with puppets sitting idly on the corridors. Saleen found the place where food was stored and stopped. He put up an illusionary magic array and hid the two dozen strong group. The space was tight, and it was fortunate that the ancient warriors had no preference for the environment they were in and did not mind squeezing with each other.

Saleen dispelled his Quickcloud spell. Nicholas had been looking rather nervous throughout. He was still linked to the ironbone rat under his control, but the link was too weak. He was only capable of knowing if the rat had found their target and confirming the coordinates.

About two hours passed, and Saleen had only meditated once. Nicholas let out a grumble all of a sudden and his body shook. Saleen opened his eyes and asked worriedly, ”What happened?”

”My liege. The rat was killed!”