1035 Getting Vexed Part 1 (2/2)
The young silver grand swordmaster was practically clad in sword aura as they burst through the toxic mist, landing a blow right on the neck of the false dragon spirit. A huge gash was quickly made to the neck of the beast. It retaliated by swiping its very thick tail at the grand swordmaster's midsection, which they easily evaded.
The difference in power between two parties was too great. While the false dragon sported formidable combat capacity, the silver grand swordmaster would have made short work of it if it was not armed with such powerful toxic attacks.
The problem there was that the false dragon spirit was doing battle while being the winged skeleton's thrall. The winged skeleton's combat capacity was clearly greater than the grand swordmaster. When the grand swordmaster was done evading the swiping tail attack, their body was quickly rammed by the head of the false dragon and they were sent flying. The false dragon followed up by spewing another blob of toxic mist with a diameter of about five yards.
The winged skeleton thought that, while the beast was not a big deal itself, it was still capable of doing massive damage when used in battle.
Every city of Saleen's Kingdom went about collecting waste produced by the residents. The wastewater produced would have done great harm to the cities' surrounding environments if it were to simply be let into rivers and the sea. As Saleen had a great number of mages at his disposal, he had them collect such waste and had its toxic components extracted before disposing of the purified water and harmless waste of other kinds.
The components of such toxins were unusually complex and were easily made into very potent poisons when repeatedly refined.
The extracted and refined toxin was mostly kept by the winged skeleton, and leakages of any kind packed the potential of ruining an entire city. The toxin that the false dragon spirit spewed exploded when it got near the ground, encasing everything within the vicinity of its explosion, including the Magical Element Tower itself.
All professionals of grade-7 and higher took to the air. While the silver grand swordmaster was thrown off, they suffered no injuries. They were simply surprised and angered, as the toxin would have destroyed yet another mountain given time. The Grukos would have dealt severe penalties on them for the losses suffered.
”I'm here on official business. If you insist on getting in my way, I'll have that false dragon spirit self destruct. I'll sit back and enjoy what your family is going to do to you.” Saleen's voice reverberated in the mountains. That made it so that it could be heard from tens of miles away.
The false dragon took to the air again with its head almost severed. The ground was covered with toxic mist. The vibrant peaks were quickly corroded, turning everything into a dead, ashen white wasteland.
”I will bring my men away, Your Highness, Saleen. Can you please clear the toxin away?” The young silver grand swordmaster sheathed their sword and they became calm again.
”Hmph.” Saleen mumbled in the tower. An opening was made on the tower that began sucking in all the floating toxin. All toxic matter within a several hundred yard radius was cleaned in an instant. The Magical Element Tower then began to cast cleaning spells repeatedly. The spells that were only grade-1 began breaking down the toxic matter within the soil under the workings of the Magical Element Tower.
”Go home and tell the one that sent you people that I will continue to wait for the head of your clan to return, and there is no need to send anyone else here. I will leave after six days.” Saleen shut off the magic sound array as he finished relaying his message, not bothering himself with listening to any replies from outside.
The Grukos outside the tower all retreated, without even a single person uttering another thing. The winged skeleton was puzzled and asked, ”Master, what do they mean by that?”
”Nothing much. I'm just fed up with all these tests and whatnot. If they dare piss me off again, I'll just wreck everything around these parts with the poison. I'm not the one asking for trouble here, and there is nothing the Grukos can do about me pulling such a stunt. I have the mark of the Six-Winged Flying Snake in my hand, and they will have to tolerate my presence, whether they like it or not.”
The winged skeleton pondered for a bit before adding, ”That was a very stupid attempt at testing you, master. You were able to build your nation, tear down Ironwall City, take out the royal harbor, protect Lonestar City, and make Ceylon City your own. All that should be more than enough to prove your worth.”
”I think they see all that to be the work of Lex instead of me.” Saleen's tone was a calm one; the thought would have thrown him into an unquenchable rage if he was who he once was.
”Saleen, will we run into further trouble?” Hogina was very irritated by the Grukos' methods. Her view of the Grukos became influenced by Saleen without realizing it, and she began disliking the clan itself.
Saleen sighed. The great task of unifying the mainland laid before him, and it was only a matter of time before he clashed with the Grukos. It was fortunate that said great task was some far-reaching goal, and that things could still be peaceful between them at the moment. They were even able to cooperate on many levels if they were up for it.
”No more trouble for the time being. It's hard to say about in the future though.” Saleen took out a piece of metalized steel rock and began his attempt to make an even smaller version of Hogina's gun.
Waiting was a chore, and mages were against wasting time. Hogina spoke all the sudden after seeing him attempting to make yet another piece of new equipment, ”Saleen, I'm not quite satisfied with the weapon. Do you mind taking a look at another one of my schematics?”
”What would that be?” Saleen was barely able to keep his curiosity contained. If Hogina was not being limited by her level, her designs would have made her a renowned figure in the annals of history. From the looks of things, what Hogina mentioned existed only in paper and not in a three-dimensional, tangible form. It was apparent that her current abilities prevented her from bringing her prototype into reality.