1221 Getting Prepared Part 1 (1/2)
The ball was small and crisscrossed with red and green rust. Nicholas' eyes lit up as he held it in his hand. Nailisi was unable to do anything, but mumbled, ”Are you getting aroused here, old man?”
Jola sighed and said, ”You would be too if you were a holy master.”
”What's so impressive about it?” It occurred to Nailisi that her master had plundered it all from the divine kingdom and that it was hardly peculiar for Nicholas to like it, as getting in and out of divine kingdoms was very, very difficult. Common folk would be converted to believers as soon as they entered.
They would have had a hard time keeping their minds in one piece, let alone actually leaving afterward.
”My liege, this… This is divine fire!”
When a creature became a god, it naturally sparked divine fire in them. When a god perished, their divine fire was naturally snuffed out as well. However, there was actually divine fire within that ball that had yet to be extinguished.
A person was unable to achieve godhood simply by getting their hands on divine fire; nonetheless, the power and rules contained within it were unusually powerful, and only beings at level 13 were able to possess it. Acquisition of a completely divine persona only happened at level 15, at the lowest.
That thing was actually more precious than a divine persona. A god's divine persona was left intact after they perished, but not their divine fire. Countless gods had died on many planes.
In addition to the divine personas that have been lost, there were plenty of others scattered here and there in obscure locations, as well.
It was difficult to preserve divine fire, and, she thought, Saleen had only been able to acquire it because the divine baby was still alive.
Furthermore, when Saleen had acquired this divine fire, it was almost all used up.
From Nailisi's perspective, Nicholas was rather easily-impressed, and had clearly never seen much good stuff. But, in actual fact, while the divine fire in that ball was incomplete, its level was far above the divine baby's.
It had been left behind by a level 15 god—the god that the Lord of Glory killed.
”Good stuff, indeed. You need to know how to put it to good use. This is the best material that I can give you at the moment, Nicholas,” Saleen told him warmly. Only then did Nicholas calm down.
”My liege, I'm afraid that I won't be able to keep this thing intact for long!”
”What's there to be afraid of? From here on out, you'll either follow me around or stay with my teacher. No enemies are worth fearing with us around. If Theisio shows up, we'll see to it that he never gets home.”
”Well, then… Allow me to refine this thing.” Nicholas dared not linger around for long and headed straight for Saleen's tower to refine the divine fire and put it inside his Scepter of the Fallen. It would be a long, arduous process, and he would probably not be able to help Saleen out in the meantime.
Saleen was thinking about hunting down the great head inquisitor, an idea with which Nicholas had initially disagreed. However, seeing how prepared Saleen was and how all of his followers had just acquired powerful weapons, Nicholas knew that Saleen was ready and that he had grown considerably as well.
Nicholas finally felt relieved and at ease in following such a master; his future was guaranteed.
The crowd laughed as they watched Nicholas waddle all the way to the tower without saying anything. So, the old man has forgotten that he can fly?
Saleen then turned serious and said, ”Some of the mages aren't here. I've prepared equipment for Pasatilo, Kanuka, and the others. All of my followers will switch out their gear. Our enemies are getting increasingly powerful, and things will be tougher from here on out than they have been.”
”The winds on the highest peak are always the strongest, and the water in the deepest depths is always the coldest,” said Jola, blurting out two lines from a proverb of the Cloudflow people.
”Indeed. What we're about to do is akin to standing on the highest peak.”
Saleen finished and laid out the magic map again, saying, ”It's very peculiar that Nature City is still unscathed. It seems that our enemy is determined to fight on the front lines at Daliang City. Good, then. Nature City is currently within our control, and it's not permissible to give anything up when fighting a war. This time, I'll be sending more demons there, but I'm taking you people along as well.”
Saleen said this he pointed west of the Separation Sea. There was a path leading into the Titan Duchy. All of the Tribunal's forces came from there, while the forces of the Pivotal Council entered from Kroraina. The armies from both sides were scheduled to meet below Daliang City.
There was a problem with this arrangement. Both sides should have actually been commanded by Theisio himself, but the forces of the Tribunal refused to enter through Kroraina, insisting on taking the narrow path through the Titan Duchy instead. It was worth noting that it was easy to get trapped when taking such narrow paths.
”My liege, the great head inquisitor probably won't be taking the lead anymore,” Jola said, pointing out where the problem was. Given that the great head inquisitor had used up his Divine Tablet spell, if he were to run into any more danger, he would have no way to escape.
As such, the great head inquisitor would be a lot more cautious.
”I have a way to bait him,” Saleen answered, smiling. That was the first time that he did not explain the details of his plan to his subordinates.
”We'll head for here.” Saleen pointed at the center of the Separation Sea and then took out another scroll, saying, ”You'll find the gear and materials that you need here. Go get them from the alchemy factories. We'll need to be careful this time.”
Saleen was usually the one to personally distribute the things that his followers would need. This time, however, Saleen had ordered the alchemy factories to forge equipment and consumables for his followers instead. One could say that he had completely changed.