1363 Sacrifice to the Sword Part 2 (1/2)

The magic shield outside the Floating City gradually changed shape. Although the speed was hardly increased, it nonetheless reduced fuel consumption of the Floating City when moving underwater.

Countless magic beasts were harassing the Floating City on its return journey. But then again, beasts that dared to harass a monster like the Floating City were not very intelligent so killing them was a breeze.

The Floating City needed to take a detour around the abyss if it were to take to the air, making it necessary to head south for thousands of kilometers before being free of the ice on the surface.

The ice sheets covering the Oceanic Ice Block were several kilometers thick. If the Floating City intended to simply barge through the ice and fly, it would have been difficult.

Despite having assimilated the magic cube, the position of the Magical Element Tower as the command center was unchanged. There was only one place in the magic cube that could have been used for commanding forces, and Ojarvis used to live there.

Despite the magic cube's having been destroyed several times and the rooms being different from what they used to be, Saleen didn't want to assume command from that place.

Moreover, Gaine had worked on the Magical Element Tower before, making it difficult for outsiders to intrude.

Saleen was unable to help but he made some calculations using constellation power while inside the Magical Element Tower. He realized he had not been aware of what was happening at Metatrin City. This was bad. This didn't sit well with Saleen.

”Rafel, we'll be heading home soon. Nailisi, Bing, take care of things here and head straight to Nature City. Be careful about running into Grand Duke Iron Blood's fleet along the way.”

Nailisi wanted to return to Metatrin City with Saleen, but his eyes told her to do otherwise. Rafel was the most powerful among the bunch. Despite being the least loyal of his other followers, she was the least likely to revolt.

That was because Rafel hardly had any desires. Her only wish was to protect the metal angels. Rafel wouldn't have been moved by temptations or anything else. Nor would she have considered offers of making her a god.

She witnessed two of Saleen's weapon spirits igniting divine fire personally, and she had probably gotten numb about becoming a god.

As for the Floating City, Saleen would have only felt safe with the two of them manning the place. His most treasured possessions and a good part of his wealth were all on that gigantic equipment. While the God of Magic Net was powerful, its weakness as a god was also very apparent.

It was especially so given that it was still a pseudo god, meaning it was still lacking in the mastery of rules. That would have been a big disadvantage if it had run into even slightly powerful opponents.

The fights between humans were entirely determined by levels after all.

The God of Magic Net was still a weapon spirit instead of a true giant.

If it had been a true giant, it would have been able to clap Saleen to death with just one hand. Neither technique nor skills would have been necessary. Even if Saleen had access to the lightning badge's powers, all he would have been able to do was injure a giant, not kill it.

The combat capacity of powerful giants was almost the highest among existing races. Evolution was just as difficult for the gods as for them, unlike humans, who were capable of rapidly advancing and evolving.

Saleen had Rafel take ten metal angels with her after stopping Nailisi, following him into the teleportation portal. The magic tower's teleportation portal had grown powerful as well. The one that Saleen drew had some of what he was able to comprehend from the secret arts added to it.

While it did not enable them to instantly traverse tens of thousands of kilometers, the portal made it easier to take some supplies and over a dozen people as opposed to the past where fuel consumption was proportionate to distances traveled.

Differences in fuel consumption with past teleportation portals between teleporting ten kilometers and teleporting 100 kilometers away were not ten times, but 100 times.

The fuel consumption of the current teleportation portal was considerably lower than it used to be. Consumption of ten kilometers would have been that of ten kilometers, while that of 100 kilometers would have been that of 100 kilometers without extra energy being wasted out of nowhere.

Saleen was able to return to Metatrin City in a blink of an eye with the angels.

The ones guarding the portal were level-10 mages from Sreeger Island. That teleportation portal was more than what it seemed. After Saleen and Jason modified it, its magic patterns were intricate enough to have level-10 mage trainers gather around to research it.

Magic was not something that would have been passed on lightly without good reason: The mages had no need to thank Saleen if they were able to figure out things from their own research. The unusual thing about it was having a chance to study something up close.

Additionally, teleportation portals held great importance. If someone were to gain control of the portal, powerful mages manning it would have been able to damage it during activation. This would have resulted in Saleen's body being transferred permanently to some weird spaces.

That opening would have only lasted for several frames, but it was more than enough for powerful mages.

That mage saw Saleen returning all of a sudden and frantically said, ”My lord...”

That mage was so astonished he couldn't even finish his sentence. He was considered one whom Saleen was more familiar with and he noticed the changes in Saleen. His equipment was totally different and the power in his eyes became obviously concealed.

Saleen was consciously concealing his powers when he was at level-10. His teacher had taught him to do that.

A mage's mental powers were like a swordsman's weapon in that they needed to be properly conserved, or sheathed so to speak, when not in use. It was hard for Saleen to control his powers back then.

Those of a similar level of power would have been able to tell at a glance that he was a powerful level-10.

Things were now different. Saleen's eyes were extremely gentle just like Jason's, his teacher.

On the other hand, Jason was already capable of doing things like this when he was just level-5. That was what Saleen found most impressive.

”What happened?”

”Lord Jason and Lady Sika went to...the interdimensional space. They're not back yet.” That mage stuttered when uttering those words. Saleen knew right away that something wrong.

”Are you saying there has been no news at all?”

”Indeed.”

”Why wasn't anyone sent to look for them?”

”The Inter-dimension teleportation portal cannot be activated for the time being and no one dared do anything rash for fear of breaking that portal completely,” the mage answered.

Saleen calmed down right away. The mages were right to wait. If that inter-dimension teleportation portal was broken, it would have required more than just space coordinates to rebuild it.