1423 Fighting Ones Own Battles Part 2 (1/2)

”Then keep being the empress. Are these people a threat to you?” Saleen saw through his territory and kept an eye on the people near Lex.

”Not at the moment. The Golden Plains are figuring out ways to gobble up Cloudflow. Tough bone to chew on, I'd say. They need my charisma to get the job done. If they were working on their own, the nobles wouldn't have paid any attention to them.”

”I'll do what I have to when the time comes. Right now, I'm heading to the Tanggulasi Empire.”

”Don't be so hard on yourself, Saleen. We still have over 900 years to go on the contract,” Lex looked dejected and seemed weary.

”No pain, no gain. Truth be told, I'm attacking Holy City this time to lure the head warden out. If he keeps hiding on Black Dungeon Island, people can say whatever they want, but I'm not looking to make for trouble on his turf.”

”When Ojarvis was about to die...he said that in two years, at most, Myers Mainland would see another burst of power. The entire plane would be advancing. Be careful, Saleen. If Myers Mainland can't keep beings above level-12 from showing up, the head warden...”

”Relax. I'll run if I can't fight him,” Saleen said laughing.

That had been his plan back then; now he was only saying it now to console her.

He was making significant progress with advancement and had acquired a steely determination, courtesy of Jason. If the head warden stayed cooped up in Black Dungeon and the level difference was too wide, Saleen wouldn't go out and dig his own grave. He wasn't a fool. On the other hand, if the head warden wanted to duke it out on the Floating City, Saleen had four level-13 beings at his side and over 100,000 enchanters at his command. If put to the test, he might rise to the occasion.

Lex did not blow Saleen's cover right there and then. Having got this far, she knew that Saleen's option was to move ahead; there was no going back. Life was intriguing. When they were still weak back in the day, they had options. Once someone became powerful, choices were limited.

”How many around you would prove useful at the moment?” Saleen changed the subject and talked about something more substantial.

”Most of my forces are at Daliang City. You're actually the one running Bitterwater now and they're all low-level mages, so you'd only be talking about potentials at the moment. As for the royal mages, there are little more than 100 of them around—one-tenth of what's in Golden Plains. That's why I have to be careful about how I do business. If I end up doing something others could use against me, it might cost me the throne.”

”How long would it take for your secret arts to advance?”

”By the time Myers Mainland advances again, I'd be able to jump to level-12 directly from level-10. Advancement's not the problem. The power I have stocked up is for getting to level-13. I couldn't afford to lose the throne until then.”

Saleen pondered this and said, ”Safilos is now my ally. You could use and trust him. I've given him 20,000 Bug Angel Warriors and they're all hidden at the southern town. A lot of the soldiers there were swapped out with my guys. If you need protection, mobilize the forces there. As for the western and north ones, they're practically useless.”

”I'd send them to the frontlines in that case,” Lex said coldly.

”Those people are your subjects, or how about...”

”Saleen, do you know what's the job of an emperor? To have others die for your sake,” Lex blurted out a fact. If she achieved her ideals, she needed to gain complete control of the empire. At present, only the southwestern nobles sided with her.

”Okay, if you like...” Saleen didn't finish the sentence. Lex didn't like her current way of living. She was forced by fate to get as far as she could.

”Saleen, you wouldn't have cared about any of that in the past, as long as you could survive?” Lex's eyes were devoid of gentleness. All that was left were a reminiscence of the past.

Saleen's heart was aching as if something had been taken away from him. He felt empty. Is Lex blaming me here? That I never came to help her out at Holy Rock City? That my eyes were only focused on the future and rising to ever-greater heights?

There was no end to a mage's journey. He wondered if they would have eventually ended up as strangers, or if things would stay as they were now.

No! We've faced down life and death together. We could never be strangers. But what we have now feels worse than being strangers. How did things get this way?

He advised her to leave the position of empress behind, but Lex had never once persuaded him to take up the dreaded position of a prince of the empire.

”Don't be sad, Saleen. We chose this path. I'd never blame you for anything,” Lex smiled plainly and continued, ”If you want to help, there are some things you can do, actually.”

”What? How could I help?” Saleen couldn't think of anything he could do that would be of use to Lex. The Golden Plains would have to pay the price of gaining more power, such as supplies. Golden Plains had been providing several times more supplies than during the reign of Emperor Chanake.

”The attribute-less granules….the ones you mentioned before? I need some. Quality matters more than quantity in this case, as I'll also need a special armor made.

”Armor? I have alchemy factories. If that's not enough, we could go to a teacher for help!”

”Nah. I'd need to craft this using secret arts. It's something made specifically for my own use. The only way you could help me out with this is to use your Water Flame to get the armor shaped. I'll get you the schematics. This needs to be done slowly. You could get it done with me within two years,” Lex elaborated in a very low volume. Jalin looked at Saleen and Lex talk from outside the lightning territory and was smoldering.

Just how important does this Saleen think he is? If he wasn't Lex's husband, Golden Plains would have gotten rid of him a long time ago.

Saleen seemed to have intentionally made things difficult for the ones from the Golden Plains. He spoke to Lex for over ten hours since he put up his territory, seemingly without any intention of ending the conversation soon.

Other than mages, there were also warriors from Golden Plains there. Mages were capable of going without eating, drinking or using the bathroom, but not the warriors. One of the golden grand swordmasters blurted out furiously, ”That Saleen prick...”