1462 Fruitless Part 2 (1/2)

The island ripped in half as two single-target, level-18 magic spells were cast during the volcanic eruption. The upheaval caused Saleen great trepidation. Though the catastrophe was mainly due to the island's geographic location, he took no comfort from this. He wondered, was I the one who unraveled those two scrolls?

If the scrolls had gotten out of control, nothing would have been left of him after he died.

Saleen's hand began trembling. He still had one level-18 scroll left in his personal space. If the Goddess of Myers were to cast some divine spells and unravel that scroll remotely, he would have been done for.

His thoughts racing, Saleen noticed several figures taking flight from the mouth of the volcano. All were panicking, which was most unbefitting given their levels.

They were all previous head wardens, the weakest among them being level-12. The stronger ones had even already reached level-16. The more powerful they were, the unluckier they got. After the battle, the rules of Myers Mainland were capped at level-12 again. Those people had suffered grave damage before they even emerged.

There were no sealing skills in existence potent enough to lock up their powers. Thanks to the mystical space at the volcano, everyone survived; however, those two level-18 scrolls had disrupted the independence of that space, destroying the very thing the Black Dungeon Island had relied on.

By the time they emerged, the green hole in the sky reappeared and came creeping down the mountain, sucking up everyone in its path attempting to flee.

Everything had to be returned to the prime point. Isn't that what the Goddess of Nature said?

Regardless of how powerful those previous head wardens were, not a one survived the catastrophe.

The Goddess of Myers watched the mystical battle on her plane map from the comfort of the Purgatory Desert. She smiled, thinking that Saleen had been disobedient as expected by using the scrolls to conquer the island.

But then again, those people on the island had to be dealt with sooner or later. And there was no time like the present. Saleen still had one level-18 scroll with him. That meant the Lord of Glory's double would not be able to kill him. Even if the Lord of Glory were to advent personally, Saleen would be able to escape

The goddess wondered, Why is this mage so cautious? She had never seen the skill Saleen used to escape on any mage she had encountered before, which meant that he probably created it on his own.

Mages able to create their own spells would eventually advance to levels beyond 16.

Although the crystal wall system they were in was capped at level-18, it was nearly impossible to rise to level-16 in the first place. Further, the lifespan granted by being at level-16 was not very different from level-18. As long as someone making it to level-16 managed to stay alive, there would be more growth opportunities.

The way the goddess judged a situation was based on how things were tens of thousands of years ago. If Myers Mainland kept advancing, there would have been nothing wrong with that.

Her confidence was rooted in her connections to the Source of the Myers Mainland plane. There was no way she could have been resurrected by having tens of millions of believers worshipping her.

The ones providing her with power, however, were more than mere believers.

After watching the battle, the goddess turned her attention to resurrecting her followers. They had stuck by her without regret as she achieved godhood all those years ago and perished with her. She wouldn't have been so concerned with them to the point where she was willing to spend more time at the temple, instead of simply letting go.

After a momentary pause, Saleen halted. He was in the area controlled by the Baldur's Gate. His flying forces came back one after another, entering the gate. Tens of thousands of prisoners on land were heading toward the sea; over 100 of them had already reached the shore.

”Rafel, clean 'em up,” Saleen barked. Those prisoners, who were not good people, would have threatened his rule if they made it to the mainland.

He found it distasteful to employ them. On the other hand, if they were employed by others, Saleen would have had to expend considerable effort to get rid of them. On second thought, maybe it was a good idea to get rid of them now while they were all in one place.

Rafel rode the Violet Angel and took Jola and Sul along to charge at those undesirables. The two level-12 true mights were still blaming themselves for their failures. They couldn't do anything on that expedition with Saleen.

Now that Saleen had issued the order, both drew their weapons and aimed them at the unsuspecting prisoners.

A bloody battle ensued. as the Bug Angel Warriors in the sky came to their aid. The prisoner horde was above level-10 but couldn't survive being ganged up on like that.

Being unarmed was their most glaring weakness. Their equipment had long been confiscated by the inhabitants of the Black Dungeon: Their only weapons were their fists and their strength.

Fighting the likes of Bug Angel Warriors, who were clad in armor from head to toe, was tough despite being a level or two higher. Wind Blades were unleashed continuously from their backs. The prisoners resisted the attacks by putting up energy shields. But it didn't do any good: No skill was of much use against Wind Blades flying all over the place, so the prisoners were all put on the defensive.

In the meantime, those Bug Angel Warriors returned to the Baldur's Gate as soon as the energy on their armors was spent. Rafel and both of Saleen's followers then charged into the middle of the prisoners instead.

They had no fear of low-level Wind Blades: The armor could easily fend off those attacks.

The Violet Angel's tail had already been lopped off in the altercation with the head warden. Luckily, it was swiftly reattached; otherwise, the beast would have been useless in battle. But It was still sulking over the damage while a bunch of naked people began charging full force in its direction. Whoa! Wait a minute The Violet Angel snapped to attention and charged at them with all four limbs, its mouth and its damaged tail.

Rafel's spear, Sul's longsword and Jola's twin swords snuffed out the life of any prisoner who had the misfortune of crossing their path.