1470 Before the Breakup Part 2 (1/2)

Saleen's plan of taking the Lightning Moon and throwing in the three weapon spirits to complete the process seemed like a good idea at the time. What he didn't expect was the Lightning Moon to be sucked into the Ring of Cosmos.

Neither could he control the rate at which the elemental lakes and god creatures were being pulled into the ring.

His only recourse was to toss the ring in the air and let it keep doing its job while he sat down and calculated in silence.

The ring's actions were guided by a higher crystal-wall system that was also beyond Saleen's control. But there was no doubt that the ring had accepted Saleen as its master. This is because it had once siphoned energy to Saleen's family badge, enabling him to use it in quick succession.

Saleen didn't seem concerned. He felt safe: The Ring of Cosmos had detected events capable of putting its master in danger and responded by immediately tearing apart the setup in that place.

It was an eerie piece of equipment.

Saleen smirked bitterly, an expression seen only when he ran into unsolvable problems. He knew he couldn't afford to cast off the ring away. Without it, he would have only been a powerful level-14 mage. The ring allowed his combat capacity to rise to level-15.

His most powerful attack would work when aided by the immense power of the soul, an effect so intense it even diminished the Crystal Finger's power.

Ultimately, the ring was a piece of equipment Saleen could neither throw away nor control He had to make do with this exasperating fact.

It's only controllable attribute was the amplification of his power of the soul. Regardless of how wealthy Saleen could have been, there was no way he could simply throw that thing away. It had consumed his family badge, and Saleen had no way of retrieving it.

He had just killed 24 level-14 heroic spirits, yet he was unable to muster the strength to deal with those broken souls.

He cast Dance of Electric Snakes and cleaned up the place before summoning Rafel.

As soon as she arrived, she listened attentively as Saleen poured out his troubles. After all, Rafel had once served a powerful god and he was hoping she could offer some suggestions on how to deal with this powerful equipment.

”Congratulations, my lord.” Rafel decided to start the conversation on a positive note by acknowledging his efforts.

Saleen looked puzzled. She then continued, ”My lord, there are only two ways something from another crystal-wall system could have come to us: It either traveled here on its own or was brought here by a powerful being.”

Seeing the perplexed expression on Saleen's face, Rafel added, ”I assume the ring was broken when it came into your hands, is that right?”

”Very much so.”

”Well, then it came here on its own. Its weapon spirit was already dead.” Saleen showed signs of joy after hearing Rafel's words.

His preoccupation with his family badge had begun to cloud his judgment. But what Rafel said made perfect sense. If this thing had been brought here by someone else, it would have caused me a lot of trouble. But it passed through the crystal-wall system without a weapon spirit. So, yeah. The ring was damaged when it got here, and I fixed it. That thing had no master before.

Master-less and spirit-less—the ring couldn't be controlled because Saleen was unfamiliar with the rules governing its use.

Seeing Saleen's mood brighten, Rafel reminded him, ”If you happen to run into someone familiar with the rules within, be careful: he might try to take the ring from you.”

”What should I do?”

”Rework the equipment thoroughly.” Rafel might as well have kept her mouth shut for all the good her suggestion did.

If only he possessed the skills to revamp the Ring of Cosmos.

”My lord, have you melted down the weapon spirits yet?” Rafel detected something peculiar in his reaction.

”Yes, I have.” Saleen nodded dejectedly.

”Are you planning to take on Myers?”

”No. The general,” Saleen answered. Rafel was nonplussed.

”I already killed Myers' oracles. Although they weren't close to her, the normal reaction would have been to avenge their death. But Myers didn't do that. Instead, she sent her divine beast to the Imperial City of the Abyss to check on things...”

”Ah, now I understand.” Rafel nodded. She didn't know what to say next.

Saleen was becoming an enigma to her. Who could understand what was going through his mind unless he explained himself?

If the goddess didn't bother avenging the death of her oracles, she probably wasn't angry. Moreover, her reservations were with the heroic spirits in the Imperial City of the Abyss. Regardless of how powerful Saleen would have become, the goddess had no reason to fear him.

Resisting his attacks would have been so easy. All she needed to do was restore her powers. Lightning skills were lethal to other gods but not to the Goddess of Myers. Rafel remembered that the magic Myers had cast contained lightning-magic patterns.

”I'm breaking up with the general. It wasn't a big deal that he wanted me to take on Myers. But if she was out to destroy the mainland, she wouldn't have gone into hiding right away and she would have restored her powers as soon as possible. I'd still be able to talk to her. But the general had me sign soul bonds with 24 heroic spirits. That was his way of limiting my progress. This is personal!”

Saleen worded everything in his usual straightforward manner. His goal in life was no longer to fill his belly but to seek out the truth, and that he could do only after reaching the highest level. The general had set him up in a very clever way with an impeccable plan. He had to be stopped.

If it had not been for the Ring of Cosmos, he would have fallen into the trap the general had laid for him.

By the time Saleen realized how much of a threat the 24 supposed bodyguards were, they would have developed ways to strong-arm him further to prevent him from nullifying the contracts.