Badge in Azure

Chapter 153: Return (Part 2)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Simply piecing together the transportation portal would not get it to work, and Lex was aware of that. She took out the scrolls that she had prepared earlier and began her fusion magic. Fusion spells were considered to be Grade 7 Dark Magic. However, without being promoted to a higher grade mage, it would simply be impossible for Lex to activate the scrolls.

The rocks that were used to piece the teleportation portal together had magic patterns found along their joints and bedding planes. With the dark fusion magic cast by Lex, they gradually combined to form a bigger rock. This principle was the basis for the construction of the teleportation portal, which would eventually be built from a grand total of forty-two grooves.

Lex took out six cut white spirit gems and placed them in the center of the six grooves. Afterwards, she set the remaining thirty-six enormous magic nuclei into the surroundings of the six auxiliary magic arrays.

Although Saleen was used to seeing gems, he felt his heart clench at the sight of the massive white spirit he knew he had to give up. The magic nuclei that were in the auxiliary magic arrays were Grade 7 magic objects, which were very valuable. The value of this teleportation trip could no longer be assessed in gold coins alone.

The capturing and killing of magic beasts that were Grade 7 and above often came with a high price. If Lex had not acquired the treasures left behind by the goddess herself, she would not have been able to afford the magic nuclei.

In fact, it was highly likely that no one would have been able to afford them. In a big city that did not contain mines or specialized alchemy factories, a person would be able to pull in slightly more than one hundred thousand gold coins a year. In places like Ceylon City where land was taxed, Viscount Gugger was only able to receive a fraction of the amount, which was ten thousand gold coins. This estimate had even taken into account the fact that he could earn extra coins by smuggling items through the yacht left behind by his ancestors.

For a nobleman of lower status, if he earned one to two thousand golden coins per year, he would be considered lucky. Taxes could even be collected from people who wanted to enter the big cities. However, since human traffic was scarce in smaller cities, the lords there were unwilling to collect the taxes as they wanted to attract more businessmen.

In the four empires, it was not uncommon to see many noblemen in extreme poverty and destitution.

After fusing together the gems and the magic nuclei, Lex signalled for everyone to stand in the center of the teleportation portal. A little while later, the god’s ring that was on her hand began lighting up again, and the magic tower emitted a bright glow. The remaining warrior puppets outside of the magic array were to be left behind in the interdimensional space. Lex issued the war puppets an exceedingly simple command, which was to stand guard in case anything happened.

As long as the teleportation portal was not damaged, she would still be able to come back. However, in the event that someone else came back, the war puppets could launch a full scale attack while the teleportation portal was still starting up.

Because of these orders, it paid to take some precautions when a person was entered the teleportation portal, lest they ended up with a dart or two in their bodies, courtesy of the war puppets.

As the space was distorted, the six elements were forced apart, giving rise to a vacuum that formed a space tunnel. In a very short period of time, Saleen and the others, under the protection of Lex, managed to rapidly pass any obstacles they encountered during their time in space. Their bodies emitted a brilliant gold the entire time.

The amount of time they spent in space was too short and Saleen only managed to get a glimpse of the secrets that it held. His mind was already creating a concept of space. He believed that as long as he could utilize the teleportation portal thirty to fifty thousand times, he would be able to understand the laws of space without requiring any guidance.

In just six frames of time, the teleportation process was complete, and the four of them had already appeared in the center of another magic array. Saleen knew that he had already returned to Myers Mainland. His mood at that moment was not of excitement, but anxiety. The surrounding elemental waves were too unstable. Hence, he did not hesitate to release four ice plate armors all at once, making sure that every person on board had one before coating the exterior of his own ice plate armor with a water shield.

Bang!

A loud, piercing sound filled the air and strong vibrations surged through the ground. Saleen and the others were flung into the air. The teleportation portal collapsed immediately. Lex held onto Saleen and grabbed Sika with her other hand, while Nailisi chose to clutch Saleen tightly instead. The four of them continued hovering in the air before faltering and falling a distance away.

Grade 6 mages were able to fly, but Lex was unable to do so while holding onto three people.

Saleen was not harmed by the destruction of the teleportation portal. A gentle gust of wind had deposited the group gently onto the surface of the ground.

“Viscountess!”

As cheers filled the air, Saleen took in his surroundings, alarmed to find that they did not resemble those of Holy Rock City. In the distance, Saleen could see a sea of soldiers cheering, as well as the Grade 8 mages from the Bitter Water Prefecture casting Wind Magic. So it was the Wind Magic that caused us to land unscathed, he thought.

“Professor!” Lex gasped as she landed, staring at the mage in front of her with a look of surprise on her face.

Lex had not seen her mentor in over a year. He still looked the same – gentle and calm. But why had he left Bitter Water Prefecture? Had something happened? Something’s not right, Lex thought, remembering Saleen’s words of premonition.

As Lex looked around, she saw that the soldiers were all dressed in their uniforms, but they were all clad in pure black armor. Lex’s heart sank as she stood there, at a loss for what to do.

Saleen did not fully understand what was going on, but he could feel the change in Lex’s mood. Knowing that something was up, he broke free from Lex’s grip and walked towards Lex’s mentor. “What happened, Master?” Saleen asked politely, bowing deeply before the mage.

The mage looked at Lex before replying calmly, “His Majesty has died in battle.”

What? Lex thought in disbelief.

Even Saleen could not believe what he was hearing. He had met with the Qin Emperor before, and he had been scarier than the oracles from the Holy See. How could such a formidable person, under the protection of hundreds of thousands of elite soldiers, have died just like that? The Qin Emperor had been so strong that the oracles would have been defeated before they could even finish a spell. Launching such a powerful attack on the emperor and actually winning would have been nearly impossible.

Saleen was even more certain that the strength of the Qin Emperor surpassed that of Prince Safilos. The latter was already a golden grand swordmaster. An opponent like that would not be easily killed when alone, and with one hundred and twenty thousand elite soldiers and a five hundred thousand strong army constantly accompanying the Qin Emperor, he should have been invincible.

How could the Qin Emperor have died under the protection of so many mages and swordsmen?

People dressed in pure black when they mourned the loss of a Qin Emperor. As much as Lex wanted to believe that everything was just a joke, she knew that the more than three thousand soldiers in the distance would not dare joke about something as serious as this.

Lex was still reeling in shock from the news. Seeing her dazed state, Saleen furrowed his brows in worry as he executed a Chunlin spell. Green droplets of water seeped through Lex’s body. Instantly, Lex looked much more calm and was able to hold back her tears.

“When did this happen, Professor?” Lex croaked out, not bothering to push away Nailisi who was holding her up. Lex felt strangely weak. To her, the Qin Emperor had not only been her father figure, but also her pillar of support.

“About six months ago,” the mage replied with no emotion in his voice.

Six months! Lex’s heart clenched. It felt like it had been pierced by thousands of ice picks, and in that moment, she saw red.

“Lex, let’s focus on the matter at hand,” Nailisi urged, sensing a change in Lex’s mood. Nailisi had noticed that Lex had been incredibly nice to Saleen for the past few months. Perhaps I could spice things up between them, Nailisi thought. Most demons usually only had one wife, but stronger demons were able to find a few females to breed stronger offspring. She had intentionally left out the “viscountess” title when addressing Lex earlier. As expected, Lex did not sense anything amiss, and simply nodded her head as she looked around.

This place was not Holy Rock City, nor was it the Bitter Water Prefecture. She had arrived in the hell of god’s punishment. The wilderness which had previously occupied the area had now been replaced by a huge palace.

The palace looked big enough to accommodate thousands of people. It had tall walls but narrow doors. It would put them at a disadvantage when attacking, but the tall walls provided excellent defenses against potential enemies. The gates of the palace looked bare, probably because they were not engraved with the palace’s name.

As Lex stared off into the distance, she realized that most of the people there were elite soldiers from Bitter Water Prefecture. Lex slowly walked towards the soldiers, casting an amplification spell that magnified her volume as she spoke, “From today onwards, I, Lex De Grukos, shall claim this country as my own. Its name shall be Lex County! His Majesty, Lord Chanake, was my father. I will end this feud for him once and for all. All of you here shall be my witnesses. I shall dedicate the rest of my life to flattening Tanggulasi. Are you willing to accomplish this quest with me?”

As she reached the end of her speech, Lex did not know what else to say, but the words she had echoed out earlier had been laced with intense passion.

Thousands of soldiers swiftly drew their swords in a synchronized motion. If this had happened on the battlefield, that very sound would have left their enemies either deafened or shaken to their cores.

“Lex!” the warriors chanted, the ones clad in fully black armor moving forward together. Their voices were laced with indignation. The fact that their emperor had died in battle was an insult to the army as well as the empire itself. The only thought on their minds was to obtain their vengeance. The blood of their enemies needed to be shed in order to restore glory back to the empire. There were no mages in the troop of soldiers. These soldiers had been taught since they were young to pledge allegiance to the empire, his Majesty, as well as Viscount Alex.

As Lex suppressed her anguish, she began to think clearly again. As soon as she saw that her mentor had built the castle and deployed soldiers to stand guard, Lex knew that something major had happened to Holy Rock City. Thus, she had not hesitated to become the founder of this very county, even though it was very far from Bitter Water Prefecture.

Even though Lex was next in line for the throne by right of birth, her father had passed away six months ago, and the position of ruler was now anyone’s game. If she did not fight for it, she would lose everything.

Lex took out the magic staff that Master Joey had given her and raised it up, effectively silencing the crowd. After everyone had quietened down, she uttered one word, “Enter.”

Their feelings of indignation as well as their loyalty were things that needed to be encouraged. But these emotions could disappear just as quickly as they had appeared if Lex was not careful. She was still very flustered and was afraid of saying something that would cause the soldiers to turn against her. Everything had to be discussed with her mentor before she decided upon her next course of action.

As the gates of the castle opened fully, the more than three thousand soldiers marched in through the four doors. Lex watched everything from the side. At this moment in time, her mood was poor, and if it had not been for the thousands of people standing in front of her, she would have imploded. All she could do at this point was mount the black horse that one of the soldiers had brought to her and enter the castle together with her mentor, surrounded by the thousands of soldiers.

There were many interconnected corridors present within the castle’s structure. Lex walked past the parade square to where Saleen was and said, “Saleen, go to the study room with the professor for now. I still need to meet the generals.”

Knowing that Lex was not exactly the most stable person right now, Saleen turned to Nailisi and replied, “Mm, Nailisi, you go with Lex. Kill anyone that poses a threat to her.” He was not doubting Lex’s ability to defend herself, but he knew that when a mage was unable to focus, their magic would not work as effectively. Before Lex could open her mouth to refuse Nailisi’s help, her mentor nudged her gently and said, “Just go.”

Saleen followed the mage into the study room. While waiting for the mage to take a seat, Saleen said, “Professor, I don’t believe I’ve asked you for your name yet.”

Smiling, the mage remarked, “Saleen, before I become a Grade 9 mage, my teacher has forbidden me from getting my own name. All students below that level were of the same caliber in his eyes! To him, since we were no different from each other, there was no need to distinguish us by name.”

“Your teacher?” Saleen asked.

“He’s dead already, so I can’t really reject his request,” the mage replied, without a hint of emotion in his voice.