Badge in Azure

Chapter 487: Magic bugs (Part 1)

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

“What do you think is happening?! Even if you were willing to do that I find you abominable! Remove them now, let me see what else you have hidden on your body.” Jola suddenly thought of that. The fact that Bifano could stimulate a magic array despite being a grand swordmaster alarmed him. If there were any other similar gadgets which could harm Saleen, there would be trouble.

Bifano’s screams could be heard coming from the lavatory.

“No!”

“Give that to me!”

“Please…”

“To hell with you!” Jola let out an expletive.

“Ow…” Bifano was struck in another area. This time around, he was in so much pain that he could not say anything.

In a few minutes, Jola had stripped Bifano. Indeed, a few more pieces of equipment were concealed in his magic armor. Together with the armor, Jola bundled all these things up using a rope, before hauling them over his shoulder.

“Open your mouth!”

Bifano’s face was filled with viciousness as he struggled, then said, “Trust me, I will bite off your…”

“What the hell are you thinking of.” Seeing that Bifano would not budge, Jola decided to wield the short blade hanging around his waist. He stuck it into Bifano’s mouth. Underneath Bifano’s tongue, he discovered a strand of metal wire. This metal wire was hollow. By using the Sword Aura to propel it, it would carry a tremendous amount of power, which could pierce through a Magic Shield.

This item was very valuable. The value of this metal wire was almost equivalent to that of Jola’s Tears. When in the mouth and at a close distance from a mage, a grand mage could fall prey to this trick when one spat it with a great amount of effort. Saleen acted first, however, trapping Bifano using water. Unless Bifano was seeking death, he would not dare use such a method against Saleen.

Jola grinned as he wrapped the metal wire around his finger, then said, “Luckily I searched you. Give me whatever you are still hiding, otherwise I will dissect you.”

Jola had witnessed Eleanor’s ability to swallow objects into her stomach for storage, so he was naturally afraid that Bifano possessed such a skill too.

“Kill me if you want, I will only die!” Bifano was really enraged. He could not keep his cool after all the insults from Jola.

“Why should I kill you? At most, I will request Sir to prepare some magic medicine, and soak you inside, causing your skin to be unable to come into contact with anything else ever again. Do you understand?” Jola threatened.

Bifano knew of such a torture technique. In the past, there was a noble who angered a sorcerer. The noble was then soaked in a type of magic medicine for three days and three nights, transforming his skin. Even if a fly landed on his skin, he would feel a pain akin to being stabbed with a knife.

After that the noble lived his life naked and he died after holding out for two months.

Jola then continued ruthlessly, “In the hands of a mage, do you think being fearless will suffice? Sir has many ideas to make you wish you were dead.”

Jola had zero compassion for Bifano. A slip up had enabled him to transmit a message out of the temple. Even though the content of the message was unknown, it was definitely detrimental to Saleen.

Jola felt kind of reluctant when he first followed Saleen. After spending a long time with Saleen, Jola understood that Saleen was not a person who would command his subordinates at will. Saleen valued the people around him. By following Saleen, Jola could admire beautiful women whenever he wanted, and his training pace was also quickened, unlike the days when he dawdled.

This sense of urgency was not forced upon by Saleen. In fact, Saleen’s hard work had unknowingly influenced the people around him.

If this continued, Jola would stand a chance of advancing to a Golden Grand Swordmaster. With hope, Jola’s life would become different, and his outlook on matters would also change.

“This Bifano was saying that the Agares family will not spare us? That means that he was trying to ruin his whole life.”

Bifano was only clad in a pair of shorts. Jola dragged him by his hair, tossing him back into the hall.

Lex and Saleen stared at Jola without a change in their expressions. Jola then said, “Sir, he used this to transmit a message.” Jola handed the metal box to Saleen.

Saleen received it and took one look at it before giving it to Lex.

“Well done. This thing can only send a message which had been prepared beforehand. This thing functions as an alarm, the people outside will only know that he is in danger. They still might make the connection to us though.” Lex had more experience, her grade was also higher than Saleen’s. At one look, she could decipher the function of this appliance.

As Bifano observed Saleen’s and Lex’s expressions, he suddenly regretted what he had done. He thought that by transmitting the message, these two people would not harm him. Unexpectedly, the first thing Lex thought of was how to remove her own involvement in this matter.

“Nailisi, come over here.” Saleen summoned Nailisi to the corner of the hall, then he set up the Mute Enchantment, preventing anyone else from listening in on their conversation. He said; “How do you control the demons which you have summoned?”

Nailisi cried buckets and said, “I only allowed them to relax for a while, who would have known that…”

“I am asking you, can they be contacted?”

“Yes.”

“Ask them to hurry up, do not deal with the mages first.”

Nailisi’s eyes lit up, Saleen was going to start the ball rolling personally.

Bifano did not know what Saleen and the woman were discussing, but he could vaguely feel an impending doom. Nobody asked him anything. Jola threw him on the ground, as Jola’s Sword Aura sealed the five vital points in his body. Bifano could not deploy any fighting technique now. This was so much easier than the Sword Aura Sealing Spell. Since a grand swordmaster was handling another grand swordmaster, he would know his weaknesses.

“Oh yes, Nailisi, didn’t you mention that humans did not taste very nice? Why did your summoned demons devour humans?!” Saleen suddenly recalled a crucial problem. If these demons were fond of consuming humans, then he would have to ask Nailisi to send them back, they could not be kept by his side.

“I also summoned some magic bugs…” Nailisi had no choice but to spill the beans. The four demons were indeed uninterested in human flesh. Unless they were ravenous, they would not hunt humans like the magic beasts. A magic bug ate anything and everything though, they could not care less whether their target was man or animal.

“Magic bugs?” Saleen began to have a headache as he had some understanding of magic bugs. These creatures had unequal offensive powers. A strong magic bug could handle a normal demon, while the weak ones could be easily killed by a normal man. The most dangerous aspect of a magic bug was its powerful reproductive ability. In a sealed space like this, the magic bugs could quickly expand to a very horrifying number by consuming those soldiers.

“Master, I summoned the magic bugs to help you feed the lightning dragons,” Nailisi whispered.

Saleen’s heart softened, he did not blame Nailisi. In order for his lightning dragons to develop swiftly, food was a must. Since there was an astronomical number of magic bugs in the demonic dimension, the magic bugs were indeed a good choice of food for the lightning dragons.

Outside the central hall, Bifano’s soldiers had run into a huge crisis. An entire emblem group of soldiers had been killed inside one of the halls. From that particular hall, a wave of bugs had come rushing out, it was unknown how many magic bugs were present.

These bugs came in various sizes, the big ones were larger than a horse while the small ones were the size of an earthworm. Most of them had grown a shell, and at least half of them could fly. Most of these bugs possessed razor sharp teeth. No metal armor could withstand the chews from hundreds of bugs.

The mages were astounded. Bifano only owned dozens of mages. Even though their grades were not high, they could recognize the origin of the bugs.

“Magic bugs!”

“Is this place connected to the demonic plane?”

“Someone must have summoned them!”

“By summoning so many magic bugs, that person’s mental strength would be depleted and they would die!”

“Our missing soldiers have been devoured by these bugs. It’s been three days, and they have reproduced!” a mage hollered in despair.

Despite their hopelessness, the mages still staged a retaliation. The scrolls which were not usually used were taken out. Countless fireballs and firewalls began burning, shutting the cavity which the magic bugs were coming out from. Many soldiers were burnt to death though, and the mages led the remaining troops into another hall.

“Shut the door! Shut the door!” a low ranking commander yelled as if he had gone berserk. These elites actually stood a chance against the magic bugs. The mages were fleeing though, so the elites also lost their will to fight.

Due to insufficient materials, Nailisi only managed to summon hundreds of magic bugs. After three days of intense reproduction, only tens of thousands of magic bugs were created. The premium steel weapons wielded by the soldiers could easily kill these newly produced magic bugs, it was not too difficult.

In an unfortunate twist, a mage’s words had caused the soldiers to lose their will to resist. A mage speculated that this place might be connected to the demonic plane.

The legends surrounding the demons were no longer like the original version. For thousands of years, everyone believed that the demons were a powerful presence. Even a mage could not subdue them. If the humans from ten-thousand years ago were here and they found out that this place was connected to the demonic plane, they might have already rushed here in order to capture a few demons for themselves.

Even in that era, a demons were regarded as a precious species, it was difficult to obtaining them. A huge amount of energy was required to traverse the planes, and not everyone was willing to do so.

The four demons were stunned as they stared at the humans fleeing frantically. Bewildered, the one called Cuisi said, “They have more than three-thousand people. If all of them gathered, they could easily win. Why are they so afraid of a bunch of bugs?”

The other three demons could not answer that question. The enemy still had mages with them. Two grade-4 mages with a dozen swordmasters could already pose a threat to the demons. There were another twenty mages on the opposite side who could release level-4 scrolls, coupled with hundreds more swordmasters. If a battle ensued, all the demons, with the exception of Cuisi, would have to flee.

The magic bugs had weak offensive powers. These soldiers were escaping faster than when they ran into a demon though.

“Boss, do you think the legend in the demonic plane is true?” The chubby demon named Tolesi asked Cuisi. Cuisi was his leader. Even if Nailisi did not appoint anyone, they would not dare oppose Cuisi naturally.

Indeed, there was a myth in the demonic plane, but Cuisi did not believe it. After all, Nailisi was still very weak, she could not rival a demon. No matter how powerful the Luoluokaluo’s bloodline was, she might need a long time to develop fully.

“Given the current situation, Sir Nailisi would be able to conquer this plane as long as she summoned sufficient magic bugs!”

Tens of thousands of magic bugs swarmed out, pursuing the human soldiers. The offensive power of these magic bugs might be low, but that was in the demonic plane. They had a set of razor sharp teeth and they were venomous and fearless. These factors were extremely fatal to human soldiers. If the appliance for exterminating magic bugs was present, a beginner swordsman could easily kill dozens of magic bugs though.

In light of the current situation, it could only be described as a massacre. Once a mother bug swallowed a soldier, it backed out of the battle stealthily, in search of a place to lay her eggs. The number of bugs in battle had decreased drastically, but the human soldiers did not notice it at all. Instead, they had escaped into a large hall and sealed the doors, afraid of ever coming out again.