Badge in Azure

Chapter 1535: Centennial Chaos (Part 3)

Dante took the opportunity and spread a huge net out. The net had originally been loot acquired by Saleen in a fight, but due to him having little use for it, Dante worked on it and added many lightning runes to the equipment.

Abyrus’ Sword of Glory was even sharper than Dante’s invisible short sword. The angel swung its sword at the net. A tearing sound was heard, and a huge hole appeared in that net, surging with electricity. Abyrus lunged forward with its sword.

However, Dante’s sarcastic smirk became even more prominent. It would have been weird if that angel had actually been able to cut through the net. Materials capable of being imbued with electricity were either very fragile and possessed special attributes, or they were nigh-indestructible, just like that net.

Abyrus intended to charge through the huge hole on the net, but the net seemed to have behaved like a living magic beast and pounced on the angel instead, trapping Abyrus within the net again.

Dante flicked its spear at the angel and threw its Sword of Glory from its hand, which soared in the sky to Dante, who caught it. The weapon spirit then hoisted the net up with the spear. Dante just let Abyrus hang on the tip of the spear, while the weapon rested on its shoulders.

“Fycro, come with me. Don’t think of escaping. You still have use to me.” Dante pointed at Fycro, who followed right behind Dante obediently. However, the weapon spirit did not ask Fycro to hand over the golden mirror in his hand.

Abyrus was rendered all limp by the electrical discharge from that huge net, but it did not forget to curse all the same.

“Fycro, you ingrate piece of sh**, I was the one who let you out…”

“I remember you being the one who caught me in the first place,” Fycro answered indifferently, which rendered Abyrus speechless.

“Alright, shut up.” Dante flicked the spear a bit again, dislocating all of Abyrus’s joints, preventing the angel from using powers in any manner.

Fycro behaved obediently and led Dante into the divine mountain. All the angels around scattered in their presence.

That was because the power originating from the god was lost. The Lord of Glory did not trust its doubles. His main body was gone, and his doubles were unable to provide power for believers, so it was utterly impossible for them to earn the loyalty of the angels.

The battle with the Lord of Glory at Saleen’s side was over. He gave the signal to attack, and there were people outside the gates who relayed the news immediately to Jason’s line of defense. Armies in the millions began to gather and had gotten ready to enter the divine kingdom.

It was not to say that troubles from the divine kingdom were all over with the death of the Lord of Glory. It was almost impossible to kill every single one of the tens of billions of god creatures after all.

Saleen would have needed years if he were to wage war throughout such a huge divine kingdom. If it had not been for fallen and purification skills, it would have been very difficult to make the god creatures surrender. Saleen would have had to bring the Floating City and install similar skills within the magic net before he would have become able to subjugate angels en masse.

Otherwise, he would have had to go on a killing spree armed with his ridiculous powers as a level 17 mage.

If he were to do so, Saleen’s state of mind would have been affected due to having killed too many, even if the divine kingdom were conquered as a result.

Saleen tracked Dante down and followed his weapon spirit to the divine mountain. There were hardly any living angels found on the 10,000-meter tall divine mountain by the time he reached the place.

Dante laid flat on the ground to receive Saleen. Abyrus, who was tied up securely, was right beside the weapon spirit.

“My lord, all angels on the divine mountain have been wiped out.”

“Is that so?” Saleen was doubtful, puzzled at how it could have been done so quickly. The divine mountain was over 10,000 meters tall, and there were many hills around the area. The area was so vast that it could have housed hundreds of thousands of angels, and furthermore, all of them would have been elites.

Dante pointed at the center of the temple, which housed a scepter on a platform, and said, “The Lord of Glory is dead and I’m now the master of the divine mountain. All the angels came to me willingly.”

“Alright, the divine kingdom is yours from here on out, Dante. Speak with Nailisi and try to get the problem with skills sorted out as soon as possible. I want you to subjugate the entire divine kingdom completely within the next 100 years.”

The 100 years that Saleen gave Dante was a tough deadline to meet. Wars fought between gods spanned tens of thousands of years. While the Lord of Glory was indeed dead, there were still a great many powerful angels and doubles, as well as peculiar god creatures, in the divine kingdom.

“Yes, my lord.” Dante stood and pointed at Abyrus. “What should we do about this thing here?”

“Leave it to me, master.” Nailisi chuckled as she looked at Abyrus, who shuddered as it saw Nailisi’s green eyes. It wondered just how the demon had been able to turn its wings, which had been purified prior, grey again.

Nailisi dragged Abyrus to one side. She had Lightning Protection, which insulated her from the effects of the net. Abyrus was so restless that it was not in the mood to care that its face was being dragged on the ground.

“We meet again, Abyrus. I remember I made you a god before, so why did you go and swallow a divine persona then? You’re still an angel, you know? Devouring a divine persona would only do you harm.” Nailisi talked to the angel as if she was truly concerned for it, and Abyrus was at a loss for words.

“Are you telling me that I should have given a divine persona I found, instead of gulping it myself?” it thought to itself.

The gate of the Purgatory of the Fallen opened behind Nailisi. The 24 Shackles of the Fallen shot from within and wiggled about like snakes, dancing behind her.

“My master will come to rule the divine kingdom within 100 years. You’re welcome to not do anything to help though.” Nailisi had one of the chains slither through the net and coil around Abyrus. The angel was able to sense deep down in its Source that there was an evil power cutting up its body like a steel knife. The chain then traced the wound and coiled around its power of the Source.

Most angels did not have souls, only power of the Source. While the power of faith given by such beings was lacking, such power was of higher purity and easier to manage.

Nailisi stroked Abyrus’ feathers, which had turned completely dark grey and were devoid of any light.

“If you were to refuse to submit to me, where do you think a being like you, who has lost all power of the Source, would be able to go, even if I were to spare you?”

Abyrus looked at Nailisi dazedly. The angel had never heard of the powers demonstrated by that demon. It was puzzled at how it was possible for it, a being possessing level 15 godly powers, to not be able to even withstand one touch from the demon.

“I do have the patience to slowly torture you, but my master is running out of time. You have an hour, Abyrus. Take the time to think about it. Submit to me, or die with pride.”

Nailisi spoke and that chain quickly retreated back into the Purgatory of the Fallen.

Saleen was not too excited. He sensed that the goddess was watching him. The goddess apparently wanted the divine kingdom for herself. The divine kingdom was so huge that the goddess would have been willing to give up on the main plane.

Furthermore, the goddess had always been worried that she would absorb the powers of the main plane too quickly if she were to stay around, causing the mainland to crumble. If that were to happen, her speed at restoration would have been even significantly slower. On the contrary, a mature divine kingdom would be entirely different. The tens of billions of creatures around would be enough for the former level 18 goddess to be restored to her full powers.

The Lord of Glory was a stingy god. He had only been able to get its divine kingdom that far after invading great numbers of divine kingdoms. If he had actually been able to get to level 16, Saleen would not have had any certainty of being able to kill him in his own divine kingdom, even with the help from the Tree of Element.

To the goddess, the divine kingdom was like a very, very tempting meal, and the yearning would always bother her until she ate it up. Saleen knew what it was like to be hungry, and he deemed that the goddess would feel unusually hungry for being unable to get back to level 18 powers.

“Take care of things here and look after the divine mountain. I’m going to head out to have a look at the Baldur’s Gate.”

Saleen then left the place, leaving the Winged Skull in charge of things. Fycro stood at the side awkwardly. His current level powers meant that he would be able to quickly recover, so long as he absorbed all the power within that golden mirror, but he dared not do so.

It was certainty not due to Nailisi taking him as one of their own that she let him keep the mirror.

The Winged Skull, who had hardly spoken, smirked at Fycro and said, “Fycro, I guess we know each really well now.”

“Indeed,” Fycro answered in a deadpan manner. He knew Saleen would at least spare his life for that one good deed he pulled back there. However, seeing how the demon dealt with Abyrus, he knew that if he were to fall, then all hopes of becoming a god would have been lost.

Fycro never stopped wanting to become a god, and that desire had become even more intense and desperate due to his current predicament.

He was thinking deep down that if he had been in the Lord of Glory’s shoes, he would have absolutely avoided clashing head on with Saleen. What that god did was tantamount to handing over his head on a silver platter. Saleen’s lightning skills were simply too effective against gods.

“Any plans from here on out, Fycro?” The Winged Skull smirked as they asked that man who had once been a powerful holy master.

The Winged Skull’s smile was definitely not a friendly one, despite their mild-mannered tone. Fycro flashed a bitter smile and answered, “I’m a prisoner now, you can tell me what I should do from here on out.”

Fycro did not attempt to run that time, as Saleen would have definitely sealed the gates of the divine kingdom. Furthermore, he would have needed to absorb the energy of the mirror before he would have been capable of running away. There was no way the skeleton would have let him do so. It was his first time seeing such a powerful skeleton. He had never even heard of it before.

“Our master will be waging a war that will last 100 years. The divine kingdom shall be Dante’s fief. If you want to live, you should become its servant god. Our master will never interfere with how things work here.”

“No, I will not become someone else’s servant god,” Fycro said instinctively. If he were to become a servant god, he would need to first seek Dante’s permission before doing anything.

The Winged Skull’s grin widened considerably. They clapped on Fycro’s shoulder and said, “no, that’s what you’re going to do. I’ll provide the divine personas you’d need. Obey Dante, and you’ll have a lot to gain.”

Fycro felt exasperated. Since when did a skeleton know how to joke? If he was not allowed to refuse, then what was the point of the discussion. He knew that it was impossible for him to leave.

“The mirror…” Fycro pointed at the godly item in his hand and inquired in a probing manner.

The Winged Skull extended their hand and took it, sensing the item for a bit, before chucking it back to Fycro.

“A level 17 godly item. If you really want it, then you need to fuse it with your power of the Source. Your body won’t be able to withstand its power otherwise.”