Badge in Azure

Chapter 997: Black Dungeon Storm (Part 1)

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

Two spears pierced the figures, slicing through them easily. However, soon after, Saleen saw how unflinchingly the figures then took hold of the ancient warriors’ spears, while snapping them effortlessly!

Once the golden magic book in his hand had finished casting the spell, a huge black shield materialized before him. Then, the dark element within the shield devoured the figure.

This was the Darkness Shield, which was a level ten spell that had been converted to traits of level nine spells using special means. It was then stored within the golden magic book. This was a storage method that had been created by 36 sorcerers on Sreeger Island, and Saleen used this as a means of keeping himself alive whenever he found himself in a tight spot.

This particular spell possessed both offensive and defensive capacities when it reached level ten. However, it had a really short range, which was not something the Endless Night could compare to. Hence, Saleen had only used the golden magic book after Nicholas had hinted for him to do so.

Nicholas had never stopped using lesser prophecy spells. In the past, he had only used such spells to harass Van Gogh. However, he now was resorting to using such spells to affect Van Gogh’s actions.

However, these effects were limited. The reason for this was because the number of souls within Nicholas’ Blood Soul Tower was too small.

This meant that, if he used powerful skills, he would shorten his lifespan. Hence, Nicholas would never resort to using such means unless it was a life and death situation.

At the very least, Nicholas would not allow himself to lose the ability to fight before Nailisi showed up again. He found that if he supported Saleen, he would be able to boost Saleen’s combat capacity by several times, even without using powerful skills.

In fact, it was precisely the work of the lesser prophecy spell that led Van Gogh to throw the figure out. This was hardly considered a mistake, and as such, the effects would not drain much of Nicholas’ mental powers or power of faith.

The figure had massive damage potential. As such, level nine elemental creatures would not stand a chance against even one strike from it.

Saleen had seen similar figures in action. This particular figure was one that astrologers used to receive guests. Thus, the figure would not have attacked him on its own accord. This also proved that the one that Van Gogh threw out was apparently a combat figure!

Saleen’s Darkness Shield was also one that he had cast before. Otherwise, he would not have been able to cast a level ten spell, even if it was one that was stored in a magic book.

At the moment, the figure was enveloped by dark element that was emanating from the Darkness Shield. Saleen flung his hand out and shot the Star Gathering Needle that he had on his glove, causing it to stick into the figure’s body.

In response, the figure threw a short sword from within the darkness, which was blocked by the shield and shattered in an instant. At the same time, the sword dropped to the floor with a loud clanging sound.

The Star Gathering Needle shot straight into the center of the figure’s brow. There was a holy prose within it, which was broken by the needle and immediately turned into numerous light fragments before dissipating completely.

If the figure had been controlled by an astrologer, Saleen would not have dared to do such a thing. However, members of the Holy See were used to controlling figures via divine spells. Doing so ensured that the figure’s combat capacity remained intact, and it also created a huge opening within the figure.

Moreover, once it encountered an astrologer, any holy prose on the figure would be broken by the astrologer. But, this was rare, as astrologers no longer existed on this plane. Saleen was really the only exception.

Even though he did not continue to learn astrology, he was able to advance to level two nonetheless, which enabled him to still be able to sense constellation power. The Star Gathering Needle that he had just shot had been wrapped in wind magic, which he had successfully targeted at the vital point of the figure using his mental powers.

Saleen had no idea if it was actually a good thing to advance his astrological training, but regardless, he knew that he was able to feel the power within the needle, which allowed him to accurately target his enemy with magical control. For this, he was grateful.

Now, the holy prose that was used to control the figure was broken, and Van Gogh felt like his head was about to split open! At that moment, the two ancient warriors rushed up and snatched away the figure that had just fallen on the floor.

Saleen took the figure and felt joy well up within his heart. While the levels of the three broken figures that he had gotten from the astrology tower were no big deal, the one that he was currently picking up had a decent level and was geared for combat. So, if he were to re-craft using astrology, it would become one of his most powerful pieces of equipment!

Suddenly, the figure’s arm moved a little before it dropped down. Saleen was unable to extract the needle at the moment, as the scattered holy proses were still swirling around the needle, attempting to melt it down.

Saleen knew that the level of the holy prose that was used was lower than that of the needle, which meant that it was impossible for the needle to be melted. Other than containing the rules of powers of astrologers, Star Gathering Needles also had a huge space within each of them, which was used by astrologers to craft the stars.

As such, even a mage would have required decades before being able to completely melt the needle down. The script of the gods might have been intricate, but the ones that Van Gogh had would not have exceeded level ten.

Saleen felt relieved after he threw the figure into the Devil Ring. The remaining heavenly angel would now be easy to deal with. But, he soon thought of something and couldn’t help but wonder... Van Gogh wouldn’t have more powerful weapons with him, would he?

As Saleen thought of this terrifying possibility, he switched the book that was in his hand for a demon magic book. Upon seeing this, Van Gogh felt extremely frustrated that Saleen had yet another magic book.

As he stared at it, he wondered... How is it possible for this mage to have more equipment than me? My divine puppet just got trashed, and he already has another magic book!

This really bothered Van Gogh because he knew how precious magic books were. They were capable of storing magic spells for long periods of time and would almost never experience wear and tear, while a magic staff required constant maintenance! As for scrolls, they were even worse, as they were only good for a one-time-use.

Currently, there were tens of thousands of mages throughout the entire mainland, and hardly even one in a thousand of them possessed such rare equipment. What’s more... Among the mages who possessed magic books, those who possessed golden ones were less than one percent.

Yet, not only was Saleen a magic book owner, but he actually owned two! Van Gogh shook his head as he thought... That grey magic book definitely contains level nine magic spells! He wouldn’t have even thought of using it against me otherwise!

Van Gogh took a huge holy prose scroll out of his space badge and opened it. As he did so, a holy light glimmered and a huge teleportation portal appeared right beneath Van Gogh’s legs.

The portal was six meters in diameter, and it almost transported him out of the cave immediately. He did not even bother bringing the summoned heaven angel with him.

Saleen was dumbfounded. He had never thought that Van Gogh would have had such a powerful scroll with him. Even though he did, however, there was no sign of their battle finishing any time soon. In his surprise, he thought... So... Van Gogh left, just like that?

Boom!

At that moment, the snakeheads emerged again from the lava lake. The lava sprayed out, shooting more than a hundred meters away, but was immediately blocked by Saleen’s Darkness Shield.

It was only then that the two snakeheads within the lake showed their true form. The snakeheads were attached to a huge body, which had just climbed out of the ground. As Saleen saw that the two snakeheads were on one body, he gasped inwardly... A two-headed great fire snake!

Although he somehow managed to keep his composure, he still took half a step back reactively. At the same time, the ancient warriors moved to stand before him, while summoning the Vermillion Knights. While the Vermillion Knights might have been incapable of hurting the snake itself, they still could defend against its attacks. This was especially the case for the leader of the knights.

A great fire snake was a level ten elemental creature, and a two-headed great fire snake was a mutated superform of such a being. As such, no one knew what its exact level was.

Van Gogh did not run because of Saleen, but he ran because he was caught in a pincer attack. He could already feel how powerful the great fire snake could be based on the heavenly angel.

Van Gogh was not a warrior. While he might have been more fearsome than most golden grand swordmasters while wielding the Lance of Order, if he was to fight the snake after losing the lance, he might have as well hand his head over on a silver platter!

At this moment, Saleen blocked the exit to the cave. And, as there was no one he could handle if they attacked him from two sides, he had no choice but to run.

There was a huge island just south of the Tanggulasi Empire’s waters. The island was covered by a thick, black smog all year long, so no one could see what the entire island looked like.

There were ships going in and out of the island occasionally, but all of them were made of pure metal. The surrounding sea was filled with unseen reefs, and there were also eerie magic beasts lurking nearby. Those beasts were all insane, and they were controlled by the island people, who used them as protectors of the place.

This place was known as the Black Dungeon of the Tribunal. It had about a hundred islands, the largest one serving as its main base.

There was a tall stone house in the middle of the largest island. As a divine light shone down upon it, Van Gogh appeared in the holy prose teleportation portal.

The wardens outside the stone house were instantly alerted of his presence. After all, the portal had hardly been used, as only the most important figures of the Tribunal were allowed use it. Upon seeing Van Gogh, the wardens instinctively knew to scatter and hide.

While Van Gogh had indeed been one of the more mild-mannered figures in Black Dungeon, none of the wardens intended to get themselves in trouble by dealing with him directly. After all, his ability to get to such a high position meant that Van Gogh was a brutal person nonetheless.

As Van Gogh walked out of the stone house, he had no idea where he should go. As he tried to plot his next move, he wondered... Am I supposed to go see the person the Tribunal left behind here? Or... Am I supposed to go see the head warden?

He hesitated for a bit before taking flight, heading for the southern part of the island. He flew for more than an hour before landing.

When he landed, he did not take off his silver armor, as if he only felt safe when he was wearing it. The battles moments ago had been too much to swallow, making him incapable of easing his mind and checking out of fighting mode.

“Van Gogh...” A fleeting voice penetrated his armor and went straight into his mind.

“Teacher!” Van Gogh turned around and looked at a compound at his left, where there was a huge crystal hanging above the compound. The crystal had hundreds of holy prose flowing within it, all of them casting a mild light throughout the entire compound.

“You suffered a defeat then? Come here,” the fleeting voice commanded.

“Indeed,” Van Gogh replied as he walked to the compound and pushed the door open.

There was quite a lot of fauna in the compound. It was rare to see such weak and frail plants on Black Dungeon Island. They would have all wilted if it was not for that floating crystal above the compound.

Van Gogh soon came before a two-story stone house. He put away his silver armor before knocking on the door.

“Come in.” After hearing a voice granting him permission to enter, Van Gogh pushed open the door.

The room was huge, and it had a bronze-colored furnace at its center. There were six sides to the furnace, each with an opening to be used for inserting materials in it. This furnace functioned differently than magic power furnaces, as the holy light glimmered within it, similar to a white fire.

There was an elder wearing a black robe, who was sitting on a chair and staring into the holy light of the furnace, while sending golden holy prose into it. The golden holy prose turned white after entering the furnace, then merged with the equipment within it.

Van Gogh thought for a bit, then said, “Teacher, I’ve lost the Lance of Order.”

The black-robed elder’s eye twitched as he sighed. He then asked, “It’s that serious, hmm? It looks like I will have to go and see the head warden myself.”

He then added, “The head warden, he... Well... The head inquisitor was under a lot of pressure and had been hurrying us for quite a while. What you lost was too precious. If you aren’t able to give sufficient reasons for it, I will need to have the elders speak up for you. The head inquisitor will not let this slide otherwise.”

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