Badge in Azure

The false dragon was a flying spirit and the only one that Winged Skull had actually went all the way to specifically create. It was huge and the Winged Skull had even added a purple-gold sack in the false dragon’s mouth, capable of carrying large amounts of toxin essence. When the essence was added to the poisonous mist that the false dragon breathed, it enabled the beast to continue spewing for over an hour.

No other flying spirits had such powers, but having 30 to 50 of them attacking a small camp would yield similar results.

The attack that Saleen pulled was different than the ones he pulled when he was dealing with large armies. No other mage would have gone to collect refined toxins like he did for several years. Even the Winged Skull, who was adept at crafting poisons, were impressed by Saleen’s thoughts. When large amounts of toxins were added to the common spirit poisons, not only did it allowed them to kill living creatures, it also allowed the spirits to corrode most non-magical equipment.

The Holy See army’s camp was well prepared to deal with threats. The flying spirits were detected by the troops on guard at the rear when the spirits were still several miles away, and the entire army were alerted soon.

The spirits were hit by arrows like falling rain as soon as they got close enough. However, few of the arrows were imbued with divine spells. While the arrows would have worked well against spirits below level three, the flying spirits were above level four. Common arrows were unable to harm the spirits. The first wave of attack had seen only two level four spirits being shot down by huge arrows and had their bodies crushed as they fell to the ground. The remaining spirits stormed the area and spewed terrifying amounts of mixed toxins at the ground.

The Winged Skull chuckled as they instructed the spirits smoothly and began to massacre everything below. While the Holy See army was able to react fast enough, their formation was too sparse. As such, as Saleen had anticipated, they were only able to send out flying professionals to intercept the spirits.

Powerful holy masters were just as quick in killing the spirits and that should not have been much of a problem.

However, Saleen and Jalin, as well the Winged Skull, were among those spirits.

Over 20 holy masters gathered from all corners. The flying speed of the holy masters was faster than the spirits’. They intercepted the flying spirits, but were attacked by the Winged Skull before they were able to cast divine spells. Black light shimmered on their huge battleaxe, Death Break was cast in an instant, hitting the level nine holy master who was taking the lead.

The Winged Skull’s death magic was capable to be stored within the huge axe and that particular spell was the most sudden in all level nine death spells, as well as the most powerful offensive spell. The streak of black light bisected the level nine holy master. Another death magic spell within the axe—Death Cloud—enveloped the group of over 20 holy masters in an instant.

The Winged Skull took the initiative and even though they were powerful, they still had problems killing a level nine holy master. It had been an easy kill simply because the holy master underestimated their enemies. The Winged Skull was a spirit and looked like weak skeletons. The level nine holy master was preparing a powerful area-of-effect divine spell when they were killed. The other holy masters all switched to instant divine spells immediately to protect themselves.

Death Cloud did not come with massive damage potential, but it was difficult to purify using holy light. The holy light that emanated from the surface of the holy masters’ bodies turned grey. They were unable to shake the cloud off no matter where they went.

The Winged Skull had considered the possibility of fighting holy masters before they left Golden Plains. Holy masters were incredibly resilient and very hard to kill. They excelled in healing powers, especially the ones used on themselves, those were simply insane.

As such, the Winged Skull had prepared two death magic spells that were made specifically to deal with such abilities in their magic weapon. Death Break resembled a full force attack launched by a golden grand swordmaster. Even a level nine sorcerer would have a hard time defending against such an attack all of a sudden, let alone a level nine holy master.

The holy masters tainted by Death Cloud did not suffer much damage, but all divine spells cast after they were tainted were all grey, diminishing their damage to spirits considerably. The Winged Skull burst into laughter seeing the holy masters losing the attribute that gave them their edge, and they leapt from the back of the spirit false dragon, heading for the holy master closest to them.

They spread the bone wings behind them. The Winged Skull was more nimble in the air compared to mages. The holy master that they targeted cast Divine Protection and unfolded a divine spell scroll.

The Winged Skull arrived behind the holy master in a flash. The holy master was unable to lock on to the Winged Skull and was at a loss of what to do. They chanted a short prayer and shouted, “Fall!”

It was not a divine spell directed at the Winged Skull, but one that made themselves drop all of a sudden. The Divine Protection about them ensured that no harm would come to them even when falling at a height of over 100 meters. It was the quickest way that holy master could shake off their enemy.

The spirits spread out with their attacks, but the holy masters stayed in a tight formation. They saw the huge spirit false dragon and decided subconsciously to make the beast and the Winged Skull their target. Their initial charge had cost them their most powerful peer. The remaining holy masters scattered and went to hunt those spirits behind them.

A holy master usually had an attack range shorter than a mage’s, but there were nonetheless some special divine spells that had a very long range. The holy masters were terrified by the Winged Skull and were unable to help but cast the spells with the longest range of attack. However, being tainted by Death Cloud, the greater the range of the attacks used, the smaller the damage they were able to do against the spirits.

The spirits did not bother to tangle with the holy masters. They flew straight ahead and the Winged Skull, who had killed their second holy master, flew for the camp as well. The attacks of the spirits were mostly melee, but with the power to spew poison added to their repertoire of attacks, none of the spirits wanted to land on the ground, opting to simply spew poison a distance away from the camp.

Saleen and Jalin looked at each other. Saleen then said, “24.”

“How about a match?” Jalin got what Saleen meant.

“Let’s do it.”

Hundreds of tornadoes whipped out of the clouds in Saleen’s surroundings all of a sudden. Two Tempest Dragonmights appeared and provided Saleen with massive amount of wind element. Saleen’s speed rose sharply as he began to hunt the holy masters.

The holy masters were basically level seven. The ones of higher levels were killed by the Winged Skull. The remaining ones had scattered and none of them was able to handle level nine sorcerers.

Saleen cast an ice spear, which spun in the air looking for its target. The target found was a level eight holy master, who was protected by white Divine Protection. The strongest defense divine spell was something that even level nine spells would have had trouble penetrating. However, that was the only level eight holy master in the group remaining; the other one was already killed by the Winged Skull. The Winged Skull continued on their way to attack other camps with the spirits in tow after killing two earlier, leaving the battlefield for Saleen and Jalin.

The Winged Skull had full trust of Saleen’s combat capacity. Hogina’s Gun enabled Saleen to have an extra layer of protection when dealing with low-level professionals. Furthermore, the recoil of the Crystal Finger skill no longer cost Saleen his ability to fight after he had advanced to level nine. Even if he were to run into stronger opponents, he would still be able to do something.

Most importantly, Saleen had the elemental badges with him and the Tempest Dragonmight excelled in aerial battles.

Saleen was very excited. He had not anticipated the Holy See forces to be so weak. The group of over 20 holy masters were no match for him. He would have been scared if he did not have the elemental badges with him. However, at present, his attacks would be boosted by more than 50 percent, backed by the massive powers of the elemental creatures.

The ice spear pierced the Divine Protection spell and the holy master was sent falling. They were shocked by the impact of the spear, making it impossible for them to maintain flight.

Saleen would not simply let them escape. His flicked his finger up and had the ice spear steam, which soon combusted and turned into a fire snake, coiling around the holy master’s body. The fire snake constricted and dispersed the divine spell into grey specks of light. The defense divine spell known to be the strongest was broken by two consecutive attacks from Saleen. The holy master within burned as they fell to the ground. Saleen did not forget to have the fire snake penetrate the holy master’s body, to ensure that the poor fellow was truly killed.

Jalin was able to score as well. Her arsenal of spells had all six elements gathered. She used only five seconds to deal with a level seven holy master, somewhat quicker than what Saleen had been able to achieve.

The flying spirits were but bait for Saleen, meant for luring out the holy masters capable of flight, allowing him to destroy them midair. The Holy See army had been fooled. Holy masters were unable to perform as well as mages in aerial combat.

The clash between holy masters and mages had never ceased. Both sides looked into any weaknesses of the other side that they were able to exploit, and it had became a habit. When his plan worked, Saleen threw a scroll in his hand open.

Level eight magic spell: Dark Cage.

That spell was inferior when compared to Endless Night, but it was extremely easy to use, as it was nearly instant-cast. The spell trapped a level seven holy master within and Saleen unleashed a Midnight Fang, sticking a dark elemental blade in the mass of darkness and taking the head of the holy master.

Jalin saw the scene and snorted. Saleen was not the only one with equipment; she had hers as well. Both were in a match to see who was able to kill more holy masters. She did not need to hide anything and pulled a huge magic staff out. There was a huge gem embedded on the staff, cut into eight facets.

The gem cast six level nine spells at the same time and all of them hit holy masters. The six fell to the ground without making a sound, and Jalin turned to look at Saleen with a smug face.

The holy masters realized that things were looking bad for them. Their enemy consisted of two powerful level nine sorcerers. The remaining holy masters gathered immediately, trying to cast a large scale divine spell.

Saleen was put at ease seeing the holy masters huddling together. He was more afraid of his enemies scattering. They were attacking the Holy See’s main camp after all. Anywhere the holy masters could have ran to, they would have brought help from powerful ones after all.

Saleen cast a spell that he had been preparing. More than 1000 icicles appeared above the holy masters and rained down at them. White light glimmered outside the holy masters’ circle. The spell that rained down from the sky was a mutated spell that Salen developed. Steam was found on the surface of every icicle, making them incredibly hot.

“Sh**!” Jalin knew it with just one look that it was a spell that Saleen had been preparing for a while. He knew that the holy masters would have gathered. There was no way she would have been able to catch up to Saleen’s speed.

The holy masters in the air were tortured by hot and cold energies at the same time. Saleen’s spell had cast two opposing states on his targets.

Breaking noises were heard all the while. Saleen’s icicles were not simply one-off attacks; they were shot in volleys. Six holy masters were unable to react in time and did not manage to put up Divine Protection; they were soon shot to pieces by the icicles and burned, dropping to the ground as balls of fire.