Badge in Azure

The great head inquisitor’s golden book was flipped to the fifth page. A round symbol flew out. The sixth icicle was trapped by the symbol, which crushed it into bits of ice.

The adjudicator targeted by the fourth icicle had his head silently penetrated by the projectile after it pierced through the round metal shield. The lightning icicle penetrated right through the adjudicator’s skull and burrowed right through his crotch. Everything in the icicle’s path was turned to mush. What was even more terrifying was that the adjudicator’s soul dissipated right there and then.

The lightning icicle, while capable of being destroyed by powerful equipment, was incredibly lethal when it entered a target’s body. It was too late to do anything to save the victim by then.

After seeing one of his prized subordinates being killed by a lightning icicle, the great head inquisitor’s black robe suddenly fared out. A dark shadow flew from underneath the robe. The shadow had been hiding in the light, making it completely undetectable.

It had originally meant to be a hidden weapon, but he had no choice but to let it out to take the fourth adjudicator’s place. The great head inquisitor was preparing to use a level 10 area-of-effect divine spell—Luster of Purification.

That divine spell was not one that would kill a person. It would completely purify a soul and turn the person into a believer of the Lord of Glory. If Saleen were to be purified, the secrets in his mind would no longer be hidden. He would be compelled to spill everything to the great head inquisitor.

It was an extremely level-oppressive divine spell, which meant that anyone below level 10 would have been affected. Furthermore, that divine spell was capable of lasting for a long time. It needed him to be in charge while being executed at the same time by 12 level nine holy masters.

Once completed, it could have only been defended by equipment of the same level capable of defending for the same amount of time. But, what kind of equipment or skills would have been able to hold out for up to six hours?

Saleen was able to tell what the great head inquisitor was up to, so he gave it his all to kill his subordinates. The great head inquisitor summoned the dark double to replace the fourth adjudicator. The golden book flipped to the sixth page.

The symbol that flew from the sixth page was a square one as well, with an opening on the top and bottom sides. The symbol flew high into the air and shrouded the great head inquisitor, the 11 adjudicators, as well as a dark double, within something like a house.

The great head inquisitor was frightened. Saleen’s lightning icicle far exceeded his expectations. If he had not been armed with the Armageddon Codex, half of his subordinates would have been slaughtered by Saleen.

The metal target that the fourth adjudicator had unleashed was a renowned holy item in the Holy See. While it was inferior to godly items in terms of materials used, it was a powerful piece of equipment.

Yet, Saleen’s lightning icicle was able to destroy such a holy item right there and then. The level nine adjudicator’s Protective Holy Light and Divine Protection spells were unable to do anything to block the attack. They were shattered instantly by the lightning icicle.

He did not care how many of those icicles Saleen was able to cast. The great head inquisitor began rushing his subordinates to prepare the Luster of Purification as soon as the sixth symbol was cast.

The Luster of Purification was specifically made to deal with living beings. If it were to be successfully cast, he would be able to acquire the powerful equipment Saleen had in his hand.

The huge symbol protected everyone within—the great head inquisitor and the guards of his subordinates. Holy light coursed all over the transparent symbol as shadows of countless angels danced within.

It was impossible to destroy that symbol. The Armageddon Codex of the great head inquisitor was said to have been acquired from the first head inquisitor who came to office.

The Holy See teemed with powerful ones when it was first established. The first head inquisitor was a demigod serving the Lord of Light, and one who had been robbed of his divine persona. That demigod carried the Armageddon Codex with them.

If the plane was beyond saving, then one should destroy the plane. Those were the words of the first inquisitor, who represented the will of the Lord of Glory.

The great head inquisitor’s power was far from adequate for destroying the Armageddon Codex, but there were only seven pages to the codex. The first six pages were sealed by the first head inquisitor, making them comparatively lower powers available to only level 10 powerful ones.

As one advanced in the divine arts, one would have been able to wield all of its powers when the seal was` undone.

It was a method that the first head inquisitor developed by observing mages, which was being modified to be used in the divine arts, while providing easy access to the Armageddon Codex.

The codex would have been available to people at level 13. At a time when the powers of Myers Mainland had gradually weakened, the first head inquisitor had his hands forced enough to do something like that.

Saleen was pleased to see the great head inquisitor using protective methods instead of being shocked. He lacked ample energy to be absorbed by his family badge. The energy unleashed by the huge divine symbol would have been enough to feed his badge.

However, he would have had to face a level 10 professional and 12 level nines if he were to get near the symbol to absorb its powers. Saleen was reluctant to go to such extremes. It was fortunate that the badge could be used right away after absorbing energies.

Saleen took the immense risk and called his followers around him, including Sika, to give up fighting the golden-armored knights and charge the great head inquisitor with him.

Eleanor was the only one who stayed where she was. Drawing her Seven Nights longbow, she shot three green arrows, an elvish time arrow, elvish space arrow, and elvish emperor arrow. The three arrows symbolized the whole of attributes of matter. She shot all three arrows with her fullest power and the stored power of life in the Seven Nights burned.

If Eleanor were to pay such a price herself, her lifespan would have been reduced by at least 100 years. Furthermore, it was a price deemed affordable by an elf, especially a royal elf. If it had been a human shooting those arrows, even a level nine professional would have lost half of their lifespan.

Eleanor valued her life. With the power of life provided by Saleen and stored within Seven Nights, she no longer had to burn her own to cast skills. The three arrows swooped down from above, heading straight for the great head inquisitor.

Thousands of angels burst out within the light. The three arrows burst through the bodies of the angels like bolts of lightning. However, all three arrows were considerably diminished after killing over half of the angels.

Hundreds of angels turned into white light and charged the arrows. The arrows fell. The skills imbued in them were completely destroyed.

Eleanor knew well that her skills would not work. While she had high proficiency in archery, the inherent attributes of her art were not as overpowering as that of the Thunder Dragon Blaster. That one equipment of Saleen alone was more than able to overwhelm most other equipment.

Any skill had a level where it would have been able to do nothing about, but Saleen’s lightning skills were the highest power within their plane. Even though none of his skills, other than his calculations, were comparable to the great head inquisitor, he was still able to force the great head inquisitor’s hand relying solely on the edge provided by his element and equipment.

Eleanor’s attack was completely negated. Saleen hardly felt surprised. If those three arrows would have worked, there would not have been any need for him to rush at his target.

The great head inquisitor let out a cold smirk as he saw a cloud of mist approaching him. Saleen’s skill had its limits. If he had simply kept shooting, there would be no telling how long he would have been able to hold out.

The Armageddon Codex had seven pages, and the sixth was already used, which had been considered the most powerful trick he had with him. If he wanted to use the seventh page, Saleen would have been required to be a god for the codex to work.

Is he attempting to defend against the attack with help from the golden grand swordmasters? That’s impossible. This is a pure defensive divine spell, and there are 128,000 angels in it, more than enough for me to complete the Luster of Purification.

Half of the 200 demons had perished. The knights had taken a wedge-shaped formation. Everywhere the golden-armored knights treaded, the demons were either dead or severely injured.

The power that the golden-armored knights brought to bear was at the pinnacle of golden grand swordmaster level. Worse still, that did not seem to be their all.

The pincer attack tactic employed by the demons was hardly effective. The huge halberds were completely ineffective against the armor clad by said knights. Golden holy light shone in the knights formation. It instantly healed every knight’s wound and repaired any damaged armor.

Furthermore, the golden-armored warriors were capable of changing their formations very quickly. With every change, the knight taking the lead were cranked up to the pinnacle of level nine.

It was a very terrifying skill. If every single knight had been a level nine professional, the one taking the lead would probably be brought up to the pinnacle of level 10.

If the burst of powers were deemed still tolerable, the instant repair and healing would have exceeded the power of the demons, who had inherent powerful healing abilities themselves, to handle.

Don hid himself near a holy master who had lost his head. Blood seeped into his garb. Yet, he was in no hurry to act.

The Tribunal actually managed to copy all of the Heaven Knights’ equipment and skills. Back then, it had been a formidable army within the ranks of the Heaven Knights that enabled the Holy See to reign supreme in all of the mainland.

They were only eliminated by the large-scale magic amplifier operated by over a hundred level nine sorcerers in Holy Rock City, when the knights were attacking the city. After that battle, 10,000 Heaven Knight armors were completely wrecked. It was only then the power of the Pivotal Council suffered a huge drop.

Don knew well enough that even if they were to kill the knight taking the lead, the others would soon take their place. Only by killing at least one-tenth of them at one go would they stand a chance against such formations’ powers.

If only we had two more supreme demons with us. Don felt regret seeing the two supreme demons struggling to hold the line.

Eleanor took to the skies. The altar had been taken by the golden-armored knights, so it was dangerous for her to stay on the ground. While the golden-armored knights were powerful, they stood no chance chasing after her riding on the Wings of an Elf.

She peered at the battle at Saleen’s side and saw him gesture in the clouds. Surprisingly, he was telling her to help Don attack the golden-armored knights.

Saleen watched the entire battle and found the true battlefield to be where he was at. His Quickcloud was going so fast that he came before the holy masters protected by the huge symbol.

The cloud was swept by a white beam of holy light and immediately dissipated. Saleen knew that it was due to him having too little understanding of rules. Otherwise, the misty cloud would have covered the entire battlefield and made it into his territory.

Saleen stepped forward and extended his hand, holding the mysterious family badge of his. No matter how powerful the barrier was, it stood no chance against the family badge’s absorbing powers. He came to understand that the attacks of his family badge were negated by equipment made of high level materials, but the badge’s absorbing powers were something totally indefensible.

The angels within the light did not storm at them, but Saleen tripped and fell sideways to the right. Missing that huge barrier of light, he was unable to press his badge onto it.