Badge in Azure

The golden zombie left behind by the Three Kings actually possessed such incredible power as well as secrets that even the winged skeleton had yet to fully discover. It was only until his soul flame took over its body that he discovered the zombie to be full of soul strength.

The winged skeleton already possessed intelligence on top of absorbing the soul of a human mage previously. When he absorbed Judikaka’s soul flame, he received all sorts of additional spirit knowledge. In the instant just before Judikaka’s memory was completely lost, the winged skeleton had already gained many benefits.

The only thing was that the body was nowhere near what he looked like originally and he felt very uneasy. The sound of the opening of the rock was getting closer. the winged skeleton decided to stop overthinking and took the soul strength by force to change his body.

The energy in the zombie was being used by the winged skeleton to change his form. His original body was something he was familiar with and also an important connection between him and Saleen. Would he still be the winged skeleton if his external form changed?

The winged skeleton did not hesitate. There was nothing wrong with the body, it was just not something he liked. If he kept it, he could very well gradually turn into a human form. The winged skeleton felt a chill. He was content as a skeleton, why bother becoming human?

A pair of beautiful skeletal wings grew out from the zombie’s back. The pair of wings were different from what the winged skeleton used to have because other than the skeletal structure, there were golden feathers. The new pair of wings did not feel very hard and solid. There seemed to be blood vessels flowing somewhere deep in the bones. The golden feathers were soft and every single one of them was flowing with soul strength.

The unnecessary components of the zombie were used up by the winged skeleton to change his form, allowing it to become a skeleton once again. The only thing was that the skeleton was slightly golden in color and the soul flames in the eyes were a transparent silvery red color. The skeletal wings on his back looked like what the creatures of the Holy Kingdom portrayed in the Holy See paintings would have. The appearance did not exude any death aura, instead, there seemed to be a holy glory.

Were the Three Kings trying to create a demi-god? The winged skeleton could sense that the grade of the soul strength that he was absorbing was too high, so his soul flame was undergoing yet another transformation. The soul flame, which was originally silvery red in color, was now pure black after it was enclosed by the dark elements. Any beams of light that shone on them seemed to be completely absorbed.

The winged skeleton was overjoyed. These dark elements could be replenished in any dimension. With this layer of protection, he would no longer have to fear most of the Holy See’s divine spells! To put it more accurately, divine spells of the same level would no longer be able to control him.

The winged skeleton stretched out both his hands. The two dark golden hands hit against each other, making a metal sound that no longer sounded like what it used to be. This sound was lower, but also very exquisite. This was truly a spirit material of a very high grade. Unfortunately, he did not know much about Judikaka’s memories. He would know the true purpose of this zombie otherwise.

There was little time left. The people outside would barge in before the winged skeleton could perfectly transform the body. He did not fear the grade-8 sorcerer, but he was afraid that the grade-9 sorcerer might return if he was tangled up with the former for too long.

The newly-obtained body was ridiculously strong. Although the soul flame had also evolved, it was nothing compared to a grade-9 sorcerer. Sorcerers attacked with powerful spells instead of engaging in physical combat.

The death space expanded once again and the winged skeleton knew that he had advanced into a grade-9 spirit of the dead. If his soul flame could merge flawlessly with this body, then he would be able to wield a power equivalent to a spirit king. The winged skeleton pondered for a moment before taking out a green spirit and summoning the spirits inside.

The mechanical soul was a little flustered when he saw the winged skeleton’s transformation. He did not dare to speak. The winged skeleton lowered his head and kicked at the broken pieces of the mechanical soul to find the broken piece of jade and put it back into his death space.

“The humans on the outside are about to break in. You can either choose to sign a bond with me or I will lock you up for eternity. Make your choice.”

“Alright, alright. I will sign the hundred-year bond with you!” The mechanical soul could sense that their previous bond had already been terminated. The winged skeleton’s soul flame was so powerful now that mechanical soul did not dare to go against him. The winged skeleton would only need to use a bit of soul flame and the energy required to burn the divine crystal in order to lock him up forever otherwise.

“Who said anything about a hundred-year bond? What I need now is a slave!” the winged skeleton laughed coldly. He held up a broken metal piece of soul flame and said, “You better agree to it. I have just learned a new skill and I need a guinea pig now.”

“No, I will never become a slave!” Mechanical soul protested.

“The more cruel the person, the softer the bones. Something like you should never have come into existence in the death dimension. I would love to destroy you completely. What I would love even more is to torture you so that you will never have a moment of peace. It will be easier for me to extract crystal of fear that way.”

“Crystal of fear! How can you possibly…”

“I just know it. So, hurry up and sign the bond. The people outside will break through in another ten minutes at most.” the winged skeleton gathered the mechanical soul’s broken pieces and summoned a grade-4 zombie from them. He pointed his finger and the zombie melted into fluid for the mechanical soul to absorb.

The winged skeleton was right. The more cruel the person, the softer the bones. The mechanical soul would never have signed a second bond within a short span of minutes otherwise. The second bond was a slave bond.

After the bond had been signed, the winged skeleton released even more spirits for the mechanical soul to devour. The mechanical soul’s rate of recovery was incredible. Within five minutes, he was already taller than fifteen yards and wider than forty yards. This time around, the winged skeleton provided spirits of even better quality. After the mechanical soul absorbed large amounts of soul flames, countless small gears appeared on his body, spinning at high speed.

Six gigantic arthropods appeared in the mechanical states on the joint areas that were also full of magic patterns.

The winged skeleton was satisfied. The way he threatened people was something he picked up from Saleen. It was direct and effective.

The grade-8 mage on the surface of the lake was feeling bored. He greatly admired the grade-9 mage’s power and this admiration would not change even if he also advanced to grade-9. The difference between the two of them was more than just magic chords. The grade-9 sorcerer was more powerful than any sorcerer he knew.

Maybe one could only find someone so powerful in Alchemy City?

A group of swordmasters and puppets were cutting open the rock. The swordmasters were wearing armor that allowed them to breathe underwater. The armor were the key equipment that allowed Cloudflow Empire to retrieve vessels in shallow waters.

Most magic armor was completely sealed up. Cloudflow’s armor was specially made to withstand enormous water pressure so they could conduct research underwater.

The puppets were operating huge machines to try and cut through the rock. A few low-level mages used spells to blow away the broken pieces of rocks. Now that more than half of the rock had been cut open, they would only need to cut through another three yards of thickness before they could see what was going on inside.

The gigantic machines were spraying decomposing fluid continuously to soften the rock. This was something that was used only for the extraction of wrought gold or mithril as both of them were resistant to decomposition.

Hundreds of swordmasters paid full attention to the bottom of the rock. As the rock was cut open inch by inch, there was a loud sound at the bottom of the cutting machine suddenly. The gear that had been covered by crystal broke and a black hole appeared. Powerful currents of the lake rushed into the hole with force.

The rock had been cut open.

Soon after, there was a deafening sound from the rock as the surrounding lake water vibrated. The top of the rock was cut open and the opening was more than three yards in diameter.

There was a sound that was louder and sharper than a metal magic whistle. At the bottom of this cave, a gigantic drill that was a yard wide appeared. There was blood in the eyes of the low-level mages and swordmasters. That sharp metal sound carried fear in it.

It was the Wail of the Spirit. It was an unknown spell and very few death mages were able to cast it.

As the mechanical soul had devoured too many soul flames of all sorts, it became easier for him to use a power that utilized fear. The soul of the mechanical soul was too unique and he was never the product of the death dimension. He was not afraid of the soul biting back. He wailed as he pleased and the hundreds of swordmasters and low-level mages were seriously injured as a result.

The grade-8 mage on the surface of the lake used mute enchantment over the lake, then used wind elements to cut through the lake and dove downwards.

The mechanical soul’s wail rushed through the gap created by the grade-8 mage, but was negated by the mute enchantment. What the grade-8 mage saw infuriated him.

His followers and white-robed mages were tangled up with a gigantic metallic monster. That monster had appeared out of the rock and there was a trail of chaos wherever it went.

There were a number of spinning gears on the mechanical soul’s body. When the gears passed through the mages, they were all torn into pieces.

The swordmasters stood around, stunned. The wail of the spirit had caused them to lose any will to fight. If not for the fact that they were wearing Cloudflow’s best armor, they would already have been suffocated by the water.

The grade-8 sorcerer was heartbroken. Amongst those white-robed mages, one of them was his student! He raised his magic staff and unleashed a spell stored in it. A water sphere that was half a yard in diameter flew towards the mechanical soul. The speed that the water sphere was traveling underwater was no different from when in the air. When it approached the mechanical soul, the water sphere suddenly started to burn.

The interchanging of elements was not a skill that was unique to Saleen. The spell that the grade-8 mage had stored in his magic staff was a grade-8 fireball skill that was more powerful than other spells of the same grade.

With a loud explosion, the fireball crashed into the mechanical soul’s chest, creating a huge crater that was more than a yard in diameter and more than a yard deep. The metal of the spirit of the dead was melted by the fireball and flew in all directions. Due to the water of the lake, they solidified again into sharp arrows that pierced through the bodies of the surrounding swordmasters.