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"I don't like this world all that much either," Saleen said .
The badge in his hand began to absorb the energy of that light barrier . The God-hunting Spear might have been a powerful divine spell equipment, but there was no energy left within . The spirit of the item had died as well . The remaining energy was quickly sucked up by Saleen's family badge .
The hard stone floor beneath the spear cracked . The spear took flight but was quickly captured by Nailisi .
Don did nothing as Isabella stood and walked to Saleen's side, leaving him behind . He simply stood on the ground waiting .
Grey light from Nicholas' Scepter of the Fallen glittered and shone into Isabella's body . Nicholas nodded to Saleen after finding nothing wrong with her .
Saleen took out an empty scroll made of Starline paper and levitated it before writing contract contents on it at blinding speed using the magic pen . He handed the contract to Nailisi when he was finished .
Nailisi came beside Don and handed him the contract . Don read every single word written on the contract while Sika asked Isabella about what happened after she was taken away . Isabella hid nothing . She had been by Don's side since the day she was taken away .
Don had only stood up when Isabella finished telling her story . He asked for the magic pen from Nailisi and wrote his name on the contract . The Starline paper burned and turned to dust . The contract truly went in effect . Don did not play any tricks .
"Your Highness Saleen, where is my weapon?" Don looked at Saleen after he was done signing the contract .
Saleen took a look at Nailisi, who handed the God-hunting Spear somewhat reluctantly to Don . The old man played around with the weapon for a little bit and found it to be a good fit for him .
Even if the weapon were to be one devoid of divinity, its sharpness and sturdiness would still enable him to use it to the greatest effect . Common weapons were simply too easy to break for someone at his current level .
Isabella felt incredibly mentally exhausted . If she had not been a mage, it would have been difficult to even relieve herself while staying by Don's side for so long . Even so, she still felt herself to be incredibly dirty .
It was something she was unable to bring up to Saleen, which made her feel awful . Saleen had let Don go, which made her feel uneasy . Does that mean I'll have to continue working with this man?
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Sika understood what Isabella was thinking . She calmly walked up to Don after he took the spear . As she stood before the old man, she suddenly said, "Saleen is only taking you in for the moment . But, don't you think you owe someone an apology for what you did?"
Don shook his head and said, "She'd still feel awful even if I were to apologize . What would be the point?"
"I'm just asking," Sika said and quickly brought her staff up, flinging it hard down on Don .
Isabella covered her mouth, but no one around them had any intentions of helping .
Don frowned and thrust the spear at Sika's throat . The move was incredibly quick . It was possible that his spear would have been able to penetrate Sika's neck before she was able to land a blow on him .
The trajectory of Sika's blow remained unchanged, but she sped up all of a sudden . The acceleration seemed to be done in anticipation of Don's attack . If he were to stick with his attack, his brain would get smashed first .
The God-hunting spear was quickly turned horizontal to block the staff .
Don had intended to go with the flow . He land a thrust on her, forcing her to back off . However, the power of the blow felt unexpectedly heavy . His wrist bone broke with a pop .
Sika retrieved her staff along the trajectory of her attack . Don's weapon fell to the ground with a clang .
Sika coldly said, "The reason why Saleen kept you alive was because it was inconvenient for him to make a move against you since it would have probably messed up Isabella as well . How strong do you think you are? You can't even take one blow of mine . You can be no more than a knight leading a group with no one but yourself . It'd be a damn waste to even have one more person working under you!"
Don's numbed heart ached violently as he was being provoked by Sika's words . However, the pain of his broken wrist prevented him from picking up his weapon, let alone retorting Sika's words .
Isabella cried immediately after hearing Sika berate Don . She had been a strong woman who had refrained from showing any weakness when she was taken away by Don . That had prevented him from hurting her .
Isabella reminded Don of his daughter, but she did not know that . She was under immense pressure being at Don's side, which had almost drove her crazy .
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She bore some resentment toward Saleen for accepting Don's surrender . She felt a lot better when she saw Saleen not doing anything to stop Sika's actions . However, the outcome still surprised her . Since when did Sika become so powerful?
Seeing Don feeling rather dazed, Saleen said, "Nailisi, put Don's weapon away . Nicholas, patch him up . We'll have him take the lead . "
Saleen was able to feel that there were some godly beings remaining in that cave . Since the cave was an incredibly complex one, he saw no need to kill those creatures one by one .
It was out of pure accident that he found Isabella without having to jump through hoops . Good things like that were hard to come by again .
Don accepted Nicholas' healing without saying a word . He left the cave first while Saleen and the others tagged along behind .
The demons waited patiently outside the cave . Don was not walking fast . He was only briefly stunned to see a demon . He quickly calmed himself down . Just what kind of people is Saleen surrounding himself with?
Curiosity sparked in his originally numbed, unfeeling mind . The demons did not attack . They simply sealed the cave .
Nailisi dismissed the demons while Saleen cast Quickcloud, taking Isabella with him to the little platform on the peak .
The ones by Saleen's side said nothing throughout the entire process . It was as if they all knew what would have happened .
Don was immersed in thought . His daughter was killed by the Holy See . Her soul had completely dissipated . Nothing about what happened was known other than Theisio did not keep his word and rescue her .
He was done serving the Holy See and had no intention of following Saleen . However, things back then were such that if he were to say so, he would have died on the spot .
While he was completely at peace with dying, Don was not willing to die lying down . He hoped to see the Holy See being crushed . Only by killing every single one of those people who had tortured his daughter would the pain in his mind be eased .
He did not return to the Holy See because he knew that the Pivotal Council and Tribunal had made peace . No punishments would have been visited upon the members of the Tribunal even if he were to head back .
Even if he were to become the head of the Heaven Knights, the outcome would have been the same . The status of a head inquisitor was far above that of a leader of the Heaven Knights in the Holy See .
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A devout believer should have borne hatred, but Don's mind was no longer bound to the Lord of Glory .
"We'll depart after a four-hour break . " Saleen returned to the platform and set up a tent specifically for Isabella before letting Eleanor and Nicholas perform more thorough healing on her .
Saleen sat outside the tent and called for Don . He inquired about the Holy See's internal affairs from Don while crafting javelins for Sika .
Saleen was not concerned about the possibility of Don ambushing him . A huge swath of Water Flame separated him from Don . Even a grand swordmaster would not have been able to cross the Water Flame and attack him .
Don had complicated feelings when he felt the power of the Water Flame . Things were different than how Theisio had described it . The pope told him that Saleen was just a sorcerer who had advanced not long ago .
After chatting for an hour, Saleen found out that Don had been incarcerated for a long time . He probably knew less about the Holy See's internal affairs than Nicholas did .
Don mostly knew about the infighting between the upper echelons of the Holy See while Nicholas knew things about the middle and bottom echelons . All of that information was still useful .
Javelins were low-level magic equipment . Saleen did not need to put in much mental powers during the crafting process . He talked to Don while paying attention to the sounds coming out from the tent .
Eleanor and Nicholas emerged from the tent not long afterward . Nicholas nodded to Saleen . The gesture said that there was nothing wrong with Isabella's body .
Eleanor rode on her Wings of an Elf without saying anything and took to the sky . She had also seen to Isabella's conditions for a bit . Elf magic worked rather well on Isabella .
Isabella grew rather homesick despite having nothing wrong with her body .
"You're not a good fit for this group . Your heart died a long time ago," Saleen said to Don while continue crafting javelins .
Don's hands were healed, but they were still incapable to be used for battle . He sat before Saleen silently . After a moment of silence, he finally said, "If it had been 30 years ago, I'd have envied you people . I might have even wanted to be part of the group . "
"That's fine, so long as you're willing to form a group of knights," Saleen said "I need someone who knew how religions propagate to get this done . "
"Are you really wanting to establish the Nature Faith?" Don asked rather doubtfully . Saleen was a mage after all .
"Of course I am . I didn't sign a contract with you just to bind you," Saleen said . "This is my own wish as well . "
"But, you're a mage," Don replied .
"Well, if you can be a knight of the Nature Faith, why can't I establish a Holy See dedicated to Nature Faith?" Saleen took out the six newly crafted javelins from the Water Flame and put them by his side before continuing to throw in materials . He had no intention of stopping .
Don was utterly incapable of comprehending Saleen's words . He had been in contact with many mages before . Their attitude toward the Holy See had all been more or less the same .
"It's a personal matter and an attempt to rebuild the Nature Faith," Saleen said . "As such, I can't let everyone around me be involved . That was why I wanted you to be a part of this . Of course, if you're able to get this done well, I'd be willing to support you materialistically . There is a forced time limit to the contract . Our relationship would last for 1,000 years . "
The temperatures around the Water Flame was incredibly cold . Don could not help but shiver . That cold feeling was something he had not been felt for the past century or so .
"Are you not afraid that I'd take control of the religion and become your enemy after 1,000 years?" Don asked .
Saleen's eyes pierced through the silver-whitish Water Flame Looking at Don, he said, "Not a bad idea for you to do so . I wouldn't need to bother about the bond we've built over the past millennium . Plus, I'd be able to just kill you by then while getting rid of the religion along the way . "
Don shivered yet again as the winds blew at the mountain . Saleen's words were incredibly cold and brutal, so much so that even his numbed and unfeeling heart was able to feel the bone-chilling coldness .
He had no idea what Saleen was trying to pull . Is this young mage simply trying to set up the Nature Faith as a personal hobby?
He had no idea that Saleen was feeling very relieved after uttering that line . His mind felt freed after speaking the thing that had bothered him out loud .
I'll just let the Goddess of Myers resurrect if she wants it so badly . I'll just kill her when she's done resurrecting herself .