Saleen had always been generous to that special friend of his . Among the four dukes, Aini was the only one who got special treatment . If there were any materials suitable for death mages, Aini would have surely had access to them .
The only reason Saleen didn’t take him to the Imperial City of the Abyss was his concern about getting him into trouble unnecessarily .
While Saleen monitored the plane map, Aini ably led the warriors and spirit army of Lonestar City onto the Floating City and headed for Kroraina . Upon arriving at his destination, another portal opened on the fringe of the Purgatory Dessert .
Saleen sensed that the situation was more precarious than he anticipated . In addition to its great powers, Myers Mainland had been a main plane because of its strategic location . Years ago it was a conduit linking over a hundred planes, all fixed portals to the mainland and each portal guarded by a high-level professional .
If all those planes were restored, some would have considered attacking the plane .
Saleen also wanted to lead attacks but knew he was too ill-prepared .
Moreover, he had no maps of those planes . If the gods used them as springboards to attack, Saleen would have received no notification and would have had to assign powerful professionals to guard the portals .
That was a dangerous thing to do . He knew he had been careless in thinking he would know the Lord of Glory’s whereabouts after getting the plane map .
If the Lord of Glory had attacked a subcontinent plane before using that plane as a springboard to attack the mainland, Saleen might have found himself gathering his forces while over a million angels flooded the mainland .
He could not allow something like that to happen . But those portals would definitely increase in number and he would not be able to seal them off one by one .
Those were not portals created by the Heretic God; they were natural-occurring ones . Destroying any one of them would be possible with the use of level-18 scrolls . Even if he succeeded in doing that, it was still possible for those portals to be restored in the future .
Out of options, he resorted to sending personnel to every portal to stand guard . He decided to clean up any dangerous planes preemptively while ordering his forces to keep watch of common ones, attacking only when a god appeared .
By doing so, Saleen had effectively spread his forces rather thin .
He was so frustrated . The Goddess of Myers might have foreseen that a long time ago . The best way for him to watch those portals was by mobilizing the Nature Faith, or better still by having the Nature Faith forces invade the planes and create a buffer zone .
If he did that, the goddess’s powers would expand exponentially .
Okay, you win . Saleen was preoccupied not with the Lord of Glory but the Heretic God, who was possibly been at the highest . If he entered Myers Mainland, it would create chaos everywhere and gain tremendous power .
In addition, he would seize control of the entire subcontinent plane linked to Myers Mainland . There would be no exceptions .
Saleen went on to contact Baudelaire at Nature City at that thought .
“Baudelaire, a mission for you . ”
Baudelaire, who was on the other side of the magic array, seemed to be steeped in thought and did not answer Saleen .
“Are you thinking that I lost control of Nature Faith just because Myers is resurrected? I’m warning you!” Saleen warned the pope .
“Right, your highness, I understand . ” Baudelaire was terrified . Saleen’s tone suggested he wasn’t joking around . Despite that king’s generosity with his subordinates, if someone betrayed him, Saleen would have gone straight for the traitor’s soul .
Baudelaire’s silence was just as a test, but Saleen already understood the reason for it: Baudelaire believed that even if the goddess was on their side, Saleen would still move against him .
A pope who refused to follow his orders was someone who would be eliminated without hesitation .
Baudelaire was right . Saleen increased his authority and reputation to the pinnacle right from the establishment of the Nature Faith . If Baudelaire had any second thoughts, Saleen would have destroyed his soul right away even in front of the goddess if necessary .
That was because Saleen knew that the goddess still needed him, whereas someone like Baudelaire, who was expendable, could be replaced at a moment’s notice .
“How could I be of service, your highness?”
“Pull back the army assigned for attacking Cloudflow . Switch to the legion mode and bring as few knights but as many holy masters as possible . I’d send you the coordinates . Many subcontinent planes are waiting for you to conquer,” Saleen said with a cold tone .
“Your highness…” Despite having a figure’s body, Baudelaire felt his soul shake as if his beating heart was about to give out .
“What is it?” Saleen asked in return .
“I…I’d like to commence the attacks in your name,” Baudelaire stammered .
With a wry smile, Saleen answered, “Very well . I’d need to build an empire on a subcontinent plane . You can put propagation of the faith behind you for the time being, but keep a close eye out for me . I don’t want to see other religions popping up . ”
“Understood, your highness,” Baudelaire waited until Saleen severed the connection on the magic array before daring to shut it down .
Myers the Water Fox, who was next to him, smirked and said, “So, you still want to test things out?”
“Hmph, you set me up . ” Baudelaire sounded annoyed . He didn’t anticipate that Saleen would react this or way or to adopt such a brutal tone .
This was the last straw: If he failed in his tasks, Saleen would make sure he didn’t get another chance .
“I didn’t make you do this, Baudelaire . If you’re looking someone to blame, blame yourself . ” The Water Fox laughed arrogantly . She was in charge of the Oracle Corps, an organization that controlled true adherents of the faith .
No false believers would ever make it to the Oracle Corps . The Water Fox knew what Saleen was thinking . If he became hostile to the goddess, he would have to send those true believers away . Any remaining would be executed .
The Water Fox had her grievances . If she hadn’t helped Saleen treat Nailisi, she might still be able to use all of her powers instead of suffering drops in levels . At the moment, she was stuck at level-12, preventing her from returning to her pinnacle state .
She egged Baudelaire on . The man ran into trouble and she laughed at him instead .
“How about you go and ask the man himself if you dare?” Baudelaire had no idea what level Saleen was currently at but knew that Saleen was working with level-13 professionals . His teacher was at least at level 13, too . .
Since the rise of power all across Myers Mainland, Saleen’s teacher was able to return and take charge of things anytime . If Baudelaire messed up, he could get himself killed .
The Water Fox laughed and said, “I don’t dare do so . How about…”
The magic array lit up again . It was Saleen contacting Nature City .
“Water Fox, I know you’re there . Bring your Oracle Corps over and head out somewhere with me,” Saleen said coldly as if he had just cast water magic .
The Water Fox’s expression turned ugly . Didn’t Saleen have anything better to do than spy Nature City? Were there some moles among her holy masters .
Little did she know that ever since Saleen came into possession of the plane map, he could see what was going on in an eerily high number of places . He heard every single word in that conversation between her and Baudelaire .
After getting to level-14, Saleen used the plane map with east . His power of the soul had expanded as well . .
The Water Fox would probably not have been very loyal . Saleen heard the two of them cooking up a scheme for getting rid of her . It all depended on how clever she was in seeing what they were up to . If she just did as told and no longer incite Baudelaire, Saleen was willing to give her another chance .
The Water Fox then replied, “Your highness, the holy masters are not at Nature City . ”
“Bring as many as you can . ” Saleen shut the magic array off . The Water Fox took one look at Baudelaire and felt frightened to his core . Saleen seemed to know everything . How come? Didn’t he only command level-10 astrological powers?
Just a handful of his supporters knew that Saleen possessed a plane map . There was no way the Water Fox would have known how Saleen realized what she was thinking .
Saleen was only doing that on a whim . Since the Goddess of Nature had so many loyal believers, he felt it was better to send them away . While the goddess might not have paid much attention to those people, he had his future to consider .
Saleen did not believe the goddess would kill herself, even if she were unable to make her way to Myers Mainland safely . A more likely course of action would be to turn the mainland into her divine kingdom .
That would render the lifespan of the mainland to be as long as hers . Myers Mainland exist as long as she was alive . The only difference was that the mainland would be populated solely with her believers .
The Water Fox was exasperated . She knew that Saleen was still controlling her soul . Even without such bondage, his powers still eclipsed hers . Betraying Saleen was something she could only do in the distant future . From the look of things at the moment, Saleen could still control everything going on with the Nature Faith .
It did not matter if the Goddess of Myers had resurrected . Advancement would be difficult for a resurrected god .
The Water Fox was an elemental creature who knew how to join the winning team . She rectified her attitude as soon as Saleen bashed her, thinking if she had been in too much of a hurry . There was no need for her to choose between a god and a powerful professional . She only needed to shake off her current predicament . Saleen was still in control of her nonetheless, and that human mage was not a pushover .
She deemed it wise to lie low until she had enough power to revolt . Saleen lacked hands for management duties at the moment . If he had someone to spare, he would have replaced her long ago .
Saleen did not specify the time, yet she summoned the Oracle Corps anyway . When all the holy masters in the Oracle Corps were summoned, the teleportation portal in Nature City lit up and Saleen appeared with Rafel in tow .
The Water Fox cemented her judgment by then—Saleen indeed knew everything going on in Nature City . What she didn’t know was that Saleen had his giant weapon spirit monitor the plane map . It saw everything with the gathering process, so much so that it was even able to calculate when the gathering process would finish .
Saleen’s maneuver proved effective . The Water Fox prostrated herself in humility when she saw Saleen, a respectful gesture—something reserved for occasions like when an oracle meet their god .
The people of the Oracle Corps found nothing out of place . Saleen was like a god to them, one who shared a close relationship with the Goddess of Myers . The goddess would not have issued such a decree back then were this not so .
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