Badge in Azure

Chapter 267: Magic Beasts (Part 2)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Mages knew very little about magic beasts that lived in the water. It was hard to keep track of all the different magic beasts in the sea. The red eggs surrounded by the black stones were approximately the size of a fist and had natural golden magic patterns on them. This was not some low-grade magic beast. Only a high-grade magic beast could have magic patterns on its eggs.

What was worse was that these eggs evidently needed to be taken care of. The magic beast in the cave would not have left without an intention to return.

Saleen flipped around and swam back towards the entrance of the cave. The magic beast staying here was not any good magic beast. There were not any fish within this natural harbor, and there were no other magic beasts in existence either. On land, this could only mean one thing – the magic beast within this cave was vicious and powerful. No other magic beast wanted to offend it, and hence this harbor seemed incredibly serene.

With this flip, he saw the golden light being emitted from Nailisi’s green eyes. She was excited, about to pounce on the magic beasts’ eggs.

Saleen extended his hand and grabbed Nailisi by the neck, pulling her away.

These things might have been beneficial to Nailisi, but he needed to quickly ascend to the shore to find the other mages for help. There were over twenty mages on the coast and they had to find a way to deal with the magic beast together.

This magic beast needed to be exterminated. Otherwise, this place could not be used as a port. Knocking over a combat vessel would be easy for a magic beast which other creatures did not dare come close to.

Saleen was not sure about other things, but he could at least understand the magic beasts in the sea. They were different from those on land. Here, the territories of the magic beasts were blurry and it seemed like many of them shared the same space.

This magic beast had chased away all other living creatures within hundreds of miles. How could this possibly be good?

Nailisi struggled for a while before calming down. These magic beasts’ eggs could not escape, there was a lot of help on the coast, and she did not need to be too anxious. She was dragged out of the cave by Saleen as an over ten-meter-long sea creature swam over.

Saleen thought that this was it. He had just swum out of the cave which contained its eggs, and it would be impossible for it to not attack. This fish was silver in color with no visible scales. Light, golden magic patterns filled its body as a circle of eyes grew on its head, looking incredibly devious.

Saleen tapped the calabash by his waist as a six-meter-long current flowed out, darting towards the fish.

This fish was incredibly slender and flexible. Sensing the threat from Saleen, it twisted its body. Saleen saw a blue current explode from between the golden magic patterns as hundreds of streaks of lighting shot out, squarely striking Saleen and Nailisi.

Having been struck by the lightning, Saleen immediately lost control of his muscles. If he had not been able to breathe underwater, he would have pulled all that seawater into his lungs and died immediately.

Even so, he could not withstand such an attack. His ice plate armor had a limited effect when it came to blocking the effects of lightning. It went past his armor and left his body cramping.

This cramping was a natural reaction of muscles. Saleen could not control it, and regarding the intense pain, he was able to endure it. Saleen’s focus had not been affected. This was all because of the focus training he had done with his clan badge. If any other mage had experienced a lightning strike like this, they could forget about using magic for months.

The current from the calabash also struck the large sea creature. The green current wrapped around its body, and just as it was about to twist hard, a blue current exploded from within the magic patterns again. This blue current formed a thick bolt of lightning and struck the current that Saleen had released.

The speed of the fish-shaped magic beast’s magic was much faster than any other magic. Even if Saleen had been in his usual state, he would not have been able to manipulate the current into dodging.

With a sizzling sound, the green current absorbed all the lightning released by the large sea creature. It did not cause the current to disperse, but the power from the creature surpassed what the current could withstand as the elemental arrangement within the current was disrupted and it could not attack again.

If this current had not had lightning properties to begin with, this attack could have completely destroyed it and rendered it unable to condense again.

Saleen had not realized that all the attack that he had withstood had been absorbed within the Ring of Gifts. His clan badge within was vibrating crazily, absorbing all the current from the ring. Within the deep mark of the clan badge, a blue liquid formed and it did not disappear.

Nailisi had been struck by the attack as well. Her hair had spread apart within the water, dispersing the damage caused by the current. However, her combat abilities had been completely destroyed. Nailisi relied on her combat skills to fight. Her situation was not any better than that of Saleen’s. Saleen had his focus and could still release a silent spell, but she could not do anything as she stared at the enormous creature that was darting over, opening up its huge mouth and about to swallow her and her master into its stomach.

In many legends, a warrior that hunted for a magic beast would enter its stomach and split it apart. This was not realistic. Unless they were a demon like Nailisi who was not afraid of acid, if a human entered the stomach of a magic beast, they would be corroded into a pile of fertilizer immediately.

Nailisi was genuinely afraid. If she was swallowed into the fish’s stomach, she would not die, but Saleen could be digested cleanly. Once Saleen was dead, her fate would be incredibly miserable. At best, her soul would go up in flames, and she would die a clean death like Saleen.

Even though earlier fights had not been easy, she had never been in a situation like this before. Saleen was about to die right in front of her eyes.

Saleen was not flustered. He was unusually calm, merely releasing a water shield. He was still grabbing onto Nailisi’s neck. As he was struck by lightning, his muscles stiffened and could not relax, and his nails dug deeply into Nailisi’s skin even though they could not pierce through it.

A giant bubble over five meters wide enveloped Saleen’s body. This water shield was a level-4 defensive spell and was slightly weaker than the ice plate armor. Plus, it would not be able to stop the big fish’s attacks. However, Saleen and Nailisi were at the bottom of the sea now and this bubble’s giant buoyancy lifted both of them towards the surface of the water.

Saleen released a water-type spell at the same time – elemental balance. This was an incredibly unpopular spell and was designed specifically for water elements. It could allow one to maintain their balance, serving as a form of support magic.

If someone else were to rush up to the surface of the sea, even with this elemental balance, their blood would boil and they would be severely injured even if they did not die. Saleen was not breathing through his lungs but from his skin instead. As the bubble enveloped him and Nailisi and they rushed to the surface of the sea, he was not severely affected, and only his vision became blurry.

The bubble broke the surface as they flew into midair. Saleen still could not move his body as he immediately released his Flying spell, and a black cloud wrapped itself around their bodies as they fell onto the crescent shaped island.

Saleen still could not fly while carrying someone. Using this magic silently was pushing his capabilities already. Just as they were about to fall to the ground, Saleen released dozens of frost arrays, and as the bubble smashed onto the ground, they immediately froze the bubble and did not bounce back into the sea.

Saleen wanted to open his mouth to speak but could not make a noise. Nailisi could not either. Saleen waved away the water shield. He wanted her to take out the fully constructed puppets from her bracelet and carry them away from the coast.

Nailisi had thought of this as well, but she could not control the puppets with her entire body numb. She could not even withdraw them from her bracelet.

A water pillar shot out from the sea. The enormous sea creature had not given up its pursuit, and its head stuck out from the surface of the sea.

I don’t believe you can climb out of the sea. At most, I will suffer a few more strikes of your lightning. Saleen glared at the eyes of the fish, and they stared at each other with hatred.

Saleen was right. For the fish to release its lightning, it needed a great amount of energy. They were quite a distance apart and the fish was not confident it could electrocute Saleen from where it was.

Just as Saleen was feeling a little lucky that this fish could not climb ashore like other magic beasts in the sea, it opened its mouth and shot out an enormous ice bomb.

Saleen pulled up the water shield again. As it enveloped him and Nailisi, the ice bomb smashed into the water shield and they were flung into the air.

The water shield possessed a special property. After it had mutated, it could greatly reduce the impact of physical attacks. Before the ice bomb fired by the fish destroyed the water shield, the physical attack properties sent Saleen and Nailisi flying towards the other side of the island.

With a splash, Saleen and Nailisi landed back into the sea.

Nailisi was still alright, but with this fall, Saleen nearly lost consciousness. Nailisi still could not make a noise, but she wanted Saleen to leave her behind and escape. That fish did not have any teeth and any magic beast without teeth had stomach acid more corrosive than any magic attack. Nailisi knew that if she were to spend half a day in that liquid, she could still survive. Saleen could go back and get help and it was possible she would be able to last that long. If Saleen was swallowed into its stomach, he might not even last a minute.

Saleen was still not anxious. This crescent shaped island was over ten miles long and he had landed exactly in the middle of the island. If the magic beast wanted to go around the island in pursuit of them, it would need to swim at least another ten miles first. This was enough time for him and Nailisi to get ashore.

Saleen released the water shield as they both floated onto the surface. He then used his Flying spell again, and this time he did not attempt to fly together with Nailisi. The black cloud wrapped around them as they slowly inched towards the coast. The air currents had formed a whirlpool in the water. By this time, the mages by the coast had noticed the disturbance by the sea and rushed over.

Nailisi heaved a sigh of relief. She was a demon and demons were not like humans, who helped one another out.

Once the magic beast within the water went above the surface, it could no longer mask its aura. Two grade-5 mages spotted it and were scared out of their wits. They immediately saw the black cloud that had enveloped Saleen moving towards them, and a few swordsmen immediately jumped into the water and swam towards him.

Seeing them come forward to save him, Saleen could no longer hold on as he lost consciousness.