Chapter 1288: Insect Plague (Part 1)

Saleen had indeed prepared this type of contract long ago. After seeing the starline paper, the three mage trainers were stunned. They immediately recalled the various types of rumors that had been spread about Metatrin City.

So it had actually not been a lie. This Saleen actually used starline paper to sign contracts. It should be known that contract scrolls were the most stable kind of magic scroll and did not require particularly good materials. This starline paper was a very precious substance. Because astrologers had died out, items that were originally cheap had become extremely valuable.

After looking at the contract, they did not spot any issues. The three mage trainers heaved a sigh of relief, feeling as if they had cast off an immensely heavy burden. It was only after they had written down their names on the contract that the three felt truly safe.

The original contract was just a temporary measure. Initially, after waiting for the Grand Duke and his party to leave, the three people had wanted to group up and leave as well. If the three mage trainers were together, they would definitely be able to find a place to stop and rest no matter what. They could not be compared to those low-grade mages, and they also had a lot of wealth with them. This was sufficient for them to reconstruct magical towers and continue cultivating.

Now, with Saleen’s contract, they would become palace mages, hand over the Devil’s Horn, and then go to the palace to cultivate. It was still better than this place, which was suspended in the air. If it was possible…

The three mage trainers had also thought of the fact that Saleen providing for them was probably only for the sake of claiming the Devil’s Horn’s status in the future.

Mages were not thieves. With this status, if nobody wanted to fight over this island with Saleen, it would be somewhat difficult.

The ancient battleships packed things up neatly once more. The soldiers and puppets boarded the battleships one after another. Saleen brought the three mage trainers, and his subordinates entered the sea from the eastern part of the Devil’s Horn, diving into the waters directly.

They were still at a distance of about 100 li from the island. The three mage trainers were protected by Saleen’s territory and flew forward. In terms of speed, when moving forward in the water, nobody could compare to Saleen. He was a body of water element. Any water magic spells would become half again as strong than those of other mages in his hands.

Water magic also had movement skills. The Quickcloud Spell had been Saleen’s creation. With his current movement speed in the water, it took less than 20 minutes to arrive at Floating City.

Floating City was underwater. It was covered in a huge energy barrier and appeared as if it was twinkling with light.

Although it was called Floating City, it did not have any city walls. With a 900-meter stick crystal as its building material, it was much sturdier than any wall. There was no need to look at the situation at the bottom part of Floating City. Simply seeing this huge energy barrier had made the mage trainers speechless.

Saleen had not wanted to rob them. Compared to him, they were all paupers.

Of course, this way of thinking was wrong, but there was no need for Saleen to correct it. However wealthy a thief was, they would still rob others. If they had not sworn allegiance to Saleen, Saleen would not have minded looting all they had.

What difference was there between the king of a country and a thief? Attacking and occupying cities, this was the greatest form of plunder. It was just that ‘king’ sounded more pleasing to the ears, and the conquered people could still beg for a tomorrow.

It was not that Saleen did not gain any benefits from being a king either. He had quickly seen through these things and would definitely not go all out for any of the powers of this continent. All of his power would be used in the pursuit of the true meaning of magic. All other matters were nothing.

The current Saleen was rich and ostentatious. It was also much easier for him to take in subordinates. After the three mage trainers had seen Floating City, they no longer had a hint of complaint. Saleen was so rich; he obviously would not covet the few secrets they had in their hands.

The ancient battleships went full speed ahead towards Alchemy City. Floating City slowly circled underwater and followed behind them.

Within Floating City, there was an elite troop with a total of 220,000. 20,000 of these were Saleen’s troops. The other 200,000 were Grand Duke Iron Blood’s troops. These 220,000 soldiers were all dressed in Bug Angel Armor. This was the first time that the Bug Angel Armor would be used in a real battle, and Saleen had high expectations of it.

Within the Bug Angel Armor, too much magical knowledge was contained. If a low-grade mage was to participate in its refinement, the accumulation of knowledge would be sufficient for them to utilize until they were at the stage of a sorcerer. However, mages who had had this type of special encounter numbered less than 1,000. In Metatrin City, an ordinary mage needed to strictly follow the procedures of the alchemic factory and split up to produce the parts of the Bug Angel Armor.

It was only because of this that Saleen was able to provide the armor at such a rapid speed. Grand Duke Iron Blood needed them, and Fycro needed them as well. He also had to refine higher-grade armor for himself. If they had not proceeded to divide up the work, it was likely that even at the time when abominations would be found everywhere on the Myers Continent, Saleen would still be unable to produce the corresponding numbers.

The Bug Angel army was awaiting orders at the border of Floating City. The might of this armor lay in the fact that soldiers could survive within it for the long term without needing to disarm. This was especially so for Saleen’s 20,000 suits of armor. The outer skin had not been filled with normal magic medicines. Instead, with the Restorative Water as the foundation, magic liquids and all kinds of potions had been mixed to produce it. Furthermore, the imps within the skins had elfish pills as their rations and did not need to leave the armor.

Of course, the disadvantages of this armor were also evident. After growing used to the Bug Angel Armor, the person inside would not be willing to leave. The armor would provide people with power on the level of a magic net. When the imps wore the Bug Angel Armor, even power demons would be no match for them. Once they left, they would turn back to their original frail state.

What this armor gave people was not assistance, but destruction. If a swordmaster was to put on the Bug Angel Armor, it would also affect their Mood, and it might even make it difficult for them to advance to a True Might.

Hence, Saleen wanted to give this armor to the imps to use. If he gave it to his powerful warriors, the losses would outweigh the gains.

However, Grand Duke Iron Blood did not care. For his Dragon Blood warriors, advancement did not rely on cultivation. With the Bug Angel Armor, these Dragon Blood warriors would be strengthened even further. A few aftereffects could be overlooked.

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The Floating City moved forward underwater. This would not be able to remain hidden from Alchemy City’s mages. However, just before entering the range of perception of the mages, the ancient battleships had already commenced their attack on Alchemy City.

Alchemy City’s pier was much more powerful than that of the Devil’s Horn. Under the fire of hundreds of magic cannons, only the pier was destroyed. Dozens of magical towers combined, blocking most of the magic cannons’ attack.

The magic cannons had been modified by Saleen and Imposa before. Their might was not equal to the magic cannons produced by the ancient humans, and their shooting speed was also lower. On both sides of Alchemy City’s pier, there were small castles, which also supported magic cannons. These cannons were even weaker compared to what Saleen and Imposa had modified, yet they posed a threat towards the soldiers on the ancient battleships.

The battle was intense. Who would think of searching underwater?

Like this, Saleen’s Floating City had arrived in the oceanic area within 10 li of Alchemy City. Then, it rushed up skywards from within the ocean.

Floating City itself did not require any movement power to float in the air. Wanting it to sink underwater, on the other hand, was a waste of magic chords. After flying to midair, Floating City flew towards the west at a speed of 2,000 meters per minute. The people of Alchemy City could clearly see this giant object fly up from the ocean. Countless magic spells immediately tilted and attacked this strange object that covered the sun and sky.

These magic spells were subjected to an increase in speed by the magical towers. The distance of their attacks was also lengthened by several times. It was just that below Floating City, 24,000 mages were concealed and could launch a counterattack using the magic net. Even if they could not strike back, the light gold-colored crystal below Floating City was not something that could be destroyed by ordinary magic spells.

Besides, Saleen was already at the core of Floating City, expanding his territory completely from within the Magical Element Tower. Below Floating City, electric currents flashed wildly. Any magic spells that approached would first be dissolved. Even if they could not be dissolved, they would be weakened.

The magic nets were opened entirely and the magic power furnaces were all switched on. Every hour, Saleen would place tens of thousands of magic chords to maintain its consumption. If the battle lasted for one day, close to a million magic chords would be consumed.

The strength of Floating City was indeed unparalleled, but this was with immense wealth as its basis. Without so many magic chords and nets, Floating City would merely be a piece of land that was able to float.

About 20,000 Bug Angel warriors lunged down from high in the air under the support of the magic nets. These Bug Angel Armors varied in size. The largest was about a dozen meters long, and the smallest about four or five. The vision of the warriors hidden inside was able to cover all angles.

At the back of the Bug Angel Armor, there was a pair of transparent wings that flapped, releasing an ear-piercing sound.

Alchemy City saw that Floating City had arrived above it and was already in a continuous state of terror. Floating City might not be able to harm powerful mages, but if it were really to press downwards with all its force and go all out until both sides lost, Alchemy City would probably have to be rebuilt as well. Immediately, the magic spells that were attacking Floating City had decreased. Everyone was afraid that they would cause Floating City to be shot down, resulting in a lose-lose situation.

Saleen did not wish for this either. If Floating City was really to become grounded, the consequences could be disastrous. If it were smashed forcefully, Floating City would also suffer serious damage. Furthermore, after descending to the ground, Floating City’s greatest advance would also vanish, and the effects of the magic net would be practically gone.

Thus, Saleen directed the enchanters to begin attacking the key areas below. The targets of his attack were all places where magical towers would normally be located, thus there would be no waste of energy. About 20,000 Bug Angel warriors rushed into Alchemy City. Unlike what had been stated beforehand, these warriors began to kill without any reservations.

Saleen naturally understood that this was the result of Grand Duke Iron Blood’s longtime grudge. He had subdued the mages from the Devil’s Horn. If he continued to subdue Alchemy City’s mages, he would not be able to gain anything.

If Alchemy City was to surrender completely, how could Grand Duke Iron Blood come again to rob it?

Although this was not that likely, Grand Duke Iron Blood wanted, first, to create a scene of massacre to avoid the occurrence of such situations in the future. With this, he would no longer be able to grow close to the hearts of the mages of Alchemy City so easily.

This was Grand Duke Iron Blood severing Saleen’s way out, but Saleen had no choice but to continue.

Originally, he and Alchemy City were enemies. Even if this hatred were expanded, it would not matter. After all, allies were only allies. Grand Duke Iron Blood would not blindly take Saleen into consideration. However, his actions made Saleen feel relieved. If Grand Duke Iron Blood had not made any move, allowing Saleen to collect benefits as he wished, it meant that he wanted to scheme behind his back and plot against Metatrin City.

Allies were not friends. Saleen would not sacrifice anything for the sake of Grand Duke Iron Blood, and Grand Duke Iron Blood felt the same. This was truly fair trade.

The massacre of the Bug Angels was shocking and fearsome. The defenses at the harbor immediately collapsed and the entire city behind it was in an uproar. Defending the harbor once more held no meaning either. At the harbor, Grand Duke Iron Blood rushed to the pier and began to engage in destruction and theft. After clearing out the harbor, the large-scale puppet was moved to the pier and was engaged in assembly.

This time, Grand Duke Iron Blood assembled thousands of large-scale puppets. On the body of each, a magic cannon was carried.