1395 Meeting of the Princes Part 2

Safilos frowned and said, "Mages make good stuff, but it's unavoidable that they leave backdoors and such..."

He was talking about human nature. In general, no one would have usually spelled it out loud before mages.

Saleen laughed instead and Safilos did not know why he laughed. Saleen then called, "Rafel!"

Rafel appeared behind Saleen and she held a green spear in her hand, thrusting at Safilos' throat. Safilos' reaction was already quick enough, but Rafel's spear was already grazing his neck when he was about to draw his sword.

A beam shot out of the tip of the spear, blasting a hole at the wall of the study room. Sunlight shone in from the hole and onto the table, right before Safilos.

The two mages were frightened and Safilos waved, telling the mages to quiet down.

He looked at the sunlight on the table and smiled. That servant of Saleen was actually a mighty one above level 11. Despite being only level ten, not even conventional warriors at level 11 would have been able to fight him.

When the woman thrust her spear, he was not even able to react in time. If Saleen truly wanted to kill him, that would have been the best opportunity to do so.

A layer of refined steel was sandwiched between the walls of the study room and there were even magic metals, which would have been able to withstand bombardment from even large scales alchemy crossbows, making it near impossible to carve out a hole like that.

That woman's spear was indeed a very powerful equipment.

"Your highness, looks like you have yet to make up your mind. If we were to work together, I'd need you to trust me. I'd come again tomorrow. We'll leave things as they are today," Saleen said and pushed the armor on the table somewhat, before leaving the room.

He turned around to glance at Safilos before leaving.

Safilos felt as if he had been struck by lightning. An ethereal eye opened at Saleen's forehead, glaring at Safilos.

Saleen was unable to help but use the power of the Signet of Silence for once. He sensed how powerful Safilos was. If he were to advance further, then his powers would have grown near Rafel's level.

Safilos sat behind the table looking dazed. He felt as if all of his secrets have been laid bare before Saleen. His unique secret arts was the ability to use the power of the dead.

Even his soldiers who died on the battlefield would have been able to provide such powers to him. The higher the casualty count in the battlefield, the more powerful he would have gotten. However, such powers had their limits...

Saleen was surprised to find two hearts within Safilos' body.

Saleen only found that out after the Signet of Silence was activated. Those two hearts took turns to beat during normal times, making it difficult for anyone to notice.

Safilos' talents were indeed peculiar, and Saleen too, saw Safilos' weakness, and that was one of his two hearts carried the power of the dead.

If that power was crushed by something with divine attributes, it would have been difficult for him to use any skills, even if he were to survive the ordeal.

Purification, was one such skill used against such powers.

It would have been the same if he were to shoot the heart with his Thunder Dragon Blaster.

Saleen was far more relieved by then. It was possible for him to supply Safilos with anti-purification equipment, but the notion stayed—that piece of equipment would have became a weapon he could have used against Safilos.

If Safilos were to become his enemy, that equipment would have been utterly useless.

Saleen left and Safilos felt his clothes being wet. When Saleen tested the skill with his teacher, he did not bother to hide anything, so Jason knew that Saleen had stopped time.

This time, Safilos and the two level ten mage trainers never knew what actually hit them. Saleen did not use all of the powers of the Signet of Silence. He had only wanted to see Safilos' weaknesses.

Saleen had little to worry about after seeing it. If he were to really use the Signet of Silence against Safilos, he would have been able to kill him in one go. It did not matter what attack skills Safilos was capable of using.

"My liege..." One of the mages called hesitantly. While Saleen did not turn to look at that mage, but the corner of his eye told Saleen that the two mages were nonetheless very stunned.

What kind of ability is that? It seemed as if it was a skill that Saleen was capable of. The two mages were unable to see or hear anything. They felt naked, as if they have been thrown back to the time when they were just magic apprentices.

That was a very vexing feeling. Saleen did not know that the signet's time ability had an effect of stripping the target of courage as well.

It was far more potent than the likes of Thundering Shock, as Thundering Shock would have been something that could be resisted using mental powers.

Courage-stripping, on the other hand, was something that would have made a person's soul shudder.

"Speak." Safilos cooled down as well. That hole on the wall was still there. That female warrior who served Saleen was someone that he would not have been able to fight against, even if she was not ambushing him earlier. What Saleen meant to say was that he would not have needed to take such roundabout measures to kill Safilos.

He wanted to hear what the mages had to say. If he were to refuse Saleen, the worst that could have ended up happening to him was death. Saleen's temperament, however, meant that he might not have acted against Safilos even if Safilos were to refuse.

"My liege, we couldn't return to Holy Rock City, or Saleen would just keep throwing out requests and he would need you to play along. How about we just stay here?"

"Just stay here?"

"Saleen has a massive naval force. You could tell the nobles of the House of Commons to collaborate with Saleen. No one would have paid any attention if you're not at Holy Rock City. You could amass your own navy here then."

"Why would I want a navy for?"

"My liege, the navy is the most expensive branch of the military to maintain. Didn't Saleen say that he would support you? We'll be able to see how sincere he is by seeing how much money he is willing to spend. If it so happens that he just want to keep you controlled..."

"Then what? It's not like I can fight him and win," Safilos retorted plainly.

The two mages were flustered and said, "My liege, you still have a lot of people at the imperial capital and those people rely on you. It'd still be alright if Lex continues to be the empress, but if someone from the Golden Plains were to succeed throwing Lex off the throne, that would be the end to all of us."

The mages told what was on their minds without a care. None of them actually resented Lex. On the contrary, Safilos' people were more wary of the people of the Golden Plains interfering with palace affairs.

Safilos turned silent. Saleen was just too headstrong. His personality said that he would have never given in. However, the people from the Golden Plains were getting more and more obvious with what they were doing.

But then again, despite possessing the skill and talents for running a nation, she had not been sitting on the throne for long. There would have definitely been something she overlooked in all that mess.

Saleen was right. If he were to let the Nature Faith in, then he would have been able to gain command of a holy army, which would have enabled him to stand against Golden Plains.

Safilos would have never harbored such thoughts in the past, but things were different at the moment. Golden Plains forces had began to refuse providing some help that would have been free-of-charge in the past.

If the Golden Plains were to become yet another Alchemy City, it would have only been a matter of time before the empire got toppled.

The empire of his brother...

The Bloodline of the Grukos on Golden Plains was far away from that of the emperors of the empire. The Qin Empire suffered a crisis with succession of the throne for past 200 years or so, with the imperial bloodline being on the verge of extinction.

Despite not having any liking for Lex, Safilos nonetheless hoped that Lex would be able to give birth to a child as soon as possible, in order to keep the imperial bloodline alive, the bloodline that had been keeping the empire afloat for over a millennium.

Safilos had indeed given Saleen a different list when the mage came to visit again. A naval fleet and 1000 sets of magic armors, as well as huge numbers of mid-level magic nuclei were added to the list.

Saleen looked at the list and smiled at Safilos, saying, "I see you've made up your mind, your highness."

"I have indeed. I'd still need you to sire descendants for the empire after all," Safilos answered in a rather exasperated manner.

Saleen replied in a rather embarrassed tone, "I'd work on it. But this list of yours is just..."

"I'll pay."

"It isn't an issue about money. That part is easy to deal with and I can give you a discount. After that discount, I've no problem accepting credit to certain amount. Your highness, I assume that you have yet to realize how important your territory is."

"Important?" Safilos felt like berating someone right there and then. His place was one where neither agricultural nor fishing activities could be carried out. The trees at the mountains were near worthless and when it came to hunting, there were also few magic beasts around to be hunted.

"This place should be somewhere near Alchemy City's secret base."

"What do you mean?"

"Alchemy CIty is now being taken over by the half-dead and a skeletal dragon. All of that city's mages have migrated. I wasn't able to pursue them, but I knew that those mages would have holed up deep in the southern mountains. I've done some rough calculations using astrology, and their place should be somewhere east of your territory, less than 2000 kilometers away from here."

"Alchemy City!" Safilos was almost gritting his teeth when he uttered those words. He believed what Saleen said regarding that point. Alchemy City had destroyed Pompeii City.

Saleen was the kind of man who owned up to his actions instead of denying any actions that would have been detrimental to him.

"Your territory is important and it's now probably a target of those mages from Alchemy City. As such, I'm planning to invest."

"Invest?" Safilos felt the notion being a funny one. Saleen was a king himself and the husband of the current empress. He was also a powerful mage, yet what he said made him sound like a merchant.

"I want to build a temple here—a temple of the Goddess of Nature. I'd dispatch priests and about 100 adherents of the faith here, maybe add tens of demons, or spirits, to the list while I'm at it. Those people would be stationed in your city but they would not be propagating the faith. They would just stay put here instead."

"Your price?"

"Allow me to do this, and I shall provide you with a fleet for free, and another at a discount. You'd only pay me half of what it's worth for the other fleet." Saleen was doing calculations while he was saying all of that. The deal would not have earned him a single gold coin.

Never mind. No sheep, no wool. You have to give something to earn something.

"My port can't hold two fleets. How about we just settle with that one that you'd give me free-of-charge eh?"

Safilos knew that shipbuilding was a lucrative business, but he did not have the ability to create powerful warships. If he were to get to making the ships, they would have probably been sunken by the Cloudflow people, as soon as they leave port.

"No no no, your highness. I'd help you expand your port. I'm a mage. Making your port deeper and wider is a no-brainer for me. Furthermore, your fleet would need someone to help with training. I would send two fleets over to stay by your side, until your army became able to fight at sea with the magic warships independently."

Saleen laid out his intentions bare—not only did he want to build a temple there, he also wanted to station his army in the city.

Safilos knew Saleen well enough to know that the mage was not after his lands. There were few places in the whole of Qin that proved to be in worse shape than his place. Saleen was doing all of that, because he did not believe in Safilos' abilities.

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