Badge in Azure

It was impossible for Saleen and the rest to know what had happened back there. After his and Lex’s team took a short break, they continued on the journey.

Suddenly, an oasis appeared up ahead. The area of this oasis was pretty huge, and there was also a city.

“Sir!”

Lex’s swordmasters yelled. Lex and Saleen witnessed this scene through the chariot’s window, but they were skeptical.

“That is not an oasis!”

“A mirage?”

“It seems pretty real, what should we do?”

“We will know once we get close to it.”

The team approached the city. Indeed, after walking for several minutes, the edge of the oasis began blurring.

“Heh, Lex, have you noticed something.”

“Noticed what?”

“This is my first time seeing this mirage, why would it appear so real?”

“What do you mean?” Lex did not spread her perception as far as Saleen’s. Immediately after that, she was momentarily stunned, then her breathing became rapid.

“This isn’t a mirage! Stop, stop!” Lex had spoken a little too late. Given the speed of a skeletal warhorse, the team could advance forward without facing any obstacles. This was originally a good thing, but it was now a disaster.

Wild Bear, who was up ahead, had already led the swordmasters to the city.

It was an ancient city, with a moat at the front. The water in the moat was real, giving off the powerful scent of the water element. The moat was actually extremely shallow. The water was accumulated from the occasional rain, and it was about to dry up soon.

The city walls had a dark brown hue and their structure was seamless. It was built from a mysterious material, and there was a dense formation of potholes on the walls. The city’s tower was bare and the top of the walls did not have any protrusions. The gates were shut. On the gates, a column of ancient Myers letters were carved on it; Lorga.

Lorga was a mythical city which existed during the first dynasty, it was situated west of the mainland within the borders of the Tanggulasi Empire. The site still remained, but it had been seized by the Holy See, and was redeveloped into a brand new city.

This city right in front was definitely not Lorga.

Lex lowered her eyes, staring at the magic compass which had begun spinning about furiously. The magic compass had malfunctioned again!

Lex had an expression of anguish, it was no longer meaningful whether the convoy stopped or not. Wild Bear urged his horse to stop in front of the moat. He then noticed a stone tablet with the map of the city carved in it.

“This is…” Jola came beside Wild Bear. As he saw the images on the map changing continuously, he knew that something was amiss. He turned around to look, but everything had become indistinct. Shrill whistling sounds filled the air as strong winds began blowing.

“We have no choice but to go in now.” Saleen recalled some of the records on a certain magic notebook, this city was in fact the Lorga Maze!

Legend had it that the humans captured too many powerful creatures in the past, creating slight chaos on the plane of the Myers mainland. The Goddess of Myers became upset, thus she imprisoned all the creatures who were wreaking havoc. The place which held all these creatures had a name; The Lorga Maze.

There were many records regarding the Lorga Maze, but they were all very vague, this maze built by the goddess was in fact a colossal magic illusion. The creatures trapped inside could not escape, while the people outside would find it difficult to gain entry.

Back then, not many humans could converse with the goddess, and these people would of course be uninterested in a maze. A normal mage would not possess such strong abilities to see through the façade of the Lorga Maze.

As the sharp whistling sounds became clearer and clearer, Lex’s face was ghastlier than Saleen’s. She also knew that the presence of these noises meant that a sandstorm was nearby. Her metal house had been destroyed, and if they did not enter Lorga, her men would be flung away by the sandstorm. If she did not use the God’s Ring, everyone would die.

“Enter.” Out of desperation, Lex gave the order.

Wild Bear’s warhorse leaped over the moat valiantly, arriving at the gates. Lorga’s gates were huge, they were about twenty yards in height. The dense formation of potholes on the city walls was due to the prolonged assault by the sandstorms over the years.

Wild Bear raised his spear to shove the city gates. He used very little strength, but the gates opened silently, revealing a crevice which could allow people to pass through.

Wild Bear entered the city gates on horseback. Jola hesitated for a moment before following suit. The environment beyond the city gates was unlike modern cities, it was very spacious. Wild Bear might appear boorish and crude, but he had his areas of meticulousness too. As he traveled ahead on horseback, he circled around the city gates first. Seeing that there was no danger, he then leaped off the horse and pulled open the gates.

The city gates were extremely thick and heavy, but Wild Bear did not even use much force to open them. The moat was not deep at all, but it was impossible for the magic war chariots to cross over. Once again, Lex took out a pile of appliances, while the swordmasters swiftly assembled them. The magic war chariots then proceeded to enter the gates.

Wild Bear was the last man in, he closed the city gates behind him. A mage cast the Earthwall Spell and Fossilization Spell, sealing the gates tightly. A sandstorm appeared once more, pounding against the city gates.

No one was very nervous. Even though the sandstorm produced raucous noises and the city gates were trembling, this city was still standing after such a long time in the Purgatory Desert, this meant that it could effectively resist a sandstorm.

The mages looked upwards to observe their surroundings. They noticed that the sky above the city seemed to have been covered by an invisible lid. Black sand filled the sky, but not a single grain fell into the city. The team never advanced, they simply rested near the gates. The sandstorm lasted for over an hour before dispersing.

Two swordmasters went to open the gates, but they realized that it was like an iron plate. The gates would not budge no matter what they did.

“Don’t bother trying anymore. Once a person enters the Lorga Maze, it will be difficult for them to leave.” Lex stopped Wild Bear as he thought of using the poleaxe to cleave the gates.

“What should we do now?” Wild Bear rubbed his temples in frustration. He knew that since these gates could withstand a sandstorm, he would not be able to open them.

“Lorga Maze isn’t only a prison, it is also a place where believers of the past converged. The structure of this city is a maze, religious believers can enter and exit this place freely.”

What Lex said was redundant. The goddess had already fallen. Even if they were to practice a religion now, there would be no target.

“This is the unsolvable Lorga Maze?” Saleen gazed into the interiors of the city. The buildings were all arranged haphazardly, while the streets were all distorted, no one street could lead to the other.

“Do you also know about this?” Lex probed.

“I tried decoding it,” Saleen replied. The mystery of the Lorga Maze was a picture mages used to train their calculation abilities. In fact, that picture was drawn with reference to Lorga City.

“Have you decoded it?”

“If this was on paper, I could still manage it. I think the structure of this city will change any moment.”

Of course, Lex understood what Saleen was talking about. If Lorga City was a normal maze, everyone could simply leap over the walls and the problem would be solved. This was a fully sealed region, even the sandstorm could not barge in.

“Lex, since you let everyone in here, you must have a solution right?”

Lex caressed the God’s Ring on her finger, she did not reply to Saleen. It was not impossible to leave, but the power of the God’s Ring would have to be utilized. If Lex used it now, then everyone’s lives would be in danger once they entered the temple.

“There is a solution to the Lorga Maze.” Eleanor suddenly said.

“What?” Lex was little astounded. Based on the records of mages, no one could decode the real Lorga Maze. Saleen’s solution only applied to one picture. There were numerous versions of such mazes. A mage would have to spend a large amount of time to solve each maze. Lorga City was equivalent to a combination of all the Lorga Mazes. Even if one took all the correct steps, they could not leave quickly.

The only rule of the Lorga Maze was that once a person walked through a door, the door would be completely sealed, preventing the person from going back. This was why Lex remained at the gates. Once a person went deep inside, they could not turn back anymore.

“I know a few secrets of Lorga City. The very first time, the goddess developed it because she wanted to protect her believers. Later on, it was because humans had captured creatures from various planes as though they were planning to do something. Of these creatures, the ones not mighty enough were removed and thrown away. The humans were also too lazy to send them back to their respective planes. These abandoned creatures were very powerful, so the goddess sent them to Lorga City, making them the defenders of this city.”

Eleanor spoke calmly, it was as though she had returned to the times when the marquis would tell her anecdotes. At that time, her life was so happy and simple.

“There is no need for calculations. We will walk along the left side. There will be a guard at each door we pass through. If you defeat this guard, the maze will not have any new changes. We only need to walk along the left side to locate the exit.”

“Surely it isn’t so simple right?” Saleen asked doubtfully.

“No, if you are a believer of another religion, this city will transform into a place of massacre. All the defenders who were once present in this city will be resurrected and they will attack you.”

Saleen heaved a sigh of relief. Fortunately, no one in Lex’s team adored the Lord of Glory. Everyone would be doomed otherwise. “All the defenders? Back then, the creatures humans captured were as powerful as supreme demons. Even those who got abandoned should be at grade-8 too.”

Nailisi whispered into Saleen’s ear, “Master, those guards…”

“No!” Saleen admonished. He could understand that Nailisi loved to slaughter guards, but it was too perilous. Even if the guards were killed, Saleen also would not allow Nailisi to collect their remains. Since the goddess had left behind this city, there might be other unknown dangers present. If some powerful presence was provoked, then their whole team would be doomed.

“What if I run into something that I need?” Nailisi did not give up this time around.

Saleen pondered for a moment, then said, “Inform me first, I will evaluate when the time comes.”

Nailisi nodded in agreement. She was just unsatisfied with her few abilities. Without all eight abilities, she would never be able to unleash the pinnacle power of the Luoluokaluo.

“Everyone, get down.” Lex instructed all the mages to exit the chariots, then she stored them. There were many places in this city which the chariots could not pass through. As the swordmasters inspected their own equipment, Nailisi summoned the four demons over. She commanded them to protect Saleen all the way.

The four demons had already submitted themselves to Saleen, but Jola could not have peace of mind, so he left Wild Bear and came beside Saleen. Saleen also put away the skeletal warhorses. In this city, the power of death creatures had been reduced to the lowest level. Those fully constructed puppets, which had begun showing signs of life, were unknowingly gaining a boost in power though. It was as though there was some invisible energy seeping into their bodies allowing them to undergo an evolution again.