After advancing to seventeenth-level Archmage, Raylin's progress notably slowed. Each day, he simply conducted Negative Energy and outer-plane experiments inside the
Since he commanded the key technologies and powers, he was in no hurry whatsoever.
Sure enough, just as he had expected, some people could sit still no longer.
"Your Lordship… these three spells — [Detect Demon], [Scry Domain], and [Devil Sense] — were they truly developed by you personally?"
Zuona's mental state appeared to be in poor shape. Beneath her elegant eyelids lay a faint puffiness, as though she hadn't rested properly for a very long time. For her, this was practically inconceivable.
"Yes!" Raylin replied with a smile, yet he caught in Zuona's eyes a shock and astonishment she could not conceal.
"Your contributions to the world of the gods will surely be seen by all the deities!" Upon receiving his confirmation, Zuona immediately declared with conviction.
This was simply because Raylin's invention was far too astounding.
Even though Holy Knights possessed spells like [Detect Evil], their scope and applicability were exceedingly narrow. After Zuona personally verified them, she discovered that the spell templates Raylin provided far surpassed previous detection methods in both accuracy and range.
The significance of this for operations against demons and devils went without saying.
At this moment, Zuona's gaze toward Raylin was filled entirely with fervor. If these technologies could be offered to the Goddess's Church, she would even have the confidence to compete in the next "Holy Coin" papal election!
"I have always held a zero-tolerance attitude toward evil forces!"
Raylin's face was full of righteous solemnity, but inwardly he was practically laughing himself silly.
For someone who was himself half an Archduke of Devils, finding a few techniques specifically designed to detect devils was far too easy. Facing the betrayal and sellout of high-ranking powerhouses from their own ranks, the devils and demons were truly out of luck.
Through this, Raylin could also demonstrate his firm determination to stand on the side of Law.
Naturally, as the person who had developed these detection technologies, Raylin had long since researched the corresponding defensive and counter-spells, and had distributed copies to all of his devil subordinates.
"The feeling of using other people's power to purge one's rivals… it simply couldn't be more satisfying…"
Raylin quietly calculated: "If these spells are promoted across the board, the devil and demon forces lurking throughout the entire continent will suffer devastating blows. And that will be the perfect opportunity for my
Fortunately, Zuona had no idea what was going through Raylin's mind at this moment; otherwise, she would have undoubtedly turned on him right then and there.
"However, I can only sell the relevant spell scrolls and alchemical items for now. The most basic spell templates still need to remain classified! And the only buyers for the time being are your three churches!"
Raylin's subsequent words caused Zuona's expression to shift slightly.
"After all… my Faland family is only a small force — we can't possibly stand against the devil and demon forces across the entire continent. Surely you wouldn't want to see Faland Island bathed in blood by enraged demons?"
Raylin looked at Zuona with a helpless expression, while the Bishop of the Gold Coin's face shifted several times over. In the end, she had no choice but to acknowledge his point.
As for boldly declaring that the Temple of Wealth would definitely protect the safety of the Faland family and such — even Zuona had no shame to say such things, because it was simply impossible.
Those demons and devils wouldn't give the Goddess of Wealth the slightest bit of face.
"Good! Then that's settled. At the same time, you'll need to swear oaths that you won't reveal my existence as the seller!" Raylin said with great seriousness.
Taking down demons and devils was all well and good, but he had no desire to set fire to himself in the process. Many necessary precautions had to be taken.
The most important point was that the spell scrolls and alchemical items he was selling here had definite limits, and the blows they could deal were correspondingly very limited.
Possessing the encryption techniques of Wizards and the sealing technology of Arcanists, Raylin was certain that his technological advantage could be maintained for over a hundred years. Even if a Legendary-level mage stepped in, deciphering his Spell Models would be extraordinarily difficult.
And given his "pitiful" speed, the spell scrolls he could produce were quite limited in number. A portion of those also had to be consumed in research, meaning the actual impact on the demons was minimal.
By his estimates, being able to sweep through the entire Dempres Kingdom within ten years would already be an extraordinary achievement.
This avoided the possibility of certain powerful demons and devils being pushed to desperation. With such a lengthy period of time, they would have more than enough opportunity to devise countermeasures.
And by selling these items, he could also win over the influence of these three temples as much as possible.
As for whether they might join forces to pressure him? Raylin had already considered that possibility. First, all three of these deities belonged to the Lawful and Good alignments, which meant they couldn't resort to overly underhanded methods. Moreover, the three deities restraining each other gave him the opportunity to play them against one another.
Of course, if too much time passed, or if some threshold was crossed, coercion would still occur regardless.
Therefore, what Raylin needed to do was use this window of safety, relying on the temples and churches as support to sweep across the
Only Legendary! That was the decisive force in the Material World! It was the foundation and bedrock upon which he could protect his own power base and personal security!
"…I understand… I will also make contact with the other two churches shortly!"
Zuona fixed Raylin with a deep gaze, clearly having thought through a great deal in that brief moment. "As for the expansion of the Faland family's influence in the Outer Seas, our Temple of Wealth offers its full support!"
"Then many thanks, Your Grace! Oh! I've already prepared the specialized Spell Scrolls — the price is ten thousand gold Kronas. You can collect them anytime!"
Raylin grinned like a quintessential merchant. After all, the Temple of Wealth was rich — if you didn't fleece them, that was a missed opportunity. This amount was well within their means.
……
Once the exchange of interests and compromises was complete, the Faland family's drive toward unifying the Outer Seas became unstoppable.
The remaining minor nobles had already been subdued by the Faland family long ago and naturally dared not raise any objections. As for the one remaining holdout — Count Timm of the Golden Thorn — he certainly didn't dare voice any opposition either.
In truth, the moment he saw all three churches standing behind the Faland family, he had already been thoroughly terrified.
Timm knew full well how ruthless Raylin was — the man had already massacred the Bodi Islands without hesitation, and now with the churches' backing he would be even more unbridled. If Timm dared resist, his fate would surely be even more wretched than the old Count's. He was a clever man, and so he made the right decision.
In next to no time, the entire Outer Seas had become the Faland family's domain. Ships bearing their family banner sailed the waters without the slightest hindrance.
Moreover, recent rumors had it that Timm and the other nobles were already drafting a petition to His Majesty the King of Dambres, recommending that — given the Faland family's "outstanding contributions" to the development of the Outer Seas — an elevation in peerage and territory was absolutely merited.
Once all the overt troubles had been dealt with, Raylin turned his attention to the shadows.
"The dark underbelly of the Dambres Outer Seas really comes down to just two things. One is the evil forces led by the pirates, but with the destruction of the Barbarian Pirate Fleet, that's no longer much of a concern. The other is the scattered native islands and their heretical deity worship…"
Behind a massive water mirror, Raylin was having an animated discussion with his cousin Isabelle.
By now, she had already conquered Pirate's Port entirely and converted it into the base of operations for the Crimson Tiger Pirate Fleet.
One could say that the fall of Pirate's Port marked the complete unification of the Outer Seas' pirate world. Henceforth, there was no longer any sea power capable of rivaling the Crimson Tiger.
"Among these… the heretical deity worship of the native tribes is an extremely troublesome matter. Those natives are utterly ignorant, greedy, and savage. They worship nature spirits and, relying on such divine protection, possess formidable military strength that poses a grave threat to passing ships…"
As the son of a noble maritime merchant family, Raylin had long held a deep understanding of these native tribes.
In truth, even though the Kingdom of Dambres had entered the Age of Discovery and undergone several generations of colonization efforts, the total number of "civilized people" in the Outer Seas still fell far short of the native population.
There were even rumors that further out in the deep ocean lay a vast continent, upon which the natives had established an entire empire!
Therefore, if the Outer Seas were to be forged into an impenetrable whole, these native tribes absolutely could not be left unchecked — especially the nature spirits born from centuries, even millennia, of ritual sacrifice!
These primitive totems, nourished by the natives' unwavering faith over countless years, had amassed tremendous power. It was not at all uncommon for them to possess divinity or even ignite a divine spark.
I want you to lead the pirates to sweep through the indigenous settlements across the outer seas, using the currently charted waters as the operational boundary!
Lin Lei said to
Now that his forces and organizational backbone had been barely established, there were certain matters he no longer needed to handle personally — he could be considered to have barely transitioned from a chess piece into a player.
To truly step off the chessboard entirely would require at least [Legendary] power, and to participate in the game of the gods, one would have to become one of them!
"Among these, make note of any indigenous tribes that possess Legendary-rank or above nature spirits or totem guardians, or that worship the Goddess of the Sea — but leave them alone for now!"
Lin Lei's consistent approach had always been to bully the weak and avoid the strong, and this was naturally reflected now.
"Understood!"
As a veteran pirate, Isabel was all too familiar with the terror of the Goddess of the Sea — among her own crew, there were even quite a few followers of this goddess.
If one provoked her on the open ocean, the only outcome would be being swallowed by endless storms!
Isabel could easily imagine that the moment she ordered those pirates to storm the Goddess of the Sea's temples or altars, those wretches would probably collapse on the ground in sheer terror.