Chapter 24: Sesslar
The sky gradually darkened. Linley had been hiding outside the courtyard wall, waiting until now without finding any way to quietly approach the mysterious old man.
"From their conversation in the tavern, the Radiant Church must have lost some strong fighters trying to catch this old man," Linley pondered, frowning. "This old man's strength is at least at the ninth rank."
"But he shouldn't be a Saint-level powerhouse. To deal with a Saint-level, even a group of ninth-rank fighters could at most force the Saint-level to flee. Capturing one is absolutely impossible."
Although Linley wasn't entirely sure of this mysterious old man's strength, there was no doubt that he had the power to handle several ninth-rank fighters.
"The Radiant Church has gone to such great lengths, so this old man must be very important. Then I'll disrupt the Radiant Church's plans." Linley's eyes flashed with cold light. "But killing all six ninth-rank fighters, making sure not a single one leaves Cerre County City, that's difficult."
Now that Linley himself lived in Cerre County City, he didn't want his whereabouts to be exposed.
If he acted, he had to kill all six ninth-rank fighters.
"Me, Bebe, Haeru... dealing with three ninth-rank fighters is a sure thing. Handling six would take some scheming, but it's possible. Still, if I free that old man and have him fight alongside me, the odds are much better."
Linley knew about the 'Mana-Sealing Manacles.'
The Mana-Sealing Manacles were precious because of their complex, peculiar mana-sealing magic arrays. The material itself was only decent. Although the manacles contained strange magical energy and were quite sturdy, Linley was confident he could break them.
Linley wasn't in a hurry. He also ordered Haeru, who was in the canyon outside the city, to come over.
Humans and their tamed magical beasts shared a soul bond. The stronger the master's spiritual energy, the greater the range for soul communication.
For example, Linley and Bebe could communicate via soul voice within a range of several hundred li. But beyond that, it wouldn't work.
For some weaker noble children who used a soul contract magic array to bond with a second- or third-rank magical beast, their soul communication range might only be a few hundred meters.
It all depended on spiritual power.
Linley and Haeru could also communicate within several hundred li. But if the distance was too great, they couldn't use soul voice. They could only vaguely sense each other's general direction.
*******
Night fell. It was around nine in the evening.
Dressed in a black warrior outfit, Linley was hiding outside the courtyard wall with Bebe and Haeru, both also pitch-black, quietly waiting for an opportunity.
"Bebe, Haeru, you two stay here. When I send you a soul voice command, that's when you act," Linley instructed.
The Blackstriped Cloud Leopard 'Haeru' and Bebe both nodded to Linley.
Linley then took off his black shirt. Immediately, black scales emerged across his entire body, black spikes grew from his forehead, and a series of spikes ran down his back.
His draconic tail silently pierced through his trousers without a sound.
Linley's pupils also turned into cold, emotionless dark gold.
"Remember, wait for my command." After giving Bebe and Haeru one more reminder, Linley lightly tapped the ground and drifted into the courtyard like a ghost in the night.
Having comprehended 'force,' Linley could move without stirring even a whisper of wind.
The main building in this courtyard was a two-story house. To the right of the house were three rooms, and the mysterious old man was clearly being held in the middle one. Outside that room stood two black-robed men.
Linley crouched behind a rockery, motionless, waiting for his chance.
"I don't believe you can stay vigilant every single moment." Linley had plenty of patience.
At that moment, the two black-robed men were chatting idly in low voices.
"Big brother, after this mission is done, we really need to take a good, long rest. These past two years have worn me out, always on edge, never daring to relax," one black-robed man sighed.
"Yeah. This time, two ninth-rank ascetics died, and three ninth-rank special executors as well. Eleven of us acted together, plus we used poison, and we still lost five. This old bastard is truly insane."
Both black-robed men felt relatively relaxed.
Their group had been chasing this mysterious old man. As soon as they got word of him, the Radiant Church dispatched them. They crossed the O'Brien Empire, passed through the 48 duchies of the Chaos Continent, entered the far eastern prairie region, and fought the mysterious old man for months before finally capturing him in a duchy within the Chaos Continent.
As long as they caught this old man, any sacrifice was worth it.
They had been very careful on the return trip, afraid of being discovered by O'Brien Empire experts. But now they were more than halfway there. The remaining journey passed through small county cities with no strong fighters and no danger.
Naturally, Lamperson and his group had relaxed a bit.
"Big brother, I'm going to the restroom first. You keep watch here. I'll be back soon," one black-robed man said.
The other black-robed man laughed. "You hadn't mentioned it, but now that you do, I kind of want to go too. You go first. I'll go later." Although they had relaxed slightly, they still didn't dare leave their post at the same time.
After all, if this old man escaped, their punishment would be severe.
Linley, hiding behind the rockery, saw one black-robed man leave and felt a flicker of excitement. "Only one left. Killing one is a sure thing... but I can't let him make a sound."
Linley narrowed his eyes and silently cast a spell—the auxiliary magic 'Haste.'
...
Kosartes was standing outside the room door, keeping a somewhat alert watch on the surroundings. In a county city, Kosartes, a ninth-rank fighter, was fully confident.
Suddenly, the corner of Kosartes's eye caught a flash of black light.
"What's that?" Kosartes immediately turned his head to look.
He saw a massive, green-black greatsword filling his entire field of vision. What terrified Kosartes most was that this green-black greatsword seemed to press the surrounding space down upon him. The entire space was completely frozen!
Total lockdown!
Kosartes wanted to shout, but he couldn't make a sound. In fact, even if he had, it wouldn't have penetrated the frozen space.
Kosartes's eyes bulged wide. His palm, blazing with Radiant battle qi, struck directly at the greatsword.
"Bam!"
When the greatsword struck Kosartes's palm, he felt as if he had slapped against an endless, surging flood. He couldn't suppress it at all.
"Pfft." His hand and arm instantly turned into a pulp of flesh and bone fragments.
Then the Blackscale Heavy Sword slammed directly into Kosartes's chest. Kosartes only felt a shock in his chest, as if hearing something shatter, and then he knew nothing more.
In an instant, the enemy was dead.
There was no helping it. After transforming, Linley was already at the peak of the ninth rank, wielding a weapon like the Blackscale Heavy Sword. Moreover, his level of understanding had reached the peak of 'force.' The two were not on the same level at all.
"Hurry."
Linley gently pushed open the door to the room. As he did, he saw a thin, frail old man with white hair and white eyebrows sitting cross-legged on the bed. Seeing someone enter, the old man casually opened his eyes and said, "What are you—"
But when he saw Linley, the old man's words stopped abruptly.
Seeing Linley's 'Dragonblood Warrior' form, the old man's eyes widened. He stared at Linley and asked in a low voice, "Which other plane's dragonman are you?"
"Dragonman?" Linley was startled.
Were there dragonmen from other planes who looked like him?
"What are you here for?" the old man asked quietly again.
"To save you."
Linley held the Blackscale Heavy Sword. "Stretch out your hands. I'll break those Mana-Sealing Manacles."
Though suspicious of Linley's identity, the old man obediently extended his hands. Linley looked at the pitch-black Mana-Sealing Manacles and swung his Blackscale Heavy Sword directly.
Lifting the heavy as if light—Thunderbolt!
The Blackscale Heavy Sword fell like a drifting leaf onto the center of the Mana-Sealing Manacles. With a 'crack' sound, several clear fissures split open in the center of the manacles, with some cracks even reaching the edges.
The old man simply moved his hands slightly, and the already broken Mana-Sealing Manacles split into two halves.
"I didn't ask you to save me, so I don't owe you anything." The thin, pale-faced old man stood up and said coldly to Linley.
Linley looked at him. His dark-gold pupils didn't frighten the old man in the slightest.
"Do you have a grudge against the Radiant Church?" Linley asked quietly.
The two spoke very softly. Lamperson and the others in the two-story house couldn't hear them at all.
"A grudge? It's a fight to the death between us." The old man said proudly.
"Then that's settled." Linley said calmly. "I don't know who you are, but I have to tell you... tonight, not a single one of these Radiant Church people can leave alive. I don't want my identity exposed."
"Your identity?" The old man asked, puzzled. "Which plane are you a dragonman from? The dragonmen of the higher plane 'Hell'?"
Linley glanced at him. "No."
The old man smiled eerily. "Let me tell you first. I am Sesslar, a ninth-rank Grand Necromancer. And you?"
Linley was truly shocked.
As a mage, Linley knew well, and Delin Cowart had also told him... that no matter which of the seven elemental magics—earth, fire, water, wind, lightning, light, or darkness—their power couldn't compare to three special types.
These three magics were: the 'Great Prophecy' favored by the Radiant Pope, the 'Life Magic' of the Yulan Empire's strongest, the 'High Priest,' and the last, extremely rare 'Necromancy.'
In the Yulan Continent, very, very few people could use these three magics.
Linley remembered that when he discovered Holmer attacking him with poison gas, he had asked if Holmer was a necromancer. If so... Linley probably wouldn't have been willing to kill him.
After all!
The four higher planes were created by the four Sovereigns. They were the Sovereign of Fate, the Sovereign of Life, the Sovereign of Death, and the Sovereign of Destruction.
Among the four Sovereigns, the Sovereign of Fate passed down the 'Great Prophecy.'
The Sovereign of Life passed down 'Life Magic.'
And the Sovereign of Death passed down 'Necromancy.'
Because they came from the four Sovereigns, these three magics were incredibly powerful. The Sovereign of Destruction did not pass down any magic. Those who believed in the Sovereign of Destruction relied on their own martial strength.
For example, the 'War God' O'Brien believed in the Sovereign of Destruction.
"A Grand Necromancer?" Linley showed surprise.
"And you?" The Grand Necromancer 'Sesslar' looked at Linley.
"Why should I tell you? I didn't ask you to tell me either," Linley said coldly. The Grand Necromancer was stunned, momentarily speechless.
Just then, the other black-robed man returned from the restroom.
"Big brother, where did you go?" Seeing no one outside the room, the black-robed man's expression changed, and he shouted angrily from a distance.
The task of guarding the Grand Necromancer was too important. His big brother had abandoned his post—how could he not be furious?
(End of Chapter 2!)