Chapter 22: Gathering from All Directions
“Such powerful spiritual energy, injuring people from a distance. That Lei Ming had no chance to resist.” Linley’s heart was shocked. “No wonder the War God said that Desri, Fain, and the other five Saint-level ultimate experts have all reached the threshold of the Demigod level. They’re only one step away! Their strength is truly terrifying.”
Usenno didn’t dare to move either. His heart was also filled with fear.
“Bang.” A figure rushed out from the bottom of the lake. It was Lei Ming. At this moment, Lei Ming obediently flew to Usenno’s side. His face was extremely pale, and his gaze towards Desri also contained a trace of fear.
Desri frowned as he looked at the two of them. “You know that in the past, I was the leader of the ascetics. You should know that I am a Saint-level Archmage.”
Usenno and Lei Ming exchanged a glance.
What a Saint-level Archmage was strongest in was ‘spiritual energy’. Especially for a powerful expert like Desri, who had cultivated for several thousand years. His application of spiritual energy had long surpassed that of his good brother ‘Hayward’. Whether in spiritual energy or his comprehension of the Laws of Light, Desri had reached the Saint-level limit.
Only one step away was the Demigod level.
“Lord Desri.” Usenno addressed him as ‘lord’ once again.
Usenno still remembered the detailed records in the scrolls about Desri within the Church. He knew how good Desri’s relationship was with the legendary Pope ‘Ernst’.
“Lord Ernst spent his entire life for the rise of our Radiant Church. He established the Sacred Alliance. He made our Radiant Church even more glorious! For over five thousand years, we have never given up our efforts for a single moment.” Usenno’s voice was low.
Desri frowned.
In his heart, he no longer had much feeling for the Radiant Church, but he did feel a sense of guilt towards Ernst. Ernst was like an elder brother to him! His elder brother’s entire life was spent toiling for the Radiant Church, and in the end, he still went to the Radiant Divine Plane.
“And this Linley, he himself is a Dragonblood Warrior. He also has a younger brother. At the same time, he has five Undying Warrior subordinates. And his magical beast, that mouse, is not weaker than him.” Usenno looked at Desri. “In a few decades, that will be seven peak ultimate warriors, plus a terrifying magical beast. If they all attack together, our Church will be finished!”
“Lord Desri. Our Church will be finished!”
“The fruits of Lord Ernst’s labor will also be destroyed!”
Usenno’s voice made Desri hesitate in his heart. He still remembered the care and help of his elder brother ‘Ernst’.
…
Linley, Ice Seleine, and Delia were together. Ice Seleine sighed softly to Linley, “The person Desri feels most guilty towards is Ernst. Right now, he must be finding it very difficult to make a decision.”
The Ernst Institute of Magic was named after ‘Ernst’.
Linley naturally knew about this person’s deeds.
A sigh came from Desri’s mouth. Desri then looked around at the two factions and said in a clear voice, “How about this: each of you take a step back, and give me, Desri, some face. What do you say?”
“Take a step back?” Usenno and Lei Ming looked at Desri with confusion.
Linley was also puzzled in his heart.
“Both of you, come to the center of the lake.” Desri said. Linley trusted Desri, so he took Delia’s hand and flew directly to the center of the lake. Usenno and Lei Ming also very obediently landed on the center of the lake.
Linley and Delia stood at one end of the huge rock in the center of the lake, while Usenno and Lei Ming stood at the other end. Both sides were on guard against each other.
“What is Desri thinking?” Linley frowned.
Desri smiled faintly. “I now understand the grievances between your two sides. So… from today onwards, for twenty years, the Radiant Church is not allowed to come and kill Linley.”
“Twenty years?” Usenno was dissatisfied. “Lord Desri, in twenty years, Linley will have reached the Saint-level even in his human form. We wouldn’t be able to kill him even if we wanted to. Unfair, this is unfair!”
“Shut up!” There was a trace of anger on Desri’s brow.
Usenno’s heart trembled. He remembered that, at this moment, Desri was the one calling the shots.
“This clause is essentially asking your Radiant Church to take a step back. And I will also ask Linley to take a step back.” Desri looked at Linley.
“Please speak, Lord Desri.” Linley said.
Desri smiled apologetically. “What Usenno said is also correct. The threat from Linley alone isn’t that great, but your younger brother plus the five Undying Warriors, combined, that’s equivalent to seven ultimate warriors. That truly could destroy the Radiant Church. So, I want you to promise that, from now on, even if you want to take revenge on the Radiant Church, you are only allowed to do it alone. No one else, including your magical beast, is allowed to participate.”
Hearing this clause, Usenno and Lei Ming instead breathed a sigh of relief.
What was the Sacred Island?
It was the headquarters of the Radiant Church. There were a whole bunch of Saint-level angels alone, plus Haines, Lord Fallen Leaf, and many other experts. Add to that the large-scale magic arrays on the Sacred Island… unless it was a Demigod-level expert, anyone who attacked would definitely be seeking death.
“Do you understand my meaning?” Desri looked around at the two factions.
“Our side is not allowed to make a move against Linley for twenty years. In exchange, Linley can only take revenge alone for his entire life?” Usenno smiled faintly. “I can agree to that. If we can’t even stop you alone, and our Radiant Church is destroyed, we will have nothing to say.”
Usenno agreed very readily.
The Radiant Church wasn’t afraid of Linley alone; what they were afraid of was the group of people behind Linley.
“Linley, what about you?” Desri looked at Linley.
Linley felt some reluctance in his heart.
“Destroy the Radiant Church alone?” Linley was still self-aware. “A Church that has existed for over ten thousand years without being destroyed is definitely not that simple. And reaching the Demigod level… even Hise took over five thousand years. He’s known in history as the War God who took the shortest time. In reality, the War God was lucky enough to obtain a divine spark. Relying solely on one’s own efforts, who knows how long it would take?”
Linley frowned.
“Linley!” Desri spoke again. Usenno and Lei Ming also looked at him.
Linley suddenly saw Delia beside him. Linley’s heart trembled. “No matter what, I can’t let Delia be in danger.” Linley made up his mind. He immediately said to Desri, “The Radiant Church is not allowed to attack me for twenty years. And one more thing… they are never allowed to harm my family and friends.”
“Agreed.” Usenno quickly said.
Linley looked at Usenno, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. He thought to himself, “Alone? Even if I don’t dare to attack the Sacred Island, if I encounter any of you alone in the future, can’t I still kill you? Just try and stay hidden on the Sacred Island.”
For the sake of his family and friends, Linley ultimately chose to compromise.
Usenno and Lei Ming also breathed a sigh of relief. After all, Desri was actually on Linley’s side. They didn’t have much leverage.
At the center of the Black Wraith Mountain Lake, Linley’s side and the Radiant Church’s side had both finalized the agreement.
“If, during these twenty years, Linley comes to kill us, we will resist. If he is killed by us in self-defense, he can’t blame anyone.” Usenno quickly said. Linley sneered, “Hmph, don’t worry. I won’t play word games with you.”
Linley suddenly smiled. “If, in the future, other people, like the War God leading a group of experts to attack the Sacred Island, and I take the opportunity to go along, that can’t be blamed on me.”
“Naturally, that wouldn’t be your fault.” Usenno shook his head.
If the War God wanted to destroy the Radiant Church, the Radiant Church would probably have been finished long ago.
***********
Just as the two sides were finalizing their agreement, Delia suddenly spoke up. “What about the territorial disputes in the Chaos Province? Will Saint-level experts participate in the battle?”
“Saint-level experts?” Usenno frowned.
Indeed, the Radiant Church had a very large sphere of influence in the Chaos Province, and Linley’s side also had a significant one. If the two sides continued to fight… once it involved Saint-level experts killing each other, perhaps before the twenty years were up, Linley and the Radiant Church would be in a full-scale war.
“Like this.” Desri spoke up.
“In mortal warfare, Saint-level experts are not allowed to participate.” Desri looked at Ice Seleine. “Madam, go find ‘O’Casey’ from the Dark Church. Tell him I’m looking for him. We’ll wait for you here.”
“Alright.” Ice Seleine nodded and immediately flew away.
“O’Casey, who is he?” Linley frowned and asked.
Usenno, however, said, “O’Casey is the Grand Inquisitor of the Dark Church. His status is equivalent to mine in the Radiant Church. He is also the overall person in charge of the Dark Church in the Chaos Province.”
Linley nodded.
“In mortal warfare, Saint-level experts are not allowed to participate. Linley… do you dare to agree to that?” Usenno sneered as he looked at Linley.
“If the five Barker brothers don’t transform, they aren’t Saint-level experts. They should be able to participate in the battle, right?” Linley retorted.
“Of course, they’re just five rank 9 experts.” Usenno was very dismissive. “Linley, in terms of the number of rank 9 experts, you are far inferior to our Radiant Church and the Dark Church.”
Linley, however, smiled confidently and paid him no heed.
“Delia.” Linley held Delia’s hand. Linley was still in his Dragonblood Warrior transformation at this moment, and his hand was still covered in dragon scales, but Delia didn’t mind at all. She looked up at Linley and said softly, “Linley, thank you.”
Delia knew that Linley’s compromise was partly because of her.
Linley didn’t say much.
After so many years and so many setbacks, Linley had also learned… that being blindly tough could lead to regretful results. An occasional compromise not only kept family and friends safe but also paved the way for a more violent revenge later!
“Can’t I destroy the Radiant Church alone?”
Linley thought to himself. “Has there ever been someone in history who combined the abilities of a Saint-level ultimate warrior and a Saint-level Archmage?” When his own strength reached its peak, Linley still planned to challenge the ‘Sacred Island’. Even if he couldn’t destroy it, he should be confident in escaping.
…
After a long time.
“Boss!” A black shadow shot over from afar.
“BeBe.” Linley was overjoyed.
BeBe jumped directly onto Linley’s shoulder, then glared at Usenno. “This guy is here again?”
“It’s already settled.” Linley said.
“Hmph.” BeBe snorted coldly and transmitted mentally, “Boss, don’t be afraid of these people. I made a few Saint-level magical beast friends in the Dark Forest. Their strength is very impressive. I’ll just have them help us directly and deal with these people together.”
“Saint-level magical beast friends?” Linley looked at BeBe in surprise.
While Linley was cultivating, BeBe often went to the Dark Forest to play. He didn’t expect to have made friends with Saint-level magical beasts.
“Yeah, their strength is pretty good. Hei Lu’s own clan was only rank 9 magical beasts, and he barely broke through. His strength is very average among Saint-level magical beasts. The friends I made, like ‘Big White’ is a Thunderwing White Tiger, ‘Big Guy’ is a Golden Behemoth, and ‘Big Snake’ is a Nine-Headed Hydra Emperor.”
Linley was speechless. Saint-level magical beasts making friends with other Saint-level magical beasts so easily?
“Oh, right, one of them is a Saint-level magical beast mouse too.” BeBe chuckled.
Linley was shocked in his heart.
A Saint-level mouse-type magical beast?
“Too bad, it’s male.” BeBe transmitted helplessly.
Linley didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He transmitted back, “What does that Saint-level mouse look like? Is it the same as you?”
“No.” BeBe shook his head. “That Saint-level magical beast is entirely purple-gold, very handsome. But he was very good to me and gave me a lot of precious and delicious things.” BeBe’s face was full of smiles.
Linley sighed inwardly.
A purple-gold Saint-level mouse? It wasn’t recorded in any books. It seemed the books didn’t record everything.
“But Boss, those friends of mine are all very arrogant. They only became friends with me after I fought them.” BeBe’s face was full of smug smiles.
Just then, two figures flew rapidly over from the distant sky. One of them was Ice Seleine. The other, a person wearing a black robe, should be the one Usenno called the ‘Grand Inquisitor’ of the Dark Church – O’Casey.