Chapter 35: Escape
“Kill him!” The roars of the two crimson Abyssal Blade Demons echoed from afar.
Countless Abyssal Blade Demons howled, swarming in from every direction like flies drawn to the scent of blood, madly encircling and attacking. In an instant, with Linley at the center, from the sky above to the earth below and all around, there were nothing but countless Abyssal Blade Demons.
The faint red baleful aura, now materialized, completely enveloped Linley. His blood-red eyes flickered with madness.
“Get lost!” Linley’s furious roar rang out.
Simultaneously, a massive number of boulders materialized out of thin air around Linley, filling the gaps between the swarming Abyssal Blade Demons in the vicinity.
The Abyssal Blade Demons, needing to fly at high speed, couldn’t possibly be pressed tightly together. Each demon, to swing its blade and fly, maintained a distance of about two to three meters from its kin.
And now…
The countless boulders Linley instantaneously summoned blocked every gap within a radius of several hundred meters.
“Where’s that dragonblood warrior?” The countless Abyssal Blade Demons, who could previously see Linley at the center through the gaps in their ranks, now found their view completely obstructed by the boulders filling all the space. Almost none of them could see Linley anymore.
With Linley at the core, a massive solid sphere was formed, a chaotic mix of countless Abyssal Blade Demons and boulders.
“Not good.” The two crimson Abyssal Blade Demons sensed trouble upon seeing this.
An Abyssal Blade Demon’s spiritual energy could only penetrate a few meters through solid matter. A few meters was of little help to them, and with their vision blocked, they dared not recklessly swing their blades, fearing they might strike their own kin.
After all…
Within that ‘solid sphere,’ aside from the countless boulders, there were only Abyssal Blade Demons. Linley was just one.
“Kill!”
The moment Linley unleashed the countless boulders, the dozens of Abyssal Blade Demons closest to him swung their blades almost simultaneously. These demons, nearest to Linley, knew his position and didn’t hesitate.
Dozens of warblades came crashing down.
“Die!”
Linley’s eyes seemed to spew fire. Roaring, he gripped the Violet Blood Soft Sword and shot straight downward like a bolt of lightning. But fast as he was, over a dozen blades struck his body at the same instant.
“Boom!” The ‘Pulsating Defense’ on Linley’s surface shattered instantly.
The ‘Saint Domain Earth Guardian Sacred Armor’ he had cast before charging into the ground also burst apart in an instant.
“Ssss!” Nearly three warblades slashed through his dragon scales, embedding themselves in his flesh, even hacking into the bones beneath. The piercing pain didn’t make Linley so much as frown.
“Hmph.” The deep cyan dragonblood battle-qi erupted within him, directly forcing the three blades out.
“Boom!”
Like a meteor, Linley plunged straight down at breakneck speed. The faint red baleful aura swirling around him made him seem like a demon god. Whenever an Abyssal Blade Demon blocked his path, Linley didn’t seek to kill it—he simply struck with his sword, sending it flying aside.
Miraculously, in less than a second.
Linley, from the core of that massive ‘solid sphere,’ charged straight down and burst into the earth.
It sounds slow, but in reality, the countless Abyssal Blade Demons’ assault, Linley’s instantaneous summoning of boulders, and his downward charge all took less than a second. In that brief instant… Linley had already plunged into the ground.
“That damned dragonblood warrior.” The crimson Abyssal Blade Demon watching this snorted coldly.
The other crimson Abyssal Blade Demon’s eyes gleamed with killing intent: “This dragonblood warrior is too infuriating. In an instant, through magic, he created an ‘underground’ effect in midair, making it so the vast majority of our children couldn’t see him.”
Both Abyssal Blade Demons understood the trouble.
To kill Linley, a dozen or so demons weren’t enough. But once he hid underground, what could they do?
“There’s only one way.” The leading crimson Abyssal Blade Demon stared at the ground, “To kill him with close combat is indeed difficult. What we can do is… have over ten thousand Abyssal Blade Demons simultaneously unleash blade qi at that dragonblood warrior.”
The other crimson Abyssal Blade Demon’s eyes lit up: “Right. No need for close combat. Ten thousand Abyssal Blade Demons striking with blade qi at once—though the power is only about half that of a direct blade strike—if ten thousand attack simultaneously, it’ll be enough to shred him to pieces.”
Back when Linley and Fain first surfaced from the ground.
Nearly a million Abyssal Blade Demons had dived and swung their blades simultaneously. The blade qi that came down, covering an area several miles wide, had created a supermassive pit of the same size. Not only that—Fain’s body from the chest down had been shattered, Linley’s body from the thigh down had been destroyed, and the second of the Six-Eyed Golden Lion brothers had sacrificed himself to save his eldest and youngest.
Remember, of that million Abyssal Blade Demons diving, only about a thousandth of the blade qi actually struck Linley and the others.
Even so, it had nearly killed Linley and Fain.
Luckily, Linley and Fain had been diving headfirst into the ground.
“Swoosh!” “Swoosh!” “Swoosh!”
Tens of thousands of Abyssal Blade Demons shot into the earth like arrows, beginning to search for Linley. Once bitten, twice shy—if given another chance, these Abyssal Blade Demons would never let Linley escape alive.
Tenth level of the Necropolis of the Gods.
“Leave me alone!” Bebe roared angrily.
At this moment, Bebe’s skin was torn and bleeding, staining the grass red. Desri, standing nearby, tried to heal him, but Bebe shouted him off.
Desri stood on the grass, looking at the other experts. Whether it was the two Six-Eyed Golden Lions, the Black-Armored Giant Scorpion, or Rosarie, Tulily, and Olivier, all were silent, the atmosphere extremely oppressive.
“My life was saved by Linley,” Tulily said in a low voice.
If Linley hadn’t held back the Abyssal Blade Demons above for that instant at the very end, Rosarie, Olivier, Tulily, and the others would have all died.
Granted, when Linley killed the ‘Flame Sovereign’ on the sixth level, he had also saved them. But this time was different. Back then, Linley needed to kill the Flame Sovereign for his own sake anyway—saving them was incidental.
Tulily and the others hadn’t felt particularly grateful.
But this time was different.
At that moment, though Linley himself couldn’t escape in time, he could have done nothing and let Tulily, Olivier, and the rest die alongside him. But he didn’t.
“Boss.” Bebe’s eyes were misty. He was anxiously sensing Linley’s soul.
The tenth and eleventh levels were essentially two separate spaces. Bebe couldn’t communicate with Linley’s soul, but as long as Linley was alive, Bebe could sense his existence.
“Boss, you have to live.” Bebe’s heart trembled, “Hold on, hold on…”
Bebe knew that Linley was surrounded by countless Abyssal Blade Demons. In Bebe’s mind, if Linley could survive ten seconds, he must have already escaped underground. Once underground, with Linley’s abilities, surviving the remaining few months was possible.
“I know about Linley’s grudge with the Radiant Church,” Rosarie said in a low voice. On the day of Linley’s wedding, Hissy had spent some time with Rosarie afterward. From Hissy, she had learned the detailed story of Linley’s background.
“Even if Linley dies, I’ll avenge him.”
“And me,” Tulily added, “My life was saved by Linley. Destroying the Radiant Church would ease my conscience a bit.”
“Our two brothers will go too,” the Six-Eyed Golden Lion ‘Kleo’ said in a deep voice. “Back then, Linley freed us and our father—that was a great kindness. And this time… he saved our two brothers. This great debt must be repaid.”
Linley had pulled out the Violet Blood Soft Sword and released Dylin back then. Dylin himself had later learned of it from Beirut.
“I’ll be part of avenging Linley too,” Olivier said abruptly.
“A bunch of idiots!” Bebe roared furiously, glaring at the assembled experts. They all froze and looked at him.
Bebe glared at them angrily: “Bullshit! You want to avenge the boss? The boss will avenge himself! He will definitely walk out of the Necropolis of the Gods alive. Don’t any of you talk about him dying here—the boss won’t die!”
“Not die?”
Fain, Tulily, Kleo, and the others, though grateful to Linley, all knew his situation on the eleventh level.
Surrounded by countless Abyssal Blade Demons—could he escape?
“My soul is linked to the boss’s,” Bebe shouted angrily. “I don’t know much else, but the boss is still alive. My soul can sense his existence. It’s been a while now, and the boss is still alive… I believe he can make it!”
The experts suddenly snapped to attention.
Bebe was Linley’s magical beast. Whether Linley lived or died, Bebe would sense it.
“Still alive?” Desri and the others felt a surge of surprise.
Though they didn’t understand how Linley could escape the encirclement of countless Abyssal Blade Demons, at least he wasn’t dead yet.
“The ten-year deadline is only a few months away. I hope Linley can hold on,” Desri thought to himself. At this moment, not just Desri, but the other experts silently prayed for Linley.
They all knew…
On the eleventh level, surrounded by a million Abyssal Blade Demons, surviving a few months.
Linley’s chances were slim!
Eleventh level of the Necropolis of the Gods.
Beneath the metallic earth, countless tunnels crisscrossed—the result of tens of thousands of Abyssal Blade Demons madly chasing Linley underground.
“Roar!” An Abyssal Blade Demon’s cry rang out.
Instantly, a large number of Abyssal Blade Demons swarmed toward that spot. A faint red figure flashed through the tunnel like lightning, leaving behind a trail of blood and shattered dragon scales. Three hours.
He had been fleeing for three full hours. Since escaping underground, countless Abyssal Blade Demons had pursued him. At first, because they didn’t know Linley’s location, the first hour of his escape was relatively easy.
But as he was discovered again and again.
In the area where he fled, more and more Abyssal Blade Demons gathered. The difficulty of escaping grew.
In the second hour, Linley was severely wounded and bleeding.
And in this third hour, Linley had already nearly died twice.
“What do I do, what do I do?” Linley flew at top speed. Catching a glimpse of a shadow in the distance, he immediately ducked into another tunnel or carved a new one.
“These Abyssal Blade Demons are getting more experienced.” Linley was frantic.
Now, a large number of Abyssal Blade Demons were stationed at fixed points underground. Though there were many tunnels, the demons stood guard like sentries in designated areas, forcing Linley to mostly carve his own paths.
But carving a path always caused vibrations in the metallic earth.
These vibrations would alert the ‘sentry’ Abyssal Blade Demons in the vicinity to Linley’s approximate location.
“That last time.” Linley thought back to five minutes ago, when over a thousand Abyssal Blade Demons had simultaneously unleashed blade qi at him. He had barely escaped, with only a few dozen blade qi strikes hitting him. Even those few dozen had nearly cost him his life.
“The longer this goes on, the more demons will surround me. I can’t keep this up.” Linley knew things were dire.
“Roar!” Suddenly, a cry sounded.
An Abyssal Blade Demon shot out from another tunnel at high speed, clearly having spotted Linley.
“Roar!” “Roar!” “Roar!”
Dozens of nearby cries echoed. Countless Abyssal Blade Demons madly converged on Linley’s location.
“Not good.” Linley’s face turned deathly pale. This time was even more dangerous than five minutes ago. Even more demons would gather!