Chapter 8: The Grand Hexagram Battle Array
A pure radiance emanated from Haydenson's body as his center. Linley's Violet Blood Soft Sword seemed to sink into a quagmire, its speed abruptly reduced. At the same time, the source of this holy light, the "Holy Bible," flew out from within Haydenson's body and hovered above his head.
"Die." Linley's expression was cold. Although the Violet Blood Soft Sword's speed had been affected and reduced, it was still something Haydenson could not evade.
"No!" Haydenson struggled desperately to dodge.
"Puchi—"
The Violet Blood Soft Sword slashed diagonally downward from Haydenson's shoulder. Half of Haydenson's body, including his legs, was directly severed. That half included his right arm, which was holding a staff. With this cut, the staff also fell downward.
"Ah~~" A suppressed scream of agony escaped Haydenson's mouth.
Immediately afterward, the remaining upper half of Haydenson's body retreated at extreme speed. The holy white light emanating from the "Holy Bible" above his head quickly began to heal his injuries, and his body regenerated at a visible rate. In truth, Haydenson himself was skilled in light-type healing magic, but with the divine artifact "Holy Bible," the recovery speed was even faster.
"Haydenson, I didn't expect you to survive even this. Oh well... let you witness the true destruction of the Radiant Church." Linley was brimming with confidence at this moment.
Having gone through the battle at the Cemetery of Gods, possessing the Life Source Pearl, and comprehending the "Speed Mystery," Linley's strength was far greater than before he had entered the Cemetery of Gods. He had no regard whatsoever for the Saint-level experts of the Radiant Church before him.
"Linley, prepare to die." Lei Ming's deep voice rang out.
The thirty-six Saint-level experts, including Lei Ming and Lord Luoye, who had spread out far away, directly surrounded Linley and his group.
"Ridiculous. You're not even running away." Lei Ming sneered as he hovered in midair.
Linley, Tulily, Desri, and the others all laughed. They could clearly see that the Radiant Church's experts were rapidly spreading out to encircle them, likely to form some kind of battle array. But Linley and the others also understood one principle.
"A battle array might be formidable, but it depends on who's wielding it!"
Tulily laughed coldly, "These Saints are mostly newly ascended. Most importantly... your battle array isn't surrounding one person, but twenty-five Saint-level experts. When we twenty-five Saint-level experts attack together, I wonder if your grand array can hold!"
"Hoo..."
By now, Haydenson had retreated to the entrance of the Radiant Temple. He looked up at the distant midair. Seeing Linley and the others trapped in the Grand Hexagram Battle Array, he was ecstatic and shouted arrogantly, "Linley, you're asking for death! Lei Ming, kill them now!"
He had nearly lost his life moments ago, and now Haydenson's heart was surging with murderous intent, but his own strength was insufficient.
"Yes, Your Holiness the Pope." Lei Ming was also full of confidence at this moment.
Haydenson took a deep breath and watched nervously. Although he had great faith in the "Grand Hexagram Battle Array," his enemy was Linley!
A being who created miracles!
...
Linley carefully examined the so-called "Grand Hexagram Battle Array." With just one look, Linley could tell that this "Grand Hexagram Battle Array" was an advanced version of the "Angel Battle Array." The Angel Battle Array was formed by six experts.
And this "Grand Hexagram Battle Array" divided the thirty-six Saint-level experts into six groups first.
Six Saints, following the "Angel Battle Array," formed a single unit.
Thirty-six experts formed six units, and these six "Angel Battle Arrays" then coordinated together to form the so-called "Grand Hexagram Battle Array."
"Don't they know that I don't care about the Angel Battle Array? Do they think I'd care about a stacked version of it?" Linley was full of confidence.
...
Whether it was four-winged angels, frenzied Saint-level fanatics, or cold Saint-level special executors... the thirty-six Saint-level experts were now like one entity. Terrifying "holy power" flowed continuously, with Lei Ming, who was directing the array, clearly possessing the strongest holy power.
"Hah~~" Lei Ming, two and a half meters tall and as muscular as a magical beast, roared, wielding a long staff wrapped in holy power.
"Boom!" The long staff swung down from afar.
Immediately, a pillar of holy power as thick as a barrel and dozens of meters long came crashing down, its main target being Linley. Linley moved, and when the pillar was still a meter away, he dodged.
Linley's speed was too fast!
"Everyone, don't touch that light pillar directly," Linley's voice rang out in the minds of Delia, Desri, Tulily, and the other experts.
Although he hadn't touched the light pillar, being just a meter away, Linley could feel the "Pulsating Defense" on his body surface tremble slightly. Amplified by the combined power of thirty-six Saints in the array, this single strike was comparable to the combined attack of over a hundred Saints.
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"...
Pillar after pillar of light kept striking down. When the light pillars dissipated, the holy power returned to the array.
"At this rate, their power is nearly inexhaustible," Linley thought to himself.
"Haha, let's all attack together!" Tulily shouted loudly, and a blood-red blade light soared into the air.
"Roar~~~" The tails of the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Thunder Dragon, and Golden Dragon swung violently, lashing out with force.
"Die!" The five Barker brothers, filled with grief and anger, transformed into "Saint-level Undying Warriors" and roared. They swung their terrifying giant axes, carrying the boundless power to split mountains, and struck directly at the "Grand Hexagram Battle Array."
Sessler summoned a full eight Saint-level undead! A green light flickered in Sessler's eyes.
Linley, Wharton, Bebe, and the others, along with Miller, Livingston, Foreman, Higginson, and the other Saint-level experts, all attacked the array beside them simultaneously.
Adding the Saint-level undead, there were over thirty peak Saint-level experts!
"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"...
Space cracks, like electric snakes, appeared and disappeared. But the white light remained resilient!
The violent assault caused the entire array to tremble violently. But it eventually stabilized. Among the thirty-six Saint-level experts, a few had pale faces, but the holy light enveloping their bodies quickly restored them.
"Hoo, it held!" Haydenson in the distance was overjoyed.
"It held, it really held!" Haydenson's greatest fear was that the Grand Hexagram Battle Array couldn't withstand the combined attack of so many experts.
"Linley, you must die." Haydenson was finally relieved.
If even the combined attack of Linley and the others couldn't break it, what was there to fear? After all, the "Grand Hexagram Battle Array" returned most of the energy to the array, making its power nearly endless. Even in a war of attrition, the Radiant Church wasn't afraid.
"Haha..." Lei Ming's deep laughter rang out.
The Radiant Church side all had excited smiles.
"This array is indeed impressive," Linley praised.
"Yes, it's very powerful. When we struck with full force, the array operated at extreme speed, deflecting most of the attack. Only ten to twenty percent actually reached the thirty-six array members," Desri also praised.
Even with just ten to twenty percent of their combined attack, it had injured the weaker ones among the thirty-six Saints.
The gap in strength was indeed large.
But the array's amplification effect was too strong, and it also had a light-type healing effect.
"Desri, watch me." Linley flipped his hand, and the Black Heavy Sword appeared.
Linley swept his gaze over Lei Ming, Luoye, and the others, and praised, "I must admit, your Radiant Church's array has excellent defensive capabilities. But... don't you know that such an array is useless against me?"
"Hoo!" Linley's figure flashed as he charged toward Lei Ming's group.
"Die." Linley's gaze suddenly sharpened.
The Black Heavy Sword in his hand drifted lightly, like a falling leaf, yet its speed was as swift as lightning. In an instant, it landed on the white light. A terrifying vibration wave almost ignored the holy power, penetrating easily and attacking Lei Ming.
Earth Mystery — 64 Layers of Earth Pulse!
"Hmm?" Linley suddenly frowned.
Linley clearly sensed that the vibration wave only grazed Lei Ming's shoulder. Lei Ming's shoulder was shattered, but under the holy power's repair, it regenerated at a visible rate.
"Not good!" Linley instantly realized the true difference between the Grand Hexagram Battle Array and the Angel Battle Array.
The six parts of the Angel Battle Array were six individuals.
When Linley attacked one part, the Black Heavy Sword struck one person directly, and the vibration wave could naturally reach their body. The array members in the Angel Battle Array couldn't dodge!
But the "Grand Hexagram Battle Array" was different. Its six parts were each a unit of six people.
This time, Linley's Black Heavy Sword didn't touch anyone's weapon. To be precise, Linley's strike was aimed at the unit of six as a whole. The vibration wave traveled in a straight line, hitting whoever was in its path.
This linear attack, especially since Lei Ming and the others could sense the strange power penetrating the "holy power," naturally allowed them to dodge that direction.
Although the vibration wave was fast, it only injured Lei Ming.
"Linley, is that your legendary Earth Mystery?" Lei Ming's eyes lit up, and he laughed loudly, "Haha... if this were the Angel Battle Array, you might have succeeded. But do you think the Radiant Church would repeat the same mistake? Haha..."
Lord Luoye also had a smile on his face: "The components of the Grand Hexagram Battle Array are six-in-one. Your Earth Pulse penetrates the holy power, but they can sense it immediately and move to avoid vital points. You won't kill one of them so easily."
"Linley, weren't you so confident just now?" one of the Saint-level special executors in the array said coldly.
But Linley just laughed.
Delia, Tulily, Desri, and the others all laughed.
"Boss, you lost face," Bebe said with a grin.
Linley smiled: "I really did underestimate this Angel Battle Array."
The Radiant Church side was somewhat annoyed because Linley and his group were chatting and laughing, seemingly unimpressed by the array. But at the same time, Lei Ming, Luoye, and the others felt uneasy. If the enemy was so confident, did they have a trump card?
"What method do they have to break this array?" Lei Ming worried inwardly.
"Lei Ming, shrink the array's range, concentrate the attack, and kill them!" Haydenson's voice came from afar.
"Alright." Lei Ming stopped overthinking.
The thirty-six Saint-level experts of the Radiant Church immediately closed in, shrinking the "Grand Hexagram Battle Array."
"Linley, stop playing with them," Desri transmitted.
Linley nodded slightly: "Delia, make your move." Linley's voice rang in Delia's mind. Delia smiled faintly, then flew alone at extreme speed toward Lei Ming's group. Lei Ming paid no attention to Delia.
"Coming closer? Asking for death," Lei Ming sneered inwardly.
If Linley approached, Lei Ming might be worried, but Delia? Why would he care?
But when Delia was about ten meters from Lei Ming, her aura suddenly changed.
"Wooom~~~"
The space within dozens of meters was completely affected. The six people closest to Delia, including Lei Ming, were instantly immobilized. Even the flowing holy power was suppressed and stopped. Because Lei Ming and the others couldn't move and their holy power was cut off, the entire Grand Hexagram Battle Array collapsed.
"She... she's a Deity-level expert?" Lei Ming's eyes were filled with shock, but he couldn't move.
The other thirty Saint-level experts were utterly bewildered.
"Lei Ming, what's wrong?" They didn't understand why Lei Ming and the others had stopped the array's operation and the holy power had ceased.
"Bang!" Bebe directly smashed a Saint-level expert's head into pulp with a claw. "Haha, can't figure it out, can you!"
"This Divine Domain, even if it's just a half-baked version, can still suppress their movements for a moment," Linley and Delia exchanged glances, and the couple both smiled.
The Divine Domain was the ultimate "trump card" that allowed a Deity to look down on Saint-level experts. Even a half-baked "Divine Domain" like Delia's could immobilize the enemy for one or two seconds. After all, even Linley, when hit, would be frozen for one or two seconds.
In a battle between Saints, that one or two seconds decided life and death!