Chapter 27: Fight to the Death
In the dim underground chamber, a hazy gray mist instantly filled the entire space. If Linley chose to evade, he could only retreat, which would allow the Great Sorcerer to seize the opportunity to flee far away. Battles between Deity-level experts were decided in an instant.
"Hmph!" Linley's gaze was resolute. Ignoring the gray mist, he directly pursued the Great Sorcerer.
"When did I offend this person?"
Seeing Linley charge straight at him without dodging, the Great Sorcerer was terrified and, without a second thought, flew diagonally upward.
"Boom!" The rock above was as fragile as tofu, easily blasted open by him into a passage.
The gray mist completely ignored the wind-element divine power barrier covering Linley's body, as well as the dragon scales on his surface. It directly merged into Linley's body and surged toward his sea of consciousness. Linley sneered inwardly: "As expected, it's a soul attack."
Having fought the Great Sorcerer, Linley was already prepared.
"Sizzle~" The gray mist tried to rush toward Linley's soul, but upon touching the scale-like transparent membrane, it directly dissolved. Only the gray mist that struck the gap area struggled momentarily against the 'patch' formed by Linley's spiritual energy.
The gray mist in the gap area was too little, and Linley had a large amount of spiritual energy blocking it there.
"This old fellow is fast." Linley's speed skyrocketed as he shot upward along the passage.
In truth, after reaching the Deity realm, there was no distinction between mages and warriors. The ultimate goal of both mages and warriors was to become a god. Once they reached the Deity level, they cultivated the same elemental laws. The only difference was that, due to their past as mages or warriors, they might excel in certain aspects during battle.
As for speed!
For instance, a Light Saint-level Archmage like Desri, upon becoming a god, would likely be faster than an ordinary warrior who became a god.
The Great Sorcerer was fast, ranking in the upper-middle tier among Lesser Deities. But Linley's speed was simply absurd. The only thing Linley dared to compete with other gods in was his speed. From the underground to the canyon surface, it was less than a kilometer.
In that short distance, Linley caught up to the Great Sorcerer.
"Die!" Linley's Violet Blood Soft Sword slashed out mercilessly.
The sword's hum was crisp and clear. The Great Sorcerer struggled to control his soul from being affected: "This Deity-level expert can even use sound-based soul attacks. When did I offend someone like this?" Filled with resentment, he swung his black scythe to block the deadly strike coming from behind.
"Clang!"
The Great Sorcerer's swing speed was incredibly fast, almost unbelievable, and he managed to block Linley's sword.
At the Deity level, using divine power to execute this Dimensional Slash was devastatingly powerful. A massive spatial rift opened, and the terrifying impact force slammed into the black scythe. But the Great Sorcerer had clearly experienced many battles and was far more experienced than Linley.
"Boom!"
Using the force of the impact, the Great Sorcerer shot upward at an even greater speed. With an explosive sound, the buildings on the canyon surface were blasted apart as he crashed through them, charging straight into the sky.
Linley, even faster, caught up in an instant and intercepted the Great Sorcerer high in the air.
This grand canyon was an important branch of the Dawson Conglomerate, managing its affairs throughout the Baruch Empire. Over ten thousand people lived here permanently. The clash between Linley and the Great Sorcerer shook the canyon ground, causing buildings to explode. Lights flickered on everywhere in the canyon.
Angry shouts rang out as the branch's leaders began to restore order.
"What's going on?" Yale barked, stepping into an open area.
Most people in the canyon had come out of their homes and gathered in the open. The violent tremors and the sudden building explosion had terrified many, and no one dared stay indoors.
"Lord President, that building just exploded inexplicably. One person was killed by a falling rock, and three were injured," someone immediately reported to Yale.
"There's someone up there!" someone suddenly shouted. "Floating in the air."
"It's a Saint-level expert," many exclaimed. In the canyon's open space, a dense crowd looked up. Though it was night, many had lit torches, and the torchlight, along with the hazy moonlight, allowed them to see two blurry figures in the sky.
Seeing the two blurry figures above, Yale's expression changed.
"The Great Sorcerer? And... a Dragonblood Warrior?" Through their soul connection, Yale clearly identified the Great Sorcerer above. But he couldn't confirm who the Dragonblood Warrior was, because the dragon scales on that figure faintly shimmered with a golden halo.
"That's a Dragonblood Warrior!" someone exclaimed.
The crowd below watched excitedly, craning their necks.
Linley looked at the Great Sorcerer, inwardly surprised: "I didn't expect this guy to be skilled in close combat too."
His three previous sword strikes had all been blocked by the Great Sorcerer's black scythe.
If he weren't good at close combat, the Great Sorcerer would have been killed long ago in the Gebados Planar Prison. To survive in a place like that, one couldn't have too many weaknesses. Any major flaw would be exploited by others to kill him.
"Who are you? I don't seem to have any enmity with you," the Great Sorcerer said, hovering in midair and looking at Linley. "Could you have mistaken me for someone else?" He didn't want to fight a pointless battle, especially in his current heavily injured state.
Looking at the transformed Dragonblood Warrior before him, the Great Sorcerer's first thought was Linley.
But he immediately dismissed it: "It's not Linley. Linley is only at the Saint level. And Yale told me that when Linley transforms into a Saint-level Dragonblood Warrior, his scales are deep cyan, not this color... This person is clearly a Deity-level expert."
"Could he be an ancestor of the Dragonblood Warrior clan?" the Great Sorcerer wondered.
After returning to the Yulan Continent, he had learned some information, including the emergence of the four ultimate warrior clans over five thousand years ago.
"Could it be that my order for Yale to kill Linley has been discovered by this Dragonblood Warrior ancestor?" the Great Sorcerer speculated.
"No enmity?"
A cold voice came from Linley's mouth. "If there were no enmity, would I have come—" Before finishing, Linley's body turned into a gust of wind, instantly striking at the Great Sorcerer. The Great Sorcerer's black scythe transformed into countless blade shadows to block him.
"Hmph." The Great Sorcerer's killing intent surged. Since the other party wouldn't let go, he would kill him, even if it meant being injured again.
The black scythe trembled. The Great Sorcerer's eyes flared with green light, and a sinister low chant escaped his lips. Instantly, a massive, illusory black scythe materialized and slashed toward Linley. Linley tried to dodge while thrusting his Violet Blood Soft Sword at the Great Sorcerer.
Countless violet sword shadows appeared—
Wind Mystery — Wind Ripple!
Now, with each strike of Linley's 'Wind Ripple,' the sword could tear space open. Billions of sword shadows engulfed the Great Sorcerer's entire body. His scythe swing was fast, but no matter how fast, he couldn't block billions of sword strikes.
The Great Sorcerer was furious.
His scythe managed to block all the sword shadows aimed at his head, but that was the best he could do. He couldn't block them all. Countless violet sword shadows shredded his body into dust, which was swallowed by tiny spatial rifts.
The Great Sorcerer's head flew off, and the black scythe followed it.
"I'm heavily injured, but you will die." The Great Sorcerer knew the power of his own strike. An ordinary Lesser Deity's soul would be cleaved apart by this spiritual-energy-formed blade.
The illusory black scythe, formed from spiritual energy, pierced through Linley's skull and struck directly into his sea of consciousness.
"Bang!"
The black scythe slammed into the scale-like membrane and shattered, most of it dissipating.
A small portion turned into black mist, but much of that scattered mist surged toward the gap. Linley's spiritual-energy-formed 'patch' held for only a moment before being breached. Only a tiny wisp of black mist remained, which Linley's subsequent surge of spiritual energy dissolved.
"What a terrifying soul attack." Linley was shocked.
Controlling spiritual energy was very difficult. A rank-9 Archmage could only expand or contract it.
A Saint-level expert could only slightly move it. Forming it into a solid attack was extremely hard. As for this Deity-level expert, he could condense it into a black scythe as solid as the real thing—truly astonishing.
"No wonder he can refine souls. He's incredibly strong in soul attacks." Linley was awed.
If not for the damaged transparent membrane blocking most of the attack, that single strike would have either killed him or left him severely wounded.
"Sizzle~"
The Great Sorcerer's body rapidly regenerated, and he put the fallen spatial ring back on. A Deity-level expert always stored a large amount of divine power in their body. The Great Sorcerer wouldn't make that mistake. His body was fully restored in an instant.
"That guy should be dead by now." The Great Sorcerer watched Linley closely.
But he saw Linley slightly curl his lips at him. Was he smiling?
"What?" The Great Sorcerer was shocked.
Even in the Gebados Planar Prison, he had dominated with this technique. It had failed only once, against the peak Lesser Deity 'Muba.' In the end, he had severely wounded his own soul to use a trump card, gravely injuring Muba and barely escaping with his life.
"Let's see how much divine power you have to repair yourself!" Linley sneered.
Linley knew that absorbing divine power was slow. Rapid body repair relied on stored divine power, which could only sustain one or two full regenerations. For someone like the Great Sorcerer, whose body was nearly destroyed, the divine power consumption was enormous.
An eerie violet light flared again, accompanied by the pleasant hum of the sword.
Countless sword shadows filled the sky.
The Great Sorcerer's face turned pale. Having survived countless life-and-death crises in the planar prison, he could instantly assess the situation—if this continued, his divine power would be depleted, and he wouldn't be able to block Linley's attacks. He would die for sure!
"Ah, this is the second time!!!" the Great Sorcerer wailed inwardly.
Without hesitation, he resolutely chose the same method he had used against Muba.
"Last time I used this, my soul was severely wounded. This time, I hope my soul doesn't collapse." The Great Sorcerer had no choice. If he didn't, he would die. His eyes shot out two black beams of light, which merged into the black scythe, causing it to tremble.
Instantly, nine illusory black scythe phantoms appeared, following a mysterious trajectory. They curved around and struck Linley from all directions. Linley had no escape.
Silent and soundless!
"Not good!" Linley tried to flee, but the nine illusory black scythes could even turn. He had no way out.
The nine black scythe phantoms struck directly into his sea of consciousness.
"Boom!"
Most of them shattered against the scale-like transparent membrane. But one struck the gap. Linley's spiritual energy barrier was instantly breached. The black scythe slashed straight toward Linley's soul.
Spiritual energy parted like a tide, revealing the floating sword-shaped soul.
"Clang!" The black scythe struck the sword-shaped soul directly.
"Hum~" The sword-shaped soul trembled violently.
At that moment, one of the three cyan droplets in Linley's Coiling Dragon Ring released a wisp of cyan energy. The surface of Linley's sword-shaped soul flared with cyan light, eventually dissolving the black scythe.
"Ah!" Linley screamed, clutching his head as he fell from the sky. Though his soul wasn't destroyed, the violent tremor caused severe damage.
Seeing Linley fall, the Great Sorcerer smiled faintly: "Finally dead."
As Linley's main body descended—
"Whoosh!" The divine clone (the light cyan-robed Linley) flew out of the main body. The Violet Blood Soft Sword flew into his hand. The divine clone, wielding the sword, shot straight toward the Great Sorcerer, whose soul was on the verge of collapse.
Countless sword shadows flared.
The Great Sorcerer swung his black scythe in despair: "No—"
His body was shredded into dust by the countless sword shadows. The Violet Blood Soft Sword even struck the divine spark directly, dispersing the Great Sorcerer's soul fused within it. The divine spark itself fell downward.
The divine clone reached out, caught the divine spark, and then turned into a blur, flying back into the main body.
On the canyon ground, Yale's eyes flickered with confusion for a moment, then cleared.
Seeing Linley, who had reverted to human form and fallen to the ground, Yale's eyes reddened instantly. He rushed forward: "Third Bro!"