Chapter 7: Surrender Without a Fight
This Ogavin was indeed treacherous. With a single simple sentence, he had already created a crack in the alliance between Linley, Desri, and Olivier. Ogavin smiled as he looked at Desri and Olivier, waiting for their response.
Linley stared at the distant Ogavin, but his heart was filled with worry for his family.
"This Ogavin is a Deity-level expert, far stronger than Desri, Olivier, and me. And he has a group of subordinates. Those four experts behind him should also be Deity-level. Even escaping would be difficult."
The situation had already become dire beyond measure.
His own life, compared to the lives of so many of his family and friends—if he could protect them, Linley wouldn't care even if he died.
"If Ogavin destroys Dragonblood Castle and leaves immediately, that would be fine. But if he finds the secret room of the pocket dimension, then..." What Linley feared most was that Delia, Wharton, and the others would all be killed. Linley was also certain of one thing.
Once Ogavin saw Delia and the others, he would definitely attack.
Because Ogavin would surely discover that Delia, Barker, Sessler, and the others all had divine sparks within them.
"What should I do?" Linley began to panic inwardly.
"Oh? When I arrived earlier, I noticed there were quite a few people in this Dragonblood Castle, including several Saint-level experts. How come they've all disappeared?" Ogavin muttered to himself, feigning confusion, while staring at Linley.
Linley's heart trembled.
When Wharton, Delia, and the others were hiding, Ogavin had likely already extended his divine sense to observe Dragonblood Castle.
"My divine sense only detected them entering a certain place underground, and then their auras vanished." A hint of a smile curled at the corner of Ogavin's mouth as he stared at Linley and said slowly, "Could it be that there's a special magical array beneath Dragonblood Castle that can conceal auras? Once I've dealt with you, I'll definitely have to take a good look."
Sweat immediately began to bead on Linley's forehead.
Even Desri, standing nearby, grew tense.
At this moment, the Desri outside was merely his light-element divine clone. Desri's true body was still inside the pocket dimension. After all, his true body didn't have a divine spark, so using it to attack wouldn't be very effective.
"Linley, what should we do?" Desri sent a mental message to Linley.
Linley's heart was also panicking.
Even if it meant sacrificing this wind-element divine clone, Linley wouldn't care. But if Ogavin discovered the secret room of the pocket dimension, then none of the large group inside would survive.
"Bebe!" Linley didn't hesitate and immediately sent a soul message to Bebe, who was in the Forest of Darkness.
"Boss!" Bebe replied instantly. "You finally remembered me. I've been missing you like crazy these past few days. Boss, when are you coming over?"
In the Forest of Darkness, inside the metallic castle.
Bebe was lying lazily on the ground inside the castle, basking in the sun. But upon hearing Linley's soul message, he immediately became excited.
"Bebe, I need to ask you for a favor. A Deity-level expert named 'Ogavin' has attacked Dragonblood Castle. I don't know what the outcome will be. But Bebe, no matter what you have to do, you must get Lord Beirut to help protect the group hiding in the secret room of the pocket dimension."
At this point, Linley could only rely on Bebe.
"What? Boss, you need to run!" Bebe immediately grew tense. A Deity-level expert—Bebe knew the gap between a Deity and a Demigod.
Linley smiled bitterly inwardly.
Run?
Leaving aside whether he could escape, he simply couldn't flee now. If he ran, a battle would start immediately, and it would end just as quickly. Then Ogavin would surely find the 'door' to the pocket dimension's secret room. That would be disastrous.
"Bebe, my true body is also in the secret room of the pocket dimension. Don't worry. Even if my divine clone is destroyed, I won't die," Linley said.
But if his divine clone was destroyed, then Linley would lose the ability to cultivate the wind-element laws forever. The price was undeniably heavy. But compared to the lives of his family, Linley would disregard everything.
"Boss, don't worry. I, I'll come right away!" Bebe panicked.
"Bebe, remember, go and ask Lord Beirut for help," Linley instructed.
At that moment, in the Forest of Darkness, inside the metallic castle.
"Grandpa Beirut, he's not here. He went to the Necropolis of the Gods. What do I do, what do I do? But my boss is in trouble now, and the enemy is a Deity-level expert. I haven't even reached the Deity-level myself!" Bebe was frantic, not knowing what to do.
"Boss, if boss dies..." Bebe's eyes began to redden.
"Yooouuu~" Driven mad by urgency, Bebe threw back his head and let out a piercing, mournful shriek.
"Bebe, what's wrong?" Soon, three Violet-Gold Rat Kings flew out of the metallic castle. It was Harry and his two brothers.
Bebe said urgently, "A Deity-level expert has attacked Dragonblood Castle, but Grandpa Beirut has gone to the Necropolis of the Gods. What do we do now? What do we do? If we delay any longer, I'm afraid..." Tears welled up in Bebe's small eyes.
The three Violet-Gold Rat Kings exchanged glances, and anxiety also appeared in their eyes.
This description takes a long time, but in reality, the soul communication between Linley and Bebe took only an instant. Especially since the communication between a magical beast and its master didn't require releasing divine sense—Ogavin naturally wouldn't detect it. Ogavin, however, was still looking at Desri and Olivier.
"Desri, Olivier, you two leave first," Linley sent a soul message to them.
Leave now?
Desri and Olivier didn't choose to flee.
"Linley, let the people in the secret room of the pocket dimension scatter and escape," Desri sent a message.
"No, didn't you see that behind Ogavin there are also Demigods and over fifty Saint-level experts? If Wharton and the others escape, they'll be doomed," Linley said clearly. Dealing with the three of them, the Deity-level 'Ogavin' alone was enough.
"Oh, quite loyal, aren't you?" Ogavin looked at the three of them floating side by side in the distance and said with a mocking smile.
"But the price of loyalty is death."
At this moment, the two sides were about a hundred meters apart. For Deity-level experts, if the distance was too close and one side launched a sudden attack, the other might not even have time to react. A hundred meters—with the reaction speed of Deity-level experts, it was still enough to block and counterattack.
"Boom!"
The space within a thousand-meter radius was completely bound. To be precise, Ogavin used his 'Deity-level divine spark' to completely control the 'light-element energy' within that range, suppressing and binding Linley and the others. The higher the level of the divine spark, the stronger this control ability.
The Godrealm!
A Deity-level Godrealm!
Even though Linley and the others tried their best to activate their own Godrealm, and could barely control their own elemental energy, they still felt as if they were trapped in a quagmire.
"Not good," Linley judged. In this situation, their speed would be greatly reduced. The enemy was a Deity-level expert, and his attacks in terms of laws would certainly be much stronger than theirs. The outcome of this battle was already decided before it even began.
"Mr. Ogavin," Linley said in a loud voice.
"What is it?" Ogavin looked at Linley.
Linley gritted his teeth and said seriously, "If I am willing to surrender without a fight and go back with you to the imperial capital, would you be willing to spare the people in Dragonblood Castle, as well as Desri and Olivier? I believe that my surrendering would have a much better effect than presenting my corpse in the imperial capital."
"If the people see my corpse, they'll probably think you deliberately found someone who looks like me. They won't believe I'm dead."
"But if I go there in person, it's different." Linley looked at Ogavin. "Your goal is nothing more than faith power, isn't it?"
Ogavin's eyes lit up, and he laughed. "Not a bad idea!"
"Linley..." Desri and Olivier both looked at Linley in shock.
Surrender without a fight?
Linley's heart trembled. So what if he surrendered? So what if his divine clone was destroyed? At worst, he would never be able to cultivate the wind-element laws again. But there was only one Delia, only one brother Wharton, and also Taylor, Sasha...
Linley didn't want them to die either.
These were the people Linley truly wanted to protect in this world.
Linley stared at Ogavin, waiting for his answer. Ogavin's smile grew even brighter. At the same time, Linley and the other two felt the binding force of the Godrealm weaken significantly. Linley's heart immediately relaxed a little.
The weakening of the Godrealm clearly indicated Ogavin's intention.
"It's a very good suggestion. But I don't want you to live," Ogavin said with a faint smile.
Linley's expression immediately changed. "Ogavin, you..."
"Whoosh!" The four Deity-level experts behind Ogavin instantly flew out, directly surrounding Linley, Desri, and Olivier.
"I sense a hint of threat from you." Ogavin laughed self-deprecatingly. "Cultivating for less than a hundred years, yet you've already killed the peak Demigod expert 'Bomont'. When dealing with a 'genius' like you, it's better to nip the threat in the bud."
Ogavin had spent countless years in the Gebados Planar Prison; he certainly knew the importance of this.
Since he was already an enemy of Linley, he would kill Linley immediately.
"Lord, there's no need for you to act against them. We four are enough," a middle-aged man in a black robe said respectfully.
"Make it quick," Ogavin said with a faint smile. "Two of you deal with Linley." Ogavin's side had four Demigods. Two would handle Linley, while the other two would deal with Desri and Olivier respectively.
After all, according to the information Ogavin had gathered, Linley's threat level far exceeded Olivier's.
Even with absolute confidence, Ogavin still extended his divine sense.
He was ready to act at any moment, in case of any unexpected developments.
Most of Linley's attention, however, was on Ogavin. He was most worried about Ogavin launching a surprise attack. Seeing that the four Demigods had almost quickly divided their targets, Linley felt a surge of anger in his heart. "Desri, Olivier, our lives and deaths are in the hands of fate!!!"
"Let's fight," Olivier said, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
Desri silently held his thin sword.
"I hope Lord Beirut can make it in time," Linley said silently in his heart.
At this moment, that was all he could hope for.
But how could Linley know that these two days were also the time when the Necropolis of the Gods was opening? Beirut had already gone there long ago. Whether he could return in time was uncertain.
"Two of us to kill him?" The two men in black robes exchanged glances and smiled.
The four Demigods by Ogavin's side had also been tempered in the Gebados Planar Prison. They were far from being weak newcomers to the Demigod level. With two of them joining forces against Linley, how could Linley possibly withstand them?
"Swish!"
The two men in black robes suddenly produced warblades in their hands, turning into two black streaks, like two drifting leaves, and attacked Linley from both sides. Linley, holding the Bloodviolet flexible sword, moved his body and turned into a gust of wind.
Countless eerie purple sword shadows rose into the air, like countless purple venomous snakes biting at every spot.
Wind Ripple Dimensional Slash!
Countless collision sounds rang out. Spatial cracks appeared and then vanished.
"Pfft." Linley's body rapidly retreated, and a spray of brilliant blood shot from his mouth, staining the sky.
Not far from Linley, Olivier was also sent flying by a single sword strike.
"Ah!" Desri let out a miserable scream.
Out of the corner of his eye, Linley was shocked to find that Desri had been cleaved apart by a single, dreamlike, ethereal slash, cutting most of his body in two. Desri was left with only his upper body, and only one arm. Even his right hand, holding his divine artifact, had fallen with his lower body.
With just one exchange, Linley's side was all severely injured.
"Hurry up," Ogavin, who was overseeing the situation from a distance, said with a frown of dissatisfaction.