Chapter 8: The Fall
Among the four lower-level deities under His Majesty Augus, including his own son, all had undergone long-term tempering in the Gebados Planar Prison. Each of them was nearly a match for Bomont. When the four attacked simultaneously, how could Linley and the others withstand them?
"If those two join forces, my 'Wind's Soft Whisper' technique can only strike one of them. The other will certainly seize the chance to attack me."
Linley understood this well.
If he fought desperately, he might kill one, but...
Then the battle would reach its conclusion in an instant.
"Right now, the key is to stall for time, to make Augus discover the micro-plane chamber as late as possible. I hope Lord Beirut can make it in time. As for me now, I can only rely on speed to delay." Linley immediately pushed his speed to the limit.
Delay!
Linley, who had become a god through the profound mystery of speed, far surpassed those two in velocity.
Linley moved like an invisible wind, constantly shifting positions, dodging the attacks of the two deity-level experts time and again. The two black-robed men grew anxious. They excelled in offense, but when it came to speed, they were far inferior to Linley.
"Quite fast," Augus said with a faint smile.
Linley immediately felt the space around him tighten, binding him more strongly. Augus was clearly using his 'Divine Domain' to fully restrain Linley. Even though Linley was adept at speed, now constrained, even with his own Divine Domain bolstered, his speed fell slightly short of the two black-robed men.
"Haha! Let's see how you escape now!" A voice rang in Linley's mind—it was a telepathic message from one of the two black-robed men. They had been toyed with by Linley's speed earlier and were naturally furious. Now that Linley was suppressed and bound while they were unaffected, they were faster than him.
Two phantoms converged on Linley.
"Lord Beirut, why haven't you come yet!" Linley's heart was filled with grief and anger, but then he noticed a scene that made him tremble in fear.
The severely wounded Desri's divine body was rapidly recovering, but the silver-robed man wielding the long blade was far stronger than Desri. Even Desri's soul attack could be withstood. In terms of speed, the silver-robed man was actually slightly faster than Desri.
"Ah!"
A scream—this was the third strike Desri received.
The first strike had cleaved half of Desri's body. The second strike had barely spared his life. But this third strike...
"Clang!" The icy long blade directly shattered Desri's head, striking a white-glowing divine spark that emanated Desri's aura. The blade hit the divine spark with such force that it trembled... and Desri's soul was directly scattered.
Soul annihilated!
"Dead!"
Both Linley and Olivier felt a surge of chilling sorrow.
Although Desri's true body was still in the micro-plane prison, the death of his divine clone meant that Desri would never be able to cultivate the Elemental Laws of Light again. At the same time, over five thousand years of his hard work were lost in an instant.
If he wanted to become a god independently again, he would have to cultivate another elemental law.
"Will this be my fate too?" Linley's heart ached with sorrow. Desri's scream still echoed in his ears.
"Ahhh—"
Linley let out a bitter, unwilling roar. The eerie purple blood soft sword emitted a sword hum that resonated through heaven and earth. A flash of madness crossed Linley's eyes. At this point, he didn't care anymore. Even if he died, he would take one or two with him.
Wind's Soft Whisper was unleashed!
"Die!!!" Olivier also let out a hysterical cry.
In that moment, both Linley and Olivier went berserk.
At the same time, in the underground micro-plane chamber.
A large crowd had gathered there—the five Barker brothers and their families, Delia, Wharton, Hillman, and dozens of others. Linley's true body and Desri's true body were also present.
Desri's true body was pale, his eyes filled with sorrow.
"Haha..." Desri let out a low laugh.
Over five thousand years of cultivation, and now it was decided—he could never become a god through the Elemental Laws of Light again.
"Everyone, leave quickly," Linley, dressed in a sky-blue robe, shouted to those around him. "Hurry, scatter in all directions underground. Augus can't possibly use his divine sense to check the underground at all times." Linley had no choice.
Beirut hadn't arrived yet.
Linley couldn't place all his hope on Beirut.
"Desri, as long as your true body isn't destroyed, you can still cultivate other laws. Go quickly." Linley rushed to the entrance of the micro-plane chamber and used his divine power to block the energy emitted by the 'Spatial Gate'.
The dozens of people crowded in the micro-plane chamber all felt tense.
"Linley," Delia called out urgently.
"Go, don't hesitate." Linley even grabbed Gates's son and pulled him out of the micro-plane chamber. Everyone knew the severity of the situation. They quickly fled the chamber and scattered in all directions through the underground.
The purple blood soft sword trembled, its hum like the soft sound of a flute. Linley controlled this flute-like sound, directing it toward the two black-robed men and the golden-haired youth locked in battle with Olivier.
Both the two black-robed men and the golden-haired youth felt that all other sounds in the world had vanished, leaving only this gentle flute sound, so pleasant to hear.
"Clang!"
A blood-red illusory sword shadow flew from the purple blood soft sword, shooting directly into the mind of one of the black-robed men. He was still in a relaxed state, but when the blood-red sword shadow pierced his mental energy, he snapped awake.
But it was too late.
The blood-red sword shadow stabbed straight into the divine spark, scattering the soul within it completely.
Profound Mystery of the Wind—Wind's Soft Whisper!
Though it seemed slow, Wind's Soft Whisper was instantaneous. But in that instant, for Augus, it was a disaster.
"No!!!" Augus's eyes bulged wide.
Linley fought desperately, and Olivier did the same! Linley unleashed 'Wind's Soft Whisper', while Olivier, once again risking severe injury, unleashed the black-and-white sword light that had once split the Bosha Dam. The golden-haired youth was the most unfortunate...
Earlier, he had been affected by the hum of the purple blood soft sword.
"Pfft!"
The Xuanbing long sword struck the golden-haired youth's battle blade with full force. Olivier's all-out strike was terrifying. The battle blade was deflected back onto the golden-haired youth, and the black-and-white sword light slipped through, cleaving down from the top of his head.
"Ah!" A miserable scream rang out.
His skull split in two, and the floating divine spark was struck directly by the black-and-white sword light. The soul within it was naturally scattered.
"No, Kinsley, no!" Augus didn't care about the black-robed man who was killed, but this golden-haired youth, 'Kinsley', was his only son. Augus usually trained his son through real life-and-death battles, believing that without tempering, his son wouldn't truly grow.
In this battle, his son was only facing someone who had just entered the divine realm. Augus didn't know Olivier's true strength. He was only cautious of Linley, not Olivier.
Augus didn't pay attention.
But who would have thought...
After countless years of relying on each other, Augus's most beloved, only son, was dead like this!
"Die!!!" Normally calm and composed, Augus now went mad. His face twisted with rage, his divine power surged, and his 'Divine Domain' was pushed to its maximum, like endless raging waves sweeping out to engulf everyone in the area.
At the same time, Augus transformed into a white streak of light, charging at Olivier. A greatsword appeared in his hand.
Olivier, already severely wounded, couldn't resist.
In an instant, Olivier split into two divine clones—the Light Divine Clone and the Dark Divine Clone—but both were heavily injured. Olivier had no time to escape.
"Ahhh—" Augus roared furiously as the greatsword, containing endless profound mysteries, came crashing down!
An eerie purple light flared—
"Clang!"
Linley, his body heavily wounded, was sent flying helplessly, but was stopped midair by the Divine Domain's binding.
Linley, who had just killed one black-robed man but had an arm severed by the other in grief and rage, also noticed Olivier's crisis. He rushed over at top speed and, in a desperate effort, managed to block one strike for Olivier. Now, a large gash had opened in his chest, blood gushing out. Linley immediately used his divine power to heal.
"Thank you," Olivier's two divine clones said, looking at Linley.
"For what? It only delays death a little," Linley and Olivier exchanged bitter, sorrowful glances.
They couldn't hold out any longer!
Facing Augus, now enraged to the point of madness, Linley and Olivier felt a hint of despair and resignation.
That last strike had also contained a soul attack. Linley, relying on his damaged soul-defense divine artifact and the pulsing defense of his mental energy, barely managed to withstand the impact. Even so... his mental energy was even thinner now.
He didn't even have the strength to use Wind's Soft Whisper again.
"I'll make you both soul-scattered!" Augus, in agony and fury, swung his greatsword.
"Roar—"
A thunderous roar shook the heavens. An invisible ripple shot toward Augus like a cannonball. Augus was startled—he could tell how powerful this sudden attack was. "Where did this attack come from?" At the same time, Augus swung his sword back in a counterstrike.
"Boom!" Augus's body recoiled, stumbling backward.
In the air, a massive, seven-colored beast resembling a lion hovered. This lion had a third eye vertically on its forehead. The giant lion then transformed and condensed into an eerie man in a dark gold robe.
It was Dylin!
"Dylin!" Linley and Olivier's eyes lit up with surprise.
Augus, struck by the mental impact, had his Divine Domain dissipate. The two Oliviers immediately merged into one, and Linley and Olivier flew at top speed toward Dylin.
"Don't think you can escape." Augus's gaze locked entirely onto Olivier, his eyes filled with boundless killing intent. He charged recklessly toward Olivier, but Dylin, with a cold expression, opened his third eye—
Another invisible ripple shot out.
"Hmph." Augus snorted softly, letting the ripple strike his body directly. He only paused briefly before accelerating again.
Dylin had broken through and reached the level of a mid-level deity.
But... Dylin had only just entered the mid-level deity realm. Compared to Augus, there was still a gap. If not for his innate talent, Dylin's earlier strike would have struggled to force Augus back.
"Hm?" Augus looked up in surprise at his side.
Dozens of black rays shot toward him from a distance. This time, Augus didn't take any chances. He tried to dodge with his speed, but the black rays could change direction. Augus had to block each one with his greatsword.
A figure appeared beside Dylin.
It was an eerie youth with green hair.
"Dylin, the Devourer Beast is truly a divine beast. In your true form, your speed is astonishing—even I can't keep up," the green-haired youth said with a smile.
"Tarossa, enough talk. This guy is quite strong. Let's see what you've got," Dylin said coldly. "Don't embarrass yourself by losing."
"How could that be?" Tarossa looked at Augus.
Augus stared coldly at the two. "You two, I only want to kill that black-and-white-haired brat. I can even spare Linley's life. You two... better not interfere." Augus could sense the threat posed by these two experts.
Apologies
Writing the third chapter got stuck... my mind went blank.
Sorry, only two chapters today.