Chapter 16: The Return
After repelling Augus and Hambrit, everyone in Dragonblood Castle breathed a sigh of relief. Linley, Desri, Tarossa, and the others all went to the great hall, chatting and laughing with one another as they enjoyed a sumptuous dinner.
Linley and his group were in high spirits.
But Augus's mood was absolutely terrible!
...
The sky was gray and overcast.
Augus and Hambrit flew side by side in the direction of the O'Brien Empire.
Hambrit glanced at Augus and said, "Augus, stop stewing over it. Neither Tarossa nor Desri turned out to be as weak as you expected. With just the two of us, killing Olivia right under their noses is completely impossible."
Augus remained silent.
"To kill Olivia, either he leaves Dragonblood Castle, or Tarossa and Desri leave," Hambrit urged. "Augus, you should give up for now. Wait until we can get Lord Adkins to act, or have Bernice and Gatenby help us too. Only then will we have a sure chance."
Whether it was Lord Adkins taking action,
or the four of them—Bernice, Gatenby, Hambrit, and Augus—joining forces,
either scenario would make it easy to slaughter Dragonblood Castle and kill Olivia.
But get Lord Adkins to act?
"What status does Lord Adkins have? I wouldn't even dare mention it in front of him," Augus said with a self-deprecating laugh. "As for Bernice and Gatenby, they're not easy to befriend. Getting them to help would take no small amount of time and effort. It's basically impossible."
"You know that, so just be patient for now," Hambrit said.
Augus stayed silent.
Patient?
How could he endure the hatred of his son's murder? Augus thought of killing Olivia every moment.
Hambrit glanced at Augus and sighed inwardly: "This Augus is truly obsessed. I need to cut off his hopes." He spoke up: "Augus. To kill Olivia, we have to pinpoint his location. Using divine sense to find him would alert them to us at the same time. There's no way we can kill Olivia from beside Tarossa and Desri. Give it up for now."
"What did you just say!" Augus's eyes suddenly widened, and he looked at Hambrit in surprise.
Hambrit was taken aback: "I... I didn't say anything?"
"Just now, what you said. Using divine sense to probe..." Augus's eyes lit up with excitement.
Hambrit was baffled: "Yes, when we use divine sense to locate Olivia, Desri and Tarossa will definitely detect us. We can't launch a sneak attack. What's the matter?" He had no idea why Augus was so thrilled.
"Ha ha..."
Augus burst into laughter.
"Huh?" Hambrit grew even more confused.
Augus took a deep breath, his eyes barely containing his excitement: "Hambrit, if we use divine sense to search for Olivia, Tarossa and the others will find us. So... what if I don't use divine sense? Ha ha, I can't believe I didn't think of that. I'm such a fool. Ha ha..."
Augus laughed with exhilaration.
Hambrit began to understand: "Augus, without divine sense, you won't be able to locate Olivia right away."
"Don't worry," Augus said, his eyes turning cold. "It's simple. I'll just sneak into Dragonblood Castle. Tarossa and Desri can't keep their divine sense active all the time. Once I'm inside the castle, it'll only take a little time to find Olivia!"
Augus was brimming with confidence.
"Be careful not to run into Tarossa or Desri before you find Olivia," Hambrit said with a smile.
"Don't worry, my luck won't be that bad," Augus replied immediately.
He would sneak into Dragonblood Castle alone. The only danger was encountering Desri or Tarossa before finding Olivia. If that happened, he wouldn't have time to kill her.
"This method of yours does have a chance of success, and a pretty good one at that," Hambrit nodded. "But it's also risky. Augus, I can only wish you success from here. I won't go with you."
"You don't need to," Augus said, understanding the situation. "I'm enough on my own."
With that, Augus smiled at Hambrit, turned around, and flew back toward Dragonblood Castle.
Hambrit watched Augus's retreating figure and sighed to himself: "Augus's only weakness is how much he cares about that son of his." Both Hambrit and Augus were ruthless individuals. It was Hambrit who had destroyed the Warrior's Peak.
And the imperial palace of the Baruch Empire? That was Augus's doing.
××××××
In Dragonblood Castle, Linley and Delia's quarters.
Linley and Delia were enjoying some time alone together. Linley leaned against the bed while Delia lay in his arms, her ear pressed to his chest, listening to his heartbeat.
Linley stroked Delia's hair, breathing in its fragrance, his heart at peace.
"Linley," Delia whispered.
"Hmm?" Linley responded.
Delia said, "Linley, lately I've been on edge all the time. This kind of life..." She looked up at Linley. "When will it end?"
Linley could sense that many people in Dragonblood Castle were secretly worried.
"What are you worried about?" Linley sighed. "Back when we were young, you were just an ordinary mage, and I hadn't even reached the Saint realm. Didn't I make it through that path? Fighting and struggling every step of the way. Now I've stepped into the Deity realm, and you, Delia, will fully refine the divine spark and become a Deity in a few years. We weren't afraid back then, so why be afraid now?"
Delia recalled the lonely days of her past. Back then, Linley had first been with Alice, and then he had disappeared for nearly ten years.
And now, thinking about it,
she was with Linley.
Delia smiled. Yes, what was there to worry about?
She was already content with this peaceful life. Though Linley and Delia had to train, they often set aside time to be alone together, enjoying that warmth.
"Linley, have you seen Alice?" Delia suddenly asked.
"Alice?" Linley mentioned Alice without much emotional turmoil. He only felt a sense of how much time had passed. "I haven't seen Alice. Why, have you?" Linley and Alice had been married for decades.
"Yes," Delia said. "And it was in the imperial capital, Baruch City."
"The capital? Alice is in the capital?" Linley was a bit surprised.
Delia nodded: "Yes, there's a Prux Club in our capital too, and Alice is now the head of that Prux Club. Well, just the branch head. Alice hasn't changed much; she's even prettier." Delia looked at Linley teasingly.
Linley just smiled.
He also remembered that time during the Day of Destruction, when he had entrusted Alice and that Rolin to the care of the Prux Club's head.
"And, Linley, she's still not married," Delia said, staring straight at him, watching his expression.
"What?" Linley was startled.
After all, decades had passed. Their first love from back then felt as unreal as a dream. And that Kalan had died during the Day of Destruction. Linley had assumed Alice was already married.
"What, having some special thoughts?" Delia grinned mischievously.
"Nothing. Just a bit of reflection," Linley said with a smile.
Delia stopped teasing him and nodded: "Actually, Alice is in the capital. Jenny told me. Jenny used to be in the capital often, you know. She was a well-known figure in the capital's noble circles. Naturally, she got to know Alice at some banquets."
...
Just as Linley and Delia were sharing private words between husband and wife, a figure emerged from the soil in the back garden of Dragonblood Castle. It was Augus, who had sneaked in.
"Now, it's about time," Augus thought to himself.
In fact, Augus had waited about three or four hours, hundreds of miles away from Dragonblood Castle, before coming. By his calculation, the time after the battle should have been the banquet. He estimated it was now the middle of the night.
"Almost everyone should be back in their rooms by now, with only a few guards patrolling," Augus thought, suppressing his excitement.
He began to move stealthily into Dragonblood Castle.
Dragonblood Castle was enormous, comparable to a small city. With a permanent population of several thousand, there were many guards patrolling every night. But with his strength as a mid-level Deity, Augus easily evaded the patrol teams.
"Hey, brothers, you keep going. We're heading back to rest."
The night patrol teams were also changing shifts. One squad of guards chatted as they walked together toward their quarters. When they reached the North Garden, where ordinary guards and servants lived, they naturally split up and headed to their own rooms.
One guard who had split off walked alone toward his quarters.
Suddenly, he felt his head go dizzy, and then his consciousness faded. A figure appeared before him—Augus.
"Tell me, where is Olivia," Augus demanded.
Though Augus wasn't skilled in mind-control techniques, with his mid-level Deity spiritual energy, controlling an ordinary person was child's play.
"I don't know," the guard said woodenly.
Augus frowned. "What about Tarossa and Desri?"
"I don't know," the guard repeated.
Augus felt a surge of irritation, but he quickly understood: "It seems the ordinary people in Dragonblood Castle don't know much about those Deity-level experts. Only the close attendants would know." Augus thought carefully.
"I ask you, have you seen a young-looking man with black-and-white streaked hair? He's often with Linley," Augus said.
"Yes," the guard replied mechanically.
"Do you know where he lives?" Augus's heart leaped with joy as he pressed on.
"In the East Garden. I've seen that lord during patrols. He and several other lords are all in the East Garden. Lord Linley is often with them," the guard said. Augus was ecstatic: "It seems Olivia, Tarossa, and Desri are all in the East Garden."
"Take me there," Augus ordered.
"Yes." The guard offered no resistance.
The guard immediately led Augus out of the North Garden and headed toward the East Garden.
"Hey, Will, aren't you supposed to be resting? What are you doing in the East Garden?" Several patrolling guards in the East Garden approached. They clearly recognized the guard and immediately asked.
Augus was hiding nearby.
"Tell them you lost something in the East Garden during patrol and came to look for it," Augus instructed immediately.
The guard said, "I lost something in the East Garden during patrol. I'm looking for it now."
The guards all laughed: "Will, you're really careless. It's pretty dark out here. Be careful searching. If you can't find it, wait until daylight tomorrow." With that, the guards left and continued their patrol.
Though they felt Will's speech was a bit different from usual, they didn't suspect anything.
After all, they recognized him at a glance as their old brother Will.
"Keep moving," Augus ordered telepathically. The guard immediately led him deeper into the residential area of the East Garden in Dragonblood Castle...