Chapter 19: The Kiss
Upon hearing these words, Linley couldn't help but change expression.
If not for his consideration of Alikun, Salomon would have already killed Linley. After all, in Salomon's eyes, Linley should be one of Alikun's people. He naturally didn't dare to easily provoke Alikun.
"Salomon, you bastard!" Bebe immediately roared in anger. "I've said it before, my boss absolutely did not leak your secret. How can you be certain it was my boss who leaked it, and you even want to kill him? You're really a damn bastard, bastard!!!"
At this moment, Bebe wanted to kill Salomon, but his strength was far inferior to Salomon's!
"Salomon, Linley has been inside the metallic life form the entire journey. How could he possibly have had the chance to leak your secret?" Delia was also anxious, worried that Linley might be killed.
Linley, however, remained silent, staring at Salomon. By now, Linley had come to recognize the kind of person Salomon was. Salomon was the type who disguised himself extremely well, able to endure and feign benevolence for the sake of his goals without anyone noticing.
But once his goals failed, this kind of person would reveal his true, ferocious nature—more insane and terrifying than ordinary people!
"Die, you must die. Not just you, Linley, but also your wife, your brother Bebe—all of you must die!!!" Salomon, like a madman, pointed at Linley, Delia, and Bebe and roared.
Hearing that her own brother wanted to kill Bebe as well, Nisse immediately became anxious.
"Brother, Bebe he..." Nisse said urgently.
"Nisse!" Salomon shouted. "Haven't you seen their true faces yet? That Bebe approached you with ill intentions."
Nisse couldn't help but turn to look at Bebe.
Bebe's gaze, however, was icy cold as he stared at Salomon. "Salomon, I hate being slandered the most. Not only do you slander me, but you also want to kill my boss and the others. Then you..." Bebe glanced at Nisse beside him, "Nisse, don't blame me."
"Bebe, what are you going to do?" Linley sensed that Bebe's state was off.
Bebe's face was cold and expressionless. A black dagger suddenly appeared in his hand—it was the one Beirute had given him.
"This is—" Alikun's eyes lit up, and he looked at Bebe in surprise.
Bebe then opened his mouth, and a pitch-black round bead floated out from within. This pitch-black round bead flew into the handle of the dagger, fitting perfectly into a groove on the hilt. Immediately, a cyan aura began to flow across the surface of the dagger.
"Crackle..." Space trembled.
Even though the dagger hadn't been swung yet, the cyan aura alone was enough to make space tremble.
"What kind of thing is this?" Salomon, Nisse, and the others, as well as the surviving Highgod demon Sprey, were all greatly shocked. They could clearly feel the threat this dagger posed to them. None of them were confident they could withstand that blade.
Linley and Delia were also puzzled. They didn't know what hidden trump card Bebe possessed, but after fusing with the black round bead, the terrifying aura of the dagger was palpable to Linley and the others: "Too terrifying... this aura, even a Highgod probably couldn't withstand it, right?"
Linley had long believed that, given Beirute's importance placed on Bebe, he would definitely have given Bebe a life-saving trump card.
Now, it seemed this was it.
"Bebe, don't!" Nisse quickly said.
But Bebe coldly stared at Salomon and said in a frigid voice, "Salomon, die." He suddenly threw the dagger—
"Whoosh!"
A black light flashed, and space split open like paper, easily tearing through the Hell plane. The power was simply astonishing. Salomon's expression changed, but the black light was too fast—he had no time to escape!
Suddenly, a blood-red giant palm appeared, causing space to twist and form a vortex.
"Bang!"
The black light and the blood-red giant palm collided.
The black light immediately flew back into Bebe's hand. Bebe's face turned somewhat pale as he looked in surprise at Alikun.
Alikun himself was forced back dozens of meters, then looked in shock at the dagger in Bebe's hand, thinking to himself: "Just as I thought. I didn't expect Beirute to give him such a heavy treasure. This kid's relationship with Beirute is extraordinary."
Alikun was secretly astonished.
He was well aware of how terrifying Beirute was. His mind racing, Alikun quickly made a decision: "With this treasure in the kid's hands, at least I can't kill him. Otherwise... Beirute would definitely know. If he sets his sights on me, that would be trouble."
Linley and the others, including the Highgod demons and Salomon, were all greatly shocked. They had seen how terrifying Alikun's strength was—the three Edwards brothers had been helpless against him. Yet Bebe's strange dagger strike had actually forced him back.
They had no idea...
"Bebe, that move of yours?" Linley was astonished.
Bebe transmitted mentally: "I'm not that powerful. Repelling that guy was thanks to the power Beirute Grandpa infused into that spirit bead. It was essentially Beirute Grandpa who defeated him." Bebe had merely acted as a guide.
Alikun glanced at Bebe, then looked at Salomon. "Salomon, to protect you, I destroyed a Highgod artifact I had nurtured for hundreds of millions of years."
Only then did Linley and the others notice—
The transparent glove on Alikun's right hand had been torn!
"This Beirute truly lives up to his reputation." Alikun's heart trembled. Although he was a reclusive expert, compared to the legendary figure who had suddenly risen to power, Beirute, there was still a significant gap.
Alikun was filled with anger as he stared at Salomon.
A Highgod artifact nurtured for hundreds of millions of years—how precious was that to its owner? After all, a purchased Highgod artifact could never compare to one nurtured for so long. "I said, that Delia and this Bebe must both die!" Salomon said in a low voice.
"That Bebe cannot be killed. Everyone else can die! Salomon, don't test the limits of my patience," Alikun said coldly.
"Fine." Salomon nodded. "I'll spare that brat." The one Salomon hated most in his heart was still Linley.
"Pulsen, make your move," Alikun said coldly.
"Meow..." The little golden cat let out a soft cry.
Strangely enough, the stone walls of the entire cave suddenly pressed inward. The space within the cave rapidly shrank. Linley and the others' expressions changed drastically as the stone walls continuously squeezed toward them. The few Highgod demons immediately roared and furiously slashed at the stone walls.
"Boom!" "Boom!" ...
Explosions rang out continuously, but even a fierce strike only created a half-meter-deep pit, which was instantly repaired.
In an instant, the space inside the cave shrank by seventy percent. The walls pressed all the way to the edge of the golden magma lake. In other words... everyone inside the cave had no place to stand. They could only float, suspended above the golden magma lake.
Even Alikun, Salomon, and the others could only float.
"Delia, quickly have the Death God puppet block below," Linley said, most worried about Delia being dragged into the golden magma lake.
"Mm." Delia nodded gently and exchanged a glance with Linley. "Lord Alikun, Salomon, we haven't interfered. Let us go," Sprey and the other five Highgods quickly said.
Salomon, now filled with rage, coldly glanced at them. "Hmph, all of you, die."
"Pulsen," Alikun said coldly.
"Meow..." The little golden cat let out a soft cry that seemed to carry a hint of delight.
Suddenly—
The golden magma lake below, which had been quietly churning and boiling, erupted with a large number of golden liquid hands reaching upward toward the demons above. The entire golden magma lake produced dozens of hands in one go.
"Whoosh!"
All the demons immediately relied on their speed to dodge. The space above the golden magma lake was filled with countless figures, all desperately trying to escape and evade.
Only Alikun, Salomon, Nisse, and Bebe were not targeted by any golden liquid hands.
"Bebe, go join Delia," Linley transmitted mentally. "Got it, Boss." Bebe immediately moved close to Delia. Sure enough, the golden liquid hands seemed to be wary of Bebe and tried to avoid him as much as possible.
However, the golden liquid hands could also curve around to grab Delia.
With Bebe by her side, Delia's danger level was somewhat reduced.
"If this keeps up, there's no end to it," Linley thought uneasily. He knew... there were no passages around. They could dodge for a while, but they couldn't avoid it forever. Eventually, they would be caught.
"Ah!" Suddenly, a Highgod was caught by a golden liquid hand.
Once caught, numerous liquid hands wrapped around him and dragged him directly into the golden magma lake. This scene made Linley and the others' expressions change drastically.
"Boss!" Bebe's anxious voice rang out in Linley's mind.
Linley turned to look. It was Delia who had been wrapped by a golden liquid hand. Although Delia had Bebe's help, her strength was truly too weak. In the end, she was caught by the golden liquid hand, and once caught, she couldn't break free.
"Sizzle..." Delia's body was dragged into the golden magma lake. Her feet entered first, but Delia's eyes remained fixed on Linley.
Linley seemed to freeze.
"Linley, take care of yourself," Delia's mental transmission echoed in Linley's mind.
"Delia!" Linley's eyes instantly turned bloodshot. Like an arrow, he charged without hesitation toward Delia. Linley gazed at Delia, and Delia gazed back at him. At this moment, only Delia's head was still above the magma lake.
They were only a dozen meters apart—a distance Linley could cover in the blink of an eye.
But in that instant, countless scenes of their time together flashed through Linley's mind like lightning.
Their youth, attending classes together at the academy,
Meeting again after ten years apart,
Getting married in the Chaos Province and having a child. Unwaveringly venturing through Hell together. Quietly and imperceptibly, Delia had become intertwined with his life, inseparable.
In the moment before being submerged in the magma lake, seeing Linley charge toward her without hesitation, Delia's tears fell.
"Splash!" Magma splattered everywhere!
Linley dove into the magma lake and tightly embraced Delia's already dissolving body. A surge of earthy yellow energy erupted from Linley's body, quickly wrapping around Delia, forming a pulsating armor on her. But the golden magma's corrosive power was too strong—the pulsating armor trembled and dissolved continuously.
Linley desperately used the divine power of his Earth God clone to form pulsating armor.
Inside the magma lake.
The earthy yellow energy enveloped Linley and Delia. Strands of strange mental energy slowly coiled toward their souls. These strange strands found the gap in Linley's soul-defending Sovereign artifact and easily pierced through along that gap.
Both Linley and Delia felt drowsy.
"You're so foolish," Delia said, a smile appearing on her face.
"We ventured through Hell together. Even if we die, we die together," Linley said softly.
Delia's mind was groggy, but she still managed a smile. "Linley, I've been very satisfied in this life." Then, she lifted her head with effort and kissed Linley on the lips. Linley kissed Delia back. In the last moment before his mind went blank, scenes from his entire life flashed through Linley's mind like lightning.
Meeting Grandpa Doehring,
Killing the king of the Fenlai Kingdom,
Shaking the world in the O'Brien Empire,
Establishing the Baruch Empire,
Venturing into the Necropolis of the Gods,
Destroying the Radiant Church, with his unwavering wife by his side. When he came to Hell, Linley had long been prepared for death. After all, in Hell, where killing was constant, anyone could die. Even in death... Linley would face it calmly.
Together with his beloved!
"I feel the same. I've been very satisfied in this life!"
Then...
There was no more consciousness.