Chapter 20: The Token
The bubbling golden magma lake churned endlessly, and the enormous golden liquid hand reached out to grab the remaining three upper-tier demon gods.
Only the three of them were still alive!
"Salomon, that bastard—if we die, we're taking him with us," Spheri transmitted telepathically to the other two. They could already feel how difficult it was to dodge.
"Fine, let him die with us!"
Demons in the underworld were all prepared for death, but that didn't mean they were willing to die. Even if they perished, they wouldn't let their enemy off easy!
"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"
The three upper-tier demon gods charged toward Salomon almost simultaneously. But before they could get close to him, that withered, scorched-black hand came slapping down. With a "Boom!" the head of one upper-tier demon god exploded on the spot.
"Aliquinn!" The other two upper-tier demon gods were horrified.
Clearly, Aliquinn wasn't going to let them kill Salomon!
"Kill his sister!" Spheri and the other upper-tier demon god knew they were doomed. Burning with rage, they were determined to take at least one life at this point. The two demons narrowly dodged the enormous golden liquid hand and charged straight toward Nis, who was floating nearby.
At that moment, Bebe was hovering motionless. When he saw Linley and Delia sink into the golden magma pool, he was stunned. But then—
"Boss, he's not dead." Bebe's eyes lit up with surprise. "I can feel his soul!"
The two were connected by soul. If Linley wasn't dead, Bebe would know it.
The golden magma pool wasn't that large. With the speed of an upper-tier demon god, Nis barely had time to move before the demon was right in front of her. A blurry, twisted blade shadow slashed toward her instantly, and her face turned deathly pale.
"Clang!" The sound of metal striking metal.
Nis felt herself being tightly embraced. Startled, she opened her eyes and saw: "Bebe!" It was Bebe, holding her and taking the blow for her.
"Ah!" The upper-tier demon god was knocked back by the rebound from his slash and was immediately caught by the golden liquid hand below. Despite struggling desperately, he was dragged down into the golden magma pool, never to be heard from again.
"Sizzle, sizzle..."
A mass of golden liquid hands, like petals closing, directly engulfed the last upper-tier demon god, Spheri, and pulled him into the golden magma lake.
"Bebe, are you okay?" Nis asked worriedly. As soon as she spoke, she suddenly came to her senses. She remembered that Linley and the others might have revealed her brother's secret. This Bebe was probably just pretending to be close to her.
"I'm fine. That bastard even used a soul attack." Bebe's face was a bit pale, but then he paused, noticing Nis's expression.
Bebe gave a bitter smile and gently let go of Nis.
Nis left his embrace and, for some reason, felt a pang in her heart.
Bebe rubbed his nose. "I was being presumptuous." Nis felt a deep ache inside, but the matter of the leaked secret was like a thorn in her heart: "No, if Bebe was really deceiving me, he wouldn't have risked his life to save me just now."
"Take care of yourself, Linley and Nis." A voice sounded in her ear, followed by a splash!
Nis snapped back to reality, but by then, Bebe had already entered the magma lake. Nis was stunned. She could still clearly remember that playful, straw-hat-wearing youth who sometimes showed genuine concern for her.
"Bebe... is he dead?" Nis felt as if her heart were being torn apart.
"Nis, what are you doing!" Salomon shouted as he flew to her side.
"Brother, Bebe..." A layer of mist rose in Nis's eyes.
Salomon barked, "What are you thinking? That Bebe did it on purpose. His body is tough enough to withstand that blow, so he deliberately acted that way. It wasn't dangerous for him at all! Remember, Linley and the others are our enemies. It's a good thing they're dead, or else..."
Salomon was still filled with resentment.
"But... but if Bebe didn't care about me, he could have just not saved me," Nis argued.
"That's exactly what he wanted you to think." Salomon snorted coldly. "Nis, that Bebe is cunning."
A rumbling sound echoed as the cave walls expanded outward again, making the space larger. Aliquinn, holding the golden kitten, landed on the flat ground. Salomon grabbed his sister and flew over.
At the bottom of the golden magma lake, there was a spot where the magma automatically parted, forming a vacuum zone. Linley and Delia were embracing there.
"What... what's going on?" Both Linley and Delia had woken up.
Delia quickly used divine power to repair her body and looked at Linley in confusion. Linley shook his head. "I don't know either."
Then, both Linley and Delia smiled.
"Linley, I thought I was dead," Delia whispered.
"I thought I was going to die too," Linley said, a warmth filling his heart. What more could he ask for in life than to have such a wife?
Having truly walked the line between life and death, especially this time, Linley had genuinely believed he was done for. Who would have thought he wasn't? The feeling was deeply moving.
"Linley." Delia looked up at him from within his arms. "After this, I feel at peace. Linley, even though the underworld is full of dangers, as long as you're with me, I won't be afraid no matter where we go."
Linley held Delia close, his heart brimming with happiness. He said nothing.
"You two are quite comfortable, aren't you?" A deep voice echoed in Linley and Delia's minds.
Both were startled. "Who are you?" Linley asked aloud.
"Everyone who fell into this liquid golden flame lake has died—even the upper-tier gods," the deep voice continued. "Except for you two."
Linley and Delia instantly realized who it was.
"You're the volcano giant?" Linley said.
"Yes, you can call me Pulos," the deep voice replied.
"Pulos?" Linley suddenly recalled the golden kitten the black-robed man Aliquinn had been holding. Aliquinn had indeed called it Pulos.
"You're from the Four Divine Beasts clan, and more importantly, you have a close relationship with that Bebe. That's why my master spared your lives. Having you enter this liquid golden flame lake was just to fool Salomon for now."
"Stay here for now. I won't take your lives. You should know that I could kill you at any moment. Don't surface."
With that, the voice faded.
Linley and Delia exchanged glances and smiled. Delia said, "Linley, earlier when I saw Aliquinn didn't dare to harm Bebe and wanted to spare him, I wondered... why didn't he spare us too? So this was Aliquinn's plan all along."
Linley nodded with a smile.
Indeed, everyone else who entered this golden magma lake had died, giving Salomon the false impression that anyone who entered would perish.
In reality, the golden magma lake was controlled by Pulos. If he didn't want someone dead, they wouldn't die.
"Pulos's strength is terrifying," Linley thought to himself. Those soul-force threads had slipped right through the gaps in his soul defense. Linley had long known that powerful upper-tier gods could do this.
And now, he had encountered one.
"Splash!"
Suddenly, a figure shot down toward the bottom, heading straight for them. Linley clearly sensed the soul fluctuations: "Bebe, why did you jump down too!" In moments, Bebe reached the vacuum zone.
"Boss, you're both okay!" Bebe was overjoyed to see Linley and Delia.
"You people are such a hassle!" Pulos's voice rang out again in their minds.
"Who's that?" Bebe's expression changed.
Linley explained, "It's the volcano giant, Pulos."
"Pulos? Is that the cat?" Bebe's eyes lit up.
"Don't call me a cat!!!" Pulos's angry voice boomed. "Fine, all three of you stay put inside. Don't go out. You can hear everything from outside, but don't worry—your voices won't carry out."
Linley, Delia, and Bebe stayed at the bottom of the golden magma lake and could indeed hear the sounds from above. Aliquinn, holding the golden kitten, smiled faintly at the Salomon before him: "Salomon, those people are dead. I've done you a favor. Now, hand over your family's wealth. Is it on you, or stored elsewhere?"
Nis looked tense.
Salomon, however, smiled calmly. "Yes, I admit I'm from the Boyce family. But Mr. Aliquinn, I must tell you something."
"Speak." Aliquinn frowned, sensing something was off.
"The money I have on me, including what's stored elsewhere, doesn't exceed ten billion Mo Stones!" Salomon said with a faint smile.
Ten billion Mo Stones was a huge sum for an ordinary upper-tier god, but it meant nothing to Aliquinn and was a drop in the bucket for the Boyce family.
"Are you mocking me?" Aliquinn's expression darkened.
Salomon quickly added, "No, no, I'm not mocking you. To be honest, those two old servants of mine did bring me a massive fortune back then, but... I gave that fortune to someone!"
"To whom?" Aliquinn frowned. "Don't try to fool me."
"Lord Aiken!" Salomon replied.
Aliquinn's face changed. "Aiken?" Rage surged within him. "Salomon, Lord Aiken is powerful, and I, Aliquinn, dare not provoke him. But do you think you can just throw out a name and make me back off? Why not say it was Beirut? Why not say it was the great Sovereign, the Violet Thorn Monarch? Anyone can name-drop!"
Aliquinn flipped his hand, and a black token appeared, covered in intricate patterns.
"You should recognize this token," Salomon said.
"Hmm?"
Aliquinn's expression shifted, and he fell silent. He recognized it—this was indeed Lord Aiken's token. Since Salomon held it, he must have some connection to Aiken, or perhaps he was carrying out a task for him.
Aiken was one of the most formidable figures in the Violet Thorn Continent. Some suspected he had reached the Great Perfection stage. He had once been a Sovereign, but later voluntarily stepped down, letting another Seven-Star Demon take over. No one doubted Aiken's strength. Even though he was no longer a Sovereign, his power far exceeded that of most Sovereigns.
Aiken of the Violet Thorn Continent and Beirut of the Blood Peak Continent were the most dazzling figures.
"Bubble, bubble..." The only sound in the cave was the churning of the golden magma. Silence reigned.
"Inigo, what do you think?" Aliquinn turned to look behind him. Suddenly, a crack opened in the stone wall, and a figure emerged—Inigo.
Inigo walked out. He had been listening the whole time.
"This Salomon may hold Lord Aiken's token, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have his family's wealth," Inigo said.
"You are—" Salomon and Nis stared at him.
"I saw you at the desert castle," Nis exclaimed.
Inigo paused. Yes, when the desert castle collapsed, Inigo and a few others had been seen.
Inigo smiled faintly. "That's right, Salomon. I was the one hunting you. What of it?"
"And this time?" Salomon was starting to piece things together.
"Yes, I was the one who told Lord Aliquinn about your identity." Inigo let out a sneer. "Hmph. Back when you were in Liang'an Prefecture, you were kicked out of the Boyce family. It was a minor matter, but I happened to notice it back then."
Salomon was stunned.
"That poor kid named Linley was wrongly accused by you," Inigo said with a laugh.