Chapter 46: Leave No One Behind
Linley felt his heart shatter in an instant!
Being with Delia was like a lone boat returning to harbor, his heart finding unprecedented peace. The two of them were already intertwined in the depths of their souls, unable to be separated from each other!
"No, no, it can't be..." Linley couldn't accept it.
He would rather die himself than witness this scene.
How many years had it been? The first time he learned of his father's death, the time he watched helplessly as Grandpa Doehring sacrificed himself for him—those two times, Linley was overcome with grief and despair. After those two occasions, hatred was buried deep in Linley's heart, and his heart turned cold.
It was precisely because of Delia...
That Linley once again felt the warmth of home. Before Delia, Linley held nothing back, completely merging his heart and soul with hers. Linley felt he was very fortunate; heaven had not treated him poorly...
Because he had Delia, the other half of his life!
But today...
His father's death, Grandpa Doehring's death... those two blows nearly made Linley collapse. And now this blow was even more intense than the previous two. Linley and Delia had been together for far too long!
A thousand years of sharing life's joys and sorrows, their lives had become one!
"This..." Pussro was also stunned.
"Delia!" Bebe was also frozen. Connected to Linley by soul, he could even feel the despair and deathly stillness transmitted from Linley's soul. Bebe couldn't help but tremble in his soul.
What kind of despair was this?
"Boss!" Bebe was on the verge of tears.
"Boom!" Tanpu's entire body was shrouded in black light as he once again violently attacked Linley, who was still standing foolishly in midair.
"Die!" Tanpu trembled with excitement.
He threw a full-force punch at Linley's head. Before the fist even arrived, the spatial ripples it caused had already reached Linley's head. Linley turned his head somewhat dazedly, and what came into view was the fist flowing with black light.
"Ahhh!" Linley let out a terrifying howl like a madman!
His intact left hand suddenly reached out, directly grabbing the incoming fist. Pulling it toward his chest, "Puchi!" That fierce punch shattered the Sovereign's power protecting Linley's body and slammed into his chest.
"Crack!" His sternum broke, his chest caved in.
"Huh?" Tanpu was completely stunned. What was Linley doing?
"Whoosh!" Linley's dragon tail suddenly whipped around, directly entangling Tanpu. Linley's left hand grabbed the opponent's right arm, and his dragon tail bound him, wrapping the two of them together.
Tanpu couldn't break free!
The two faced each other, pressed together!
"Ahhh!" Linley was like a madman. He suddenly jerked his head and smashed it fiercely toward the opponent. The cyan-golden, fierce spike on Linley's forehead, swirling with cyan light, stabbed viciously forward.
"Get lost!" Tanpu tried to break free.
But the Sovereign's power surging on Linley's body was immense. The greatest strength of water-type Sovereign's power was its tenacity, especially since Linley's body was already stronger than his. For Tanpu to break free was difficult!
"Die!!!" Linley howled like a madman! His head crazily and repeatedly smashed toward the opponent's head, and the fierce spike on his forehead, swirling with Sovereign's power, stabbed relentlessly!
What was the hardest and sharpest part of Linley's body?
Not his fists, not his scales. It was this spike!
Just like the Thornback Iron-Armored Dragon, whose strongest attack before death was to shoot out this spike. The spike of a rank 9 magical beast Thornback Iron-Armored Dragon was enough to pierce the body of a Saint-level magical beast. And Linley's spike had been strengthened by the blood essence of the Azure Dragon and Sovereign's power.
Its sharpness was terrifying.
Head-to-head with Tanpu... Tanpu's body was originally inferior to Linley's.
After the Sovereign's power defense was pierced three times in a row, Tanpu only had time to let out a few roars before his voice fell silent.
"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"...
In the blink of an eye, no one knew how many times Linley's head had smashed into the opponent.
Bebe, Pussro, Tevila, and even the four enemy elders were all stunned. Tanpu's entire head had been smashed to pulp. Even his divine spark had been knocked away, but Linley kept smashing.
Smashing the head, smashing the body!
Blood flew everywhere, flesh and blood splattered, a gruesome sight! Linley's eyes were blood-red, utterly insane.
"Boss..." Bebe had never seen Linley so crazy. Through their soul connection, he could feel that Linley was completely in an unconscious state of madness. That wild frenzy made his heart tremble.
"This..." The four elders were also stunned.
A Seven Star Demon's battle could turn out like this?
Linley didn't even block Tanpu's punch, instead entangling him and smashing with his head?
Looking at Linley, with his broken arm, sunken chest, and face covered in blood, they felt a chill in their hearts.
"Linley, stop, stop!" Pussro shouted via divine sense transmission. "Stop now!" Pussro rushed over and gave Linley a heavy punch. Linley's body couldn't help but shake.
This punch woke Linley up.
"What am I doing?" Linley felt he had completely gone mad. Glancing at Delia lying on the ground in the distance, Linley's eyes instantly turned blood-red again. He turned his head to look at the other four elders.
Those four elders had no Sovereign's power!
These four elders had also been stunned by Linley's madness just now and were only now snapping out of it.
"Elder Chabu and the others are dead. There's no point in us staying here. This Pussro appearing is a major accident. Let's flee quickly." The four elders immediately communicated via divine sense and then fled in all directions.
But Linley let out a roar.
"Hum—"
Cyan light spread out, directly covering a range of several hundred meters, enveloping the four elders who were trying to escape. The cyan light then transformed into a giant cube! Blackstone Prison!
A Blackstone Prison formed by Sovereign's power!
Although this water-type Sovereign's power wasn't of the earth attribute, it was still far stronger than Linley's original mid-level earth divine power. Especially its tenacity. And the four enemy elders had no Sovereign's power.
Trapped in the Blackstone Prison, they couldn't escape.
"Linley..." Pussro was about to speak.
"Pussro, Tevila, don't interfere. You two leave this Blackstone Prison first. Leave the four of them to me!" Linley's voice was low. An opening directly appeared above. Pussro and Tevila sighed and flew out.
Inside the Blackstone Prison, Linley could defeat them one by one.
Moreover, they had no Sovereign's power. This wasn't even a battle on the same level! Inside the earthen cube, they crazily attacked the walls, but how could a cube formed by Sovereign's power be broken by them?
Inside one of the rooms.
"It's over." The gray-robed elder was completely despairing.
"Whoosh!" The wall split open, and a figure walked out.
The gray-robed elder's heart trembled. He looked at the blood-soaked, dragonized Linley in front of him.
"It's all because of you." A low voice rang out.
"Whoosh!" Linley charged directly. The gray-robed elder was shocked and tried to resist, but a wave of soul force spread over him. This was a Soul Chaos technique executed with Sovereign's power. The gray-robed elder instantly fell into a dazed state.
Back when Linley fought against Tanpu and the other five, using this move could have put the other four into a dazed state, but Elder Tanpu's soul was protected by Sovereign's power, so Linley couldn't affect him.
Tanpu would naturally protect the other four.
This made Linley's move useless all along. But now... the gray-robed elder, struck by Soul Chaos, was nothing but a target!
"Hello, Linley, my name is Delia..." Linley recalled in his mind the scene when he first met Delia during the wind-type course at Ernst Institute. Back then, Delia was still a cute little girl.
"Bang!" Linley's fist, covered in dragon scales, smashed the gray-robed elder's head.
Linley moved and headed toward the room of another elder.
"Linley, before I leave, could I have a hug?" That night in the small town of Wushan, after Linley's father died, Delia asked for a hug before she left, as a farewell.
And that time, Delia kissed Linley.
"Bang!" Another gray-robed elder died.
Linley walked forward expressionlessly, the wall directly splitting open to form a passage. "Milord, there's someone outside named Delia who says she's your old classmate and wants to see you." That was their first meeting after ten years of separation. At that time, Linley was already the world-renowned Master Linley, and Delia was the envoy of the Yulan Empire. Space exploded open, revealing a large hole. The gray-robed elder's upper body was twisted into pieces.
Linley coldly took another step and merged into the wall.
"I'm crying." Delia hugged Linley's chest. "I just want to cry now. Thinking about your past with Alice makes me want to cry. Thinking about waiting ten years for you makes me want to cry. Wuwu..."
On their wedding night, Delia was still acting spoiled in his arms.
At that moment, the Blackstone Prison also dissipated, and a drop of Sovereign's power was completely consumed.
"Delia..." Linley murmured.
Tears fell, washing away the blood on his face. The others didn't dare to make a sound. They all felt a deathly, oppressive silence. They watched quietly as Linley flew toward Delia.
"Wah!" Weide's cries echoed through the mountains and forests. Hearing his son's cries, Linley's body trembled.
Linley sat silently beside Delia. There were still tears on Delia's face, tears of worry shed when she saw Linley's tragic battle. Linley reached out and gently wiped them away. At this moment, Delia had no trace of life force emanating from her.
"Wah!" Weide kept crying.
Linley also reverted to human form, reached out, and picked up Weide. Weide continued crying in his father's arms.
"Don't cry, Weide." Linley said softly.
"Boss, it's all my fault." Bebe was also in pain.
"Linley, Delia isn't dead!" A voice rang out. Linley's body shook, and he stood up abruptly, turning to look at Pussro in disbelief. "Pussro, what did you say?"
Pussro said solemnly, "Linley, I'm telling you, Delia isn't dead. Not only is she not dead, but the others struck by the Elf Elder's dying blow aren't dead either."
"But, but..." Linley couldn't sense any life force from Delia at all.
Pussro affirmed, "The Elf Elder's dying blow released at least nearly a million green light points. Many people fell after being hit by just one. Do you think... this Elf Elder could kill a million Highgods with one move?"
Linley snapped awake.
Right. No matter how powerful the elder, killing a hundred or even a thousand people with one move was possible. But killing a million Highgods was absolutely impossible!
In reality, although the green light points released by the Elf Elder numbered nearly a million, even if the area was crowded and dense, most of the green light points would be blocked by the people in front.
Killing ten thousand people would already be impressive.
"Then Delia isn't dead, but why doesn't she have any life force at all?" Linley turned to look at Delia. A thread of spiritual force immediately extended and slowly entered Delia's mind.
In Delia's soul sea, her divine spark was still there. The soul sea had no ripples, completely still, with no trace of life.
"But that Elf Elder should have been a strong expert from the Eddrick family, relocated from the Life Plane. He cultivated the Laws of Life." Pussro said solemnly. "Although these people who were hit aren't dead yet, they aren't much different from being dead."
Linley shook his head vigorously.
Then he stared at Pussro. "Pussro, tell me, what exactly is wrong with Delia? Is there a way to save her?"
Pussro sighed softly. "Linley, the best at healing the soul is the Laws of Life, but the most bizarre at harming the soul is also those who cultivate the Laws of Life. That Elf Elder was an elite among them. The move he released before death, those countless green light points, was actually just a seed."
"Seed?" Linley didn't quite understand.
"Linley, the most fundamental thing in a person is the soul!" Pussro explained. "Those green light points penetrate the soul and begin to devour the soul's energy, converting it into their own energy."
"Devour, convert?" Linley was starting to understand.
"One green light point is very weak, vastly different from the entire soul. But one green light point devours once, and one becomes two green light points. Then the two light points continue to devour, becoming four, then four become eight... expanding like this endlessly..." There was also fear in Pussro's eyes. "Very terrifying! Although a Highgod's soul is very powerful, with this kind of devouring, the soul will continuously weaken. One day, the soul will be completely converted into green light points. At that time, that will be the moment Delia dies!"
Linley found it hard to believe.
The soul could be strong, but also fragile. Generally, if part of it was shattered, the soul would be finished. But this devouring... wouldn't immediately destroy the soul. Because, to be precise, the green light points merging into the soul could also be considered part of the soul.
In fact, this was a kind of soul decay process. When the decay was complete, the soul would be finished.
"Is there a way to save her?" Linley quickly asked. Pussro had high achievements in the soul as well.
"This involves the interior of the soul. Saving her is very difficult," Pussro shook his head. "I only cultivate the Laws of Fire. I'm good at attacking, but healing... alas!"
Linley's face immediately changed.
"But a super expert who cultivates the Laws of Life should be able to save Delia. However, the farthest we can get to is the Sacred Mountain of Trials," Pussro said. "And the Four Divine Beasts clan at the Sacred Mountain of Trials doesn't cultivate the Laws of Life. If we go elsewhere to find an expert, it will be too late, too late!!!"
Too late!
Those words made Linley's body sway.
"Too late?" Linley panicked.
"In the Infernal Realm, there are very few who cultivate the Laws of Life. The Eight Great Clans have some, but they are your enemies. How could they possibly help?" Pussro shook his head and sighed.
"No, go somewhere else!" Linley said urgently.
"It's impossible. It's too late. At this rate of devouring... in a year or half a year, Delia's soul will be completely devoured," Pussro said helplessly. "In this Azure Prefecture, aside from the Eight Great Clans, I don't know of any other force that has a super expert skilled in the Laws of Life."
Linley looked down at Delia.
Delia lay there quietly.
"No, no..." Linley couldn't accept it.
Although she wasn't dead yet, she would still die later?
But in just a year or half a year, even if he flew as fast as possible, he would at most be within the Azure Prefecture. And the strongest in the Azure Prefecture were the Four Divine Beasts clan and the Eight Great Clans. Only the Eddrick family, which came from the Life Plane, would have super experts in the Laws of Life.
Other forces?
At least the Four Divine Beasts clan didn't have any.
What to do?
"Delia..." Linley was being driven mad.
Pussro looked around. Many members of the Azure Dragon clan were lying on the ground. "So many people!" He sighed. "Although these green light points are weak, they are very troublesome. Ordinary Highgods can't withstand them unless they have a soul defense Sovereign artifact or Sovereign's power. This Elf Elder was indeed ruthless enough."
Immersed in grief, Linley suddenly caught those words—Sovereign's power.
"Sovereign's power?" Linley's body trembled.
"Sovereign's power can block it!" Linley's heart was trembling!
"Linley, what's wrong?" Pussro looked at him. Linley suddenly turned his head and stared at him. "Pussro, you said Sovereign's power can block it? Do you mean that if I gave Delia Sovereign's power, she wouldn't die from being hit?"
"Yes. The Elf Elder's attack was powerful, but when it encounters Sovereign's power, it will still dissipate. How could it break through the defense of Sovereign's power?" Pussro nodded. "But don't be too sad. After all, you need to use Sovereign's power for battle."
Linley was stunned.
Battle? Battle?
But he had three drops!
"Why didn't I give Delia any? Why?" Linley's face turned pale. "Why didn't I give Delia any? Why? Why?!" Linley flipped his hand, and a drop of cyan liquid appeared in his palm, dazzling and brilliant under the sunlight.
"This..." Pussro was also stunned when he saw this drop of Sovereign's power.
"Wah!" Weide's cries continued to echo.
Linley looked down at the crying Weide, then at the sleeping Delia. He turned his head to look at this drop of cyan liquid. His gaze grew increasingly wild, the muscles on his face twitching, his complexion turning purple. Then a trace of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
"Ahhh!" A howl of immense regret erupted from Linley's mouth, echoing through the sky.