Chapter 47: Asking for Help
“It’s me, it’s all my fault. If I had given a drop of Sovereign’s power to Delia earlier, she wouldn’t have died!”
“Why didn’t I give it to Delia? Why, why, why!!!”
Endless remorse filled Linley’s chest. The emotion of regret fiercely battered his heart and mind. Linley’s thoughts were completely in chaos, utterly trapped in a state of extreme self-blame.
Bebe, Phusro, and Tevila exchanged glances, their faces revealing anxiety.
“Wah!” Little Wade kept crying. The sound of his weeping was unusually piercing in the deathly silent mountain forest, but to Linley, each cry felt like a stab to his heart.
“Don’t cry, Wade, don’t cry.” Bebe held Wade, growing anxious as well.
“Boss!” Bebe said urgently.
“Linley!” Phusro shouted anxiously.
But Linley seemed not to hear them, completely immersed in his own endless regret. His expression and complexion were frightening to behold.
“Right!” Linley suddenly growled in a low voice. “It’s my selfishness! I was always thinking about my own safety, never considering Delia. I kept the Sovereign’s power on myself. It’s my selfishness, I’m too selfish!!!”
Self-blame and regret!
In his confused state of mind, Linley thought of selfishness and placed all the blame on himself.
In truth, Delia was too weak. Even if she used Sovereign’s power, she wouldn’t have been able to defeat a Seven Star Fiend. Linley using his own Sovereign’s power to protect Delia was only natural.
If Linley were truly selfish…
When facing the combined attack of the seven elders, he wouldn’t have pushed Delia away at the most critical moment, wasting that crucial instant. After all, at that time, he could have dodged on his own.
Seven attacks had all struck him.
Linley had nearly died. Even though he survived, his Sovereign’s power defense was broken, and his body was crippled.
But now, Linley’s thinking had fallen into a trap, and no one could persuade him.
“It’s my selfishness, it’s all me. If I had given the Sovereign’s power to Delia, she wouldn’t have died.” Linley’s mind was in turmoil, with only this sentence echoing repeatedly in his thoughts.
“Linley!” Phusro suddenly roared. “Hurry up and save Delia! Wasting time now is killing Delia!!!”
These words jolted Linley awake.
Seeing Delia lying on the ground, Linley shuddered and regained his clarity: “Every moment that passes, Delia’s soul is devoured and transformed a little more. I can’t waste time, I can’t!”
At this moment, Linley’s right arm had only regrown to his elbow. The stronger the body, the slower the recovery.
“Phusro.” Linley turned to look at Phusro. “My mind is a bit confused right now. Tell me, what should I do? How can I better save Delia?”
Linley’s current state was indeed unfit for making decisions.
Phusro breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. For Linley to say this meant his mind was at least somewhat clear. Phusro said solemnly, “Linley. When it comes to familiarity with the experts of the Azure Prefecture, neither you nor I can match your clan’s patriarch, Galesreyn. As the leader of the Four Divine Beasts clan, he knows far more than either of us! Who can save Delia? Your patriarch would know best. It’s possible that someone within the Four Divine Beasts clan can save Delia.”
Linley’s eyes lit up.
“Right. The Four Divine Beasts clan has existed for so many years. There might really be a super expert who can treat Delia.” A glimmer of hope arose in Linley’s heart.
“Now, we need to return to the Sacrificial Mountains as fast as possible. Normally, taking a metallic lifeform would take nearly two months, but if we travel day and night, we can probably make it in ten days to half a month. Once we reach the Sacrificial Mountains, there will be more people and more methods.” Phusro said quickly.
Linley made up his mind.
“Let’s do that.” Linley fully Dragonized again. In terms of flight speed, the Dragonized state was indeed much faster.
Linley looked down at Delia lying on the ground. She looked as if she were asleep. Linley said softly, “Delia, hold on.” Then, extending his left hand, he picked her up and held her in his arms.
“Phusro, please take care of Wade.” Linley said. “We’ll set off immediately.”
“Alright.” Phusro took Wade from Bebe.
“Boss, don’t be too sad. Delia will be fine.” Bebe comforted him. Linley forced a faint smile and nodded slightly. “Mm, Bebe, you go with the others. Phusro and I will head back first.”
Bebe nodded, then watched as Linley and Phusro instantly streaked across the sky, disappearing beyond the horizon.
Tears glistened in Bebe’s eyes as he looked up at the sky: “O Sovereigns, Boss’s father is already dead, and Grandpa Doehring is dead too. Please don’t let Delia die as well. If Delia dies, Boss will…”
Bebe had walked through so many years with Linley and knew him very well.
No matter how great the difficulty or how perilous the situation, Linley would never waver or show fear. But… when those closest to him left, the blow to Linley would be devastating.
“Alright, everyone, get into the metallic lifeform quickly. We’ll speed up our return.” Tevila shouted loudly. “Don’t be sad. Move the unconscious clan members into the metallic lifeform. We’ll head back as fast as possible.”
Delia wasn’t the only one unconscious. Many clan members were lying on the ground, and many others were grieving nearby. When they learned that these people weren’t dead, they too found a glimmer of hope.
All the members of the Azure Dragon clan entered the lifeform, and then the metallic lifeform tore through the sky, flying at top speed toward the Sacrificial Mountains.
After the Azure Dragon clan left, only the people from another metallic lifeform remained at the scene.
“That was incredible! Especially that Azure Dragon clan expert. He fought five experts alone and slaughtered them all!” These people weren’t saddened by Delia’s fate; they were only shocked by the battle they had witnessed.
“That dead gray-robed man was also formidable. Those green lights were truly terrifying.”
“Did anyone catch the Azure Dragon expert’s name? I think I heard that fiery red-haired giant shout something like ‘Linley’.”
“Yes, Linley. I heard it too.”
“This Linley, judging by his strength, is at least an elder of the Azure Dragon clan.” Those who had watched the great battle and recorded it with floating images also boarded their metallic lifeform and left.
Moments later—
Several figures dashed to the site of the battle.
“Even Elder Chabre is dead. All eight elders are dead!”
Linley was currently flying side by side with Phusro at extreme speed. However, even in his Dragonized state, Linley’s flight speed was far inferior to Phusro’s. Phusro extended his energy, carrying Linley along with him.
This increased their speed even further.
Linley looked down at Delia. She still lay unconscious with her eyes closed, completely unresponsive. By now, Linley’s arms had fully healed.
“Delia, you’ll be fine.”
Linley said softly. Toward Delia, his heart was filled with endless guilt and self-blame. If Delia truly died, Linley didn’t know what he would do. He simply couldn’t accept it.
Seeing Linley like this, Phusro sighed inwardly.
“Does love really make people like this?” Phusro wondered. Back when he was at the Saint level, he had been subdued by Alikewen and spent years as that golden kitten, never having the chance to experience love.
“Linley, don’t worry. At my speed, we’ll reach the Sacrificial Mountains soon.” Phusro comforted him.
“Mm. Phusro, I really thank you this time.” Though Linley was anxious, he still expressed his gratitude.
“Thank me for what? If anything, it’s my fault for letting that Elf Elder use his final move.” Phusro said with shame. In truth, that Elder Chabre was the strongest among the eight elders.
His strength was nearly on par with an Asura. And with the addition of a drop of Sovereign’s power, he was indeed terrifying.
“It’s not your fault. That man was truly powerful.” Linley also remembered that although he had faced the combined attack of seven elders, the greatest threat had been the Elf Elder. That single move had nearly finished him off.
“I’m still not strong enough.” Linley stared into the distant horizon.
The two of them, transformed into streaks of fire, flew at extreme speed across the sky.
Finally, the Sacrificial Mountains arrived!
After flying for six days and one night, Linley and Phusro reached the Sacrificial Mountains as darkness fell.
As soon as Linley saw the Dragon Path in the distance, his heart trembled. While flying over at top speed, he immediately shouted urgently, “Patriarch! Patriarch!!!” Linley’s voice instantly echoed across the sky above the Sacrificial Mountains.
“Who goes there? Stop immediately!” The patrolling warriors of the Sacrificial Mountains shouted.
Linley and Phusro were flying too fast, their bodies shrouded in flames, so the patrolling warriors couldn’t see them clearly.
“Whoosh.” Phusro immediately withdrew his fire-type divine power, and the patrolling warriors could now see them clearly. One of them was in Dragonized form, clearly a member of the Azure Dragon clan. They breathed a sigh of relief.
“It’s Elder Linley!” A patrolling warrior recognized him.
The Dragonized form with its fierce spikes had become Linley’s trademark.
“Linley, what’s wrong?” A figure flew over rapidly. It was Elder Garvey. Seeing Linley so flustered and covered in blood, he immediately asked, “What happened? What’s wrong with Delia?”
“Delia, she…” Before Linley could finish.
“Linley!” A voice rang out. A burly, blue-haired giant flew over at top speed. It was Galesreyn, the patriarch of the Azure Dragon clan. He immediately spotted Phusro. “What happened?”
“We were attacked. Delia is in grave danger.” Phusro said quickly.
Seeing this, Galesreyn said, “Come, let’s go to my place.” He then led Linley and the others toward the patriarch’s residence.
Inside the main hall of the patriarch’s residence.
Linley gently placed Delia on a chair, then turned to look at Galesreyn. “Patriarch, Delia was hit by a soul attack from an elder of the Eddrick family, one of the eight great clans…”
“Eddrick family? Life-style rules?” Galesreyn’s expression changed. He immediately began to carefully probe Delia’s condition with his soul power.
Linley watched this scene with hope. The patriarch was not only physically powerful but also extremely skilled in soul matters. Perhaps the patriarch had a way to save Delia. As Linley waited, his heart began to tremble.
Elder Garvey and Phusro stood to the side, not daring to make a sound.
“Impressive, impressive!” Galesreyn exclaimed in admiration.
“What is it?” Linley asked quickly.
Galesreyn turned to Linley and said solemnly, “Right now, the devouring and transformation of Delia’s soul isn’t too severe. But this devouring accelerates over time… I never thought there was such a move within the Life-style rules. As for this… sigh…” Galesreyn shook his head and sighed.
Linley was stunned.
“But don’t worry. Just because I can’t save her doesn’t mean no one else can.” Galesreyn said quickly.
Just then, two people rushed in from outside. One of them was Furlan.
“What major event has happened?” Furlan asked urgently. When he caught sight of Linley, his expression changed. Linley was still alive… This was far beyond his expectations.
“Furlan, you’ve come at the right time. You and Garvey, go to the Blood Battle Valley immediately and summon the Grand Elder and the others. Also, quickly invite the patriarchs of the other three clans. Go now.” Galesreyn commanded.