Chapter 9: Battle!
"Linley Baruch?" Odin immediately knew who this visitor was. Linley's reputation on the Yulan continent was simply too great. In terms of status, he was even higher than the War God and High Priest had been in their time. After all, Linley's achievements were truly legendary.
Odin's face turned ashen. He stared fixedly at Linley, forcing out words through gritted teeth: "You still dare to come!"
"If I didn't come, how could I kill you?" Linley's voice was icy.
"Ha, haha..." Odin laughed in fury.
The deaths of his son and brother had already set Odin ablaze with rage. He also knew about Linley's affairs. Nearly two thousand years ago, Linley had only just stepped into the Demigod level. In Odin's view, even if Linley was a genius, reaching Highgod would be impressive enough. Fusing profound mysteries?
That couldn't be accomplished in a short time.
The moment Odin laughed in fury, his entire body transformed into a blur, instantly appearing before Linley. With a "bang" of impact, Linley's figure was sent rebounding out of the great hall. Odin sneered coldly toward the hall, then flickered and flew out as well.
"A great battle between Linley and His Majesty Odin..."
Immediately, the crowd of ministers in the great hall scrambled outside, along with numerous palace guards and attendants. They all looked in every direction, even up at the sky, trying to find Linley and Odin. But they couldn't see them.
"Who do you think will win, His Majesty or Grandmaster Linley?" the ministers whispered.
"Back then, with a wave of his hand, His Majesty destroyed half the imperial capital of the Yulan Empire. With strength like that, he'll surely win."
"Grandmaster Linley hasn't appeared in nearly two thousand years. With his extraordinary talent, he must be even stronger now."
Just as the ministers were murmuring among themselves, a terrifying explosion suddenly came from a corner of the imperial palace—
"Boom!"
A distant palace exploded violently. Countless fragments of stone and tile shot out in all directions at incredible speed. Those fragments, flying hundreds of meters, slammed into the palace walls with "bang" sounds, leaving large holes. Screams rang out continuously. Numerous innocent maids and guards, caught in the blast, were struck by debris—heads shattered, arms broken...
But the ministers all looked up.
The messenger, escorted by palace guards, also looked up.
Above the Odin Empire's imperial palace, Linley and Odin hovered in midair. Linley had now fully dragonized, his body covered in dragon scales, his dark-golden eyes staring coldly at Odin across from him. Odin, however, wore an expression of utter disbelief: "No, impossible, impossible!"
The brief exchange had left Odin stunned.
"Physical attack?" Linley said coldly. "I know you specialize in Death-type attacks. Why aren't you using them?" Linley had noticed that during their exchange, Odin had been using the Elemental Laws of Wind. His body radiated wind-element aura, with no trace of death aura at all.
Based on what Linley knew—
This Odin, known as the Evil Sovereign, was strongest in the Law of Death.
Odin gritted his teeth, glaring at Linley: "Dealing with you doesn't require it! I'll make you know what regret means!" As he spoke, his body moved. Suddenly, a tornado swept across the sky. At the center of the tornado, Odin, carrying a world-destroying momentum, appeared before Linley in an instant. He immediately struck down with a fierce palm-blade toward Linley—
"Riiip—"
A clear spatial rift appeared in the air. This was a material plane, after all. Highgods could tear space apart with ease.
"Ridiculous." Linley didn't block at all. Instead, he charged toward Odin, letting the palm-blade strike his body.
"Clang!"
The palm-blade struck Linley's body, producing a metallic clang. Only a faint white mark appeared on Linley's scales. This sight left Odin dumbfounded. But Linley seized the moment, his dragon claw grabbing Odin's right arm and violently yanking—
Flesh tore and flew. The right arm was ripped clean off.
"Whoosh!" A lightning-fast dragon tail swept in next.
Odin hurriedly dodged, but no matter how fast he moved, a deep wound was left on his abdomen, blood gushing out. Odin stared at Linley in shock: "How can your body be so..." Even as he spoke, his wounds healed rapidly. Regrowing the severed arm was a bit slower.
"Too weak, too weak!"
Linley said indifferently, releasing his grip. The torn-off arm fell from midair, crashing onto the palace ruins below. The tornado Odin had summoned earlier with his physical attack had already destroyed much of the palace. The ministers, covered in dust and grime, huddled under the protection of the palace's experts.
"Impossible!" Odin roared and charged again. His entire body formed a faint sword-shape, a virtual great sword slashing directly at Linley.
Linley smiled coldly, his speed suddenly increasing dramatically. He dodged the sword strike and, with a single claw, slapped Odin's face, tearing off a large chunk of flesh. Odin was sent flying.
"Too slow." Linley continued. Having reached Highgod, his speed had increased greatly. Combined with his formidable body, his speed far surpassed Odin's wind-element divine clone. Odin had no ability to resist, especially since he was only using his wind-element divine clone, not his strongest death-element divine clone.
Odin turned to look at Linley, his eyes filled with shock and fury. He couldn't accept this!
"How is he this strong?" Odin couldn't believe it.
"What about your death-element divine clone?" Linley's voice had barely faded when his figure appeared beside Odin. His right leg, like a warblade, slashed toward Odin's neck. Odin, terrified, retreated hastily. Just as he dodged that kick, before he could catch his breath, a "bang" sounded as Linley's dragon tail swept across Odin's waist—
Odin's body was severed in two. Broken bones, organs, and gore spilled out everywhere.
His upper half was sent flying.
"Aren't you supposed to be strong?" Linley's voice rang out. "Bang!" A straight punch slammed into Odin's chest. His chest caved in like mud, blood spraying wildly. But Odin's lower half was rapidly regenerating. His left arm swung fiercely toward Linley.
"Aren't you the Evil Sovereign?"
"Bang!" A kick struck the left arm. Odin flew again.
"Aren't you going to make me regret it?" Linley slapped Odin's head. Odin, like an arrow loosed from a bowstring, plummeted downward. With a "bang," he crashed into the stone ground, cracking it apart. Odin's entire body was embedded in it.
Linley descended slowly until he was close to the ground.
"Come out. I know you're not dead," Linley said coldly.
From start to finish, Linley hadn't used a killing blow. Killing Odin so easily would be letting him off too comfortably. Linley remembered clearly how Odin had tortured Boss Yale. The Odin Empire's imperial palace alone had dozens of Demigods and Gods, all Odin's subordinates. Now, they watched in disbelief... their invincible king was being toyed with, utterly powerless!
"His Majesty..." The ministers were dumbfounded.
"Hmph, your Odin Empire is finished!" the bound Baruch Empire messenger declared, lifting his head.
At that moment, a group watching from afar in the sky flew over. It was Bebe, Wharton, Delia, Taylor, and the others. They all entered the palace grounds. To them, the palace was open for entry; no one could stop them.
Reynolds saw this and couldn't hold back tears: "Boss, second brother, Odin is about to die. Your revenge is at hand!"
At the center of the battlefield, the cracked ground burst open. A figure climbed slowly out—Odin. His body had fully healed, but his eyes burned with rage and unwillingness.
"Any more tricks?" Linley sneered.
Even as he spoke, his figure moved forward. Odin tried to retreat, but Linley's leg struck him squarely in the groin. A cracking sound followed. Odin screamed in agony, sent flying, then crashed to the ground.
"What about your death-element divine clone?" Linley stared coldly at him. "What, you'd rather let this wind-element divine clone be destroyed than bring your death-element divine clone here?" Linley could tell that Odin's wind-element divine clone wasn't strong. What he really wanted to kill was the death-element divine clone.
"You, you..." Odin glared at Linley with venomous hatred.
He wanted to kill Linley, but he couldn't.
"Linley, you're ruthless enough. Vicious enough!" Odin roared in fury. "But you can't kill me!" With another roar, Odin's body split into nearly a thousand figures, fleeing in all directions—up, down, and every side. It was the wind-element law's clone technique. Linley watched, unmoving.
Suddenly—
A hazy, earthy-yellow light covered a thousand-meter radius. A terrifying gravitational force instantly acted on all of Odin's clones. Strangely, the maids, guards, and even Reynolds and Bebe within the same area felt nothing. "Bang!" "Bang!"... A series of explosions followed. The energy clones, caught in the terrifying gravitational field, collapsed and exploded! The violent energy once again ravaged the palace grounds and walls, leaving chaos everywhere.
Linley's ultimate technique—Blackstone Space! Gravity toward Linley!
Odin's body remained, only his wind-element divine clone yet to explode.
Naturally, after reaching Highgod, Linley's Blackstone Space had increased in power tenfold, far stronger than before. With such terrifying gravity, even a Seven-Star Fiend would struggle to resist it. In such a gravitational field, if the body wasn't strong enough, it wouldn't just fall—it would—
Collapse entirely!
The energy clones' bodies weren't stable enough to withstand the gravity and could only explode.
"Grr..." Odin struggled desperately against the gravity, but he was pulled inexorably toward Linley.
"This, this..." Odin couldn't believe it.
"What, still not bringing out your death-element divine clone?" Linley sneered. He had already spread his divine sense across the entire Yulan continent but found no trace of Odin's other divine clones.
"Impressive." Odin regained his composure. "In less than two thousand years, you've become this strong. Your gravity space is indeed formidable. Go ahead and kill me..." Odin stopped resisting. Not that he didn't want to, but he realized he couldn't.
He chose death!
"Want to die?"
Linley scoffed. "Have you forgotten what you did to my big brother Yale?"
Odin's expression froze.
"Buzz—" Soul power spread out directly, and Soul Confusion struck Odin's soul. Linley's Soul Confusion was extremely twisted... At the Highgod level, he could already plunge ordinary Five-Star and Six-Star Fiends into a dazed state.
Sure enough—
Odin's eyes went vacant.
"Indeed, just a Five-Star Fiend's strength, at most approaching Six-Star." Linley's form shifted, returning to human shape. White robes once again appeared on his body.
Odin stood there, dazed.
Linley turned and swept his gaze across the entire palace, then announced loudly: "This Odin has lost all ability to resist." With a kick, he sent Odin flying. Odin, like a wooden puppet, crashed to the ground and lay still.
All the experts watching this scene trembled in fear. Clearly—Odin had lost consciousness.
"Now, all eighty-two Demigods and Gods in the imperial capital, come here immediately. Otherwise, death will be your next fate!" Linley said coldly, simultaneously transmitting his voice into the minds of those eighty-two. Odin's former subordinates, now terrified, flew over at once.
Linley's gaze fell on Odin.
"Death? I'll make you die in pain and regret." Linley's eyes were utterly cold.
PS: Chapter one is here.