Chapter 44: The Outcome
Montero’s corpse lay sprawled on the ground, and the wilderness once again fell into silence and chill. Only the never-ending cold wind continued to blow.
Linley picked up the golden badge, a smile spreading across his face. “This is the second golden badge we’ve obtained in this battle!” Linley’s eyes were fixed solely on this golden badge. As for Montero’s defensive Sovereign artifact, Linley merely glanced at it. This defensive Sovereign artifact would ultimately be reclaimed by the Sovereign in the end.
Bebe also ran over, excitedly saying, “Boss, the second one! Earlier, when that green-haired girl died, that Commander badge went to Reisgem, so this one should be ours. That means we now have four Commander badges!”
“Right, four! For my father, Yale, George, and Delia’s brother—that’s enough!” Linley let out a long sigh of relief.
Bebe grinned as well.
“Boss, do you think Grandpa Doehring could come back to life?” Bebe suddenly asked.
Linley was stunned.
“Grandpa Doehring?” In an instant, Linley recalled countless scenes from over two thousand years ago. Back then, he was just an ordinary child, a youth, growing under Grandpa Doehring’s guidance.
In Linley’s life, Grandpa Doehring Cowart and Bebe both held extremely important places. Whether a thousand years, ten thousand years, or even longer passed, Linley could never forget Grandpa Doehring. Grandpa Doehring’s death was a scar deep in Linley’s heart, an eternal regret.
“Grandpa Doehring’s soul was scattered,” Linley said with a low sigh.
“If his soul was scattered, can’t he come back to life?” Bebe asked, unwilling to accept it.
“Only when the soul doesn’t die can it form an undead spirit,” Linley shook his head. “Bebe, don’t bring this up anymore. Let’s go find Reihom and Reisgem.”
Grandpa Doehring’s death—every time this scar was reopened, Linley felt pain and anguish.
“Alright,” Bebe said, dropping the topic. He and Linley immediately flew toward the direction of the intense Sovereign power fluctuations in the distance.
Beside a desolate mountain, Reihom was engaged in a fierce battle with Shaswi.
Reihom had already transformed, becoming a giant over ten meters tall, his entire body as if forged from iron—the king of the Earth Giants!
Reihom’s resolute, fierce gaze was locked onto the small figure before him. His legs fell like meteors, stomping, kicking, or striking—simple movements, yet each caused space to tremble and tiny cracks to appear. The ground continuously rose and fell, aiding Reihom’s assault.
“Whoosh, whoosh—” Shaswi darted around like a welcoming phantom.
“This big guy’s attacks are too strong, especially in his transformed state. I can’t even match his speed,” Shaswi thought anxiously. White light ripples flowed over his body like ribbons, perfectly defending him. “I only have one chance—I must succeed.”
Suddenly—
Six white light ribbons shot straight toward Reihom’s chest. Reihom’s massive hand swung to block them, but five of the ribbons abruptly coiled around his right arm. The remaining ribbon, its soft tip suddenly sharp as a sword blade, stabbed directly at Reihom’s chest!
“Roar—”
The giant Reihom let out a terrifying roar. The sound alone caused visible ripples in space. The golden magical patterns scattered across his body, forming a “fist” shape, suddenly flared with blinding golden light. At the same time, Reihom’s arms violently expanded, shattering the white ribbons.
Shaswi’s face changed drastically. “How is that possible?”
“Clang!” The white ribbon stabbing at Reihom’s chest only penetrated slightly before getting stuck, unable to go deeper.
“Roar—” Roaring in fury, Reihom’s arms slammed together, pincer-attacking Shaswi.
Startled, Shaswi retreated explosively. Just as it seemed he would escape Reihom’s attack range, suddenly—Reihom’s massive palms simultaneously erupted with white light pillars. These two pillars, with golden light flowing over their surfaces, moved far faster than Shaswi’s retreat.
“No!” Shaswi’s body immediately emitted a mass of white ribbons, forming layer upon layer of defense.
“Boom!”
The two white light pillars, infused with golden light, collided and blasted directly onto Shaswi’s body. The countless layers of white ribbons protecting him shattered inch by inch. In Shaswi’s terrified gaze, the two pillars engulfed him. A terrifying boom rang out, and Shaswi was reduced to dust.
Reihom’s body rapidly shrank.
“Huff, huff!” Reihom’s chest heaved like a bellows, his face pale. He wouldn’t have used that ultimate move unless necessary. Once used, his strength would be greatly diminished for a short time before recovering.
“I didn’t expect Shaswi to be so troublesome,” Reihom muttered after a while, finally recovering. “Lucky, there’s still a Commander badge.”
Reihom also spotted a Commander badge fallen on the ground. As for the two rings, he ignored them, knowing one was a spatial ring and the other a soul-defense Sovereign artifact.
“Swoosh!” “Swoosh!” Two auras rapidly approached.
“Hm?” Reihom turned his head and relaxed upon seeing Linley and Bebe.
“Reihom, you killed Shaswi?” Linley asked with a smile, seeing the mess on the ground.
“It took quite some effort to kill him,” Reihom said, a rare smile appearing on his face. “This Shaswi cultivates water-element laws and excels at defense. Even with my attacks, I had to use a forbidden technique to finish him. By the way, did you kill Montero?” There was a hint of anticipation in Reihom’s eyes—his good brother had died because of Montero.
“Killed him,” Linley said, flipping his hand. “Here’s his Commander badge.”
“Great!” Reihom couldn’t help but exult.
Just then, another aura rapidly approached. Linley, Reihom, and Bebe turned to see Reisgem. Reisgem also noticed the Commander badge in Linley’s hand and laughed. “Haha, that bastard Montero is finally dead! I’ve had enough of his arrogance. Let’s see how he acts now. Reihom, you killed Shaswi too?”
“Yeah,” Reihom said, also producing his Commander badge.
“Hey, Reisgem, what about you?” Bebe teased. Linley also looked at Reisgem with a smile; everyone was in good spirits.
“Me?” Reisgem gave an awkward smile. “Well, a bit embarrassing. Although I could outrun him, that Waman was really tenacious. He blocked all my attacks. Later, we fought underground, and that guy actually fled to the deep earth, where spatial cracks appear from time to time... It was too dangerous there, so I finally gave up.”
Fighting deep underground was a very risky endeavor.
“You forced Waman to that point—he’s had it rough enough,” Linley said, understanding. If there were no other choice, Waman wouldn’t have done that.
Although Waman was strong, trapped in the Amethyst Space, he was at a disadvantage. With Reisgem’s Sovereign artifact attacks, Waman could barely block a few hits, but if he slipped up over time, he’d be finished. Choosing the deep earth was Waman’s desperate gamble.
“Haha, the most important thing is we killed Montero. No matter what, this battle is a great victory for us,” Reisgem laughed. “This time, we got three Commander badges in total. Linley, last time we already allocated one to you. So for these three, two go to me, one to you. Any objections?”
“No objections,” Linley said with a smile.
One was enough.
“But next time we get Commander badges, it’s our turn,” Bebe said playfully.
“Of course,” Reisgem beamed. “The four of us together are invincible. Well, except if we run into a Paragon.” Linley and the others shuddered at the thought of Bayer. A Paragon was indeed overwhelmingly powerful.
In the Light Divine Plane, deep within the Divine Sea of Purgatory, lay Oviwa.
Oviwa was the home base of the number one clan across countless planes—the Augusta Clan. The Augusta Clan was immensely powerful. Since the Light Sovereign himself was of an ordinary race with strong reproductive ability, his descendants were similarly numerous, making the Augusta Clan’s population far exceed that of the Four Divine Beasts Clan.
Oviwa had a population of nearly a million—and these were only the elites of the Augusta Clan!
The true population of the Augusta Clan was spread across the 81 islands surrounding Oviwa, numbering in the billions. Although there were many people and many mediocrities, the large base also occasionally produced a genius.
Countless members of the Augusta Clan yearned to enter Oviwa.
“Crash—” Waves lapped against Oviwa’s shore.
On Oviwa, the elite members of the clan mostly carried an air of arrogance. Being an elite of the number one clan was naturally something to be proud of. But when they looked toward the center of Oviwa, at the towering ten-thousand-meter-tall temple built entirely of white flame stone, a hint of envy appeared in their eyes.
Inside the Augusta Temple.
A figure strode forward along the corridor. Paintings hung on both sides, and the servants standing there immediately bowed.
“Your Highness!” “Your Highness!”
The figure continued forward without pause.
“What’s wrong with His Highness? His face looks terrible,” two servants whispered to each other.
Before a ten-meter-tall purple ancient door, the figure stopped and said in a low voice, “Go and announce me. I wish to see the Patriarch.”
“Yes, Your Highness. Please wait a moment,” said one of the two purple-robed guards at the door, slightly bowing before entering to report.
“How could this happen... Reisgem, that Azure Dragon clan brat, and that Soul Devourer Mouse!” This “Your Highness” was none other than Montero. But now, having lost his strongest divine clone, Montero would no longer be one of the peak members of the Augusta Clan. Of course, no one else in the clan knew this yet.
A moment later, the purple-robed guard emerged.
“Your Highness, please enter. The Patriarch is waiting inside,” the guard said respectfully.
Montero walked straight in.
This was the Patriarch’s residence, with a dining room, reception hall, cultivation chamber, and other rooms. Montero immediately saw a white-robed figure standing on the balcony. Seeing this man, even the arrogant Montero lowered his head. “Patriarch, my strongest divine clone is dead!”
“Hm?” The white-robed figure turned around. He had sword-like eyebrows and a crimson mole between his brows.
This man was the Patriarch of the Augusta Clan, the most successful and strongest among the 182 children of the Light Sovereign. Although the Light Sovereign couldn’t directly grant him many Sovereign artifacts, he had his Sovereign’s envoys work together to help the Patriarch obtain enough Sovereign artifacts.
The Augusta Patriarch possessed three Sovereign artifacts! Combined with his own immense strength, even a Paragon could only banish him into the spatial turbulence. And if he were thrown into the spatial turbulence, the Light Sovereign would likely be able to rescue him.
“What happened?” the Augusta Patriarch said in a low voice. The crimson mole seemed to swell slightly.
Montero lowered his head, his tone filled with resentment. “Patriarch, it was that Reisgem! I wasn’t afraid of him, but who would have thought he brought a youth with him—a Soul Devourer Mouse!”
“Soul Devourer Mouse?” The Augusta Patriarch immediately understood.
Killing his nephew was difficult, but a Soul Devourer Mouse could indeed do it.
“Patriarch, the ones who caused my death were an Azure Dragon clan youth and that Soul Devourer Mouse. They’re staying with Reisgem!” Montero said painfully.
“Reisgem?” The Augusta Patriarch shook his head. “He’s the only child of the Violet Flame Sovereign. I will never agree to kill Reisgem.” The Patriarch was very decisive. He knew that even his father, the Light Sovereign, wouldn’t easily move against the Violet Flame Sovereign.
True, the Light Sovereign had the strength to deal with the Violet Flame Sovereign. But the Violet Flame Sovereign belonged to the Seven Sovereigns of Destruction, and the strongest among them, the Overlord of Destruction, was above the Light Sovereign.
Most importantly, the Light Sovereign wouldn’t go after a Sovereign for the sake of a grandson.
“Patriarch, I’m afraid I’ll never regain my former strength. I know this is difficult for you, but I hope you’ll consider my years of service to the clan and avenge me,” Montero said, full of unwillingness, his voice low. “I don’t ask you to kill Reisgem. I only hope the Patriarch will kill that Azure Dragon clan brat and that Soul Devourer Mouse!”
Montero deeply hated Linley and Bebe. If Linley hadn’t entangled him, he would have escaped long ago. After all, Bebe didn’t have the ability to hold him back.
The Augusta Patriarch fell silent.
Montero pressed on, “Patriarch, this time our clan has suffered a great loss. Greenclad, Shaswi, and the others are dead too. My personal grievance is one thing, but losing four experts—can the Augusta Clan just do nothing? Where would our clan’s face be? If we don’t react, some people will surely mock us behind our backs.”
“Hm?” The Augusta Patriarch’s eyebrows lifted, clearly swayed.