Chapter 23: The Red Diamond Crystal
While Linley and his group roamed through Hell without a care, far away in the Muya Continent, within the silent and gloomy Cordson Mountain Range.
Night had fallen.
In a hidden cave on an unnamed peak of the Cordson Mountain Range, a disheveled, unkempt man sat cross-legged. In the dim cave, one could faintly make out his terrifying, bloodshot eyes.
"Alot, I, Brody, swear, I swear that one day I will make you die, make you die!!!" A low voice rumbled from the disheveled man's throat, filled with endless resentment. The disheveled man clenched his fists so tightly that they trembled.
Unable to contain his fury, he couldn't help but slam his fist into the stone floor.
"Crack!" A fissure split open in the stone.
Though Brody was seething with rage, he remained cautious. His divine domain had already spread out, isolating the ten-meter radius around him from the outside world. Even if he smashed rocks or roared, not a sound would reach beyond.
"That Alot is a Highgod. How can I take revenge? How can I save Victorica?" Brody's mind was in chaos. Back then, he and his wife Victorica had come to Hell driven by curiosity about the highest plane and hopes for a better life!
In the material plane, Brody was undoubtedly a peak-level expert, as he was a Demigod! Moreover, he had two Demigod avatars and a Saint-level true body!
A Demigod was virtually invincible in the material plane, but when he brought his God-level wife to Hell, they were randomly dropped off by the Muya Continent's army and ended up in the Alot Tribe. Brody had dreamed of working hard to cultivate and earn enough money to enter a city, since even in a tribe, they faced invasions from other tribes.
Everything was going according to plan...
But who would have thought that Alot, the chieftain of the Alot Tribe, would see his wife Victorica one day and take a liking to her? Without a word, he simply abducted her!
For countless years, the couple had been together, coming from the material plane. In Brody's heart, his wife was more important than his own life! Though he had heard that some powerful individuals would forcibly abduct weaker women, he never imagined it would happen to him.
In truth, after becoming a god, physical appearance no longer mattered.
Gods could change their forms at will. But the aura emanating from the soul was unique to each person. Some female gods might have ordinary appearances, but their special auras could attract powerful beings. A reasonable expert might pursue them slowly, but a domineering one would simply take them by force.
Back then, when Linley, Delia, and Bebe came to Hell, someone had warned Linley to be careful.
But... Linley wasn't as unlucky as Brody.
"What do I do?" Brody thought of his wife being taken, and he felt like going mad with pain.
He had tried to rescue her, but his plans were a joke in the face of the chieftain's overwhelming power and influence. Later, Brody barely escaped with his life, only because Chieftain Alot didn't bother taking a Demigod seriously.
"No moon tonight, pitch black outside. Time to set out." Brody's plan was simple.
He would head to a city, use the meager savings he had accumulated over the years to register for the demon trials. Once he became a demon, he could roam Hell, honing himself through life-and-death struggles!
"One day, I will become a true expert and return to the Alot Tribe." Brody silently vowed. Then, like a dark phantom, he left the cave, merging into the night and beginning his rapid journey.
Honing himself through life-and-death struggles to reach a level where he could defeat Alot?
Brody himself knew the chances were almost zero! Alot was a tribe chieftain, likely at the level of a five-star or six-star demon. For Brody, a mere Demigod, to one day kill Alot was nearly impossible.
Brody used the Shadow Transformation Technique, skimming close to the ground as he moved forward. He dared not make a sound, afraid of attracting bandits or robbers. As a Demigod, he was strong in the material plane. But in Hell... he was like a paper boat, easily capsized by the smallest wave.
Suddenly—
A flash of red light seemed to streak by.
"Huh?" Brody, moving at top speed, abruptly stopped and frowned, looking back.
"What was that?" Brody felt a chill in his heart and couldn't help but move closer to where the faint red light had appeared.
Among the withered grass and leaves, a diamond-shaped red crystal lay nestled.
The moment he saw the red crystal, Brody felt as if his soul was being drawn to it. He instinctively reached out and grabbed it. As soon as the red crystal fell into his hand—
A strange, peculiar energy instantly surged through Brody's entire body, including his soul!
"What a comfortable feeling? It's like this energy can protect the soul." Even Brody, no fool, realized he had obtained a treasure.
"What kind of treasure is this?" Brody was puzzled.
He had only recently arrived in Hell and had only stayed in a tribe. He had never even entered a city. How could a Demigod know about the Overgod's mission or recognize what he held? Only experts at the level of prefects or well-informed merchants like those in the Black Sand Castle knew such information.
"My soul seems to be getting stronger." Brody was secretly astonished.
As Brody marveled at the red diamond crystal, a figure flew overhead and then abruptly halted. The figure was a burly man with a face full of green scales. "Lucky me, a patrol member, and I've found prey!"
Bandit organizations also had patrol members. Most patrol members had divine avatars back at the bandit hideout. Once they discovered something, their avatars would quickly relay the information to the hideout.
"Kid, what are you doing with that red crystal?" A mocking voice came from above.
The red crystal was very conspicuous in the dark night.
But Brody was too stunned by the red crystal's special effects. After all, he hadn't lived alone in Hell for long and lacked caution. He never expected a patrol member to show up so quickly.
"You..." Brody looked up and his face changed.
In the darkness, gods could still barely see things up close.
"Run!" Without a second thought, Brody transformed into a blur and shot away.
"Too late." The patrol bandit above sneered. He didn't bother attacking Brody himself, instead waiting for others. Guided by this burly man's divine avatar, other members of the bandit den surrounded Brody from all directions.
"Haha, kid, you think you can leave our territory?" Laughter rang out.
Brody looked up.
"You're not getting away."
Brody turned his head.
In the blink of an eye, he was surrounded by dozens of bandits. Brody's face turned pale.
"Why? Why is this happening?" Brody wanted to scream in anguish. He had just escaped the tribe, his revenge plan hadn't even begun, and now he was facing bandits.
"I, I'm willing to join you." Brody quickly said.
"You're a Demigod. One more or less doesn't matter." The leader sneered. The leader of this group of dozens was a man in a purple robe, a Highgod. This bandit organization had nearly a thousand members, including three Highgods. Unless a Highgod wanted to join, they usually didn't bother with Demigods.
Though they had many men, the third leader bringing a group was more than enough to kill Brody.
"No, I..." Brody tried to say more.
"Brothers, kill him." The purple-robed man ordered coldly.
"Haha..."
"Time to die."
The bandits were full of confidence, launching soul attacks and physical attacks at Brody.
"No, no..." Brody roared in fury.
He still had a great revenge to take, he hadn't saved his wife, he didn't want to die like this!
In Hell, countless people died with unfinished vengeance and unwilling hearts.
"Boom!" "Bang!"...
The attacks of dozens of bandits landed. Brody tried his best to dodge, but still, five physical attacks and three soul attacks struck him.
"He's dead for sure." The purple-robed man and the other bandits thought so. A Highgod might have survived, but he was just a Demigod.
"I?"
Brody was stunned. As his body shattered from the blows, it rapidly repaired itself, even faster than the damage. As for the soul attacks... the three soul attacks only made his soul tremble. The strange energy within the red diamond crystal easily protected his soul.
This red diamond crystal was actually the core component of the Life Crown.
In terms of power, it was even stronger than the nine spirit beads. As for the Black Iron Crown, it was the least useful.
When Linley attacked Mordaunt, the nine spirit beads had kept Mordaunt from dying. How could ordinary bandits kill Brody?
"Huh?" The bandits were dumbfounded.
Brody looked down at the red diamond crystal in his hand. When danger struck, he had instinctively grabbed it, thinking its strange energy could protect his soul. But its effect far exceeded his imagination. "I never thought this treasure would be so powerful." Brody's eyes lit up.
Suddenly, the world seemed full of color again.
"With this, I can take revenge. I definitely can!" Brody was ecstatic.
"What's going on?" The purple-robed man frowned. "All together, kill him."
"Yes."
Hearing the third leader's order, the bandits swooped down to attack Brody.
"Die." Brody gripped the red diamond crystal in one hand and a black short blade in the other, ready to slash at the bandits ahead and escape.
"You won't get away." The bandits were confident, unleashing their strongest attacks.
Brody paid no attention to the enemy's attacks. His short blade, however, cleaved through the head of a bandit in front of him.
"This kid's defense is strong." The purple-robed man watching frowned. He moved and attacked.
Brody's speed was far inferior to the purple-robed man's.
"Get back!" Brody forced another bandit away, trying to break through the encirclement. But he didn't notice a purple blur already behind him. "A Demigod, too weak." The purple-robed man thought silently. His right hand, clad in a purple glove, lightly tapped Brody's head.
"Bang!"
The moment the blow landed, Brody snapped awake.
"Sizzle..." The purple-robed man suddenly began trembling all over.
"Ahhh!" The purple-robed man screamed in agony. In an instant, he fell silent and crashed to the ground.
A Highgod, dead!
"What happened to the leader?" The bandits were completely stunned.
"This crystal..." Brody's heart surged with joy. He knew exactly what had happened. When the man's hand landed on his head, the red diamond crystal had released a strange, icy energy that frantically devoured the man's soul power. In an instant, the man's soul was drained and shattered.
"This crystal hurts the enemy but not me." Brody tried channeling his soul power into the red diamond crystal. Sure enough, the icy energy seeped out again.
Under Brody's control, this icy energy enveloped the black short blade.
"Haha..." Brody, now wild with fury, charged at the bandits. Any bandit grazed by the black short blade or even touched by Brody's body would tremble and die!
In moments, aside from five bandits who fled in terror, all the others were dead!
"With this crystal, why should I fear that Alot?" Brody was thrilled. He glanced at the distant mountain peak, then shot away like lightning, quickly disappearing.