Chapter 35: Coercion
In the Ocalen Plane, within the eastern region of the Misty Continent, deep in the Fanged Wasteland Mountains, a group from Hell led by Dennington had set up camp.
Deep within the Fanged Wasteland Mountains, a series of palaces had formed overnight. In the depths of the tallest palace, within a dim hall, green flames faintly illuminated the space. At the far end of the hall, a figure sat silently. At that moment, another figure walked in from outside the hall.
"My lord, I led those five hundred Upper Gods and thoroughly searched the entire Beast God Continent, but we didn't find even a trace of the Red Diamond Crystal." A burly, tall man with green hair, clad in armor, said helplessly, his face twisting into a bitter expression as he spoke.
"This Misty Continent... I expended divine power from a Sovereign and even checked deep underground. Nothing."
Dennington, shrouded in a dark blue robe, had a gloomy expression. "Since it's not on either continent, take your group and continue searching the ocean thoroughly! Not just the deep sea waters, but also the mud and rock deeper beneath the ocean floor. Keep searching until you reach the edge of the plane."
"Yes, my lord." The green-haired man nodded, but his demeanor before Dennington was still relatively casual.
"My lord... we're short on manpower. I think, among the many forces that came this time, others might have already searched the entire Ocalen Plane. When you agreed to come with me under the Destruction Sovereign's orders, you should have demanded more troops." The green-haired man said worriedly.
"Just do your job. You don't need to worry about that." Dennington frowned.
"Yes." Seeing Dennington displeased, the green-haired man dared not say more and immediately withdrew.
Dennington sat quietly, troubled in his heart. Ever since arriving in the Ocalen Plane, he knew the situation was dire. Because this time, there were truly too many Paragons. How many Paragons were there across countless planes combined? Yet this time, including Dennington himself, there were a full nine Paragons in the Ocalen Plane!
Although there were said to be twenty or thirty suspected Paragons, many were hidden in various places, even in material planes, where even Sovereigns couldn't find them. Normally, two Paragons meeting was rare; three together was almost unimaginable. Nine Paragons gathering... it took many Sovereigns acting together to summon so many Paragons.
"With so many Paragons, even if the Red Diamond Crystal is found, how easy will it be to seize it?" Dennington shook his head inwardly.
"Dennington." A voice suddenly rang in his mind.
"Hmm? Linley?" Dennington immediately reacted and began a divine sense conversation. "Linley, since you became a Paragon, we haven't met, have we?"
"I became one not long ago." Linley asked with a smile, "Dennington, have you found any clues about the Red Diamond Crystal?"
"None. Not a single one. What about you?" Dennington asked back.
Thus, two peak figures among gods, separated by millions of miles, conversed through divine sense.
"Me? You have eight hundred Upper Gods under you and still haven't found it. How can I, with just me and Bebe, find it?" Linley teased. He didn't want to reveal the secret of his soul power.
"Linley, I'm not criticizing you, but given your status in the Four Divine Beasts clan, it wouldn't be hard for you to bring out a few thousand men. With thousands at hand, coming to the Ocalen Plane would be much easier. But now, it's just you and Bebe..." Dennington sighed.
Currently, in the Ocalen Plane, counting Linley as a Paragon, there were nine in total. But aside from the Paragons, every other faction had brought a large group of Upper Gods, usually over a thousand.
"Bringing men from the Four Divine Beasts clan to the teleportation array would take too long. Those ordinary Upper Gods fly much slower than me. If I did that, I'd probably arrive months later than you all. By then, you might have already found the Red Diamond Crystal. I was anxious, so I came with just Bebe." Linley explained with a smile.
Dennington understood.
They had all dispatched men directly from the teleportation arrays, taking very little time.
"Enough of that. Dennington, have you ever doubted whether Brodie really left the Red Diamond Crystal in the Ocalen Plane?" Linley asked.
"Brodie isn't on this plane, so I do have some doubts." Dennington said. "Right now, I'm looking for the plane warden, but I haven't found him. I suspect the fire-type Paragon Bamer took him, since he was among the first to arrive in the Ocalen Plane."
"Bamer?"
Linley's mind immediately recalled a lot of information about Bamer.
"Dennington, the plane warden knows very important information. How about we join forces and coerce Bamer into handing him over?" Linley suggested.
"Coerce?"
A smile appeared on Dennington's face. "Good idea. Alone, I'm not sure I can handle Bamer. But with both of us attacking from two sides, even if Bamer doesn't die, he'll suffer greatly. Exiling him wouldn't be hard. I doubt Bamer would ask for trouble."
"Alright, when and where should we meet to find Bamer?"
And so, Linley and Dennington settled everything.
The Biles Mountain Range stretched for ten thousand miles, hundreds of miles wide, like a sharp blade separating the Molin Empire and the Blue Maple Empire. In the middle of the Biles Mountain Range lay the deep Divine Punishment Grand Canyon, which cut through the entire range.
People from both empires could travel through this canyon.
It was called the Divine Punishment Grand Canyon because of a legend: two gods fought, and a single, earth-shattering sword strike split the entire mountain range, leaving behind this canyon hundreds of miles long.
Because the canyon connected the two empires, both had stationed heavy troops there. The two armies often clashed over various disputes.
"Rumble..."
The ground shook, and the sound of hooves was incessant. Under the control of officers at various levels, both armies formed battle formations and faced off.
Since the two empires had no other borders, this canyon became the only battlefield. They fought even over minor conflicts. The reason was that both empires subconsciously treated the canyon battles as training—bloodied soldiers were truly effective.
Every few years, or even months, a major battle would occur, with tens of thousands of casualties being common.
After all, these two empires, within the Misty Continent spanning billions of miles, were considered relatively powerful, each with populations in the hundreds of billions.
"Vanguard division, advance."
A burly man in golden armor, seated on a thick, pitch-black python, gave the order indifferently. Both commanders knew the two empires couldn't truly destroy each other; this was just training. But precisely because it was training, both sides fought fiercely to gain the upper hand.
Immediately, the two vanguard formations began moving toward each other.
"Swoosh!" "Swoosh!"... Arrows filled the sky. The two vanguard forces crashed together like raging floods, blood spraying everywhere. Some rookies on their first battlefield even trembled with fear. Life and death on the battlefield were that simple. Only those who had survived life-and-death battles were true soldiers.
Just then—
Two streaks of light flashed across the sky.
"Hmm?" The peak-level experts in both armies looked up, frowning in confusion. "Saints?" The two flying high in the sky were Dennington and Linley. Linley smiled and glanced down at the battlefield in the canyon. "Seeing this brutal slaughter reminds me of my homeland, the Yulan Continent. But the level of warfare on the Misty Continent is far higher than on the Yulan Continent, both in terms of soldier numbers and expert numbers."
"Material planes..." Dennington said indifferently, "I grew up in Hell, so I don't know much about them."
"Material planes are quite interesting," Linley said with a faint smile. "But the Ocalen Plane has too many people."
A single continent spanned billions of miles. The Yulan Continent was only tens of thousands of miles across. What a difference!
The population difference was even more staggering, by millions of times. Naturally, the number of Saints was also vastly different. On these two continents, there were even a few gods.
"Ahead is Bamer's residence," Linley said with a faint smile.
"Alright, I'll talk to Bamer first." Dennington and Linley halted midair. Below them, not far away, were a series of fiery red palaces.
Dennington immediately used divine sense to communicate with Bamer.
"Bamer!"
"Dennington!" The fire-type Paragon Bamer in the palace immediately responded.
"You were among the first to enter the Ocalen Plane. The plane warden is with you, isn't he? We're all competing for the Red Diamond Crystal, so let's keep it fair. Hand over the plane warden. It's not right for you to hoard information about Brodie alone." Dennington tried to persuade him.
The only response was a cold snort.
Dennington's face darkened.
"Linley is also here with me. We both hope you'll hand over the plane warden," Dennington added.
"Linley?" Bamer laughed and replied via divine sense, "How ridiculous. You can't find the plane warden, so you come to me? I tell you, when I first arrived in the Ocalen Plane, I didn't find the plane warden either. He's probably somewhere else in the Ocalen Plane."
High above the Biles Mountain Range, the mountain wind howled as two figures stood in the air. Dennington and Linley exchanged a glance.
"He won't admit it?" Linley said with a faint smile.
"Right," Dennington replied with a smile.
"I thought Bamer would be smarter, but it seems..." Linley laughed, and Dennington laughed too.
They had already planned for this.
If soft words didn't work, they'd use force.
"Watch me." Linley extended his hand, and a black divine sword appeared. With a thought, the sword turned transparent.
"Break!"
Linley coldly swung his sword downward. A terrifying green sword light howled through the air. Space twisted and shattered like paper, and the space, rocks, and everything below turned to nothing. The Upper Gods in the palaces below fled in panic.
A spatial storm!
A single terrifying sword strike from Hell, when used in a material plane, created a devastating spatial storm.
It took a long time for space to recover.
But the mountains, rocks, and earth below Linley were all gone, leaving only a bottomless pit.
Dense figures flew into the air. At the forefront was a man with green robes and fiery red curly hair, his eyes seeming to spit fire as he glared at Linley and Dennington in the distance. "Linley, why did you destroy my residence for no reason?"
Dennington laughed. "Why? Don't you already know?"
"Stop playing dumb," Linley said with a faint smile.
The thousand or so Upper Gods hovering in the air dared not intervene. They silently watched the scene. After all, the three speaking were all Paragons, any of whom could easily slaughter them.
"Hand over the plane warden," Linley said again.
"Otherwise, you know the consequences," Dennington added.
Bamer's face flushed red, and a red light flickered in his eyes.
"I told you, the plane warden isn't with me!" Bamer roared angrily.
"Still lying," Dennington sighed and shook his head. "Linley, it seems there's no other way."
"No other way," Linley said with a smile, then casually added, "Let's move."