Chapter 23: The Twelve-Winged Seraph
"Eh, Grandpa Beirut, why are the four clan leaders here?" Linley asked Beirut, puzzled.
Linley's divine sense easily detected that Galeson and the other three were all in his mansion, but in the eastern garden of the estate.
"Oh, speaking of which..." Beirut said awkwardly, "Linley, when you went to kill that Augusta, I thought it was a sure thing. I also knew... that Galeson and the other three had always wanted to avenge their four ancestors. So, I told them about this in advance, to give them some joy."
Linley was stunned, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"Are they waiting for my good news right now?" Linley said, unsure whether to laugh or do otherwise.
Beirut stroked his beard and coughed twice. "After I told them, they were extremely excited. They couldn't wait and decided to stay in your mansion, so they could find you the moment you returned. I suspect... the guards and maids in this mansion, upon seeing you return, have already sent word to them. They'll be here soon."
In the silent hall.
Galeson and the Vermillion Bird clan leader were both seated. The White Tiger clan leader frowned, pacing back and forth in the hall. As for the Black Tortoise clan leader, he stood at the hall entrance, anxiety clear in his eyes.
"Big brother, when do you think Linley will come?" the Black Tortoise clan leader couldn't help but turn around, his deep voice ringing out.
"The Sovereigns move very fast. Based on the time, it should be soon. Why don't you stop standing at the door and sit down? Calm your heart and wait patiently," Galeson urged.
"How can you expect me to sit still?" the Black Tortoise clan leader said with a hint of impatience, clearly restless and uneasy.
The seated Vermillion Bird clan leader smiled helplessly. "Big brother, don't scold third brother. Even I, though sitting here, haven't had a moment's peace in my heart. Sovereigns move extremely fast. The outcome will definitely be known today. I just don't know if Linley will succeed."
"Lord Beirut said so himself," Galeson insisted. "Given Lord Beirut's personality, would he say it if he weren't confident?"
"Right," the others chimed in agreement.
But even so, the four clan leaders remained uneasy at heart.
"Clan leader! Clan leader!" Just then, a figure swiftly ran over from a distance.
"Whoosh!"
Galeson and the Vermillion Bird clan leader, who had been sitting, abruptly stood up. The four clan leaders all looked toward a maid running over from afar. From a distance, she shouted, "Lord Linley has returned! He's at Lord Beirut's main residence!"
"Swish!"
With a flash of light and shadow, four figures vanished from the hall.
Beirut and Linley sat facing each other.
"They're here," Linley said, drinking a cup of wine and smiling helplessly.
"This is trouble I caused," Beirut said, shaking his head with a wry smile. "To be honest, I don't understand. The Light Sovereign, as a Sovereign, isn't a Paragon. How could his strength be ten times greater than we estimated? The Light Divine Plane hasn't won ten consecutive battles in the planar war."
"Unless this Augusta has a Sovereign clone," Beirut judged.
Linley thought it over and could only come to that conclusion.
It seemed no other possibility could be found.
"That's unlikely," Linley shook his head. "We've met over sixty Sovereigns, and none have the same aura as the Light Sovereign. Besides, if the Light Sovereign had a Sovereign clone, could he hide it from the other Sovereigns? The Death Sovereign and the Destruction Sovereign have existed since the birth of the universe. They might deceive others, but not them."
Beirut nodded as well.
What exactly was the reason that the Light Sovereign's strength was ten times greater than estimated?
"Linley!" an urgent voice rang out.
Linley turned to look. Four afterimages flashed and then solidified into four figures—Galeson and the other three clan leaders. Whether it was the steady Galeson, the cold White Tiger clan leader, the wise Vermillion Bird clan leader, or the taciturn Black Tortoise clan leader, all of them looked at Linley with hopeful, burning gazes.
"Was the Light Sovereign killed?" the Vermillion Bird clan leader couldn't help but ask.
Linley and Beirut exchanged a glance. Finally, Linley smiled bitterly and said, "Galeson, I'm sorry to disappoint you. I failed to kill Augusta!"
Linley didn't elaborate further.
The four siblings of Galeson were stunned, then they smiled bitterly in dejection.
"Linley," Galeson bowed slightly and said, "I know that Lord Beirut wouldn't have told us this without some confidence. Since this attempt failed... we really want to know, Lord Linley, will you kill the Light Sovereign in the future?" The other three clan leaders also looked at Linley.
Linley's divine sense spread across the entire Celestial Sacrifice Mountain Range. With Linley's level of divine sense, if any other Sovereign were monitoring, it would be impossible to escape his notice.
"When I'll kill him, I can't be sure. But once I have sufficient strength, I will kill him," Linley said solemnly.
The four of them, Galeson and the others, looked at each other and finally smiled gratefully at Linley.
"Thank you," the four of them bowed slightly.
"No need to say that. After all, I am also a member of the Four Divine Beasts clan," Linley said with a low sigh. In truth, Galeson's grateful gaze only made Linley feel more ashamed, since he hadn't actually killed Augusta.
"Alright," Beirut laughed. "You four should go back and rest. The great vengeance of your Four Divine Beasts clan has waited twenty thousand years; there's no need to rush this short time." Beirut could sense that with the four clan leaders here, he and Linley were both a bit awkward. It was better to let them leave.
The four of them, Galeson and the others, immediately withdrew.
"This time really..." Beirut said with a self-deprecating smile. "The awkwardness just now was entirely my own doing."
"Don't blame yourself. After all, even I still don't understand why the Light Sovereign is ten times stronger than expected. What could be the reason?" Linley suddenly frowned. "Grandpa Beirut, I also noticed two peculiarities. One is that Augusta's physical strength is also quite formidable. Though not as strong as mine, it's still impressive. Second, Augusta's soul defense is very strong."
Having been hit by one of Linley's sword-intent attacks, Augusta's soul seemed to have no adverse reaction.
Beirut listened, also puzzled.
"Strong physical strength. Strong soul defense? What secret does this Augusta hold?" Beirut murmured softly.
"If we can't figure it out, let's not dwell on it," Linley changed the subject. "Grandpa Beirut, what worries me most now is my mother! But I have no memory of my mother, nor do I know her soul's aura. Even if my divine sense covers the entire Light Divine Plane, I wouldn't know which one is her."
Even if his mother stood before him, he probably couldn't identify her.
"This is very troublesome," Beirut said with a helpless smile. "When your mother was alive, my divine sense definitely swept over her. But why would I have paid attention to an ordinary mortal back then? I have no memory of your mother's soul aura either."
"Grandpa Beirut," Linley said worriedly, "I know that the angel race is divided into two-winged, four-winged, all the way up to twelve-winged. What level of angel do you think my mother would be?"
Linley's greatest fear now was that his mother had already died.
After all, low-level angels were sent down in large numbers to material planes. Those low-level angels were likely dying all the time.
"To determine what level of angel your mother was, let me ask you: when your mother's soul was offered to the Sovereign, did the Radiant Church receive any rewards or gifts?" Beirut suddenly asked.
"Yes, they did," Linley's eyes lit up, and he quickly said. "From what I know, the Radiant Church itself received tremendous benefits. Even the king of Fenlai, who offered my mother to the Radiant Church, was blessed, and his strength was forcibly raised from the eighth rank to the ninth rank."
"Oh." Beirut's eyes brightened, and he immediately smiled. "Linley, angels are divided into six levels. The lower three levels are Saint-level, and the upper three levels are God-level. Generally, if the offered soul is pure enough to withstand enough energy to become a God-level angel, the church in the lower realm receives a reward."
Linley couldn't help but nod.
That was right. There were countless angels. If an offered soul could only become a Saint-level angel, it was only natural that there would be no reward.
"But the extent of the reward also depends on the purity of the soul. Generally, an eight-winged Seraphim, equivalent to a Demigod. A Demigod is the lowest level in the Divine Planes, so the reward would be extremely low, at most an encouragement. As for a ten-winged Seraphim, which is comparable to a Deity, the reward is usually slightly better. After all, a Deity isn't much either."
Linley nodded in understanding. Demigods and Deities were countless in the Infernal Realm.
"In truth, the strongest among angels are the twelve-winged Seraphim. Each of them is very powerful, generally at the level of a Seven-Star Fiend!" Beirut said solemnly.
"What?" Linley couldn't help but exclaim.
A Highgod wasn't a big deal, but a Seven-Star Fiend was a completely different concept from an ordinary Highgod.
"How can twelve-winged Seraphim be so powerful?" Linley asked in confusion.
Beirut laughed. "I only learned this from chatting with the Bloodpeak Sovereign, Parsh. Do you know that angels are born from the Angel Rebirth Pools?"
"I've heard of it," Linley quickly said. Just earlier, during his conversation with Augusta, Linley had heard about the Angel Rebirth Pools.
"There are a total of 128 Angel Rebirth Pools, controlled by the seven Light-type Sovereigns. The Light Sovereign alone controls 64. Two Intermediate Sovereigns each control 16. And four Lesser Sovereigns each control 8," Beirut explained in detail. "Angels are essentially humanoid weapons. After their souls are transformed by the Angel Rebirth Pools, they lose all past memories and are absolutely loyal to the Light Sovereign, without a trace of selfishness."
Linley nodded slightly.
"After the transformation, they can no longer comprehend laws or improve further," Beirut sighed. "If they are born as Saint-level angels, they remain Saint-level angels for life."
"They can't comprehend, so of course, their attack techniques aren't self-taught," Beirut continued. "Each Angel Rebirth Pool is connected to the Sovereign's soul. The Sovereign infuses the pool with attack techniques they know. However, the Angel Rebirth Pools also have different levels. Lower-level pools can only contain low-level techniques, and the angels born from them are weak."
"The highest-level Angel Rebirth Pools contain attacks that generally fuse four or five profound mysteries. That's because the Sovereigns themselves only know those attack techniques!" Beirut said. "Thus, the angels born from these highest-level pools are twelve-winged Seraphim, whose strongest attacks typically fuse four or five profound mysteries."
Linley suddenly understood.
No wonder every twelve-winged Seraphim was so strong. They didn't need to comprehend anything; they were born knowing those attacks.
"Twelve-winged Seraphim are very powerful. Back when I publicly opened the Necropolis of the Gods to attract people, there were Seven-Star Fiends from the Infernal Realm and twelve-winged Seraphim who came. I suspect those twelve-winged Seraphim also wanted to obtain a Sovereign artifact. After all, Sovereigns are limited in how many Sovereign artifacts they can bestow."
Beirut sighed with emotion. "In that battle, the twelve-winged Seraphim fully displayed strength no weaker than a Seven-Star Fiend!"
"The Angel Rebirth Pools are terrifying, directly creating twelve-winged Seraphim no weaker than Seven-Star Fiends," Linley marveled.
"It's not that simple. To withstand the energy needed to become a twelve-winged Seraphim requires an extremely high soul quality. Each twelve-winged Seraphim is difficult to create. So generally, if a soul offered from a material plane is sufficient to become a twelve-winged Seraphim, the church that offered it receives a very great reward."
Beirut sighed. "The Radiant Church was so delighted that they even boosted the strength of the Fenlai king! I think... your mother's soul must have been truly extremely pure, and the angel she became should be the strongest—a twelve-winged Seraphim!"