Chapter 40: Battle of the Sovereigns
Augusta’s face twisted in fury as he let out a low roar, the light sword in his hand arcing through the air.
“Clang!”
The two Overgod artifacts clashed.
At the point of impact, a terrifying shockwave radiated outward in all directions, with spatial cracks spreading and fracturing through the surroundings. Augusta was sent flying backward from the recoil, staggering in midair before steadying himself high above. He stared at Linley with a hint of shock.
“Linley, no wonder you dared to come and kill me—your strength has nearly doubled,” Augusta said, fixing his gaze on Linley.
“I’ve improved, but you haven’t,” Linley replied coldly.
“Haha… who lives and who dies, that’s not certain yet,” Augusta laughed instead.
A crackling sound emanated from Linley’s body as dark green dragon scales emerged across his skin, sharp spines sprouting forth. In an instant, Linley had undergone his Dragonform.
“Is that so?” Linley gave a cold smile.
Suddenly, Linley transformed into a streak of light, shooting toward Augusta, who stood several miles away in the sky. For Sovereign-level experts, a distance of a few miles was traversable in less than a millionth of a second during such intense combat, illustrating the ferocity of their attacks.
“Clang!”
“Clang!”
The two Overgod artifacts clashed repeatedly. The surrounding region shattered time and again. Each time, Augusta was sent reeling backward. It seemed Augusta was perpetually on the defensive, yet he managed to block every strike.
“Trying to kill me? Not so easy,” Augusta laughed heartily.
But Linley’s face remained expressionless.
“Almost there,” Linley thought silently. From the start until now, Linley had only revealed a fraction of his power. He was worried that if he unleashed his full strength with the first strike and failed to kill his opponent, Augusta might flee in terror, causing trouble. After all… though Linley’s offensive power had increased, his speed hadn’t improved much.
The fusion of profound mysteries was tied to the Sword Intent technique.
As for speed, Linley hadn’t gained much.
“Die!” Linley muttered inwardly.
As they clashed once more, Linley’s Life Overgod Sword tore through the void as before, striking at Augusta. The dark green sword energy surged, somewhat chaotic. Augusta instinctively moved to block Linley’s strike, but just as they closed in—
The chaotic dark green sword energy of the Life Overgod Sword suddenly coalesced like disciplined soldiers, forming a thick beam of dark green sword energy as wide as a person’s waist.
Full power, unleashed!
“Boom!”
The beam of sword energy slammed into the light sword. Augusta’s face turned deathly pale as he felt an irresistible force pressing the light sword back against his own body…
A flash of golden light streaked by.
The surrounding space dissolved into nothingness, and Augusta vanished without a trace. Frowning, Linley’s fused perception clearly detected a massive hole in Augusta’s chest. Pale and battered, Augusta used the impact to flee swiftly through the spatial tears. “I didn’t expect Augusta to survive my strongest strike,” Linley thought. Without hesitation, he pushed his speed to the limit and plunged directly into the spatial rift.
Within the Divine Light Plane, the four Light Sovereigns had been observing. Their divine senses naturally covered the entire plane, allowing them to witness the battle.
“The Sovereign was nearly killed? If the beam of sword energy hadn’t been deflected by the light sword and struck his chest, he might have barely escaped with his life.”
“That strike was terrifying. Lord Linley was holding back earlier; that final blow was… inconceivable.”
The four Light Sovereigns were utterly stunned.
“Given the Sovereign’s escape abilities, it might take a while to determine life or death. In this battle, one of them will likely die. The death of a Sovereign—that’s a major event!” As they discussed through divine sense, the four Light Sovereigns each took action.
One Light Sovereign tore open a spatial rift and entered the chaotic void to observe the battle between Linley and Augusta through divine sense.
Another Light Sovereign immediately used a teleportation array to travel to other planes, informing the Sovereigns they served. Such monumental news had to be relayed.
Deep within the Chaotic Sea, a seabed city spanning ten thousand miles, the Black Tortoise City, served as one of the three lairs of the Destruction Sovereign, Utreid.
“Sovereign, Linley and Augusta are fighting. They’ve already moved into the chaotic void. It looks like Augusta is about to die,” a Light Sovereign reported, having just teleported to the Infernal Realm, using divine sense to inform the Destruction Sovereign.
The death of a Sovereign meant a new Sovereign would rise.
If Augusta truly died, an upper-tier Light Sovereign divine spark would become available.
Inside a gloomy mansion in the northern district of Black Tortoise City.
“Linley and Augusta?” The Destruction Sovereign, Utreid, brightened and sighed, “I just spoke with Linley, and not long after, he’s off to kill Augusta. Truly reckless.” At the same time, Utreid reached out as if parting a curtain, tearing open a spatial rift.
With a leap, he entered the chaotic void.
Clad in a black robe, Utreid stood in the chaotic void, his divine sense spreading out. He easily located Linley and Augusta, locked in combat.
“Linley has the absolute advantage. Augusta looks quite battered,” Utreid chuckled. “Oh… Augusta is indeed fleeing toward the Celestial Realm, but Linley is slightly faster. It seems Augusta won’t make it to the Celestial Realm alive.”
In the multicolored chaotic void, Augusta and Linley flew at extreme speeds, one after the other. Linley gripped the Life Overgod Sword, his dark golden eyes fixed coldly on his target.
“Augusta’s survival ability is impressive—he’s taken two of my strikes and still lives,” Linley marveled inwardly. His attack power far surpassed his opponent’s; logically, a single blow should have been fatal. Yet each time his beam of sword energy reached Augusta—
Augusta, using his light sword and a special defensive technique, sacrificed parts of his body to preserve his life.
“And my innate divine ability, Dragon Roar, had little effect on him,” Linley admitted. At this point, he had to acknowledge that Augusta’s soul defense was incredibly strong. His Sword Intent carried dual attacks, but the soul-based assault proved ineffective.
Augusta, however, was in dire straits.
“Linley!!!” Augusta roared in fury, “Don’t push me too far! The Fate Sovereign, O’Brien, owes me a favor. You should know that. If you keep pressing me… once we reach the Celestial Realm, you’re dead!”
“I can’t defeat the Fate Sovereign, O’Brien, but for him to save you, you’d have to reach the Celestial Realm first. And you, Augusta… think you can escape to the Celestial Realm under my watch? Dream on!” Linley scoffed, closing the distance visibly. Soon, he’d be able to land another strike.
Augusta shouted back, “I blocked two strikes, I can block a third, a fourth! You can’t kill me!”
“Is that so?”
Linley smiled coldly. “Augusta, I admit your defensive sword technique is ingenious, capable of deflecting my sword energy beam. But when the power gap is too great, no technique can save you. Enough—I said you’re not getting away!” By now, Linley was extremely close to Augusta.
Strangely, Linley didn’t attack.
“Hmm?” Augusta felt suspicious.
Linley smiled coldly, continuing to close the distance until they were less than ten meters apart.
“Haha…” Suddenly, three bursts of laughter rang out.
Linley’s body split into three forms.
One was the Dragonform Linley, one was a Linley with light cyan hair, and the third had green hair. Clearly, Linley had unleashed the full power of his three Sovereign avatars.
“Whoosh!” “Whoosh!”
The Wind Sovereign avatar and the Water Sovereign avatar flanked from both sides.
Their speed was no slower than Augusta’s.
Suddenly, a sharp beam of sword energy shot from the tip of the Life Overgod Sword in the Dragonform Linley’s hand. The thick beam was devastating, forcing Augusta to slow down and focus on defense. His light sword traced a mysterious arc.
“Bang!” The beam pierced through his right chest again, shattering his shoulder blade.
“Not good.”
Augusta looked around. Indeed, Linley’s Wind Sovereign avatar, Water Sovereign avatar, and Dragonform true body had formed a triangle, trapping him.
That brief moment spent blocking Linley’s strike had been enough for Linley to encircle him.
“Augusta, where can you run now?” Linley sneered, watching him.
Augusta scanned his surroundings. Suddenly, he thrust his sword at Linley’s Wind Sovereign avatar. The lightning-fast strike was like a flash of light in the dark.
“Clang!”
The Wind Sovereign avatar, wielding the Sovereign artifact Purple Blood Soft Sword, struck the light sword’s guard with precision.
Augusta’s body trembled, and his expression shifted dramatically.
“Still trying to escape?” Linley said coldly.
In their previous battle, Linley had only been able to match Augusta with the Overgod artifact. Back then, he wouldn’t have dared to let his other Sovereign avatars intervene. Without Overgod artifacts, they would have been killed in a single strike by Augusta.
Now…
Even without the Overgod artifact, Linley’s Sovereign avatars could barely hold their own.
Augusta’s frantic, battered expression changed, becoming calm.
“Linley,” Augusta said, sweeping his gaze over Linley’s three Sovereign bodies, “Why push me to this point? Last time, when you begged me to free your mother, I released her despite the severe soul damage. I never imagined that in just a thousand years, you’d come to kill me.”
Linley laughed, a bitter, angry laugh.
“Severe soul damage? Freeing my mother? Augusta, you still have the nerve to say that?” Linley scoffed.
Augusta raised an eyebrow, then smiled. “So, you know everything.”
Augusta’s smile was radiant.
“Still smiling at a time like this,” Linley said. His fused divine sense had already detected at least six Sovereigns in the chaotic void, observing the battle from afar.
“Linley, aren’t you curious how I’ve been blocking your strongest strikes?” Augusta smiled, and his body began to emit a golden glow. The exposed skin gradually took on a golden hue.
“Gold?” Linley’s heart trembled.
He recalled the battle between the Destruction Sovereign and the Fate Sovereign. The Fate Sovereign had used a faintly glowing golden hand to block the Destruction Sovereign’s Overgod artifact attack. Of course, that was also due to the Fate Sovereign’s immense willpower and profound mysteries.
“When I took the Four Divine Beasts’ blood essence last time, I knew you’d come for revenge one day,” Augusta said lightly. “I also knew that reaching Great Perfection would be very difficult for me. So I made a deal with the Fate Sovereign, O’Brien. Using the favor he owed me and some of the Four Divine Beasts’ blood essence, I traded for his ultimate defensive technique, the Cycle Golden Body, which he’d studied for eons. Lord O’Brien, who already possesses the Time-Space Chaos technique, no longer values the Cycle Golden Body as much.”
“Originally, I didn’t want to reveal this.”
Augusta looked at Linley with a smile. “But Linley, you’ve improved too fast.”
“A strong body, and you think you can block my Overgod artifact?” Linley sneered. “Even the Fate Sovereign wouldn’t dare use other parts of his body to block an Overgod artifact.”