He had been completely and utterly deceived?
“It was fake? A lie?”
“AUGUSTA!” Linliey felt a surge of nameless fire instantly fill his chest. That BASTARD! Augusta had actually dared to deceive him in this matter!
The nearby Chief Sovereign of Destruction, Wodred, snickered. “Linley, can it be that you don’t know what sort of a person this Augusta is? Overbearing, greedy, sinister. For the sake of achieving his goals, there’s nothing he won’t do. You actually trusted him that easily?”
Linley’s forehead was deeply furrowed as he frowned. “I know all these things. Only, Orloff was present, and I rather trusted Orloff… however, it’s too late. Lord Wodred, why is it that you are so certain that Augusta deceived me? Why is it that Angels will definitely regain their memories upon regaining their freedom?”
For now, Linley couldn’t fully believe all these things, as they were just words coming from a single person, the Chief Sovereign of Destruction.
The Chief Sovereign of Destruction, Wodred, said with absolute certainty, “Linley, I’ll tell you this. One of the seven Sovereigns of Light has allied himself with me, and so I have a great deal of knowledge regarding Angels.”
Linley listened quietly, and the Chief Sovereign of Destruction, Wodred, said with a solemn expression, “Angels are reborn from the Angelic Resurrection Pools! Every single Angelic Resurrection Pool is connected to the soul of its Sovereign of Light! Thus, every single Angel born from the Angelic Resurrection Pools are under the command of their Sovereign of Light.”
Linley nodded. The Chief Sovereign of Destruction continued, “There are different levels of Angelic Resurrection Pools; there are only two high level ones, and only these two are able to give birth to Twelve-Winged Angels. These two were both taken over by Augusta, who controls them personally.”
“There are two ways to allow your mother, a Twelve-Winged Angel, to regain her freedom. One is to kill Augusta! Once Augusta dies, the Angelic Resurrection Pools will become items without masters, and so the Angels linked to it will have their souls released as well. Naturally, they will regain their freedom.”
Linley nodded. He knew about this method.
“The second method is to have Augusta remove his bond with the Angelic Resurrection Pool that is connected with your mother’s soul. Once his bond is released, the Angelic Resurrection Pool will become an ownerless item, and all of the Angels that were born through it will also lose their spiritual connection to Augusta, and thus regain freedom.”
The Chief Sovereign of Destruction laughed coldly. “Linley, once the bond with the Angelic Resurrection Pool is broken, every single Angel that pool has ever created, including your mother, will regain their freedom!”
“Your mother is a Twelve-Winged Angel, while there are only two pools that can give birth to Twelve-Winged Angels. You want Augusta, for the sake of your mother, to relinquish his bond with an Angelic Resurrection Pool for one Twelve-Winged Angel? That means he would lose half of his Twelve-Winged Angels. They would regain their freedom and no longer be under his control!” The Chief Sovereign of Destruction snickered. “If he really had let your mother regain her freedom, then during the Planar War, how could he have been willing to send out a total of 1200 Twelve-Winged Angels?”
Linley now completely understood. There was, in reality, only one way for his mother to regain her freedom; to make it so that the Angelic Resurrection Pool linked with her soul became an ownerless item. And there were only two ways to do that; the first, to kill Augusta. The second, for Augusta to relinquish the pool. But how could Augusta possibly give it up? Giving it up meant giving up all of the Angels that pool had ever created.
“Bastard!” Linley couldn’t help but growl and curse.
“No point in being angry now.” Wodred laughed coldly. But Linley was frantically calculating certain things in his mind. One thought in particular constantly circulated through his thoughts. Kill Augusta! Kill him right away!
“Lord Wodred,” Linley said hurriedly. “The Angels that the Sovereign controls; can the Sovereign kill them just by willing it?”
“Not necessarily.” Wodred shook his head and laughed. “It depends on where the Angel is. If the Angel and the Sovereign are on different planes, then the Sovereign won’t be able to kill that Angel.”
Linley suddenly understood. It was like the master-servant bond that was used to control magical beasts. Upon the bond being established, the master could easily cause the magical beast’s death. However… if the master and the servant were on different planes, they would at most be able to vaguely sense each other’s location. There was no way they would be able to communicate through the soul, nor would the master have a way to kill the servant.
Linley and Bebe, on different planes, weren’t able to speak through their soul connection either.
“Whew.” Linley internally let out a sigh of relief. On the surface, though, Linley looked quite calm. Bowing, he said, “Lord Wodred, I truly must thank you. If it wasn’t for you, I might have been deceived by Augusta for an extremely long period of time.”
Linley and the Chief Sovereign of Destruction chatted for a while longer, and then Wodred left. Soon afterwards, Linley sent his wind-type Sovereign clone away from the Infernal Realm, to pay a visit to the Chief Sovereign of Death in the Netherworld. Half a day later, Linley immediately invited Beirut and Bluefire over to discuss something.
“What did you say!?” Beirut and Bluefire were both so shocked, they rose to their feet.
“Right. I was deceived.” Linley shook his head. “An Angel who truly regains her freedom and who is no longer under control will regain her former memories.”
“Are you certain?” Beirut and Bluefire both said in unison.
“I’m very certain. This news was brought to me by Wodred, and just now, my wind-type Sovereign clone went to the Netherworld to pay a visit to the Chief Sovereign of Death. I personally raised this issue with her, and the Chief Sovereign of Death personally told me that there were indeed only two ways to have an Angel regain her freedom. In addition, upon regaining freedom and upon breaking free from the bewildering soul control of the Angelic Resurrection Pool, they will naturally regain their former memories,” Linley said in a low voice.
Beirut and Bluefire exchanged a glance, a hint of shock in their eyes. “Since even the Chief Sovereign of Death says it is so, then it seems it is true,” Beirut said in a low voice.
“I didn’t imagine that we’d actually be deceived like this.” Bluefire frowned.
It was one matter if someone else deceived them, but the deceiver was Augusta! Augusta, with whom they had an irreconcilable grudge to begin with! Beirut and Bluefire both felt this way, and Linley felt this way all the more! After all, he was the one who had handed over the blood essences of the Four Divine Beasts!
“Linley. What is your decision?” Beirut asked. Bluefire looked towards Linley as well.
“Wait,” Linley growled.
“Wait?” The two couldn’t help but be puzzled.
“My father and my mother will go for a tour of the material planes. Once they leave, I will make my move,” Linley said calmly.
“Right. For now, your mother cannot be trusted.” Beirut nodded as well. Now that they had a plan, they naturally would carry it out.
HALF A MONTH LATER.
Hogg and his wife, Lina, were personally escorted by Linley to the interplanar teleportation array. Holding the Sovereign medallion that Linley had given them, they were teleported to a material plane and began their touring journey. They had no idea… that upon departing, a terrifying storm would arise in the Higher Planes.
“Father and Mother have departed.” Linley’s gaze was abyssally cold. Beirut and Bluefire, by his side, exchanged a glance. “Mother is not in the Infernal Realm; even if Augusta came here, he wouldn’t be able to kill Mother. As for the people of the Skyrite Mountains… I’d like to ask the two of you to help out. As long as Augusta attacks from trillio
ns of kilometers away, I imagine you two should be able to protect the Skyrite Mountains.” Linley turned to look at them.
Beirut couldn’t help but begin to laugh. “Haha, Linley, Sovereigns aren’t even able to kill a Paragon from trillions of kilometers away. There is a limit to their attack power. How could Bluefire and I be unable to protect the Skyrite Mountains?”
“Then I’ll stop worrying.” Linley finished speaking, then immediately flew towards the teleportation array.
“Linley, be careful!” Beirut and Bluefire both sent towards him.
“Stay in the Infernal Realm, and wait for me to contact you.” Linley’s form disappeared from within the distant teleportation array.
Bluefire turned to look at Beirut, then said with a frown, “Beirut, I don’t know why, but… I feel a sense of dread. I hope nothing amiss will occur on Linley’s journey.”
“Nothing will!” Beirut said with absolute certainty. “Augusta is nothing more than the Chief Sovereign of Light. His Overgod weapon isn’t suited to his nature; how strong can he possibly be? As long as he doesn’t run into Orloff, there won’t be any problems. In addition, Linley is a person who knows when to advance and when to retreat. And, most importantly of all… he has his fused divine sense, which vastly surpasses an ordinary Sovereign’s divine sense.”
“Right.” Bluefire relaxed slightly. With the fused divine sense, Linley would be able to easily locate his enemy, but his enemy wouldn’t notice Linley’s arrival.
THE DIVINE LIGHT PLANE.
“Bang!” A figure suddenly flashed past the skies, advancing forward at such speed that even the divine plane’s spatial fabric trembled. A sky-blue-robed Linley, his face emotionless, his gaze cold, stared into the distance.
“The Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, isn’t here!” Linley’s fused divine sense was able to easily discover that at the residence of Augusta, the Chief Sovereign of Light, Augusta was by himself within his lavishly adorned island, enjoying the ministrations of his maids. As for the Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, the only one who Linley was concerned about? He wasn’t there.
Linley’s gaze turned knife-sharp. “That island has a total of two Sovereigns of Light. The other is a mere Lesser Sovereign.”
Linley paid no attention to that Sovereign at all. “Augusta!” A killing intent surged within Linley’s breast, and his fury continued to blaze.
The hopes of the four clan leaders. The hatred his clan bore. Linley never forgot about these things, not for a single day!
Beirut had been forced to hide in the Yulan Plane, not daring to emerge!
An attempt to kill Linley himself, only for the sake of his Overgod weapon!
And now lying to him, deceiving him to acquire the blood essences of the four ancestors!
Augusta’s actions clearly indicated that he had no desire whatsoever to resolve the grudge between himself and Linley. Similarly, deep within Linley’s heart, he had never given up his plans for revenge!
A figure suddenly appeared in the air above the lavish island.
“He really knows how to enjoy himself.” Linley lowered his head, staring downwards. His right hand suddenly pressed down towards the island.
“Rumble…” An extremely, terrifyingly powerful aura swept out as the illusion of a palm that was thousands of kilometers long suddenly appeared out of nowhere. This enormous illusory palm crushed downwards, instantly causing the world below to tremble. The lavishly decorated island instantly, silently, was reduced to smithereens.
Instantly, a large number of Angels and other women flew out, into the air. Two figures hung there in the sky; it was the Chief Sovereign of Light, Augusta, and the other Sovereign of Light. Augusta’s face was filled with rage, and when he saw the distant Linley, his eyes turned completely round. He roared in anger, “Linley, what are you doing?”
“I felt uncomfortable, looking at your island. So, I destroyed it,” Linley said calmly.
It wasn’t that Augusta was unable to block Linley’s attack; in reality, Linley hadn’t infused his attack with much power, as he had dispersed it over a very large area of thousands of kilometers. The main issue was… Linley had used his fused divine sense, and so Augusta had no idea that Linley had arrived.
Linley had suddenly struck out of nowhere with that giant palm, and by the time Augusta was able to react, his island had already been reduced to dust.
“You felt uncomfortable, looking at my island?” Augusta’s pupils contracted. He now understood that Linley had come to make trouble for him, and he said in an icy voice, “Linley, you want to fight with me?”
“Whoosh!” Instantly, the many Angels and maids nearby scattered towards the four directions. Good heavens! Two Chief Sovereigns were about to do battle? If they remained here, they would definitely be courting death.
“Linley is about to battle the Chief Sovereign?” The other Sovereign of Light also hurriedly retreated, a look of shock appearing on his handsome face.
“Fight with you?”
Linley’s abyssally cold gaze stared death at the not too distant Augusta, and then, quite bizarrely, Linley cracked his lips into a smile.
This smile made Augusta’s heart suddenly clench.
The Life Overgod Sword suddenly appeared in Linley’s hands. Not hesitating at all, he swept the Life Overgod Sword out, tearing through space with it. “Rumble…” The surrounding area completely collapsed, and a fierce aura of energy, as sharp as an awl, created one massive spatial rift after another. An utterly irresistible, inky jade sword light suddenly stabbed towards Augusta.
“Augusta, today is the day you die!”
Linley’s cold voice rang out like thunder, reverberating within Augusta’s mind.
88
A BATTLE OF CHIEF SOVEREIGNS
Augusta’s face was savage. Letting out a low growl, he slashed out with the Lightsaber in his hand in a circular arc. “CLANG!” The two Overgod weapons clashed.
The center of the collision created a terrifying series of ripples which spread out in every direction. Countless spatial rifts appeared as the nearby space cracked like the shell of a turtle. Augusta was knocked flying back by the collision. His body swayed in midair, then he once more found his bearings as he stared at Linley in some amazement.
“Linley, no wonder you dare claim you will kill me. So your power actually nearly doubled.” Augusta stared at Linley.
“I’ve grown more powerful, but you haven’t,” Linley said emotionlessly.
“Haha… who knows which one of us will live, and which one will die.” Augusta actually began to laugh. With a “crackling” sound, Linley’s entire body became covered with those inky jade draconic scales. Those savage spikes jutted out as Linley instantly Dragonformed.
“Really?” Linley let out a cold laugh.
Linley’s entire body slowly transformed into a streak of light that shot at high speed towards Augusta, who was kilometers away in the sky. For Chief Sovereigns, traversing a distance of a few kilometers, in this sort of frantic battle, required less than a millionth of a second. From this, one could imagine how quickly the two were exchanging blows.
“Clang!” “Clang!” Two Overgod weapons clashed repeatedly against each other, and the surrounding space began to splinter and shatter. Each time, Augusta was knocked flying backwards. It appeared as though Augusta was at a disadvantage, but clearly, each time Augusta was able to hold on.
“You want to kill me? It won’t be that easy.” Augusta chortled. But there was no smile on Linley’s face.
“It’s about time,” Linley murmured to himself. From the beginning of the battle till now, Linley had only revealed a small part of his true power, because Linley was worried that if he unleashed his most powerful sword blow, if he didn’t succeed on the very first strike, the enemy would be so frightened that he would immediately flee. That would make things troublesome. After all… Linley’s attack power might have increased, but his speed hadn’t.
The fusing of the differ
ent profound mysteries had implications for his ‘Sword Intent’ technique, but in terms of speed, Linley hadn’t improved significantly.
“Die!” Linley growled in his mind. After the two exchanged yet another series of blows, Linley’s Life Overgod Sword once more tore through the sky like before, striking towards Augusta. That inky jade sword energy billowed forth in a slightly chaotic manner. As for Augusta, he blocked Linley’s sword attack in the same manner he had previously, but as the two drew close to each other…
The Life Overgod Sword’s rather disorderly, chaotic inky jade sword energy seemed to suddenly organize, like soldiers entering a formation, forming a beam of inky jade sword energy that was as thick as a man’s waist.
His most powerful attack exploded forth!
“BANG!” The sword energy flashed, striking heavily against the Lightsaber. Augusta’s face instantly whitened; he could sense an irresistible force crush down against his Lightsaber, knocking it against his body…
A golden light suddenly flashed. The surrounding area was reduced to nothingness, and Augusta himself had disappeared.
Had Augusta been reduced into dust?
“Eh? He was only heavily wounded?” Linley frowned. His fused divine sense allowed him to clearly see that Augusta, a large hole in his chest and his face ashen, had actually borrowed from the impact of their blows to flee at high speed into a rift in chaotic space. “I didn’t expect that Augusta would be able to take a blow from my most powerful sword attack without dying.” Not hesitating at all, Linley increased his speed to the limit as he too charged into chaotic space.
A battle between Sovereigns simply drew too much attention. Within the Divine Light Plane, four of the other Sovereigns sensed the battle; they naturally spread out their divine sense to encompass the entire Divine Plane, and thus they witnessed this battle.
“The Chief was nearly killed? Fortunately, that ray of sword light only blew a hole through his chest after expending some of its power on the defending Lightsaber. That’s the only reason why he was able to survive.”
Lord of the Mists: Book 8 of the Coiling Dragon Saga Page 72
