“Yes, Your Holiness.” The white-robed priestess within the Radiant Temple immediately ran at high speed towards the insides of the Radiant Temple.
Holy Emperor Heidens gripped the ‘Radiant Scriptures’, staring at the scene above, his heart trembling. “Died. They all died.” Heidens’ heart ached. These dead Saints had been the reason why the Radiant Church had been able to maintain its grip on power in the Yulan continent.
Some of these Saints might have had the potential to one day surpass him in power and become the next Holy Emperor.
“Too late. It’s all too late.” Heidens felt boundless grief and rage in his heart.
“But… there is still hope!” Heidens’ ground his teeth. “As long as we can kill that Linley, after a few more centuries of training and gathering new forces, our Radiant Church can definitely grow strong again.”
Heidens’ face suddenly changed. He cried out in shock, “Fallen Leaf!”
Right at that moment, Lord Fallen Leaf’s corpse fell down from mid-air.
As Lord Fallen Leaf died, twenty-eight other Saints of the thirty-six the Radiant Church had started with had died as well.
Only eight were left!
The rate at which they had been killed caused the members of the Radiant Church who had witnessed this to feel shock and terror in their hearts.
“This Linley…” Heidens found out, to his amazement, that Linley next charged straight towards Lehman. Lehman had finally broken free of Delia’s ‘Godrealm’. After all, her Godrealm was an imperfect one, and was only capable of trapping him for a few seconds.
“Linley!” Lehman roared with fury, delivering a full-forced stick smash towards Linley.
Wherever the staff passed through, space itself rippled.
“Die,” Linley said calmly.
A devilish violet light passed through the staff, which instantly snapped into two parts. Wherever the devilish violet light passed, space itself was instantly torn apart. The spatial rip actually tore straight through Lehman’s body, and his tall, massive body was instantly split into two halves.
Dimensional Decapitator!
With a flash of the sword, Lehman’s skull exploded.
Linley turned and stared at the distant Heidens.
“Heidens. It’s your turn, now.” Linley’s voice seemed to echo throughout the heavens.
With Lehman and Fallen Leaf dead, the Saints on the side of the Radiant Church primarily only consisted of early and middle stage Saints. In front of experts like Tulily, Desri, and Bebe, they didn’t have any ability to fight back at all.
In but a few seconds, all thirty-six Saints on the side of the Radiant Church had perished. Not a single one had managed to even escape.
“Heidens, what, are you planning to hide within the Radiant Temple, beneath the defensive formation of the ‘Glory of the Radiant Sovereign’?” Standing in midair, holding the bloodstained Bloodviolet in his hand, Linley stared down at the terrified Holy Emperor, Heidens.
Once upon a time…
In Fenlai City, the young Linley had wanted to slay the King of Fenlai Kingdom, Clayde, to avenge his parents. At that time, Holy Emperor Heidens had stood in midair as well, easily dominating and maintaining control of the situation and of Linley.
There were hundreds of members of the Radiant Church within the Radiant Temple, but they didn’t even have a place to flee!
The shattered remnants of the Sacred Isle were surrounded by the sea. If they wanted to flee, they would have to flee into the endless sea… but none of them were capable of flight. Even if one of them was a wind-style magus, Linley’s side, including the Saint-level undead, numbered over thirty Saints. How could they possibly be fast enough to escape?
All they could do was hide inside the Radiant Temple.
The Radiant Temple was the last thing they could rely on.
“What should I do? What should I do?” Heidens was extremely nervous. “The Radiant Temple definitely won’t be able to hold on for too long.”
The greatest, final source of support for the Radiant Church had been the Great Six-Point Battle Formation. The ‘Glory of the Radiant Sovereign’ only relied on the magicite gems stored within the Radiant Temple to power it, and definitely wouldn’t be able to withstand the power of the repeated attacks of Linley’s group of thirty-plus Saints.
“Why hasn’t Lord Chiquita arrived yet?” Heidens was frantic.
“Quick, you go underground as well and ask Lord Chiquita to come,” Heidens mentally said to an Ascetic behind him.
“Yes, Your Holiness.” This Ascetic was very worried as well.
Holy Emperor Heidens stared at Linley’s group, hovering in mid-air. Instantly, his face changed, because he noticed that Linley and Delia had both fallen silent. No one else was speaking either; everyone’s attention seemed to be focused on the two of them.
“They are chanting a magical incantation!” Heidens could instantly tell.
“They have multiple Grand Magus Saints. If they were to all cast forbidden-level spells at the same time, and then have the others attack at the same time, the Radiant Temple definitely wouldn’t be able to hold on.” Heidens felt as though he were an ant atop a heated saucepan. He was utterly frantic now.
He turned his head yet again. “Why hasn’t Lord Chiquita come yet? What is going on?”
The ‘Lord Chiquita’ that Heidens had placed all his hope in had still yet to appear.
“Chiiiiiiii.”
An enormous, faint blue ‘Dimensional Edge’, at least twenty meters long, suddenly flew out from Linley, carrying a destructive surge of energy towards the Radiant Temple. By Delia’s side, a second Dimensional Edge, five or six meters long, also flew out.
Two-Dimensional Edge spells, one large, one small, attacking at the same time!
“How could this Dimensional Edge be so huge?” Everyone hiding within the Radiant Temple, Heidens included, felt utterly shocked upon seeing this scene.
Dimensional Edge spells were generally three or four meters long. If they reached five or six meters in length, it was a sign that the Grand Magus Saint casting it was going all out.
Twenty meters?
How could they have imagined that Linley possessed a monstrously powerful supportive divine artifact like the Coiling Dragon ring?
“Chiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.” The Dimensional Edges chopped down against the walls of the Radiant Temple, and the Radiant Temple instantly lit up. A dazzling, holy light emanated out, frantically striving to block the Dimensional Edge spells, but this Dimensional Edge which Linley had cast was simply too enormous.
“Crunch!”
The entire Radiant Temple shuddered. Many people within it, Heidens included, noticed that the walls of the Radiant Temple were beginning to crack.
“The Radiant Temple is no longer able to hold on. Everyone, all together, let’s destroy it!” Wharton roared with fury, and then, brandishing the warblade ‘Slaughterer’, charged forward. Instantly, the three Saint-level dragons, Bebe, the Barker brothers… the experts all charged forward.
But Delia noticed that Linley had suddenly changed.
“Linley, what is it?”
Linley, staring at the cracking, shattering Radiant Temple in front of him, had a very complicated mixture of feelings in his heart. How long had he waited for this day, the day of the destruction of the Radiant Church?
“I’m fine.” Linley chuckled. “Hrm, what is that Heidens doing?”
Heidens, seeing the many experts charging forward, ground his teeth, then immediately knelt down. The ‘Radiant Scriptures’ he had been holding in his hands suddenly flew into the air above him, and he immediately bowed down, pressing his head against the floor.
Heidens’ entire body began to glow with an eye-piercing brilliant light.
Faint lines of blood began to emerge from Heidens’ body, staining his white robe. Heidens raised his head, his eyes shooting forth two rays of piercing golden light, which struck directly upon that holy scripture.
Heidens’ voice was incomparably ancient.
“Bang!” At this moment, the Radiant Temple came under the combined attack of the thirty-plus Saints, and the magical defensive formation instantly shattered. The nine-story-tall Radiant Temple collapsed, and the members of the Church within it let out cries of agony.
But at the same time, the holy scripture began to glow with an incomparably eye-piercing golden brilliance. The golden brilliance floated in the air above Heidens, forming into golden flower petals.
These ‘golden flower petals’ were slowly opening and unfurling.
Linley, Bebe, Tulily, Desri, Delia, and the other experts all watched this scene cautiously. They saw that from within the golden flower petals, a barefooted, muscular man with short silver hair and hemp clothes suddenly appeared, wielding a spear in his hands.
A terrifying aura was emanating from this barefooted, muscular man with short silver hair.
“Is it you… who have summoned me?” The muscular spear-wielding man lowered his head, looking at Heidens. “Blasphemers? Where?”
Heidens’ eyes lit up, and he immediately pointed towards Linley’s group. “O Mighty One, that group of Saints before us are all Blasphemers.”
The spear-wielding muscular man stood in mid-air, and with two steps, he walked outside of the Radiant Temple, turning his gaze towards Linley’s group.
The aura that this muscular, spear-wielding man was emanating was one which Linley and Desri were very familiar with.
This was the aura of a Deity!
“Linley, this is the apparition of a Deity from the Divine Realm of Light. The apparitions of Deities are only formed from energy and don’t possess divine sparks. Their energy is limited to that of Prime Saints, and can’t possibly reach the Demigod-level,” Desri’s voice rang out in Linley’s mind.
Linley immediately calmed down.
“However, we still need to be careful. Although the apparitions are constrained by the bounds of these material planes to have the power of Prime Saints, their understandings of the Laws are at their full level. If their true body is that of a Highgod, then the apparitions will have a Highgod-level of understanding of the Laws!” Desri’s face was solemn.
Even if the apparition was limited to the power of Prime Saints, if the apparition had the insights of a Highgod, most likely even a Demigod would be easily killed by it.
The spear-wielding, muscular man swept Linley’s group with his gaze. “I am Belzie, the Third Guardian under the command of Lord Plaker. Die, Blasphemers!” The muscular man’s spear suddenly pierced through the air, arriving in front of Linley in an instant.
49
Lord Chiquitas!
“Crunch!”
Although Linley immediately dodged, the spear still pierced through Linley’s throat, then instantly returned to Belsize’s hands.
“So fast.” Linley felt utterly shocked. A faint green light quickly covered the wound, allowing his throat to rapidly return to normal.
Belsize glanced at Linley in surprise, then let out a sigh of approval. “I didn’t expect that you would be in possession of a Pearl of Life. It seems that you are the leader of these Blasphemers, then.” Although he had discovered that Linley was in possession of a Pearl of Life, Belsize was still completely confident.
This attack of Belsize had caused all of the experts on Linley’s side to feel terror.
“That attack only pierced through your throat. This next attack, I will use to pierce through your soul. Let’s see how you will dodge this.” Belsize moved, transforming into a line of bright light and piercing through the air. As for Linley, he immediately utilized the ‘Profound Truths of Velocity’ to fly backwards and retreat.
Linley was fast. But Belsize was even faster!
The Bloodviolet sword in Linley’s hand, covered with that faint blue aura, chopped directly towards Belsize’s head.
Belsize smiled disdainfully. Dodging backwards, he avoided the strike of Bloodviolet, and then the spear in his hand shot out like a ray of light, piercing through the heavens towards Linley’s skull. The speed of this attack was simply too fast, and Linley didn’t have any time to dodge at all.
“Clang!”
Bloodviolet seemed to have teleported, as it clashed against the side of the spear. The spear shuddered, then just missed Linley, passing by his head.
“Your attack has a hint of the ‘Dimensional Edge’ about it, and your speed isn’t bad either.” Belsize was wielding his spear again, chuckling calmly as he looked at Linley. “Even in the countless, myriad planes of the universe, amongst Saints, you can be considered to be amongst the highest class. A pity…”
Belsize’s face grew solemn, and then he swept his arm out.
“Boom!”
A burst of dim white light shot directly towards Linley. Linley had been extremely cautious, and so as soon as the white light shot at him, Linley immediately flew backwards, retreating without even pausing to think.
“Hissss…” The parts of his body that the white light touched all immediately disintegrated into ash.
“Whew.” Having just barely escaped the area of the white light, Linley let out a secret sigh of relief.
Right now, his forehead was matted in sweat. His entirely disintegrated legs were quickly regrowing, and he stared in terror and rage at the distant Belsize. “His speed is several times faster than mine, and it seems he hasn’t gone all out yet either. Even a casual blow from him is so terrifying.”
In terms of power and energy levels, Linley and Belsize were on par.
But in terms of understanding the Laws…
The difference was simply enormous!
“Boss!” Bebe’s voice rang out in Linley’s mind. “If you can’t hold on, then flee.” Bebe was nervous as well. Desri and the others had fled far away long ago and were watching from afar. They had to admit… that their power was far lower than Linley’s.
If Linley was unable to defeat the opponent, then they wouldn’t be able to either.
“Hissss…” Suddenly, a Dimensional Edge suddenly shot towards Belsize at high speed. It had been cast by Delia.
“Dimensional Edge.” The other experts, Linley included, all felt a thread of hope.
Belsize glanced at the Dimensional Edge, neither dodging nor retreating. When the Dimensional Edge reached his body, only then did Belsize suddenly retreat at high speed.
The Dimensional Edge flew forwards, and Belsize flew backwards.
“What?!”
Everyone, Linley included, felt shock and terror, because they knew exactly how fast the ‘Dimensional Edge’ was… and yet it was still slower than Belsize. Belsize had a faint smile on his face, easily maintaining the distance between himself and the Dimensional Edge.
After the Dimensional Edge dissipated, Belsize came to a halt as well.
“Dimensional Edge? It has been such a long time since I have encountered it. What a nostalgic feeling.” Belsize sighed.
Linley’s face changed.
It was hopeless!
It was utterly hopeless!
“Retreat, everyone, retreat, quickly, quickly!!!” Linley’s voice suddenly rang out in the minds of Tulily, Desri, and the other experts.
Not hesitating at all, Tulily and the other experts immediately began to flee in every which way.
“Fleeing?” Belsize’s face turned cold. “Hrmph.”
Belsize suddenly raised his level of speed to the limit, appearing in front of Linley in the blink of an eye, and Linley immediately flew backwards.
But just at that moment, Belsize’s body suddenly came to a halt, a hint of surprise and anger in his eyes. “A Deity?” Linley suddenly realized that Delia was close to them, and he hurriedly, frantically messaged her mentally, “Delia, quick, leave!”
Delia had just utilized her ‘Godrealm’.
However, this ‘Belsize’ was nothing more than an apparition, an ene
rgy construct. He had no soul, only a linked thread of awareness. If this was a true ‘Godrealm’, perhaps there would have been some effect, but this imperfect ‘Godrealm’ had virtually no effect on him.
Belsize’s body paused for only the briefest of instants, and then he turned to look at Delia, his gaze cold. “You haven’t even successfully fused with the divine spark in its entirety, and yet you dare to use it?”
“Swoosh!” The spear immediately shot out from his hands, and the target… was Delia!
“Delia!” Linley was shocked.
“Clang!”
A metallic ringing sound. The spear returned to Belsize’s hands, its mission unaccomplished. Belsize stared at Delia in astonishment. “A set of divine battle armor? You actually have divine battle armor?”
“Delia, leave, quickly. I’ll hold him down. Quick!” Linley mentally said to her frantically.
Linley knew that given Belsize’s speed, if he chased after any one of them, that person would definitely be caught up to and killed.
“No.” Delia didn’t leave. She stared at Linley, her eyes slightly misty. “If we die, we die together.”
“Delia…” Linley’s heart was extremely confused and torn.
He hadn’t expected that the Holy Emperor, Heidens, would have this final card up his sleeve. To summon the specter of a Deity, and one of such terrifying power, at that…
“I was overconfident, too overconfident. If I had been a bit more prudent, and had immediately killed Heidens at the beginning! If I hadn’t given him the chance to summon this specter, none of this would have happened.” Linley hated himself for his mistake. And at this moment, Belsize charged towards Delia once more.”
At this point in time, Belsize’s primary target had actually become Delia.
“A divine spark, and a set of divine battle armor…” Belsize flew over at high speed. “I didn’t expect that in this material plane, there would actually be someone so astonishingly stupid. If she had actually finished fusing her divine spark, it truly would be quite hard for me to kill her. But as things stand…”
Gods of Yulan: Book 4 of the Coiling Dragon Saga Page 39
