The yellow earthen aura covered Linley and Delia, and a strange type of spiritual energy slowly circled around Linley and Delia’s consciousness. That strange energy was actually able to locate the flaw in Linley’s damaged soul-protecting Sovereign artifact and easily slip through.
Linley and Delia both began to grow woozy.
“Linley. You are such a fool.” Delia’s eyes were filled with tears.
“We roamed the Infernal Realm together. Even if we die, we die together.”
Delia was on the verge of losing consciousness, but she still managed to smile. “Linley. I feel very satisfied with the life I have lived.” And then, she struggled hard to raise her head and kiss Linley on the lips, and Linley kissed Delia back. In the last moment before Linley lost all consciousness, one scene after another from his youth until now flashed through his mind like lightning.
His meeting with Grandpa Doehring.
Killing the king of the Kingdom of Fenlai.
His fame shaking the world in the O’Brien Empire.
The founding of the Baruch Empire.
The adventure in the Necropolis of the Gods.
The destruction of the Radiant Church.
And then their adventuring in the Infernal Realm, where his wife had accompanied him until death. When they had arrived in the Infernal Realm, Linley had been mentally prepared to die. After all, in the constant slaughterfield that was the Infernal Realm, anybody could die. Even if he died… he would die happy.
He was dying alongside his beloved!
“Me too. I am very satisfied with my life!”
And then…
His consciousness was gone.
51
Talisman
“Drip, drip.” The golden magma pool continued to bubble and boil. Those giant liquid golden hands now tried to snatch the three remaining Highgods.
Only three lucky survivors were left!
“Salomon, that bastard. Even if we die, we need to make him die with us,” Sperry sent a message with divine sense to the other two. They could already feel that dodging was very difficult.
“Right. Make him die with us!”
The Fiends of the Infernal Realm were all mentally prepared for death. Only, they didn’t want to die, and even if they were to die, they wouldn’t let their enemies get off lightly!
“Swoosh!” “Swoosh!” “Swoosh!”
The three Highgod Fiends simultaneously charged towards Salomon, but before they even drew near him, that sallow, charred yellow hand once again came slapping towards them. “BANG!” One of the Highgod Fiend’s skull was smashed and exploded apart.
“Elquin!” The other two Highgod Fiends were shocked.
Clearly, this Elquin wouldn’t permit them to kill Salomon!
“Kill his little sister!” Sperry and the other Highgod Fiend, knowing that death was nigh, in their fury decided that they would kill whoever they could lay their hands on. The two Fiends just barely dodged those giant liquid golden hands, then charged straight towards Nisse, hovering there in mid-air.
At this moment, Bebe was hovering there in mid-air, unmoving. When he saw Linley and Delia be dragged into the magma pool, he was stunned. But then…
“Boss… isn’t dead!” Bebe’s eyes were filled with surprised joy. “I can still sense the Boss’s soul!”
The two were connected spiritually. As long as Linley was alive, Bebe would naturally be able to sense him.
The golden magma pool was only so big. Given the speed of these Highgod Fiends, Nisse was only able to move slightly before the Highgod Fiends arrived in front of her. A blurry, indistinct blade shadow came chopping down, and Nisse’s face instantly turned white.
“Clang!” A metallic sound could be heard.
Nisse felt that she was being tightly embraced, and she opened her eyes in shock. “Bebe!” It was Bebe who had embraced her and had taken this attack for her.
“Aaah!” Because of the counter-force from his chopping attack, that Highgod Fiend was caught by those giant liquid golden hands. Although he frantically struggled, in the end, he was still dragged down by those giant liquid golden hands into the golden magma pool, and not a hint of life was left after that.
“Crackle…”
The many giant liquid golden hands spread out like the petals of a floor, directly swallowing the final Highgod Fiend, Sperry, then pulling him into the golden magma pool.
“Bebe, are you alright?” Nisse said, worried. But as soon as she spoke out, she immediately came to her senses. She realized that Linley had very possibly revealed her big brother’s secret, and that this Bebe had most likely intentionally made friends with her.
“I’m fine. That bastard actually even used a soul attack.” Bebe’s face was somewhat ashen, but then he was stunned as well. He noticed Nisse’s expression.
Bebe let out a bitter laugh, then gently release Nissed.
As Nisse left his embrace, for some reason, she felt her heart ache!
Bebe rubbed his nose. “I was wrong to think my love was reciprocated.” Nisse, hearing this, felt a miserable feeling in her heart, but this information about the secret being revealed was like a thorn in her heart. “But wait, if Bebe had truly lied to me, he wouldn’t have risked his own life to save me just now.”
“Take care of yourself, Ninny.” The sound rang out next to her ears, and then… SPLASH!
Only now did Nisse realize that Bebe had already jumped into the magma pool. Nisse was instantly stunned! In her mind, she could still clearly see that rowdy, playful, but towards her always-considerate straw-hat-wearing youth!
“Bebe… died?” Nisse felt as though her heart was being ripped apart.
“Nisse, what are you doing?!” Salomon shouted, while at the same time he flew to Nisse’s side.
“Big brother, Bebe, he…” Nisse’s eyes were beginning to be covered with a layer of mist.
Salomon shouted, “What are you thinking? That Bebe did it on purpose. His body is tough, so he knew he would be able to take that blow. He did that on purpose, because it wouldn’t pose any threat to him! You need to remember, Linley is our enemy. It’s a good thing that he died, because otherwise…”
Salomon’s heart was still filled with hatred.
“But, but if Bebe didn’t care about me, he didn’t have to save me,” Nisse argued.
“That’s exactly what he wanted you to think,” Salomon said coldly. “Nisse, that Bebe is extremely crafty and sly.”
With a rumbling sound, the four walls of the stone cave once more spread out, and the space of the cave expanded once more. Elquin, holding that little golden kitten, landed on the flat ground, and Salomon pulled his little sister to fly over as well.
At the bottom of the golden magma pool, there was a place where the magma had naturally split open, forming a true, empty space. Linley and Delia were currently embracing each other there.
“What… what’s going on?” Linley and Delia both woke up.
Delia immediately used her divine power to repair her body while staring at Linley. Linley shook his head as well. “I don’t know either.”
And then, Linley and Delia both began to laugh.
“Linley. I thought I was dead,” Delia said gently.
“Me too. I thought I was going to die.” Linley felt a warm feeling in his heart. With a wife like this in his life, what more could he ask for?
After truly having walked on the fine line between life and death, this time, Linley had truly believed he was dead. But who would have imagined that he would survive? This sort of feeling truly was astonishing and shook his soul.
“Linley.” In Linley’s arms, Delia looked up towards Linley. “After this experience, my heart is calm. Linley, although the Infernal Realm has many dangers, as long as you are by my side, I won’t be afraid no matter where I go.”
Linley held Delia, his heart filled with joy and bliss. He didn’t say a word.
“You two, husband and wife, are really enjoying yourselves.” A de
ep voice rang out in the mind of Linley and Delia.
Linley and Delia were both shocked.
“You are…?” Linley spoke.
“Everyone else who entered this liquefied pool of Goldflame is dead, aside from you two. Even the Highgods are dead,” the deep voice continued.
Linley and Delia instantly understood who this person was.
“You are the Volcano Titan?” Linley said.
“Right. You may address me as Phusro,” the deep voice said.
“Phusro?” Linley thought back to how the black-robed Elquin had held that golden kitten in his arms. Elquin seemed to have addressed the kitten as ‘Phusro’.
“You are a member of the Four Divine Beasts clan, but more importantly, the relationship between you and that Bebe is quite deep. Thus, Master ordered me to spare your lives when pulling you into the liquefied pool of Goldflame, so as to temporarily fool that Salomon.”
“You can wait right here for now. I won’t claim your little lives. I imagine that you know that I can kill you at any time. Don’t go out.”
And then, the voice disappeared.
Linley and Delia exchanged a glance, then laughed. Delia said, “Linley, before this, I saw that Elquin was afraid to do anything to Bebe. He wanted to spare Bebe. I was wondering… why didn’t he spare us? So actually, that was this Elquin’s plan all along.”
Linley laughed as well.
Indeed, everyone else who had entered the golden magma pool had died, so as to give Salomon a false impression… that anyone who entered the golden magma pool would die.
Actually, the golden magma pool was under the control of ‘Phusro’. If he didn’t want someone to die of course that person wouldn’t die.
“This Phusro’s power truly is terrifying.” Linley was secretly shocked. That spiritual energy had gone straight through the flaw in his soul defense. Linley had known all along that powerful Highgods were capable of this.
But now, he had actually encountered it.
“Plonk!”
Suddenly, a figured charged down at high speed through the pool, then straight towards him. Linley could clearly sense the ripples of that soul. “Bebe, what are you doing here?!” Bebe quickly charged down into this area of land.
“Boss, so you really are alright!” Bebe saw Linley and Delia, and was instantly overjoyed.
“You guys really are a pain!” Phusro’s voice rang out once more in the minds of the three.
“Who is he?” Bebe’s face changed.
Linley explained, “He’s the Volcano Titan, Phusro.”
“Phusro? Can it be that he’s the kitten?” Bebe’s eyes lit up.
“DON’T MENTION KITTENS!!!” Phusro’s voice exploded in fury. “Enough. The three of you, obediently stay here and don’t go out. The sound from outside will carry in here. Don’t worry, though… your voices won’t be able to transmit out.”
Linley, Delia, and Bebe were at the bottom of the golden magma pool. Indeed, they could hear the voices from outside.
Elquin, holding the golden kitten, laughed calmly as he looked at Salomon. “Salomon, all of them are dead now. I’ve given you face. You should give the treasures of your clan to me now, right? Is it on you, or is it somewhere else?”
Nisse appeared quite nervous.
Salomon laughed calmly. “Right. I admit that I am a member of the Boyd clan, but Mr. Elquin, I have to tell you something.”
“Speak.” Elquin frowned. He felt as though something was amiss.
“The amount of wealth I have on me, and in fact even including all the wealth I have in other places, amounts to less than ten billion inkstones!” Salomon laughed calmly.
Ten billion inkstones, to ordinary Highgods, was an enormous figure. But to Elquin, it was nothing at all. To the Boyd clan, it was comparable to a single hair on the body of nine bulls.
“You are playing me for a fool?” Elquin’s face changed.
Salomon hurriedly said, “No, no, I’m not playing you. To tell you the truth, those two old servants of mine did in fact bring a vast fortune to me, but… I’ve already offered the fortune to someone else!”
“To who?” Elquin frowned. “You’d best not lie to me.”
“To Lord Aiken!” Salomon replied.
Elquin’s face changed. “Aiken?” Elquin couldn’t help but feel angered, and he shouted angrily, “Salomon, Lord Aiken is indeed powerful, and I, Elquin, don’t dare irritate him, but… do you think that just because you randomly report a name to me, that I will give up? Why don’t you say Beirut? Why don’t you go ahead and say that you gave it to the almighty Sovereign, the Redbud Ruler? Anybody can name names!”
With a flip of his hand, Salomon revealed a black talisman that was covered with complicated runes.
“You should recognize this talisman,” Salomon said.
“Hrm?”
Elquin’s face changed, and he was instantly speechless. He could recognize it. This was indeed Lord Aiken’s talisman. Since Salomon had this talisman, then the relationship between himself and Aiken must be extraordinary, or perhaps… Aiken had ordered him to carry out something.
Aiken, without question, was one of, if not the most powerful figure in the Redbud Continent. Some even suspected that he had reached the level of being a Paragon.
He had previously been an Asura, but then he had voluntarily stepped down and allowed another Seven Star Fiend to take over. Nobody believed that it was because Aiken wasn’t strong enough. Everyone knew exactly how terrifying Aiken was! Although he was not an Asura, his power was far greater than that of most Asuras.
Aiken of the Redbud Continent. Beirut of the Bloodridge Continent. They were all dazzling, legendary figures.
“Drip, drip…” The golden magma in the cave continued to bubble and hiss. Other than that, it was silent.
“Inigo, what say you? What should we do?” Elquin turned to stare behind him. Suddenly, a tunnel appeared in the stone wall, and a person came out. It was Inigo.
Inigo stepped out. He had been listening all along.
“Although this Salomon has the talisman of Lord Aiken, but, that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have the wealth of his clan on him,” Inigo said.
“You are…” Salomon and NIsse stared at him.
“I saw you before at the castle of sand,” Nisse called out in surprise.
Inigo was slightly startled. Right. When the castle of sand had collapsed, Inigo and the others had indeed been seen.
Inigo then smiled slightly. “Right. Salomon, I am the person who was pursuing and attacking you. What of it?”
“That time?” Salomon began to understand.
“Right. It was I who told Lord Elquin of your identity.” Inigo let out a chuckle. “Hmph. When you were at the Coldcalm Prefecture , you were kicked out by your Boyd clan. Although that was a minor matter, at that time, I just so happened to notice.”
Salomon was stunned.
“Pity that kid named Linley. He really was wrongly accused by you.” Inigo began to laugh.
52
Sovereign’s Might
At the bottom of that pool of golden magma, Linley and the others could clearly hear the sounds coming from up above.
“Linley, they finally realize that you were accused wrongly.” Delia was very happy at this moment, but Bebe said fumingly, “That Salomon really is an as*hole. After finding out that his identity was revealed, he ignored everything else and insisted on believing that it was you, Boss, who revealed it. This sort of person is absolutely not worth treating as a friend!”
Ever since Salomon had asked Elquin to kill Linley, in the hearts of Delia and Bebe, they very much detested this Salomon.
“Salomon. It isn’t worth getting angry over him.” Linley shook his head. “Only, it’s a pity, Bebe. That Nisse was still a pretty good person.”
“Ninny?”
Bebe was stunned. He thought back to how he had protected Nisse, but Nisse still seemed to somewhat distrust him.
Suddenly, the
sound of sobbing came from up above.
“It’s Ninny.” Bebe raised his head, but all he could see from up above was the boiling golden magma.
The golden magma caused the temperature of the entire cave to be extremely high. Even the air in the cavern was twisted and distorted.
“Linley… was wrongfully accused?” Salomon stood there, silent for a moment.
But the grief that Nisse had been suppressing for quite some time now exploded out. She actually ran straight towards that golden magma pool. Salomon was terrified, and he hurriedly grabbed Nisse by her hand. “Nisse, what are you doing? Are you trying to die?”
This was liquefied Goldflame.
Perhaps powerful Highgods could withstand it, but generally speaking, Gods who entered it would die.
“It was my fault. It was all my fault. I should have trusted Bebe. I should have trusted him!” Nisse was sobbing. Her heart was filled with boundless regret. Before this, when Bebe had charged into the golden magma pool, Nisse had felt agony in her heart as well.
But in her heart, at that time, there was another voice as well; the voice that said that Bebe had intentionally made friends with her, that he had been deceiving her!
That was the only reason Nisse had been able to remain standing there. But upon Nisse learning that Linley had been wrongfully accused, it was as though countless thunderbolts had suddenly gone off in Nisse’s mind.
She was wrong!!!
Linley had been wrongfully accused, and Bebe had been sincere towards her!
“He didn’t lie to me. He’s never lied to me. In order to save me, Bebe ignored his own well-being, but I doubted him. I didn’t believe him.” Nisse’s face was streaked in tears. She wanted to draw closer to the golden magma pool, but how could Salomon just watch as his little sister threw her life away? He firmly grabbed her by the arm and said frantically, “Nisse, Bebe is already dead. He’s already dead!!! Regret is useless.”
“Dead?” Nisse was stunned… and then she collapsed, limp, next to the magma pool.
“Ninny, why are you so beautiful?”
“I’m beautiful so you’ll fall in love with me!”
The Infernal Plane: Book 5 of the Coiling Dragon Saga Page 40
