However, small wounds like these didn’t impact his strength much.
Who would win, and who would lose?
For now, it was hard to say.
“If things continue like this, how long will it take?” Quite a few people were puzzled.
What these spectators like to see were those true, all out, frontal assaults. Those sorts of battles might only last an instant, but generally speaking, life and death would be determined within a few blows. Those battles would cause the spectators to feel nervous and to feel their blood pumping.
But now…
Linley and the Redcliff Lord clearly weren’t fighting in such a way.
“Hey, that’s weird. It seems as though the Redcliff Lord is getting a bit faster,” Someone suddenly said.
“Right. He did speed up. It seems as though it no longer is so easy for Elder Linley to wound the Redcliff Lord.” Quite a few spectators slowly discovered this.
Bebe noticed this as well. He instantly grew nervous.
The spectators below were leisurely watching Linley and the Redcliff Lord battle, but they themselves didn’t dare to slacken off in the slightest. If they did, they might end up being killed in that instant.
“That sword is too bizarre.” The Redcliff Lord’s mind was constantly in a state of tension. The godspark sword, ‘Mirage’, would constantly stab towards him. If it wasn’t for the fact that he could rely on using gravity to change its direction and block it, Mirage would’ve pierced through his head long ago. All he could do was hold on…”
“Keep waiting, just keep waiting… in a bit, it’ll be time for you to be in trouble,” the Redcliff Lord mused to himself.
Linley had a bad feeling as well.
“His speed is continuously rising. Or, to be precise… the gravitational field around his body is transforming.” Linley discovered that the Redcliff Lord’s wings were filled with divine power, and were trembling at high speed, creating two surges of unique vibrations. These two unique vibrational surges were influencing each other.
This was causing the gravitational field to transform as well.
As time went on, the constant transformations caused by the two vibrations caused the ability of the gravitational field to resist Linley’s ‘Blackstone Space’ more and more effectively.
A Gravitational Space was actually created by relying on divine power transformed into gravitational power. If an opponent was also skilled in it, the opponent would be able to ablate its effects. Although the Redcliff Lord didn’t understand this ‘Blackstone Space’, while within it, he could sense and slowly adjust his own gravitational field, continuously perfecting it in its ability to deal with Linley’s Blackstone Space.
This made it so that as time went on, his speed became faster and faster!
“Linley, time for you to have a taste of what it feels like to be trampled!” The Redcliff Lord let out a furious howl. He transformed into a ray of black light, shooting towards Linley at high speed. Although his speed was currently still slower than Linley’s, the gap was low enough now that he could rely on his attack techniques to make up for it. The difference wasn’t as great as it had been previously.
Linley let out a calm laugh. “It is indeed time for things to come to an end.”
Linley charged forward to welcome him.
“Whooooosh.” The black knife struck directly at Linley’s head. Linley didn’t hesitate at all; Mirage pierced forward at high speed as well.
“Clang!”
In the instant when the black knife and Mirage clashed.
“Swoosh!” The Redcliff Lord’s wings trembled, and he suddenly increased in speed, and his right fist swung out towards Linley in a straight line. However, at the same instant of his attack, there was a bizarre, unique ripple.
“Rumble” …
A spatial whirlpool suddenly seemed to form, with that fist being at the center of the whirlpool.
In an instant…
The space around the fist seemed to have been trapped and activated, and even the direction of gravity was twisted. Linley felt his own body be impacted as well.
“Eh? This punch!” Linley’s face changed dramatically.
The effect of this punch made Linley think of the ‘Abyssal Inn’. There, he had seen the Sovereign of Death use the Laws of Water to attack and achieve this effect. At that time, the Sovereign of Death had used a fishing line to distort space, capturing and binding that Seven Star Fiend level expert. And now, this punch of the Redcliff Lord had the same effect.
Linley wasn’t able to dodge in time at all!
“Whoosh!” Linley gritted his teeth, then swept out with his left arm, his draconic claw filling with divine earth power and smashing down like a mountain. Firmament Splitter!
“BANG!”
Linley just felt a bone-piercing pain in his left hand before he was knocked flying backwards.
“What a powerful punch.” Linley lowered his head to look at his fist. The draconic scales atop his fist were almost completely shattered. Fresh blood was leaking out, and the bones of his hand were faintly visible. Even when using ‘Firmament Splitter’, he had still fallen into such a state.
“I can’t use my fist to take his head on,” Linley immediately came to this conclusion. “I have to use my godspark weapon against his fist.”
“Haha…”
Wild laughter rang out. The Redcliff Lord stared at Linley with his violet eyes. His wings suddenly trembled, and he once more swooped forward. Linley’s ‘Mirage’ struck out as well, so fast as to cause even the Redcliff Lord’s laughter to come to a sudden halt. He immediately wanted to use his black knife to block it.
But Linley suddenly withdrew his sword.
“Rumble” …
The Redcliff Lord laughed coldly. The black fist covered by that flowing earthen yellow light once more struck out, causing that spatial whirlpool to form once more, distorting the nearby space and gravity. Linley could sense the power of that fist.
“Swish!”
Mirage came stabbing straight out.
“Hmph.” The Redcliff Lord was very confident. He didn’t dodge at all, allowing his right fist to smash straight against Mirage. But as Mirage drew close to the fist, it actually became uncontrollably affected by the spatial whirlpool and was attracted to it. The Redcliff Lord’s fist struck right against the flat of Mirage.
And then, it glided forwards, straight towards Linley’s head.
“BANG!”
Suddenly…
The downwards gravitational direction of the Blackstone Space changed into… a repulsive force!
The originally downwards gravitational pull suddenly disappeared, causing the Redcliff Lord to uncontrollably surge upwards. Right at this moment, the repulsive force swept outwards, causing the Redcliff Lord’s body to uncontrollably be pushed backwards.
“Swoosh!” Linley seized the opportunity to charge forward, sending Mirage out in a straight stab.
The sudden change of the gravitational direction caused the ‘upwards’ gravitational field the Redcliff Lord had previously created to be ineffective, and his speed once more slowed greatly. This, followed by the sudden attack by Linley’s sword… by the time the Redcliff Lord reacted, the sword had already appeared in front of his eyes.
“Not good!” The Redcliff Lord’s face changed dramatically, and he hurriedly retreated.
When impacted by the repulsive force, his retreating speed was still very fast.
Linley smirked. “GET OVER HERE!”
The gravitational pull once more changed! The repulsive force transformed into an attractive force, centered towards Linley!
The Redcliff Lord’s body couldn’t help but sway.
“Slash!” As he frantically dodged, Linley’s sword only managed to pierce through the Redcliff Lord’s chest.
“Impossible, impossible!!!” The Redcliff Lord frantically tried to resist the gravitational pull. He hurriedly retreated, staring towards Linley in disbelief. “Your Grav
itational Space… how can it casually change directions? How can it… can it be?!” The Redcliff Lord suddenly thought of a person.
“Reisgem!” The Redcliff Lord stared at Linley in disbelief.
This sort of Gravitational Space that allowed for casual control of the direction of the gravity was the supreme technique of Reisgem. Even a supreme expert like the Redcliff Lord, when faced with this sort of constantly changing directional pull, would find it hard to control his movements perfectly.
Given this sort of situation, all he could do was struggle to preserve his own life.
“Swoosh!” Linley once more shot forward at high speed.
The Redcliff Lord immediately flew backwards, but the gravitational pull acting on his body once more changed directions, into an ‘upwards’ gravitational pull. Caught off-guard, the Redcliff Lord’s body couldn’t help but sway upwards. “Bastard, bastard… this is the innate supreme technique of Reisgem. How could someone else learn it? How?!” The Redcliff Lord still couldn’t believe it.
“Rumble…”
A strange, powerful ripple suddenly spread out.
“What?” The Redcliff Lord’s face suddenly changed.
Linley was currently staring at him, while an enormous Azure Dragon Phantom that was ten thousand meters long lay coiled behind Linley. The Azure Dragon Phantom was hovering behind Linley, staring emotionlessly at the Redcliff Lord. Suddenly, a unique sound began to echo in the Redcliff Lord’s mind…
Innate divine ability – Dragon Roar!
Linley’s final, supreme technique had finally been unleashed!
43
VICTORY AND DEFEAT
The Dragon Roar contained a spiritual attack component, but it wasn’t able to affect the Redcliff Lord at all.
However…
The most monstrous property of the innate divine ability, ‘Dragon Roar’, was the impact it had on time. There was no type of Law or Edict that was able to change the rate of time. Only this sort of unearthly innate divine ability was capable of it. Innate divine abilities were things that surpassed the limits of the Laws! As for the Azure Dragon clan, their innate divine ability was able to change the speed of time. In the region where the Redcliff Lord’s soul was located, the speed of time began to change!
“Swish!”
Linley, while executing his innate divine ability, ‘Dragon Roar’, also shot forward like a blur of light, the godspark sword Mirage mercilessly piercing straight towards the forehead of the Redcliff Lord. His most powerful blow…
Firmament Splitter!
“BANG!” A hole appeared in the Redcliff Lord’s forehead, and Mirage passed straight through it, piercing against his soul!
Silence! Utter stillness!
The enormous Azure Dragon Phantom in the sky had yet to vanish. The hundred million plus spectators on the ground, upon seeing the enormous Azure Dragon Phantom appear, felt shock and awe in their hearts. But when Linley’s ‘Mirage’ sword pierced straight through the Redcliff Lord’s forehead, everyone below was truly stunned.
“The Redcliff Lord… died?”
Although they couldn’t see Mirage, even the weakest of the spectators below was at the Demigod level. After having watched for so long, they were able to guess that Linley was wielding an invisible sword in his hand. Judging from Linley’s posture, they were able to guess that the invisible sword had stabbed into the Redcliff Lord’s forehead.
Caught in a patch of slow time, the Redcliff Lord only felt that before he even had a chance to react, Linley’s ‘Mirage’ had come stabbing straight into his forehead. The Redcliff Lord felt as though Linley’s attack speed had suddenly increased tenfold, perhaps even twentyfold. This sort of speed was something he couldn’t react to at all.
Mirage pierced into his sea of consciousness.
An invisible black barrier was currently protecting the Redcliff Lord’s soul. This was the soul-protecting Sovereign artifact that the Redcliff Lord possessed. By relying on this soul-protecting Sovereign artifact, the Redcliff Lord was able to stably sit on his throne as a Lord of Tartarus.
However, a soul-protecting Sovereign artifact only protected against soul attacks.
It was much like how…
A soul attack could ignore the body and ignore all physical barriers, passing through to attack the soul, or be blocked by a soul-protecting artifact.
It was the same principle.
Material attacks would ignore soul-protecting artifacts. If someone used a soul attack to try and block a material attack, that would be an utter joke.
A soul-protecting Sovereign artifact was, by its very nature, formed to be used against soul attacks. Against an incoming material attack, it might as well not be there. Mirage pierced directly through the soul-protecting Sovereign artifact’s protection, and the artifact itself wasn’t damaged in the slightest.
They didn’t even touch.
Although time had slowed, the Redcliff Lord still knew, at the moment that Linley’s sword came stabbing in, that the moment of his death had come. But his thinking speed was simply too slow; there was no way he could react in time. The only thing he could do was…
“Bang!”
Deep within his sea of consciousness, within the hands of a divine clone… a drop of Death-type Sovereign’s Might exploded forth! A terrifying surge of Sovereign power spread out, according to the Laws of the Earth, forming into countless blades and swarming towards Linley’s ‘Mirage’, smashing against it! By now, the Redcliff Lord had almost gone insane.
All he knew was…
He had to block it!
Thus, he now used his most powerful attack while relying on Sovereign’s Might to block Mirage.
“BOOOM!”
As he stabbed down, Linley sensed a terrifyingly powerful force surge out from the Redcliff Lord’s sea of consciousness, and then surges of power slam against Mirage. In addition, the power of every single surge was tremendous. Linley couldn’t help but be shaken, and he flew backwards while staring at the Redcliff Lord in surprise.
“What’s going on?” Linley didn’t understand.
“Rumble…” Powerful Death-type light emanated from the Redcliff Lord, and the wounds on his body quickly repaired.
The Redcliff Lord’s eyes suddenly lit up as he stared angrily at Linley. “Linley!” With the might of Sovereign power filling his body, if he were to attack using the profound mysteries, he would clearly now be much stronger. The impact of Linley’s ‘Blackstone Space’ would be greatly lessened as well. “Bastard.” After having nearly been killed, the enraged Redcliff Lord prepared to charge forward.
“Do we have to continue?”
Linley’s voice rang out.
“Eh?” The Redcliff Lord’s body trembled, and he came to a halt.
Although his body was brimming with black light, and although his power had indeed risen tremendously after using that Sovereign’s Might, to a level that was indeed enough to kill the current Linley… he wouldn’t be able to kill what Linley was about to become. Because currently, in Linley’s hand, there was floating a drop of earthen yellow liquid… earth-type Sovereign’s Might!
“Do we have to continue?” Linley’s voice still echoed in the air.
The Redcliff Lord stared at the drop of Sovereign’s Might hovering in Linley’s palm, his heart filled with resentment.
But if this continued, the result was obvious!
When an expert of the Laws of the Earth used a drop of earth-type Sovereign’s Might, the power unleashed would be at a peak.
Without using his Sovereign’s Might, Linley, by relying on his Blackstone Space and his innate divine ability, these two supreme techniques, was already at a slight advantage.
If he were to use his Sovereign’s Might, even though the Redcliff Lord had used a drop of Death-type Sovereign’s Might, against Linley’s earth-type Sovereign’s Might, the result was obviously… that Linley’s advantage would rise dramatically. By then… the Redcliff Lord would definitely perish!
/>
“AAAAAARGH!” The Redcliff Lord suddenly bellowed, face towards the skies.
A wild blast of Death-type Sovereign’s Might blasted out in every direction, and the surges of wild, powerful might caused multiple tears in space to appear around him. The aura was so powerful as to cause the countless spectators below to feel shocked. None of them knew what the results of the battle were yet.
“I admit defeat!” a hoarse, growling voice rang out.
Linley laughed.
This was all as he had expected. If they were to continue to fight, Linley was completely certain that by relying on his earth-type Sovereign’s Might, he would be able to win and kill this opponent. But if he did that… although his opponent would be dead, he would have used up his only drop of earth-type Sovereign’s Might. It absolutely wasn’t worth it. And, perhaps the enemy might have a soul-protecting Sovereign artifact, true, but even if he acquired it, in the future, it’s Sovereign would come reclaim it.
Thus, Linley didn’t wish to continue this battle. He chose to preserve his one and only drop of Sovereign’s Might.
This drop of earth-type Sovereign’s Might had been awarded to him after he had used up the previous drop in order to save Elder Garvey during the final battle between the Four Divine Beasts clan and the eight great clans. The clan had naturally replenished Linley with another drop, if for no other reason than to show gratitude for Beirut having helped the Four Divine Beasts clan.
“Linley.” The Redcliff Lord stared at Linley. “To be honest, I’m very reluctant to admit defeat in this battle! In terms of profound mysteries, you are far inferior to me. As I see it, you have at most fused three or four different profound mysteries.” The Redcliff Lord, based on his astuteness, naturally was able to tell how many profound mysteries each of Linley’s attacks held.
The Planar Wars: Book 7 of the Coiling Dragon Saga Page 35
