Book 18, Highgod – Chapter 11, A Pleasant Surprise
Odin’s sudden self-detonation caused the eighty two Deities to be shocked. They all waited nervously.
Suddenly...
Linley turned to look towards them. The eighty two Deities immediately said, “Lord Linley, we completely obeyed your orders. Please spare us.” “What we did in the past, we did at the orders of Lord Odin. We had no choice.”
They were all begging for mercy.
“Father, you cannot spare them!” Taylor’s frantic shout came from behind.
“Hrm?” Linley turned to look.
Reynolds, by Taylor’s side, said in an equally frantic voice, “Third Bro, these eighty two absolutely cannot be spared. When those Saints were killed, it wasn’t Odin who personally did the deed; it was these ‘claws’ of his. George was killed by this group of people as well, and Dixie was killed by them as well!”
“It was them.” Delia couldn’t help but turn and look, her eyes filled with hatred.
What sort of status did Odin have? How could he possibly lower himself to kill Saints? All of these vicious acts had most likely been carried out by these ‘claws’ of his.
The eighty two began to panic. “Lord Linley, we can’t be blamed. It was Lord Odin’s orders.”
Linley swept them with a cold look. One of the Deities, terrified, actually began to flee while frantically calling out through divine sense, “Flee, quick!” He could already sense that things were growing grim from Linley’s gaze. As he fled, immediately, the other eighty two began to flee as well.
Some flew into the skies, others drilled into the ground.
“Rumble...”
An earthen yellow aura instantly spread out in every direction, forming an enormous sphere that was thousands of meters in diameter. It even sank two thousand meters into the ground. Within this sphere, the eighty two Deities were completely trapped. Even Seven Star Fiends would find it hard to resist this gravity.
“Bang!” A minority of them, those who had weak bodies, crumbled and collapsed from the gravity alone.
Fortunately, as long as a Deity’s soul wasn’t destroyed, death would not come. The eighty two Deities, although controlled by that powerful gravity and being pulled towards Linley, didn’t die at least.
“Lord Linley.” The Deities who had been trying to flee were frantically begging for mercy.
“Father. Kill them. Avenge Uncle.” Taylor said frantically.
“Third Bro.” Reynolds said as well.
Linley swept the eighty two with his cold gaze. “True, you were the subordinates of Odin and had to obey his orders. But in the past thousand years, none of you have departed from the Yulan Plane. You willingly remained behind...and so you were serving Odin and obeying him out of your own free will. You cannot blame others for your death!”
If these Deities had wanted to escape Odin’s control, they could’ve simply gone to the Arctic Icecap and departed to the Higher Planes. Odin wouldn’t have cared.
“Linley, you, you...”
The eighty two Deities began to beg for mercy in terror, curse in rage, or just mumble. But under that gravitational pull, they flew at high speed to Linley’s side. Linley sent out a surge of divine earth power like arrows into the eighty two.
A low rumbling sound could be heard. The eighty two figures transformed into dust.
“Wharton, you take care of these things.” The floor was littered with divine sparks, interspatial rings, and divine artifacts. They were caught up in a surge of divine power and floated towards Wharton. These Demigod sparks and God sparks, in a material plane, were still very precious.
Wharton immediately collected all of the things.
“Let’s return.” Linley didn’t have a hint of a smile on his face. He just charged into the skies.
The forces of Dragonblood Castle immediately flew into the skies as well, leaving behind only two Saints. These two Saints immediately headed towards the surrounded and bound Envoys of the Baruch Empire. Seeing the situation, the soldiers around the Envoys were so frightened, they hurriedly loosened the bonds.
“Haha, your Odin Empire is finished.” An Envoy said in a clear voice.
The ministers of the Odin Empire all looked at each other. They understood as well...that in front of the overwhelming power of the Baruch Empire, the Odin Empire had indeed been finished.
“The Empire is finished.”
This battle in the imperial capital of the Odin Empire and Linley’s sudden appearance and killing of Odin as well as eighty two Deities caused the entire Yulan continent to once more enter a state of chaos. Those experts who previously had been subjugated by Odin’s power...how could they remain loyal to the Odin Empire now? They immediately rebelled against the Odin Empire.
In the space of a single night, the entire Odin Empire collapsed.
Although Odin had more than eighty two Deities under his control, with a few more scattered throughout the Yulan continent, once they learned that Odin and the eighty two Deities had died, they were so terrified that they immediately fled to the Arctic Icecap, all of them leaving the Yulan Plane.
The Odin Empire disintegrated at an astonishing speed.
And the Baruch Empire? It expanded at an astonishing speed. The entire Yulan continent once more knew of Linley’s presence.
Grandmaster Linley, who had disappeared for nearly two thousand years, had suddenly reappeared.
That Emperor Odin had been killed.
The entire Yulan continent was rocked by the news of this battle.
Dragonblood Castle.
It had been nearly half a month since the killing of Odin. During this half month, Linley and Bebe had remained within Dragonblood Castle. Although Linley knew that Odin’s Death-type clone was in the Netherworld, the Netherworld was simply too vast. How could he find him? It was like searching for a needle in the sea.
“Third Bro, drink less.” Reynolds said.
At this moment, Linley and Reynolds were seated facing each other within a courtyard, drinking wine. None of them wanted to discuss Odin or Yale. Linley was actually just drinking nonstop, gulping down one bottle after another of wine into his belly.
“Third Bro.” Reynolds grabbed Linley’s arm, forcing Linley to halt.
Linley slammed the bottle to the side, then looked bitterly at Reynolds, sighing softly, “Fourth Bro, I feel miserable!”
Linley raised his head, tears in his eyes. “When I think of what happened to Boss Yale, I feel miserable. Have I ‘avenged’ him? With all my power, all I did was kill Odin’s divine wind clone. To Odin, his divine wind clone wasn’t nearly as important as his Death-type clone. And that clone is in the distant Netherworld.”
“And Boss Yale? He was so shattered that you had to go kill him, Fourth Bro.” When Linley thought about what Yale had experienced, he couldn’t help but feel the rage build in his heart, making it ache. “I want to go to the Netherworld and kill Odin, but...finding Odin is too difficult. The Netherworld is simply too vast, too vast!”
The Netherworld was like the Infernal Realm; both were Higher Planes.
Just by looking at the Infernal Realm, one could imagine how if Odin had secreted himself into a corner of the Netherworld, that Linley could spend countless years without being able to find him.
“Third Bro.” Reynolds was heartsick as well, but he consoled Linley, “This isn’t your fault. Boss Yale did die an unjust death...and extremely unjust one! But if you hadn’t returned, we wouldn’t have been able to kill even as much as Odin’s divine wind clone. You’ve already done very well. I think...if Boss Yale knew of this, he would also feel slightly consoled.”
Linley laughed bitterly.
At most, ‘slightly consoled’.
In terms of pain, in terms of humiliation, in terms of torment...Yale had suffered far more than Odin had. The loss of his divine wind clone didn’t have too great an impact on Odin. He was still a Seven Star Fiend, and was still a powerful figure in the Netherworld. Whenever Linley thought about how Odin was free to roam the Netherworld, Linley felt the unjustness of it all.
He wanted to torment Odin, but in terms of what he was capable of, he had done all that he could.
“Odin truly deserves to die.” Linley couldn’t help but say this yet again.
“He does deserve to die. Ten thousand deaths wouldn’t be enough.” Reynolds said viciously as well. “If he had simply killed Boss Yale, I wouldn’t hate him as much as I do right now. But he...” Whenever Reynolds thought of the last time he had seen Yale and had seen how Yale was at the point of collapse, of that dispirited, tormented body...
Yale had been too pitiable!
He had already gone insane.
“Alas!” Linley was still furious. He couldn’t help but slam the table, and with a ‘bang’, the table split apart.
“Boss, Boss!” A voice rang out from afar.
Linley turned to look, only to see a black robed Beirut and Bebe enter together, with Wharton, Delia, Nisse, Wade, and the others following from behind. Beirut looked at the shattered table in surprise. “Oh, Linley, what is it? Why’d you smash the table?”
“Lord Beirut.” Linley forced a smile out. He was indeed in a terrible mood.
“Feeling angry and upset over what happened to your friend?” Beirut laughed calmly.
Linley didn’t say a word. Actually, deep in his heart, Linley was still slightly upset at Beirut. Beirut definitely had known that Odin’s Death-type clone had left the Yulan Plane. But Beirut hadn’t stopped him at all. Still...Linley didn’t say anything.
Because...
Why should Beirut help him? The fact that he occasionally helped out was enough. He couldn’t always be looking after Linley’s affairs.
“I know exactly what happened.” Beirut let out a low sigh. “Originally, I was planning to leave Odin for you to handle. But on one occasion, I was on a visit to inspect the Necropolis of the Gods. During that period of time, Odin’s Death-type clone left to go to the Netherworld.” Beirut voluntarily explained, making Linley feel a surge of gratitude.
Actually, Beirut hadn’t needed to explain.
The reason he explained was because he now considered Linley as a member of his family.
“The Netherworld.” Delia shook her head. “The Netherworld is too vast. Finding Odin will be too hard.”
“Unfortunately, yes.” Beirut sighed as well.
Bebe said resignedly, “Grandpa just so happened to be in the Necropolis. Jeeze!” Suddenly, Bebe’s eyes lit up and he looked at Beirut. “Grandpa, my Boss said that this time, we should go adventure in the Necropolis of the Gods. Help us open it up sometime.” This was something which Linley and Bebe had already discussed in the Infernal Realm.
On this return trip, investigating the Necropolis of the Gods was indeed something they had planned. But after the Odin event, Linley was no longer in the mood.
“Investigate the Necropolis?” Beirut raised an eyebrow, then shook his head. “Bebe, there’s no point for you going to the Necropolis. As for Linley...” Beirut looked towards Linley.
Linley couldn’t help but listen carefully, musing to himself, “When I went to the Necropolis of the Gods, I sensed that deep within it, something was beckoning to me. I wonder what lay hidden deep within.”
“Linley, you should indeed make a trip to the Necropolis of the Gods.” Beirut laughed calmly. “However, your strength isn’t sufficient yet.”
“Not yet sufficient?” Linley was startled.
In terms of power, he should be decent by now. He was definitely approaching the Asura level. But Beirut actually said his strength wasn’t sufficient yet?
“Based on what I know, the reason you are at such a level of power has something to do with the Redbud Sovereign.” Beirut laughed gently. “Your true power is far weaker.”
“Lord Beirut, when will it be enough?” Linley asked.
Beirut laughed softly. “When you reach Bluefire’s level.”
Bluefire’s level?
Linley was slightly puzzled, but then he understood. Actually, he wasn’t in the mood to investigate the Necropolis of the Gods either. Yale’s affair had caused him to feel mentally exhausted and worn out. He had no interest in going right now.
“Alas, your friend did indeed die an unjust death.” Beirut let out a sigh. “Unfortunately, I’m not the Emissary of a Netherworld Sovereign. Otherwise, I could go beg a Netherworld Sovereign to have him help you find the undead which your friend’s spirit was transformed into after dying and being drawn into the Netherworld. If a Sovereign were to intervene, then it would be easy for the undead to regain its former memories.”
Linley was stunned.
“Spirits are drawn into the Netherworld?” Linley’s mind seemed to suddenly explode. “Right. If a soul isn’t destroyed, then a person hasn’t truly died. Even if one is drawn into the Netherworld and becomes an undead...the soul will remain! They can regain their memories as well! Right, Boss Yale, Second Bro, Dixie, and...and my father!!!”
Linley’s face instantly turned red.
Red from excitement!
Linley’s greatest regret was his father’s early death, and the unfairness of it. His father didn’t know that he had gotten revenge and killed their enemies, and also didn’t know that the Baruch clan had been restored to glory.
And Yale, who had died so unjustly. His friend.
“Lord Beirut...” Linley hurriedly spoke out.
“Lord Beirut, my elder brother, he...” Delia spoke out hurriedly as well.
“Lord Beirut, then Boss Yale, he...” Reynolds spoke out as well.
Instantly, everyone began to ask questions frantically and excitedly.