Book 9, His Fame Shakes the World – Chapter 26, A Time and a Place
In turn, Haydson’s body had been knocked flying far away at high speed by this terrifying clashing force. Only after flying backwards for nearly a hundred meters did Haydson stabilize himself, and a hint of blood leaked out from Haydson’s mouth.
Haydson wiped the blood away, staring down at the Channe River.
“What a fine Prodigy Sword Saint. His final attack truly was powerful.” Haydson murmured to himself. At a do or die moment, Olivier’s final attack had reached a new level of power, and had actually broken through Haydson’s defense and struck Haydson’s body, causing him to be injured.
“Rumble.” The torrential rain continued to fall nonstop, and on the surface of Channe River, the waves of water roiled about. Quickly, that ‘scarlet red’ color atop the surface of the river dissipated and disappeared from sight.
A deathly silence!
Everyone had fallen silent, and the people at the two banks of the river stared into the Channe River. Everyone wanted to know, had that glorious Prodigy Sword Saint died, just like that?
“Elder brother!” Blumer didn’t hesitate at all. Shedding bitter tears of pain, he threw himself directly into the turbid waters of the Channe River.
“Master Linley, did Olivier die?” Emperor Johann was worried.
Linley shook his head. “I’m not sure either.” As he spoke, Linley lowered his head to glance at Bebe, who looked upwards at Linley with resignation. “Boss, Olivier’s aura is extremely weak right now, and he isn’t even breathing. I can only detect the barest hint of life in him. It seems he really is about to die.”
The countless spectators were all discussing this situation in hushed tones, wondering if Olivier had truly died. But everyone still remembered...Olivier’s dazzling final blow.
“Plop!” Water sprayed everywhere.
Carrying a body, Blumer rushed out of the water. Linley could instantly tell that Olivier’s face was drained of all blood and was totally white, and his lips were ashen as well. He was no longer breathing.
Only by using spiritual essence to probe him could one sense that Olivier was still alive.
“Move, move!” Carrying the Lightshadow sword, the obsidian sword, and his older brother Olivier in his arms, Blumer charged directly towards the direction of Emperor Johann.
Blumer’s eyes were filled with tears.
“Your Imperial Majesty, your Imperial Majesty, where are the healers? Quick, quick!” Blumer shouted frantically.
For this battle, Emperor Johann had prepared in advance for the most exalted Arch Magus of light magic of the ninth rank in the palace to come.
“Mr. Anders [An’te], quick, save Olivier.” Emperor Johann immediately said.
A silver-haired old man immediately walked out from behind Emperor Johann and hurried towards Olivier’s prone body. His hands glowing with white light, he touched Olivier’s body. Soon, color began to quickly reappear in Olivier’s face.
“How is he? How is my older brother?” Blumer said frantically.
Although Blumer was very stubborn and very cold towards others, in Blumer’s heart, he loved Olivier like a father. His older brother had raised him ever since he was young. To Blumer, there was nobody more important than his older brother.
“Don’t be hasty. Just now, all I did was heal the simpler wounds Lord Olivier has sustained. I need to use more healing magic to address his internal injuries.” The silver haired old man nodded as he spoke, then immediately began to mumble the words to a magic spell. Blumer watched, feeling anxious and nervous, but he didn’t dare to interrupt the work of this light-style Arch Magus.
Soon...
A starry light entered Olivier’s body, and the wounds on Olivier’s body began to rapidly heal. The efficacy of this healing magic was quite astonishing.
“Hrm?” The silver haired old man shook his head, puzzled.
“What is it?” Blumer asked frantically.
The silver haired old man shook his head, frowning. “Lord Olivier’s body has been totally healed. His external injuries, his organs, and his broken bones are all restored. But Lord Olivier didn’t wake up. This...”
Linley was carefully inspecting Olivier as well.
“Olivier’s soul has been wounded.” Bebe said mentally to Linley. “I can feel that his spirit is extremely weak right now.”
Just at this moment, the gray-robed Haydson flew over slowly from the sky, agilely and gracefully coming to a halt in front of Emperor Johann.
“Haydson!” Blumer stared hatefully at Haydson.
His one and only older brother, his one and only family member. Blumer felt boundless hatred towards Haydson. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was far weaker than him, Blumer probably would’ve charged straight for him.
“Stop staring at me. Your older brother’s spirit was heavily wounded, and he is hovering at the point of life and death, but that isn’t because of me. When executing his final attack, your older brother seemed to utilize some sort of forbidden technique to attack me, hoping to take me down with him.” Haydson’s face was rather pale as well.
“Forbidden technique?” Blumer frowned.
Suddenly, he remembered...
A while ago, he wanted to learn the obsidian sword technique from his elder brother, but Olivier had instructed to focus on learning the Lightshadow sword technique, and not to train in the diametrically opposite obsidian sword technique.
“Could it be that there really is some sort of taboo preventing people from utilizing two diametrically opposite Elemental Laws at the same time?” Blumer lowered his head to stare at his older brother.
Olivier’s face was ruddy, and his body was clearly in peak condition. But he still didn’t wake up, and his spiritual aura was extremely weak, as though it could be extinguished at any moment.
“Lord Olivier lost?”
“His brother carried his corpse out. Alas, the Prodigy Sword Saint has died.”
“Who said he died? Maybe he’s just unconscious due to his injury.”
“No matter what happened, Lord Haydson, the Monolithic Sword Saint, seems to be fine, and even flew down from the skies. Clearly, he is far stronger than Lord Olivier.”
Those millions of spectators were all discussing this battle. Although the skies were filled with torrential rain, it couldn’t douse their burning ardor. Everyone was filled with excitement at what they had just seen. Regardless of whether Olivier was dead or just passed out from his injuries, one thing was certain...
The victor of this duel was the Monolithic Sword Saint, Haydson!
This result was one which the vast majority had predicted. After all, Haydson had been famous for too long, and was reputed to be the most powerful Saint alive. He had never been defeated. It was very normal for him to be the victor of this duel.
Everyone would’ve been stunned if Haydson had lost.
The flood of spectators slowly began to melt away. Many began to head towards the imperial capital, while others headed towards some villages on the outskirts of the city.
The people slowly left, but the soldiers still stood guard.
“My elder brother won’t die.” Blumer said coldly. And then, carrying his elder brother’s body, he ordered his servants to carry the Lightshadow and obsidian swords and follow him. Blumer left, carrying his older brother in his arms.
“I hope Olivier can make it past this disaster.” Emperor Johann sighed. Right now, Emperor Johann was surrounded by over a thousand people.
These people were all nobles. Many of them wished to know if Olivier was alive or dead.
“Lord Haydson truly is powerful. Once again, he won easily.” A distant noble’s voice rang out respectfully. Haydson laughed calmly.
And then Haydson looked at Linley. With a loud laugh, he said, “Actually, compared to Olivier, I’d rather have a competition against Master Linley.”
A stunned silence.
Everyone was shocked. Haydson had just completed a major duel with Olivier, and now he wanted to challenge Linley to a duel?
Linley was silent for a moment, then spoke. “Haydson, what do you mean by this?”
Haydson smiled. “Last time at the Coloseeum, you and Olivier didn’t finish your duel, but Olivier had drawn his obsidian sword, and you had prepared your adamantine heavy sword. I remember at that time, you had said that your adamantine heavy sword techniques were based on the Laws of the Earth, right?”
“Indeed.” Linley nodded.
“I, too, am a person who studies the Laws of the Earth. I imagine that if we were to engage in a competition, it would be of great benefit to both of us in our attempts to break through to a higher level of understanding.” Haydson looked at Linley. “Linley, I’d like to invite you to spar. Would you accept?”
Neither the surrounding nobles nor Emperor Johann dared to make a sound.
One was reputedly the strongest Saint alive. The other was a Saint who was a genius the likes of which the world had never seen.
“Big brother...” Wharton couldn’t help but speak out.
Linley turned to glance at his little brother. He chuckled.
Wharton, in his heart, was frantic and angry. He thought to himself, “This Haydson really is despicable. He just finished beating Olivier to the brink of death. Does he now want to kill my big brother as well? Is it because he saw both my big brother and Olivier are both geniuses, and are afraid that in the future, they would threaten his status?”
Wharton wasn’t the only person thinking this. Many of the people present were thinking this as well.
After all, Linley and Olivier were both dazzling geniuses. One had been beaten to the point where whether or not he would survive was at question. And now, Haydson invited Linley to spar? Many people naturally questioned his real motives.
“What, you refuse?” Haydson asked with a laugh.
Linley looked at Haydson, a smile on his face. “Name a time, and name a place?”
Haydson was startled.
He immediately understood that this meant Linley was accepting his challenge. “I’ve already competed today against Olivier and am not in peak form. How about this. Three months from now, on August 4th, in the air above Mt. Tujiao, east of the city. Let’s have our competition there.”
“Fine.” Linley smiled and nodded.
Linley wanted to duel with Haydson as well. He had just begun to understand this Pulseguard Defense technique. Combining that with his ‘Profound Truths of the Earth’ attack, Linley didn’t think that he would be easily defeated. After all, he not only was protected by the Pulseguard Defense, he also was protected by his draconic scales. With such powerful defenses, most likely it would be hard to say if Haydson’s was better or his own was better.
“Since this is the case, then your Imperial Majesty, Linley, I’ll bid you farewell.” Haydson nodded to each of them, then transformed into a gray streak of light as he flew away into the sky.
“Big bro...” Wharton ran over frantically.
“I’m fine. Victory and defeat is yet to be determined.” Linley smiled confidently, and then he led his people back towards their residence.
As for those nobles and the members of the imperial clan, they were all engaged in endless speculation. After a while though, all of them returned back to the imperial capital as well under the cover of rain.
The Channe River once more regained its normal peacefulness. Only the mess left behind at the riverbanks gave testament to the earlier excitement.
...........
At the place where the Channe River and the Yulan River intersected, a six story tall enormous ship was sailing from the Yulan River into the Channe River. A row of knights were standing in a neat row on the deck.
Many of those powerful knights had magical beasts as well. Ordinary people did not have access to magical beasts; for so many of the knights to have magical beasts meant that the status of the person on this ship was quite extraordinary.
“When we arrive at the Channe River, we’ll be only three days out from the imperial capital of the O’Brien Empire. Unfortunately, we’ll have missed the duel between the Prodigy Sword Saint, Olivier, and Lord Haydson.”
The warriors on the ship’s deck were chatting amongst each other.
Right at this time, a man with white streaked hair came out onto the top deck. He seemed to be a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties. By his side was a brown-furred bear that looked charmingly naïve. This bear was roughly as tall as a person was, and seemed very cute.
“Growl. Growl. Master. I really don’t feel comfortable here on the water. Let’s fly instead.” That charmingly naïve seeming bear said to the middle-aged man.
“I know you hate water.” The middle-aged man laughed as he walked to the chain linked side of the boat, staring down into the waves.
“Your Honor.” Seeing the middle-aged man, the soldiers on the ship deck all said respectfully. Just at this time, a tall, golden-haired beautiful woman came walking out with a smile. Laughing, she headed towards the middle-aged man. “Teacher, we’ve already arrived at the Channe River. We should be arriving at the O’Brien Empire soon.”
The middle-aged man laughed as he glanced at the golden-haired woman. “Haha. Indeed we are. Delia, I think you are even more impatient than I am.”