Book 10, Baruch – Chapter 21, The Laws of Light
Osenno and Lehman flew at high speed towards Mt. Blackraven, while at the same time, they spread their spiritual energy to encapsulate the entirety of Mt. Blackraven.
“Linley is at Mt. Blackraven. He’s the one wearing blue!” Osenno immediately said.
“Got it.”
Lehman’s eyes were flashing with light, and at the same time, the energy in his body began to be roused. In Lehman’s hands, a three meter long longstaff suddenly appeared. Although it was a ‘longstaff’ to him, to an ordinary person, a better word would be ‘tree branch’. However, given Lehman’s size and 2.5 meter height, his massive hands could fully wrap around the thick ‘longstaff’, which had various mysterious runes carved onto it.
“That rat-type magical beast isn’t there, but there are two other Saints present, along with an ordinary woman. Could that be Delia?” Osenno was rather puzzled.
But for now, there was no need for them to over-think things.
“Boom.” It was as though a bolt of lightning had blasted down. Lehman, staff in hand, charged down at high speed. He ignored all others, focusing on his target: Linley.
Linley and Delia were currently entertaining guests. Desri, and his wife! Desri and his wife had just gone to the Frost Goddess Shrine, and on the way back, they came to visit Linley and to offer him their congratulations. Just as the two couples were chatting happily...
A terrifying surge of power descended from the heavens. The target: Linley!
“Out of the way!” Linley’s face changed, and he immediately pushed Delia aside. A surge of wind suddenly surrounded Delia, while Linley himself immediately transformed into the Dragonblood Warrior form. His sky-blue robe was directly shredded into pieces, and the adamantine heavy sword appeared in his hands.
A silver longstaff that carried boundless force with it had already appeared in front of his eyes.
“Whoosh!”
The air itself rippled and folded, as though space itself was being ripped apart. The silver longstaff smashed directly towards Linley, who sensed that he was facing a greater danger than he ever had before. He could sense that he had been totally locked down, with the surrounding space applying pressure on him.
“Linley.” Delia, who had been pushed to the side, stared at him with eyes filled with terror.
But just at this moment...
A milk-white, gentle light appeared in front of Linley, appearing like a white silk cloth. That silver longstaff, which seemed to contain enough force to obliterate the entire Mt. Blackraven, smashed against the milk-white light and the white ‘silk cloth’ formed from energy.
The white silk cloth only caved in slightly, and the longstaff could no longer push any further.
But the longstaff wielding Lehman felt the rebound force, which sent him flying backwards before landing a hundred meters away. Osenno also landed by Lehman’s side, staring at Desri in astonishment. He knew that it was this person who had blocked Lehman.
“Who are you?” Osenno spoke.
“Osenno, it’s you!” Linley’s face became grim. Delia ran over to Linley’s side. She was extremely worried.
Right now, Linley and Desri were in the center of the lake, while Lehman and Osenno were on the shore. The two sides stared at each other across the water.
“The Radiant Church’s forces?” Desri frowned.
Linley was secretly startled. “Desri used to belong to the Radiant Church. He wouldn’t still feel a degree of nostalgia for them, would he?” At the same time, Linley immediately spoke mentally to Bebe, “Bebe, stop messing around in the Forest of Darkness. Come back, quick. The Radiant Church’s forces have come knocking.”
“Boss, I’ll come back at top speed.” Bebe immediately replied.
Linley carefully looked at Osenno and Lehman, especially Lehman, whose 2.5 meter tall frame was terrifying to behold and gave Linley a forboding feeling. “Just then, the one who attacked me was the big guy. That big guy is definitely not one bit weaker than Osenno.”
“Delia, make sure you protect yourself.” Linley whispered to Delia by his side him.
Delia didn’t dare to make a sound. She didn’t want to distract Linley.
“Who are you?” Osenno stared at Desri. “This is the private affair between Linley and the Radiant Church. I hope you won’t interfere. It seems that you, too, are a practitioner of the Elemental Laws of Light...today, if you step aside, it would be considered giving the Radiant Church face. In the future, we will definitely repay it.”
The proud and arrogant Lehman didn’t say a sound.
The technique that Desri had used just then had let Lehman know exactly how much of a threat this man was.
“My name is...Desri.” Desri finally spoke.
“Desri, it’s you?” Osenno and Lehman’s faces both changed dramatically.
Desri was a legendary figure within the Radiant Church. Long ago, the legendary Holy Emperor Ernst founded the Holy Union. In that era, Desri was the spiritual leader of the Ascetics of the Radiant Church.
His position was equivalent to the status of the current Lord Fallen Leaf.
Osenno and Lehman exchanged glances. They both could sense the terror in each other’s heart. They were facing a Saint from the era of the legendary Holy Emperor Ernst. From then to now, one could simply imagine how much more powerful the person had grown.
“Lord Desri, I hope that you will consider the former affection and relationship between our two parties and not get involved in this matter.” Osenno said sincerely.
“Hrmph. In your dreams.” An ice cold voice rang out from behind. It was the nearby Pennslyn.
Pennslyn gave Linley a ‘no need to worry’ look. Hearing Pennslyn’s words, the formerly nervous Linley felt a sense of gratitude. But Linley still turned to look at Desri...after all, the decision maker here was Desri.
“What are you thinking about?” Pennslyn said angrily as she saw that Desri was hesitating. As far as Pennslyn was concerned, there was nothing to hesitate over.
Delia began to grow nervous as well. She looked at Desri with concern.
“Lord Desri, can it be that you’ve forgotten the kindness which Lord Ernst showed you in the past?” Osenno hurriedly said. Desri hesitated for a while, but then sighed and said, “I won’t allow you to kill Linley. You can leave, now.”
Desri did indeed feel some degree of affection for the Radiant Church.
Especially Ernst. In the past, the two had been as close as real brothers.
“Lord Desri!” Osenno said frantically. “This Linley killed six Angels and shows no mercy to our Radiant Church at all. If he is allowed to develop, especially alongside those five Undying Warriors, the threat he will pose to our Church is simply too great. Can it be, Lord Desri, that you are just going to watch as the Church is destroyed by him?”
Desri frowned.
“I told you to leave.” Desri’s voice turned heavy.
Osenno and Lehman glanced at each other. They had already made a decision.
Lehman stared at Desri and said loudly, “Desri, since you are going to be like this, we don’t have any choice either.” They now addressed Desri directly by his name. Lehman’s body suddenly began to glow with a white fire, and a terrifying surge of power began to emanate from him, turning the grass nearby into nothingness.
The silver longstaff in his hands flashed like a bolt of lightning.
“Zealot?” Desri chuckled calmly.
Osenno’s body began to emanate with that black fire, and his body transformed into four Osennos. “Lehman, I’ll deal with this Desri. I’ll hand Linley to you.” Osenno felt that although he was weaker than Desri, by using his doppelgangers, he should be able to hold down Desri without too much trouble.
“Madame Pennslyn, I entrust Delia to you.” Linley whispered.
“Don’t worry.” Pennslyn immediately pulled Delia away. Delia didn’t say anything, just giving Linley a meaningful look. Linley felt his heart swell with the desire to do battle: “No matter what, for Delia’s sake, I can’t die.”
Linley immediately stared coldly at Lehman.
“So what if your attack is powerful? Can you kill me with one blow from your staff?” Linley’s body began to be surrounded by that roiling azurish-black energy. “My Pulseguard Defense has already reached 152 layers. With my draconic scales protecting me as well...kill me in one blow? In his dreams!” Linley felt confident in his heart.
His Profound Truths of the Earth was nothing to laugh at. “At this time, I have to use my last, fallback technique.” Linley’s left hand gripped Bloodviolet. At the critical juncture, he would have to utilize the terrifying baleful aura held within Bloodviolet.
“Boom!” A terrifying sonic boom could be heard as Lehman charged forward.
At the same time, the four Osennos also emitted sonic booms as he charged forward to try and entangle Desri. Because of his sudden acceleration, the nearby wind began to howl, and stones were actually blown loose from Linley’s stone house and were knocked far away, while the water of the lake began to rise in waves.
“How laughable!”
A clear sound rang out from Desri’s mouth. Desri simply stood there in mid-air, while his entire body began to emanate a dazzling white light. Instantly...Desri transformed into the sun, and lines of white light shot towards all four of the Osennos as well as Lehman.
No matter how fast someone was, they couldn’t be faster than light.
The four Osennos and Lehman were all struck instantly by those beams of white light. All four Osennos shuddered, and three of them instantly collapsed, while the last one blazed with that black fire, using it to resist the white light.
“Ah!” Lehman let out a furious howl, and the seal of white fire on his forehead instantly lit up.
“Bang!” Lehman actually smashed straight through Desri’s protective barrier with his silver longstaff. Desri was extremely shocked. Before he had the chance to let out a second attack, Linley and Lehman exchanged blows.
After having broken through Desri’s first barrier, Lehman saw a pair of cold, dark golden eyes and a dark blue heavy sword. Lehman was startled. “It’s Linley!” Not hesitating at all, he swung his longstaff down and smashed it hard against Linley.
Linley didn’t hold anything in reserve either, attacking simultaneously with his adamantine heavy sword and his Bloodviolet longsword.
“Die!” Lehman howled with rage, a fierce look on his face. The seal of a white flame on his forehead became even brighter, and the silver longstaff in his hands seemed to have created ripples in space as it smashed down against Linley with terrifying force.
Linley instantly activated the ‘baleful aura’ hidden within Bloodviolet.
Linley’s dark golden eyes suddenly contained a hint of red, and his consciousness immediately became filled with that familiar scene...the boundless sea of blood, with skeletons and corpses of various species littering the place. Corpses of ten meter tall giants covered with scales and two horns on their forehead. White skeletons that had a hint of strange gold tint...
All of the corpses and skeletons had the aura of at least a Saint, and some were even more terrifying.
“Ah!” Lehman suddenly let out a wild howl.
That terrifying baleful force penetrated his consciousness. That baleful aura that belonged to an incomprehensibly powerful expert caused even the likes of Lehman to quail in fear. Even the white flame seal on his forehead shook, and the longstaff in his hands naturally weakened.
“Bang!”
The silver longstaff and the adamantine heavy sword clashed.
Profound Truths of the Earth – 152 Layered Waves!
Linley’s adamantine heavy sword was smashed so hard, it was knocked back towards his own body. When that terrifying force struck his Pulseguard Defense, the energy of the defense immediately sprang up, but a terrifying power which he had never before experienced still was able to break through the defense.
Linley was knocked back flying...
“Linley.” The distant Delia grew frantic.
With a somersault, Linley landed on the edges of the lake. He flashed Delia a smile. “Don’t worry. I’m fine.” As he spoke, Linley forced down the blood that had risen to his throat. Seeing the shattered draconic scales on his chest, Linley couldn’t help but be secretly startled.
If just then, he hadn’t used the Bloodviolet longsword, he probably would’ve been deeply injured and collapsed.
Lehman was still standing in mid-air, a hint of blood leaking from his mouth. His gaze was clear now.
“Bastard.” Lehman let out a furious howl, once more smashing down against Linley with his silver longstaff.
“Hrmph.”
A cold sneer could be heard, and a translucent ripple that could be seen by the naked eye emanated forth from Desri’s body. In the blink of an eye, it struck against Lehman. Lehman’s massive body trembled, and then collapsed down from the skies. “Splash!” He sank directly into the lake.
“The two of you, don’t force my hand!” Desri’s face had turned grim.