Book 10, Baruch – Chapter 48: Beirut
Necromantic Magic. Life Magic. Oracular Magic. All of them possessed their own mysteries.
The experts of the Four Higher Planes, however, knew very well that amongst the three, Oracular Magic was the most terrifying and most unpredictable of the three. The reason for this was that its attacks were simply too bizarre. Oracular Magic, after all, came from the Overgod of Fate, one of the four Overgods.
The Laws of Fate were derived from the Overgod, and the Oracular Magic which he passed down was unimaginably profound and mysterious.
“Not good!” Desri, Hayward, and Higginson’s group had finally arrived, but they heard the words which Heidens had just spoken: “Life...Ripper!”
An invisible energy suddenly enveloped Linley, and Linley suddenly froze, totally unable to move any further. This invisible, bizarre force ignored all barriers, directly striking against Linley’s consciousness and his soul. The most important thing was one’s soul!
If a person died, their soul could enter the Netherworld and be reborn.
But if one’s soul was destroyed, then even a Sovereign wouldn’t be able to save them.
The vast sea of consciousness, where that rainbow-colored semi-translucent gem swirled while surrounded by that faint azure light possessed by the Dragonblood Warriors. This invisible force struck here, and the azure light immediately caved in.
The invisible force was depleting, but the azure light was depleting as well.
The power of Oracular Magic still depended on the practitioner. If a Deity-level practitioner had cast it, Linley wouldn’t have been able to resist at all.
“Bang.” The azure light could no longer endure, and it shattered.
The invisible force, despite being reduced in strength by more than half, still struck against Linley’s soul. The sea of spiritual energy surrounding the rainbow-colored, semi-translucent gem simply couldn’t resist the profound, obscure force of the Oracular Magic. Finally, the attack made its way to that semi-translucent gem.
Rumble!
A tremor from his very soul. Even Linley’s body shuddered.
“Boss.” Bebe turned frantic.
That rainbow-colored half-translucent gem also had a faint layer of azure light covering it. When the invisible force attacked the ‘rainbow gem’, nobody noticed...the Coiling Dragon ring on Linley’s finger!
A dim, virtually unnoticeable stream of light flowed out of the Coiling Dragon ring, then vanished.
At the same moment...
It seemed as though the azure blue light covering the half-translucent gem suddenly received sufficient energy.
“Shudder...”
The azure light around the gem suddenly flashed. It was as though it had transformed into an azure sun in the midst of that sea of spiritual energy, and the azure light illuminated the entire sea. Beneath the glow of that azure sun, the force of the Oracular Magic, although still resisting for a while, slowly began to melt away like evaporating ice.
The azure light remained for a long time, but then it slowly faded away.
“How is that possible?!” Heidens’ face instantly turned an ashen pale. He stared at Linley with shock. He had used all of his force on this ultimate attack, but he still hadn’t been able to kill Linley. Linley hadn’t reached the level of Grand Magus Saint yet! And it would be hard to say if even an ordinary Grand Magus Saint could take this blow.
And then, Heidens spied Desri’s group coming from afar. He knew that things had just gotten worse. “They came as well!”
“Fallen Leaf, let’s go, quick.” Not hesitating at all, Heidens transformed into a ray of white light, immediately flying at high speed towards the west. The nearby Ascetic, Lord Fallen Leaf, also transformed into a beam of white light, flying westwards at high speed.
Both Desri and Bebe had their attention focused on Linley.
They didn’t have time to pay attention to Heidens or Fallen Leaf.
“Whew.” Linley let out a breath, then opened his eyes.
Although it took a long time to describe, in truth, the power of that Oracular Magic and its attack on Linley’s soul had only lasted for one or two seconds, but in those one or two seconds, Heidens and Fallen Leaf had disappeared into the western horizon. As for Affleck and O’Casey, they had fled with their magical beasts even before Heidens had fled.
“Boss, are you okay?” Bebe flew over, worried, his beady little eyes filled with fear.
Bebe was spiritually linked with Linley. Just then, he had sensed Linley’s soul shudder. It truly had been dangerous.
“Not bad. Not bad.” Linley was still filled with fear.
In his heart, Linley was puzzled as well. “Just then, I felt that the defensive energy which belonged to us Dragonblood Warriors was broken through by the Oracular Magic’s bizarre attack. But why was it that the defensive energy suddenly increased dramatically, easily breaking the Oracular Magic?”
Linley didn’t understand the reason.
But Linley knew very well that his soul had been shaken just then.
He knew...that just then, if he hadn’t been able to block the attack somehow, his soul probably would have shattered.
“Where’d they go?” Linley swept his gaze in the four directions, but Affleck, O’Casey, Heidens, and Fallen Leaf had fled far away. There was no way they could catch up now.
Desri flew over and said apologetically, “Linley, I came late. If you had been killed by Heidens’ Oracular Magic, I really would have...” Desri felt extremely guilty. He knew exactly how terrifying Oracular Magic was.
“I was over-confident.” Linley smiled mockingly at himself.
Linley believed that his soul’s defense was very strong. With the protection of his draconic scales and his Pulseguard Defense, he had believed the enemy wouldn’t be able to do anything to him.
But just then, he had nearly lost his life.
Fortunately, at the last moment, within his soul, the protective energy belonging to the Dragonblood Warrior’s lineage had suddenly skyrocketed by over a hundredfold, dissolving even the fierce power of the Oracular Magic.
“Those four bastards ran quickly enough.” Bebe said furiously.
Barker nodded, then said in his loud voice, “Lord Linley, it seems to me that the Radiant Church and the Cult of Shadows isn’t all that remarkable. Osenno just died as well, and that Cramerson also died. Quite a few Angels died as well. Their force has dropped tremendously. As I see it, given our current strength, it shouldn’t be hard for us to slaughter our way to the Radiant Church now.”
“Right.” Zassler laughed insidiously. “Lord Linley, they’ve already broken our original agreement. There’s no need for you to hold to it any longer either.”
Linley was moved.
In the past, he had been bound by the agreement that he could only go seek revenge by himself. But now, since the other side had already broken the agreement, then he could go lead his group to slaughter a path to the Sacred Isle. It wouldn’t be too hard to destroy the Radiant Church.
“Linley.” Desri hurriedly said. “To be fair, their two sides have indeed gone too far, and you don’t need to follow the agreement any longer either. But I must try and warn you not to go attack the Sacred Isle of the Radiant Church.”
Linley frowned. “Mr. Desri, do you believe that in the future, if I led my little brother, Barker and his brothers, Bebe, Zassler, and the others...we wouldn’t be able to destroy the Sacred Isle? Right now, on the Sacred Isle, only Heidens, Fallen Leaf, and Lehman pose a threat.”
“That isn’t it.”
Desri shook his head. “You must understand, in the past, I belonged to the Radiant Church.”
Linley listened.
Desri sighed. “The Radiant Church has endured for countless years. No matter what has happened or how great the waves or storms, the Radiant Church has never been destroyed. Do you know why?” Linley looked at Desri, puzzled.
Indeed. There had to be a reason why they had existed for such a long time.
“First of all, the Sacred Isle is definitely protected by the magical formation, ‘Glory of the Radiant Sovereign’. Only someone with the power of a Deity can damage and destroy this formation.” Desri said.
Linley suddenly remembered that in the past, when he had been in the city of Fenlai, he had been imprisoned in the Radiant Temple due to his attempt to kill the King of Fenlai. That Radiant Temple was protected by a magical formation called the ‘Glory of the Radiant Sovereign’. Supposedly, even Saints wouldn’t be able to break through the walls of the Radiant Temple as a result.
This was the effect of this magic formation.
Even a Deity like Dylin had to strike it twice to break through it.
One could imagine how powerful this defense was!
“This ‘Glory of the Radiant Sovereign’ isn’t just a magical formation; if the people inside it actively control and operate it, it can transform into an attack upon its enemies.” Desri sighed. “Linley, if you slaughter a path to the Sacred Isle, perhaps you will be able to kill many people on the Sacred Isle, but you definitely won’t be able to kill the people hiding within the Radiant Temple.”
Linley frowned.
This was true. When the Radiant Temple in Fenlai had been destroyed, he had been in the middle of the temple himself.
“Fine. They can hide on their little island, then.” Linley could only come to this decision. In his heart, Linley secretly thought to himself, “When in the future, my Profound Truths of the Wind and Profound Truths of the Earth reach their limits, perhaps I can pay a visit to the Sacred Isle and test out the power of that ‘Glory of the Radiant Sovereign’ magic formation.”
Currently, Linley no longer feared the Radiant Church at all.
“Barker, make the arrangements to have the corpse of the Hellfire Phoenix processed. That Saint-level magicite core can’t go to waste.” Linley laughed.
“Yes, Lord.” Barker laughed as well.
No matter what, they had won this battle. Linley’s side had fought two sides, the Radiant Church and the Cult of Shadows, but in the end, they had won an absolute, dominating victory. Even Desri’s side hadn’t had to assist them.
This battle determined the final state of affairs in the Anarchic Lands.
The warriors of the Baruch Kingdom and the rat swarms, in their combined armies, appeared everywhere, and wherever they went, cities surrendered. Even some of the most die-hard adherents of the churches, under pressure from the rat swarms, collapsed and disappeared...and the Anarchic Lands became unified at an astonishing speed.
At the same time, the news of Linley’s battle with the Radiant Church and the Cult of Shadows quickly spread across the world.
This news was also intentionally spread by the Baruch Kingdom. Linley’s side had defeated two other sides at once. This caused Linley’s status in the Yulan continent to skyrocket yet again, totally eclipsing that of the Holy Emperor and the Dark Patriarch. His status was so high now that it was only lower than the War God and the High Priest.
The legend of Linley was sung throughout the Yulan continent.
As for the Anarchic Lands, countless people were filled with awe towards Linley. Many youths used Linley as their role model and began to train hard.
....
The Anarchic Lands. Baruch Kingdom. The royal palace.
Plumes of snow drifted from the skies. It was December now, and only a few days away from the Yulan festival. Linley, Delia, Zassler, Sasha, the other kids, the Barker brothers, Rebecca, Leena, Jenne, and Wharton were all here.
Rebecca and Leena. Rebecca was the more playful one, and ten years ago, she had gotten married to the loud, rambunctious Gates. As for the quieter Leena, she had eventually married Barker. Of the five Barker brothers, the other three had eventually gotten married as well. Only Jenne continued to live with some of her close friends in the royal capital, but she herself remained single.
“That was too fast. How long has it been? The entire Anarchic Lands has been unified.” Wharton laughed.
“Naturally.” Taylor was very proud. “My father’s really awesome.”
Seeing how Taylor was acting, Linley began to laugh. Rubbing Taylor’s head, Linley looked at Wharton. “Wharton, remember. All religious proselytizing is to be forbidden. If you allow them to preach, in the future, your grandchildren won’t be able to manage the kingdom effectively.”
“I know. In recent days, quite a few religious believers have been causing trouble.” Wharton sighed.
Churches were a major threat to any kingdom. Now that Linley’s side had unified the entire Anarchic Lands, the Baruch Kingdom would most likely have to change its name to the Baruch Empire.
Although Linley himself didn’t care about imperial power, he had to make considerations for the descendants of his clan.
“Linley, Bebe.” The three Violet-Gold Rat Kings suddenly appeared in the main hall in a flash. The people present all looked at the three Violet-Gold Rat Kings, and the eldest amongst them, Harry, opened his mouth and said in human tongues, “Linley, we’ve come to invite Bebe to make a trip with us to the Forest of Darkness.”
“Invite me?” Bebe was standing on the dinner table.
“Whose invitation?” Linley asked, puzzled.
“Our father.” The third of the Violet-Gold Rat Kings, Harvey, said proudly, “The King of the Forest of Darkness. The King of the entire Yulan continent, in fact. The most invincible, powerful person there is!” The three Violet-Gold Rat Kings were very proud.
The King of the Forest of Darkness? The King of the entire Yulan continent?
Linley felt secretly shocked, and wondered internally, “The King of the Forest of Darkness is the King of the entire Yulan continent? Can it be that he is even more powerful than the War God and the High Priest?”
Linley suddenly was moved and asked, “Might I ask, what is the name of your father?”
The second of the three Violet-Gold Rat Kings spoke this time: “Linley, you can refer to our father as...Lord Beirut!”
“Beirut!” Linley felt thunderclaps go off in his brain.
And Bebe, as well, stared at them, his eyes round as the moon.