Book 16, Starmist Sea – Chapter 30, Sledgehammer
The blood-red corridor. The blood-red gate. That overpowering aura of death.
“I need to flee. How can I flee?” Linley was incomparably frantic. The three experts around him were all guarding him, while past that door was the ‘master of the castle’, a person of astonishing power. Most likely, even if he used Sovereign’s Might, it would be hard for him to flee.
“Calm down. Calm down!”
Linley strove to find a chance to escape, but no matter what he thought of, in the end, there was only one possibility.
“I can only entrust my hopes to Lomio. Lomio will be on his guard. He might be able to escape. If he had a violent battle with that ‘master of the castle’ and attract the attention of those three, I’ll be able to seize an opportunity to flee.”
Linley understood that for the master of the castle to be willing to allow Lomio enter meant that he was confident in being able to easily defeat and mentally control Lomio. If it really was that simple, though...then even this final chance Linley had for escape would be gone.
Although he was frantic, Linley still watched carefully for any chance, and was prepared to explode forth and flee at any moment.
“Linley, are you impatient?” Uriah chortled. “Don’t be impatient. Lomio needs a bit of time in the first viewing room to view those scryer recordings. It’ll be your turn soon.”
“It’ll be my turn soon?” Linley felt that Uriah’s laughter was so vile. Uriah clearly knew that this was a lie, a trap, but was still trying to lie to Linley, even now.
“BOOM!” Suddenly, the entire floor trembled violently, and even the great door in front of them shook forcefully. The tremor caused the walls around them to begin to crack, with scattered rocks falling down and smashing onto the corridor. Linley’s group of four swayed, and they were all astonished.
“Good.” Linley was overjoyed. Lomio, indeed, hadn’t let him down. He had indeed caused a disturbance.
“Eh?” Uriah and the other two were shocked. They looked at each other. Given the master of the castle’s power, how could such a huge commotion have been caused? Although they were shocked, they still kept watch on Linley.
Linley put on a puzzled look. “Mr. Uriah, what is going on inside?”
“I’m not sure.” Uriah laughed calmly. “Perhaps Lomio, when watching those scryer recordings of ultimate experts, was suddenly so excited that he wanted to test out a technique. Right. Linley, after you enter the secret room, no matter what, don’t wildly test out techniques.”
“Got it, got it.” Linley had to admit that Uriah’s dissembling abilities were top notch.
Right at that instant...
“Rumble...” It was as though heaven was collapsing or the earth was shattering. A terrifying explosive sound rang out, and the entire corridor and great door blew apart, with countless pieces of rubble flying everywhere, each one containing lightning-type energy.
Chaos!
The faces of Uriah and the other two changed. They hadn’t imagined that Lomio, in front of their teacher, could cause such a huge disturbance.
“Excellent.” Linley was overjoyed. “This is the moment.” Just as Linley was preparing to use the Worldwalker ability to leave...
“Swish!”
Uriah and the other two immediately moved, forming a three-point triangle and surrounding Linley. Uriah laughed calmly. “Linley, don’t be impatient. Perhaps Lomio did something to anger Teacher.”
Linley, seeing that he was surrounded by these three, frowned.
“Haha...kid, it looks like I underestimated you.” The low, rich voice rang out in the air above Castle Hendsey, and Linley couldn’t help but to raise his head to look up.
In the air above the shattered building, Lomio’s blood-splattered black robe fluttered in the wind. He held a black warblade in his hands, and his entire body was surrounded by crawling lightning serpents. His eyes were flashing with electricity, and he looked to be the very picture of a true Thunder God.
Facing Lomio was a man that was nearly 2.5 meters tall. The man had short red hair that looked as though it were made out of metal, and he wore a very ancient, unadorned set of armor. His thick, massive arms were a bronze color, seeming to hold a vast amount of strength, while in his right hand, he actually held a large black sledgehammer!
“He is the master of the city? That ‘Commander’?” Linley said to himself. But then, Linley stopped paying attention to the skies, instead focusing on the three around him. He hoped that one of them might relax their guard, allowing him to flee.
From high up in the sky, Lomio’s voice rang out once more.
“Hmph, I must thank you. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have made yet another breakthrough. You want to kill me? You are far from being able to!”
“The three of you, keep watch on Linley.” The sledgehammer-wielding red-haired man said calmly.
“Yes, Teacher (Master)!” Uriah and the other two said.
“Indeed.” Linley became all the more certain. “They actually address him as ‘Master’...I didn’t expect that amongst these three, two are under the control of the master of the city.” Although surprised, Linley was still searching for his chance to flee.
Linley’s face changed.
“Uriah, what is going on?” Linley asked angrily.
Uriah laughed, “Teacher wishes you to stay, so as to let you be able to view the first secret room.”
“Why do they address him as ‘Master’?” Linley asked another question.
“We have been followers of Master since we were Demigods.” The silver-haired woman said calmly, while Linley just smirked coldly. Two Demigod subordinates had actually both become Seven Star Fiends?
“Whatever abilities you have, use them all!” Lomio said with incomparable valor.
In mid-air, that sledgehammer-wielding red-haired man let out a loud laugh. “You were able to take a few punches from me. Not bad. Now, let’s see if you can withstand my sledgehammer.” The red-haired man agilely swept out with the massive black sledgehammer in his hand.
It made no sound out all...
The sledgehammer struck out, and as it did, a very bizarre ripple spread out, with the sledgehammer at the center. Everywhere the ripple passed through, the stone structures all transformed into fine powder. Thus did this sledgehammer slam down with no sound.
It seemed slow, but in reality it arrived next to Lomio in an instant.
“BANG!” Lightning appeared out of the blue skies.
As the thunder roared, a saber shadow clashed with the sledgehammer.
“Rumble...” The sledgehammer seemed to tremble slightly, with the surface of the sledgehammer rippling as though the sledgehammer was made of water. Lomio’s warblade actually trembled as well, and then completely shattered.
A silent, soundless sledgehammer blow.
But even Lomio’s weapon had been destroyed.
Linley, stunned, raised his head up to watch, his mind filled with that soundless blow that he had just seen. It seemed so graceful and gentle, and yet in reality the sledgehammer blow had carried trillions of kilograms of force. That amazing, miraculous curving blow caused Linley’s soul to be stirred.
Linley had never been able to understand the description of the ‘Strength’ profound mystery of the Laws of the Earth, but suddenly, Linley had the feeling...
It was as though a seed in his mind had suddenly begun to bloom.
“Strength...boundless...massive...”
Linley had been training hard in the ‘Profound Mysteries of Strength’, but had yet to make any headway. However, this time, upon seeing that sledgehammer blow from this ‘castle master’ which seemed to hold a hint of the Profound Mysteries of Strength.
Although in reality, this master of the castle used the Way of Destruction, every single path had some similarities.
For example, the Laws of Lightning and the Laws of Light all had mysteries pertaining to speed. The speed of lightning had some similarities with the Profound Mysteries of Lightspeed.
“Impossible!” Lomio had been thrown far away, and he landed in a pile of debris, his face filled with disbelief. He had just made a breakthrough, and so he felt he was now strong enough to battle against an Asura. But why was it that despite his power, he still wasn’t able to withstand that sledgehammer?
At this moment, Uriah and the others all glanced slightly at Linley. Seeing that Linley wasn’t running, they immediately returned to watching this battle. This battle, to them, had quite the allure.
“If Linley is to flee, with so many people in the castle, he has nowhere to run.”
Uriah and the others were very confident.
“The natural ability of my Bloodrune Titan clan, when matched with the Way of Destruction...did you think it was something to be trifled with?” The red-haired man said loudly. Standing in mid-air, he was like a celestial divinity, causing people’s hearts to be filled with fear.
“Ah, why am I standing here like an idiot? I need to flee, that’s what matters.” Linley instantly came to his senses and stopped his pondering.
The sudden starting and stopping of his pondering actually only took a very short period of time.
“These three are actively watching this battle.” Linley felt a surge of joy in his heart, then turned his head to stare at the distant master of the castle and Lomio. “The moment the master of the castle attacks is the moment that I’ll flee!”
The attack of the master of the castle would definitely be carefully scrutinized by Uriah and the other two, while the master himself wouldn’t have any time to bother with catching Linley.
“You managed to eat one of my sledgehammer blows without dying. You can be considered a peak Seven Star Fiend, approaching the Asura level in strength.” The master of the castle laughed loudly, and then transformed into a bloody shadow, instantly slashing through the sky...
Linley’s eyes lit up. “This is the moment!”
Worldwalking!
Very suddenly, Linley disappeared from within the rubble, while Uriah and the other two, in a triangle surrounding Linley, were focused on watching this battle in the sky. An instant after Linley escaped, Uriah and the other two noticed from the corner of their eyes that Linley had disappeared!
“Fled?” Uriah and the other two were dazed, but they quickly recovered.
“He used Worldwalking.” Uriah immediately shouted. “Hurry up and fly into the sky. He won’t be able to flee from the ground. He’ll have to go into the skies.” Deep under Castle Hendsey as well as on the walls surrounding it was that enormous magic formation. There was nowhere to flee.
Only by flying through the skies or by going through the gates would one be able to leave.
The three powerful experts immediately flew into the air while simultaneously shouting towards the other warriors to be on the lookout.
“All of you, watch closely. If you are capable of Worldwalking, hurry into the underground and find Linley, quick!” Uriah immediately shouted. One black armored warrior after another began to use Worldwalking, merging into the ground.
Uriah and the other two were floating in the sky. At the same time, other experts were hovering in the sky as well, all of them staring in every direction.
“This Linley actually dared to flee!” Uriah couldn’t help but feel infuriated.
After this event, his teacher would definitely censure him.
Underground, Linley had fused with the earth elemental essence and was travelling through the ground.
“There’s no way I’ll be able to flee the castle from underground.” Linley had previously tested it already. “I’ll first run to a unassuming place in the castle, then quickly fly into the air and flee.” Linley immediately flew at high speed towards the northwest corner.
But the strange thing was...
“Eh?” Linley could easily sense that there was a living aura from up ahead.
Linley was shocked. “There are others using Worldwalking as well?” That living aura immediately drew near at high speed, even spreading out a divine sense.
“Lord, Linley is here!” A voice rang out, echoing in the castle. Linley himself immediately fled hundreds of meters away, and then ignored all else, immediately emerging from the ground.
“Swoosh!”
Linley immediately flew into the skies, his entire body transforming violently, with azure-gold draconic scales covering every part of him and fierce spikes sprouting out as well. Linley’s speed increased yet again, and like an azure-gold flash of light, he flew upwards at high speed.
“Seize him!” The distant Uriah bellowed.
Instantly, from every direction, a large number of black armored guards and red cloaked guards swarmed over towards him like locusts. Linley let out a mighty roar, and then with Linley at the center, a sphere of nearly five hundred meters in diameter formed.
Blackstone Space!
“Huh?” All of the black armored guards and red cloaked guards who charged into this region found out to their astonishment that they were forced to retreat.
“What a powerful repulsive force.” Those people were astonished.
“Pincer him from every direction. Trap him.” Uriah bellowed, while he himself was hurrying over as well.
Linley’s dark golden eyes were focused up above himself, but from up above, a large number of black armored guards had already gathered, completely sealing off his escape routes.
“It’s your own fault for seeking death!” Linley’s eyes turned cold.
Instantly, the world began to glow with an earthen yellow color, and earth elemental essence suddenly gathered at high speed. Divine earth power flowed about, and instantly, an enormous cube that was four hundred meters tall appeared out of nowhere. Those black armored guards which were struck by the cube were directly swallowed into it.
“Bang!”
From afar, the red-haired man once more exchanged blows with Lomio. Lomio’s face was ashen, but then, with a sudden bellow, he transformed into a ray of black lightning, disappearing into the horizons at an astonishing speed. The master of Castle Hendsey raised his head, watching with resignation. “This fellow trains in the Laws of Lightning...he’s actually so fast. He’s even a bit faster than me!”
Lomio’s speed was so great that even the master of the castle couldn’t catch him.
“There’s still another one.” The master of the castle turned to look.
Currently, Linley’s ‘cube’ had collapsed. After having suffered the combined attacks of four Seven Star Fiends and many Six Star Fiends, Linley’s ‘cube’ had immediately blown apart, while Linley himself continued to fly up at high speed.
“Teacher, his Gravitational Space is very bizarre. We are unable to catch him alive.” Uriah said hurriedly.
“Hmph.”
A cold snort, and then the master of Castle Hendsey, holding his sledgehammer, transformed into a bloody shadow as he chased towards Linley. The master of Castle Hendsey was so fast that he was only just a hair slower than Lomio, and far faster than Linley.
He was quickly drawing nearer and nearer to Linley.
“Kid, why don’t you stay.” A loud laughter rang out.
Linley lowered his head to look. “The master of the castle?” With a flip of his hand, a drop of Sovereign’s Might appeared, but Linley didn’t immediately use it, because Linley was still confident in his Gravitational Space.
“Crackle...” As the bloody shadow passed through the area of the Gravitational Space, its speed lessened dramatically.
“Haha, this Gravitational Space isn’t bad.” As he spoke, the master of Castle Hendsey laughingly waved the sledgehammer in his hand. Multiple rays of black energy coiled out from the sledgehammer, as though countless strands or ropes had been spun out, filling the entire Gravitational Space.
“Catch!”
The countless rays of black energy entangled Linley, making him no longer able to flee.
“What is this?” Linley frantically struggled and was able to break dozens of strands through brute force, but even more black strands entangled him. Linley’s face changed, and he was about to immediately use his Sovereign’s Might.
But right at this moment...
“Your strength is decent, and the Gravitational Space isn’t bad either. Unfortunately, the difference between you and Reisgem is still quite great.” A gentle voice rang in Linley’s ear.
Linley was stunned. “Reisgem? Gem-Gem?” Linley thought back to that adorable juvenile amethyst beast in the Amethyst Mountains.