Book 18, Highgod – Chapter 8, Marvelous Treasures
“Third Bro, calm down!” Reynolds immediately shouted.
“Father!” Sasha and Taylor called out in terror as well.
They were afraid that after Linley learned of this matter, he would be unable to contain his rage and go attack Odin. Wharton, Reynolds, and the others all knew what it meant to be a peak Highgod expert. This was why despite Yale dying heartbroken and furious, before his death, he had instructed that Linley and Reynolds were not to avenge him!
It wasn’t that he, Yale, didn’t want revenge. It was that he was afraid that Linley and Reynolds would die because of him as well!
“Boss, let’s go kill him.” Bebe immediately charged outwards.
Linley suddenly stretched out his right hand, snatching Bebe. Staring at him, Linley said, “Bebe, don’t be impetuous!”
“Right. Don’t be rash.” Wharton said frantically as well. “Bebe, you and my brother need to calm down first. If revenge was possible, we would’ve taken it long ago. But if we aren’t able to do so, the end result would just be that our lives are lost as well. It isn’t worth it. We have to endure. Endure!”
“Endure my ass!” Bebe roared furiously. “So what if he’s a Seven Star Fiend? Centuries ago, before the Boss made his breakthrough, he killed five Seven Star Fiends by himself, much less now! Forget Seven Star Fiend...even if that Odin is an Infernal Asura, the Boss and I don’t fear him!”
When Linley had advanced from being a God to a Highgod, his power had risen by several levels.
He now not only had a godspark weapon, he also had Sovereign’s Might to use in the event of any danger! And aside from Linley himself, Bebe’s innate divine ability, ‘Godeater’, was a monstrously powerful technique. Although Bebe wasn’t strong in his normal attacks, when executing his supreme, divine ability, his power was comparable to Beirut’s!
If Linley and Bebe joined forces...how many people could possibly stop the two of them?
“What...what did you say?” Wharton was stunned.
“Before making a breakthrough? Killed five Seven Star Fiends?” Reynolds and everyone else was stunned.
Although they didn’t know much about what a ‘Seven Star Fiend’ truly represented, based on the way Beirut had said it, they all understood that Seven Star Fiends should stand at the peak of power amongst Highgods.
“Don’t worry. I’m confident in being able to kill Odin.” Linley said in a low voice. “If Bebe and I are incapable of killing Odin...Lord Beirut probably would’ve warned me about him back when we were in the Infernal Realm.” Beirut knew exactly what had happened back here in the Yulan continent. But Beirut hadn’t said anything about it.
Linley didn’t blame Beirut for Odin having tortured Yale. After all, Beirut couldn’t possibly have his divine sense spread out every moment of every day, paying attention to everything.
Nor did Linley blame Beirut for not having killed Odin in revenge!
“The reason he didn’t kill Odin was to let me do it myself.” A killing look appeared in Linley’s eyes.
“Third Bro, you are confident in being able to kill Odin?” Reynolds looked towards Linley disbelievingly.
“Big Bro.” Wharton was stunned as well, and he looked at Linley in amazed joy.
“Completely confident.” Linley’s voice was like ice. He then turned to look at Bebe. “Bebe, this Odin is nicknamed the ‘Vile King’. He tormented Boss Yale to the point of madness, to the point where life was worse than death. How can I allow this Odin to die so easily?” Only when a person was still alive would he feel terror and despair.
Once a person died, that person would no longer feel a thing.
But how could a bit of fear be enough to cause the blazing embers of rage in Linley’s heart to subside? How could it allow Yale’s tormented soul to be at peace?
“Third Bro!” Reynolds suddenly said loudly.
Linley turned to look. Reynolds’ face was covered with tears, and in his eyes was an extremely complicated mixture of rage and delight. “Third Bro, you must avenge the Boss and Second Bro! You must! Let their wronged souls, in the Netherworld, find peace!” Reynolds had wanted to take revenge for all these years, but he didn’t have the ability to do so.
He wasn’t willing to accept this!
But all he could do was hate himself for his inability!
What could he do? With the little bit of power he possessed...he would probably die before even reaching Odin.
“Get revenge!” Reynolds stared at Linley, placing his hopes upon Linley’s shoulders.
“Don’t worry.” Linley suddenly turned to stare at Wharton. “Wharton, immediately go make some arrangements. Have all of our intelligence reports on Odin be sent over, including those regarding his subordinates. Have everything sent over.”
“Alright.” Wharton hurriedly went to make the arrangements.
Turning his head, Linley stared at the nearby Delia, whose face was covered in tears as well. In a low voice he said, “Delia, don’t worry. That Odin will definitely die, and his death will be agonizing. I swear it!”
The Baruch Empire had been founded nearly two thousand years ago, and so its intelligence agents were now spread throughout the entire Yulan continent. They even know what was going on within the Odin Empire’s imperial palace. In the past, the Baruch Empire had constantly been collecting intelligence reports regarding the Odin Empire. Now that Linley had given the order...
The many intelligence reports were organized, collated, then delivered to Linley’s table.
In but a single night, Linley made his preparations for vengeance.
Odin Empire. The capital city of Ides province. A lavish estate.
Within a flower garden, a young noble youth dressed in luxurious robes was resting on a reclining sofa. Although it was a ‘sofa’, in reality, it was more like a bed. A beautiful maid was curled up on the bed as well, her clothes half-removed, revealing her snowy-white skin. As for the noble youth, his head was resting within the maid’s bosom.
“So slow.” The noble youth snorted unhappily.
Right at this moment, one beautiful young lady after another entered the flower garden, along with a middle-aged man who looked like a housekeeper who barked, “Hurry up. Over there. Five of you in each line. Stand straight.” Twenty five attractive, slender young women.
These twenty five young women all stood there in lines, rather nervous.
“Your Highness, they are all present.” The housekeeper immediately walked over humbly and said in a respectful voice.
“Fine.” The young noble replied, but his gaze was fixed on the twenty five women.
A wicked little smile appeared on his face. “They are indeed quite young, unlike those old maids of the Planar Prison who didn’t have any womanly airs at all.” With a wave of his hand, a flying dart flew out as he laughed loudly, “My pretty ladies, I’m going to play a game with you today. I’m going to blindly throw out this dart and whoever it hits, that person shall remove an article of clothing. Understood?”
The bodies of the twenty five women trembled, but none of them dared to resist.
“The dart won’t kill you.” The noble youth laughed softly.
He gave it a toss....
“Swoosh!” The dart flew out like lightning, striking towards the group of twenty five young women. But in the blink of an eye, it then returned into the hand of that noble youth.
“Ah.” A weak, surprised cry. A hint of blood appeared on the chest of one of the young ladies.
“What fresh blood.” The noble youth extended is tongue, licking the fresh blood from the flying dart, then laughed softly. “Undress.” He was confident in his skills. The darts would just barely slash open the skin of these ladies. Although it would hurt, at most there would be a hint of blood. Nobody would die.
The young lady’s body was trembling, but she still took off an article of clothing.
“Continue.” The noble youth once more threw out the flying dart.
This ‘game’ continued nonstop. In but a few moments, each and every one of the twenty five women had undressed, all of them standing there, slick and naked, amidst the flower garden. The housekeeper had quietly left long ago. He knew...that his Imperial Highness hated it when other men looked at his female playthings. His Imperial Highness could play with them, but if others were to watch...they would die.
The twenty five women stood there, naked and trembling, thin lines of blood flowing from their bodies.
The strange thing was, the bloody lines actually formed words.
“Whore.” “Love.” “Slut.”
Bloody words were on the bodies of every single woman.
This strange scene made it so that these women were all the more frightened, and unable to resist.
“Oh!” Seeing this, the noble youth suddenly grew so excited that his entire body began to tremble. “How wonderful. This is absolutely a work of art. Alright, ‘whore’, you come over. Yes, you, the one with the character for ‘whore’ on your body.” The noble youth played with the dart, which danced in the air as though it were alive.
The naked woman, terrified, walked over one step at a time.
Right at this moment...
“Whoosh!” Suddenly, a wild wind stirred, and the clothes on the ground suddenly flew up, wrapping themselves around those twenty five women. At the same time, the twenty five women, along with the serving maid next to the noble youth, entered a dreamy, dazed state, losing all consciousness.
“Eh?” The noble youth turned to look, his gaze growing sharp as a dagger.
A brown-haired man had suddenly appeared, dressed in a white suit and with white ribbons wrapped in his hair. He was walking forward, one step at a time.
“Who are you?” The noble youth’s face changed.
“Odin is your father, right?” Linley said calmly.
“If you know this, how dare you be so arrogant?” The noble youth said, but his body was already moving.
“Rumble...” A strange soul ripple spread out. The eyes of the noble youth instantly became dull and lifeless as he entered a dazed state. This was the supreme support technique, the ‘Spiritual Chaos’ component to Linley’s Blackstone Space. When Linley had been a God, he was already capable of making ordinary Highgods enter a stupor.
And now?
“A kid who relied on fusing with a divine spark to become a Highgod thinks that he can run from me?” Linley cast him a calm glance.
Linley stretched his hand out. With a ‘slash’ sound, he drove his hand into the youth’s skull, and a surge of divine earth power instantly reduced the contents of the youth’s skull to mush.
“Time for the next one.” Linley picked up the noble youth’s corpse. With a flicker, his body disappeared.
Not long after Linley left, the women regained their consciousness, but they were completely lost and puzzled. That housekeeper wasn’t too concerned; he knew that his Imperial Highness was a Highgod, and that in the entire Yulan continent, there wasn’t much who could threaten him. He thought that his Imperial Highness had suddenly gone to take care of some business.
The Odin Empire. The imperial capital. This was a city that had been rebuilt atop the ruins of the former imperial capital of the Yulan Empire. The imperial palace was particularly majestic and tightly guarded. Today, the imperial capital of the Odin Empire was particularly rowdy...because a delegation of Envoys from the Baruch Empire had come to pay their respects to his Imperial Majesty, Odin. Ever since the founding of the Odin Empire a thousand years ago, the relationship between the two Empires had been extremely tense.
But now, Envoys had actually been sent to pay their respects to Emperor Odin. This was quite a rare occasion.
The Odin empire. The imperial palace. The main hall.
The senior ministers of the empire were all standing below the throne, smiles on their faces. As they saw it, for the Baruch Empire to send Envoys here was a show of subservience. This gave them a feeling of having dominated the Baruch Empire.
“Your Imperial Majesty, the Envoys are already outside the palace.” The palace attendant said respectfully.
“Haha...let them enter.” Odin, seated on the throne, laughed loudly as he spoke. Odin was someone who cared deeply about face, who cared greatly about perfection. He liked being above everyone else, liked making countless others look up to him. He liked the feeling of controlling someone’s fate in his hands...and he loved to toy with people.
To be able to control the joy, the rage, and the grief of others...this was something that made him very delighted and very happy.
“Almighty Emperor Odin, we are here representing the Emperor of the Baruch Empire and conveying his most sincere greetings.” The leading Envoy of the Baruch Empire bowed slightly, then continued, “On this visit, our Baruch Empire has prepared two marvelous treasures to offer you, Emperor Odin!”
A hint of a smile appeared on Odin’s face. “Bring it up for me to look at.”
Immediately...
The envoys brought two large chests in from outside the main hall, letting them rest heavily against the floor of the palace.
“Open them.” Odin laughed calmly.
“Emperor Odin, please take a look.” The Envoy opened one of the large chests, and as he did, shocked gasps could be heard throughout the main hall. As for Emperor Odin, seated on his throne, when he saw the ‘treasure’ within the chest, his face immediately changed. “Niemoller [Ni’mo’la]! No!” Niemoller was Odin’s one and only brother.
“This...this...” The ministers in the hall were all shocked, not knowing what to say.
The Envoy just laughed cold as he opened the other chest.
“Clang!” The lid of the chest swung upon, then clanged against the floor.
Odin felt his heart clench violently, and he stared fixedly at the corpse within the chest. “Son! My son!” Odin couldn’t believe it. He shook his head repeatedly.
Life in the Gebados Planar Prison was extremely dangerous. When Odin had entered it, he was a weakling as well. Although he was wild, although he liked to toy with others, although he liked to kill...he didn’t wish for his loved ones to die. Throughout all those years he had spent in the Planar Prison, he had always protected his son and his brother!
This time, they had passed through that dangerous weakness in the spatial walls and had returned to the Yulan continent.
Passing through a weakness in the spatial walls was something which had to do with the amount of energy one possessed. The strength of the spatial bindings was variable, and the more energy one had, the stronger the spatial bindings were and the harder to break through them. The spatial bindings didn’t have much to do with insight into any profound mysteries; after all, insight was illusory and immaterial.
The strength of the bindings facing ordinary Highgods and Seven Star Fiends was the same, when they attempted to pass through a spatial weakness.
He had only taken two Highgods with him.
One was his son. The other was his brother. He had risked his life to take the two of them with him, and they had managed to flee the prison. As for his other subordinates he had brought, they were only Gods and Demigods. For him to be willing to risk his own life to bring these two with him made it obvious how much he cared about them. But today...
Both his brother and his son had died!
Their corpses were right here in front of him.
He had been very careful in the Planar Prison, but in the Yulan continent, aside from his own forces, the only Highgod present was Beirut. There were no other Highgods. He didn’t believe his brother and son would ever be in any danger. But today...their corpses were in chests in front of him.
“No...no....” Odin bellowed in rage.
“Seize him!” Odin stared viciously at that Envoy.
Immediately, many soldiers flooded forward, surrounding those Envoys.
With but a flicker, Odin’s body appeared next to the two chests. He stared at the corpse in the right chest, then at the corpse in the left chest, his face like iron. “Niemoller! Chester [Qie’si’te]! You...how could you...” His entire body was trembling, and not a hint of blood could be seen in his face.
“My brother. My son! Don’t worry. I will definitely avenge you. Definitely!!! I will make them regret it. I will make their lives worse than death!!!”
Odin turned suddenly, staring at the Envoy.
“Tell me who killed them.” Odin roared. He knew very well that only a Highgod could have killed his son and brother.
“Hmph!” The Envoy just let out a cold snort.
“Me!” An icy voice rang out in the main hall.
Instantly, everyone in the main hall, Odin included, turned to look.
A figure had suddenly appeared outside of the main hall. This person was striding into the hall, one step at a time, the soldiers by his side completely unable to block him. He wore white mourning ribbons in his hair, and was dressed in ceremonial white robes. Seeing this, the ministers in the hall were all stunned...this clearly was a ceremonial mourning outfit meant for mourning deceased family members.
Odin stared at Linley, his eyes spitting fire.
“Who are you?” Odin growled.
“If you have decent memory, you should remember that you once killed two people. One was my second brother, while the other was my elder brother!” Linley said in a soft voice.
He hadn’t appeared for nearly two thousand years. There was nobody who recognized him today.
Odin frowned, completely unable to tell who this person was.
“It seems you really have killed quite a few people.”
Linley stared at him coldly. “Listen up. I...am Linley Baruch!”
The ministers in the great hall were all shocked. They stared at Linley in disbelief. This youth dressed in ceremonial mourning robes was actually the founding emperor of the Baruch Empire, a figure of legend in the history of the Yulan Empire...Linley!