Book 19, Metamorphosis – Chapter 59, The Duel Above the Stellar River
Those who became Paragons were all incomparable geniuses filled with tremendous willpower. They, who stood at the top, were accustomed to the respect and reverence of others. Even when they met a Sovereign, they didn’t have to kneel; they only had to bow slightly. One could imagine how much lofty arrogance filled their hearts.
“If I want to kill someone...you are unable to stop me!”
Linley’s calm words and the look in his eyes when he spoke caused Magnus, already infuriated by the death of his friend, to grow so angry that his eyes turned crimson.
Magnus released Ramson’s corpse, slowly standing up and staring coldly at Linley.
Linley didn’t fear him at all, looking back calmly at Magnus.
“Rumble...” Thunder began to echo unceasingly around them. The battle was continuing to progress, and the soldiers of the Divine Darkness Plane and Divine Light Plane were butchering each other in methodical fashion. Blood splattered everywhere, and Highgod sparks rained everywhere as one badge after another was seized by survivors. This was how wild and savage the Stellar Corridor was.
But amidst this savagery, Linley and Magnus stood there, staring at each other, not moving at all.
It seemed as though the battles of thousands of soldiers around them, to them, was nothing more than the air.
“The target is that unmoving, white-robed figure. Soul attack!” A hundred-man squad clearly noticed Magnus, and as the captain gave the order through divine sense, instantly, the seventy five survivors of the squad instantly emitted all sorts of translucent attacks, instantly shooting them towards Magnus!
Magnus, who had been staring angrily at Linley, couldn’t help but turn to look back.
“Hmph!” Magnus let out a low snort, his gaze turning cold.
Magnus’ cold gaze swept out like a blurry sword light, creating more than a hundred white ‘arrows’ which shot out. “Swoosh!” “Swoosh!” They instantly crossed the skies, striking against those soul attacks. While destroying the soul attacks, the translucent arrows didn’t slow down at all as they dove into the bodies of the members of that hundred-man squad, whose eyes became filled with terror.
And then, silence.
Seventy five corpses fell from the skies, their divine sparks and badges falling as well.
A single glance had killed seventy five Highgods!
“How is that possible?” Some soldiers noticed this, and they were so terrified their faces changed. But...the battle at the Stellar Corridor was simply too chaotic. Only a few dozen people noticed Magnus display his might, with the rest not noticing at all. After all, people were dying constantly throughout the corridor. No one would notice if seventy five people suddenly died at once.
“Boss.” Bebe and the others were rather worried as well.
“Don’t worry. You all step back for now.” Linley sent mentally. “Against Magnus, although I’m not completely certain of victory, I definitely won’t lose!”
“Linley, this Magnus is a Paragon, after all. Don’t be careless. In addition, he, too, has Sovereign artifacts.” Reisgem sent mentally. As he spoke, he, Bebe, and Reihom all retreated, because they also knew...that once Linley and Magnus began to fight, the scene would be completely different from the one where Linley and Bluefire sparred.
When two Paragon experts battled each other, the slightest backlash from their attacks could threaten the lives of ordinary commanders.
At present, Linley and Magnus paid no attention to any others. It was as though this entire world only contained the two of them!
Magnus stared at Linley. In a low voice, he said, “You actually didn’t die!”
“What, do you regret it?” Linley smiled calmly, a hint of mockery in his smile.
“I don’t regret it.” Magnus had already regained his clarity of mind. “Because I know that although you didn’t die last time, this time, you will.”
“You are quite confident.” Linley looked at Magnus, speaking as he would to an equal. “But last time, you were also quite confident that after I suffered your most powerful attack, I would definitely die. But the real result? Last time, I destroyed your confidence. This time...I’ll break it again!”
Magnus’ face grew sinister.
“Haha...” Magnus suddenly began to laugh coldly. “Anyone can engage in braggadocio! Today, I will let you know the difference between you and a Paragon.” Magnus didn’t actually believe that Linley had become a Paragon, because last time, when he had sparred with Linley, he could tell...that Linley was still quite far off from the Paragon level.
Ordinary commanders, in front of a Paragon, would definitely perish.
“Bang!” While laughing, Magnus began to move. His speed instantly rose to the limit, and he moved like a dreamlike blur, throwing himself towards Linley. At the same time, Magnus’ right hand, covered by a black glove, transformed into a claw, and he clawed at Linley’s head. “Hiss...crackle...” Multiple holes in space constantly exploded forth.
When the claw struck out, it was as though space had become very weak.
“You think too highly of yourself!” An explosive roar echoed forth in the Stellar Corridor.
“BANG!”
A black sword light flashed out, piercing directly into Magnus’ palm. The universe seemed to tremble, while Magnus himself was unable to prevent himself from being knocked backwards. In the space where the exchange of blows had taken place, multiple black, gaping spatial chasms had appeared, and the terrifying spatial chasms were like monsters, devouring dozens of nearby soldiers before vanishing.
“A spatial rift? How could a spatial rift be so large?” The formerly savage soldiers, especially the ones around Linley and Magnus, finally understood that two supreme experts were present.
But that was of no use to them. After all, the soldiers behind them on both the sides of the Divine Darkness Plane and the Divine Light plane continued to push forward, throwing themselves against their enemies in battle!
“You...you...” Magnus stared in amazement at Linley. “You became a Paragon?”
“You truly think too highly of yourself!” Linley couldn’t help but chuckle.
Given Linley’s control over the world, he could clearly sense that Magnus, just now, hadn’t used Sovereign power when attacking! A Paragon, even one who didn’t use Sovereign power, was generally able to easily slaughter a commander. But...to act in such a way against Linley was indeed a bit too arrogant.
“You truly have become a Paragon?” Magnus didn’t dare believe it...but the power which Linley had just displayed was real.
“I need to thank you for that full-force attack you launched back then.” Linley let out a soft laugh. “If you hadn’t wanted to kill me, causing me to fall into a life-and-death situation, I probably wouldn’t have made such a large advance.” Linley didn’t admit that he had become a Paragon, but upon hearing Linley’s words, Magnus took it for admission.
“No wonder you are so arrogant. So you have become a Paragon.” Magnus’ face sank. “But Linley, even though you are a Paragon, I, Magnus, will teach you today...that you aren’t qualified to kill my friends!”
When his words were spoken, Magnus moved once more.
“Rumble...”
In the blink of an eye, Linley saw a black fist cover his entire field of vision, and a powerful blast of Fate-type Sovereign power. It seemed as though the entire surrounding space was compressing him, and this punch seemed to contain enough power to destroy the world. It was unstoppable!
“Not using soul attacks, but a material attack?” Linley didn’t hesitate at all, immediately launching a backhanded sword stab with full strength.
“Raaaaaaaargh...” 108 rays of black light shot out like dragons from Mirage, swallowing Magnus within them. In that instant, Magnus felt as though he heard the roar of a dragon, and then felt a powerful, oppressive compression. This compressive force caused even his attacks to be affected.
The sword of Linley. The fist of Magnus!
They collided!
“Thud...” It was a deep sound, like a drum being struck.
Space instantly shattered. Hundreds of spatial rifts appeared, and that Sovereign power, infused with the power of Will, washed out in every direction. This burst of energy was infused with the power of Will, and like sharp arrows, it instantly pierced through the bodies of each of the surrounding soldiers.
A hundred soldiers who were fairly close to Linley and Magnus were doomed. Their bodies instantly transformed into dust! As for some of the soldiers behind them, they were either pierced through the chest or the legs. Some unlucky ones were pierced through the head. Unfortunately, the energy rays was simply too vicious and too dense.
In the blink of an eye, within a circumference of a hundred meters, hundreds of corpses fell from the skies.
“What...what is this?” The formerly savagely battling soldiers here were completely stunned. They couldn’t help but lower their weapons, turning to stare and see what exactly had caused so many people to die simultaneously. There were no living people in the area where Linley and Magnus were battling.
In the Stellar Corridor, this was a rare, empty area. This caused the soldiers to instantly notice the two people battling energetically within.
“Bang!” “Bang!”
Two exceedingly, unspeakably fast blurs collided time and time again, and space repeatedly shattered as spatial tears were created. The backlash from the Sovereign power they used caused quite a few soldiers to die in succession.
“Retreat, quick, retreat!” The terrified soldiers couldn’t help but all retreat frantically, pulling far away from Linley and Magnus.
“What terrifying speed!” The soldiers felt their hearts tremble. “Can it be that they are...”
These soldiers could be considered experts in the Infernal Realm or the Netherworld, and they were all highly experienced. But the incredible effects generated by Linley and Magnus’ blows still caused them to feel terrified. Even the remnant energy could effortlessly kill Six Star Fiends and Seven Star Fiends? What sort of power was this?
The space of the Planar Battlefield...actually had more than a hundred giant spatial rifts torn open? What level of attacks were being used?
Stupefied. Scared silly!
There were two corridors in the Stellar River, and the two corridors engaged in battle simultaneously. The goal was to defeat the opponents and to reach the opposite shore; that was a sign of victory. If victory was gained in both corridors, one side of the Planar War would be considered victorious. If victory was gained in one corridor but lost in the other, it was a draw.
But right now, battle between Linley and Magnus caused simply too much chaos.
They occasionally rose into the skies, and then they would descend, moving at frightful speeds.
Nobody dared to go within a thousand meters of them!
And so, at the center of one of the two Stellar Corridors, an empty field naturally was formed. This forced a halt to the battle on this Stellar Corridor, as quite a few soldiers and commanders focused on the duel of peak experts here.
“Them? Magnus...and that friend of Reisgem’s?” The three-eyed commander’s face changed.
Quite a few commanders had noticed the distant disturbance.
“How is that possible? It’s that person called Linley?” Woodridge also stared, stunned, at the terrifying scene of the distant battle between Linley and Magnus. “Magnus and Linley, they are fighting to a standstill?” Watching the world-shattering battle going on in the distance, Woodridge didn’t dare believe that the Linley whom he had looked down upon was actually able to fight a Paragon to a standstill. Shaking his head vigorously, Woodridge still didn’t dare believe what he was seeing.
“Linley?”
Although those people on the side of the Divine Darkness Plane had never paid Linley any attention, most of them knew Linley’s name. Now that they saw that it was Linley who was causing this huge disturbance, they couldn’t help but feel shocked.
“This Linley is too terrifying.”
Chegwin, the only one who had survived in his squad which fought for the Divine Light Plane, still felt terror in his heart.
“Who is this?” Quite a few commanders on the side of the Divine Light Plane didn’t recognize Linley.
“Haha...I told you all long ago that he is very powerful, possibly a Paragon.” Hemmers stared at the distant battle. He couldn’t help but start to laugh loudly. “None of you believed me! Haha...do you see it? Do you see it?!”
Of the two Stellar Corridors, the battle on one of them had been forced to grind to a halt.
“Quick, hurry up and change directions. Move to support the other corridor! Seize the opportunity to first achieve victory in the other corridor!” Some commanders reacted more quickly; knowing that the battle at this corridor was halted, they immediately arranged for their forces to go assist the other corridor instead. They’d first gain victory in that corridor, then talk.
Linley and Magnus continued to battle in the center of the Stellar River. As they continued, the nearby soldiers of both sides who had disposed of their opponents all temporarily paused their battling.
No one dared to approach Linley or Magnus.
Sovereign power infused with the power of Will...when it washed out, even commanders wouldn’t dare to easily approach it. Who, then, would?
For a time, countless soldiers and many commanders watched this terrifying battle in amazement. For many of them, only today did they understand how terrifying Paragons were!
“WHAP!”
The commanders and soldiers only saw blurred figures move. One of the two rose into the heavens, while the other stood there on the ground; the two split apart. Magnus hovered there, high up in the air, a hint of blood at the corner of his lips. Almost immediately, however, he recovered.
And on the ground stood an expert whose entire body was covered with azure-golden scales, and who had spikes emerging from his back – Linley! Linley’s dark golden eyes stared upwards. “Magnus...you, a Paragon of Fate, want to compete against me in material attacks? You aren’t quite up to it!”