Book 19, Metamorphosis – Chapter 61, Gathering Point
The rainbow light above the Stellar River glowed as beautifully as ever, but everyone was silent. They were speechless. As for Linley, he simply walked calmly towards the Darkness alliance’s side, under the gaze of countless experts.
A Paragon...had just been driven into chaotic space!
“He drove a Paragon into chaotic space. He’s of the Azure Dragon clan. His name is Linley!” The surrounding soldiers and commanders all firmly memorized this scene. The words Linley had exchanged with Magnus had resulted in Linley’s name being revealed. Naturally, these surrounding people all knew it now.
Suddenly...
“Quick, material attacks!” One of the captains belonging to the Darkness alliance suddenly came to his senses, and he hurriedly spoke through divine sense to his allies.
“Crackle...” Nearly a hundred rays of brilliant light shot forth from the side of the Darkness alliance, thundering towards the enemy.
“Material attacks, forward!” At almost the same instant, the soldiers on both sides came to their senses. Only now did the soldiers of the Darkness alliance and the Light alliance awaken from the stupor having watched the astonishing battle between two Paragons, and they immediately began to battle again! The countless soldiers of the two sides flooded forward and clashed against each other.
Linley, Bebe, and the other two just stood there amidst the human flood.
There was no longer anyone foolish enough to launch attacks against Linley.
“Boss!” Bebe looked at Linley, incomparably excited. “That was Magnus! Boss, just now, the person you drove into chaotic space was MAGNUS. Someone on the same level as Bayer! Too powerful, haha, too powerful!” Bebe delightedly beamed, his smile so large that his eyes became half-lidded.
Reisgem and Reihom’s faces were covered in smiles as well.
“Reisgem, you should be lacking some military merits, right? Do you need me to help you?” Linley turned his head, looking at Reisgem.
“No need.” Reisgem intentionally let out a snort. “Linley, although I’m a bit weaker compared to you, acquiring enough military merits isn’t too difficult for me. I already acquired a certain number during the previous Planar Wars, and this time, I only need a few more. Reihom, let’s go.” Reisgem and Reihom flew out into the flood of people as well.
People were everywhere, filling the corridor as they constantly slaughtered each other.
Linley and Bebe were amongst them, but they just watched the distant Reisgem and Reihom. Linley nodded slightly. “Bebe, let’s go. Given Reihom and Reisgem’s strength, unless they encounter a Paragon or an assault by multiple commanders, they won’t be in any danger. Let’s go to the shores of the Stellar River to watch.”
“Alright. Let’s go to the shore.” Bebe chortled and nodded.
Everyone was charging towards the enemy shores...but Linley and Bebe actually turned.
“Linley!”
The commanders of the Darkness plane stared at Linley from afar, sighing mentally. They regretted not having made good use of the earlier gathering to chat with Linley. There were very few opportunities to establish a relationship with a Paragon, and it was very hard to do so.
“Prior to this, Mr. Linley was hiding his status, and so it would have been easy to make friends with him. But now...he’s revealed his power. There will definitely be many who want to befriend him. The difficulty level will be much greater.” The commanders all understood this principle, and it was indeed the case; if earlier, during the gathering, they had come over and acted in a friendly manner towards Linley, Linley would indeed have been kindly disposed towards them.
But now...
Given that he had revealed his power, those who now came to befriend him clearly did so in order to ingratiate themselves with him. Linley wouldn’t even want to bother with them.
The Darkness alliance had already gained victory earlier in the other corridor. Given that Linley had defeated Magnus, the Darkness alliance’s morale was at an all-time high!
Morale was an invisible, illusory thing.
But it was also true that whichever side in the corridor had the bravest, fearless, and more numerous soldiers would be the side to win. When Linley and Magnus had battled, they very naturally became viewed as representatives of the Darkness alliance and the Light alliance. The forces of each side were naturally cheering for their experts.
Linley had won. Magnus had lost!
The impact of this on the Light alliance soldiers was quite large, and the impact on their commanders was quite large as well. This was because in their heart, they couldn’t help but constantly reflect on the fact that the enemy had a Paragon in their ranks. Those commanders simply didn’t dare to go all out and charge forward with abandon, for fear that Linley might intervene to act against them. These commanders had no confidence at all in their ability to deal with Linley.
Given their depressed morale, and how the commanders didn’t dare to lead the way, the soldiers of the Light alliance were being repeatedly driven back!
“Haha, kill. Kill!”
The commanders of the Darkness alliance, upon seeing this, were absolutely delighted.
As the soldiers of the Darkness alliance roared heroically, under the leadership of their commanders, they inexorably ground forward like the wheels on a chariot, constantly advancing and attacking. The greater the advantage they held, the easier the battle became. The morale of the Darkness alliance had risen to a crescendo!
By the banks of the Stellar River. Linley and Bebe were watching the battle atop the Stellar Corridor.
“Boss. Our side will win for sure.” Bebe said, very confident.
Linley watched the slaughter within the corridor, then nodded. “That’s how the battles in the Stellar Corridors are. Once one side begins to cower and retreat, even if there are fresh troops ready to support them from behind, it is useless. Once the front lines collapse, the rear will be affected as well. They’ve definitely lost!” As soon as Linley’s words came out, the rainbow radiance emanating from the Stellar Corridor suddenly faded away.
The Darkness alliance had gained victory!
They were victorious in both corridors, and so for this Planar War, the side of the Divine Darkness Plane was the victor.
The soldiers of the Darkness alliance all began to turn and depart en masse.
“Second Brother, the Boss died. Alas. Still, we weren’t too misfortunate; things were much better than we had anticipated. The two of us are both still alive!” Two soldiers flew shoulder-to-shoulder, laughing loudly.
“We three brothers have finally adventured through the Planar Battlefield, and have had the chance to witness so many commanders do battle. We even saw two Paragons fight. I regret nothing. To be able to leave this place alive is an unexpected plus. Haha...right. I even acquired seventy six soldier badges. You?”
“I have fifty as well. When the two of us add them together, we will have enough to swap for a drop of Sovereign’s Might.”
“Haha, yet another gain.”
The surviving soldiers were all very happy, chatting and laughing amongst themselves. Those soldiers who dared come here to the Planar Battlefield had all been living for countless years; they wanted to see for themselves the Planar Battlefield and perhaps watch a group of commanders battle amongst themselves. They felt no regrets. For them to survive it? It was an unexpected, pleasant surprise.
“Boss.” Bebe suddenly said.
“Hm?” Linley looked towards him, and Bebe continued, “Boss, if you were a Six Star Fiend who had trained for countless years without making any progress, would you have made the same choice as them?”
“Trained for countless years with no progress?”
Linley was stunned.
If he truly was unable to make any further progress, and had to live a long, endless life...when he grew tired of everything, perhaps he truly would choose to give up his divine clone and enter the legendary Planar Battlefield to experience it personally.
“I would make the same choice.” Linley said in a low voice. “If I cannot reach the peak, then I must at least see for myself the place where peak experts gather; the ‘Planar Battlefield.’”
Anyone who had the heart of an expert would be filled with eagerness towards the battlefield of the supreme experts, the ‘Planar Battlefield’.
“Haha, Linley!” A joyful call rang out.
Linley and Bebe turned, only to see Reisgem and Reihom fly over at high speed. Linley laughed and said, “Reisgem, from that look on your face, you acquired enough military merits, yes?”
“Naturally!” Reisgem raised his eyebrows, saying smugly, “But it really was dangerous. The Light alliance was defeated too quickly, resulting in the commanders of the Light alliance fleeing quite quickly as well. If Reihom and I hadn’t joined forces and moved fast enough, we probably wouldn’t have been able to gain enough badges.”
“Linley, look. Quite a few people are paying attention to you.” Reisgem said in a lowered voice.
Linley turned his head to look.
Many amongst the thronging masses of returning soldiers were looking towards Linley.
“That one dressed in the sky-blue robes is Linley. Him, over there!”
“He defeated a Paragon?”
“I personally witnessed it. How could it be false? That was so motherf*cking incredible. In my lifetime, I’ve seen all sorts of experts fighting. I’ve even seen two Paragons exchanging blows. This was worth it.”
“Linley is too powerful...after this battle, I am going to return to my material plane. The treasures that I’ve accumulated over all these years are worth enough to teleport me back. It’s time to go back to my homeland. Haha, from the material plane to the Netherworld, and then countless years adventuring in the Netherworld...I’ve seen many things. It is enough for me. It is time to go home. I wonder what has happened to my homeland in the countless years since I’ve been gone.”
Every single soldier had their own thoughts, their own plans.
Actually, every single person capable of participating in the Planar Wars was an expert. After all, generally only experts at or above the Six Star Fiend level would be chosen as soldiers. But of course, as long as it was approved by a commander, even Five Star Fiend level experts could enter. These soldiers...all had their own dreams. Many of them had come to the Planar Battlefield in pursuit of their dreams.
Earlier, only a portion of the soldiers had witnessed Linley battle Magnus. The news of that battle now spread orally at high speed, and quite a few soldiers turned to look at Linley, wanting to take a look at this Paragon. It wasn’t just the soldiers who were paying attention to Linley; even the commanders were staring at Linley from far away.
“He...is actually a Paragon.” Woodbridge stared at the distant Linley, not daring to draw near. “If Linley remembers and hates me and kills me when he sees me, that would be terrible.” Woodbridge hurriedly made his way towards the planar gateway along with the rest of the army.
There were some who made haste towards the planar gateway, but also some who wanted to make friends with Linley.
“Mr. Linley, during our last meeting, I had no idea that you were this capable.”
“Mr. Linley...”
Some commanders walked over, all of them appearing quite friendly.
Linley just said a few polite words, then said towards Reisgem, “Reisgem, Bebe and I are going to the Netherworld. Let’s part ways here.” The Planar Battlefield was connected to eleven planes, and so there were eleven corridors, each of which led to a different location. Linley and Bebe were going to return to the Netherworld, while Reisgem was returning to the Infernal Realm.
“You are returning to the Netherworld?” Reisgem was stunned.
“Right. We still have something to take care of.” Bebe nodded and laughed as well. “Reisgem, after we return to the Infernal Realm, when we have some free time, we’ll pay a visit to your Amethyst Mountains and have a stroll.”
“Fine, then.” Reisgem said with resignation. “Then let’s part ways here. When we return to the Infernal Realm, we’ll meet again.”
Linley, Bebe, Reisgem, and Reihom went their separate ways. Linley just said a few more words of courtesy to the other commanders, then flew with Bebe at high speed towards the Netherworld corridor. Those other commanders could only watch from afar as Linley flew away, not daring to continue bothering him.
The corridor linking the Planar Battlefield and the Netherworld. Linley and Bebe descended from the skies, instantly drawing quite a bit of attention.
“Hm?” As Linley landed, he saw a black-robed figure fly towards him.
“Boss, another one who wants to make friends with you.” Bebe sent mentally.
Linley felt rather repulsed by all this; he recognized this black-robed figure, who was indeed a commander. The black-robed figure had a rather pale face, and his eyes glowed with a faint, oily green light. Upon seeing Linley, the black-robed figure bowed slightly, then sent mentally, “Mr. Linley, on behalf of my master, the Flameforge Sovereign of the Netherworld...I would like to invite you to consider becoming the Emissary of my master.”
“Netherworld. Flameforge Sovereign?” Linley couldn’t help but chuckle.
After revealing his power, he would soon receive invitations from various Sovereigns; Linley was prepared for this. But he hadn’t expected...that he would be invited even before he left the Planar Battlefield. Sovereigns truly did work quite quickly.
“Mr. Linley, as a Paragon, I’m sure that the Sovereign will agree to provide you with any sort of Sovereign artifact you desire. But of course, there is a one artifact limit. As for Sovereign power...we won’t be stingy with it.” The black-robed figure urged.
“Pardon me. At present, I haven’t considered becoming a Sovereign’s Emissary.” Linley smiled.
“Bebe, let’s go.” Linley immediately led Bebe to move towards the corridor.
“Mr. Linley...” The black-robed figure wanted to say a few more words of persuasion.
But Linley and Bebe didn’t slow down at all. They flew directly into the corridor, disappearing from the black-robed figure’s field of vision.
Seeing this, the black-robed figure couldn’t help but shake his head. “After he leaves the Planar Battlefield, there will definitely be many Sovereigns who will invite him. My master probably has no hope of succeeding.” There were differences between Sovereigns as well. For someone at the Paragon level, it was indeed up to them who they wanted to serve as an Emissary for.