Book 20, The Crown’s Riddle – Chapter 9, Bonin
In the air above Skymount Prefecture. A black, sword-shaped metallic lifeform was hovering there.
Linley, Olivier, and the other two were standing at the front cabin within the metallic lifeform, staring through the translucent metal to the mountains ahead of them.
“Right. The Yustone Mountains are up ahead!” Olivier’s eyes were shining.
While flying here, Olivier had been astonished at the speed of Linley’s metallic lifeform. Within one short year, they had actually arrived at Skymount Prefecture from Indigo Prefecture. What he didn’t understand...was that when Linley had gone from Tartarus of the Nether Sea to the Abyssal Mountain, a distance of tens of billions of kilometers, he had spent less than ten years travelling.
“Describe Diana’s appearance to me.” Linley said.
Olivier nodded. “Diana is slightly shorter than me, standing roughly up to my eyebrows. She has straight, shoulder-length hair which is a deep jade color, almost black. Within the castle inside the Yustone Mountains, she is the mistress. Finding her should be easy.”
“Right.” Linley nodded.
At the same time, the metallic lifeform disappeared, and Linley’s group of four stood there in midair, with Olivier holding his son, Deia, by the hand.
“Wait momentarily.” Linley willed his divine sense to spread out, instantly encapsulating nearly half of the entire Yustone Mountains, which naturally included that castle.
In the castle, there were 1556 individuals, mostly men, with a few women.
As for someone like Olivier had described, a woman with shoulder-length hair that was deep green, there was only one!
Within the castle. The balcony of a small room. A woman was staring into the distance, dressed in an ink-jade dress. She was the mistress of this castle...Diana!
“Leya, my child...mother is so sorry.” Diana said softly, a hint of sadness in her eyes.
Ever since that day more than ten years ago, when Olivier had attacked the castle and informed her of Leya’s death, Diana began to hate Bonin all the more! Originally, she hated Bonin for tearing her apart from her family, but now, she hated Bonin for not honoring his promise and for attacking her sons and husband, resulting in Leya’s death.
“How could it have come to this? Why did all of this have to happen?” Diana shut her eyes, tears rolling down her face.
Right at this moment...
“Are you Olivier’s wife, Diana?” A voice rang out in Diana’s mind.
Diana was startled, and she hurriedly opened her eyes.
“Who is it?” Diana hurriedly looked around, but she was unable to see a single possible ‘suspect’. And then, that voice continued, “Don’t worry or be suspicious. I am Olivier’s friend. He invited me to take you out of here.”
Diana continued to stare around herself, but wasn’t able to find the person who was sending her the message. She calmed down, then responded, “Right, I am Diana! But...I cannot leave.”
“Cannot leave?”
“Right. If I were to leave, then the lord of this castle, Bonin, would definitely kill Olivier and our son.” Diana said.
“He doesn’t have that ability.” That calm, yet assured voice echoed in her mind.
Diana wanted to say something else, but suddenly, a raucous series of noises could be heard from the distance. Diana couldn’t help but stare towards the distant disturbance, confused. She saw a group of guards fly out from the walls of the castle, with one shouting rebukingly, “This is Castle Yustone. If you want to enter the castle, wait for us to send a message first!”
The shouts rang out repeatedly, and some people even pulled out divine artifacts as they flew over to block the newcomers.
But the four blurs didn’t hesitate at all, flying straight past.
“Olly...and Deia?” Diana opened her eyes wide, stunned.
Linley’s group of four flew past in awe-inspiring fashion, completely ignoring the blocking guards. Most of those guards were Gods, and only a few were Highgods. A gust of earthen yellow energy rippled past them, and it seemed as though those guards were like pellets of sand, carried away by the waves of the sea. All of them were knocked flying.
“Eh?” Diana couldn’t help but feel surprised.
The other guards of Yustone Castle were all stunned as well.
“Milord, those four are too powerful. We aren’t able to stop them.” Those guards hurriedly reported to a black-robed man.
The black-robed man’s face changed. “Olivier!” Last time, Olivier had secretly snuck in, and then battled with Bonin. Many of the people at Yustone Castle thus recognized Olivier. The black-robed man ordered, “Hurry up and find the master of the castle. He is elsewhere in the Yustone Mountains. Hurry and find him.”
“Yes, milord.”
Immediately, twenty nearby guards flew out of Yustone Castle in search of Bonin.
“The four of you, please halt.” The black-robed man called out in a clear voice.
At the same time, many of the guards gathered together behind the black-robed man as he flew towards Linley’s group of four. In addition, a large amount of guards continued to fly out from places throughout the castle, wishing to block Linley’s advance.
“Rumble...”
Linley’s group of four flew forward, and it was like a mountain was sweeping through. All of the guards who wanted to block them were knocked flying backwards by waves of earthen yellow energy. Linley’s group of four...was completely unstoppable!
Seeing this, the black-robed man’s face became exceedingly ugly to behold. He could tell...that the enemies were powerful indeed.
“Unless you want to die, stay away.” Bebe called out smugly in a loud voice.
“The four of you, if you advance any further, then I will attack.” The black-robed man said in a clear voice. Although he spoke quite boldly, after having seen Linley’s power...the black-robed man knew very well that if these enemies wanted to kill them, it would be simplicity itself. After all, killing Highgods was very easy, but to do what Linley had done, to knock them backwards without injuring them...that was quite difficult.
Linley’s group of four flew directly for Diana.
Diana stared as these four flew over, the castle guards completely unable to stop them. She couldn’t help but feel stunned.
“Mother.” Deia was the first to call out as he flew towards Diana. Olivier flew over alongside him as well.
“Deia.” Diana’s eyes instantly turned red. She hurriedly went over and tightly hugged her son. Although her son was already an adult now, that familiar spiritual aura...Diana instantly recognized him.
“Diana.” Olivier said softly.
Diana turned to look at Olivier. She couldn’t help but throw herself into Olivier’s arms. These two, husband and wife, felt both excited and heartsick.
Linley stood there in midair. Bebe, seeing this, couldn’t help but smile.
“Olly, why did you come back?” Diana raised her head, looking at Olivier. She said frantically, “Last time, when you came, it was because you didn’t know how powerful Bonin was. And Bonin is very tyrannical...you were lucky to be able to escape last time. This time, you...alas!” Diana was very worried.
Bonin was extremely powerful, after all. And behind him was the Lord Prefect of Skymount Prefecture.
“Don’t worry.” Olivier revealed a smile.
“Mother, don’t worry. We have Uncle Linley.” Deia urged as well. That cold, emotionless youth, upon seeing his mother, seemed to have become a child again.
“Linley?” Diana raised her head, looking at the distant Linley and Bebe in confusion. “You mean them?”
“Right.” Olivier smiled and nodded.
“But Bonin has his father, who is terrifying. He isn’t just the Lord Prefect of the Skymount Prefecture, he is also a Sovereign’s Emissary with a Sovereign artifact. He is extremely powerful.” Diana said hurriedly. The Infernal Realm had 108 Lord Prefects, but not all of them had a Sovereign artifact.
Olivier couldn’t help but laugh as he reflected on Linley’s power.
A Sovereign artifact?
Even an expert with three Sovereign artifacts, much less one, was no match for a Paragon. The Paragon might not be able to kill such a person, but would still be able to drive that person into chaotic space.
“Uncle Linley is a Paragon.” Deia said hurriedly.
“Pa, Paragon?” Diana blinked, stunned. She was completely stunned by this word, ‘Paragon’. Paragon...these were legendary figures who represented invincibility amongst Deities!
“Diana, where is that bastard, Bonin?” Olivier’s eyes had a savage light in them as he spoke.
“He...” Diana was somewhat hesitant, but she still answered. “He went to gather bloodmist flowers. He should still be within the Yustone Mountains.”
“Bloodmist flowers? What’s that?” Olivier didn’t understand.
“There’s nothing special about them. They are just a type of flower.” Diana clearly didn’t want to discuss it. “Forget about that. We need to go find Bonin, but the Yustone Mountains are so large. How can we find him?” The divine sense of a Highgod only stretched to a thousand meters or so. To rely on it to search an entire vast mountain range was indeed impractical.
Linley, hovering there in midair, finally spoke. “Olivier, I’ve already found that Bonin fellow.”
Diana, Deia, and Olivier all stared at Linley, astonished.
“The castle guards have already located Bonin...” Linley laughed calmly. He had noticed the conversation between that squad of guards and Bonin, and so naturally he knew which one Bonin was, now. Actually...it was easy to tell who Bonin was. This was because although there were quite a few people within the Yustone Mountains, Bonin was travelling with ten subordinates, all Highgods.
In the Yustone Mountains, most likely only Bonin alone would be able to do such a thing.
“Follow me.” Linley said with a calm laugh.
Olivier immediately led Diana and Deia to follow as Linley and Bebe flew out of the castle. As for the maids and guards of the castle, all they could do was watch as the mistress of the castle left. They weren’t able to do a thing about it.
In a separate region of the Yustone Mountains.
Bonin was a big fellow, with a back as muscular as a tiger’s and a waist as thick as a bear’s. He was nearly two meters tall, and his face was fairly handsome. He had thick black eyebrows and a pair of energetic, lively eyes. Currently, Bonin was holding a flower in his hand. This flower seemed rather blurry, while at the same time it had a hint of red color swirling about it.
The bloodmist flower was a very pretty type of flower. But of course, it had no practical use, save for being admired aesthetically.
“What did you say?” Bonin’s face changed.
“Master, that man named Olivier, he came back. And he brought someone!” The guard said hurriedly. “The person he brought is very powerful. All those guards were unable to stop him. We could only watch as he stormed into the castle. Per orders from his lordship, we came to notify you, master!”
“Bastard!” A savage light appeared in Bonin’s eyes. “That useless piece of trash. I spared his life last time. Who would’ve thought that instead of being smart enough to f*ck off, he would actually return.”
“Follow me.” Bonin gave the order.
“Master.” The leader of Bonin’s personal guard, a white-browed, grim looking man, said hurriedly, “Last time, Olivier saw your power, and yet this time, he dares return. Clearly, he is prepared for you. The guards just now also said that all the guards of the castle combined were unable to stop them...this person’s power is most likely comparable to a Lord Prefect’s. If you go, the repercussions...”
Bonin couldn’t help but come to a halt.
He clenched his fists, and the stalk of the bloodmist flower in his hand was twisted as well.
“Can it be that I’m supposed to just watch as someone takes my wife away?” Bonin said frantically.
“Master, your life is more important. As for the mistress, she...let’s go find the Lord Prefect and then come up with an idea.” The guard urged.
But right at this moment...
“Don’t try to talk him out of it. It is too late for that.” A calm voice echoed in everyone’s mind.
“Hm?” Bonin’s face changed dramatically, and he raised his head, staring into the distance.
Five figures flew over at high speed. Bonin instantly recognized Diana and Olivier. Diana and Olivier were currently holding hands, appearing quite intimate. Upon seeing this, Bonin couldn’t suppress his rage from building. His face turned red, and his eyes began to blaze as he pointed into air and howled, “Olivier, release my wife!”
“Your wife?” Olivier was so furious that his eyes were filled with a ferocious light as well.
“Nana.” Bonin roared angrily. “All these years, have I ever been the slightest bit disrespectful to you? Why are you always like this...I’ve always done whatever you wanted, and I’ve always given you whatever you wanted! You wanted to see bloodmist flowers, so I personally led my people to search the entire mountain range for bloodmist flowers! But you...”
Diana was stunned, but then she replied in a cold voice, “Bonin. I...am Olivier’s wife. Not yours! Also, you sent people to kill Leya...do you think I could possibly forgive you after that?”
“But, but you and I were married first!” Bonin roared back angrily.
Diana shook her head, saying nothing further.
Bonin lowered his head, looking at the bloodmist flower. He had searched the entire mountain range for this flower, all because he wanted to coax Diana and make her happy. When he finally found the flower, he had been longing to bring it back and see her smile.
“Haha, women...haha...” Bonin began to laugh from sheer rage.
“I...my heart is dead towards you, now!” Bonin stared fixedly at Diana and Olivier. “So the two of you are quite close to each other, eh? Then I...I will let you two die together!”
“BANG!”
Bonin’s body began to emit a black aura.