Book 20, The Crown’s Riddle – Chapter 10, Right and Wrong
The aura of black energy swirled around Bonin, making him look like a savage fiend.
Bonin suddenly leapt forward, and the ground beneath him instantly split apart, with a deep crevice in the earth appearing beneath where his feet had been. Rocks and sand flew everywhere, while Bonin himself charged forward lightning-fast towards Linley’s group of four. A long black spear appeared in Bonin’s hand, and his longspear shot out like a giant python that was ravenously attempting to devour Linley’s group.
Bonin’s eyes were bloodshot, and he was filled with a murderous intent.
The adamantine heavy sword appeared in Linley’s hand. An earthen yellow aura swirled around it, and quite casually, Linley swept it towards Bonin. Although his movements seemed slow, the adamantine heavy sword’s speed was actually several times faster than that of the longspear, and it struck Bonin directly on his body.
“WHAP!”
Bonin, who had been charging upwards, was knocked down to the ground, smashing against the rocky mountain and shattering it.
“Impossible.” Bonin looked at Linley, stunned. And this, his face steadied. Letting out a deep growl, he sent the longspear in his hand flying towards Linley...
“Swish!”
A translucent ripple shot out from the longspear towards Linley.
From the center of Linley’s forehead, an extremely minute Voidwave Sword ripple shot out, effortlessly shattering that translucent spear ripple attack. However, because the Voidwave Sword was too small, after destroying that translucent spear ripple, it too collapsed.
The nearby Bebe gave Linley a puzzled glance. “Boss’ soul is incredibly strong. When he uses his own spiritual energy, the effect is more than ten times more powerful than when he uses Sovereign’s Might. When infused with his Will...although it might be a bit weak in terms of profound mysteries, the soul attacks of my Boss isn’t much weaker than the likes of Magnus. To kill someone like Bonin is simplicity itself. So why is it that Boss intentionally spared him?”
Bebe had been with Linley for far too long. He knew exactly how powerful Linley was.
If that Voidwave Sword ripple had been just slightly larger, it would have killed Bonin. But Linley had chosen not to do so.
“Not good.” Those guards all grew very tense.
But they were clearly far too weak. They couldn’t even compete against Bonin, much less challenge Linley.
“Haha...” Seeing the situation, Bonin began to laugh wildly. “No wonder, no wonder! So you two adulterers managed to invite such a powerful expert to help out. Most likely, even amongst Lord Prefect level experts, this person would be ranked quite highly. Haha, if you want to kill me, then kill me. To die in the hands of an expert like you isn’t shameful!”
Bonin actually stopped fighting.
“Eh?” Linley was rather surprised.
But as soon as Bonin’s words came out...
“Whoosh!” He suddenly dove into the ground, fleeing so fast that even Linley was somewhat surprised. This was because the speed at which Bonin moved was actually even faster than the speed at which he had attacked just now. Linley secretly sighed in praise. “This Bonin seemed to have gone berserk, but he actually is quite the schemer.”
Linley was in no rush, instead simply descending.
Linley’s left foot stepped heavily onto the ground. “Rumble...” An invisible rippling surge of power spread out through the ground. Bonin who was currently fleeing for his life at high speed underground, wasn’t able to dodge at all. This invisible ripple grew larger and larger, until it finally struck him!
“Bang!” Bonin’s body trembled, and he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.
Linley himself disappeared, then reappeared right next to Bonin. It was Worldwalking!
“You won’t be able to escape.” Linley stretched his hand out, grabbing Bonin by the shoulder, then charging upwards, preparing to leave the underground.
“Hmph.” Bonin sent his longspear stabbing towards Linley’s chest.
“Clang.” A ripple spread out from Linley’s body. The spear thrust didn’t harm Linley at all.
“This...how is this possible?” Bonin’s face changed dramatically.
He was still a Six Star Fiend, and one who was using Sovereign power. Linley didn’t use any sort of armor at all, and yet, the defense he was using formed from divine earth power alone was able to block the blow. This was too terrifying.
“Even your father would be unable to harm me, much less you.” Linley gave Bonin a calm glance while at the same time dragging Bonin aboveground.
Defenses infused with Will were quite frightening indeed. Even Linley wasn’t able to kill Magnus, and was only able to drive him into chaotic space. From this, one could imagine how powerful that sort of defense was.
Linley’s Will was even more powerful than the will of Magnus. Although he was somewhat weaker when it came to defensive profound mysteries, he wasn’t that much weaker. It was indeed as Linley had said; the energy defense he created was impenetrable to Lord Prefect level experts. Linley could let them attack freely, and they still wouldn’t be able to do anything to him.
“He...who is he?” Bonin was now completely stunned.
This sort of power was too vast. He was like a tiny creek who had encountered a vast, endless ocean. He no longer had any thoughts of fighting back.
Linley tossed Bonin towards the ground, sending him flying towards Olivier and Diana.
Bonin, who had been feeling dispirited, instantly was once more enraged upon seeing Olivier and Diana. He rose to his feet, wanting to charge forward and attack again. Seeing this, Linley couldn’t help but frown. He stretched his hand out...and immediately, 108 rays of earthen yellow light flew out, surrounding and trapping Bonin within them.
A spherical prison was formed, with Bonin crushed inside it.
“Aaaaaaaaaah!” Bonin bellowed ferociously, wanting to burst it apart.
“It is useless.” Linley said calmly. “You are a Six Star Fiend. Even using Sovereign power, you are unable to escape.”
Originally, this technique only had a compressive effect, but Linley had changed it and combined it with his Blackstone Prison ability. The spherical prison, aside from possessing a powerful compressive effect, also created an energy cage that was extremely tough to break. There was no way for a person to escape.
“So a day like this came for even you, Bonin.” Diana said angrily.
“Father, kill him and avenge my older brother.” Deia said frantically.
The corners of Olivier’s eyes were twitching, and he angrily walked towards Bonin.
Bonin, trapped in the cage, began to bellow. “Diana, have I, Bonin, ever mistreated you? Whatever you wanted, I gave you. Whatever you disliked about me, I changed! In order to make you happy, I was willing to lower my head and bend the knee to my father, and ask to borrow money from him so that I could buy whatever you wanted! Diana, tell me, tell me...why did you betray me?!?”
Diana just stared at him coldly.
“Haha, you left our home, and I searched the entire world for you. This Bloodridge Continent is an enormous place, and by the time I found you, I saw that you had actually gotten married to this useless piece of garbage named Olivier. And you had children?” Bonin was so angry, he was laughing. “I didn’t kill you. I took you back home, and I tried to coax you to come back to me, to change your mind. But you?” Bonin was in an utterly berserk state now.
“When we married, did I force you into it? You married me willingly!” Bonin bellowed with rage.
Diana stared furiously at Bonin. “Bonin, yes, I did agree to marry you, but what did you do? You kept on taking a fancy to other women, and you’d bring them back. And...you didn’t even spare my little sister! Before marrying you, you had me completely fooled, but after marrying you, I saw what type of person you truly are. Of course I was going to leave. The farther I could go, the better!”
Bonin looked like a caged, berserk tiger. His eyes flashed with ferociousness.
“Right. I took a fancy to those women, but that was just out of lust, understand!?” Bonin howled angrily. “So what if I, Bonin, took a fancy to some women and snatched them, bringing them back to serve me? I only had a single wife! I wasn’t like my father and those others, who married multiple women. I only had one wife. You! As for those other women, that was just lust. Understand?! Look at those women! Did I keep any of them for more than a month? Is it wrong for me to be a bit lusty?”
“You are too domineering and tyrannical.” Diana shook her head. “You feel that you did nothing wrong, but I can’t accept what you did. Especially the way you treated my little sister.”
“Fine, I admit it, I’m domineering and tyrannical!” Bonin laughed angrily. “But after I brought you back this time, I didn’t touch another woman again, right?”
“Too late.”
Diana said coldly. “Just because you didn’t touch any women this time didn’t mean that what you did in the past didn’t happen. I’ve already seen through you. And what makes me the angriest...is that when I agreed to go back with you, you said that you would spare Olly and my two children. But in reality?”
“Haha...”
Bonin laughed loudly, savagery flashing in his eyes. “Spare them? My woman was together with another man, and even had children with him. You tell me. Could I possibly let that man live and let those two spawns of sin live? Nobody can touch that which belongs to me. If someone does, I’ll make sure he dies!!!”
The black aura had already disappeared from Bonin’s body. His Sovereign’s Might had been used up.
Linley dispelled the prison part of his technique, leaving behind only the compressive power. This pure compressive power alone was enough to bind Bonin.
Olivier walked forward coldly. “Bonin, you killed my son, Leya. Today, you will pay with your life.” Olivier didn’t waste any words, and that mystic icesword appeared in his hands.
“Kill me?” Bonin snickered as he looked at Olivier. “Come then. Let me tell you something, Olivier! I, Bonin, always have a backup plan. The body I have been keeping at Yustone Castle is just one of several. My other bodies aren’t even here; they are training in seclusion. It is no big deal if you kill one of my divine clones. There will come the day when I will let you know...what the consequences for angering me are!”
Bonin looked towards Diana. “Diana...you whore, since you are determined to leave me, then I’ll tell you this...there will come the day when I will destroy you, I swear it! I will personally destroy you!”
Diana, hearing this, couldn’t help but feel her heart tremble.
Olivier just stared coldly at Bonin. In an emotionless voice, he said, “Destroy her? If you have the ability to do so, then have your other divine clones come over. I’ll be waiting for you.”
“Fine. I’ll come find you.” Bonin had a man-eating look in his eyes.
As for Olivier, his gaze was as cold as his sword.
“I’ll be respectfully awaiting your arrival at all times. Today, though, I’ll first destroy this clone.” Olivier finished his words, and then stabbed out with his mystic icesword. The compressed Bonin was completely unable to fight back. In reality, without the aid of Sovereign power, Bonin wasn’t a match for Olivier at all.
A sword pierced through Bonin’s skull.
Bonin’s eyes dimmed.
“This is indeed just one of Bonin’s divine clones. His other divine clones are not present.” Olivier realized, through divine sense, that only a single divine spark was knocked out.
Linley and Bebe just watched these events occur. In their minds, they sighed.
Who was right? Who was wrong?
From Bonin’s perspective, he was indeed sincere in his love towards Diana. But there was nothing that could be done; Diana’s feelings for him were dead. As Bonin saw it, it was Olivier who had taken his wife. Of course he had to kill him.
But from Olivier’s perspective, he and Diana loved each other and had children together. Their calm, blissful life was destroyed; Bonin had stolen his wife and killed his son. Of course Olivier had an irreconcilable hatred for Bonin.
As for Diana, she wasn’t able to stand Bonin any longer and had left him in search of a new life. But Bonin had then killed her son.
Who was in the right? Who was in the wrong?
“Olivier, where is Leya buried?” Diana asked. “I want to see him.” Leya’s death had been a huge blow to Diana.
“Alright.” Olivier nodded.
“Then let’s go.” Linley and Bebe immediately led Olivier’s family of three into the metallic lifeform, then departed. Only, this time, they didn’t head back to Indigo Prefecture, instead first paying a visit to the place where Leya had been buried. Linley didn’t kill the members of Bonin’s personal guard either.
“Master...” The guards had watched everything happen without being able to resist.
The white-browed leader of the guards furrowed his brows...
Skymount Prefecture. Blackcloud Mountains.
The Lord Prefect of Skymount Prefecture lived here. The prefectural soldiers stationed here numbered in the millions.
“Lord Prefect, young master Bonin’s most powerful divine clone has died.” The white-browed man suddenly appeared here. Actually, he also played the role of message relayer, and would often inform the Lord Prefect about what was happening to Bonin.
The Lord Prefect, who had been seated, suddenly rose to his feet, his eyes flashing savagely. “He died. And what did you do?”
“Lord Prefect, that person was too powerful.” Terrified, the white-browed man fell to his knees.
In terms of being domineering and tyrannical, this Lord Prefect of Skymount Prefecture was even more terrifying than his son. The white-browed man was terrified that, in his rage, the Lord Prefect would kill him.
“Tell me what happened.” The Lord Prefect of Skymount Prefecture growled.
“Yes, Lord Prefect. That day, young master Bonin...” The white-browed man began to explain in detail. He even gave a rough description of the ‘battle’ between Linley and Bonin. Listening to this, the Lord Prefect began to frown deeply. After the white-browed man finished speaking, he gave the order while frowning, “Oh, left after boarding a black, sword-shaped metallic lifeform? Fine. Per my orders, every single intelligence agent within Skymount Prefecture needs to be on watch. If any of them find a black, sword-shaped metallic lifeform fly past them, especially one with five individuals inside, they must report it.”
“Yes.” The white-browed man, upon hearing this, instantly understood that the Lord Prefect was going to take revenge.
But the white-browed man felt puzzled. “After hearing what I said, the Lord Prefect should understand how terrifying that person was. Why is it that he still dares to seek revenge?”
From watching that earlier battle, the white-browed man was able to guess...
That the brown-haired man’s strength should be ranked amongst the top-tier Lord Prefects. The Lord Prefect of Skymount Prefecture shouldn’t be confident in his ability to win.
After the white-browed man departed, the Lord Prefect of Skymount Prefecture waved his sleeves, and a surge of Destruction-type divine power swept out, closing the door.
“Bonin. This child is too arrogant and solitary. He never listens to me. I had wanted to let him go out and adventure a bit, but who would have imagined...ugh...” A faint, baleful aura appeared on his face. “Bonin’s most powerful divine clone is dead. His future is now uncertain! Hmph, you killed my son...hmph, a thousand years ago, I would’ve had to just let this stand. But now...I want to see who did it!” The Lord Prefect hesitated a moment, then waved his hand...
A jade green box appeared in his hand.
He opened the box, which had a sheet of green paper within it. Atop the sheet of paper, there was a bracelet, and atop the bracelet there were nine green beads inlaid into it.
The Lord Prefect of Skymount Prefecture looked at the bracelet. He couldn’t help but take a deep breath, and then his eyes began to glow.
“It is time to use it.” The Lord Prefect placed the bracelet on his right arm.
Upon wearing this bracelet, it seemed as though the Lord Prefect’s very aura had changed.
The Lord Prefect pondered for a moment, and then his body divided into two. One had long black hair, while the other had long silver hair. The one with long silver hair took the jade green box, storing it away, then left the room through the door. As for the Lord Prefect with long black hair, this one remained standing within the room.
“Once I use this...”
The Lord Prefect with black hair frowned. Instantly, the Lord Prefect with silver hair who was already next to the door came to a halt. He retrieved the jade green box, removing that slip of green paper from within it.
“Crackle...” A surge of terrifying energy emanated from his palms.
The green paper trembled momentarily, but didn’t shatter.
“It is hard for even me to destroy this sheet of paper.” The silver-haired Lord Prefect waved his hand and retrieved an interspatial ring, bound it with blood, then stored the green sheet of paper into the interspatial ring.
“Hmph.” Applying a bit of force, he crushed the interspatial ring with his fingers.
That sheet of paper was gone now.
“Haha...from today onwards, no one else will know this secret.” The silver-haired Lord Prefect laughed as he left. As for the black-haired Lord Prefect, he lowered his head to look at the bracelet around his arms, then smiled slightly.