Book 20, The Crown’s Riddle – Chapter 15, The Sovereign Descends
Within the main hall, Molde remained on his knees.
But upon seeing the Sovereign of Wind suddenly depart, he felt a surge of wild joy in his heart. “Based on the conversation they had, it seems this person was a Sovereign as well! Good. Although the Bloodridge Sovereign didn’t believe me, at least one Sovereign has gone...this Linley, hmph, even if he hands over the nine soul pearls, he will find it hard to avoid death!”
When Molde thought about what that parchment had written on it, he couldn’t help but feel smug. If he had described things clearly, perhaps Linley would simply hand over the nine soul pearls, and the Sovereign would release Linley. But...in disseminating the news, Molde had changed things slightly.
Although he wasn’t able to make his scheme perfect in such a short period of time, as Molde saw it...it was enough to make Linley die.
“Linley, oh, Linley...a Paragon is going to die, just like that.” Molde mused to himself.
“Molde!” A cold voice suddenly rang out.
“Sovereign.” Molde hurriedly pressed his forehead against the floor, kowtowing.
The Bloodridge Sovereign’s cold gaze fell down upon Molde from up high. “I ask you this. Is the information contained in the parchment true or false. Are you certain of the information?” The Bloodridge Sovereign was still quite surprised that Molde was able to deliver a piece of paper like this. The words of the Sovereign of Wind were correct; how long ago had it been since an Overgod had issued a mission?
Very few people even knew about such a thing. Even if Molde wanted to make something up, how would he even know about it?
“Sovereign, your subordinate doesn’t know if it is true or false.” Molde said respectfully. “Your subordinate simply came in possession of this parchment. Because the information it contained was simply too astonishing, I knew...that you, Sovereign, would probably be intrigued by it. And so I immediately came to give it to you, Sovereign.”
Molde wouldn’t dare testify as to whether it was true or false.
If he dared to testify regarding its veracity, then it meant that he, Molde, had seen the true original!
“Hmph. Scram.” The Bloodridge Sovereign snapped.
“Yes.” Molde hurriedly bowed with respect, then left.
But there, at the front of the main hall, the Bloodridge Sovereign began to furrow his brows while standing there. “Why did Molde have to come now, instead of earlier or later? Teresia just so happened to be here when Molde came. Now that Teresia knows this, things will be tricky.” As he pondered, the Bloodridge Sovereign stretched out his divine sense.
Soon, the Bloodridge Sovereign’s divine sense spread out to cover the entire Bloodridge Continent.
Moments later, the Bloodridge Sovereign retracted his divine sense. Shaking his head and laughing, his body also flickered, then disappeared from the main hall.
As for Molde, he traversed the hazy white mist, then quickly departed.
“Hmph. As soon as I retrieved my Sovereign artifact, I immediately began to plan this out, and then I delivered this news to the Sovereigns. Even as fast as Linley travels, I imagine he probably hasn’t reached Indigo Prefecture yet.” Molde was very efficient in carrying things out. He was afraid that if too much time passed, there would be new variables.
Thus, he had travelled here by himself at top speed to notify the Sovereign.
As for the Sovereigns, if they were to chase after Linley, their speed would be terrifyingly fast.
Mountains rose, one after the other in a never-ending chain.
A metallic lifeform was traversing the skies.
“We’ve already passed through the Indigo Prefecture border. In a short period of time, we will reach the Skyrite Mountains.” Linley, standing at the front of the metallic lifeform, stared at the outside world through the translucent metal. He laughed while speaking.
“Indigo Prefecture.” Diana and Olivier both stood there as well, staring into the distance.
Suddenly...
“Whooosh.” A terrifying tornado suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the skies, surrounding Linley’s metallic lifeform, causing the world to suddenly grow dim and hazy.
“What’s going on?” Bebe was shocked.
“Not good.” Linley’s face changed dramatically. The sudden descent of this tornado caught even him completely off-guard. The person who had just come was too terrifying. Linley didn’t have any reservations; with a thought, he instantly spread out earth-type Sovereign power, forming a protective barrier around the five of them.
The entire metallic lifeform trembled, then was blown into smithereens.
Linley’s group of five were still completely dazed, but right at this moment, the tornado vanished.
“Eh?” Linley looked in front of him. There was a man currently standing in midair in front of them. This person had long silver hair, a hawk-nose, and pair of slender eyes. The man’s gaze was like a knife, making those who saw his gaze feel coldness in their hearts. This silver-haired man looked calmly at Linley’s group of five.
“Boss, who is he?” Bebe sent mentally.
The faces of Olivier, Diana, and their son Deia changed dramatically.
“Who else could it be? Aside from a Sovereign, who could possibly suddenly appear in front of us without me sensing anything?” Linley sent back. And then, smiling, Linley bowed towards the man in front of him. “Linley of Indigo Prefecture greets you, Sovereign!” After having met with the Chief Sovereign of Death and the Abyssal Fruit Tree, Linley understood one thing!
Sovereigns might appear as an energy construct or with their true bodies, or in the shape of a human.
In short, one couldn’t judge a Sovereign through appearance, only by power. A girl might appear before you, but that girl could very well be a Sovereign. There was no way at all to judge such a person’s strength from the outside.
The silver-haired man revealed a hint of a smile on his face as well. “Oh, you are able to infuse Will? You really are a Paragon. You were able to ascertain my identity so soon.” This Sovereign of Wind could tell from the barrier Linley had created with earth-type Sovereign power that there was a surge of Will infused within it.
More importantly...
Linley didn’t waste a single bit of his Sovereign power. This made it simple to judge Linley’s power.
“Sovereign, might I ask why you have stopped us?” Linley smiled as he bowed. “Please instruct me!”
“The rest of you, step aside.” The Sovereign of Wind gave a calm glance to Bebe and the others.
As Sovereigns saw it, the fewer Deities who knew about Overgod talismans and missions, the better. Sovereigns felt that Deities weren’t even qualified to know about these things. Linley was a Paragon, and so he could speak amiably with Linley, but the Sovereign of Wind didn’t want the other four nearby to listen in.
“Leave for now.” Linley glanced at them.
Knowing that this person was a Sovereign, Bebe didn’t dare say anything. He, Olivier, and the other two immediately flew away. Olivier’s son, Deia, stared in amazement and disbelief at the Sovereign of Wind. Clearly, Deia was very curious about the legendary Sovereigns.
Moments later, Bebe and the others were thousands of kilometers away.
“Sovereign, there is nobody nearby aside from us now.” Linley looked at the silver-haired man in front of him.
“My request is very simple!”
The Sovereign of Wind laughed calmly as he glanced at Linley. “A Overgod talisman, in the hands of a Deity, is completely useless. It’s best if you hand over the Overgod talisman you possess to me!”
Linley couldn’t help but feel completely lost.
“Overgod talisman? What Overgod talisman?” Linley asked.
The silver-haired man’s eyes had a hint of coldness flash through them. With an icy snort, he said, “What, do you want to lie to my face and deceive me?” Actually, the Sovereign was now rather puzzled as well. “By the looks of it, it seems as though this Linley really has no idea what an Overgod talisman is. But then again, who knows. If a Paragon wants to put on an act, I wouldn’t necessarily be able to see through him.”
“Sovereign, I am willing to swear an oath in the name of the Overgods that I truly have no idea what an Overgod talisman is.” Linley said hurriedly.
The silver-haired man felt puzzled now.
“Sovereign, what is this Overgod talisman of which you speak?” Linley said, puzzled. “Based on what I know, the four Overgods are the personifications of the four Edicts. They shouldn’t have any human emotions. Why would there be Overgod talismans?” But as soon as he spoke, Linley knew that he was wrong.
If they didn’t have human emotions, did that necessarily mean they couldn’t issue talismans?
Where did Overgod artifacts come from, then? Since there was such a thing as an Overgod artifact, then naturally there could be Overgod talismans as well.
But this silver-haired man thought that Linley didn’t know about the existence of Overgod talismans and Overgod artifacts. He said calmly, “Since Overgods are able to take the form of a person if they choose, why is it that you think you can understand them? Based on what I know, of the three talismans, the ‘nine soul pearls’ are in your hands, correct?”
“The ‘nine soul pearls’ of the three talismans?” Linley couldn’t help but say, startled.
Linley was indeed startled, because he knew what this person was speaking of. “This Sovereign has come to find me for an Overgod talisman. So...he is referring to those nine soul pearls which allowed Molde to stay alive. That’s the Overgod talisman. No wonder it is so unique and has such incomprehensible power. So it is an Overgod talisman...but what are they used for?”
At this moment, Linley truly wanted to send his divine sense into his interspatial ring to investigate those nine soul pearls.
However, with the Sovereign in front of him, Linley didn’t dare act in such a way. Linley didn’t know what sort of detection powers a Sovereign possessed. Given the divine powers of a Sovereign, however, most likely they would be able to pay attention to anything he did. If Linley was to immediately investigate his interspatial ring, wouldn’t the Sovereign connect it all together?
“There are a total of three Overgod talismans?” Linley had a completely stunned look on his face.
The Sovereign of Wind looked closely at Linley, then let out a cold laugh. “Linley, although you have become a Paragon, you are still a Deity. An Overgod talisman is useless to you. I urge you to hand over this Overgod talisman. Don’t say that you don’t have it. I know...that the nine soul pearls are in your hands!”
“I will give you just a single chance.” The Sovereign of Wind said calmly. “If you hand over the nine soul pearls now, I will spare your life. But if you try to dissemble even the slightest bit, then don’t blame me for killing you, then taking the Overgod talisman from you.”
The Sovereign of Wind actually wasn’t completely confident about whether or not Linley had those nine soul pearls either.
In fact...
Whether the Overgods had even issued a mission, or if there were even three Overgod talismans, was unverified. However, to these Sovereigns who possessed eternal life, there were very few things capable of drawing their interest. Overgod talismans, however, were things which were more than enough to drive them insane with excitement.
If there was even the slightest chance of it being true, the Sovereign of Wind wanted to try and ‘trick’ Linley into admitting it. He pretended to be completely confident. If Linley did actually have the nine soul pearls, he might be nervous and thus hand it over.
Linley’s heart clenched. “Can it be that the Sovereign knew that I acquired those nine soul pearls from Molde? Only my people know about this, and Molde himself. Can it be that it was Molde who told the Sovereign? But Molde and I have a huge enmity between us. If he wanted to entrap me, it shouldn’t be as simple as this!”
Linley hesitated.
“Sovereign, just now, I told you that I am willing to swear an oath in the name of the Overgods. Why are you saying such things? Can it be that I would dare lie to the Overgods?” Linley said hurriedly. “I, Linley, swear by the Overgod of Fate that before the Sovereign told me about Overgod talismans, I knew nothing whatsoever about Overgod talismans. If I say a single false word...let my soul be shattered and dispersed!”
Linley looked solemnly at the Sovereign of Wind.
Indeed, the Sovereign of Wind frowned. An oath to the Overgods wasn’t something a person would casually make. After all, the universe itself was controlled by the Edicts.
“Can it be that Linley really has no idea? That the news was false?” The Sovereign of Wind mused, puzzled.
“Teresia!” A voice rang out.
Linley saw that in the distance, a blood-robed figure had suddenly emerged. A blood-red robe, and blood-red hair. The newcomer’s aura was even more overbearing and tyrannical than the Sovereign of Wind’s. He flew over unhappily. “Teresia, Linley belongs to my Bloodridge Continent. You can’t act wildly. Molde spouted some rubbish, and so you believed him? Overgod talismans? How many years has it been since they appeared? How could they now have appeared out of nowhere?”
Teresia was startled.
The words of the Bloodridge Sovereign as good as told Linley that they weren’t completely sure either.
The Sovereign of Wind, Teresia, sent mentally, “Boson, what’s going on with you? How could you tell the truth in front of Linley? Aren’t you as good as trying to help him out? He’s just a Deity. Why act like this?” The Sovereign of Wind was very unhappy. He didn’t understand why the Bloodridge Sovereign was helping Linley.
As he saw it, the Bloodridge Sovereign should join forces with him to make Linley hand over the talisman.
“I heard everything Linley said.” The Bloodridge Sovereign swept Linley with his gaze, and then looked back at Teresia. “He swore an oath by the Overgods. How can this be false? In addition, the news stated that the nine soul pearls were placed alongside the Overgod decree. If Linley had both the nine soul pearls and the Overgod decree, how could he not know what an Overgod talisman is? Clearly, Molde was lying. Or, to put it another way, the news he brought was false.”
The Sovereign of Wind had to admit that the Bloodridge Sovereign’s words made sense.
“Overgod decree? What’s that?” Linley was secretly startled.
But then, Linley suddenly understood...
“This Molde really wanted to kill me!” Linley was shocked. “If I was caught off-guard and immediately handed over the nine soul pearls, most likely this silver-haired Sovereign would then demand the Overgod decree. And if I didn’t hand it over!? The Sovereign, after acquiring the nine soul pearls, would definitely believe that the information he had received was real and might very well then, for the sake of acquiring the Overgod decree, kill me and then inspect my interspatial ring.”