As for this ‘Spacetime Paradox’ of Orloff’s, it was only a few dozen times stronger than a Paragon’s, and just a few times stronger than Linley’s attack. It wasn’t able to kill Linley.
“Haha. That’s because both Augusta and myself each only refined and fused with a single drop of the blood essences of the Four Divine Beasts.” Orloff laughed. “One drop?” Linley was puzzled. He had handed over eleven drops of the Azure Dragon blood essence, and somewhat more of the other three types of blood essence. Why, then, had Orloff and Augusta used only one drop of each?
However, Linley didn’t have any time to consider this. “He’s catching up.” This time, Orloff didn’t use a soul attack; instead, he struck out with his Fate Overgod Sword, wanting to engage Linley in close combat.
“Hmph.” Linley gritted his teeth, then charged back at Orloff! The two were only a few hundred meters away from each other; given how fast Sovereigns moved, how little time would they need to cross such a distance? But Orloff was a supreme expert amongst Chief Sovereigns; his reaction speed was incredibly fast as well. Only, Linley had actively taken the initiative and had been preparing for it this entire time, and thus he immediately unleashed his ‘Sword Intent’ attack.
THE INFERNAL REALM. Bloodridge Continent.
“Bluefire, how are things?” Beirut sent mentally. Far away in the Infernal Realm, a figure entered through a spatial rift. It was Bluefire who had arrived in the Infernal Realm.
Previously, when the Sovereigns had begun to spread word amongst themselves that Linley and Augusta were engaging in battle in chaotic space, Beirut had felt uneasy, and so he had arranged for Bluefire to go watch in chaotic space.
“Beirut, Linley killed Augusta,” Bluefire said hurriedly.
“Truly? That’s, that’s wonderful.” Beirut was overjoyed. “What’s wrong with you? Why are you looking like that?”
“But…” Bluefire’s face grew ugly to behold. “Augusta and Orloff are actually the same person. Orloff…” Bluefire carefully began to describe everything, and as he did so, Beirut’s face turned ugly to behold as well. By the end, his entire body was beginning to quiver.
“It’s me who has harmed Linley!” Beirut growled.
“What should we do now?” Bluefire hurriedly asked.
“What can we do?” Beirut let out a sigh. “I have no idea how I’m supposed to let Bebe and the others know about this.”
Right at this moment, Beirut suddenly frowned. “Eh? Why are they back? Bluefire, Linley’s father, Hogg, and his mother, Lina, have already arrived at the Bloodridge Continent’s teleportation array. Immediately go and arrange for them to be escorted here. Linley… we aren’t able to help him, but we must protect his family and friends.”
“Right.” Bluefire noticed Linley’s father and mother through divine sense as well.
Hogg and his wife, Lina, were currently advancing towards the Skyrite Mountains at full speed.
“I know everything. I remember everything.” Lina’s eyes were filled with worry. “My child… Linley, could it be that he went to go kill the Chief Sovereign of Light? Nothing will happen to Linley, will it?” In the very instant Linley killed Augusta, the Angels from the Angelic Resurrection Pool that Augusta controlled all instantly gained their freedom.
Lina remembered everything, everything that happened back at the Yulan Plane, and also everything that happened after she had been transformed into an Angel. She immediately remembered her son, Linley, whom she had carried for ten months, as well as Wharton. Only now did she truly begin to worry for Linley.
“Whoosh.” Bluefire instantly appeared before them.
“Bluefire.” Hogg and Lina immediately recognized him.
“Bluefire, what’s happened to my child, Linley?” Lina immediately asked with worry. In the past, although she had met Linley, that time, she was still under control. She felt no emotion for Linley whatsoever. Only now was she truly Linley’s mother.
Bluefire had an ugly look on his face. He let out a sigh. “Come with me.” Sovereign power swept up Hogg and Lina, who immediately transformed into streaks of red light, disappearing into the horizon and soon arriving at the Skyrite Mountains.
Beirut, seeing them come, went to welcome them and Bluefire. “I’m not sure what’s going on with Linley right now. Soon, I’ll discuss it with you two,” Beirut looked at Hogg and Lina as he spoke. For now… Beirut didn’t want to reveal that Linley was fighting for his life.
Hogg and Lina exchanged glances, concern in their eyes.
“Bang!”
Suddenly, a powerful surge rippled through the ground sweeping towards them. Bluefire and Beirut simultaneously turned their heads to stare towards the south, towards the Chaotic Sea.
“Linley!”
“Orloff!”
Beirut and Bluefire were both shocked. Linley and Orloff were currently wildly battling each other. They had battled all the way out of the Life Realm, then passed into one of the other nearby Higher Realms, the Infernal Realm. They now appeared in the southern margins, in the skies of the endless, infinite Chaotic Sea.
Almost immediately afterwards, many Sovereigns tore holes through reality and arrived in the Infernal Realm. The Sovereigns were all watching this unprecedented, spectacular battle! Only, everyone maintained a great distance from Linley and Orloff, because as all the spectators knew… even the other three Chief Sovereigns of the Edicts, to say nothing of the ordinary Chief Sovereigns, might lose their lives in the face of this battle between Linley and Orloff.
“Bang!” “Bang!”
The surrounding fabric of reality repeatedly collapsed. The countless experts of the Chaotic Sea had long ago hidden themselves deep into the bottom of the sea, but the vibrations that transmitted all the way to the bottom still stunned them. How terrifyingly powerful was this energy?
“Haha, Orloff, I thought you were very powerful, but now, it seems, your attack power is only average. To kill me? It’s far from being enough!” Linley’s voice echoed in the skies.
“Linley, your attack and your profound mysteries are indeed extremely powerful. Admirable, truly! If your Overgod artifact matched you, I probably truly would find it hard to kill you,” the Chief Sovereign of Fate’s voice rang out as well.
Linley and Orloff were deep within the Chaotic Sea, staring at each other from a distance of ten thousand kilometers. Although they were far apart, the terrifying aura each radiated was something they could sense, even without using divine sense.
“Kill me? How are you going to kill me?” Linley snickered. Linley’s body was covered with a flowing layer of inky jade light. His bloody wounds were repeatedly, ceaselessly healing. In terms of Will and Sovereign power, Linley and Orloff were evenly matched, but in terms of profound mysteries, Linley was on a higher level than Orloff, while Orloff’s Overgod weapon was utilized at a higher level than Linley.
This made it so that, in terms of raw material attack power, Linley and Orloff were actually on par with each other.
However… Orloff had a defensive Overgod artifact. He could ignore his own defense and focus on attacking. As for Linley, he had to carefully defend. Naturally, this made it so that Linley was at a disadvantage. Still, Linley wouldn’t lose his life as a result. After all, the difference in power between the two wasn’t that great.
The many Sovereigns all watched nervously. By now, they all realized… that amongst the Chief Sovereigns, Linley and Orloff were the two strongest. But Orloff had three Overgod artifacts… he could be said to be unbeatable, and so, in the eyes of the many Sovereigns, this duel of the two most powerful experts ever created would result in Linley’s fall.
Quite a few Sovereigns felt grief for Linley, in fact. “Ten thousand years… for him to reach these heights means that Linley can be described as an absolute marvel. Someone like him… what a pity. He’s going to die.”
“Even though Linley is going to die, the countless planes of the universe will never, ever forget him. After all, he is the on
ly person qualified to battle Orloff, a supreme Sovereign without peer.” The various Sovereigns chatted amongst themselves, many feeling grief for Linley.
And yet, at the same time, they also felt admiration for Linley in their hearts. Generally speaking, when facing a man who was about to die, others would forget about their flaws and feel no jealousy… and so, quite naturally, most of them felt sympathy for Linley. Still, they continued to watch as Linley was driven towards death, one step at a time.
“Haha… Linley!” the voice of Orloff once more rang out in the skies above the Chaotic Sea. A confident smile was on his face. “It has been a long time since I’ve had such an enjoyable battle. Linley, just now, I was so happy when fighting you. I truly am not willing to let you just die… but I don’t want to let you live either.”
“Weren’t you puzzled as to why I am no longer hiding my secrets?” The Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, laughed.
Linley turned to look at Orloff, nodding slightly. “Why?”
“That is because, not long ago, or to be precise, during the last Planar War, when I saw the ‘Samsara Battle Formation’ your six Emissaries activated, I had a flash of insight. Afterwards, I spent a few decades and finally completed my previously flaw, unperfected supreme technique.” The Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, smiled.
“Supreme technique?” Linley frowned. At this point in time, Orloff actually reached out to speak privately to him through divine sense. “Yes, supreme technique! Over the course of the countless eons, I didn’t actually spend much time developing my ‘Golden Samsara Body’ technique. My time was actually spent in developing this supreme attack, the greatest of all material attacks – Samsara Transcendence.”
“Samsara Transcendence?” Linley was secretly shocked. Orloff sighed through divine sense. “Linley, you will definitely die, so I wish to tell you some secrets that I discovered! Long, long ago, I discovered that the countless planes of the universe operated in far too orderly a manner. Who created the teleportation arrays? The Overgods? The Overgods are nothing more than the manifestations of the Edicts. Why, then, would they do such a thing?”
“In addition, why would there be Planar Wars? The goal of the Planar Wars is clearly to reduce the number of experts, so as to ensure that the number of experts within the planes would be balanced.”
“All these various established mechanisms… brought a sense to me. A sense that the countless planes of the universe were being guided by an invisible hand,” Orloff said.
Linley was stunned. Orloff’s words were very reasonable. It did indeed seem as though an invisible hand was governing the countless planes.
“I want to break free from this regulation! Break free from this control!” Orloff’s gaze was sharp. “Countless years ago, my goal was to surpass the other Sovereigns. Now, I am invincible, and so my goal is to develop the most powerful material attack, to shatter the universe itself. I will make it so that neither the heavens nor the earth can stop me, can bind me! I will surpass and transcend the samsara, this cycle of the universe!”
Linley’s heart was quivering as he listened. “Countless years of research. I’ve analyzed countless races and discovered quite a few secrets.” Orloff’s smile was filled with delight. He didn’t want to tell the other Sovereigns about these matters. But as for Linley… as he saw it, Linley was going to die. And so, he would finally speak to Linley these words that he had hidden within his heart for so many years.”
“The universe is filled with ‘space’. Thus, I paid particular attention to some innate divine abilities that were linked with space. As I saw it, if I were able to develop an attack that could break through and shatter space itself, what would happen? Would the universe collapse? Or would I reach a different universe? I don’t know… but I am eager to find out.”
“This technique, Samsara Transcendence, remained unperfected, despite countless years of research. Still, I absorbed much experience and constantly improved my own power. And yet, I still felt that something was off. Afterwards, when I learned ‘Spacetime Paradox’ from Wodred, I realized where the problem lay, and so when you gifted me with the blood essences of the Four Divine Beasts, I spent most of them in research.”
Linley finally realized why Augusta and Orloff had each used only a single drop of the many drops of Four Divine Beasts blood essences which Linley had provided.
“Despite that, however, the ‘Samsara Transcendence’ technique remained rough and disharmonious. But when I saw the ‘Samsara Battle Formation’ the Emissary under your command had developed, I suddenly understood! A magical formation… this technique of mine could be merged with a magical formation and thus be set up even more perfectly.”
Orloff’s face was filled with a smile of self-delight. “I finally succeeded. I personally believe this ‘Samsara Transcendence’ attack of mine to be at the peak of what is possible. In terms of power, it is definitely superior to ‘Spacetime Paradox’.”
“Linley, to show my respect for you, I will permit you to die under this technique. Experience for yourself… my Samsara Transcendence!”
Orloff’s face began to glow with an almost holy light. He appeared almost like one of those holy figures amongst mortals as he raised his Fate Overgod Sword.
“Rumble…”
Four sword illusions suddenly appeared around Orloff. One was jade-green, one was earthen yellow, one was fiery red, and one was light blue. The four sword illusions swirled around Orloff at high speed, and instantly…
“Rumble…”
The universe began to change. It darkened. All of the spectating Sovereigns were completely stupefied. What sort of terrifying power was this? This technique, ‘Samsara Transcendence’, was the most terrifying technique Orloff had developed, after spending countless years drawing from and analyzing the best parts of various other techniques and powers!
“I only have one chance.” Just as Orloff began to unleash his technique, Linley reacted. And what he did was…
“Swoosh!” Linley frantically fled into the distance. And as he did, the four sword illusions swirling around the Fate Overgod Sword formed into a gigantic illusory sword that was more than a hundred meters long.
The sword chopped out…
“Crackle…” A terrifying spatial chasm appeared in front of it, stretching off into infinity. It created spatial vibrations for countless kilometers around, causing the deaths of countless living creatures within the Chaotic Sea. This illusory sword that contained four types of sword illusions almost instantly arrived in front of Linley.
When his opponent had launched this attack, Linley actually separated his body into three; a Dragonformed Linley, the water-type Sovereign clone, and the wind-type Sovereign clone.
“Haaargh!” The Dragonformed Linley let out a low growl. Wielding the Life Overgod Sword in his hands, he swung savagely against the sword illusion.
“BANG!” Linley felt as though a mountain was crushing down upon him. In almost an instant, the two hands that Linley was using to wield his Life Overgod Sword completely shattered. His bones split apart, and blood flowed everywhere. The Life Overgod Sword trembled, then slipped out of his hands, with the edge of it being knocked backwards and slicing through Linley’s chest, as easily as slicing tissue.
With a “slash” sound, Linley’s chest was completely chopped open, from shoulder to waist. Linley’s bisected body flashed, and he instantly exchanged it with his earth-type Sovereign clone.
The Life Overgod Sword, due to having been used to block that sword illusion, was actually knocked far into the distance, flying away like a meteor.
“How terrifying.” Everyone was completely awestruck. The three Linley’s were currently fleeing into the distance, but the strange thing was… Linley wasn’t actually in pursuit of his Life Overgod Sword.
“The Life Overgod Sword is indeed quite resilient; by relying on it to block, he was actually able to save his life. However, there will not be a ‘next time’.” Orloff chased after Linley at hi
gh speed, also preparing to unleash his supreme technique yet again.
The Chief Sovereigns and the ordinary Sovereigns were all filled with terror. This included Beirut and Bluefire, who were closest to him.
“Too powerful,” Linley, thinking back to that scene, thought to himself. “The attack power was so strong, it actually shattered the draconic scales on my hand and broke my bones, knocking the Life Overgod Sword onto my body and then sending it flying far into the distance.” It must be understood that Linley’s body, especially when infused with his Will and when filled with his fused Sovereign power, was far more powerful than most Sovereign artifacts.
And yet, despite that, he had still suffered such a fate. That technique, Samsara Transcendence… it was simply too powerful.
“The fruits of his countless years of research is indeed powerful.” Linley’s gaze was locked onto a distant figure… the Sovereign of Fire, Borte. Borte was currently alongside the other Sovereigns who served the Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff.
“Lord Orloff is too powerful. That technique… is absolutely invincible,” the man with two black horns said with a laugh.
“Haha, Linley was actually able to stay alive. However, his Life Overgod Sword was knocked flying. What is he going to use to block the next attack?” Borte laughed disdainfully. He was rather envious of Linley to begin with, and last time, Linley had barked at him. This made it so that Borte had a very negative impression of Linley. Naturally, he hoped that Orloff would kill Linley.
“Everyone, Linley is flying over towards us. Quick, step aside.” The Sovereigns all hurriedly moved away, but they weren’t in too much of a rush. After all, they believed that Linley was simply fleeing, and just so happened to flee towards their direction.
But the strange thing was…
“Swish.” As the Sovereigns flew away, Linley suddenly changed directions as well. Linley’s speed was more than a hundred times greater than those Lesser Sovereigns, and he instantly appeared before them.
Lord of the Mists: Book 8 of the Coiling Dragon Saga Page 76