Chapter 21 – Outside of One’s Expectations

Book 21, The Peak – Chapter 21, Outside of One’s Expectations “Augusta, you still want to flee?” Linley retrieved the Sovereign spark, then swept the five oncoming Chief Sovereigns with an icy gaze before charging directly into that spatial hole, formed by the collapse of the surrounding space, chasing after Augusta. That savage spatial hole devoured all the surrounding seawater while constantly shrinking. Off in the distance, the Chief Sovereign of Wind, Diya, and the others all stared with terror in their eyes. “That…that’s Linley?” A black-robed man said, stunned. “He shattered a Sovereign artifact with one blow? Too terrifying. Hurley is the Chief Sovereign of Lightning, and he also has an earth Sovereign clone. But just now…if he was just slightly slower…he would have lost his life.” The Chief Sovereign of Water’s handsome face was now ashen as well. These Chief Sovereigns all felt fear. If they had truly gone to fight with Linley for his Overgod artifact, most likely… It would be hard to say if any of the five would survive. “Diya, you dared to lie to us?” The other four Chief Sovereigns couldn’t help but stare at the Chief Sovereign of Wind. Diya’s eyes were filled with shock as well. He immediately said, “Everyone, have you gone muddle-headed from terror? When Linley fought with me, the power he revealed was comparable to mine. If he was this powerful back then, would I still be alive? Clearly, before this, Linley was hiding his true power!” The other four Chief Sovereigns, upon hearing this, laughed bitterly. That sword blow of Linley’s truly had scared them out of their wits. Even the Chief Sovereign of Lightning wasn’t able to block a single sword from Linley. How could the Chief Sovereign of Wind, Diya, have done so? This wasn’t Diya’s fault. If they had to blame anyone, they could only blame Linley for hiding his power. “Whooooosh.” The sea wind continued to howl drearily. There were no living creatures within a hundred thousand kilometer. The short battle between those three Chief Sovereign level experts had reduced the area to a wasteland! The Chief Sovereign of Lightning, Hurley, had fled the Divine Light Plane long ago. As for Diya and the rest of the five, upon seeing the barren lands left behind by this battle, they felt as though boulders were resting against their hearts. Linley had suddenly revealed such terrifying power…he was so powerful as to make them panic. In this moment, they only had a single thought in their minds: “How could Linley be this powerful?” Within the void of chaotic space. Multicolored streams of chaotic energy flew about randomly. How could Linley be this powerful? It wasn’t just the five Chief Sovereigns who were thinking this; it was also the Chief Sovereign of Light, Augusta! “Just now, I was caught off-guard and wasn’t able to unleash all my power. But…he still shouldn’t be this strong.” Augusta was completely terrified by Linley’s sword. It had been like mountains crashing against him, causing him to instantly suffer a heavy wound. Augusta couldn’t help but glance at Linley, who was behind him. His long brown hair fluttering, Linley was currently staring coldly towards the distant Augusta, his gaze as sharp as a blade. He was wielding the Life Overgod Sword in his hand, and was currently charging towards Augusta at astonishing speed. Linley was like one of the titans who had been born after the creation of the universe. At this moment, he seemed completely unstoppable! “After victory in this battle, I won’t have any more regrets in my life.” Linley’s desire for battle was at an all-time high. Since the days when he was a youth at Wushan Mountain, he had grown up, advancing step by step until today, he stood at the peak of Sovereigns. On this journey, his greatest regret was that he wasn’t able to bring Grandpa Doehring back to life. Clearly, bringing back Grandpa Doehring was a dream that could never be realized! Linley now had only one goal… To kill Augusta and bring his mother her freedom. This was also for the sake of Grandpa Beirut and the Four Divine Beasts clan. “Augusta…must die!” Linley’s battle-intent surged, and the inky jade Sovereign power within his body boiled. “Boom!” Like a bolt of light, he instantly passed through the flows of chaotic energy and charged straight towards Augusta! Augusta’s fleeing speed was also exceptionally fast. He turned to look and saw that Linley’s gaze was filled with a killing intent. He couldn’t help but feel shocked, and he hurriedly sent mentally, “Linley, your power is already greater than mine. If there are any problems, we can talk it out. Why must we fight to the death?” Linley just remained silent, continuing to chase at full speed. “Linley…” Augusta was going to say something, but Linley’s speed made it so that he had already arrived next to Augusta. “Hmph.” Linley swept out with the Life Overgod Sword in his hand, and it shot out like a blazing, fiery comet towards Augusta, carrying that same world-annihilating aura that had terrified Augusta previously. Augusta no longer had a chance to speak; letting out a deep growl, the sword of light in his hands sliced out in a marvelous arc, slamming against Linley’s Life Overgod Sword. “Clang!” A low, rumbling sound. The chaotic space around them shattered, and countless spatial rifts appeared. Augusta was knocked flying backwards like a sandbag, and he spewed blood from his mouth. Laws of the Earth – World Disintegrator! “Eh? He didn’t die?” Linley frowned. World Disintegrator was Linley’s most powerful attack of the Laws of the Earth. In terms of power, it was already comparable to the ‘Sword Intent’ supreme fused technique which Linley had come up with. “Logically speaking, after I used fused Sovereign power, my strength increased a hundredfold. He shouldn’t have been able to block.” Linley was a bit surprised by Augusta’s strength, and then he let out a calm laugh. “Hmph. He was able to suppress the other six Chief Sovereigns in strength. This Augusta really is quite formidable.” As he thought this, Linley charged towards Augusta once again. Within the empty void, only the two of them were present. “Hmph.” Augusta wiped away the blood from the corner of his lips, then turned to look at the charging Linley. Gritting his teeth, he sent, “Linley, speak. What will you need in order to end this battle between us? What do you need me to agree to? Speak!” “Oh.” Linley gave Augusta a glance, then said calmly, “You want me to give you my conditions? My conditions are simple…you only need to permit me to kill your Chief Sovereign clone. As for your divine clones, I can spare them.” Linley stared at Augusta in a weighing manner, awaiting his response. As he expected… Augusta’s face sank. “Linley, I sincerely wish to negotiate with you, but for you to speak in such a manner…” As soon as his words fell, Augusta transformed into a ray of light, and the Fate Overgod Sword in his hands, the ‘Lightsaber’, pierced towards Linley’s head at an astonishing speed. “Crackle…” Where the sword of light passed, countless tiny fractures appeared in the surrounding area. “How fast.” Linley was greatly shocked. Linley delivered a backhanded blow with his sword; World Imploder! Linley only sensed an extremely powerful force come through the Life Overgod Sword in his hands. That clashing power was so strong that Linley felt his hand go slightly numb. The clashing power was transmitted throughout his body, causing his entire body to tremble, and he couldn’t help but feel a mouthful of blood surge through his throat. “Ugh!” Linley was sent flying, and spat out a mouthful of blood. “How can that be? His attack power suddenly increased this much?” Linley was completely stupefied. “Swoosh!” The cold-faced Augusta launched another stabbing blow towards Linley. Linley had no time to be stunned; the inky green Sovereign power in his body surged, and his body drifted towards the left, instantly moving a thousand kilometers away. Only then did Linley catch his bearings. Linley stared at the distant Augusta. He said in a low voice, “Augusta, it seems…I feel as though I am just getting to know you!” Augusta was wielding that Lightsaber in his hand, and his eyes were filled with a killing intent. He let out a low laugh. “Just getting to know me? Likewise. I’m just getting to know you as well. You, who only fought to a standstill with Diya, are actually almost a hundred times as strong as Diya. A Lesser Sovereign who is this powerful…” “Augusta, the other Chief Sovereigns all believe that your only advantage over them is that you have an Overgod weapon, and one which isn’t completely compatible with you. At most, your strength would increase tenfold. But, from the looks of it, you are far more powerful than them.” Linley stared appraisingly at Augusta. Only now did Linley understand that, without question, Augusta was the number one figure amongst the Seven Elemental Chief Sovereigns. In the past, Linley had thought that Augusta was on par with the Chief Sovereign of Lightning, but now, it seemed, the different was vast. “So there really was a reason why he could behave so boldly for so many years.” Linley mused to himself. Augusta…forget about Sovereigns. Even many commanders viewed him as a tyrannical, arrogant, barbarous Sovereign. Augusta cared deeply about his face, and he also had many women. One could imagine how many he had, just from looking at how many children he had. And then, one could consider how dominating and tyrannical his Radiant Churches were in the material planes. After all, the teachings of the church were set by Augusta himself. For such a person to have the position of Chief Sovereign of Light without being able to be budged at all over the course of countless years, and to even be able to complete an Overgod mission and acquire an Overgod artifact…naturally, Augusta had some true ability to rely on. “Over the course of countless years, aside from that time I faced the Four Divine Beasts, when I was forced to reveal some of my true power, there has never been anyone who could force me to go all out.” The Chief Sovereign of Light, Augusta, wielded his Lightsaber as he laughed towards Linley. “Your power is excellent, and your potential is great. Compared to me, however, there is still a bit of a difference.” Linley was now rather stunned. “Right. In the past, we were all puzzled as to how Augusta could have resisted the combined supreme attack of the four ancestors. So indeed, Augusta’s true power was even higher than I had expected.” “Today, either you perish or I die.” Linley said coldly. “Haha, it seems as though one of us must fall.” Augusta gripped his Lightsaber, his murderous intent skyrocketing. Linley gripped his Life Overgod Sword, staring back at him coldly. There, in the void, two mighty Sovereigns stood there opposite one another, within the middle of chaotic streams of energy. “Crackle…” Extremely minute, dense, bone-crackling sounds emitted from Linley’s body. An astonishing, rapid transformation began to overtake Linley’s body as those inky jade draconic scales instantly covered him, and atop the draconic scales were those ‘muscles’ that were virtually undetectable by the naked eye. The savage inky jade spikes jutted out from Linley’s forehead, elbows, knees, and spine. A draconic tail quickly emerged from behind, and even oscillated a few times. Augusta, seeing this, couldn’t help but frown slightly. “I have a feeling!” Linley stared coldly with his dark, golden eyes at his opponent. “Augusta, today…it will be you who dies!” As soon as his words fell, Linley, the Life Overgod Sword in his hand, seemed to teleport. He instantly passed through the tens of kilometers of distance between them, and the jade green Life Overgod Sword shot out like a divine emerald dragon, attempting to devour Augusta. Countless rays of inky jade sword light shot out like countless venomous vipers, swirling around and snapping towards Augusta. A translucent sword shadow was mixed in as well as it shot towards Augusta. Linley’s supreme attack, with the fused Laws…Sword Intent! The space of the void was completely shattered by the inky jade sword energy, shattered like glass into countless tiny pieces. “He should die now.” Linley stared at his opponent. Suddenly, within the inky jade sword energy, a ray of white light rose towards the heavens. “He actually didn’t die?” Linley was secretly startled. This technique of his was infused with both a material attack and a soul attack component. Still, it made sense. Since Augusta was able to withstand even the combined supreme technique of the Four Divine Beasts, his soul defense was clearly very powerful. “Since you didn’t die…let me give you another one.” The inky jade light vanished, and Augusta’s body was revealed. Augusta’s body was currently covered with blood, and his clothes, formed from energy, were completely tattered. Clearly, in that earlier situation, he wasn’t even able to keep his clothes stable. Immediately afterwards, however, a white light swirled over his body, and his bloody wounds all vanished, with his clothes being restored as well. “What a terrifying attack. It even contained a soul attack component.” Augusta was just about to pause to recover. But when he spread out his divine sense, he suddenly discovered that terrifying, savage, fiend-like inky-jade figure had already arrived in front of him, and a jade green sword was piercing straight for his head. Sword energy shot out dominatingly. “Not good.” Augusta waved his hand, sending his Lightsaber forward to pierce directly against the tip of that Life Overgod Sword. But right at that moment… “Swish!” Striking like a hammer, the sharp tip of Linley’s draconic tail, flashing with that golden light, slashed out in an arc from behind, stabbing directly towards Augusta’s head.