Chapter 23 – Execution

Book 15, Priceless Treasure – Chapter 23, Execution Faced with Inigo’s enticing suggestions, Elquin began to frown in thought. “Lord Elquin. What are you worried about? Beirut definitely wouldn’t find out.” Inigo said hurriedly. The little golden kitten in Elquin’s arms meowed as well. “Meow. Master. This Inigo’s words have some logic. Even someone as mighty as a Sovereign can’t possibly know the past or the future. If you kill Bebe, Beirut almost definitely will not find out.” Elquin let out a low snort. “Kill Bebe? Your words do make some sense!” “Phusro. Have Linley’s group of three come out first.” Elquin instructed. The little golden kitten’s eyes lit up as it immediately let out a delicate little cry. “Meow.” Immediately, the boiling, bubbling golden magma split apart into a tunnel, revealing at the bottom of the pool…Linley, Delia, and Bebe. Their eyes were filled with surprise. “Boss, I wonder what they were discussing just now.” Bebe sent mentally. Linley was feeling concerned as well. While they were at the bottom of the lake, they were able to listen to the conversation going on above them. Before this, they heard Elquin let Salomon and Nisse leave. Bebe was growing rather frantic at that time, but Bebe was unable to leave. He could only wait helplessly at the bottom of the pool. But afterwards, there was no longer any sound at all from above. Linley immediately was certain:”Inigo and Elquin are up above there. They definitely wouldn’t just be standing there like fools, I wager. They blocked off the sound so we won’t be able to eavesdrop on them. Perhaps they are discussing something that has to do with us.” “Discussing something that has to do with us. Can it be that they are discussing whether or not to kill us?” Delia said. Aside from this, Delia couldn’t think of anything else. Delia and Bebe both felt rather worried. After all, their lives were in the hands of others right now. Although the opponent temporarily hadn’t killed them, that didn’t mean that they were truly going to be released. Compared to Delia and Bebe, Linley actually felt a hint of confidence. Confidence that came from those two drops of Sovereign’s Might!” “If we really are in life-threatening danger, even though I can’t bear to waste it, I’ll use one of the drops of Sovereign’s Might.” Linley said quietly to himself. He had already made his preparations. As the golden magma split open, Linley spoke out. “Let’s go out.” Immediately, Linley’s group of three flew out from the pool of golden magma and landed on the flat floor of the cave. At this time, Linley’s group discovered a massive valley that had appeared at the side of the cave, one which led to the outside world. This valley was the one through which Salomon and Nisse had left through. Linley’s group didn’t flee. If the opponents wanted to kill them, their speed would be far insufficient for fleeing. “Mr. Elquin, thank you for showing mercy to the three of us.” Linley bowed slightly and said courteously. Elquin was slightly startled, and then he laughed inwardly. “This young fellow named Linley is rather sly. The first thing he did was to thank me. If I was someone who cared about face, it would be rather difficult for me to kill him after that. Wait…I didn’t want to kill him anyhow.” Elquin couldn’t help but turn to glance at Inigo. Kill Bebe. Steal the godspark weapon? “Only if my brain was seized by a fever would I do such a thing!” Elquin chuckled in his heart. Indeed. If he killed Bebe, Beirut might not know who the murderer was. But…if Beirut was truly enraged and began to investigate and used all of his influence, in the end, it might not be impossible for him to discover who the killer was. At which point in time, he, Elquin, would definitely lose his life! “A godspark weapon…even if I truly were to seize, I wouldn’t dare use it myself. If I used it, wouldn’t that be as good as admitting that I was the killer? Even if I sold it, I would at most be able to earn some money. A godspark weapon isn’t as valuable as ‘Sovereign’s Might’. It would be a bad bargain for me to lose my life in exchange for making a little bit of money.” Elquin’s calculations were quite clear. When he wanted to kill Salomon, he wasn’t afraid; after all, Salomon himself had to spend the entire fortune of the Boyd clan and also a favor in order to have Aiken help out. This meant that Aiken didn’t actually care too much about Salomon. If Aiken had bequeathed Salomon a drop of Sovereign’s Might without asking for anything in exchange, that would mean that Aiken valued him highly. “Killing Salomon doesn’t matter, but killing Bebe…although the chances are low, if I actually were to be discovered, I would definitely die.” Eqluin didn’t wish to anger Beirut. “Lord Elquin.” Inigo warned, and the little golden kitten in Elquin’s arms wagged its tail gently. Linley was still very much on guard. Right now, he had already drawn the drop of Sovereign’s Might into his body. “I hope you won’t force me to waste this drop of Sovereign’s Might,” Linley murmured to himself. Elquin might have some valuable treasures, but how could those treasures compare with Sovereign’s Might? Even the entire fortune of the Boyd clan was most likely less than a drop of Sovereign’s Might. Elquin glanced coldly at Inigo, then turned to Linley’s group and laughed. “Linley and Bebe, right?” Elquin’s pale face had a rare smile atop it. “My apologies for getting you involved in this. The three of you can leave now.” Inigo was flabbergasted. The little golden kitten in Elquin’s arms raised its head to look up at its master as well. “Lord Elquin?” Inigo said hurriedly. “Hrm? Do you have an objection?” Elquin looked towards him. Inigo had to force out a smile and say, “No objection.” In his heart, he was angrily cursing. “On this trip, I lost over a fortune of over ten billion inkstones and many subordinates, but I didn’t get anything in exchange. These bastards. They all deserve to die. They all deserve to die!!!” Inigo wanted to vent his anger upon Linley’s group, but unfortunately, in front of Elquin, he didn’t dare act. Linley, Delia, and Bebe were overjoyed. “Then we truly must thank you, Mr. Elquin.” Linley said hurriedly. “No need to thank me. Be careful on your journey.” Elquin’s smile was very sincere, as he very much wanted to demonstrate his friendliness. This was the way some people simply were; if they didn’t want to offend you, they would go out of their way to be friendly to you. But once they decided to kill you for your treasures, they wouldn’t show any mercy. Linley, Delia, and Bebe exchanged glances. “Let’s go.” Linley laughed. He didn’t have to waste a drop of Sovereign’s Might. Naturally, Linley was very happy. Just as Linley, Delia, and Bebe were flying out, suddenly…“Swish!” A black shadow of a sword scraped past Linley. The ripples in the air created by this sword shadow alone caused Linley’s draconic scales to emit a clear sound. “What is this?” Linley was badly startled. Linley’s group immediately came to a halt and looked to the side. In front of them, a tunnel appeared, split open by this sword shadow. A callous looking man dressed in a long robe wielding a longsword flew out. It was the long-missing Six Star Fiend…Learmonth! Learmonth immediately discovered Linley’s group, while at the same time, as he lowered his head, he saw that below, Inigo and Elquin were standing there. “The others?” Learmonth asked Linley. “All dead.” Linley immediately replied. Learmonth shook his head slightly. However, seeing that Linley’s group was still alive, Learmonth still felt a hint of pleasure. After all, on the journey over, Linley’s hard work in training and his performance had caused Learmonth to feel appreciation for him. “Swoosh!” Learmonth immediately flew downwards. Linley’s group had just flown up; the distance between them and the cavern below was merely ten meters or so. They were able to see everything within the cave clearly. “Boss, let’s take a look first.” Bebe said. Linley and Delia were in no rush to leave either. After all, neither side was interested in killing them. Why not watch? “It is you?” Learmonth frowned upon seeing Inigo. Clearly, Learmonth remembered having previously seen Inigo before at the battle at the castle of sand. Inigo, upon seeing Learmonth, couldn’t help but have his face change. However, remembering that Elquin was by his side, he still squeezed out a smile. “Inigo pays his respects to Mr. Learmonth.” “Phusro!” Elquin let out an unhappy growl. “Meow. Master. He’s very powerful. He’s able to easily breach the stone walls. I’ve already done what I could to guide him astray, but he still managed to make his way here.” The little golden kitten said in a low, aggrieved voice. Learmonth turned to look at Elquin. “I am Learmonth. Might I ask who you are?” “Elquin.” Elquin said calmly. He didn’t hold Learmonth in any regard, although he had heard from Inigo of Learmonth’s strength. “Elquin?” Learmonth’s eyes lit up. “You are the former Seven Star Fiend, ‘Elquin’?” Learmonth knew the names of some of the ultimate experts of the Infernal Realm. “Oh, you recognize me?” Elquin lifted an eyebrow. Learmonth’s eyes were shining, and his entire body emanated a battle-ready aura. In a clear voice, he said, “I, Learmonth, am a Six Star Fiend. That which I desire the most is the chance to challenge a Seven Star Fiend!” Elquin couldn’t help but frown. In the Infernal Realm, there was a group of people that dearly loved battle! They loved to challenge experts. Elquin very much disliked this type of person, because this type of person was very hard to deal with. However, this Learmonth in front of him was clearly this type of person. “Today, I’m in a bad mood. I don’t want to fight any longer. You can f*ck off.” Elquin said. “Meeting a Seven Star Fiend is a rare event. How could I give this chance up?” Learmonth laughed. “By your side, you have Inigo, who should be the mastermind behind the attack on us. Ever since I became a Six Star Fiend, I have never yet failed a mission.” As soon as he spoke… “Swish!” An astonishing gray sword aura suddenly appeared, scraping directly past Elquin’s body. Inigo, shocked, immediately retreated at high speed, his own flexible sword appearing in his hand. “Clang!” The sword energy and the flexible sword intersected. Inigo’s face instantly turned ashen, and then he slumped powerlessly to the floor, before completely collapsing. He was already dead! Inigo’s eyes were filled with awe and a hint of unwillingness. “Once again, that sword technique!” Linley, secretly watching from above, felt his heart tremble. “In the past, Learmonth easily killed more than ten Highgods with this. Even this Inigo is unable to withstand this sword. It is too terrifying.” Although Linley had seen this sword attack more than once, he still felt awed and shocked. Within the tunnel. “You destroyed both of his souls with a single sword attack?” Elquin was slightly startled. Learmonth smiled as he wielded his longsword. “Elquin, I, Learmonth, a Six Star Fiend, today formally challenge you. Regardless of who lives or who dies!” Learmonth’s dream was to challenge an Asura, but he knew that his current level of power was not yet at that stage. Elquin let out a cold snort. “Your Edict of Destruction has indeed reached an impressive level. But do you think that just by relying on that, you can defeat me?” Elquin was smoldering! He had sacrificed so much, but he had to watch as Salomon left. Not just that. The worst part of it was…he, Elquin, in order to block Bebe’s ultimate attack, had lost his Highgod artifact! A Highgod artifact which was suited to him had to be nurtured for many years. A divine artifact such as that had been destroyed, and now, someone came to challenge him. How could Elquin not be furious? “Can it be you, Elquin, have lost your spine?” Learmonth raised his head slightly. “Hmph.” Elquin, who had a belly full of fire already, finally lost his temper. With a flip of his hand, a long black whip appeared. An expert generally wouldn’t have only a single offensive divine artifact. For example, Linley himself had Bloodviolet as well as his adamantine heavy sword. This Elquin naturally had other Highgod artifacts which he often used. “Since you insist on dying, then I will send you to your death!” The rage smoldering within Elquin’s breast was finally let loose. “Haha…” Seeing this, Learmonth began to laugh loudly with excitement. “Elquin, this place is too small. How about we go find another place to battle?” “Fine.” Elquin sneered in response. Immediately… Learmonth and Elquin flew out into the shattered gorge, flying straight past Linley and the other two, immediately appearing in the horizon. One was a Six Star Fiend. The other, a Seven Star Fiend. Today, a true battle was about to occur. From below, Linley and the other two watched intently, especially Linley, whose eyes were gleaming. A battle between experts. How could he miss it?