Chapter 33 – Descent

Book 20, The Crown’s Riddle – Chapter 33, Descent The Divine Light Plane. Deep within the vast, endless Godsgaol Sea, there was a quiet little island…Jadeflower Island. This island had a circumference of only a few dozen kilometers, but over the course of countless years, the surrounding pirates had all come to a common understanding…no matter what, they were not to draw close to that little island! For countless years, anyone who dared to disturb the peace of Jadeflower Island, aside from old friends of the island master, would all perish. “Rumble…” In the air above Jadeflower Island, a wind arose and clouds gathered. A surge of powerful energy coalesced above it, and tens of figures immediately flew out of the island. The leader was a man, while the others were all female. The leading male was dressed in a white robe, had unbound golden hair, and two whiskers that drooped downwards like a pair of eyebrows. His gaze, however, was fathomlessly deep and cold. The energy in the skies above solidified into a figure; it was the Chief Sovereign of Light! “Greetings, Chief Sovereign.” The white-robed, golden-haired man bowed slightly. “Chief Sovereign.” The women also knelt down as well. The Chief Sovereign of Light permitted a smile to appear on his face, then walked towards the white-robed man. “Clementine [Ke’lai’men’ting], I’ve come today because there is something important I wish to ask you to go do.” The white-robed man lifted a surprised eyebrow. “Chief Sovereign, if there is something which you cannot accomplish, how can I, a Highgod, accomplish it?” “Listen to me first.” The Chief Sovereign of Light smiled. In his heart, though, the Chief Sovereign of Light was rather unhappy. “These Highgod Paragons are all so arrogant. The vast majority of them are unwilling to become Emissaries, and even if they do, they won’t easily be persuaded to go on missions. Linley was so arrogant. This Clementine, despite being my Emissary, is not easily sent on missions either!” Highgod Paragons were still supreme amongst Deities. Many of them, in the bottom of their hearts, felt quite dissatisfied towards Sovereigns; what was so amazing about Sovereigns? They were just lucky enough to acquire Sovereign sparks! Thus, Paragons rarely listened to or obeyed Sovereigns. When Linley had faced the Chief Sovereign of Light’s repeated threats, then finally been enraged and started to snap back, none of the surrounding Sovereigns were surprised…after all, Linley was a Paragon. If he continuously shrank back without fighting back at all, others would look down on him. The Chief Sovereign of Light began to carefully describe the Overgod talisman matter to this Clementine. “You now have a clear understanding of what happened here.” The Chief Sovereign of Light smiled. “Now, the red caltrop diamond is probably at the Okerlund material plane. We foreign Sovereigns are unable to enter material planes. Thus, the struggle over the red caltrop diamond in the Okerlund material plane will be up to you Deities! Amongst Deities, Highgod Paragons will naturally…well, you should understand now, yes?” “Understood.” Clementine nodded…but he didn’t volunteer himself. The Chief Sovereign of Light mentally snorted, but he kept a smile on his face. “If you complete the mission, this will be a great accomplishment. There is no way for me to give you another Sovereign artifact, but I can give you ten thousand drops of Sovereign’s Might…” Clementine’s facial expression didn’t change. Clearly, he didn’t lack for Sovereign’s Might. But there was no way for the Chief Sovereign of Light to give him another Sovereign artifact. “I can give you the ten thousand drops of light-type Sovereign’s Might right now. If you fail, then forget it. If you succeed in acquiring the red caltrop diamond, when you hand it over to me, then I will give you another ten thousand drops of Sovereign’s Might of another type. What say you?” The Chief Sovereign of Light smiled. “Don’t worry, Chief Sovereign. I will definitely work whole-heartedly to acquire the red caltrop diamond.” Clementine bowed forward slightly. “Mm.” Only now did the Chief Sovereign of Light laughed, satisfied. “Go to the Okerlund material plane. If you don’t have enough subordinates, go to the teleportation array and summon a thousand Highgods to follow you.” “Yes!” Clementine said respectfully. “Then I shall immediately head out.” Sovereigns, being outsiders, were unable to enter material planes. Although many Sovereigns were intrigued, they could only go ask the various Highgod Paragons to lead their forces to the Okerlund Plane. Battles in material planes relied on Deities! Sovereigns could only wait outside for news. The Okerlund Plane. The size of this entire plane was comparable to the Yulan Plane. However, 99% of the surface of the Yulan Plane was covered by water! The South Sea, in particular, took up a region that was a thousand or ten thousand times larger than the Yulan continent! But the Okerlund Plane was different. A large majority of the Okerlund Plane was covered by land! The Okerlund Plane consisted of two vast continents. They were the Fogdeep continent and the Beastgod continent! These two large continents both had a circumference greater than a hundred million kilometers. Aside from these two continents, there was only the endless sea. The Okerlund Plane’s Fogdeep continent was governed by humans, while the Beastgod continent was ruled over by beastmen. Within the Fogdeep continent. There was a terrifying forest that covered an area of more than ten million kilometers…Fogdeep Forest! Fogdeep Forest had existed for countless years. Its age was completely unfathomable, and it was simply too vast, causing many who adventured deep within it to be unable to pass to the other side despite spending their entire lives attempting to do so. According to legend, within Fogdeep Forest, aside from many magical beasts, there were also many primordial races, such as elves, sprites, dwarves, mountain giants, and others. Deep within Fogdeep Forest. Mount Wiesel [Wei’si’er] was the number one mountain of the Fogdeep Forest, and was more than a hundred thousand kilometers tall. Mount Wiesel’s peak had eleven enormous teleportation arrays. Aside from these teleportation arrays, there was also an ordinary boulder which had been shaped into an estate. The Planar Overseer of the Okerlund Plane lived here. “Nine hundred more years before this assignment to oversee the Okerlund Plane ends.” A tall, thin, two-horned man stood at the peak of the mountain, staring at the vast, endlessly Fogdeep Forest. He could easily see that far in the distance, there were two enormous magical beasts that were bellowing at and fighting each other. Boulders shattered. Trees trembled, then split apart. The two powerful magical beasts seemed to have gone berserk. An Azure Steelwing Hawk was currently perched quietly atop an ancient tree that had lived for ten thousand years, stealthily watching the distant battle. It seemed to be waiting for an opportunity to strike after both of these magical beasts were injured. “It’s been only three years. I didn’t imagine that this kid actually completed fusing with the magicite core of the eighth rank magical beast, ‘Azure Steelwing Hawk’. It seems that he has become a druid of the eighth rank and should become a supreme expert amongst the younger generation within his tribe.” The tall, skinny man smiled as he watched. Out of boredom, the Planar Overseer had grown to be quite familiar with the eight elven tribes surrounding the area. There were some elves who were capable of becoming druids. Even for Deities, druids were considered as rather unique. After fusing with a magicite core, they were actually able to transform into magical beasts. Even Deities would find it hard to find any differences between druids and ordinary magical beasts. This was because…after transforming, druids would become a true magical beast! This Planar Overseer had become familiar with the soul aura of this elven genius, which was why upon seeing the Azure Steelwind Hawk, he knew it was the elven youth who had transformed. “I wonder if this youth will become a Deity during my tenure as Planar Overseer, then head to the Higher Planes.” The tall, skinny man mused to himself. Right at this moment, one of the eleven teleportation arrays suddenly lit up. “Eh?” The tall, skinny man turned to look. “From the Divine Fire Plane!” These eleven teleportation arrays were aligned to the four Higher Planes and the Seven Divine Planes. “To travel from the Divine Fire Plane to a material plane…the cost is astronomical. A few dozen years ago, that couple returned from the Infernal Realm. Now, someone else comes from the Divine Fire Plane.” The tall, skinny man immediately walked towards the teleportation array, and the brilliant, illusory glow of the teleportation array slowly faded. The tall, skinny man’s face changed. He saw a large, dense cluster of people within the teleportation array, with the leader being a grim-looking man who wore a long azure robe and whose long, fiery red hair fell to his shoulders. “So many people. There are more than a hundred! And these people’s power…I can’t see through any of them.” The tall, skinny man was badly shocked. He was a God. For him to be unable to see through them…meant that all of these hundred-plus people were Highgods! “For a single Highgod to pass through to a material plane has an astronomical cost. For so many Highgods…” The tall, skinny man took a long, deep breath. Whether they had come after paying an astronomical fee or had come for free through a Sovereign, they were not people who he, a lowly Planar Overseer, could be compared to. “Milord.” The tall, skinny man hurriedly bowed. The fiery haired man’s gaze was like thunder. The Planar Overseer just barely looked at him before immediately feeling as though his soul had been struck by a heavy hammer. The fiery haired man couldn’t be bothered with this God. The hundred Highgods under his command immediately spread out, and the teleportation array once more lit up! “Someone else from the Divine Fire Plane?” The tall, skinny man was shocked. Indeed…yet another group of more than a hundred had come! Because each teleportation array was limited in size, only a hundred could come each time. Even if they squeezed, two hundred was pretty much the limit. But clearly, many people were coming from the Divine Fire Plane! One batch after another…the teleportation array lit up time and time again as more people were sent over… “How many are there?!” The tall, skinny man was stunned. Why had so many Highgods come to the Okerlund Plane? What were they here for? A long time later, the teleportation array finally halted. More than two thousand Highgods had come from the Divine Fire Plane! Although, to the Divine Fire Plane, two thousand Highgods wasn’t much, to an ordinary material plane, two thousand Highgods was simply, incredibly terrifying. “There are too many people in this material plane. However…aside from the Planar Overseer, there are only two Gods, and one is female, while the other is a beastman-shaped male.” The fiery haired man let out a cold snort. The tall, skinny man was shocked upon hearing this. He knew who the two people the fiery haired man mentioned were. One was the number one expert of the Fogdeep continent, the ‘Radiant Goddess’, while the other was the ‘Beastgod’ of the Beastgod continent. But these two continents were extremely far from each other. Even Highgods, in a material plane, were only able to stretch their divine sense to a million kilometers or so. It would be very hard to cover even just the Fogdeep continent. To be able to stretch and scan the two continents at the same time…what sort of spiritual energy was this?! “It seems that Brodie has indeed hidden himself quite deeply.” The fiery haired man glanced at the tall, skinny man. “What are you called?” “Milord, my name is Ben [Bi’en]. Okerlund Plane’s Planar Overseer.” The tall, skinny man said respectfully. “Planar Overseer…then you definitely know about Brodie’s arrival.” The fiery haired man suddenly frowned. Yet another teleportation array had begun to shine. “They are quite fast.” The fiery haired man immediately gave an order through divine sense to the surrounding Highgods. “Head out!” At the same time, he released a hint of fiery red energy, grabbing the Planar Overseer with it and taking him away as he flew. The two thousand Highgods behind him also followed as they flew away at high speed. Just as they flew away, another group of Highgods descended. From the teleportation array, it seemed they came from the Infernal Realm. It was another group of over a hundred Highgods, with the leader being a youth with dark, wavy black hair and a dark black robe. His cold pupils were like the pupils of a venomous viper. If Linley was here, he would immediately recognize…that this grim-looking man in the black robe was that person who had helped Linley once. Dunnington! “Hmph. I didn’t expect that someone would be even faster than us.” Dunnington swept his gaze into the distance. “Indeed, a Paragon is leading that group.” The teleportation array once more lit up as one group after another emerged. Dunnington didn’t lead that many people here, just eight hundred Highgods or so. In reality, though, the fight over the red caltrop diamond would depend on the Highgod Paragons. “Let’s go.” Dunnington gave the order, and this vast, awe-inspiring group flew out as well. The armies of the various Divine Planes and Higher Planes, with Paragons at the lead of almost all of them, began to descend! The light of the teleportation arrays flashed nonstop! The beastmen, elves, gnomes, and other races of Fogdeep Forest, upon seeing these thousands of people fly past high in the sky, were all scared silly. “So many Saints! More than a thousand Saints. Which power is this? Who possesses such terrifying strength?” Quite a few people who saw this scene believed these people to be Saints. Only the Saints and Deities of the Okerlund Plane knew…to their terror and shock… That they couldn’t sense the strength level of any of the individuals flying within the vast hordes that filled the skies! The Okerlund Plane’s experts all knew in their hearts… “The gods have descended!”