Chapter 34 – Death?

Book 11, Necropolis of the Gods – Chapter 34, Death? Everyone’s minds were still filled with that earlier scene of ‘annihilation’. Those countless Abyssal Blade Demons charging down towards them…Linley’s group had been completely stunned. Their minds were completely blank. Terror, disbelief…they had the feeling that they were about to go crazy. “How could there be so many Abyssal Blade Demons here?” Linley shook his head, unable to accept it. Tulily shook his head and sighed as well. “Most likely, even if the departed Flame Tyrant or Queen Mother were present, in the face of the joined attacks of those countless Abyssal Blade Demons, they would also be chopped into mincemeat. Simply too frightening…truly frightening.” “With so many Abyssal Blade Demons on the eleventh floor, who can possibly acquire a divine spark?” Olivier had an ugly look on his face. “Perhaps the Sovereign who created this Necropolis of the Gods is just playing a trick on people.” The Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lion, Cleo, was filled with rage and grief. Of the five brothers, two had died in the Gebados Planar Prison, and now yet another had died, leaving only two of them behind. “No. There’s still a chance of success.” Desri shook his head and sighed. “The Elemental Laws contain boundless profound mysteries. The aspects of the Laws that we have gained insight into are fairly low level ones. However, the aspect which Linley, for example, used to attack and kill the Flame Tyrant is one of the higher level ones. If someone, for example, reached an extremely high level of understanding in the ‘Lightspeed’ aspect of the Elemental Laws of the Light, he would be far faster than all of those Abyssal Blade Demons. In that case…most likely, he would have a chance of acquiring a divine spark.” Although both Olivier and Desri were very fast, they didn’t have very deep understandings with regards to ‘Lightspeed’. “Let’s not discuss this for now. More importantly, we need to figure out what exactly we are going to do. Does anyone have any ideas?” Desri swept the experts with his gaze. “What can we do? It’d be wonderful if we could even return to the tenth floor.” Rosarie sighed. “This is the most dangerous of the Necropolis of the Gods. Three thousand years a cycle, right? There’s two other giant Necropolis of the Gods. Those two won’t be as dangerous as this one.” Desri, Fain, and Tulily all nodded. Three major tunnels, all headed to different Necropolis of the Gods. This one was the most dangerous of them all. “The more danger, the more treasure.” Tulily sighed. “In those other two Necropolis of the Gods, we didn’t get a single true divine artifact at all. But here…we even procured two Pearls of Life. I trust there is definitely more than just one divine spark on this eleventh floor as well.” The other experts all secretly nodded. The greater the danger, the greater the rewards would generally be. But… If the danger was so great that they didn’t have any hope at all, no matter how many divine sparks this place had, what good would it be? “How about let’s just hide here. We’ll hide for a few months and wait for the ten years to be up?” The Blackscale Scorpion spoke. Linley’s eyes lit up as well. A person had to know their own limits. When Linley had seen those countless Abyssal Blade Demons, he had already given up on procuring a divine spark on this eleventh floor. After all…there were simply too many Abyssal Blade Demons. “It probably wouldn’t work.” Olivier shook his head. “Place your ears against the metal walls and listen.” Linley immediately pressed his ear against the metallic wall, and a very faint vibration could be sensed coming over constantly. Everyone’s hearts sank. “There should an extremely high number of Abyssal Blade Demons coming our way from the underground,” the third of the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, Clervaux [Ke’lai’wo], said. “Although they aren’t moving very fast, they are moving very methodically. When those Abyssal Blade Demons surround us…” “We can’t stay here much longer.” Tulily spoke. Linley looked at Bebe, coiling in his arms, and his eyes hardened. Staring at the others, he said, “We have no other choices. We probably won’t even be able to spend another day down here before the countless Abyssal Blade Demons surround us.” “The only option we have is to return to the tenth floor.” Linley said firmly. “But how? Linley, you saw yourself just now how those countless Abyssal Blade Demons fully surrounded that exit.” Linley took a deep breath. “There is one way.” All of the experts looked at Linley. “We’ll take a roundabout underground path, and then move towards the exit. When the time comes, all of you help hold them off while I prepare the ‘Dimensional Edge’ spell, and kill all of the Abyssal Blade Demons barring our way to the exit. The experts all looked at Linley. They didn’t think that this idea of Linley’s had a high chance of success. How many Abyssal Blade Demons could a single Dimensional Edge spell kill? “The Dimensional Edge spell will cut out a clear path from me to the exit. This path will soon be blocked by other Abyssal Blade Demons, so what we need to do is to pass through the pathway and rush to the tenth floor before the other Abyssal Blade Demons block us again!” Linley said. All the experts were silent. To use the Dimensional Edge to cut a pathway, and then instantly charge to the tenth floor. If they were even slightly too slow, they would be surrounded and killed by the enormous numbers of Abyssal Blade Demons around them! They had to seize that moment! “We have no other options.” Linley stared at the other experts. Right now, the vibrations coming from the metallic tunnel walls were growing stronger. Clearly, the many Abyssal Blade Demons were drawing closer and closer to them. “I agree. Let’s give it a shot. At least we have a chance.” Tulily was the first to speak. Rosarie, Desri, and Fain exchanged a glance, then nodded slightly. The two remaining Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, the Blackscale Scorpion, and Olivier all nodded in agreement. As for Bebe…he didn’t voice any objections either. “The most important thing right now is, when we return to the surface, we can’t let those Abyssal Blade Demons discover us. When we get near the surface, I will begin to chant the words to the spell, at which point, I won’t be able to spare any attention to dealing with those Abyssal Blade Demons.” Linley said. “Don’t worry. You focus on your ‘Dimensional Edge’ spell. If Abyssal Blade Demons come, even if we have to die, we’ll make sure we block them.” Desri said. The eyes of the experts were all filled with firm resolve. They had to seize their last shot at survival! “Let’s head out.” Linley said. The Blackscale Scorpion immediately led the way. This time, the experts didn’t dare to travel in a straight line, and instead made a winding path as they slowly drew near. Whether it was due to good luck or something else, they didn’t encounter their first Abyssal Blade Demon until they were over halfway there.” “Slash.” With a single swipe of his claw, Bebe tore the head of the Abyssal Blade Demon asunder, not even giving it a chance to cry out in alarm. “Everyone, be careful. Right now, we are only five hundred meters or so from the exit. The closer we get, the greater the density of Abyssal Blade Demons will be.” Desri reminded everyone. Right now everyone was surrounding Linley, who was already beginning to chant the words to the spell. “Not good.” Roughly three hundred meters away from their target, the Blackscale Scorpion suddenly halted. “These Abyssal Blade Demons have dug out an enormous hole around the exit.” The Blackscale Scorpion’s voice rang out in the experts’ minds. All of the experts felt their hearts tremble. Linley’s face changed as well, and he immediately stopped chanting the spell. “Such a huge pit. If we were to charge past it, we would need to travel hundreds of meters before reaching the exit. Most likely, we would be killed before making it to the exit.” The ten experts all felt stunned. In the air above the ground, countless Abyssal Blade Demons lay waiting, with those two red Abyssal Blade Demons also waiting. Only three hundred thousand Abyssal Blade Demons were underground searching for Linley, with the greater half of the Abyssal Blade Demons aboveground. Naturally, they would be surrounding the area of the enormous hole around the exit. The exit to the tenth floor was originally on ground level, but because of the giant hole dug by the creatures in the metallic ground, the exit was now like a window that was suspended in mid-air. That faint black aura surrounded those steps. Not a single one of the Abyssal Blade Demons dared to pass through that exit. Roughly ten thousand of the Abyssal Blade Demons were currently surrounding the tunnel, forming a watertight seal around it. It seemed as though Linley’s group shouldn’t be able to charge to the exit at all. “Swish!” “Swish!” “Swish!” …. But suddenly, ten blurs in a row suddenly streaked out into the hole, each of them moving extremely fast and agilely. Linley’s group had no other choice. They had to risk everything and go all out, and hope that they would be able to seize that faint hope at life and charge back to the tenth floor! The large numbers of Abyssal Blade Demons simultaneously discovered Linley’s group of experts. “Kill!” The Abyssal Blade Demons reacted very fast. But they still needed a bit of time before reacting, and in that bit of time, Linley’s group had flown two or three hundred meters. They were only a few dozen meters away from the exit now, but those few dozen meters were clogged with countless Abyssal Blade Demons. Finished with the words to his spell, Linley pointed out with one hand. Tempestuous wind elemental essence coalesced around Linley, and the wind for several kilometers around came to a sudden halt. Linley had a vicious look on his face. Through the ‘Coiling Dragon’ ring, Linley forcefully summoned a large amount of the surrounding wind elemental essence and utilized all of the mageforce in his body, creating a terrifying, faint-azure colored Dimensional Edge that was twenty meters wide! This was ten times the width of an ordinary Dimensional Edge spell. “Chiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii.” The Dimensional Edge flew out like a giant spinning blade, and wherever it passed, giant rips appeared in space. “Die.” Through the Coiling Dragon ring, Linley utilized his spiritual energy to control the direction of the Dimensional Edge spell. Right now, Linley could clearly sense the countless revolving wind particles within his Dimensional Edge. These particles, some moving fast while others moving slow, created this ‘Dimensional Edge’. “Aaaaah!” “Aaaaah!” Countless screams of terror rang out. Wherever this enormous Dimensional Edge passed, the blocking Abyssal Blade Demons there were chopped into pieces. Linley tried to forcibly slow the movement of the Dimensional Edge spell to have it ‘block’ in front of them, but…the Dimensional Edge was simply too fast. Even with Linley controlling it, by the time the Dimensional Edge spell passed through the exit and to the other side, Linley’s group was still roughly ten meters or so from the exit. Right, just ten meters! The exit was right in front of their eyes, and all of the Abyssal Blade Demons that had been blocking them were now dead. But…they still had ten meters to go! Because the Dimensional Edge spell was twenty meters wide, the Abyssal Blade Demons on each of the two sides were still at least ten meters away, and these Abyssal Blade Demons weren’t able to dodge at all. However…large amounts of Abyssal Blade Demons were charging down from above. The Dimensional Blade spell, after all, was a flat, two dimensional spell. Many of the Abyssal Blade Demons were extremely close to Linley’s group. “Quick!” Everyone in Linley’s group moved frantically, but countless Abyssal Blade Demons above them were bursting down upon them like a flood. Judging from the distance, Linley could tell that if these Abyssal Blade Demons were permitted to charge down, only three of them would be able to flee. Fain, Bebe, and Desri, who were located in the very front. The others wouldn’t have a chance to flee at all. Tulily, the two Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, the Blackscale Scorpion, Olivier…right now they had all gone mad, but their eyes had a hint of despair. So close…but not enough time! “Hurry!” Fain suddenly roared, transforming into a bolt of lightning as he wildly charged towards the Abyssal Blade Demons above them, hoping to block the countless Abyssal Blade Demons for just a moment. But in the blink of an eye, Fain was knocked back down by countless blows from the Abyssal Blade Demons. “Ah!!!!” Olivier let out a furious howl. An enormous, illusionary sword made from a fusion of black and white light suddenly appeared, killing four Abyssal Blade Demons in a single swoop. And then, Olivier fell to the ground, his face utterly ashen. Right now, only Desri and Bebe had entered the exit. The others didn’t make it in time. “Are we going to die?” Whether it was Olivier, the Blackscale Scorpion, Tulily, Rosarie, or the two Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions… Their eyes were all filled with despair! But just at this moment of utter despair… “Hurry and leave!” A furious roar rang out in the minds of the experts. A devilish violet light flashed, and countless violet sword flashes filled the air like countless vipers, spinning and twirling, covering the area directly above them like a barrier, holding the many Abyssal Blade Demons above them at bay. The strange thing was… Something astonishing had happened to the Abyssal Blade Demons above them. Their speed had suddenly dramatically lessened. Linley’s entire body was now covered with that faint red baleful aura. He had once again activated the baleful aura within Bloodviolet. “Linley!” Olivier, Tulily, Rosarie, the two Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, and the others all felt shocked, but seeing a chance at life, they all madly rushed into the tunnel. But just as Olivier and the others entered the exit… Linley hadn’t had a chance to enter the exit. From all directions, the countless Abyssal Blade Demons had fully sealed off the exit once again. Linley was able to block those above them, but he hadn’t been able to block those below and from the other four directions. The exit was blocked! Nowhere to flee! “Boss! Boss!!!!!!” A black shadow suddenly flashed out from the exit, charging back into the eleventh floor. A fierce, desolate voice rang out, “Bebe, leave!” Linley roared, his voice thundering in Bebe’s consciousness. As soon as Bebe had exited the gateway, he had been knocked back by countless blade blows. As for Linley, those countless Abyssal Blade Demons surrounded him like a horde of locusts. Linley was entirely surrounded by Abyssal Blade Demons in every direction, and even the sun had been blocked out by them.