Chapter 44 – Catching a Ride

Book 17, Indigo Prefecture – Chapter 44, Catching a Ride The gates of Meer City. The intelligence station for the eight great clans’ intelligence agents. “Milord, Linley’s group of three, along with an infant, have already headed out. They will reach the city gates soon.” “Oh? They even brought the infant out? It seems they really are prepared to leave the city. However, there’s no rush. Let’s take it slowly. After you see Linley’s group reach the city gates, only then should you make the report to the eight Elders.” The speaker was a seemingly honest-looking youth. This honest-looking youth was standing in front of a window, a casual look on his face as he glanced downwards. He could very clearly see the gates from his current position. A long time later… The pupils of the honest-looking youth contracted. Within his field of vision, amidst the massive, thronging crowds, Linley’s group had appeared. “Oh, Linley, Linley, Linley. You finally show yourself. I thought you’d end up spending millions of years in Meer City, but it seemed as though you decided to just spend a year or so.” The honest-looking youth narrowed his eyes, a very innocent-looking smile appearing on his face. “Quick. Spread this news to the Elders.” The honest-looking youth immediately sent through divine sense. “Yes!” In a mountain forest roughly a thousand kilometers away from Meer City, there was a very ordinary stone house constructed there. This stone house was very wide, and it had eight prayer mats within the building. Eight gray-robed men were seated in the meditative position on those prayer mats, quietly awaiting. It had been more than a year! They had brought with them a murderous intent as they had prepared to kill Linley. However, they had ended up waiting here the entire time. Slowly, their killing aura had decreased. “If Linley doesn’t want to leave the city, who knows how long it will take? Ten years, a thousand years, ten thousand years?” A gray-robed man with long black hair and a beard said, rather upset. Without a specific timeframe, it would be easy for anyone to grow impatient while waiting. “Tempah!” A graceful voice rang out. “The members of your Reinales clan are still unable to be calm, it seems.” The bearded gray-robed man let out a snort, saying nothing else. “Someone is coming.” Suddenly, a sharp voice rang out. As soon as the words finished, a figure flew in at high speed. This person was one of the intelligence agents assigned to this place, who would be able to bring news to the eight Elders at any time. “Eight Elders, Linley, Linley is leaving the city!” An excited voice rang out. “Boom!” The eight gray-robed figures immediately rose to their feet. Even the most stolid of the eight, their leader, ‘Elder Zabu’, revealed a look of joy on his face. He immediately said, “Linley has finally shown himself. Everyone…remember, when attacking, immediately use your Sovereign’s Might. We must use full force and immediately kill Linley.” Outside Meer City. The Azure Dragon clan’s clansmen were gathering together. Because of the clan’s seal, everyone could clearly sense everyone else. “Elder Linley, you came fairly early today.” Tewila said through divine sense. Linley laughed and nodded. “I was afraid that if I came late, Elder Tewila, you would be angry with me.” Tewila’s gaze swept towards Delia and the infant ‘Wade’ in her arms, then he sent, “Linley, this is your son, right? He’s so pretty.” “When Wade was born, he looked like an old man.” Linley said. When someone praised his son, he naturally would be pleased. “Right. When are we heading out?” Linley asked. Tewila glanced around himself. “From the looks of it, we are almost all here. Let’s just wait a while longer. Right, Linley. Today, on our metallic lifeform, we have a very special guest.” “Oh, a special guest?” Linley was rather surprised. “Right. The Patriarch personally entrusted me with this task, ordering me to bring him to the Skyrite Mountains.” Tewila laughed. “Follow me. I’ll introduce you to him.” Linley, rather curious as to who this special guest was, followed Tewila’s lead. Linley saw that this special passenger was a seemingly skinny-looking youth with short golden hair, and a guileless smile on his face. However…when Linley looked at him, he had a familiar feeling. “Haha, Linley.” A clear and straightforward voice echoed in Linley’s mind. Linley was shocked into awareness. This was Phusro! This voice was Phusro’s voice! “You?!” Linley stared in amazement at the skinny youth in front of him, and the skinny youth winked, sending mentally, “There’s nothing for it. Your Patriarch said that due to my actions last time, the eight great clans probably know my appearance by now. I have to change my appearance, even when I’m riding on your metallic lifeform. Geeze…what’s there to fear? Even if a few Elders come, I’ll dispose of them by myself.” Linley couldn’t help but laugh. Phusro was a Sovereign’s Emissary. Linley had personally witnessed his might before, and even Bulo, after using a drop of Sovereign’s Might, was far from being a match for Phusro. It would be very simple for him to kill several Elders. “Haha, the Patriarch is doing this for the sake of the clan.” Linley laughed. “Right. How did you get involved with the Patriarch?” Last time, when Phusro had intervened and saved him, he hadn’t known the Patriarch. However, five centuries had passed. Anything could have happened in the mean time. “You don’t need to worry about that.” Phusro sent through divine sense. “My meeting with your Patriarch will be beneficial to you, not detrimental. That’s all that you need to know.” Linley laughed and nodded. “Everything else aside, you accompanying us back to the Skyrite Mountains alone is a great benefit.” With Phusro present, along with himself and Tewila, they were a force of sizable power. Phusro by himself was equal to multiple Seven Star Fiends. “In addition, I’ve never even see Phusro unleash all of his power.” Linley thought to himself. “Linley, who is this?” Delia and Bebe looked at the skinny youth, puzzled. Linley chuckled. “When we board the metallic lifeform, I’ll introduce you to him.” Phusro just winked deliberately. “Uh….waaaaa….” Wade, in Delia’s arms, reached out his pudgy fingers towards Phusro. Phusro had held Wade quite a few times before as well. Although Phusro’s appearance had changed greatly, Wade, who had been born less than a year ago, seemed to possess some special sense. “Wade, be good.” Phusro beamed towards Wade. Delia and Bebe were shocked. How did the skinny little youth in front of them know Wade’s name? “Everyone’s here. Let’s head out.” Tewila walked over, and as he did, an enormous silver metallic lifeform in the shape of a silver wolf appeared. A tunnel appeared in its flank, and the clansmen of the Azure dragon clan all entered the metallic lifeform. Linley, Phusro, Tewila Bebe, and Delia boarded as well. “Swoosh!” The metallic lifeform slashed through the air, turning into a blur and disappearing into the horizon. “The metallic lifeform is flying towards position two. It is flying towards position two!” The intelligence agents of the eight great clans quickly relayed this information. In mid-air, there were nine figures flying at high speed. Eight of them were dressed in long gray robes, while the last one was dressed in a long green robe. The green-robed man said hurriedly, “Eight Elders, Linley’s metallic lifeform was originally headed towards position two, but now they’ve changed directions slightly. They should be passing through position four. We’re still a few hundred kilometers away from that location. We’ll be there soon!” The eight great clans’ intelligence agents had expended an enormous amount of effort on this. With the gate as the center, they had fanned out and set up many gathering points within thousands of kilometers. No matter what direction the Azure Dragon clan’s metallic lifeform headed towards, they would be easily detected by those intelligence agents. As for that green-robed man, one of his divine clones was at the headquarters, and so he knew the location and route of the metallic lifeform at all times. “Excellent.” Elder Zabu laughed calmly and spoke mentally. “Everyone, we’re only a few hundred kilometers away. We’ll reach the metallic lifeform soon. When we do, immediately cover it with your divine senses and locate Linley. At that time…Annecy [An’ni’xi], you’ll be responsible for covering the Elder who is protecting the metallic lifeform. Everyone else, myself included, will all attack simultaneously, joining forces to kill Linley. We can’t give him any chance at all. “Yes.” The seven Elders assented. Of these eight Elders, three were in possession of Sovereign’s Might. Annecy was one of the ‘ordinary’ Elders without it. On this joint mission to kill Linley, three Elders would use their Sovereign’s Might, with four other Elders joining them. With such a tremendously powerful squad…even if Patriarch Gislason came, it would be hard for him to endure such an attack, much less Linley! “Actually, Elder Zabu, if you use your Sovereign’s Might, you’ll be more than strong enough to kill Linley by yourself. Even if we don’t use Sovereign’s Might, the joint attacks of seven Elders against Linley will result in a surefire victory.” The bearded Elder sent mentally. “We can’t be the slightest bit incautious!” “Remember. Immediately use your Sovereign’s Mights. Don’t entertain any notions of being frugal. Kill Linley. Nothing is permitted to go wrong.” Elder Zabu ordered solemnly yet again. “Nice, Tempah, the two of you must use your Sovereign’s Might right away when attack.” It was like killing a chicken with a blade meant for slaughtering cows. It was an utter waste. Using three drops of Sovereign’s Might to kill a single Linley? It was indeed extravagant. The enormous wolf-shaped silvery metallic lifeform was speeding forward at a fast pace. The clansmen within the metallic lifeform were chatting amongst each other. Linley, as an Elder, naturally had his own room. Linley and Delia were within the room, while Delia was holding little Wade. “Wade, Wade.” Linley teased his son. “Wuuu, wuuuuu….” Wade, not yet able to speak, could only stare with his big, clear eyes at Linley, mumbling something incomprehensible. Delia watched this scene, watched as her husband teased her son. As she did, Delia’s face couldn’t help but reveal a smile. She felt surrounded by bliss, and celebrated once more her decision to steadfastly wait ten years for Linley, so long ago in the past. Linley turned to look and smile towards Delia. “Delia, what are you laughing about?” “I’m just looking at you and our son.” Delia’s smile was so brilliant. But right at that moment… Eight divine senses simultaneously spread out, covering the metallic lifeform and everyone within it. The faces of many clansmen couldn’t help but change, and Delia, as a Highgod, felt the divine senses as well. Eight divine senses had suddenly swept out? This definitely couldn’t be a good. “Linley, eight Highgod divine senses just swept through this metallic lifeform.” Delia immediately said through divine sense. There was no time to talk. Shocked, Linley’s face changed. He immediately spread his divine sense towards the outside… And in mid-air, eight gray-robed figures were charging at high speed towards the metallic lifeform. Three of them, in particular, were emanating a terrifying, heart-stopping aura from their entire bodies. Linley could instantly recognize the aura for what it was. Sovereign’s Might. “Sovereign’s Might!” Linley’s face changed dramatically. One of the eight gray-robed men was moving fairly slowly. As for the other seven, especially the three whose bodies were completely covered by a layer of Sovereign’s Might, charged straight for the metallic lifeform, directly towards the room which Linley was staying in. “Die!” “Linley, quick, flee!!!” The voices of Phusro and Tewila instantly rang out in Linley’s mind. They clearly noticed the enemies before Linley had. But…there was no time! “BANG!” A terrifying energy wave struck the metallic lifeform, and in the face of that frightening energy wave, the surface of the metallic lifeform blew apart as though it were paper. The shards were sent flying wildly every which way by the explosion. Linley let a deep growl, and his draconic scales emerged as he entered his Dragonform. “Slash!” Shards of metal flew about everywhere, and Delia immediately lowered her head, tightly embracing her son protectively. “Delia, flee.” Linley pushed Delia away powerfully, then shouted through divine sense, “Tewila, protect Delia!” The enemies were clearly here for him. This battle was one in which Phusro and Linley would play the primary roles. “Linley!” Delia, pushed aside, shot backwards like an arrow. Her body immediately became covered with a shield of divine power, protecting little Wade. But Delia still turned to look back… A blurry, earthen yellow light had suddenly spread out. Gravitational Space! An azure light had also burst forth. Water-type Sovereign’s Might! In an instant, Linley had unleashed all of his power! A fiery red form charged over while shouting through divine sense, “Delia, hurry up and flee, leave the battle to us!” “Roaaaaar!” A ferocious draconic howl shook out! “Bang!” A terrifying, soul-shaking explosive vibration blasted out from the center of that earthen yellow light. Space itself cracked open in multiple areas, and wild blasts of energy emanated in every direction. Some of the weaker clansmen who were hit by it immediately exploded and died.