Book 6, The Road to Revenge – Chapter 32, In Dire Straits

Within the hotel at the end of the Greenleaf Road, Yale and a group of people were waiting.

“Young master. His Majesty suffered an attack from some sort of demonic creature at Lord Linley’s manor. Right now, many palace guards as well as the warriors of many noble clans have gone to protect his Majesty.” A golden-haired man in front of Yale said respectfully.

Yale was startled.

He knew that Linley wanted to kill Clayde, and now, Clayde was the target of an assassination attempt. Nine out of ten, this had something to do with Linley.

“I wonder if this so-called ‘demonic creature’ is actually Third Bro.” Yale began to worry.

But Yale could only wait here quietly. He had no other options. Shortly afterwards, another report came. “Young master Yale, that demonic creature has begun a wild slaughterfest. Too many people have died. Lord Linley’s manor has become a river of blood, and is littered with corpses.”

Yale secretly felt shocked.

“Third Bro is really formidable. But I don’t know if Third Bro will be able to escape in the end.” Yale could only continue to wait.

One report after another continued to come.

“Young master Yale, that demonic monster’s violet sword is far too powerful. Wherever that violet flash appears, death follows. Countless people have died within the manor. Of the palace guards, many platoons and even entire companies have been wiped out.”

Upon hearing this, Yale became even more certain.

“A violet sword? Could it be that Bloodviolet sword?” Yale, Reynolds, and George all knew that Linley was in possession of a Bloodviolet Godblade. In particular, Yale suddenly recollected something about Linley’s clan. “The Baruch clan is the clan of the Dragonblood Warriors. Can it be that Linley transformed into a Dragonblood Warrior?”

The so-called ‘demonic creature’ could very well be Linley after having transformed into a Dragonblood Warrior.

Thinking about how his beloved bro was currently being attacked by thousands of men and beasts and was engaging in a wild battle, Yale couldn’t help but worry even more.

“Third Bro!”

Yale’s fists clenched, relaxed, clenched, relaxed. All of the people present could sense his nervousness.

“Young master Yale. His Holiness, the Holy Emperor appeared. He heavily injured that demonic creature, and it has already been dragged back to the Radiant Temple.” The final report came back. Yale’s face turned white, devoid of all blood.

Upon hearing the words, “His Holiness, the Holy Emperor appeared”, Yale knew that things had just gone from bad to worse.

“Squeak squeak!” A black blur suddenly appeared within the hotel.

“Bebe.” Seeing this Shadowmouse, Yale instantly ran over to it.

“Bebe. Where is Third Bro?” Yale immediately looked at Bebe, asking desperately.

The little Shadowmouse, Bebe, didn’t have any of his usual exuberance. He only stared at Yale, then lowered his head and let out a few dejected squeaks. Yale could sense the grief and pain hidden within Bebe’s eyes. Although Bebe was a magical beast, his intelligence was no lower than that of a human.

“Swish.” Bebe’s body flickered, and he suddenly disappeared from in front of Yale.

Yale was startled.

“Young master Yale.” A nearby person said softly.

“Go back. Go find my Second Uncle.” Yale suddenly rose to his feet and issued orders to his men.

Within one of the more secluded private rooms on the ninth floor of the Radiant Temple. Linley had been tossed inside the room like a dying dog. For Linley to be imprisoned within the Radiant Temple was actually still a testament to how highly the Radiant Church valued Linley.

The Radiant Temple was the heart of the Radiant Church.

This was a place which even Saint-level combatants dared not to trespass into.

“Ah.” All the scales on Linley’s body had already retracted back inside. Currently, Linley’s body was covered with blood, and he had more than ten visible wounds. These wounds were all caused by the Holy Emperor, Heidens. His visible wounds were very serious. But his internal wounds were even worse.

The bones of all four of his limbs had been broken. Linley could only grit his teeth as he tried to force his body to move, but all he could accomplish was resting his head against the wall.

“Linley.”

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Doehring Cowart flew out of the Coiling Dragon ring. He looked at Linley, and his eyes were filled with affection and helplessness.

“Grandpa Doehring.” Linley looked at Doehring Cowart.

Doehring Cowart sighed mentally towards Linley. “Linley, do you feel any regret?”

“Regret?”

Linley shook his head. “No. In fact, in this life, I have only two desires. The first is to reclaim the lost glory of my clan. The second is to reach the highest pinnacle of power and training that I can reach. But if I do not gain my revenge, I probably won’t even be able to sleep well. I would be in torment my entire life.”

Doehring Cowart nodded. He could understand Linley’s frame of mind.

“I lost. Haha. I lost.”

Linley laughed lightly. His entire body hurt. Right now, most likely any person at all could easily trample him.

He lost!

As soon as the Holy Emperor had appeared, Linley knew.

He lost. And losing meant death.

Linley had been aware of this long ago. In this world, many people died every day. Linley never believed that it was impossible for him to die.

“Linley, you probably won’t die.” Doehring Cowart said.

“Huh?” Linley looked questioningly at Doehring Cowart.

Doehring Cowart laughed calmly. “If that Holy Emperor wanted to kill you, he would’ve killed you long ago. How could it be that he would have acted against you several times, yet still spared your life? In addition...you haven’t considered the fact that most likely, a ruler of a kingdom holds less attraction for him than you do.”

Linley suddenly began to understand a bit.

“The second greatest genius magus in all of history, someone likely to become a Saint-level Grand Magus. And now, the Holy Emperor has discovered that you are a Dragonblood Warrior as well. Most likely, he would be all the more reluctant to kill you now. The Dragonblood Warriors are one of the Supreme Warriors. Upon entering the Saint-level, you will definitely be one of the most powerful Saint-level combatants. In terms of attack power alone, you definitely won’t be any inferior to the Holy Emperor himself!” Doehring Cowart said with certainty.

Supreme Warriors were very terrifying.

Most people, upon entering the Saint-level, would have to progress through the so-called early-stage, middle-stage, and peak-stage.

But upon entering the Saint-level, a Supreme Warrior, especially in Dragonform, would definitely be a peak-stage Saint-level combatant with incredible defense and offense. Even amongst peak-stage Saint-level combatants, the Supreme Warriors would probably be amongst the most powerful.

“A genius like you, Heidens won’t be willing to kill unless there’s absolutely no options available.” After finishing his speech, Doehring Cowart flew back into the Coiling Dragon ring.

Linley’s heart was very calm.

Life, death?

The thing which Linley truly cared about was vengeance.

“I’m afraid that even if he spares me, Heidens won’t allow me to kill Clayde.” Linley knew very well that having failed to kill Clayde this time, in the future, it would be very hard for him to kill Clayde. If he couldn’t kill Clayde, in his heart, Linley wouldn’t be able to accept it.

“Who knows when I will be able to get vengeance.”

Linley’s heart was filled with helplessness.

Within the highest floor of the Radiant Temple. The Holy Emperor, Heidens, was sitting calmly on his seat.

Guillermo was staring at the Holy Emperor in shock. “Your Holiness, that demon was Linley? But...but...”

At first, Guillermo hadn’t known that person was Linley, but after the scales had retracted into Linley’s body, Guillermo discovered his identity. This had totally shocked the man.

“That wasn’t a demon. That was a Dragonblood Warrior!” Heidens glanced calmly at Guillermo.

Guillermo was startled, but then he quickly understood. “Right...the Baruch clan is the clan of the Dragonblood Warriors. But it has been over a thousand years since the Dragonblood warrior clan has produced a Dragonblood Warrior. It’s unimaginable that...that...that Linley was actually...your Holiness, that was a Dragonblood Warrior?”

Remembering how terrifying Linley had appeared, Guillermo felt his heart tremble a bit.

“Perhaps a mutated version. But it should be a Dragonblood Warrior transformation, yes. Otherwise, how could he rise in power so quickly?” Heidens said calmly. “This Linley’s potential is too great. Although this time, his offense was a major one, there are very few outsiders who know that ‘demon’ was actually Linley.”

Guillermo instantly understood Heidens’ meaning.

Linley’s potential is too great?

Guillermo sighed to himself. Linley’s potential was absolutely terrifying. Not only was his potential as a magus incredible, he was also a Supreme Warrior. In both aspects, he was a very terrifying person. If such a person could remain within the Radiant Church, in several decades, the Radiant Church would almost assuredly have another supreme combatant.

“Indeed. Your Holiness, others all say that it was a demon. Aside from those Executors who dragged Linley back, nobody else knows this demon was Linley.” Guillermo said respectfully.

“Oh. Those four. Deal with them.” Heidens said coldly.

“Yes, your Holiness.” Guillermo said respectfully. “It is their good fortune to be able to return to the Lord’s embrace.”

Guillermo then said softly, “Right. Your Holiness, another person knows that the demon is actually Linley.”

“You mean...Clayde?” Heidens said softly.

“Yes, your Holiness.” Guillermo said. Questioningly, he wondered, “Clearly, this Linley has an extremely deep grievance with Clayde, otherwise he wouldn’t have gone to this extent to kill him. Your Holiness, Clayde is the ruler of the Kingdom of Fenlai. If we are to preserve Linley, perhaps we should have a chat with Clayde.”

“Yes, we should have a chat.”

A hint of a smile was on Heidens’ face. “I am very curious. What sort of deep grievance and enmity does Linley have with Clayde?”

Late in the evening, Clayde arrived at the top floor of the Radiant Temple.

“Your Holiness.” Clayde bowed respectfully.

The Holy Emperor, Heidens, was seated on his chair, leafing through a few thick tomes. Without even looking up, he said, “Clayde. In your opinion, who is more important to the Holy Union? You? Or Linley?”

Clayde’s heart thumped hard.

“The Holy Emperor means to preserve Linley?” Clayde’s heart began to grow frantic.

After having experienced this event, he now knew that Linley’s father and mother were killed as a result of him, even though he didn’t do it himself. In terms of responsibility for the deaths of Linley’s parents, he, Clayde, probably bore 90% of the responsibility.

That year in the past, if it hadn’t been for Clayde deciding to take Linley’s mother and offer her up, how could she have ended up dying? And how would Linley’s father have died?

Clayde remembered very clearly that look of unrelenting hatred in Linley’s eyes, even as Linley had been dragged away after being heavily wounded by the Holy Emperor.

“This Linley will fight with me until one of us dies. He cannot be allowed to live.” Clayde said to himself.

“Clayde, the outside world all believe that it was a demon. Nobody knows that it was Linley, yes?” Heidens looked at Clayde.

Hearing these words, Clayde even more was certain of the Holy Emperor’s intentions. He hurriedly said, “Your Holiness, that Linley truly is an incredible talent. Most likely, he is the greatest genius to have appeared in thousands of years, both as a magus as well as a warrior. He is an absolute genius. It is very understandable that your Holiness would desire to have him be of use to the Radiant Church. But...it is already determined that he will not be of service to our Church.”

These words from Clayde caused Heidens to frown. His eyes stared coldly at Clayde.

Clayde’s heart quivered in fear.

But he knew that if Linley didn’t die, then he would never have a moment’s peace again.

“Your Holiness, do you know why Linley wishes to kill me?” Clayde hurriedly said.

“Summarize.” Heidens said coldly.

Clayde immediately said, “Your Holiness, the reason Linley wishes to kill me is because twelve years ago, I sent people to abduct his mother. And then, his father, in the course of investigating his mother’s disappearance, was killed. His mother and father, it can be said, died because of me.”

“The enmity sowed by the deaths of one’s parents is indeed a great one.” Heidens nodded.

“But your Holiness, do you remember that woman from twelve years ago? That woman I gifted to you, your Holiness?” Clayde looked at Heidens.

Heidens started.

“Are you saying...” The look on Heidens’ face changed.

“Right. That woman was Linley’s mother!” Clayde said in a resounding, loud voice.

“Your Holiness, if Linley is to remain within the Radiant Church, then as his station rises, he will begin to learn some of the secrets of the Radiant Church. He will definitely discover how and why his mother died. By then...is it even remotely possible that he would still be loyal to the Radiant Church?” Clayde let out a mental sigh of relief.

He trusted that given the situation, Heidens would definitely decide to act appropriately. Yes, Linley’s potential was high. But the more powerful that Linley became, the greater a threat he would pose to the Radiant Church once he discovered the truth.

“If this is the case...pity. What a waste of a talent.” Heidens let out a single sigh.