Book 10, Baruch – Chapter 16, Baruch

Linley wielded the adamantine heavy sword in one hand, and Bloodviolet in the other. He stood there in the middle of the street, and Bebe was on his shoulders, not moving. The man and the beast stared as Osenno charged over, but when Osenno reached within ten meters of Linley, he suddenly paused.

There was a plot here!

Osenno stared at Linley, who seemed brimming with confidence. He grew a bit nervous.

“What sort of nasty trick does this punk have up his sleeve?”

“What, are you afraid?” Linley, his two swords in his hands, stared at Osenno. “If you are afraid, then just roll the f*ck out of my city. It’s fine. I won’t chase you.”

Linley’s words made Osenno so angry, he could vomit blood.

“Chase me?” Osenno secretly cursed Linley in his mind. It was clear and apparent that he, Osenno, had the advantage. But Osenno was born cautious. He truly began to wonder if Linley did indeed have some sort of nasty trick up his sleeve. But seeing how confident Linley was looking, Osenno suddenly thought, “Wait, can it be that Linley is just pretending to be like this to try and scare me away?”

Osenno carefully inspected Linley. “If Linley really had some sort of ultimate attack, he would’ve used it long ago. Why feign weakness? In addition, if one has an ace up one’s sleeve, one wouldn’t be so blatantly self-confident. Being this confident is as good as telling someone you have a technique lying in wait.”

Osenno laughed coldly in his mind. “What is true is false, what is false is true. This punk is trying to play me. I refuse to believe he is able to wound me.”

“Why are you hesitating, Lord Praetor? What happened to your usual awe-inspiring presence and decisiveness?” Linley mocked coldly.

Osenno stared at Linley’s dark golden eyes. He sneered, “Punk, I still...” Halfway through his words, the four Osennos simultaneously attacked Linley with terrifying speed. But right at that moment...

“Rumble...”

Within a hundred meters, the land quickly became covered with a layer of earthen light, and Linley and Bebe’s body became covered with it as well.

Instacast – Supergravity Field, rank seven!

A Supergravity Field of the seventh rank would cause the strength of the gravity affecting one’s body to instantly quadruple. This gravity wouldn’t just impact the muscles; it would also affect the organs and the blood vessels. Even powerful opponents would be slowed when suddenly affected by this.

To a Saint, if you threw a boulder weighing ten thousand tons at him, he would easily shatter it with the flick of his finger, not harmed by it at all.

But the Supergravity Field was different.

For example, the quadruple gravity wasn’t something as simple as just adding a few hundred tons of weight. It could cause the flow of blood in a person’s body to slow and make breathing more difficult...weak people, under a quadruple gravity field, might even die in an instant. Even Saints would have their physical functions impacted.

“Kill!”

After instacasting the Supergravity Field as well as the nullifying magic on himself and Bebe, Linley charged forward towards Osenno with Bebe by his side in a simultaneous attack. One Linley and two Bebes arrived at the four slower Osennos.

The adamantine heavy sword once more chopped down, while at the same time, Bloodviolet chopped through the air as well.

“Bang!” Osenno was knocked flying, and all four of the Osennos merged into one. A hint of blood could be seen dribbling from his mouth. He had dodged Linley’s attack, but he wasn’t able to dodge the two Bebes attacks.

Linley didn’t hesitate at all, charging directly towards Osenno, but Osenno instantly transformed into four people as well, while at the same time, his body began to emit a large amount of black flame. The ground around him was burnt to nothing, and Linley’s Supergravity Field was wiped out as well.

“I didn’t expect you to have this sort of technique.” Osenno stared angrily at Linley. “However, this technique of yours is useless.”

“Useless?”

Linley stood on the ground confidently.

The four Osennos once more charged forward at high speed, while at virtually the same instant, Linley’s surrounding area once more appeared to be covered by that earthen light – Supergravity Field of the seventh rank!

The four Osennos paused slightly, and then, with a ‘Bam!’, the black flame began to burn, once more wiping away the Supergravity Field. Osenno’s eyes were filled with fury. “It is useless, Linley. My body is totally capable of getting accustomed to this level of Supergravity.”

“Bebe, let’s do it.”

Linley and Bebe both charged towards Osenno, while at the same time, Linley once more cast the Supergravity Field. Only this time...it was a Supergravity Field of the sixth rank!

Osenno had already been prepared for quadruple gravity, but when he suddenly became affected by double gravity instead, his movements couldn’t help but falter a bit.

“Bang!”

Profound Truths of the Wind – Tempos of the Wind. Bloodviolet seemed both ‘Fast’ and ‘Slow’, and that spatial edge apeared on the edge of Bloodviolet. The edge of the sword chopped down directly towards Osenno, and was actually able to cut through his infernal flames, sending him flying back once again.

A wound had appeared on Osenno’s chest.

Osenno had dodged Linley’s adamantine heavy sword and the attacks of the two Bebes, but he had been injured by Bloodviolet.

“How can it be so powerful?” The look on Osenno’s face changed.

Just then, he had nowhere to run. Because all four of his shadows were attacking Linley, Linley naturally attacked two while the other two were easily attacked by the two Bebes, who was faster than them. No matter what, he would end up taking a hit.

He didn’t dare take the adamantine heavy sword head-on, and he didn’t want to take a hit from Bebe’s claws either.

In the end, he had chosen Bloodviolet.

However...that Bloodviolet sword seemed to be even more formidable than Bebe’s claws by a whisker.

“According to our intelligence, the attacks of that violet sword aren’t very powerful though.” Osenno couldn’t believe it.

Indeed, when he dueled with Haydson, Linley’s ‘Tempos of the Wind’ was not too powerful. But now that he had broken through to a higher level of comprehension towards both the ‘Fast’ and the ‘Slow’ aspects of the Elemental Laws of the Wind, then combined them in his ‘Tempos of the Wind’, the power had been raised by far more than just one level; it was raised by at least two levels, or even more.

“Osenno, didn’t you want to kill me?” Linley seemed very arrogant.

Attack!

The demonic-looking Linley and the enlarged Bebe charged wildly towards Osenno. As they did, Linley instacast the Supergravity Field again, filling the area once more with that earthen glow.

“Bang!” In the blink of an eye, Osenno’s infernal black flames once more wiped away the Supergravity Field.

But for Linley, this sort of low-level technique was something he could use a hundred or two hundred times without exhausting his mageforce. And more importantly, Linley had the Coiling Dragon ring and only needed to use a sixth of the mageforce to begin with.

Supergravity Field of the seventh and sixth ranks. Linley was using them on a rotational basis.

“Not good.” The constantly changing gravitational power caused even Osenno’s attacks to become less coordinated.

The Supergravity Field of the sixth rank increased gravity by two times. There was a big difference between it and the Supergravity Field of the seventh rank...these two spells with huge differences in power caused Osenno to constantly be unable to get accustomed to the local gravity. It was as though an ordinary person, when walking, would suddenly feel gravity disappear, and then he would have to walk while weightless. He wouldn’t be used to it.

Same line of reasoning.

Sometimes, Supergravity Fields weren’t necessarily the stronger the better.

With no way to dodge, Osenno was struck viciously again by Bebe’s two claws and was sent flying. With a crunching sound, Osenno’s rib had broken...this time, Osenno didn’t fly into the air, nor did he dare to go closer to the ground. After having learned this lesson, Osenno didn’t dare to get near the ground again as he remained in mid-air.

“I didn’t know that different Supergravity Fields could be used at this level.” Osenno said.

He had been badly hurt.

After being struck by Linley’s adamantine heavy sword and the Bloodviolet sword, he had then been struck twice by Bebe’s claws now.

“Bebe, let’s charge. He’s badly injured and not in great shape.”

Osenno didn’t hesitate at all. His four shadows instantly flew at high speed towards the south, paying no attention to Bebe who was behind him. Perhaps Bebe would be able to catch him, but he could change between the four shadows nonstop. He had no reason to fear Bebe.

But if Linley were to charge over....

Perhaps Osenno would be the one to injure Linley instead. After all, in mid-air, Linley would not be able to utilize the Supergravity Field. His speed would then be inferior to Osenno’s. Wasn’t he just asking for trouble if he did that?

.......

At this time, Barker and his brothers came running out of the city governor’s mansion.

“That Osenno escaped.” Ankh sighed.

“His Lordship and Bebe beat Osenno so bad he ran away.” Gates was excited. The brothers carefully inspected the streets in front of the city governor’s manor, and instantly, they were speechless. The bodies of the six Angels had already been frozen into blocks of ice.

Near Linley’s position, the ground itself was a full meter lower.

In addition, another meter of earth had been burned by Osenno’s infernal flames and destroyed by it. Linley was currently at the end of that depressed patch of land.

“Lord.”

“Lord.”

Barker and his brothers ran excitedly towards Linley, while Linley transformed back into his human form. With a flip of his hand, he withdrew a robe from his interspatial ring. Bebe landed on Linley’s shoulders, and Linley let out a long sigh.

“Lord, we won.” Barker said excitedly. The other four stared at Linley with excitement as well

A hint of laughter was on Linley’s face. He stared towards the south. “We didn’t truly win. What a pity. The attack power of each strike of my ‘Rippling Wind’ isn’t powerful enough. If it was more powerful...I would be able to hold off Osenno by myself.”

The Rippling Wind could instantly create ten million swords.

It was the absolute peak of speed, but each attack wasn’t too powerful. If Linley were to use this attack against the four Osennos, he wouldn’t be able to harm them at all. Instead, he would be the one to be wounded.

“Tempos of the Wind and Rippling Wind are two different concepts. There is no way to merge them. The only thing I can do is infuse the ‘Rippling Wind’ with the insights I have gained into the ‘Fast’ aspect of the Elemental Laws of the Wind. By then, the power of the ‘Rippling Wind’ would increase by another level.”

Linley still remembered Higginson’s sword technique.

It had been so fast that it had distorted and folded space itself, and it carried a terrifying penetrative power.

If Linley was able to reach that level and use his Rippling Wind technique, then the equivalent of countless ‘Illusionary Void Swords’ would attack his opponents. Although the attack of each sword would still be a bit lower, it would be incredibly powerful nonetheless.”

“Me too.” Bebe muttered. “If my Shadowshape Doppleganger Technique could reach the level of splitting into four shadows, I would be able to fight him by myself.”

Barker and his brothers stared at Linley and Bebe, the man and his magical beast. They were speechless.

“Lord, you aren’t even thirty yet. Yet you are so powerful.” Barker finally said loudly.

Linley and Bebe glanced at each other, then laughed.

Good point. One couldn’t be too greedy.

Linley was on the fast track to understanding both the Elemental Laws of the Wind and the Elemental Laws of the Earth. He wasn’t like some people who were bottlenecked or stuck. He should be overjoyed.

“Barker, immediately send people to reclaim the Sherry Duchy. Here in the prefectural city of Sherry, most likely those soldiers won’t face a single bit of resistance.” Linley was quite confident. After that massive battle with the Angels and the battle just now, who in the prefectural city of Sherry would dare to resist?

“Yes, Lord.”

𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

“Per our plans, since we are fighting head on against the Radiant Church, then we will make our affiliations public. Ten days from now, we will openly proclaim to the world that we have founded a Duchy, and the name of the Duchy....is the Baruch Duchy!” Linley announced.

Barker, Ankh, Hazer, Boone, and Gates all said with respectful excitement, “Yes, Lord.”

.....

The battle at the prefectural city of Sherry had determined that for now, the Radiant Church was not capable of suppressing Linley. Linley had slaughtered six Four-Winged Angels, and then forced Praetor Osenno to flee. This victory, once announced by Zassler and the others, quickly spread across the entire area.

The morale of Linley’s side was like a rainbow.

The Sherry Duchy no longer had any hint of resistance. It once more returned to Linley’s control.

Blackdirt City. Within a garden.

“Lord Linley, the western Anne Duchy immediately surrendered to us after we said a few threatening words to them. The Duchies to the east are a bit more stubborn.” Zassler laughed. Linley’s reputation was extremely useful.

A simple threat had caused an entire Duchy to capitulate.

How could they not surrender though? What, would they fight against a Saint? After all, the most powerful combatants in a Duchy were usually of the eighth rank only, and a very few Duchies had warriors of the ninth rank. As for Saints...how could a Saint stay in a Duchy?

“Zassler.” Linley instructed. “In three days, I will found the Baruch Duchy. How about this...send some people to one of the branches of the Dawson Conglomerate. Tell them immediately send a message to Delia in the Yulan Empire. Tell her about the founding of the Baruch Duchy.”

Zassler assented.

Linley stood there in the garden, staring towards the south. “Delia. I’ve completed my side of our agreement. So...when will you come?”