Book 20, The Crown’s Riddle – Chapter 23, Red Caltrop Diamond

𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

As Linley’s group was leisurely romping its way through the Infernal Realm in a carefree manner. In the distant Muja Continent. The Goodson [Ke’de’seng] Mountains.

Night descended.

A nameless, mysterious mountain cave within the Goodson Mountains. A sloppy-looking man with long, loose hair was seated in the meditative position. In the darkness of the cave, his terrifying, scarlet eyes could still be seen.

“Allott [A’luo’te], I, Brodie [Bu’luo’di], swear that one day, I will make you die. Make you die!!!” A low growl emanated from the throat of this sloppy-looking man, filled with immeasurable anger. The sloppy-looking man’s fists were clenched so hard that they shook.

The sloppy-looking man swallowed his anger, then slammed a fist against the stony ground.

“Crack...” A crack appeared in the ground.

Although Brodie’s rage rose to the heavens, he was still cautious. He had set up a Godrealm long ago, making it so that the area within ten meters of him was separated from the outside realm. Even if he shattered rocks and howled here, the outside world wouldn’t hear a thing.

“That Allott was a Highgod. How will I take revenge? How will I be able to rescue Vidonica [Wei’duo’ni’ka]?” Brodie’s mind was in a state of chaos. In the past, he and his wife Vidonica had been curious about the Infernal Realm, and had entered it, filled with eagerness towards what the future held!

In his material realm, Brodie was without question a supreme expert, because he was a God! In addition, he had two God-level divine clones, and a Saint-level original body!

A God, in a material realm, could be said to be invincible. But once he led his Demigod wife into the Infernal Realm, they were casually tossed aside by the Muja Army’s soldiers and thus landed in the Lotte tribe. Brodie dreamed of struggling hard and training while earning some money, so as to go to the cities. After all, life in the tribes was filled with constant danger.

Everything had progressed as he had planned...

But who would have imagined that the leader of the Lotte tribe, Allott, had actually taken a fancy to Brodie’s wife, Vidonica, upon seeing her! Without saying anything, he had seized her!

The two, husband and wife, had been together for countless years, and they had arrived together from a material plane. In Brodie’s heart, his wife was more important to him than life itself! Although he had heard that some powerful people would forcibly take away some weak women, Brodie had never imagined this would happen to him.

Actually, after one became a Deity, appearances no longer mattered.

Deities could change their appearances. But the nobility and aura that came from the soul was different for each person. Some female Deities looked ordinary on the outside, but had a particular charisma or aura which would attract some experts. If these experts were reasonable, they might slowly woo them. But if the women were to encounter tyrannical, domineering experts, they would simply be taken away.

That year, when Linley, Delia, and Bebe had arrived in the Infernal Realm, others had warned Linley to be careful.

Only...Linley hadn’t been as unlucky as Brodie.

“What should I do?” Whenever Brodie thought about his wife had been taken away, he felt so agonized he could go mad.

He had once thought up a way to bring his wife back and rescue her. But his plans...in the face of the tribal leader’s power and forces, they were nothing more than a joke. Afterwards, Brodie had risked his life before escaping. And that was only because the tribal leader, Allott, hadn’t cared about him, a God.

“There is no moonlight today. Everything outside is dark. It is time to head out.” Brodie’s plan was very simple.

He would hurry to a city, then use the meager resources he had accumulated over the years to go take the Fiend trials. Upon becoming a Fiend, he, Brodie, would roam the Infernal Realm and train himself at the edge between life and death!

“There will come the day when I become a true expert and once more return to the Lotte tribe.” Brodie said silently to himself, and then he suddenly moved, exiting the cave like a black shadow and entering the black night, beginning to advance at high speed.

Training at the precipice between life and death, until the point at which he could defeat Allott?

Brodie himself knew that the chances of success were nearly zero! Allott was the leader of a tribe, after all. In terms of strength, he was most likely at the Five Star Fiend or Six Star Fiend level. Brodie was a God. To want to one day be able to defeat Allott? The chances were too low.

Brodie executed the Shadowshape technique, cleaving close to the ground as he constantly advanced. He didn’t dare to make any noise at all, for fear of attracting attention from bandits. He was a God. In a material realm, he was an expert, but in the Infernal Realm...he was like a paper boat that would be overturned and annihilated by the smallest of waves.

Suddenly...

A red light seemed to flash past.

“Eh?” Brodie had been advancing at high speed, but he suddenly halted and frowned as he turned back to look.

“What was that?” Brodie felt his heart clench, and he couldn’t help but draw closer to that faint red light which had just flashed past.

There, hidden within the dry grass, a caltrop shaped red diamond was lying on the ground.

Upon seeing this red caltrop diamond, Brodie felt as though his soul had been mesmerized by it. He couldn’t help but reach out to grab it. Once the red caltrop diamond entered his hand, instantly...a unique energy instantly swept through Brodie’s entire body and soul!

“What a comfortable feeling! It seems as though this power can protect the soul.” No matter how foolish Brodie might be, he instantly understood that he had acquired a treasure just now.

“What sort of a treasure is this?” Brodie felt quite mystified.

He had arrived in the Infernal Realm long ago, and had only stayed in this tribe. He hadn’t even gone into any cities. How could a God like him know about the news regarding the Overgod talismans? And how could he know what the item in his hands was! The only people who knew this information were either Asura level experts or information brokers like the Blacksand Castle merchants.

“My soul seems to have become powerful.” Brodie couldn’t help but feel shocked.

Just as Brodie was feeling stunned by the red caltrop diamond, a figure suddenly flashed past through the skies, then came to a sudden halt. This was a muscular man whose face was covered with green scales. “My luck isn’t bad. I found some prey while on patrol!”

Bandit groups had patrols as well. Most of the patrolling guards had divine clones back at the headquarters; upon finding any prey, their clones would immediately send news back to the headquarters.

“Kid, you grabbed that red diamond. Whatever for?” A snicker rang out from above.

The red diamond was quite clearly visible in the dark night.

However, Brodie was too stunned by the special effect of this red caltrop diamond. After all, he hadn’t lived for too long in the Infernal Realm by himself; he simply wasn’t cautious enough. He hadn’t imagined that a wandering patrol would just so happen to arrive at this moment.

“You...” Brodie lifted his head, and his face changed.

In the darkness, Deities would still be able to see to a certain distance.

“Flee!” Brodie didn’t hesitate at all, transforming into a blur as he fled at high speed.

“Too late.” The patrolling warrior above snickered. He was in no hurry to go kill Brodie alone; instead, he awaited his comrades. The other members of this lair of bandits, under the guidance of the muscular man’s clone, was swarming on this position.

“Haha, kid, you came to our mountain. You think you can just leave whenever you want?” Loud laughter rang out.

Brodie raised his head to look.

“You won’t be able to leave.”

Brodie turned his head to look.

In the blink of an eye, more than ten bandits had surrounded him. Brodie’s face turned ashen.

“Why. Why did it end up this way?” Brodie was in such pain that he wanted to howl in agony. He had just escaped the tribe, and his scheme of revenge had yet to even begin. And now, he had encountered bandits.

“I...I’m willing to join you.” Brodie said hurriedly.

“You are just a God. One more or one extra makes no difference.” The leader laughed coldly. These dozens of bandits were led by a man in a violet robe, who was a Highgod. This bandit group numbered nearly a thousand in total and had three Highgods. They might be interested in a Highgod, but generally speaking, they couldn’t be bothered about recruiting Gods.

Although they had quite a few people, for just a single one of the three leaders to lead some people over was enough to kill Brodie.

“No, I...” Brodie wanted to say something.

“Brothers, kill him.” The violet-robed figure gave the order calmly.

“Haha...”

“Accept death.”

The bandits were completely confident. Each of them launched their soul attacks or material attacks against Brodie.

“No. No...” Brodie bellowed in rage.

His revenge was incomplete. He had yet to rescue his wife. He wasn’t willing to just die here!

In the Infernal Realm...the number of people like him, who were unwilling to die, who had revenge left unfinished...were beyond number!

“Bang!” “Boom!”

Tens of bandit attacks descended. Brodie frantically dodged, but he was still struck by five material attacks and three soul attacks, which struck his body.

“He’s dead for sure.” The violet-robed man and the other experts all believed this. A Highgod would be able to endure it, but this was a God.

“I?”

Brodie had a look of astonishment on his face. He had been shattered, but in that same instant his body had been shattered, it had quickly reformed at a speed that exceeded the shattering speed. As for the soul attacks...those three attacks only made his soul tremble slightly. The red caltrop diamond contained a unique energy which effortlessly deflected those soul attacks.

This red caltrop diamond was located at the ‘core’ of the Crown of Life.

In terms of power, it was more powerful than the nine soul pearls. As for the pentametal crown, it was the least useful of them all.

When Linley had attacked Molde, those nine soul pearls had allowed Molde to stay alive. How could ordinary bandits kill Brodie?

“Eh?” The bandits were all stupefied.

Brodie lowered his head, looking at the red caltrop diamond in his hands. When he had encountered this earlier crisis, he had thought that the red caltrop diamond had a particular power which was capable of protecting his soul, which was why he was gripping it. But the effects of the red caltrop diamond vastly exceeded his imagination. “I didn’t expect that this treasure would be, would be so powerful.” Brodie’s eyes instantly lit up.

In fact, Brodie now felt as though the entire world was filled with light and color.

“With this, I’ll be able to get revenge. I definitely will!” Brodie was wildly overjoyed.

“What’s going on?” The violet-robed man frowned. “All together, kill him.”

“Yes.”

The bandits, hearing the command of their third leader, immediately charged down and attacked Brodie.

“Die.” Brodie held the red caltrop diamond in one hand and a short dagger in the other, wanting to kill the bandit ahead of him, so as to flee.

“You won’t be able to flee.” The bandits were completely confident as they launched their most powerful attacks.

Brodie completely ignored the enemy attacks, and his dagger split a bandit’s head in twain.

“This kid’s defense is so tough.” The violet-robed man, watching this, frowned, then with a flicker, also joined the fray.

Brodie’s speed was far inferior to this violet-robed man’s.

“Scram!” Brodie forced back yet another bandit. He wanted to break out of and escape from this encirclement, but what he didn’t realize was that a stream of violet light had already appeared in front of him. “God. Too weak.” The violet-robed man murmured to himself. At the same time, his violet glove covered right hand gently smashed down on Brodie’s head.

“Smash!”

Only now, in the instant that he was struck, did Brodie realize what had happened.

“Crackle...” The violet-robed man’s body actually began to tremble.

“Aaaaaaah!!!” The violet-robed man began to howl in agony. In but an instant, the violet-robed man collapsed, completely lifeless.

A Highgod...had died!

“This...what happened to the commander?” The bandits were completely stupefied.

“This diamond...” Brodie felt wild joy in his heart. He himself knew very well what had happened. When the enemy had struck him on his head, the red caltrop diamond had instantly generated a bizarre, freezing pulse of energy that had wildly devoured the enemy’s spiritual energy, instantly draining the enemy’s soul dry and shattering it.

“This diamond harms enemies but not me.” Brodie tested using his spiritual energy to activate the red caltrop diamond, but as he thought, the surge of cold energy once more spread out.

In addition, under Brodie’s guidance, it actually covered his black dagger.

“Haha...” Brodie seemed to have gone insane as he charged against the bandits. All the bandits who were so much as nicked by the dagger or who were touched by Brodie’s body all collapsed, quivered, then died!

In but an instant, aside from five bandits who were so terrified that they immediately turned tail and fled, all of the bandits perished!

“With this diamond...why should I fear Allott?” Brodie was extremely agitated. He glanced at the distant mountain, then moved as fast as lightning, departing at high speed.