Book 19, Metamorphosis β Chapter 17, Hemmers
βHis material attack is actually this powerful!β Linley felt stunned in his heart. βEven the former Redcliff Lordβs material attack wasnβt as monstrous as this. An attack passing through empty space is actually able to penetrate my body.β Linley was very confident in the defense of his Dragonform, but today, this punch had stunned him!
That manβs eyes were filled with rage, and his messy golden hair began to tremble.
βYou dare to injure me, Hemmers? Die!β A deep voice echoed in Linleyβs mind, and the golden-haired manβs right leg lashed outβ¦
That thick right leg was flowing with a golden yellow light. As it lashed out, it created ripples in space, as though it were moving through water. The power of this kick was so great that even before it reached Linley, Linley already had a bad feeling. βGiven the power of that fist, which didnβt even directly hit me, just passed through the airβ¦if Iβm hit by this kickβ¦β
Linley didnβt dare to hesitate.
βBlackstone Space β Repulsive Force!β Linley willed it, and a powerful repulsive force was applied to the terrifyingly powerful body of that βHemmersβ.
At the same time, with a βwhap!β sound, Linleyβs whip-like draconic tail slapped the ground hard, borrowing the counterforce to retreat hurriedly!
βBang!β This kick of Hemmers missed.
βBOOM!β Although it missed, a surge of golden ripples still shot out from his leg, shooting towards Linley. This material attack was simply too fast! It wasnβt bound by the Blackstone Space, and its speed vastly outstripped Linleyβs fleeing speed. However, live and learn; after having suffered last time, Linley was prepared this time.
Linleyβs godspark sword, βMirageβ, unhurriedly swung out to meet it.
It seemed to move slowly but was actually fast. The flat of Mirage struck directly against the golden yellow ripple.
βBANG!β A powerful collision. Mirage was knocked backwards, slapping against Linleyβs body, while Linleyβs sword-wielding right arm actually had its draconic scales shatter and blood leak through.
βSwoosh!β
Linley once more borrowed the counterforce to retreat.
βWhat a monster!β Linley cursed in his heart. βThe power of kick, when passing through a godspark weapon, is capable of shattering my draconic scales. So in the planes of the universe, there is someone besides Beirut who is so monstrous!β Previously, Linley had seen Beirut use his bare hands to stop a Sovereign artifact.
One could imagine how much strength that took. But it seemed as though this golden-haired man was about the same.
The distant Bebeβs eyes instantly grew wide and round. Not hesitating at all, he transformed into a blur, shooting towards the golden-haired warrior while sending mentally in a frantic voice, βBoss, hurry and flee, Iβll block him!β
βBebe, donβt waste time, letβs hurry up and leave! You wonβt be able to block him.β Linley hurriedly sent back.
At the same time, Linley increased his fleeing speed. Bebe had no choice but to follow Linley in fleeing.
βYou want to escape?!β
The golden-haired man stared furiously at the two fleeing figures, then violently stomped forward. βBANG!β βBANG!β Every single step was like a meteor striking the ground, and the golden-haired manβs speed thus reached his limit as he pursued and attacked towards the fleeing Linley and Bebe.
βBoss, that big fellow is in pursuit!β Bebe called out in alarm.
βHeβs actually this fast.β Linley glanced backwards. Originally, when the golden-haired man had been in pursuit of the Deathgod Golem, he hadnβt been this fast. Clearlyβ¦this person called βHemmersβ was utterly enraged now.
βItβs fine. Once he enters my Blackstone Space, he wonβt be able to catch up to us.β Linley said with certainty.
Indeed!
As soon as the golden-haired man entered the βBlackstone Spaceβ region, he sensed a powerful repulsive force. Speed was never his forte to begin with, and although when going all out, he could compare to Linley and Bebe, as soon as he entered the Blackstone Space region, he became vastly inferior to Linley and Bebe.
Linley and Bebe were fleeing in front, hurriedly pulling away.
This caused the golden-haired man to once more escape the βBlackstone Spaceβ, and as soon as he did, his speed increased again, allowing him to close in on them once more.
In shortβ¦the two sides maintained a distance of roughly five hundred meters.
βBoss, that big fellow keeps chasing us. What should we do?β Bebe said frantically. βCan it be that we will have to use Sovereignβs Might?β
βNot for now.β
Linley didnβt want to waste a drop of Sovereignβs Might. The situation wasnβt critical yet.
βBebe, within a few hundred meters, this Hemmers is able to clearly see us. How about this. We will immediately enter the ground and tunnel downwards. He wonβt be able to see us, and will probably find it hard to find us.β Linley sent mentally. Unless the situation was life-threatening, Linley wouldnβt easily use up his Sovereignβs Might.
βEnter the ground? Fine.β Bebe agreed.
βThe two of you, donβt even think of escaping!β The angry bellows continued to echo and shake the world.
βThis big idiot. Isnβt he afraid of attracting attention, by bellowing like this?β Bebe couldnβt help but sent angrily.
βBebe, I imagine this Hemmers really isnβt afraid of others coming. He didnβt even fear your βGodeaterβ ability. He should have a soul-protecting Sovereign artifact. And look at his material defense! This is absolutely an opponent who has no weaknesses. His only weakness, actually, is that he has no long distance attacks and no soul attacks. Enough, letβs go underground!β
Linley and Bebe, in virtually the same instant, with a βswooshβ dove underground.
βHmph, fleeing underground?β The yellow-haired man let out a cold laugh.
And thenβ¦
The yellow-haired man lifted up his thick leg, viciously stamping on the ground. With a thunderous sound, the ground trembled and a ray of golden light rippled out from his leg and entered the ground, spreading outwards in every direction.
βOver there!β The burly golden-haired manβs eyes lit up.
He moved towards the left in hot pursuit, then lifted his feet up once again and viciously stomped on the ground. That golden light once more entered the ground and rippled out.
Although by fleeing underground, one couldnβt be seen, in terms of fleeing speed, the blocking dirt naturally made it slower than fleeing aboveground.
βWhat sort of weird technique is this?β Bebe could clearly sense how the golden energy ripples were like ripples of water, with each ripple landing on himself and Linley. However, the energy of these ripples didnβt possess much power to harm.
βBANG!β
A violent tremor came from above.
βThis fellow knows where we are.β Linley said frantically. βThereβs no way to escape his pursuit from underground.β
βBoss, what should we do?β Bebe said frantically.
βThereβs one final option! If this method doesnβt work, then weβll just have to use up our Sovereignβs Might.β
Right at this moment, a powerful golden ripple shot downwards, charging straight through the obstructing dirt.
βNot good.β Linleyβs face changed.
βBANG!β Bebe viciously threw a punch straight towards it.
βBebe, are you alright?β Linley was rather nervous.
βIβm fine. This attack was pretty strong though; my fist feels numb. But Iβm not injured.β Bebe sent back. Linley, hearing this, let out a sigh of relief, and then a sigh of praise; Bebeβs defense really was terrifying, comparable to or exceeding the hardness of a godspark weapon.
Bebe, upon reaching the Highgod level, had only been injured by the Abyssal Fruit Tree Sovereign. Others werenβt even able to scratch Bebeβs skin.
Unfortunately, Bebeβs attack power was too weak, inferior to even Linleyβs. It was only because of his innate divine ability that he was able to threaten commander-level experts.
βBebeβ¦letβs go aboveground together!β Linley said hurriedly.
That expert named Hemmers clearly had a method to determine where they were. If they were underground, they would be moving slowly and would be beaten around like punching bags. Linley and Bebe immediately transformed into rays of light, quickly emerging from underground.
βHaha, you finally came out.β
Loud laughter rang out, and the golden-haired man drew closer.
βSo close!β Upon leaving the ground, Linley and Bebe discovered that this golden haired man was less than a hundred meters away now. Linley was so startled, he immediately set up his Blackstone Space, once more repulsing the golden-haired man. By relying on his speed, he was once more able to pull away.
βBastard! This damn thing again. Just like Reisgemβ¦how damn annoying!β The golden-haired man howled furiously.
He was currently filled with rage.
In the Blackstone Space, he wasnβt able to draw near Linley at all.
Right at this momentβ¦
βEh?β The golden-haired man stared.
Linley, while running at full speed, suddenly turned to stare at him. At the same time, an enormous, sinuous, coiled illusion of an Azure Dragon suddenly appeared behind Linley. The Azure Dragon Phantomβs golden eyes were staring coldly at the muscular βHemmersβ, while at the same time, the sound of a dragonβs roar began to ring out in Hemmersβ mind.
Innate divine ability β Dragon Roar!
Time drastically slowed down in the region Hemmersβ soul was in.
βUhβ¦β Hemmers was stunned. Within his field of vision, he watched as Linley and Bebe seemed to suddenly move tens of time faster, and with a βswishβ disappeared from his field of vision. But of course, it wasnβt that Linley and Bebe actually moved faster; it was that Hemmers himself had slowed down by tens of times.
The effect of the Dragon Roar had finally brought an end to this pursuit.
βDragon Roar? The Dragon Roar of the Azure Dragon clan? What terrible luck.β Hemmers rubbed his big nose. βStill, I really am too slow. Given the repulsive force of the Gravitational Space of that kid of the Azure Dragon clan, even if I used Sovereignβs Might, I would only be able to barely maintain parity with him while under the effects of that repulsive force.β
Hemmers couldnβt help but shake his head.
In pure fleeing speed, Linley and Hemmers were roughly the same, and when going all out, Hemmers actually held the advantage.
But by relying on the Blackstone Space, Linley made it so that even if Hemmers used Sovereignβs Might, the two would still roughly be on par.
βStill, speed was never my forte. Thereβs nothing I can do!β Hemmers shook his head. βThe best thing for me to do is to beg a Sovereign to create a long-distance Sovereign weapon for me. For example, something like a javelinβ¦and by then, given my attack power, who would be able to block it? This is my third time participating in the Planar Wars. Altogether, Iβm still missing three commander badgesβ¦I have to work hard and see, after the conclusion of this Planar War, if Iβll be able to come up with enough military merits.β
Hemmers shook his head, leaving with large strides.
βHEY!β Hemmers shouted towards the distance while leaving. βYou people, stop watching over there! If you have the ability to do so, come closer to me!β
βHemmers, looks like you failed again, hahaβ¦β
A loud laugh rang out from afar, and then the laughter faded away.
βA group of cowards.β Hemmers snorted, then left.
In the distance, three people were together. Two male youths, along with a violet-haired, violet-robed girl. The violet-robed girl laughed softly. βHey, did the two of you see that? There was someone who was so foolish and hotheaded as to go offend that fellow Hemmers. Donβt they knowβ¦that Hemmers is one of the top-ranked experts of the entire Divine Earth Plane?β
βMost likely, those two arenβt familiar with the various commanders yet.β One of the three, a black-horned, silver-haired youth, laughed calmly.
βBut those two arenβt weak either; they were able to battle Hemmers without dying. Unfortunately, we came too late and werenβt able to find out where the two ran off to.β The other male youth of the three, a person with dazzling golden hair and strange silver-white eyes, said. βLetβs go. Letβs leave this place. If Hemmers makes trouble for us, that will be a pain in the neck.β
The three immediately slipped away.
Amidst the grass, Linley and Bebe were lying down and resting.
βBoss, where did that freak come from? Your full-force sword blow was only able to barely pierce his skin. And his punches! They went straight through your body.β Bebe sent mentally.
βAnd thatβs because my body is very strong.β Linley said with a self-mocking laugh. βBebe, you donβt know this, but when that punch pierced through my chest, a strange, rippling power seemed to shake my entire body. Fortunatelyβ¦my Dragonformed body is far tougher than a Deathgod Golem. Otherwise, I would have ended up the same way, just like the Deathgod Golem; my entire body would have collapsed.β
When Linley had seen that, he had felt shocked.
βAlas. Boss, although there are quite a few commanders we can deal with here in the Planar Wars, thereβs also a good number we canβt. We werenβt so bad off this time; this one was weak in speed. But if next time, we really slam into a metal wall, that would be terrible.β Bebe said with a frown.