Chapter 1 – Coming Home
Book 12, The Descent of the Gods – Chapter 1, Coming Home
Deep in the bottom of the sea, with Beirut in the lead, the experts began to fly towards that interdimensional door.
“The Necropolis of the Gods…” Linley turned to glance at it.
Although they had flown tens of kilometers away from it, that twenty thousand meter tall structure, the Necropolis of the Gods, was still as visible as ever. The side currently facing Linley was still that carving of a coiled, serpent-like wingless dragon. Upon seeing that enormous dragon sculpture, Linley’s heart naturally surged with a familiar feeling.
“No matter what it is that is within the Necropolis of the Gods calling to me, I can’t just throw my life away. At home, I have Delia, Taylor, and Sasha.” Linley couldn’t help but suddenly think of his wife and children, his heart filling with warmth.
Within the boundless South Sea. Although the ocean winds weren’t very strong, waves still rolled gently over the ocean’s surface. The scorching noonday sun shone down upon the surface of the sea, causing it to reflect with dazzling light.
“Drip, drip…”
The waves of the sea suddenly bizarrely split apart, and the black-robed Beirut was the first to fly out from the bottom of the sea. Behind him was the War God O’Brien, the High Priest, Dylin, Cesar, and Tarosse, the five Deities. Behind them were those nearly thirty lucky survivors of the Necropolis of the Gods, the remaining Saints.
“Whew!” After arriving on the surface of the sea, Linley took a deep, greedy breath of air.
“This is the taste of the air of the Yulan continent.” Linley raised his head, staring at that scorching sun. His face couldn’t help but have a hint of a smile on it.
“The feeling of coming home is wonderful.” Linley murmured to himself.
Not just Linley. Even Barker, Olivier, Fain, Desri, and the other experts all had smiles on their faces. The Yulan continent was the plane which had given birth to and nurtured them. In this plane, their souls felt extremely comfortable and at ease.
“Lord Beirut, I’ll only escort you this far, then.” Tarosse said respectfully.
Beirut glanced at him, then nodded. “Fine. But Tarosse, you should know my rules. I trust you won’t violate them again.” Beirut gave Tarosse a cold glance, and Tarosse immediately squeezed out a smile.
“Lord Beirut, don’t worry. The current Tarosse is no longer that Tarosse of ten thousand years ago.” Tarosse said respectfully.
“Mm. Let’s go.” Beirut ordered calmly.
The other experts followed Beirut and flew towards the north at high speed. Only Tarosse was left behind, staring at the endless sea. He murmured, “I’m finally back…” And then Tarosse dove down into the sea.
Linley and the other experts continued to fly north in the air above the sea.
“Lord Linley, when we returned from the Necropolis of the Gods to the Yulan continent, it was Tarosse who opened the interdimensional gateway. It seems that one needs to be at the full God level of power to activate it.” Barker and Linley were engaged in a quiet conversation.
Linley nodded.
“That should be the case. But that Tarosse spared your life…we owe him a debt.”
“Right.” Barker nodded. “But I don’t understand why he did that.”
Linley laughed. “Enough, don’t worry about it. You should celebrate your survival instead. But it really is quite odd. I didn’t imagine that the divine beast, the ‘Ba-Serpent’, belonged to our Yulan continent plane, and was a magical beast of the South Seas.”
“Linley.” Cesar, who was flying up ahead, suddenly slowed down his flying speed. Flying next to Linley, he laughed and whispered, “Are you discussing Tarosse? This Tarosse…ten thousand years ago, he was extremely famous. Back then, he was known as the ‘King of the South Seas’, and only Dylin was comparable to him. But of course, Lord Beirut doesn’t count.”
“Oh?” Linley was secretly astonished.
This Ba-Serpent truly was extraordinary.
“Linley, I have to thank you.” Cesar continued.
“Lord Cesar, what do you mean?” Linley was startled. Cesar lowered his voice still further. “Thank you for saving Rosarie’s life. Alas…Rosarie, that woman, is simply too stubborn. She insisted on heading to the Necropolis of the Gods on her own. Good thing you were there, as otherwise, this time…”
Linley only now understood what Cesar meant.
Cesar said resignedly, “It’s unfortunate. If we Deities are to enter the Necropolis of the Gods, we must start from the twelfth floor. It would be very hard for me to acquire a Demigod’s divine spark for Rosarie.”
“Start from the twelfth floor?” Linley was somewhat surprised.
“Right. After all, those Saint-level creatures don’t pose any threat to us at all.” Cesar laughed calmly. “Oh, we’re at the Burning Desert now. We’re back to the Yulan continent.”
Linley also saw the boundless Burning Desert.
“We’re at the Yulan continent now. Everyone, go back to your own places.” Beirut said.
“Yes, Lord Beirut.” The experts all replied respectfully, and then all of them separated. The magical beasts either flew back to the Forest of Darkness or the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, while the humans flew in all directions. As for Beirut, standing there alone, he quickly disappeared from everyone’s vision in a flash.
“What incredible speed.” Linley’s heart shook.
Even though his power had increased dramatically, compared to Beirut, the difference was as great as that between the heavens and the earth.
“Whew. Heading home.” Bebe was on Linley’s shoulders now, extremely excited. Linley and Barker both had smiles on their faces. Clearly, they both were thinking of home as well.
Flying past the Burning Desert, traversing the Rhine Empire and the Rohault Empire. As the centrally located empires of the Yulan continent, the air above the Rhine Empire and the Rohault Empire was now fairly warm, and green leaves and vegetation could be seen growing luxuriantly everywhere.
After passing through the territory of these two Empires, Linley’s group finally arrived at the Baruch Empire’s territory.
The Baruch Empire was located in the northern part of the continent. Although it wasn’t like the Eighteen Northern Duchies, a place of perpetual cold, it was still much colder than the south. Right now, although it was March, many of the trees below only had bare branches, and some areas were even covered with snow.
After Desri’s group left, only a few people continued to fly north alongside them.
“Ten years. The ‘Anarchic Lands’ have transformed so much.” Flying at high speed and staring at the cities on the boundless earth below, Linley had a hint of pride in his heart.
Ten years ago, the Baruch Empire had only just been established after twelve years of consolidation, allowing the region to catch a breather after ending the countless years of war. But now, the Baruch Empire’s population had increased dramatically, and the cities had become more graceful, comparable to the previous Holy Union.
Below, an ancient, plain and simple castle appeared within the wilderness.
The eaves of the castle were covered with a layer of thin snow, and many guards were currently patrolling atop it. This castle was the legendary ‘Dragonblood Castle’ of the Baruch Empire. It had been constructed after the former magicite mine had been completely emptied out, and was the place where Linley’s family lived.
“Linley, let’s part ways here. If you want to find me in the future, you can come to the Arctic Icecap.” Olivier gestured courteously as he spoke.
“Definitely.” Linley laughed and nodded.
Olivier immediately left, along with the remaining lucky survivors of the Arctic Icecap as they flew north at high speed. As for Linley, Barker, and Bebe, they flew down towards Dragonblood Castle.
Dragonblood Castle, the place where the spiritual pillar of the Baruch Empire, Linley, lived. According to legends, this Dragonblood Castle would often have massive dragons patrol about it. In addition, the guards of Dragonblood Castle were all the most talented warriors of the Baruch Empire. Nobody dared to invade this place.
Three streaks of light shot down from the skies towards the castle, while an enormous aura suddenly spread out, encompassing the entire Dragonblood Castle.
“Lord Linley?” That familiar aura…instantly, many of the experts of the Dragonblood Castle immediately reacted to it. Whether Zassler, Gates and his brothers, or Linley’s children, all of them ran towards the rear gardens of Dragonblood Castle.
Because Linley and the others were currently landing within the rear gardens.
The previous day’s snow had yet to melt completely, and thus clumps of snow could still be seen amongst the flowers.
“Linley’s back?” Housekeeper Hiri and Hillman, who were currently enjoying the sun in the center of the rear gardens, immediately turned to stare from afar. Linley, dressed in a sky-blue robe, and Barker, dressed in a brown robe, were standing shoulder to shoulder, while the adorable Bebe was currently standing on Linley’s shoulder.
“Uncle Hillman. Grandpa Hiri.” Linley immediately went over to greet them.
“Wonderful. Wonderful.” Housekeeper Hiri was extremely excited. “Over ten years. Ten full years. Linley, I, an old fellow, thought I might not have the chance to see you return.” Housekeeper Hiri had accompanied many generations of the Baruch’s clansmen. He was over a hundred years old now.
After all, in terms of age, Linley was over fifty years old.
However, amongst Saints, compared to those experts who had trained for thousands of years, Linley was just a young fellow.
“Lord Linley. Oh! Big brother!” Gates and Ankh, those two huge fellows, immediately charged forward, their faces covered in excitement.
“Father!” A deep voice rang out.
Still covered with sweat and wearing just a simple cloak, a sturdily built youngster rushed forward. This youngster was over two meters tall, and as he ran over, he excitedly looked everywhere before his gaze locked on Linley.
“Father.” The sturdy youngster immediately ran towards Linley.
This sturdy youngster’s features seemed to have 70% similarity with Linley’s. Only, he was physically larger than Linley. Linley immediately recognized him. With surprised joy, he said, “Taylor?”
“Father, it’s been ten years.” Taylor immediately embraced Linley.
When Linley had left his home, Taylor had only been twelve, and was just a child. But ten years later, Taylor was already twenty two years old. If he were to stand side by side with Linley and someone were to claim that Linley and Taylor were siblings, many would probably believe it.
After all, Linley’s appearance was virtually unchanged.
“Father, you look exactly like you did ten years ago.” Taylor was so excited that his eyes were turning red. After all, to the twenty two year old Taylor, ten years was indeed an extremely long period of time.
Linley patted Taylor on the head, a smile on his face. Linley had always felt a hint of guilt towards Taylor. A person’s childhood…was the most important period to them in their development, but he, Linley, had never had much time to spend with his son.
“Where’s your sister, Sasha?” Linley asked.
Taylor shook his head. “Sis isn’t at home. She went to the imperial capital. Most likely, she’ll only come back some time later.”
“Your mother?” Linley noticed that Delia hadn’t come out yet.
Right at this moment, a beautiful young lady holding an infant walked out. The beautiful young woman, upon seeing Linley, had a hint of worship in her eyes. Linley glanced at this young lady, puzzled. “Taylor, who is this?”
“Jenny, quick, come on over.” Taylor immediately called to her.
The beautiful young woman walked over, then said, somewhat nervously, “Father!”
“Father?” Linley was somewhat astonished.
Taylor immediately chortled, “Father, come, this is your precious grandson. He was born just three months ago.” Taylor immediately took the infant from the arms of the young lady, then held him out in front of Linley. “Father, look at how cute he is.”
“Grandson?” Linley was rather flabbergasted.
He hadn’t come back in ten years. Not only had his son grown up, he had a son of his own now.
“Haha…Boss. That look on your face…so funny.” Bebe was laughing loudly now, and the others began to laugh as well. Only, they didn’t dare to laugh as wildly as Bebe did.
Linley couldn’t help but clout Taylor on the head. “Taylor, you little rascal. You got married and had a kid without even waiting for your father, me, to come back.” Linley didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. He just stared at his grandson in front of him, with his tender, watery skin, and those adorable, pure, pitch-black eyes staring at Linley in confusion.
As soon as Linley had seen his grandson, he immediately took a liking to this adorable kid.
Linley immediately reached out to hold the infant. Linley was extremely careful. Even when he was picking up those three divine sparks in the Necropolis of the Gods, he hadn’t been as careful as he now was.
“Oh…what a good boy…” Linley held his grandson, a smile blossoming on his face.
Taylor and his wife, ‘Jenny’, glanced at each other, smiles appearing on their faces as well. Jenny whispered into Taylor’s ear, “Taylor, didn’t you say that your lord father ripped a Hellfire Phoenix apart with his bare hands? But your lord father doesn’t seem as terrifying a person as the legends make him out to be.”
Taylor looked at his father, Linley. Right now, Linley looked as though he were holding the rarest of treasures in his arms.
“Taylor, have you picked a name for the child yet?” Linley raised his head to look at Taylor.
“I have. His name is Arnold [A’nuo].” Taylor said.
“Arnold?” Linley lowered his head, looking into Arnold’s pure, jet-black eyes. He said softly, “Arnold, Arnold…” This was his first grandson, and this feeling of holding him filled Linley’s heart with satisfaction and fulfillment.