章節 226: Book 6: Chapter 49 – The Gap
Word quickly spread about the upcoming battle between the "Son of Heaven" and the "Little Dragon King". And as expected, there wasn't a soul, be they ally or enemy, who wasn't interested in watching.
In the centre of the Capital of the New Yulan Empire was a large but simple and elegant temple. It was the Temple of Serenity – home of the Empire's High Priest.
As busy as the Yulan Empire was, the Temple of Serenity usually remained free of traffic, with Catherine preferring to spend her time in solitude, but today was different.
Today, the main hall of the temple was filled with people – each of whom was a peak expert, the weakest being a peak-stage saint, but strangely enough, each of those peak saints was knelt down, not daring to raise their heads in the slightest.
In front of them were two thrones; one was sat on by the Yulan's Empire's newly crowned God of War – O'Brien. The other was sat on by a woman with long, gracefully flowing blonde hair, who wore an emerald green mask and a long and simple white robe.
It was clear from her appearance that this woman wanted to hide her appearance as much as possible, but try as she may, she still remained a nation-toppling beauty. The only thing that kept others from daring to even think about outwardly admiring her beauty was her overwhelming power.
She was Catherine, the ruler and spiritual guardian of the Yulan Empire and one of the continent's foremost experts.
Standing before one deity would be taxing for most saints, so one could imagine the pressure felt when standing before two of them, but funnily enough, that wasn't the reason for the sombre mood in the hall.
No, the real reason was because of the news of the upcoming battle between Ace and Linley. As one of the most powerful nations in the world, of course, they wanted to watch, if for no other reason than to see the might of the two youngsters who were on track to become their greatest adversary. Unfortunately, they were troubled by what most would consider a simple matter – who to send.
They knew that for an occasion such as this, all the experts of the Pavilion would undoubtedly be there. And even though Aiden had already repeated that the Pavilion wouldn't take action against them, they'd be lying if they said they weren't worried.
After all, the Yin-Yang Pavilion were simply too powerful. Two experts with the power of a deity, and three at the prime saint level…
Even though with the amalgamation of four Empires, the current Yulan Empire could only be described as a behemoth, with far more saints than any other side, if it really came down to it, they had no confidence when it came down to going up against the Pavilion.
And even if they were able to triumph in the end by using their superior numbers. What cost would it come at? How many of their experts – saint or deity – would have to sacrifice their lives?
The Pavilion had made it clear that as long as they weren't provoked directly, they would do nothing to any of the other forces, even if those forces were to kill their Acolytes. Still, that didn't make them any more willing to go anywhere near those monsters.
Seeing how none of her saints were willing to go to the battle, a helpless sigh escaped Catherine's mouth. Still, she didn't blame them. The Pavilion really were too scary; if it really were a trap they were walking into, only O'Brien and herself would stand a slight chance of escaping with their lives, but with the nature of O'Brien's relationship with them, there was a chance that they really might attack on sight.
Unfortunately, they had been backed into a corner. Even if they didn't want to go, they had to! She looked down at the invitation on her lap as her jade-coloured eyes narrowed slightly.
With Ace being so bold as to send an invitation directly to her if they refused to go, it would be no different to the admitting to the world they were scared. And even if they were, they couldn't afford to outwardly show it.
"Looks like I'll have to go personally," Catherine uttered gently, her gentle voice seemingly able to soothe the spirits of those who listened. "This will be my first time meeting the so-called 'Son of Heaven.'; I really want to see if he's as impressive as the rumours say."
.
.
.
At the same time, deep within the forest of Darkness, Lord Beirut was looking at the invitation in his hand with a hint of a smile.
With the difference in power between him and all the other experts on the continent, it was rare for anyone to even attempt to interact with him.
This was the first time in thousands of years that he had received an invitation from anyone on the continent. For it to have come from a mortal…
"Interesting," Beirut chortled. "Since he dared to invite me, it'd be rude of me not to go."
.
.
.
Ace's Gol Duchy made sure to extend an invitation to all the major powers and top experts on the continent, and without exception, each of them made their preparations to attend. This may well be the first so many experts gathered in one place outside of the opening of the Necropolis of the Gods. Still, with the fame of Ace and Linley, it was to be expected.
Even those ordinairy saints scattered around the continent who didn't receive an invite still hurriedly made their way to the mountain range of the Magical Beasts. The only ones who didn't dare to attend were the mortals.
With so many saints and deities gathering in one place, how could a mortal even dare to attend? Still, it didn't stop them from fervently gossiping and placing bets on who they thought would win.
At the same time, in the Baruch Duchy, Linley was currently sitting in his grand hall drinking merrily with three other young men.
With Linley's current strength and status, there were very few qualified to share a drink with him, and aside from the higher-ups from his dukedom and the young Acolytes from the Pavilion, those who were qualified were all saint-level experts.
But these three were different. Although they weren't family by blood, they were no different than brothers.
They were his three good brothers and former roommates from his days in the Ernst Institute: Yale Dawson, heir to the Dawson Conglomerate; Reynolds Dunstan, former heir to the Dunstan Clan; and George Walsh, formerly of the Yulan Empire.
"Cheers to you, third bro," the long, blonde-haired Yale Dawson raised his glass happily. "Not only have you reclaimed your Baruch Clan's former glory, you have already formed your own Duchy and are mere days from transforming it into a Kingdom.
I always knew you were destined for greatness, but never would I have imagined that your rise would come so quickly!"
"And cheers to you, Boss Yale," Linley merrily replied. "As the current next in line to inherit your Dawson Conglomerate, your status is no worse than mine."
"You jest," Yale sighed. "As a saint, how can my status compare to yours? Plus, I can only claim this position, one, because of my relationship with you and two because that cousin of mine has no interest in running the conglomerate."
"That's not true, Boss Yale," the blue-haired George Walsh shook his head. "Although your cousin – Joel – is more powerful than you, there is no denying that when it comes to running a business, you are second to none. Your family know that and chose you because of that."
"Second bro is right," Linley nodded. "You shouldn't underestimate your ability. Without you, there's no way I would've been able to bring my Clan to its current heights so quickly."
"It's also because of your foresight and quick thinking, Boss Yale, that I was able to escape from my Clan and make it here unharmed," Reynolds nodded.
"If you all continue to praise me, I'll truly grow big-headed," Yale chortled before a sombre expression formed on his face. "Still, I can't believe your family would dare act against you like that, fourth bro."
Hearing that, a cold glint flashed across Linley's eyes as he thought about the danger Reynolds faced because of his relationship with him.
It was no secret that Linley viewed each of the young men in the room as though they were truly his brothers. As such, when the alliance between the four nations was formalised, the Radiant Church asked their now countrymen, formerly from the O'Brien Empire, to capture the young Dunstan Clan heir so that they could use his bond with Linley to their advantage.
Thankfully, the Dawson Conglomerate's intelligence-gathering capabilities were top-tier. The moment Yale heard about the amalgamation, he guessed the Church would try something like that. As such, he immediately sent some of his organisation's strongest experts to fetch his fourth bro before any harm could come to him.
His men arrived just as the Dunstan Clan were preparing to hand the young Reynolds over. The emissaries from the Church tried to threaten the Dawson Conglomerate into handing Reynolds over, but the Dawson Conglomerate had long since picked the side of Linley, Ace, and more specifically, the Yin-Yang Pavilion. As such, they paid the experts from the church no heed and swiftly took Reynolds away.
The church had wanted to try something similar with George Walsh back when they initially allied themselves with the Yulan Empire a little after Apocalypse Day. Unfortunately, they were too slow.
Though young, due to his impressive talent as a mage, as well as his friendship with Yale and Linley, George had been named the head of his family. As such, the moment he learned of the Church's alliance with the Yulan Empire, he didn't hesitate in taking his family away, not wanting anything to do with an Empire that would ally itself with a force that opposed his third brother. To him, this wasn't even a choice.
He didn't know that the Church would try and target him, but before they even got the chance to act, George had long since led his family out of the Yulan Empire, taking refuge under the banner of the Dawson Conglomerate, whilst he took up the position of right-hand man, and advisor of his eldest brother, Boss Yale.
"Let us not talk about that now," Reynolds replied, swiftly changing the topic, suppressing the pain of his family's betrayal. "I'm more concerned with your upcoming battle against that Gol D. Ace, third bro."
How could Linley fail to sense the unwillingness and resentment his fourth bro held? Still, if Reynolds didn't wish to speak about it, he wouldn't force him.
"What's there to be concerned about?" Linley chuckled calmly. "It's just another battle."
"But this is a battle against the supposed leader of our generation," George replied. "Even I have to admit, his talent is frightening."
"What are you saying?" Yale retorted. "The purity of third bro's bloodline has even surpassed his ancestor's! How could he lose? Right, third bro?"
"Are you confident?" Reynolds asked, a hint of concern seeping into his voice.
Hearing their questions, Linley surprised them all by erupting in laughter. "I have absolutely no confidence."
"What?" Reynolds asked. "None?"
"None," Linley shook his head casually.
"If you have no confidence, then you shouldn't fight, third bro," George frowned.
"That's right," Yale added. "A battle between experts at your level could easily result in the loss of a life!"
As much as the trio supported Linley in all of his endeavours, they couldn't get behind Linley risking his life in such a manner.
"Don't worry," Linley smiled calmly. "Although I'm not confident about defeating Ace, I am 100% confident about preserving my life.
Plus, I really want to know how big the gap between us is now."
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