Although taken by surprise, the group barely managed to survive the initial assault and was able to barely fight them to a standstill.
Unfortunately, because they hadn't been expecting it, their group had the additional members of both Linley and Wharton's children.
Due to the desperation of the Eight Great Clans, they actually stooped so low as to attempt to attack the children with the spiritual-type Divine Ability of the Ashcroft Clan to force Linley's hand.
It had to be remembered that all those with powerful bloodlines and physiques would have a lower fertility rate; the rarer and more powerful said physique or bloodline, the more difficult it would be.
Wharton, whose bloodline matched that of a first-generation descendant whose bloodline was equal to that of an ordinary Divine Beast, found it difficult enough as it was.
Despite having met his wife – who was an ordinary human – over 400 years ago, they had only conceived twice.
So one could imagine how difficult it must've been for Linley, who was effectively an Apex Divine Beast, and Yunaia, a two-way soul mutate, to conceive. They had been trying for well over a thousand years but had only managed to conceive a little under a year ago.
So it came as no surprise that Yunaia, who was the closest to the children at the time, didn't even think, instead acting purely out of instinct as a protective mother when using herself as a shield.
And although as a soul mutate, her soul is far stronger than those at the same level, as a Full God, her soul was only a little stronger than the average High God. In comparison to a commander-level High God Divine Beast who specialised in spiritual attacks, she was far inferior.
Seeing his wife almost lose her life stimulated Linley in ways the Eight Great Clans never saw coming. It was at that moment he made a breakthrough and began his comprehension of *True Water*, finally starting his six-way fusion.
The leap in strength was enough for Linley to single-handedly turn the tables and savagely kill two of the enemy's commanders and force the rest to flee.
Unfortunately, the damage had already been done by then. Yunaia's soul was teetering on the edge, and Linley was anything but an expert on the ways of the soul.
Before leaving the Yulan Plane, Ismarelda – Yunaia's Grandmother and the newly ascended Lesser Sovereign of Water – helped Linley fix his Water-type Sovereign soul-protecting ring. Because of that, he had never feared spiritual attacks, nor had he bothered with them, focusing primarily on his strong point, his physical body and material attacks.
It wasn't just him; ironically, aside from Yunaia herself, none of their group was particularly good with matters pertaining to the soul.
Thankfully, Phusro, though far from an expert of the soul, was still skilled enough to slow down her withering soul, enough to protect her until they returned to the Four Divine Beast Clan, where they would hopefully be able to get her treatment.
And with Oscar being a speed-type Apex Divine Beast, by flying on his back after reverting back to his beast form, they should be able to make it back in under a day instead of the week it would've taken them had they returned by metallic lifeform.
It was then that Ace and the others looked at those remaining from Linley's group, especially Bebe, like they were idiots.
Faye was the one who reminded Bebe that his grandfather was inside the city, a lot closer than the Four Divine Beast Clan's grounds.
Faye didn't need to say any more, especially as there were others still present, but Bebe and the others all understood the hidden meaning.
Regardless of whether or not he was an expert in the ways of the soul, regardless of the fact that it was Divine Darkness Clone present instead of his original body or Sovereign Wind body, Beirut was still a Sovereign. His power and knowledge were almost certainly far superior to any member of the Four Divine Beast Clan.
Bebe and the others all cursed. They knew that with Oscar being the one flying them, no one present would be able to catch them. In fact, it wasn't just them; unless he revealed his ability to use Willpower, not even Ace would be able to catch them.
As such, all they could do was split into two groups. Bebe went back into the city to get Beirut's help, whilst Ace took the others and headed for Skyrite Mountains.
When Bebe went back to Beirut's manor, he was distraught to find that there was a barrier erected around Beirut's personal study preventing others from entering or even spreading their Godrealm over it to pass him a message.
Bebe was frantic; he had no idea that Beirut was currently speaking with Shinji, an Intermediate Sovereign and didn't want to be disturbed; all he knew was that Yunaia desperately needed Beirut's help; unfortunately, there was nothing he could do to get in touch with his grandfather immediately, all he could do was pray Beirut exited the barrier sooner rather than later.
Around 20 or so hours later, Linley, thanks to Oscar, arrived back at Skyrite Mountain with the pale and unconscious Yunaia, Phusro, and Linley's newborn son.
The moment he did, he made a beeline straight for the personal residence of Gisalson Redding – the current patriarch of the Azure Dragon Branch of the Four Divine Beasts Clan.
After explaining what happened, Gisalson took a look at Yunaia's condition; unfortunately, his hands were tied. He was an extremely powerful Commander-level expert, one still even more powerful than Linley, but his area of expertise wasn't in the soul.
Still, all hope wasn't lost. He quickly passed a message throughout the whole clan, summoning each and every expert, especially those who focused on healing and the soul.
One by one, experts came and took a look at Yunaia's condition, but none were able to provide any true help. Not even the two commander-level experts of the Vermillion Bird Branch- Even though their Divine Ability allowed them to use the [Flames of Rebirth] to heal themselves, they couldn't use it on anyone but themselves – the only one capable of using the [Flames of Rebirth] on others was a true Vermilion Bird, and unfortunately, there hadn't been another Vermilion Bird born since their ancestor.
Over the next couple of days, all the Clan's experts were recalled as they hoped to find a way to rescue the wife of their most talented prospect. Unfortunately, those of the Four Divine Beasts Clan were individuals who focused predominantly on combat, specifically via the use of physical and material attacks and with the threat of the Eight Great Clans looming over their heads, there were very few who chose to divide their time to focus on secondary paths like healing, or the soul. As a result, none were able to provide a feasible solution, causing Linley to grow more and more frantic by the second, with him receiving nothing but bad news.
Eventually, though, Linley was blessed with a glimmer of hope. There was an expert of the Vermilion Bird Branch who, whilst only a six-star fiend in terms of combat power, was also an expert in the Edict of Life.
When he took a look at Yunaia's condition, he explained that he understood the way in which to treat Yunaia's condition. Unfortunately, whilst his Divine Clone of Life could perform the method of healing, it was too weak to truly heal her.
He explained that there were only three ways groups of individuals who were capable of saving her currently. The first was a Sovereign; regardless of which sovereign it was, they would easily be able to save her.
The second were commander-level experts in the laws of Life and Death; with their attainments in the ways of the soul, they would definitely be able to save her; unfortunately, he had only reached the six-star fiend level in the Edict of Life and was quite some ways away from that level.
As for the third, that was a Paragon-level expert. Well, the truth was that theoretically, anyone could save her as long as they had Life-type Sovereign's Might.
Life-type Sovereign's Might is extremely powerful. Naturally, its restorative speed is astonishing as well. But Sovereign's Might of any type is, in fact, TOO powerful. The spiritual strength a Highgod could exert over it was not enough to perfectly control it. This would cause the user of Sovereign's Might to emanate a coloured aura over their body. This was caused by the natural leakage of Sovereign's Might, and if even the slightest bit were to leak out and touch Yunaia's soul in an uncontrolled manner, Yunaia's already unstable soul would collapse there and then.
For the vast majority, Sovereign's Might could only be used a single time! This was because once a Highgod used Sovereign's Might, there was no way even a commander-level Highgod would be able to prevent the Sovereign's Might from leaking out and dissipating. Even if they stopped fighting, the Sovereign's Might would still naturally disperse.
There were only two exceptions to this rule. First were Sovereigns. As the creators, they were obviously able to use Sovereign's Might without risking leakage, regardless of whether it was of their nature or another. As for the second, it was paragons. Because of their ability to materialise their Willpower, they, too, were able to wield Sovereign's Might without leakage.
Whilst their Four Divine Beasts Clan had a stash of Sovereign's Might, they hadn't yet been able to give rise to a paragon who could wield it properly to save Yunaia's life.
Hearing that, Linley's face couldn't help but turn ashen. Still, he couldn't say anything as he knew he was right. He had never seen or heard of anyone, not at least at the paragon level, capable of wielding Sovereign's Might without wastage.
Well, that wasn't exactly true; there was one person. Unfortunately, that man was still in the Celestial Realm.
Just as Linley felt his ever-growing despair return in full force, the sound of a familiar voice rang through the halls, catching not only him but everyone present by surprise.
Ace, along with Olivier, Killian, Wukong, and the others, casually strolled in. A calm and leisurely smile on his face as he asked Kestrel – the six-star fiend of the Vermilion Bird Branch who specialised in the Edict of Fate – if one just needed to be able to control Sovereign's Might without waste to save Yunaia.
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