"One of the Five Great Sovereigns?" Lin Lei's eyes narrowed involuntarily. The Five Great Sovereigns of the Gebada Plane Prison—every last one of them was an incredibly powerful expert. Azure Flame was one of the Five Great Sovereigns, and this Odin, who styled himself the "Evil Sovereign," stood on equal footing with him. Odin's strength had to be at a staggering level.
"Big Brother and Second Brother's deaths… were they connected to him?" Lin Lei couldn't help but ask.
"Yes, Third Brother. You know, Second Brother George had exceptional magical talent, and he trained fairly diligently… More than a hundred years after you left, he reached the Saint Realm. He could have had eternal life, but—"
Rein's face had gone a sickly, dark green, his anger clearly boiling over, though he was holding it back so he could keep speaking. "The first time Odin struck was in the capital of the Yulan Empire. In the blink of an eye… Odin destroyed nearly half of the capital. He also had a group of subordinates, all of whom had reached the Deity level!"
"Odin issued an order: within the capital's borders, every being at the Saint Realm and above was to be killed. No one was to be spared!"
"Second Brother… 'George'… was killed at that time." His voice remained low, but as he spoke, tears streamed down Rein's face.
Though Lin Lei had steeled himself, his mind still went blank. He could still clearly remember George—the gentlest of the four brothers, the one with the best temperament, the one who bore his share of responsibility. "Second Brother… he's really gone?" Lin Lei couldn't believe it. George, who had such grand ambitions, was just… dead.
A brother, cut down like this. Lin Lei would not let it rest.
"This Odin—he has to die," Lin Lei said, his face dark with fury.
"Brother," Wotton urged.
"Third Brother—" Rein called out at the same time.
"Rein, you… you said…" A trembling voice cut in. Dilia, who stood beside Lin Lei, was staring at Rein with eyes full of worry and dread. "You said everyone at the Saint Realm and above in the entire capital was killed? My brother? What about my brother?"
In the Leyenne family, the only one besides Dilia who had reached the Saint Realm was Dikexi.
Nearly two thousand years had passed. The relatives of those days would surely have turned to dust long ago.
But this time Dilia had returned, she had especially wanted to see her elder brother "Dikexi"—that genius brother who had looked after her since childhood.
"Dikexi?" Rein blinked.
"Yes, my brother! My brother—he's still alive, right?" Dilia's body was faintly trembling.
"Dilia." Lin Lei instinctively took hold of Dilia's hand, and he could clearly feel it shaking.
"Dikexi is dead!" Wotton said. "At that time, nearly ten Saint Realm experts in the capital were all killed. Dikexi was among them. That Odin and his subordinates were far too powerful—among his followers were even High Gods. Such overwhelming strength simply could not be opposed. How could any Saint Realm expert possibly escape?"
Dilia's face drained of color in an instant.
"My brother is dead?" Dilia tilted her head back, and two lines of clear tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Dilia," Lin Lei said quickly.
Dilia suddenly opened her eyes, her teeth clenched in hatred. "Odin—I will kill him!" She turned to Lin Lei. "Lin Lei… I will kill him. I swear it!"
"You will, you will," Lin Lei echoed, his own killing intent surging.
"Don't." Taylor was frantic. "Mother, Father, you mustn't go… really, that Odin is far too powerful. Back then, Odin even charged toward our Dragon Blood Castle. It was only Lord Belutte who stepped in to stop him. Lord Belutte told us… this Odin is considered one of the top experts even in the Higher Planes."
"That's right," Rein added urgently. "Third Brother, you absolutely must not go and risk your life."
"I remember Lord Belutte mentioned something about a Seven Star Demon. He said Odin qualifies as a Seven Star Demon," Sassa chimed in.
They all clearly remembered the day Odin had come charging in, and the day Lord Belutte had appeared. They hated Odin to the bone, but Lord Belutte had also warned them gravely just how powerful he was—going after him would be suicide.
"A Seven Star Demon?" Lin Lei's gaze turned icy cold.
Beside him, Bei Bei snarled, "Even if he were a Shura, he'd still die!"
Rein and the others exchanged confused looks. They didn't understand what either "Seven Star Demon" or "Shura" truly meant.
"Oh, right—what about Big Brother Yeru?" Lin Lei suddenly remembered.
Yeru was part of the Dawson Trading Company. Even if Odin wanted to dominate the empire, how did Yeru end up involved?
"Third Brother, calm yourself first. Don't let your blood go to your head," Rein said quickly. In Rein's, Wotton's, and the others' eyes, what worried them most was that Lin Lei would fly into a rage and go straight after Odin. In their view, even if Lin Lei was a genius, he'd only trained for close to two thousand years. Odin was a monster far more terrifying than the Adkins and the others of old.
"Fine, I won't lose my head. Keep going," Lin Lei said, though even as the words left his mouth, fury raged like a bonfire in his chest.
Whether it was Second Brother's death or Dilia's brother's death—revenge had to be served.
"All right, I'll tell you." Rein closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again, though he couldn't keep the glistening of tears from his eyes. "Big Brother Yeru wasn't very diligent in his training when he was young. Of us four brothers, he had the poorest aptitude… He plateaued at the Eighth Level Mage stage. But that didn't stop him from serving as the head of the trading company."
Lin Lei nodded slightly.
He still remembered Yeru once saying his dream was to make the Dawson Trading Company swallow the other two great trading companies and become the strongest and largest trading house on the entire Yulan Continent.
"Back then, both the Yulan Empire and the O'Brien Empire had been restored, but they had far too few experts and far too little strength. Across the entire Yulan Continent… the Baruch Empire was the most powerful force," Rein continued slowly. "With our support, the Dawson Trading Company naturally thrived and kept expanding. The other two great trading companies were squeezed out and absorbed. Eventually, they completely collapsed and were devoured by the Dawson Trading Company. Big Brother Yeru achieved his goal and was overjoyed. I, Second Brother, and Big Brother Yeru all got together to celebrate properly."