“Thud!” The greatsword slammed against Linley’s body.
Linley had been planning to take this blow head-on, but he suddenly realized that, bizarrely, this actually wasn’t an attack against him at all. This blow was used to block Linley’s charging momentum, while at the same time, Kaiser took advantage of the counter-force to knock himself flying towards Clayde at an astonishing speed.
“Swish!” Bebe once more charged towards Clayde.
“Bam!” That greatsword sliced through the air, blocking Bebe’s way. Bebe used his fierce claws to exchange a vicious blow against the greatsword.
“Clang!”
Bebe only felt a fiery aura emanate from the surface of that greatsword, while at the same time, a fierce gust of battle-qi raged towards him. Bebe immediately dodged quickly, but nonetheless that fiery battle-qi struck his body. However, relying on his astonishing defensive abilities, Bebe only somersaulted through the air once before landing on the ground again.
Kaiser stood in front of Clayde, staring coldly at Linley and Bebe.
“Boss, this guy is really tough!” Bebe’s fur was standing straight up, and he stared fixedly at Kaiser.
Linley could also sense Kaiser’s power. In terms of speed, Kaiser wasn’t a single bit slower than him, and when he struck with his sword, his speed was even more astonishing. This Kaiser was a true, full warrior of the ninth rank, with significant experience as well.
“Who are you? Why are you trying to kill his Majesty?” Sword in hand, Kaiser stared coldly at Linley.
Linley didn’t speak. Tapping his waist, the Bloodviolet Godsword once more appeared in his hands. At the same time, Linley immediately utilized the wind-style supporting spell, Supersonic. A Supersonic spell of the seventh rank was still capable of raising Linley’s speed a bit.
“A double expert, both magus and warrior.” The expression on Kaiser’s face changed.
“Clayde!” Linley’s gutteral voice rang out.
Right now, there was a group of warriors surrounding Clayde, but as far as Linley was concerned, aside from that Kaiser, none of them were capable of opposing him.
“Swish!” Linley furiously stomped the ground, causing the ground to split and crack. Relying on that powerful counterforce, Linley transformed into a merciless black blur and shot straight towards Clayde.
“Whoosh!” Bebe, being spiritually linked with Linley, shot out at the same time.
“Chi! Chi!” The Bloodviolet Godsword transformed into a violet blur of light, piercing directly at Kaiser. With a flip of his wrist, Kaiser’s huge sword moved with surprising agility to block Linley’s Bloodviolet. But just at that moment…
That previously ramrod stiff Bloodviolet Godsword suddenly curved, avoiding Kaiser’s sword and thrusting directly at Kaiser.
It was too close!
Kaiser didn’t have the chance to dodge at all.
“Bam!”
Three centimeters away from Kaiser’s body, the Bloodviolet Godsword suddenly came to a halt, ramming against a layer of blazing red battle-qi that was sprung up to protect Kaiser. As a warrior of the ninth rank, Kaiser was incredibly strong, even a bit more so than Linley.
This blow having failed, Linley didn’t hesitate in the slightest, charging directly towards the nearby Clayde.
“Halt!” Kaiser let out a low shout, about to move to block Linley.
But from the corner of his eyes, Kaiser noticed a black blur suddenly arrive at the back of his neck. Kaiser knew exactly how terrifying this unique magical beast could be, and he didn’t dare to use his battle-qi to forcibly block its fierce claws.
Kaiser hurriedly and agilely pivoted to dodge, putting some distance between him and Bebe. Flipping the greatsword in his hand again, he chopped directly at Bebe.
“Kaiser, come save me!” Clayde called out frantically.
Kaiser couldn’t help but grow anxious. Both Linley and this terrifying magical beast had, without question, the power of a combatant of the ninth rank. What’s more, that magical beast of Linley’s possessed both incredible agility and terrifying defense. Kaiser was confident in his ability to deal with one, but dealing with two was a major headache.
“Slash!”
As the Bloodviolet Godsword cut through the air, it left behind a trail of severed limbs and sprays of blood.
Linley’s dark gold eyes were fixed firmly upon Clayde, and he charged towards Clayde at high speed. Everyone who sought to block him was bisected by the Bloodviolet Godsword in Linley’s hands. Blood had already dyed every inch of Linley’s black scales!
With each step he took, he killed ten people!
“Slash!” After chopping away the last two warriors guarding Clayde, Linley charged directly towards Clayde.
“Don’t, don’t kill me!” Clayde was now truly afraid.
Kaiser was still being entangled by that astonishingly durable Bebe, and simply wasn’t going to be able to come rescue him. As for the other warriors, they were nothing more than an afterthought to Linley. The power of Linley in his complete Dragonform was enough that he would only fear a combatant of the Saint level. Even most warriors of the ninth rank would not be enough to make Linley afraid.
“Clayde, die.”
This time, Linley didn’t use his sword. With his right claw, he swiped viciously at Clayde’s neck. He wanted to rip Clayde to death with his own hands.
“Ah!” Clayde hurriedly flew backwards at high speed, falling against a manmade hill.
But with a single twitch of his legs, Linley once more appeared in front of him. Those fierce claws arrived directly in front of Clayde’s eyes.
“Father. Mother. I’ve finally avenged you.” Linley’s heart was shaking, and he brought his right claw down with force. The totally unprotected Clayde, in front of Linley, was like a toothless, claw-less animal.
Clayde’s eyes were filled with terror and disbelief.
“Thruuuuum.”
An extremely strange vibration suddenly emanated from the sky. In the blink of an eye, it totally surrounded Linley, making him feel as though he was sunken in quicksand. His entire body had been bound, and he couldn’t use any more force with his right claws.
If Linley were to use just a bit more force, he would be able to sever Clayde’s neck. But Linley wasn’t able to move in the slightest.
Clayde stared, stunned, and then he exulted wildly.
“Ha… hahahaha!”
Clayde began to laugh loudly, and then he slowly retreated several steps before raising his head to stare at the sky. At this moment, a white-robed figure slowly floated over from up above in the sky. It was his Holiness, the Holy Emperor Heidens.
“Your Holiness.” Clayde immediately bowed respectfully.
All of the warriors nearby, Kaiser included, were stunned. But then immediately, they all bowed very respectfully and called out respectfully, “Your Holiness!”
The highest authority within the Holy Union. The man with the authority to depose a ruler from his rule. The Holy Emperor, Heidens, had appeared.
The Holy Emperor walked one step at a time towards Linley, and as he did, Linley suddenly felt as though he had escaped from the quicksand and could now move. But facing the Holy Emperor’s gaze, Linley only felt his heart quiver.
“Your Holiness!” At this time, another squad rushed over, with two Cardinals leading them, along with several Executors from the Ecclesiastical Tribunal.
“Heathen!” Guillermo, seeing the fully Dragonformed Linley, was the first to speak, his face changing.
The Holy Emperor Heidens calmly glanced at Guillermo. Guillermo instantly fell silent, not daring to make another sound.
“Get out.”
Linley’s gutteral voice rang out, causing the Holy Emperor Heidens to look at Linley with some surprise. Despite being affected by the power of his presence, this man still was resisting? Heidens knew very well that his presence was even more powerful than the presence of most Saint-level combatants, because Heidens was carrying several val
uable treasures of the Radiant Church on him.
“Surrender,” Heidens spoke.
“Whoosh!”
Linley suddenly moved, transforming into a blur as he flew towards Clayde, while striking in an arc towards Clayde with that iron-whip-like draconic tail. Without question, the terrifying power of Linley’s tail was enough to kill Clayde with one blow.
Heidens suddenly made a waving gesture with his right hand. “WHAP!” Linley’s body was sent flying far away, slamming into a distant manmade hill. Rocks shattered, and blood began to seep out all across Linley’s body. From this single blow, his astonishingly sturdy scales had been shattered to the point of allowing blood to be drawn.
Heidens glanced at Guillermo.
Guillermo understood what Heidens wanted. He shouted an order to the Executors of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal. “Take this demon away!”
Instantly, four Executors charged towards Linley.
“Boss!” Bebe’s voice rang out in Linley’s mind.
Linley was half-kneeling against the manmade hill, and blood was dribbling out of his mouth. “Bebe. Leave. Leave now. While they haven’t noticed you, leave!”
“I won’t leave.” Bebe was crouching off in the distance behind the corner of a wall, but continued to mentally converse with Linley.
“No. With the Holy Emperor present, we no longer have any chance at all. He hasn’t noticed you yet, so you have a chance to slip away. Bebe… leave now. I must kill that Clayde. Even if I die, I need you to help me kill him. If even you are caught, in the future I will have no chance at all.”
“Boss…”
“Leave! Or else, even if I die, I won’t forgive you!” Linley roared mentally.
In the corner of that wall, Bebe stared at Linley, his little eyes filled with fury, grief, and an unwillingness to depart.
“Leave now!”
Linley mentally howled with fury at him. At this moment, those four Executors had walked to Linley’s side and reached out, intending to subdue Linley. But that half-kneeling Linley suddenly rose to his feet, like a praying mantis attacking from ambush.
“Swish!” A violet light flashed. All four of them were bisected at the waist.
“Die!” Linley charged towards Clayde once again.
The expression on Clayde’s face changed.
“Even if I die, I will kill you first!” Linley howled with rage.
“Hrmph!”
The eyes of the Holy Emperor Heidens flashed coldly, and he let out a sneer. His right hand slapped in Linley’s general direction, and suddenly, a terrifyingly powerful force appeared out of nowhere, surrounding and pressing down Linley from all sides. Linley felt as though an enormous mountain had just slammed onto his body.
“Bam!” Linley was slammed into the ground.
“Crack!” Linley felt that the bones in his body were suddenly broken in over ten different places. Totally paralyzed, he lay there on the ground, unable to move again. Nobody, no matter how strong, would be able to move with so many bones broken.
“Take him away,” Guillermo once again ordered.
“Boss…” Seeing the sorry state Linley was in, tears were flowing down Bebe’s face.
Linley was lying on the ground, totally paralyzed. All the bones in his arms, legs and ribs were shattered. He couldn’t move at all. The black scales covering him were in even worse shape, and blood flowed out from the flesh beneath the scales, dying his entire body red.
“Boss.”
“Leave! Bebe, leave!” Linley was mentally roaring with rage.
Several Executors of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal roughly lifted Linley up. Perhaps it was because they had just seen Linley murder four of their colleagues, but their hands were not gentle, and as they carried him, they didn’t pay any attention to his wounds. This sort of carrying method caused Linley’s entire body to be filled with agony.
As he was lifted and carried away, Linley continued to stare unblinkingly at Clayde.
“Haha, haha…” Clayde began to laugh again.
Staring at Clayde with those dark gold eyes, Linley roared furiously, “If I don’t kill you, I won’t rest! Even in death, I won’t accept it!” Linley’s voice made the heart of that far-off Bebe quiver.
Hearing these words, Clayde’s heart couldn’t help but quiver as well.
“I, won’t, accept it!” Two trails of tears cascaded down from Linley’s eyes. He had been so close to victory. But in the end, he had still failed to kill Clayde.
32
In Dire Straits
Within the hotel at the end of the Greenleaf Road, Yale and a group of people were waiting.
“Young master. His Majesty suffered an attack from some sort of demonic creature at Lord Linley’s manor. Right now, many palace guards as well as the warriors of many noble clans have gone to protect his Majesty,” a golden-haired man in front of Yale said respectfully.
Yale was startled.
He knew that Linley wanted to kill Clayde, and now, Clayde was the target of an assassination attempt. Nine out of ten, this had something to do with Linley.
“I wonder if this so-called ‘demonic creature’ is actually Third Bro.” Yale began to worry.
But Yale could only wait here quietly. He had no other options. Shortly afterwards, another report came. “Young master Yale, that demonic creature has begun a wild slaughterfest. Too many people have died. Lord Linley’s manor has become a river of blood, and is littered with corpses.”
Yale secretly felt shocked.
“Third Bro is really formidable. But I don’t know if Third Bro will be able to escape in the end.” Yale could only continue to wait.
One report after another continued to come.
“Young master Yale, that demonic monster’s violet sword is far too powerful. Wherever that violet flash appears, death follows. Countless people have died within the manor. Of the palace guards, many platoons and even entire companies have been wiped out.”
Upon hearing this, Yale became even more certain.
“A violet sword? Could it be that Bloodviolet sword?” Yale, Reynolds, and George all knew that Linley was in possession of a Bloodviolet Godsword. In particular, Yale suddenly recollected something about Linley’s clan. “The Baruch clan is the clan of the Dragonblood Warriors. Can it be that Linley transformed into a Dragonblood Warrior?”
The so-called ‘demonic creature’ could very well be Linley after having transformed into a Dragonblood Warrior.
Thinking about how his beloved bro was currently being attacked by thousands of men and beasts and was engaging in a wild battle, Yale couldn’t help but worry even more.
“Third Bro!”
Yale’s fists clenched, relaxed, clenched, relaxed. All of the people present could sense his nervousness.
“Young master Yale. His Holiness, the Holy Emperor appeared. He heavily injured that demonic creature, and it has already been dragged back to the Radiant Temple.” The final report came back. Yale’s face turned white, devoid of all blood.
Upon hearing the words, “His Holiness, the Holy Emperor appeared”, Yale knew that things had just gone from bad to worse.
“Squeak squeak!” A black blur suddenly appeared within the hotel.
“Bebe.” Seeing this Shadowmouse, Yale instantly ran over to it.
“Bebe. Where is Third Bro?” Yale immediately looked at Bebe, asking desperately.
The little Shadowmouse, Bebe, didn’t have any of his usual exuberance. He only stared at Yale, then lowered his head and let out a few dejected squeaks. Yale could sense the grief and pain hidden within Bebe’s eyes. Although Bebe was a magical beast, his intelligence was no lower than that of a human.
“Swish.” Bebe’s body flickered, and he suddenly disappeared from in front of Yale.
Yale was startled.
“Young master Yale,” a nearby person said softly.
“Go back. Go find my Second Uncle.” Yale suddenly rose to his feet and issued orders to his men.
; Within one of the more secluded private rooms on the ninth floor of the Radiant Temple. Linley had been tossed inside the room like a dying dog. For Linley to be imprisoned within the Radiant Temple was actually still a testament to how highly the Radiant Church valued Linley.
The Radiant Temple was the heart of the Radiant Church.
This was a place which even Saint-level combatants dared not to trespass into.
“Ah.” All the scales on Linley’s body had already retracted back inside. Currently, Linley’s body was covered with blood, and he had more than ten visible wounds. These wounds were all caused by the Holy Emperor, Heidens. His visible wounds were very serious. But his internal wounds were even worse.
The bones of all four of his limbs had been broken. Linley could only grit his teeth as he tried to force his body to move, but all he could accomplish was resting his head against the wall.
“Linley.”
Doehring Cowart flew out of the Coiling Dragon ring. He looked at Linley, and his eyes were filled with affection and helplessness.
“Grandpa Doehring.” Linley looked at Doehring Cowart.
Doehring Cowart sighed mentally towards Linley. “Linley, do you feel any regret?”
“Regret?”
Linley shook his head. “No. In fact, in this life, I have only two desires. The first is to reclaim the lost glory of my clan. The second is to reach the highest pinnacle of power and training that I can reach. But if I do not gain my revenge, I probably won’t even be able to sleep well. I would be in torment my entire life.”
Doehring Cowart nodded. He could understand Linley’s frame of mind.
“I lost. Haha. I lost.”
Linley laughed lightly. His entire body hurt. Right now, most likely any person at all could easily trample him.
He lost!
As soon as the Holy Emperor had appeared, Linley knew.
He lost. And losing meant death.
Linley had been aware of this long ago. In this world, many people died every day. Linley never believed that it was impossible for him to die.
“Linley, you probably won’t die,” Doehring Cowart said.
“Huh?” Linley looked questioningly at Doehring Cowart.
Dragonblood: Book 2 of the Coiling Dragon Saga Page 25