Bertie’s fame was fairly well known throughout the Nightblaze Prefecture, and he was a fairly powerful expert. At the very least, he wasn’t someone whom the likes of them could stand against.
“Flee!”
Without hesitating at all, the tiger-headed warrior and the gray-robed man transformed into multiple shadows, fleeing at high speed.
If a powerful Highgod wished to flee, other Highgods generally wouldn’t be able to kill them.
“Hmph.” The silver-robed elder sneered, then glanced sideways at Stirton.
Stirton immediately revealed a smile on his face.
“You handle affairs here. I’m going back now,” Bertie said, and then he exploded, transforming into a large amount of black light which then disappeared.
Stirton looked at the surrounding, astonished people. In a bright voice, he said, “Warriors of the Golden Wolf Tribe and the Snow Tiger Tribe, you now have the choice of joining our Black Dragon Tribe. But of course, you can resist as well. If you choose resistance…” Stirton let out a cold laugh.
The warriors of the two tribes looked at each other.
Now that Klotman was dead, the Golden Wolf Tribe was finished. The Snow Tiger Tribe’s power had dropped greatly as well.
“Now of course, your family and friends can join our Black Dragon Tribe as well.” Stirton laughed brightly. “Our Black Dragon Tribe will definitely bring you more wealth and security than you previously had. If you agree to join our tribe, then sheath your weapons.”
Those God-level warriors looked at each other. Some of the Gods of the Golden Wolf Tribe sheathed their weapons. Their leader was dead. Naturally, they had to surrender. Without the protection of a tribe, their lives would be very difficult. After the first few people began to surrender, the others began to surrender and choose to join the Black Dragon Tribe as well. To them, the identity of their leader didn’t make much of a difference.
“He was the one that killed my big brother!” Krate growled softly as he stared at a distant person. Those surrendered warriors had some enmities now with many of the survivors of the Black Dragon Tribe. Only Stirton’s presence in the Black Dragon Tribe was too intimidating, so no one dared to say anything. But one could imagine that in the future, the Black Dragon Tribe would have quite a few internal struggles.
“Hmph.” Stirton glanced out of the corner of his eyes, seeing the hatred in some of the eyes of his tribesmen. He just let out a soft laugh. He didn’t care about the deaths of a few tribesmen.
This was the Infernal Realm. Survival of the fittest was the natural law of this place!
In the blink of an eye, nearly half a year passed. The battle of half a year ago had actually caused the population of the Black Dragon Tribe to increase greatly. In particular, a majority of the Golden Wolf Tribe’s tribesmen had joined in. The Black Dragon Tribe’s population reached nearly thirty thousand.
In particular, the number of God-level warriors had increased to nearly three thousand.
Stirton had wanted to annihilate the Snow Tiger Tribe, but afterwards, he discovered that the Snow Tiger Tribe had already moved away from their original location. Clearly, the tiger-headed leader, Raschell had predicted long ago that Stirton would come for revenge. Knowing he wouldn’t be able to resist, he had immediately led his people elsewhere.
At Linley’s residence.
“Krate, if you want revenge now, your only choice is to endure. Your current power is far inferior to your enemy’s. Right now, he doesn’t know that you are his enemy. You can calmly train. There will come a day when you will have a chance to take revenge,” Linley advised.
This entire time, Krate had wanted to get revenge for his big brother. But his enemy was a God, after all. Krate’s power was far inferior to his opponent’s.
“I know, Linley.” Krate’s face was sunken, but he nodded.
“Boom!”
A vibration came from outside.
Linley mused, “It seems there’s a battle outside again.”
The nearby Delia sighed as well and said, “Thousands of members of the Black Dragon Tribe died half a year ago during that battle. Many of their family and friends are still alive. Of course they want revenge! Fortunately, that battle was so chaotic that the vast majority don’t know who the killers of their loved ones were. Otherwise, the tribe would be in a state of chaos.”
Linley nodded in agreement.
“Who cares if it is in chaos or not?!” Bebe laughed coldly. “As long as they don’t cause trouble for us. If they do, we’ll kill any who come!”
“Krate, if you don’t mind, I can help you get revenge,” Bebe said quite magnanimously.
“No need.” Krate’s gaze was cold. “There will come a day when I personally get revenge. Linley, Bebe, I won’t disturb you any further. I’m going back now.” After this experience, Krate was no longer as cheerful as he had been in the past.
Soon after Krate’s departure, someone else came. It was a familiar figure; Buffett.
“Linley, didn’t you want to go to Royalwing City? Tomorrow, our Black Dragon Tribe will send a group of people on a metallic creature to head out. If you want to go, each of you needs to prepare five inkstones.” Buffett reminded them with a laugh.
“Truly?” Bebe was the first to stand up.
Linley and Delia were greatly overjoyed as well.
They had already waited quite a long while for this day.
“Mr. Buffett, thank you so much, truly.” Linley felt great gratitude in his heart. He would finally be able to leave the Black Dragon Tribe.
Buffett let out a long sigh, then laughed, “Linley, actually, when last time you refused to join the army, I knew that you didn’t want to stay at the Black Dragon Tribe. Actually, leaving is fine.” Buffett instructed, “But Linley, Royalwing City isn’t a place where just anyone can stay. You need to make some preparations.”
“Right. I understand.” Linley’s mood was excellent right now.
Early next dawn, Linley, Delia, and Bebe first went to bid farewell to some of the friends they had made in the Black Dragon Tribe. “Krate, no matter what happens, don’t act without thinking,” Linley advised.
“Linley, the Infernal Realm is vast and boundless. Royalwing City is one of the ten cities of the Nightblaze Prefecture. The Black Dragon tribe is just a small place. That place is a large city! You have to work hard to stabilize your footing in Royalwing City. That won’t be an easy task.” Krate actually encouraged Linley rather than vice versa. Linley couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Don’t worry. A small affair like this can’t possibly stop me.” Bebe rubbed his nose, laughing delightedly.
“The metallic creature has come,” Delia suddenly spoke.
Raising his head, Linley saw that in the air above Stirton’s black castle, a metallic creature was there, having transformed into a black dragon while hovering in mid-air. A number of people, spread throughout the Black Dragon Tribe, began to fly towards it. Linley, Delia, and Bebe bid farewell to their friends, then flew towards the metallic creature as well.
“Farewell, Black Dragon Tribe.” Linley lowered his head, looking down at the slowly disappearing Black Dragon Tribe and its mountains.
This was the first place where Linley had settled down in upon arriving at the Infernal Realm. In the future, he would most likely never return to this place again.
9
Omnipresent Danger
The metallic creature that had transformed into an enormous black dragon coiled in the air mid-way up the mountain. All of the members of the Black Dragon who wished to head to Royalwing City all flew over, while a young, muscular man stood at the flank of the metallic creature, opening the doorway.
“All of you, come. Everyone who wishes to go to Royalwing City, five inkstones each!” the young, muscular warrior called out loudly in a disdainful manner.
Those who wanted to go Royalwing City numbered over a hundred. Linley’s group naturally was amongst them.
Five inkston
es each. The three of them needed to pay fifteen inkstones. Originally, when selling off those four Demigod artifacts, they had acquired twenty inkstones. More than half was now being used up, just like that.
“It really is expensive!” Bebe muttered in a low voice.
“Didn’t you hear what Buffett said?” Linley said softly. “This metallic creature is reserved for the members of the tribe only, and only members of the tribe are qualified to pay five inkstones for passage in a group. The members of other tribes aren’t even qualified to enter this metallic creature.”
As they spoke, it now came to Linley’s turn.
“Three of us.” Linley indicated, then withdrew two of the long inkstones, each one equivalent to ten inkstones.
The muscular young man accepted them, then gave Linley five smaller inkstones. Impatiently, he said, “Hurry up. Next.” Linley’s group immediately entered the metallic creature’s interior.
The inside of the metallic creature was extremely large. It was separated into a forward cabin and a rear cabin. Those who paid five inkstones like Linley’s group were all placed in the rear cabin, which had a large number of seats automatically created by the metallic creature itself.
The seats were created in rows of four each. Linley’s group of three naturally selected the same row.
“I want the window.” Bebe immediately sat on the inside, which allowed him to see through the metallic creature’s translucent sides towards the outside. Delia sat next to Linley on the outside.
“Finally, we’re leaving the Black Dragon Tribe.” Linley and Delia exchanged a laugh, their hands coming together. As one tribesman after another entered, the spaces in the rear cabin began to fill up. A tousled, jade-haired youngster laughed as he greeted Linley, then sat down next to him.
“Hi there. My name is Daebra!” the jade-haired youth said in a very friendly manner towards Linley, seated next to him.
“I am Linley.” Linley nodded in a friendly manner.
In the Infernal Realm, one’s status was primarily determined by one’s power. This Daebra was only a Demigod… Daebra had the sense that the woman (Delia) and the youngster (Bebe) had auras that caused him to feel fear. He felt that Linley, however, should be a Demigod.
“Linley, why are you headed to Royalwing City?” Daebra asked curiously.
“Me? This is my first time in the Infernal Realm. I want to take a look in Royalwing City. I’ve never gone there before. You?” Linley asked with a calm laugh.
Daebra lowered his voice. “I want to sell a divine artifact, but selling it in the tribe is too disadvantageous. Thus I decided to go sell it at Royalwing City. This was my good fortune; half a year ago, during that big battle, I was lucky enough to snatch up a God artifact.
During that battle, many Gods had fallen.
At that time, Linley and the other two had killed three Gods, then seized their divine artifacts, sparks, and interspatial rings. During battles, tribesmen who acquired any ordinary items didn’t need to offer it to the chief; the items went to whoever acquired them. This was the rule of the tribe.
“Your luck really isn’t bad,” Linley laughed calmly and said a few words of praise.
“Rumble…”
The metallic creature moved, and a wild surge of energy was released as it instantly transformed into a blur, disappearing from the air above the mountain and departing from the Black Dragon Tribe.
“It’s begun,” Linley murmured to himself.
“From here to Royalwing City will take half a month or so. This half a month will be very boring,” the jade-haired youth next to Linley, ‘Daebra’, said in a somewhat resigned manner.
“Half a month?” Linley had a thought.
He remembered back to what Krate had said; the city closest to the Black Dragon Tribe, ‘Royalwing City’, was over ten million kilometers away from Black Dragon Tribe. Since they would arrive in half a month, that meant that this metallic creature was capable of moving roughly a million kilometers a day.
“Pipe down!” Suddenly, an icy shout rang out from up front. Linley and the others turned to look, and saw that at the corridor between the rear cabin and the front cabin, a golden-haired elder entered the rear cabin, followed by several Gods.
“Lord Edmond has come as well,” the jade-haired Daebra said softly in surprise.
“Who is Edmond?” Linley lowered his voice as well.
Daebra explained, “Lord Edmond is the chief steward for Lord Chief Stirton. I didn’t expect that Lord Edmond is going on this trip to Royalwing City as well. For even Lord Edmond to be sent… it seems there is a major deal to be made this time in Royalwing City.” Daebra’s understanding of the Black Dragon Tribe was far greater than Linley’s.
Linley looked in surprise towards the distant Edmond as well.
Chief steward?
“This Edmond should be a Highgod,” Bebe’s voice rang out in Linley’s mind.
Linley nodded to himself as well.
Edmond’s gaze was cold and clear as he looked at everyone in the rear cabin. In a calm voice, he barked, “Is there anyone here who is going to Royalwing City for the first time? If this is your first time, stand up!”
Immediately, two people in the rear cabin stood up. Linley, Delia, and Bebe glanced at each other, then stood up as well.
Edmond swept them with his gaze, nodding calmly. “Five in total.” And then, he walked towards Linley’s group, which was closer. Walking next to them, he saw Daebra and then chuckled, “Daebra, you are going as well, young fellow? Go ahead and tell them some of the necessary information they need to be aware of in Royalwing City. If they cause a disaster, they will die, but more importantly, I don’t want the three of them to cause any problems for the tribe.”
“Yes, milord. Don’t worry. I will definitely tell them everything they need to be aware of,” the jade-haired youth, Daebra, said hurriedly.
Edmond nodded calmly. “If there are any problems, I’ll come looking for you. The three of you, sit down.”
After speaking, Edmond walked towards the back, similarly ordering the people next to the other two newcomers to tell them what they needed to be aware of. After finishing speaking, Edmond led his people out of the rear cabin and returned to the front cabin.
The front cabin was where the forces who directly served Chief Stirton stayed.
“What do I need to be aware of when heading to Royalwing City?” Linley looked at Daebra.
Daebra laughed and nodded. “There are indeed a few things. First of all, when you enter any city in the Infernal Realm, you have to pay the city entrance fee. The entrance fee is one inkstone per person!”
“So greedy,” Linley said to himself.
Daebra continued, “After entering the city, it is best for you to follow with the tribe’s people and not run about rashly. This is because after finishing up, everyone is going to immediately leave Royalwing City on that very same day and return back to the tribe.”
“Return on the same day?” Linley was somewhat surprised.
But as Linley saw it, this didn’t matter much to him, as he didn’t have any plans to return to the Black Dragon Tribe at all.
“Right. Return on the same day. This is because Royalwing City… actually, not just Royalwing City, but every city in the Infernal Realm… has a ‘night curfew’. From midnight until five in the morning, nobody is permitted to be on the streets or alleyways of the city. If you are caught… if you are a citizen of Royalwing City, it isn’t as severe; after some punishment, you’ll be released. But if you aren’t a citizen of Royalwing City, then, you will never be able to return to the Black Dragon Tribe,” Daebra said solemnly.
Linley was startled.
“Are you saying that if you are caught at night, you are finished?” Linley stared at Daebra in astonishment.
Daebra nodded solemnly. “Thus, we usually return to the Black Dragon Tribe that same day. We definitely won’t stay the night at Royalwing City. This is because staying a single time at som
e of the hotels in Royalwing City will cost more than a hundred inkstones. Who is willing to pay that sort of price?”
“Over a hundred inkstones?” The nearby Bebe turned his head.
“Right.” Daebra nodded with certainty.
Linley’s group was astonished. The cost of living in Royalwing City was simply too terrifying. No wonder… Krate had once said that it was very hard for a person to establish himself in Royalwing City!
“Black Dragon, hurry up and come to a halt. When passing through our Mount Petar, you need to leave behind some valuables!” A loud, clear voice rang out, shaking through the entire metallic creature. Both the passengers in the front and rear cabins were astonished. Everyone understood…
Not good. They had encountered bandits!
“We just headed out a short while ago, and we already encountered bandits?” Linley was surprised.
It must be understood that Royalwing City was nearly half a month away from them. According to this sort of frequency, how many bandits would they encounter on the way?
Linley looked at Delia and Bebe, saying to himself, “No wonder that Buffett had previously said that if the three of us roamed the Infernal Realm by ourselves, we wouldn’t survive more than a day or two. There are simply too many bandit groups in the Infernal Realm.” Linley and the other two peered through the translucent ‘glass’ and saw a large group of people hovering in mid-air, their leader dressed in a deep blue robe, his blue hair unbound, and with a single horn in his forehead.
“A single horn?”
Linley understood that many other races had different aesthetic standards than humans. Even in human form, they would keep some traces of what they themselves considered most beautiful, such as a horn! This was most likely the case for this bandit leader. There were seventy or eighty people here. They had summoned an enormous elemental beast to block this metallic creature.
The jade-haired youth ‘Daebra’, by Linley’s side, laughed. “Don’t worry, Linley. There won’t be any problems.”
The Infernal Plane: Book 5 of the Coiling Dragon Saga Page 7