Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  Bernard immediately bowed modestly. “Miss Delia, by your leave.”

  That old man by Delia’s side cast a look at Kalan, who still had that ugly look on his face. With a cold sneer, he followed Delia out. But Bernard continued to watch them leave with a courteous smile on his face. Only after Delia and her servant had left did he turn, fixing Alice and Kalan with a deadly glare.

  “Absolutely disgraceful!” Bernard viciously snapped at them.

  Neither Kalan nor Alice dared to make a sound. Under this aura of oppressiveness, the Debs clan returned home.

  ……

  Within the Lucas clan’s mansion in Fenlai City.

  “Master Linley, no, no, there’s no need.” Marquis Jebs was hurriedly trying to refuse Linley. “There’s really no need for the 600,000 gold coins. Master Linley, I am so incredibly sorry. I really had no idea that you had reached such an incredible level in the field of sculpting.”

  Jebs, that obstinate old man. Right now, when he looked at Linley, his eyes were filled with something akin to veneration for an idol.

  Marquis Jebs didn’t have many hobbies. The one thing he loved to do was collect items.

  Naturally, he felt deep veneration for those Grandmaster-level artisans of each field. Perhaps even if the King of Fenlai was present, he wouldn’t feel as much awe as he did now towards Linley.

  “How about let’s just name the price at 180,000 gold, is that fine? My clan originally bought it for 180,000 gold coins, so that would still be fair. Master Linley, I really am not willing to make money off of you. If I took advantage and earned money from you, Master Linley, I wouldn’t be able to sleep well at night.”

  That adorable old man, Master Marquis, was extremely stubborn.

  “Marquis Jebs, in the past, when your Lucas clan bought this warblade ‘Slaughterer’ from my clan, the price you paid was 180,000 gold coins, true. But after all these centuries, due to inflation, the 180,000 gold coins you paid then is worth much more now.” Linley wasn’t willing to take advantage of the Lucas clan either.

  But Marquis Jebs only stubbornly stared at Linley.

  “Haha, you guys…you guys are just so…” Next to them, Yale was laughing so hard that he was clutching his belly. “The seller is frantically trying to lower his product’s price, and would rather give it away for free. But the buyer is trying to raise the price higher. I have never seen something like this before.”

  Linley let out a helpless laugh as well. “Marquis Jebs, how about this. Centuries ago, that 180,000 gold coins had a purchasing power comparable to around 360,000 gold in this era. Let’s just go with 360,000 gold coins. Don’t refuse any longer! If you do, I’ll just throw down my magicrystal card and leave.”

  Linley withdrew his magicrystal card from his breast pocket.

  Marquis Jebs looked unhappily at Linley, but finally nodded. “Fine, then.”

  Linley couldn’t help but laugh.

  Marquis Jebs suddenly laughed a bit shyly as well. “Master Linley, I have a small favor to ask, if I might?”

  “Go ahead.” Linley laughed, looking at the Marquis.

  Marquis Jebs gestured at his servants, who quickly carried over an erect stone tablet from deeper within his mansion.

  “Master Linley, I only hope that you can put your signature on this tablet. If you do, I will treasure this forever.” Marquis Jebs looked at Linley with hopeful eyes.

  Linley chuckled, then withdrew his straight chisel from his breast pocket.

  With a casual flick of the wrist, the chisel began to fly about in a blur as stone dust began to fall off from that stone tablet. In the time it took to take three breaths, Linley was finished and withdrew his chisel. Gently blowing air on the tablet, all of the remaining dust flew away from it, revealing a name artistically written, as though it were a flying dragon or a dancing phoenix.

  LINLEY

  Staring at that word, Marquis Jebs’ eyes were shining. “What an elegant carving technique, and what beautiful letters. This word is far more valuable than 360,000 gold coins.”

  Hearing this, Linley didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry.

  ……….

  On the road from Fenlai City to Wushan township, the path was lined with redwood trees on either side. Riding a large stallion, Linley was galloping forward with a huge case on his back. This case was several hundred pounds heavy. Fortunately, this stallion was a particularly fine one that had been provided by the Dawson Conglomerate. Normal horses wouldn’t be able to move quickly when carrying such a burden.

  Behind Linley, a troop of over a hundred Knights was following him.

  This troop had been gifted to Linley by the Radiant Church via Cardinal Lampson and Cardinal Guillermo. What the Radiant Church claimed was that Linley’s safety was of paramount importance to them, which could be seen from the recent abduction attempt. The weakest member of this troop was a warrior of the fifth rank. It belonged to one of the ace regiments of the Knights of the Radiant Temple.

  Over a hundred warhorses galloped behind, kicking up a cloud of dust.

  From far away, the image of Wushan township drew closer and closer to Linley’s sight. In his mind, he couldn’t help but think back to the events of his youth, such as the training he had undergone in the training grounds, as well as that terrifying sight of the Velocidragon.

  In the past, in Linley’s eyes, a Velocidragon was the symbol of utter invincibility. But now, to Linley, a Velocidragon was no longer much of anything.

  “Rumble, rumble.”

  The earth shook as this troop of elite knights and warhorses continued on their way. The shudders could be felt from far away.

  “What a mighty troop.”

  While walking in the middle of Wushan township, Hillman couldn’t help but turn and stare. The sound of the hoof steps was orderly, fast and forceful, striking fear into Hillman’s heart. Even when he was in the army, he had never encountered such a high-quality force of knights.

  The lowest of the knights present was a warrior of the fifth rank. How could a troop belonging to one of the ace regiments of the Radiant Church be of low quality?

  The sound of their warhorses galloping alone could strike fear into many.

  “Who is that?” Hillman instantly saw that there was a person riding ahead of the troop.

  “Linley.” The expression on Hillman’s face changed, and he quickly ran at high speed towards the Baruch clan manor.

  After entering the bounds of Wushan township proper, Linley instructed his troop of knights to lower their speeds. Linley, only, continued to move at a relatively fast speed towards his clan’s manor. Seeing from afar that vine-wrapped, scarred wall, Linley thought back to one event after another of his youth.

  “The Baruch clan, my roots, my foundation!” Carrying the warblade, ‘Slaughterer’, on his back, Linley’s heart was filled with pride.

  Linley could still clearly remember, the first time he had left for the Ernst Institute, what his father had said to him. Linley believed that he would never, ever forget these words from his father.

  “Linley, remember the centuries long desire of generations of Baruch elders. Remember the shame of the Baruch clan!”

  “After graduating, you will at least be a magus of the sixth rank. As long as you train hard, becoming a magus of the seventh rank shouldn’t be too hard. In the future, you will definitely have the ability to regain our clan’s ancestral heirloom. If you fail to do so, even in death, I will not forgive you.”

  “Even in death, I will not forgive you!”

  …..

  That voice reverberated in Linley’s mind. But this time, feeling the weight of the ‘Slaughterer’ on his back, Linley only felt a surge of pride.

  “Father, I’m coming back”!

  “Father, I have brought back our warblade, ‘Slaughterer’!”

  Linley flew off his horse’s back and directly charged into his clan’s courtyard.

  “Father!” Linley shouted loudly.

  “I
’m back! I brought the warblade ‘Slaughterer’ back!” Linley was filled with joy and excitement. The elders of his clan had labored for centuries. His father had pined for it his entire life. And now, he had finally fulfilled his father’s desire!

  “The warblade, ‘Slaughterer’?” A voice rang out.

  Linley turned and looked behind him. It was Hillman.

  “Uncle Hillman, where’s father? Quick, have him come out. Haha, I’ve finally brought back the warblade ‘Slaughterer’. Honest! I have the ancestral heirloom of our Dragonblood Warrior clan. I’ve finally brought it back. Quick, tell me where my father is. Once my father finds out, he will be so ecstatic. Tonight, we are absolutely going to get drunk. Uncle Hillman, don’t worry, tonight, I’m not going to shirk my duty. I’ll definitely get drunk with you. If we aren’t drunk, we won’t stop!”

  Linley was so excited, he continued to babble without stopping. He even removed the case from his back, holding it in his arms as he stared at Uncle Hillman.

  But….

  There was no hint of joy in Hillman’s face. In fact, there was a hint of misery.

  “Un….Uncle Hillman?” Linley began to frown. Staring at Uncle Hillman, he said, “Uncle Hillman, where is my father?”

  Looking at Linley, Hillman forced out a smile. “Linley, you’ve brought back the warblade, ‘Slaughterer’? If your father knew, he definitely would be ecstatic. Definitely.”

  “Where is my father?”

  “Your father. He. He passed away three months ago.” Hillman took a deep breath, then finally, slowly said these words. As he did, his eyes turned moist.

  Linley suddenly felt as though countless thunderbolts had went off by his ears. His brain went blank.

  “CLANG!”

  The case in Linley’s hands fell heavily to the ground. The lid to the case flew open, revealing a giant warblade which emanated a killing aura and was tinted with a slight, bloody red color. That cold, killing aura and that bloody aura filled the entire hall in an instant.

  “Dead?”

  Linley stared disbelievingly at Hillman.

  Hillman nodded slightly.

  Suddenly, Linley laughed. “Haha, Uncle Hillman, you must be lying to me. Haha, I’ve brought back the warblade ‘Slaughterer’. Look, Uncle Hillman, I’ve brought back the warblade ‘Slaughterer’. How could my father be dead? He is going to view this warblade first.”

  With one hand, Linley reached out and picked up the warblade ‘Slaughterer’. Instantly, that bloody aura filled even Hillman’s heart with trepidation.

  “Uncle Hillman, look. I brought back the ‘Slaughterer’. And I have to tell my father that I am now capable of transforming into a Dragonblood Warrior.” Scales began forming around Linley’s hands, and in a short while, Linley’s hands transformed into draconic claws.

  Grabbing onto Hillman’s shoulders with his two draconic claws, Linley stared into Hillman’s eyes. “Uncle Hillman, look, I can already transform into a Dragonblood Warrior. I’ve brought home the warblade ‘Slaughterer’ to our clan. It’s true. Where is father? My father!”

  “I am going to show the warblade ‘Slaughterer’ to him!”

  “I haven’t yet had the chance to tell him that I can become a Dragonblood Warrior!”

  Those draconic claws gripped Hillman by the shoulders, but the owner of those claws, Linley, stared beseechingly into Hillman’s eyes.

  “Uncle Hillman, I’m begging you, tell me, where is my father?” Like a poor, lost orphan child, Linley stared at Hillman, his eyes begging. Like a drowning man clutching at a stalk of grass, Linley clutched at Hillman.

  Hillman gently shook his head. “Linley, your father…is dead!”

  Linley laughed. Laughed so desolately. “No…no way. I have to show him the warblade ‘Slaughterer’. I have to tell him that I can transform into a Dragonblood Warrior. And tonight, I’m going to drink wine with him.”

  As he spoke, tears began to cover Linley’s face.

  Staring at Linley, Hillman couldn’t help but lower his face, and then two rivers of tears began to flow down his own face.

  “Impossible. Impossible!”

  Gripping onto Hillman fiercely with his two claws, Linley stared a deathly stare at Hillman. His eyes even took on that same, icy, dark golden color of the Armored Razorback Wyrm. The entire hall was suddenly filled with a baleful aura that was even more terrifying than the one emitted by the warblade ‘Slaughterer’.

  A low, hoarse growl emitted from Linley’s throat…

  “Tell me….where is my father?”

  Book 6, The Road to Revenge – Chapter 1, The Dusty Affairs of the Past

  Hillman was being gripped so tightly by Linley’s claws that his clothes were torn open. Scarlet blood slowly leaked out, staining his clothes red.

  But Hillman didn’t notice in the slightest.

  Staring at Linley, Hillman said in a downcast voice, “Linley, calm down first.”

  “Tell me.” Linley was staring at Hillman.

  Hillman said solemnly. “The troop of Knights following you is about to arrive. For now, let’s not allow others to know about the affairs of your clan. Come with me first.” Hillman shook his shoulders loose of Linley’s claws, then grabbed Linley’s scaled arms and with the intention of pulling him to the ancestral halls…only to find that he was unable to budge Linley.

  “Linley!” Hillman turned his head, a spark of anger in his eyes.

  “Uncle Hillman, I know how to act.”

  Linley’s face was deeply sunken, but he took a deep breath, retracting the scales on his arms into his body, returning to normal. Just as he once more returned the ‘Slaughterer’ to his case and held it, Linley could hear the sounds of hoof steps outside drawing near.

  The troops of Knights of the Radiant Temple had finally arrived.

  Linley turned, glancing at them coldly, but paid them no mind. He said directly to Hillman, “Uncle Hillman, lead the way.”

  “Alright.”

  Seeing that Linley was able to calm down, Hillman felt a little bit better. He immediately led Linley into the ancestral hall’s direction. Linley’s face remained sunken. At this moment, aside from Linley himself, perhaps nobody knew that beneath that calm expression, there lay hidden an incredibly deep, painful wound.

  Neither the Shadowmouse Bebe nor Doehring Cowart made a sound.

  They were connected to Linley’s soul. Naturally, they could feel the unimaginable grief and pain which Linley was currently suffering.

  The wind rose, catching up and hurling into the air countless leaves which had been lying on the unimaginably ancient stone tiled grounds.

  “Creaaaak.”

  Hillman pushed open the door to the ancestral hall, then turned to look back at Linley. Holding the warblade ‘Slaughterer’, Linley stepped inside, his face calm. But his gaze was fixed upon those rows of spirit tablets placed in the middle of the ancestral hall. With Linley’s current vision, he could clear read the words on the newest spirit tablet, located at the front.

  There were only two words on the front. “Hogg Baruch.”

  Linley felt his mind growing dizzy, as though he were having a hallucination. But he still stood there, unmoving. And then, still carrying the ‘Slaughterer’, Linley stepped forward to the stone platform in front of the spirit tablets, placing the ‘Slaughterer’ on top of the platform.

  Linley looked at the spirit tablet, a peaceful smile appearing on his face. In a soft voice, Linley said, “Father. I’m back.”

  “I know that all your life, your greatest desire was that we recover our ancestral heirloom, as well as regain the bygone splendor of our clan, the Dragonblood Warrior clan.” Linley spoke very carefully, as though he were afraid to startle someone. His voice was so gentle, so careful.

  Linley stared at the spirit tablet. “I didn’t disappoint you. I have already brought back to the Baruch clan, to the Dragonblood Warrior clan, our ancestral heirloom, the warblade ‘Slaughterer’.”

  “Now…I
have already brought back the ‘Slaughterer’. And very soon, I will restore our Dragonblood Warrior clan to glory. I will make sure the entire Yulan continent knows of the splendor of our Dragonblood Warrior clan, and will make sure everyone in the Yulan continent knows your name.”

  “All of this, I will accomplish. I so swear.”

  Suddenly, a fiendish look appeared on Linley’s face. “But of course, before I do all of these things. I will avenge you.”

  There was no question at all in his mind. His father, Baruch, had been killed by someone.

  Otherwise, based on his father’s prowess as a warrior of the sixth rank, as well as a man in the prime of his health, he couldn’t have died due to any ordinary illness. And what’s more, if he had died of illness, Hillman wouldn’t have acted so secretively. Linley’s intuition was telling him that his father’s death was no ordinary death!

  “The person who caused you to die. I will make sure he dies as well!”

  Within Linley’s eyes, once more there seemed to be a hint of that cold, dark gold color of the eyes of the Armored Razorback Wyrm. That terrifying dark golden color.

  Linley fiercely turned to stare at Hillman. “Uncle Hillman, tell me. How did my father die, exactly? In addition, where was my father buried? Also, you said my father died three months ago? Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Hillman opened his mouth, but did not speak.

  “Linley, first calm down,” Hillman finally said slowly.

  Calm down?

  How could he calm down?

  “I wish so much that my father could be here and personally see this warblade, ‘Slaughterer’, with his own eyes. I long to tell my father that I have become a Dragonblood Warrior. I deeply desire to see my father’s smile, hear his gratified laughter. See the pride on his face when I assume the Dragonform! However…all of this is now impossible.”

  Linley felt as though his heart had been sliced by knives.

  And Hillman was asking him to calm down?

  Linley wanted to angrily rebuke Hillman, but he restrained from doing so. Taking in a deep, unwilling breath, he swallowed his rage. Staring at Hillman, Linley said, “Uncle Hillman, tell me everything which happened. I want to know everything.”