Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  “Creak. Creak.” The table underneath their arms was beginning to shiver as well.

  The tables and chairs in this restaurant were all made from steel, and were extremely sturdy. Generally speaking, powerful warriors were able to carefully calibrate and control the amount of power released from their wrists as they engaged in arm-wrestling above the table. For the table to begin quivering due to their strength was a sign that both men were at their limits.

  “Haha, let’s go Harold [Ha’luo’de]!”

  “Damnit, Harold, try harder!”

  “Second Bro, don’t lose in front of me!”

  All the warriors who were drinking around them were howling loudly in support. Slowly, that large man with massive arms named Harold gained a slight advantage, causing the red-haired warrior to immediately try desperately to resist.

  “Haaaaah!”

  With a loud roar, Harold smashed his opponent’s arm against the table, causing a impression to be left upon the steel table.

  “Haha, I win!” Harold laughed loudly.

  “F*ck. Second Bro, beat it. Let me come. This big dumb idiot wants to win ten thousand gold? Hmph.” A one-eyed red-haired warrior walked over.

  The restaurant was very rowdy, and those energetic warriors screamed and shouted, while up above, the travelling bard was also singing loudly so as to get that bit of gold the restaurant had promised him.

  Noisy.

  But in this rowdy environment, three or four people remained silent. The warriors around them quite conscientiously didn’t disturb those people. All of these warriors had significant outside experience, and they had good judgment. They knew who they could afford to offend, and who they could not.

  The next morning, soon after Linley sat down.

  “Hrm?”

  Linley suddenly saw a familiar face. Lord Fallen Leaf.

  As skinny as a beggar, Lord Fallen Leaf casually walked out of Clayde’s manor and departed, with two barefooted Ascetics dressed in sackcloth by his side.

  “He left? But only Fallen Leaf and two Ascetics have left.” Linley considered for a moment. He knew that many Ascetics had come on this journey, and many experts were amongst their ranks. Right now, only three had left.

  “Continue to wait.” Linley took a sip of liquor. He would keep waiting.

  Clayde, Shaq, and the others sent off Lord Fallen Leaf, watching him leave from the gate.

  “Royal father, there is something that I forgot to tell you.” Shaq slapped himself on the head. “Royal father, Lord Linley travelled with us for a time, but two days ago he left. He was heading north.”

  “Linley.”

  Hearing this name, Clayde almost shouted aloud in surprise.

  This Linley had nearly taken his life on two separate occasions.

  “What’s wrong, royal father?” Shaq questioned. As far as Shaq could tell, this wasn’t a major issue. After all, the Kingdom of Fenlai had already been annihilated. Their royal clan was royal only in name now, and not in truth. It would be surprising if Linley had actually continued to be loyal to them.

  “He travelled with you. Did he know that you are living here?” Clayde immediately asked.

  “Yes. He even stayed here a night.” Shaq said, confused.

  Clayde’s heart began to shudder. “This Linley is definitely still in Hess City.” Clayde knew that Linley wanted to kill him, and wouldn’t leave just like that.

  “No worries. There’s still a large group of Ascetics living here.” Clayde comforted himself.

  “But when the Ascetics leave, I will leave with them.” Clayde made his decision. Only by travelling together with the Ascetics would he feel safe.

  Clayde carefully looked in every direction.

  He even had this strange feeling that Linley was looking at him from somewhere nearby.

  A day passed. A second day passed. Aside from going back at night to sleep, Linley spent all his time at the restaurant. Once, a foolish person tried to cause Linley some trouble, but Linley booted him from the back of the restaurant to the front of the restaurant with one kick. Thereafter, no one else disturbed Linley.

  In the blink of an eye, six days passed.

  During these past six days, aside from Fallen Leaf and those two Ascetics, none of the other Ascetics had left.

  Within Clayde’s manor.

  “Everyone, why are you in such a rush to leave?” Clayde looked at the three representatives of the Ascetics in front of him, trying to persuade them.

  An old, golden-haired man said calmly, “Clayde, we must head towards the new Holy Capital now. Sorry for inconveniencing you these past days. We’ll leave now.”

  These three Ascetics totally ignored Clayde’s entreaties as they prepared to leave immediately.

  “Milords, you are heading to the new Holy Capital? I wish to go as well. How about I travel alongside you?” Clayde said immediately, while at the same time, he instructed his son Shaq, “Shaq, prepare some things. We leave immediately.”

  At this point in time, Clayde didn’t feel any sense of security at all.

  If only Kaiser was left with him, Clayde didn’t feel confident that Kaiser would be able to protect him against both Linley and that freakish magical beast of his.

  “Travel along with us?” The golden-haired old man frowned.

  In truth, they were not making a trip towards the new Holy Capital at all. They had a secret mission.

  “Impossible. We are under strict orders from the Church.” The golden-haired man said coldly.

  The other two looked coldly at Clayde as well. “If you follow us secretly, you should know what the end result will be.” After they spoke, the three turned and left, leaving behind a pole-axed Clayde.

  Clayde hadn’t expected that these Ascetics would forbid him from travelling with them.

  “Milords!” Clayde chased out from the main hall, but the fifty or so Ascetics had already left the manor via the gate. Not a single one of them turned to look back at him.

  Clayde considered what to do. He didn’t dare to follow them. Although the Radiant Church taught that men should be benevolent, when they decided to act against someone, they were definitely without mercy. Right now, Clayde was no longer of particular use to the Radiant Church. Those Ascetics definitely would not fear to kill him.

  “Royal father.” Shaq walked over, looking at Clayde.

  Clayde frowned. He was quiet for a moment. Then, he gave his orders. “Let’s leave from the back gate. We will leave immediately. Yes, immediately. The danger grows with each passing minute.

  Book 7, Heaven and Earth Turned Upside Down – Chapter 20, The Full Story

  Within the restaurant.

  Seeing a large group of Ascetics leave Clayde’s manor, Linley was wildly exultant. At a glance, Linley could tell that over fifty people were in that group of Ascetics. For such a large group of them to leave most likely meant that all of them had left.

  “It’s been six or seven days. By now, it’s almost certain that Shaq has told Clayde about our meeting. Most likely, Clayde has already been able to guess that I’m nearby.”

  Linley casually tossed down a few gold coins. Suddenly, gusts of air began to wrap around him, and moving like the breeze, Linley agilely flew out of the restaurant.

  Despite bearing the heavy sword on his back, with the assistance of wind-style magic, he still moved with great ease. But of course, this was due to Linley having become a magus of the seventh rank. If a magus of the third rank had been the one to cast the spell, the effect wouldn’t have been nearly as good. “Bebe, watch the back door.” Linley mentally instructed Bebe.

  “Boss, got it.”

  As Linley rushed towards one of the exterior walls of Clayde’s manor, he began to mumble the words to another spell – Windscout.

  “Whoosh!”

  With Linley at the center, a gust of air suddenly spread out in all directions. Closing his eyes, Linley could clearly sense everything the Windscout had detected.

  “
Hrm? Gathering near the back gate?”

  The Windscout spell could only detect bodies and objects. It couldn’t actually make out faces clearly. However, through the usage of the Windscout, Linley had already been able to discover that the people inside the manor were all hurriedly moving towards the back courtyard. Clearly, they were all getting ready to flee.

  “Hmph. As predicted.” With a quiet movement, Linley flowed into Clayde’s manor, moving into the front courtyard with movements as light as the wind. Quietly but quickly, Linley made his way on the inside paths towards the back courtyard.

  “Hurry, hurry!” Clayde berated angrily.

  “Let’s go from the back gate. We are heading out immediately. We are leaving Hess City.” Clayde said directly.

  The royal consort was confused. “Your Majesty, aren’t we all living here just fine? Why-”

  “Whap!”

  Clayde slapped her across the face.

  “Enough crap.” Clayde snarled.

  “Hurry up. Forget about the horses. You two, you are responsible for the Princess and the Royal Consort.” Clayde ordered two of his knights, and then had a third one open the back gate.

  Linley, hiding behind a manmade hill, watched this all while laughing coldly.

  “As I thought. Not a single Ascetic is left.” With a leap, Linley retreated at high speed, moving to a place where Clayde and Kaiser wouldn’t be able to see him, then he leapt past the wall. And then, Linley turned and moved at high speed to the back gate. But just as Linley had rounded the corner, he came to a sudden halt.

  Bebe was right next to the back gate.

  “Creaaaaak.” The back gate began to open.

  Bebe immediately scurried over at high speed to a patch of wild grass nearby. Given that Bebe was only fist-sized, the wild grass was totally capable of covering and hiding Bebe’s entire body.

  “Bebe. When Clayde comes out, tell me right away.” Linley hid behind the corner, and his entire body began to be covered with black scales. “Snick.” His forehead, back, elbows, and kneecaps all began to sprout sharp spikes.

  And that long, iron-whip-like draconic tail sprouted out as well.

  Linley’s black eyes suddenly transformed into a dark gold color, the same color as the eyes of the Armored Razorback Wyrm.

  Total Dragonform! “Wind-style supporting magic – Supersonic.” At the same time, Linley reinforced himself with a wind spell. After having completely Dragonformed, Linley felt that his body was full of limitless power.

  Right now, that 3600 pound adamantine heavy sword didn’t have any impact on Linley at all.

  To a mighty warrior who could easily lift up something weighing hundreds of thousands of pounds, what was a mere 3600? Comparatively speaking, it was like asking an ordinary man who could lift 100 pounds to carry a one pound item on him. Would it impact him?

  Clayde continued to urge his men, and one Wildthunder knight after another began to step out of the back gate.

  Clayde himself walked through the gate, with Shaq by his side. And then the princess and the royal consort, under the protection of the Wildthunder knights, headed out as well. As for Kaiser, he was at the very end, serving as their guard and escort.

  “Boss, Clayde came out.”

  Just after Clayde stepped out of the manor, Bebe’s voice rang out in Linley’s mind. The eyes of Linley, who had been hiding behind the corner this entire time, suddenly began to shine.

  “Whoosh!”

  A mighty leap forward, combined with the wind around him propelling him forward at high speed.

  “Swish!”

  In the blink of an eye, a black, human-sized blur slashed through a distance of seventy meters, charging directly at the back gate to Clayde’s manor. Somewhat caught off guard, Clayde turned to look, and when he did, he saw that this human-shaped blur was already next to him. That familiar figure made Clayde’s heart quail. Before he even had a chance to call out or to react, a powerful force suddenly bound him.

  “Don’t move. Otherwise. You die.” Linley’s voice was transmitted directly to Clayde’s ear.

  “Ah!” The royal consort had just stepped out of the gate. Upon seeing Linley, she was so frightened that she immediately screamed. But then, with a ‘snick’ sound, the consort’s head went flying off.

  Linley retracted his claws.

  The severed head of the consort oozed blood everywhere, while her body collapsed to the floor.

  “Mon…monster!” The princess, terrified, retreated backwards.

  “Release his Majesty!” The Wildthunder knights who had left along with Shaq immediately charged over, but as they did, a black blur flashed towards them. The little Shadowmouse, Bebe, who had suddenly transformed to half a meter in length, landed on the ground. As he did, those two warriors who had wanted to charge over collapsed, as half of their necks had been severed.

  “None of you resist. Resistance is futile.” Linley’s cold voice rang out.

  At this time, Kaiser charged over as well.

  “Lord Kaiser, what…what is that monster?” The princess was terrified. But Shaq, whom Clayde had explained everything to, knew that this monster was actually Linley.

  The aberration in front of them was covered from head to toe in black scales, and there were spikes sprouting from his forehead, knees, elbows, and back. Its scale covered feet and claws were all extremely sharp.

  And what’s more, it had an iron-whip-like draconic tail.

  Right now, that draconic tail was wrapping tightly around Clayde, preventing him from moving at all. With each small swaying motion of Linley’s draconic tail, Clayde’s body swayed as well.

  This scene stunned everyone present.

  “Kaiser. This time, you don’t have any chance.” Linley’s cold voice rang out.

  A pained look was on Kaiser’s face. He knew that even if he fought one on one against Linley, victory was no sure thing. What’s more, Linley had that freakish magical beast companion who was on the same level of power as him.

  Kaiser wasn’t confident in his ability to deal with either Linley or the magical beast, Bebe.

  And now that Clayde had been caught by Linley, he, Kaiser, did indeed have no chance at all.

  “Lin…Linley! Release my royal father!” Shaq shouted angrily.

  Linley glanced at Shaq with his cold, dark golden eyes. Shaq shivered, no longer daring to speak. Right now, Linley’s appearance had stupefied everyone present. Those Wildthunder knights who had followed Clayde had also battled against and been slaughtered by Linley and Bebe in the past. They knew exactly how powerful Linley and his freakish magical beast companion Bebe were.

  “Linley.” Just as Clayde was going to beg for mercy…

  “Crunch!” “Crack!”

  Linley actually tore off Clayde’s ring finger and index finger, then casually tossed them in the direction of the princess and Kaiser’s group.

  “Ah…ah!” Clayde couldn’t refrain from howling from the agony of having his fingers ripped off.

  “Clayde, I’ll tell you right now that you are definitely going to die.” Linley said casually.

  Clayde turned his fierce, tiger-like glare towards Linley.

  But what welcomed his gaze was Linley’s cold, emotionless pair of dark gold eyes.

  “Right now, you have two choices. The first is to be tortured to death. The second is to tell me who you gave my mother to, and who killed her. And then, I’ll let you die an easy death.” Linley said calmly.

  Linley knew very well that the best way to deal with someone like Clayde was to lay it out clearly for him.

  Otherwise, Clayde would think that there was still some hope of living. He would grit his teeth and refuse to answer, for the sake of that hope.

  “No! If you are willing to spare me, AH!!” Linley once again remorselessly ripped out another one of Clayde’s fingers. Calmly, Linley said, “You are definitely going to die. The only question is, will you tell the truth early and spare yourself some pain and suffering?”<
br />
  “Your Majesty!”

  Kaiser was about to immediately rush over.

  “Kaiser, do you want everyone present to die?” Linley’s dark gold eyes stared at Kaiser. Kaiser instantly halted. He understood that Linley and Bebe definitely had the power to kill everyone present.

  Even he, Kaiser, would only have the ability to flee. Facing a combined attack from both Linley and Bebe, he didn’t have any chance of victory at all. “Ah…” Kaiser really didn’t know what to do.

  Linley looked back at Clayde.

  Clayde’s face was totally pale. Large beads of sweat the size of soybeans had gathered on his forehead. Right now, the amount of force Linley was exerting on him with his tail was very high.

  “Continue thinking. The longer you think, the more pain you will be in.” Linley’s scale-covered claw reached out and grabbed Clayde’s ear.

  Guessing what Linley was about to do, Clayde howled, “No!”

  “Riiip.”

  Clayde’s left ear was ripped off by Linley, and he howled in agony while cursing wildly, “Linley, you bastard, you are a goddamn devil!”

  “Keep on wasting time.” Linley’s claws slowly reached towards Clayde’s face.

  “This time, it’ll be your eyes. Tell me, would you prefer your left eye, or your right eye?” Linley’s face was still expressionless. When Clayde looked at Linley, hoping to gather anything from Linley’s eyes or facial expressions, all he could see was that unmoving, scale-covered face, and those cold, merciless dark gold eyes.

  “If you don’t decide, I’ll decide for you. Just then, it was your left ear. Now, it will be your right eye.” Linley reached out with his claws.

  “No! I’ll talk. I’ll talk.” Clayde howled with all his might.

  Linley retracted his claws. “Then speak.”

  “I’ll talk. I’ll talk.” Tears actually appeared in Clayde’s eyes. He really had mentally collapsed. Linley had no intention of sparing him whatsoever. No matter what he did, he was going to die. If he talked, at least he would die an easy death. If he didn’t, he would be tortured to death.

  None of the Wildthunder knights standing off in the distance dared to say a word. Linley and Bebe, man and magical beast, were really too terrifying, too formidable.