Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  The War God, O’Brien, spoke out sonorously. “Linley, remember what we discussed earlier. I’ll hand over dealing with the Sacred Isle and the Radiant Church to you.”

  “Don’t worry.” Linley’s eyes had a hard look flash through them.

  Destroy the Radiant Church?

  How many years had he been waiting?

  “Alright. Then you can leave now.” The War God said calmly.

  Linley, Desri, Fain, and Tulily all immediately rose. Bowing respectfully, they left the War God’s quiet, secluded residence.

  Atop the quiet War God Mountain.

  “Linley, congratulations. Today, Master and the others treated you with such friendliness that they clearly consider you to be one of them.” Fain suddenly said.

  Linley was slightly startled. Right now, he could completely understand how bitter these other three experts had to feel in their hearts. Thousands of years of training, yet they still hadn’t made any breakthroughs.

  “Fain, I believe you three will quickly break through as well.”

  Desri suddenly laughed and nodded. “Right. We will break through soon. Fain, Tulily…have you already forgotten what Lord Beirut said? The three of us can break through in as quickly as a single day. The most important thing is that we have to have faith in ourselves.”

  “Right. We will break through.” Tulily and Fain’s eyes lit up and they nodded.

  If they could break through on their own, they wouldn’t need a divine spark.

  But breaking through on one’s own truly was difficult.

  “Linley, when shall we head out to destroy the Radiant Church’s Sacred Isle?” Desri asked.

  Linley was silent for a moment, then said, “How about this. It’s best to address this quickly.” Just thinking about destroying the Radiant Church made Linley feel his blood boil and made him feel alive. “Let’s all go back home today. Tomorrow, we’ll summon our forces to make preparations. The day after that, on the eighth…the morning of the eighth, come to my Dragonblood Castle, and we’ll head out together to slaughter a path to the Sacred Isle.”

  “Alright. We’ll head out together on the eighth.” Tulily and Desri both nodded.

  Fain began to laugh. “Linley, you are moving so quickly. It seems I’ll have to pick up the pace on my side as well and eliminate the Cult of Shadows more quickly.”

  “Haha, Fain, then we’ll head off for now.” Linley said.

  Linley, Desri, and Tulily immediately flew into the air, streaking towards the east.

  Linley’s Dragonblood Castle was in the northern part of the Baruch Empire, while Desri lived in the southern part of the Baruch Empire. As for Tulily, he lived in the great plains of the far east. The three flew together for only a short while before breaking apart.

  “Whoosh.” A strong wind was blowing, causing his robe to flutter.

  Moving through the skies, soaring through the clouds and the mist, he flew at high speed towards Dragonblood Castle.

  “Linley, wait a moment.” A sound suddenly rang out, and an indistinct blur appeared near Linley.

  A devilish young man, dressed in a dark gold robe, was standing before Linley. In his forehead, there was a single slit, like a knife scar. It was the Deity-level expert, ‘Dylin’.

  “Lord Dylin.” Linley was somewhat surprised.

  Dylin, surrounded by a devilish aura, had a rather sincere smile on his face right now. “Linley, your flying speed is quite fast. It seems you have indeed progressed significantly due to your time in the Necropolis of the Gods.”

  Linley felt utterly confused.

  Flying fast?

  On the road back to Dragonblood Castle, he was only flying at regular speed, and didn’t even fly at full speed. Why would Dylin say he was flying fast?

  “This Dylin…why is he praising me for no reason?” Linley instantly could guess that Dylin probably had something to discuss with him.

  “Lord Dylin, is there something you need?” Linley directly broached the subject.

  Dylin took a deep breath. “Linley, to be honest…I, Dylin, was born tens of thousands of years ago, and experienced the terrible Apocalypse War of ten thousand years ago, as well as the war of the gods, the Theomachy, of five thousand years ago. I’ve been protecting my five children this entire time, but unfortunately, five thousand years ago, my children and I were imprisoned into the Gebados Planar Prison….”

  Hearing this, Linley felt deeply stunned.

  “Five thousand years ago, experts from other planes descended. I knew about this. But what is this ‘Apocalypse War’ of ten thousand years ago?” Linley had never heard that ten thousand years ago, there was an ‘Apocalypse War’. From what Dylin was saying, it seemed as though the war of ten thousand years ago was even more terrifying than the one five thousand years ago.

  Dylin, seeing the look on Linley’s face, understood.

  “You are curious about the Apocalypse War?” Dylin laughed.

  He had a favor to ask, and thus he was very happy to have the chance to tell these secrets to Linley.

  Linley nodded.

  “The Apocalypse War was on a far larger scale than the war of five thousand years ago. In truth, in the past, this plane had five continents!” Dylin explained in detail.

  “Five continents?” Linley had never heard of this before.

  In addition, the history books had never mentioned the existence of other continents.

  Dylin explained in detail, “There was a vast distance between each continent, and the Yulan continent is the northernmost continent of the five. The other four continents were all in the South Seas. Because there is a distance of nearly ten million kilometers between the continents, back then, ordinary people didn’t know about the other continents’ existence.”

  “During that Apocalypse War…”

  Dylin sighed. “That was a true, large-scale war, an utterly destructive, apocalyptic war. The waves of the ocean rose to the heavens, and space itself was ripped apart. Even the shockwaves of the battles occurring in the depths of the sea impacted the other continents. The four southernmost continents were all shattered and destroyed, and one Deity after another fell…the scale of this war was far, far greater than the one from five thousand years ago.”

  Linley’s heart quailed.

  The battle had been so vicious that four continents had collapsed? What level of experts had fought in this war?

  “And it was also due to that battle that Lord Beirut formally assumed control over the Yulan continent.” Dylin sighed. “Linley, at that time, although I was already a Demigod, I could only hide here on the Yulan continent, not daring to participate in the battle at all.”

  Linley could completely imagine that scene.

  “I heard that the divine sparks and Deity corpses of the Necropolis of the Gods came from that Apocalypse War.” Dylin sighed. “But of course, that’s just what I hear. I don’t have any proof.”

  Linley nodded slightly. Dylin had been hiding, after all, and didn’t take part in the battle.

  “Five thousand years ago, my children and I were jailed into the Gebados Planar Prison. That place…was an utter nightmare.” Dylin said in a low voice. “My five children…two of them died there. Fortunately, we escaped back to the Yulan continent afterwards.”

  To this very day, Dylin hadn’t told Linley that it was Linley who had allowed him to escape.

  “But this time, yet another one of my children have died.”

  Dylin’s eyes contained irrepressible grief. “It truly is too hard to become a Deity. My children are only Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions, after all. It will be hard for them to break through their natural limitations and become Deities. Perhaps Desri and Fain will be able to break through upon receiving some insight, but magical beasts…it is far harder for us to break through than humans.”

  “Therefore…I, Dylin, would like to ask you, Linley, to give me one of your divine sparks.” Dylin looked at Linley sincerely.

  Linley understood what Dyli
n was thinking.

  “Of course, I won’t let you suffer too much of a loss. Only, I definitely don’t have a treasure as valuable as a divine spark, but I do have divine artifacts. I can trade divine artifacts for it. How about three divine artifacts? Or perhaps, I can give you my own personal set of divine artifact gloves.” Dylin said hurriedly.

  Dylin deeply loved his children. This was apparent from the efforts he had gone to in the Gebados Planar Prison to protect them.

  Originally, he had forbidden them from going to the Necropolis of the Gods, but Cleo and the other brothers all desired to become Deities. In the end, Dylin couldn’t stop them…but on this trip to the Necropolis of the Gods, one of them had died. Now that Linley had three divine sparks, Dylin had decided to thicken his skin and come ask him for one.

  Divine sparks were far more important than divine artifacts.

  Four divine artifacts for a divine spark…Linley was actually still trading at a loss. What was the chance for a Saint to successfully navigate the eleventh floor? It was incredibly low. Linley’s success allowed him to obtain these three divine sparks, but in the future, Linley probably wouldn’t have this sort of opportunity again.

  “Alright. I agree.” Linley nodded.

  Dylin couldn’t help but feel ecstatic. Dylin immediately retrieved three divine artifacts with a flip of his hand. All of them were bladed weapon type divine artifacts. At the same time, in Dylin’s hands appeared a dark gold divine artifact gloves. In terms of preciousness, it was still the divine artifact gloves which was the most precious.

  “Here is the divine spark.” With a flip of his hand, Linley retrieved the Destruction-type divine spark. Linley had made this decision on behalf of the Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions. After all, they themselves trained in the Way of Destruction.

  Seeing the divine spark, Dylin couldn’t help but feel his heart quiver.

  This was a divine spark!

  If he himself wanted to enter the Necropolis of the Gods, he would have to start from the twelfth floor. It would be extremely hard to procure a divine spark, even for him.

  “Thank you, thank you.” Despite his normal, terrible temper, Dylin right now felt so excited that he said ‘thank you’ twice in a row. “Wait a moment. I’ll dissolve the ownership bond I have with the divine artifact gloves.”

  “Lord Dylin, I don’t need these divine artifacts.” Linley said.

  He didn’t lack for bladed divine artifacts. Two or three extra made no difference! As for divine artifact gloves, Linley himself was a sword user, and so they wouldn’t be very useful to him anyways.

  “What? You don’t need them?” Dylin was stunned.

  “I don’t need them.” Linley smiled and nodded. “Lord Dylin, I only hope that if in the future, I need your assistance, Lord Dylin, that you can help me. That would be wonderful.”

  In his heart, Dylin actually was quite unwilling to part with these divine artifact gloves, but Dylin was a very arrogant, prideful person. If he were to receive a divine spark from Linley without giving Linley anything good for them, he himself would feel uneasy. Dylin couldn’t help but feel rather frantic. “How can this be acceptable? Unacceptable…”

  Seeing Linley, Dylin felt very guilty, as though he owed him a great debt!

  What could he do to recompense Linley?

  Book 12, The Descent of the Gods – Chapter 6, Slaughtering a Path to the Sacred Isle

  “This definitely is not acceptable. If you are going to act like this, then I…” Dylin wanted to say ‘I will be unable to accept this divine spark’.

  But this divine spark was simply too important to Dylin.

  “Lord Dylin, don’t mind it too much. You should know that I am going to become a Deity on my own, and so I think you will need it more than I do.” Linley quickly changed the topic. “Lord Dylin, I have to get going.”

  Seeing Linley was about to leave, Dylin couldn’t help but reach out to stop him.

  “Linley, I truly don’t have any other treasures I can bring out.” Dylin looked at Linley, more serious than ever before. “But Linley, I will remember the kindness you have shown me on this day. If in the future there is anything you need, I, Dylin, definitely won’t say a single word in complaint.”

  Linley smiled.

  “Then Lord Dylin, let’s part ways here.”

  ……

  Linley returned to Dragonblood Castle, and informed Delia, Wharton, and the others of the decision of the War God and the High Priest. Wharton, the Barker brothers, and Zassler, upon hearing this news, were extremely excited.

  Both the Barker brothers and Zassler had their own major scores to settle with the Radiant Church.

  This entire time, Wharton, as well, wanted to help Linley in his quest for revenge. In the past, he wasn’t strong enough, but now, Wharton had reached the Saint-level as well, and once he transformed into a Dragonblood Warrior Saint, he was extremely powerful, on par with Gates and the others.

  Night time. A crescent moon hung in the sky.

  Linley left his bed, putting on a long robe and heading to the balcony, staring at the endless night.

  “Tomorrow. Tomorrow, the Radiant Church and I will have our final battle.” Linley couldn’t fall asleep tonight, no matter how he tried.

  For some reason, those scenes from his childhood years kept on flashing through his mind. Whenever he thought about the fact that tomorrow, he was going to deal with the Radiant Church, and that he was about to accomplish the goal he had been striving towards for so long, he would grow excited.

  “Linley.” Delia walked next to Linley as well. “Are you thinking about the attack on the Radiant Church tomorrow?”

  Delia was going alongside Linley tomorrow. Although Delia hadn’t completely fused with the divine spark, Delia was still a Grand Magus Saint of the wind-style now. In addition, even her incomplete ‘Godrealm’ could still be effective in certain circumstances.

  “Right. Tomorrow is a day for which I have waited a long time.” Linley’s heart was surging with emotion. “Sadly, Grandpa Doehring…won’t be able to see it.”

  “If your Grandpa Doehring was still alive, he would definitely be so proud of you.” Delia consoled him. Delia knew about Doehring Cowart as well.

  “Mother died. Father died. Even Grandpa Doehring, who took care of me the entire time, died.” Linley stared towards the west. “All thanks to the Radiant Church! Self-proclaimed to be ‘radiant’, self-proclaimed to ‘love the world’. The Radiant Church! They destroyed everything.”

  Linley shook his head and sneered. “While I…I was nothing more than one of the countless families they had destroyed. Barker and his brothers, Rebecca and her sister…their families were all wiped out as well! It was the Radiant Church who did it!”

  Linley’s rage was beginning to build.

  “Linley, don’t think too much about these things. Tomorrow, everything will come to an end.” Delia consoled him. Delia knew very well…that if it hadn’t been because of the amount of hatred he had felt, how could Linley have forced himself to endure so much, and at the tender age of eighteen, enter the endless, uninhabited Mountain Range of Magical Beasts for three full years, and then train in another little village for five?

  “Right. Tomorrow, it will all come to an end.” Linley raised his head to look at the night sky.

  For a moment, it seemed…his father, his Grandpa Doehring, and that vague, blurry memory of his mother were there in the night sky, watching him!

  April 8th. Dawn. The morning sun shone down upon Dragonblood Castle.

  “Grooooowl.” A deep growl.

  An enormous, sinuous draconic form seemed to coil about near Dragonblood Castle, but the soldiers of Dragonblood Castle weren’t startled at all. Many of them already knew that there were three Saint-level dragons living within Dragonblood Castle. Occasionally, the dragon Saints would head out, while occasionally they would come back.

  This was also the reason why there was an urban legend that Dragonblood Castle
had enormous dragons in the vicinity.

  Within the spacious training fields of Dragonblood Castle.

  Linley’s experts had arrived long ago. On this trip to the Sacred Isle, Linley’s side included…Linley, Bebe, Delia, Wharton, the five Barker brothers, Zassler, and the three Saint-level dragons. In total, thirteen.

  As for Dragonblood Castle, Haeru would be left on guard.

  Every single individual heading out on this expedition was a peak-stage Saint, none of them weaker than Heidens in power.

  “They haven’t arrived yet?” Wharton was getting rather impatient.

  Right now, there was a large group of people waiting to send them off as well. One of them was Hillman, who laughed and said, “Wharton, don’t be impatient. It is still early. The great plains of the far east are especially far away from us, at least ten thousand kilometers distant. Even flying will take a long time.”

  “Desri’s group will probably arrive a bit earlier, but Tulily and the others will need a long period of time. Don’t be impatient. Everyone, just keep waiting a while longer.” Linley spoke out. But although he counseled patience, Linley himself still couldn’t help but continuously stare towards the skies.

  He had waited far too long for this day.

  “Big bro, I think you are even more impatient than I am.” Wharton said with a laugh.

  Linley could only laugh in response.

  “Wow, they are here!” Bebe, standing on Linley’s shoulders, suddenly let out a surprised, delighted cry.

  Linley’s group quickly discovered that in the distant horizon, indistinct human figures were flying towards them at high speed. One of them, a fast-moving flashing white streak of light, was especially noticeable, and Linley immediately recognized the person. It was Desri!

  “Hrm?” Linley was suddenly surprised.

  From the distant horizon, there were more than ten people flying over. Aside from Desri, Pennslyn, Higginson, Miller, Ford, and Livingston, there were six others coming as well. The other six people were led by Tulily.

  “Tulily and his disciples have arrived as well?” Although Linley was puzzled by the question of how Tulily, who lived over ten thousand kilometers away, had managed to arrive so soon, he was still extremely delighted.