Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  Although Inigo was walking on the ground, he traversed the dozens of kilometers in a very short period of time. Inigo led his two subordinates to the outer reaches of the Biss Volcano Range. Looking at the white steam and the barren, lifeless landscape, the volcano range covered with the odor of sulfur, Inigo couldn’t help but clear his throat.

  “Lord Elquin [A’li’kui’en], I am second young master Inigo of the Bayfield [Bei’fei’er’de] clan of the Coldcalm Prefecture . I would like to request that Lord Elquin graces me with a meeting!” Inigo bowed respectfully as he spoke.

  After speaking, Inigo remained in the bowing position, quietly awaiting for a response.

  “Someone lives within this volcano range?” The two Highgods behind Inigo both felt surprised.

  They too had heard that the Biss Volcano Range was a dangerous area, but they had never heard that the Biss Volcano Range had people within it.

  “The Bayfield clan?” A deep voice rang out from within the volcano range, causing the entire volcano range to rumble slightly. “Enter, then.”

  And then, a tunnel suddenly appeared from a crack on the surface of the volcano range.

  Inigo took a deep breath, then walked towards the corridor. The two Highgods behind him both felt astonished.

  “Hurry up and follow.” Inigo barked.

  “Yes, young master.” The two immediately followed Inigo in, stepping into the corridor.

  According to the rules of the Infernal Realm, once one became a Seven Star Fiend, one had the right to challenge the Asuras. Only by defeating an Asura would one receive the position. The former Asura would either die in battle, or survive and relinquish their position…after countless challenges and struggles, the Infernal Realm naturally now had many reclusive experts.

  These reclusive experts might be former Asuras, or they might be Seven Star Fiends, or perhaps even those extremely powerful experts who weren’t interested in fighting for the position of Asura.

  Without question, however, they all possessed terrifying power.

  The common people of the Infernal Realm had no idea they existed, but some of the ancient clans knew about some of the reclusive experts who couldn’t be offended.

  The two subordinates of Inigo immediately understood. “Most likely, this Biss Volcano Range has an ultimate expert residing within.”

  In the dark corridor, the three continuously advanced deeper into the ground.

  Suddenly…

  “Crackle…” The stone wall at the side of the corridor suddenly splintered into countless pebbles which suddenly moved forwards!

  “Ah!” “Ah!”

  The two Highgods were pierced through by those countless flying pebbles, and even their divine sparks were struck numerous times. Their souls were immediately dispersed!

  But Inigo’s face didn’t change. He thought to himself, “I didn’t expect that after so many years, that pet of Lord Elquin’s behaves just as father said. Hmph. These two fellows served as food for Lord Elquin’s pet!”

  Moments later…

  Inigo walked to the end of the corridor, where a river of lava was flowing. Inigo had arrived at the heart of the volcano range now. This core region was an extremely vast, empty cave. In the center of the cave, there was a scorching hot pond of golden magma.

  “I didn’t expect that there was such a strange thing underground.” Inigo’s face changed.

  “Drip…drip…” The golden magma continued to boil and flow.

  The muscles on Inigo’s face clenched twice, and then he left through another corridor, arriving at a large, lavish, empty underground palace. Deep within the underground palace, black-robed figure was currently seated in the official position, while within his arms there was a golden kitten.

  Inigo immediately bowed and said, “Inigo Bayfield pays his respects to Lord Elquin, and also brings the well-wishes of my father.”

  “Mm.” The black-robed figure responded calmly. “Inigo, I’ve heard your father speak of you. Why have you come to me?”

  A hint of a smile appeared on Inigo’s face. “Lord Elquin, actually, I spent a very long period of time and led over a hundred Highgods in preparation for a major event, but in the end, despite spending a large amount of money, most of my subordinates died and we still failed.”

  “Whatever it is that you want, speak clearly!” The black-robed figure snorted coldly in dissatisfaction.

  Inigo hurriedly said, “Yes, I’ll speak clearly. Not long ago, the Boyd clan was destroyed, but two servants of their clan took the vast fortune accumulated by the Boyd clan over countless years and fled with it. I have been searching for them this entire time, and chased them here from the Jadefloat Continent. In the end, I discovered them!”

  “Boyd clan?”

  The black-robed figure was finally startled. “Are you referring to the Boyd clan which was as famous as your Bayfield clan?”

  “Yes.” Inigo said.

  The black-robed figure let out a few insidious chuckles. “Haha, Inigo, the fortune of the Boyd clan is an astonishing sum. You’ve actually come to notify me about such a fortunate event? Why didn’t you go seek out other members of your Bayfield clan? I have to question what your intentions are.”

  Inigo said hurriedly, “Lord Elquin, there are two major reasons why I didn’t go to my clan for help.”

  “First of all, if I were to look for the experts within the clan, I would have to at least head back to the Coldcalm Prefecture of the Jadefloat Continent. The distance is simply too vast, and it’s hard to say if some variables would occur which would cause me to lose track of them.” Inigo said hurriedly. “As for the second reason, I’m afraid Lord Elquin will laugh at me.”

  Inigo laughed self-mockingly, “Lord Elquin, you should know that my big brother is the eldest son of the clan chief. In the future, he will be the one to inherit the position of clan chief. As for me, in the future, I will most likely be sent off to some distant area. My power will probably be far inferior to even my current level.”

  The black-robed figure let out two insidious chuckles. “You are a smart kid. Right. Speak a bit more regarding the fortune of the Boyd clan. If I can acquire this fortune, I naturally won’t mistreat you.”

  Although he was extremely powerful, this vast fortune of an enormous clan had been enough to make him greedy.

  “Um, this…” Inigo mumbled.

  The black-robed figure chuckled, “Kid, do you think I can’t tell what you are thinking? Fine, then. You and I can make a contract by the Overgods. If I acquire the fortune of the Boyd clan, I will give you ten percent. What do you say?”

  The power of a contract was extremely great.

  It was like the ‘bond of equals’ or ‘master-servant bond’ between a man and a magical beast. When metallic lifeforms were under the control of others, it was also because of this sort of bond.

  As for the Overgod contract, it was an extremely serious type of bond.

  “Alright.” Inigo was instantly overjoyed. Ten percent of the fortune!

  If he had given this information to his clan, the clan would heavily reward him, but how much would he get? This was the entire fortune of the Boyd clan; if his own clan gave him even one percent, that would be quite good. How could they give him ten percent?

  Inigo and the black-robed man immediately set up an Overgod contract.

  “Crackle…”

  Two rays of black light flew out from Inigo and the black-robed man’s foreheads, piercing into their divine sparks.

  Inigo was now completely at ease. He immediately laughed. “Lord Elquins, on this trip, on the surface, those two servants have employed a group of Fiends, with one of the servants having died and only one remaining.”

  “So the fortune is on those two old servants?” The black-robed figure said.

  Inigo instead said, “Not necessarily. Lord Elquins, I saw someone within the group of Fiends who is very likely to be a member of the Boyd clan. I suspect…that the fortune is currently on him.”<
br />
  “He joined the Fiends?” The black-robed figure nodded slightly.

  “Lord Elquins, don’t worry. When the time comes, I will follow you and immediately point him out.”

  The black-robed figure said calmly, “How about this. Inigo, you arrange for everything. All you need to do is notify me.” Inigo bowed respectfully, then retreated.

  After Inigo left, the black-robed figure immediately stood up. His ashen, pale face was only now revealed. A hint of a smile was at the corner of Elquin’s lips. “Since we have made an Overgod contract, this kid won’t dare lie to me. It is worth a trip.”

  Elquin was also worried that Inigo might play some tricks, but now, there was no need.

  “Phusro [Pu’si’luo], let’s prepare to head out.” Elquins petted the golden fur on the kitten in his hands.

  “Meow.” The little golden kitten called out.

  Outside Yilan City, the metallic lifeform remained halted outside the city. The three Edwards brothers and the other Fiends waited quietly outside the city.

  “That kid really is hard working. He’s always training.”

  “Most likely it is because he encountered so many dangers. He’s afraid of death.”

  The three Edwards brothers chatted and laughed quietly amongst themselves, while at the same time glancing sideways into the distance at Linley, who was experimenting with his sword techniques time and time again. Linley had already been experimenting nonstop for eighteen full days. Over the course of these eighteen days, Linley had continuously trained while also correcting and improving the technique.

  Theory and practice were not the same. There were always some differences.

  Linley once more struck out with Bloodviolet. As it chopped out, instantly, the sword shadow became blurred, as though it had reached the limits of speed as well as the limits of sloth. This sort of feeling was extremely disorienting. As his sword flashed past, sharp ripples in space appeared.

  “Crackle…” The earth split open.

  This was caused by those spatial ripples alone.

  “There we go.” Linley’s eyes lit up. For experimentation, Linley only used a tenth of his full power, but the strength of this attack remained astonishing.

  A smile appeared on Linley’s face. “That’s about it. This ‘Bewildering Shadow’ attack has finally been completed! If I were to attack using it at full strength, especially when matching it with the massive strength and speed of my Dragonform, the power of this attack…will be dozens of times greater than it was just now!”

  Book 15, Priceless Treasure – Chapter 15, News of Olivier

  After spending eighteen days of time, Linley had finally completed this technique which he had been pondering for so long. This ‘Bewildering Shadow’ was Linley’s most powerful material attack now. After having developed the ‘Bewildering Shadow’, Linley began to accompany Delia and Bebe with a relaxed mind.

  After the metallic life had waited outside Yilan City for a month or so, the white-horned elder finally returned with a group of hired Fiends. Soon, nearly a hundred Fiends had followed the white-horned elder over.

  “So there are Fiends here already.” The hired Fiends, upon seeing Linley’s group, couldn’t help but begin to laugh and chat.

  “But there’s so few people. There’s less than twenty people, all combined.”

  “Most likely this mission really will be as dangerous as claimed.”

  “Dangerous? If they died during the mission, all that can be said was that they were useless!”

  Hearing this discourse, the three Edwards brothers, Learmonth, and those original Fiends were all laughing coldly in their hearts….

  “So few? How would you know that when we first started, we had over a hundred Fiends as well!”

  “Useless? Let’s see how many of you will survive.”

  Linley and the others felt as though they could already see the sight of these Fiends being killed.

  The white-horned elder laughed. “Everyone has been waiting for quite some time now. Let’s go in. We’re heading out now.”

  Immediately, the bustling array of people all filled the metallic creature, with Linley, Delia, Bebe, Nisse, and Salomon walking together.

  “Hired so many?” Bebe mumbled. “110 Fiends, a hundred at the God-level, with the other ten being Highgods. Why invite so many Gods? To serve as cannon fodder?”

  Hearing Bebe’s words, Linley actually mused to himself, “Cannon fodder? No, most likely, with more Fiends present, it will be easier to hide Salomon’s identity.”

  Linley suddenly thought back to that original conversation he had with Salomon early on.

  During that conversation, Salomon had intentionally acted mysteriously and said that this escort mission was very risky, and that the origin point for this mission actually wasn’t Royalwing City. He had said that if this mission ran into any danger, Linley should immediately flee and try to preserve himself. At that time, Linley had felt grateful towards Salomon.

  But afterwards, Linley had learned…

  That this escort mission’s primary figure was actually Salomon!

  “Most likely, he intentionally spread that ‘rumor’ as well.” Linley said to himself. “When danger came, if the Fiends scattered everywhere, he would most likely have a chance to flee as well. By then, with so many people fleeing and him amongst them, others would only pay attention to the white-horned elder. Nobody would go deal with him.”

  Linley had to admit that Salomon truly did think far ahead.

  Hiring more Fiends was just done for obscuring the truth.

  “It’s best to be somewhat cautious when dealing with someone like him. Otherwise, I’ll probably be taken advantage of by him without even realizing it.” Linley couldn’t help but feel more guarded towards Salomon.

  The metallic lifeform had remained outside of Yilan City for roughly a month, and now it was once more heading off. Currently, the metallic lifeform had once more transformed to the size it had been at when leaving Royalwing City. The interior of the metallic lifeform once more appeared to be bustling.

  The metallic lifeform. Linley and Delia’s room.

  Delia was frowning as though thinking about something. She then turned to look at Linley and spoke. “Linley, there’s something I want to tell you.”

  “Hm, what is it?” Linley turned his head to look at Delia. Judging from her expression, it seemed to be rather important.

  Delia frowned. “Linley, at first, when we accepted this mission, we thought that it would help us move along the way in our journey. But I keep on having the feeling that this mission is too dangerous. Don’t you know who we are escorting? One of the ancient clans of the Infernal Realm and the massive wealth they have accumulated over countless years! We’ve been attacked twice already. I’m worried there will be a third attack. Most likely, the third attack will be even more dangerous than the first two. Although we do need to face some challenges in the Infernal Realm, but, we don’t need to put ourselves in such danger. We could die at any moment.”

  Linley nodded.

  During this journey, they had first suffered the bandit attack, which had only been a probe. The second attack within the castle of sand had been filled with danger. If there was a third attack, how dangerous would it be?

  Linley reached out with his arm, taking Delia into his embrace. In a gentle voice, he said, “Delia, I know. However, we’ve already accepted this mission. What are we supposed to do, withdraw from it? Look at those other surviving Fiends. Do you see any of them withdrawing?”

  If they had taken the chance to flee during a chaotic battle, they would at least have an excuse and say that they fled in terror and got separated.

  But actively withdrawing…

  Once this was recorded down into the mission records of the Fiend Castles, once it spread out, they would have lost all face! In the Infernal Realm, courage was reverenced while cowardice was reviled! In addition, the Infernal Realm was dangerous to begin with. Everyone was
psychologically prepared for the danger.

  “That’s not what I meant.” Delia said hurriedly. “I understand that we can’t withdraw. Once that spreads to the Indigo Prefecture and your ancestors find out…we can’t lose face like that. All I wanted to say was that once we arrive at the Rainbow Prefecture’s Bluemaple City, we need to do a better job of selecting missions. An easier one.”

  “I understand.”

  Linley nodded, then comforted her, “Don’t worry. We’re halfway through the journey now. Wait a bit longer.”

  “Delia doesn’t like danger.” Linley said to himself quietly. In truth, only when teetering at the brink of death, when fighting for his life at the edge of the blade, when encountering danger, did Linley feel his blood pumping. He wasn’t afraid at all.

  On the contrary, Linley felt as though he were back in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts as a youth.

  This was a very exciting feeling.

  “Creeaaaak.” He shut the door, then headed towards the main hall.

  Because there were many Fiends, the main hall within the metallic lifeform seemed quite crowded. There were seven or eight people seated there drinking and chatting, two of whom Linley recognized. Months had passed since they had left Yilan City, and Linley had gotten to know these Fiends.

  “Oi, Linley!” Immediately, a Fiend greeted Linley from afar.

  Linley grinned and waved back, then sat down by himself at a round table. He casually ordered two dishes and some wine, then began to drink by himself.

  At this time, a muscular, two meter tall man with golden hair walked over, somewhat surprised. He looked at Linley curiously, then said softly, “You…are Linley?”

  Puzzled, Linley looked up and glanced at him. “Right. I am Linley.”

  “You are Linley Baruch?” The golden haired man suddenly asked.

  Linley was greatly shocked. Someone knew his full name. “You are?” The golden haired man, seeing the look on Linley’s face, laughed and sat down. “Linley, don’t be nervous. I’ve just heard of you before, that’s all.”

  “Heard of me before?” Linley didn’t understand.