Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  Linley was no fool. Upon discovering Odin, he realized that Sayant had lied and was able to guess a few other things.

  “Odin is right at Sayant’s place?” Bebe understood as well, and he said furiously, “Boss, I told you that Sayant and his wife seemed a bit strange when they spoke with us. They told you go to the Abyssal Mountain, most likely with the intention of letting you die there.”

  “You still need to thank them.” George laughed. “Third Bro, because of them, you had this extraordinary run of luck, allowing you to break through to become a Paragon. If Odin and them were to know, they would regret it endlessly.”

  Linley hadn’t yet publicized the fact that he was a Soul Mutate, as when too many people knew a secret, it would easily slip out. He only said that he was a Paragon.

  “Right. I really do need to thank them.” Linley swept his gaze towards the northeast, then growled, “Let’s go. Let’s go pay a visit to Sayant and Odin!”

  “Odin!” Yale ground his teeth, his eyes sharp.

  Instantly, Linley controlled his metallic lifeform to fly forward at top speed.

  The Seven Star Specters under the control of the Lord Prefect of Northbone Prefecture all had their own castles.

  Odin was currently on the balcony of his castle, leisurely enjoying the sunlight and staring at the vast grasslands.

  “Hrm?” Odin raised an eyebrow. There was a metallic lifeform flying over at high speed. The metallic lifeform flew so quickly that Odin was astonished. “Such speed. This metallic lifeform must be a top-tier one. The person who is controlling it must be a supreme expert as well.”

  “ODIN!”

  The growling voice instantly echoed throughout the region in an area of ten thousand kilometers. Many soldiers of Northbone Prefecture, as well as Sayant himself, were startled by it.

  “Who is it?” Odin’s face changed slightly.

  Within Odin’s field of vision, the metallic lifeform disappeared, revealing a group of people, with Linley at the lead.

  “Linley!” Odin’s face changed from terror. “How…how is Linley still alive? Even if he is alive, why did he come back?”

  “Swoosh!” The group of figures flew down from the skies.

  “Who goes there!” A furious shout rang out. Instantly, the soldiers all rose into the skies, and over a hundred prefectural soldiers moved to block Linley’s group.

  “Beat it.” Linley growled.

  An invisible ripple spread out, and instantly this group of soldiers were impacted by it and sent flying back. Fortunately, Linley showed mercy, as otherwise, all of these soldiers would have died instantly.

  Linley’s group acted as though they were moving into an unpopulated region as they flew downwards, ignoring everyone else. All the soldiers who wanted to block them were sent flying back.

  “This…what is this ability?” Odin was stunned.

  It was easy to kill Highgods, but the technique Linley had used was truly astonishing.

  Linley’s group hovered there in midair, staring coldly at Odin.

  “Odin. Do you recognize me?” A furious, hateful, teeth-grinding voice rang out. Yale stared death at Odin.

  Odin turned to look, and upon seeing Yale, laughed coldly. “Haha, and here I was, wondering who it was. So it is the Chairman of the Dawson Conglomerate. I didn’t imagine that after becoming an undead, you would then become a Deity. This really was outside my expectations. For you to be able to meet again with your brother after becoming a Deity; how rare!”

  Odin didn’t seem to be afraid at all.

  “Linley.” A gentle voice rang out.

  Linley turned to look. From afar, five figures were flying over at high speed, with the leader being the Lord Prefect of Northbone Prefecture, Sayant, along with his wife, Anita. By their sides were three other subordinates, who were most likely experts at the Seven Star Specter level.

  “Sayant.” Linley greeted him.

  “Linley, you should’ve let me know that you were coming. I would’ve gone to welcome you.” Sayant said with a laugh. As he spoke, Sayant’s group of five flew next to Odin, while Linley didn’t move to block him at all.

  The two sides stared at each other there in midair, with many prefectural soldiers watching.

  Most likely, once Sayant gave the order, these prefectural soldiers would all charge en masse.

  “Let you know in advance?” Linley let out a calm laugh. “Sayant, I imagine that if I let you know, you would’ve had Odin hide…haha, I really didn’t expect that you, Sayant, a noble Lord Prefect, would play this sort of trick on me. This is a bit too laughable.”

  Sayant’s face sank.

  Linley’s words made him feel very uncomfortable!

  “Hmph. He’s just an Elder of the Azure Dragon clan.” Sayant snickered mentally. “Prior to this, I was worried that Linley was a Paragon, but since he didn’t acquire the Abyssal Fruit at the Abyssal Mountain, he’s definitely not a Paragon.” Sayant had only been worried about Linley’s level of strength due to the intelligence reports he had received from the eight great clans.

  But the results of Linley’s trip to the Abyssal Mountain had put Sayant at ease.

  Indeed…if Linley had already been a Paragon, acquiring the Abyssal Fruit would have been very easy.

  “Sayant, stand aside. This has nothing to do with you.” Linley said calmly. “My target is just a single person. Him. Odin.” Linley stared at Odin.

  Odin looked at Sayant.

  Sayant chuckled as he looked at Linley. “Linley, I’ve been fairly courteous to you. Why must you act so brazenly? Odin is my subordinate. If I were to allow you to kill him just because you asked me to, then how would I, Sayant, be able to hold onto my position as Lord Prefect? Since he is my subordinate, I definitely won’t permit you to take him away. Linley…if you are wise, you will leave immediately. Otherwise, if we shed all pretense of cordiality, it won’t be good.”

  Sayant was completely confident in himself.

  “Sayant.” Bebe began to curse furiously. “Last time, you intentionally lied to us to have us go to the Abyssal Mountain. We haven’t even settled accounts with you about that; we are already giving you face. You are simply a Lord Prefect; who do you think you are, to put on airs in front of me and my Boss? Are you qualified to act like this?” After having experienced the Planar Wars, Bebe held Sayant in no regard at all.

  Bebe was completely confident in being able to kill Sayant.

  “Impudent!” Sayant’s face turned ugly, and he let out a growl.

  Suddenly, a long black spear appeared in Sayant’s hands, and a terrifying aura spread forth from the spear. The nearby Odin, seeing this, laughed.

  “Swoosh!” Sayant charged straight towards Bebe. Clearly, Bebe’s words had infuriated him.

  The strange thing was…

  Linley’s body didn’t move, but a blurred figure had appeared in front of Sayant.

  “Bang!” A kick landed directly across Sayant’s chest. Sayant was like a sandbag, and was knocked back downwards. “Boom!” He smashed into the corner of the castle, and then landed on the ground. At this moment, Linley’s ‘body’ slowly disappeared, while that blurred figure reformed into Linley’s true body.

  Odin, the other Seven Star Fiends, Lady Anita, and the watching prefectural soldiers were all stunned.

  “Ugh.” Sayant spat out a mouthful of blood. He lay there on the ground, staring at Linley in terror.

  What sort of speed was this?

  Linley stood there in midair, staring down at the prone Sayant. Calmly, he said, “Be a good boy and stand over there. If you continue to act so arrogantly, I will show no more mercy.” After speaking, Linley turned to stare at Odin, his gaze cold.

  Odin’s face turned ashen, and his body began to tremble.

  Book 20, The Crown’s Riddle – Chapter 3, Power

  Odin lowered his head, staring in terror at Sayant, who lay stricken on the ground. He sent mentally, “Lord Prefect, Lord Prefect!” Odin was now truly fra
ntic. Having seen Linley’s displayed power, Odin now knew…there was no way he could resist at all. In his desperation, all he could do was place his hopes on Lord Prefect Sayant.

  “Shut your mouth!” Sayant snarled angrily through divine sense.

  Sayant’s eyes were red, and his heart was filled with rage. He had been kicked to the ground with so many soldiers watching. This was an insult! For someone of Sayant’s status to suffer this sort of humiliation was something that had to be avenged. But he didn’t have the ability to do so at all!

  The surrounding soldiers all stared at Linley, stunned, then at Sayant, who lay there on the ground, covered in blood.

  “To attempt to gain revenge will only result in one thing. Death. I have to endure it. Endure it!” Sayant felt all the more humiliated with so many people staring at him. “If I die, then everything is finished. Linley probably really is a Paragon. Even if others hear of this story, it’s not embarrassing for me to have lost by his hand.” This was how Sayant consoled himself.

  He, Sayant, worried about his face. Odin, however, was worried about his puny little life.

  “If I don’t run now, I’ll have no hope.” With a ‘whoosh’, Odin dove underground, wanting to hide himself underground and flee.

  “Hmph.”

  Linley smiled calmly, and then his body transformed into a blur as he moved to stand below Odin.

  “Whap!” Linley delivered a slap directly to Odin’s face, knocking him flying into the air. Odin slammed into the side of the castle wall like a sandbag. With a low, thudding sound, the castle wall split apart. “How terrifyingly fast.” Odin had yet to recover from his terror, but Linley was already once more in front of him.

  Odin looked at Linley, his face filled with terror.

  Linley just reached out calmly while sending out 108 surges of earthen yellow energy which formed into a cocoon, completely binding Odin within it. The terrifying compressive power made it so that Odin wasn’t able to move at all.

  Even Hemmers, an expert whose material attack power was comparable to Paragons, was dramatically impacted by this technique of Linley’s.

  How could a mere Seven Star Specter possibly have the power to resist against the oppressive power of Linley’s Will?

  He was paralyzed!

  “Yale, you choose how he dies.” Linley turned to look at Yale, who flew over, his eyes filled with savagery.

  “Ahhhhhhhh!” Odin howled, frantically trying to break free from the oppressive power binding him.

  It must be understood that even when Linley had just become a Highgod, his Gravitational Space was already capable of making it hard for ordinary Seven Star Fiends to resist. Now that it was infused with the power of his Will, it was increased more than a hundredfold in strength. Odin was like a trapped beast in a cage; although he howled with savagery, he wasn’t able to extricate himself at all.

  “You want to kill me? Haha…kid, you think you are worthy of killing me?” Odin’s eyes were scarlet red as he stared at Yale, contempt in his gaze.

  “Linley, if you are so tough, kill me yourself!” Odin howled.

  By now, Odin realized that there was no hope.

  Sayant, Anita, their subordinates, and the soldiers all quietly watched from far away as Odin struggled like a trapped beast. Earlier, they wanted to intervene, wanted to attack and drive Linley back, but after Linley made his move, they no longer had any thoughts of fighting back.

  “Kill you myself?” Linley laughed calmly. “In your dreams.”

  “Hmph.” Odin suddenly laughed coldly, and a translucent ripple shot out from Odin’s eyes, shooting towards Yale.

  “Crunch.” The earthen yellow cocoon which surrounded Odin spat out a translucent sword-shaped ripple which destroyed this soul attack. Linley gave Odin a disdainful, calm look. “Odin, now that you are trapped within my Gravitational Prison, you aren’t able to fight back at all. Don’t try to be tricky.”

  “Make your move.” Linley looked at Yale.

  Yale nodded slightly, a deep azure spear appearing in his hands.

  “My brothers. My wife. My children. My parents…” Yale’s body was trembling, and his lips were white as he stared at Odin. And then, Yale suddenly bent backwards like a greatbow being pulled, then savagely exploded forth, throwing the spear in his hand forward with endless power and sending it piercing towards Odin.

  Swooosh…

  “Clank!” The deep azure spear pierced towards Odin, but it wasn’t even able to break through his skin.

  Yale was stunned.

  “Ha…haha…” Odin raised his head, laughing loudly, laughing wildly. “Linley, oh, Linley. You want your friend to kill me? Haha. He’s a Demigod! I’m a Seven Star Specter, a Highgod! My energy defense alone is comparable that of a Highgod artifact. His bit of attack power isn’t even capable of breaking through my skin. Haha, kill me? In his dreams!!!”

  Yale’s face turned pale.

  “I…I…” Yale’s body trembled. “I want to get revenge, but I…”

  Linley had already captured Odin and gave him to Yale for Yale to kill, but Yale’s attack power was simply too low; Odin was, after all, a Seven Star Specter. Even if he didn’t use his fused profound mysteries in activating his divine power, his material defense was still close to a Highgod artifact in strength. In terms of soul defense, Odin, who trained in the Edicts of Death, was even mightier. Yale wasn’t able to harm him at all.”

  Odin glared savagely at Yale, as though he wanted to eat him alive. “Punk, you want to kill me? In your dreams! The power you possess isn’t enough to even harm a single hair on my body!”

  “Odin.” Linley gave him a calm glance.

  “Linley, what are you being so arrogant about?” Knowing that he was about to die, Odin actually became fearless, and he stared at Linley, laughing loudly. “Didn’t you want your brother to kill me? Unfortunately, he’s too weak. Even though you captured me and gave me to him for him to kill, he still isn’t able to do it. It is fated that he will never be able to personally take revenge! Haha…I still remember the look on the faces of Yale’s family members when they all died. How delightful!”

  “Bastard!” Yale bellowed.

  “You aren’t able to kill me. There’s no way you’ll be able to personally take revenge.” Odin laughed delighted.

  A layer of frost appeared on Linley’s face.

  “Absorb this into your body, then activate it.” With a flip of his hand, Linley produced a drop of black liquid, which floated towards Yale.

  “Huh?” Odin’s face changed.

  “Aren’t you very powerful? You are only an ordinary Seven Star Specter, and one who trains in the Edicts of Death. I want to see if your body is tough enough to withstand a strike which uses Sovereign power!” Linley laughed calmly.

  Yale’s eyes lit up.

  “Third Bro, thank you.” Yale immediately absorbed the drop of Sovereign’s Might into his body, and then, with a ‘bang’ sound, black light exploded forth from Yale’s body as a terrifying aura spread out from it. Yale held that deep azure spear, which swirled with black light. Yale let out a deep growl…

  “DIE!”

  Yale struck out as fast as lightning, stabbing wildly with that deep azure spear towards Odin.

  “NO!!!!” Odin only had enough time for one final, miserable scream.

  Yale didn’t stab directly into Odin’s head; he wildly, randomly stabbed, leaving more than ten bloody holes throughout Odin’s body before finally piercing through his head!

  “Huff, huff…” Yale panted wildly as he launched several more stabbing blows, then began to tremble.

  Odin just lay there limply, not responding all. His divine artifacts fell out of his body, but because of the repulsive force, they remained next to him.

  “Dead. Odin’s dead. I personally killed him.” Yale raised his head, laughing wildly, but his tears flowed downwards. Yale seemed to be gripped by madness.

  But seeing this, Linley only let out a sigh of relief.r />
  Yale was releasing the hatred that had been pent up deep within his heart. Afterwards, he would be much better.

  A long while later, Yale finally regained his former calm. He turned his head to look towards Linley. A grateful look; that was it. Linley laughed, then walked over and patted him on the shoulders. “Let’s go.” They were brothers who had played together since they were youths. Some words simply didn’t need to be said.

  George and the others felt happy for Yale as well.

  And then, Linley’s group of experts boarded their metallic lifeform and left.

  As for Sayant, the Lord Prefect of Northbone Prefecture, he and his men all looked at each other, letting out mental sighs of relief.

  “Lord Prefect, this Linley is too, too powerful.” A nearby azure-robed man said in a low voice. “Odin was a Seven Star Specter, but he was trapped by Linley to the point of not being able to fight back. What sort of technique is this? Also, Linley’s speed is utterly inconceivable.”

  Given how fast they were, when ordinary commanders encountered Paragons, they weren’t able to fight back at all.

  “Given how fast he was, and how he could use energy to trap a Seven Star Specter…while only using ordinary divine earth power…” Sayant’s face was solemn. “This Linley most likely truly is a Paragon.”

  The people by his side were all stunned.

  Paragon?

  “Let’s go. All of you, go back!” Sayant’s face was sinister, and his voice was dark.

  “Whooooosh.” A wild wind howled, and the wind slashed across the land like knives.

  Ironknife Gorge. Within the castle.

  Within the wide, empty area, there were two giant teleportation arrays. Suddenly, one of them flashed with countless sparkles of light, and the surrounding Bloodridge soldiers couldn’t help but to turn their heads to look.

  The light dissipated, and a group of people merged.

  One of the Bloodridge soldiers recognized them, and his eyes lit up. He hurriedly bowed. “Greetings again, milord.” Last time, when Linley had used this teleportation array to depart, this soldier had clearly seen Linley and knew that Linley had the Bloodridge Sovereign’s medallion.