Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  Linley was startled.

  “But of course, a Seven Star Fiend like myself was nothing more than a captain in the armies. Lord Linley, when you and Lord Magnus were engaging in that great battle, we were all watching. It is only normal for me to recognize you but for you not to recognize me, Lord Linley.” The governor laughed.

  In the Planar Battlefield, he was nothing more than a simple soldier.

  “Just now, when I first saw Lord Bebe, I was startled and felt he looked familiar, but I didn’t react in time. I didn’t even dare imagine that you, Lord Linley, would be here. But upon seeing you in person, Lord Linley, I came to my senses.” The governor laughed while speaking.

  Linley couldn’t help but chuckle as well.

  Intelligence reports were divided into levels. Although Overgod missions sounded important, and should be ranked as top-grade intelligence reports, in reality, there were simply too many fake reports, and so they would naturally be ranked lowly and be managed by ordinary Highgods.

  Information regarding Paragons or Sovereigns, or regarding some ancient secrets, however, weren’t purchasable with money alone.

  “Pa, Paragon?” The short-haired elder stared nervously at Linley.

  A One Star Fiend? Was actually one of the legendary, invincible Paragons?

  Linley and the governor chatted for a while, then Linley took his Fiend emblem and left. By now, however, he had a new Seven Star Fiend emblem.

  “What a pity. There is too much fake information. A few sounded plausible, but they didn’t even have scryer recordings.” Linley left regretfully.

  After Brodie had acquired the red caltrop diamond, given how completely destitute he was, he naturally had taken the interspatial rings of the bandits and their divine sparks as he left. After countless trials, Brodie discovered that as his spiritual energy grew more powerful, the amount of that unique energy he could summon from the red caltrop diamond increased as well.

  Thus, Brodie decided to fuse with a divine spark.

  He had two divine clones. In order to gain revenge, he was willing to allow one of them to fuse with a divine spark! Rising from God to Highgod, even through fusing with divine sparks, meant that the soul would skyrocket in power.

  The Muja Continent. An ordinary tribe. The Lotte tribe!

  “Allott, come out!” This bellow echoed throughout the air above the Lotte tribe.

  The warriors of the Lotte tribe stared in surprise and terror at the fiendish, godlike figure who stood there in the air. That formerly weak ‘Brodie’ had become so powerful and terrifying upon his return! The corpses currently littering the ground were the results of the earlier battle against him! No one was able to touch Brodie and survive!

  “Brodie, you became a Highgod so quickly? I imagine you fused with a divine spark. You didn’t run far away, but instead dared to return? You really are looking for death.”

  A figure suddenly floated up into the air above the castle. Dressed completely in black armor, this man’s entire body, including face, was covered. Only a pair of golden yellow eyes could be seen. This was the number one expert of the Lotte tribe, the leader of the tribe…Allott!

  “Barriman [Ba’li’man], let’s continue our discussions on cooperating later. I’ll go deal with this punk first.” Allott lowered his head and smiled towards an old man with curly brown hair.

  “Chief Allott, feel free to go take care of your internal matters. I’m in no rush.” Old man Barriman laughed calmly.

  Allott was very confident, because he was a Six Star Fiend level expert. As he saw it, although Brodie was able to kill many warriors, the reason was primarily because he was a Highgod, and also because…he had probably come up with some sort of unusual attack. But Allott didn’t care about that, because as he saw it, the difference in power between them was too great. There were no tricks Brodie could use.

  In battle, one had to rely on true ability. If he, a Six Star Fiend, was unable to kill a Highgod who had just fused with a divine spark, that would be quite bizarre.

  “My wife?” Brodie growled.

  “Your wife?” Allott laughed. “Your wife is pretty obstinate. She’d rather die than submit. Still, I’m in no rush…I’ll slowly train her. And now…I’ll kill you first.” Allott waved his hand, and a two meter long blood-red giant sickle appeared.

  The Six Star Fiend, Allott. The Highgod who had become one through usage of a divine spark, Brodie. They stared at each other in midair.

  “I should be able to see Allott’s power in this battle.” The old man with the curly brown hair looked at the two men above the castle, smiling while using the ‘scryer technique’ to record this battle.

  Actually, not just him; many of the tribal experts who trained in the Laws of Water were all recording this battle.

  “Feel honored to die beneath my supreme technique.” Allott let out a calm laugh, and then his body flashed out in a red arc as that giant red sickle slashed down…

  “Slash…”

  A giant spatial rift appeared. For a Six Star Fiend to be able to tear a hole in space represented that the strength of his attack power was fairly high amongst Six Star Fiends.

  “Hmph.” Brodie just used his black dagger to block it.

  “Clang!”

  The black dagger was actually shattered.

  “Too weak.” Allott laughed disdainfully as the red sickle in his hands chopped towards Brodie’s skull.

  “Crackle…”

  As the red sickle chopped into Brodie’s skull, Allott suddenly felt his blow become powerless, because the damaged head was actually healing at a rate so rapid that the red sickle wasn’t able to chop any further.

  “What, what is going on?” Allott was shocked.

  “Die.” Brodie discarded the dagger in his hand, then stretched his hand out, snatching at Allott’s sickle-wielding right hand.

  As their hands touched…

  “Eh?” Allott felt a terrifying powerful energy ravenously devour at his soul. The devouring power was simply too strong.

  “Im…impossible?” Allott frantically tried to resist. “Die.” Allott wildly chopped at Brodie with his sickle, but each blade was only able to leave a scar on Brodie’s body and go no further in. In the blink of an eye, though, even the scar would disappear. It could be said that Brodie…

  Had an indestructible body!

  “Impossible? Completely impossible?” Allott had never heard of something like this before.

  “You are actually able to endure.” Brodie’s face changed. “This is because my soul is too weak, so the amount of energy I am able to control is too low…”

  “Rumble…” The red caltrop diamond emitted a trembling sound, and a bizarre, icy cold green light surged forth, filling Allott’s body. As this surge of icy energy joined as well, Allott was no longer able to resist, and his soul was instantly devoured.

  The many tribal warriors below were all stunned.

  They just saw a green light flash, and then, Allott died!

  “That…that is?”

  The face of the curly brown-haired elder, ‘Barriman’ changed. He was an expert on par with Allott, and his divine sense discovered…that the green light was emanating from a red caltrop diamond. “A red caltrop diamond? Can it be…?” Barriman suddenly thought of something he had once heard of. He couldn’t help but feel shocked.

  “Swoosh.” Barriman didn’t stay in the tribe any further, immediately, stealthily fleeing.

  “Vidonica!” Brodie grew agitated as he excitedly flew towards the castle.

  Book 20, The Crown’s Riddle – Chapter 25, A Sudden Shockwave

  The hazy light of the Blood Sun seemed to cover the entire Lotte tribe with a layer of bloody gauze.

  The entire Lotte tribe was deathly silent!

  The battle with Brodie had caused nearly ten percent of the God-level warriors of the tribe to perish. Although this didn’t sound like a large number, ten percent represented the lives of hundreds of Gods. Fortunately, this was th
e Infernal Realm, and everyone was accustomed to slaughter and death. Thus, the Lotte tribe quickly returned to normal, and the former ‘number two expert’ of the tribe, the escort captain ‘Bolan’ [Bo’lin], became the new chief.

  “I don’t understand. How could that kid Brodie have become so powerful? Last time, when he fled the tribe, he was just a God. Even I could’ve killed him with ease! His strength was quite average. But after ten short years…just ten short years! Inconceivable. How could he have grown so powerful? Just before starting the battle, the chief himself said that Brodie was nothing more than a divine spark Highgod. But the chief, a Six Star Fiend, died to him!

  All sorts of discussions were currently going on within the Lotte tribe.

  “Some of those dead brothers of ours have some surviving divine clones. They all said that Brodie’s body contained an unusual energy that was able to devour souls!”

  “I saw it as well. It was a ray of green light which killed the chief! I used the scryer technique to record it down.”

  “Hey…let me tell you something. I was fairly close to Brodie, and I was able to find through divine sense the source of that green light. It was a caltrop-shaped red diamond he was holding in his hand. As I see it, the reason Brodie became so strong has to have something to do with that unusual diamond which emanated that green light!”

  Brodie had already taken his wife and flown away long ago. This was the reason why these tribesmen now dared to discuss these things.

  “I heard that curly brown-haired elder was named ‘Barriman’, and that he wanted to buy the scryer recordings of Brodie massacring the tribesmen earlier?” A tall, skinny, white-haired youth asked.

  “Right. Just yesterday, Lord Barriman returned once more to buy the previous scryer recordings. He was willing to pay a million inkstones for each recording. He really does live up to his reputation as a true expert who even Chief Allott received with sincerity. He really is generous in his actions. Right, tell me, why do you think Lord Barriman purchased the scryer recordings from us?”

  “Hmph.” The tall, skinny, white-haired youth let out a chuckle. “Doesn’t that go without saying? He definitely wants to accumulate enough scryer recordings, the more detailed the better, and then auction them off to the Fiend Castles! Brodie, a Highgod who fused with a divine spark, while holding that unusual diamond, was able to kill a Six Star Fiend. I’ve never heard of such a terrifying treasure. That diamond definitely is an incredible treasure. For Brodie to have such power when wielding it…if it was a Seven Star Fiend or a Lord Prefect who had the treasure, how mighty would it be? As I see it, Lord Barriman wants to rely on this information to earn a huge fortune.”

  Few idiots were able to become Deities. The guesses of the tribesmen were correct; the Six Star Fiend, ‘Barriman’, could be considered an expert in the Infernal Realm. He knew about the Overgod missions, and he understood…that this red diamond might be the legendary Overgod talisman, the ‘red caltrop diamond’!

  An Overgod talisman! What sort of treasure was this!

  But Barriman also knew that whether the Overgod mission was real or false was hard to say. Thus, Barriman collected as much detailed information as he could, totaling tens of scryer recordings, then offered them at a sky-high price to the Fiend Castle! In addition, he actually dared to guarantee that the red caltrop diamond which he, Barriman, had located, was as valuable as a Sovereign artifact, even if it wasn’t an Overgod talisman.

  The price…

  Was one trillion inkstones!

  This price, to the Fiend Castles, wasn’t worth mentioning. But a fairly wealthy Seven Star Fiend’s entire net worth might be only around a trillion inkstones or so. And what’s more, it was uncertain as to whether or not the ‘Overgod mission’ was even real. If he set a price which was too high, the Fiend Castle could simply send its own people to investigate independently.

  The deal was made!

  The Fiend Castle spent a trillion inkstones and purchased this intelligence report.

  The Fiend Castle’s staff members verified the report, and then were convinced that the red caltrop diamond which emanated that green light was definitely a unique treasure. All of the Fiend Castles of the Infernal Realm thus received a copy of this report.

  The Redbud Continent. The third floor of a city’s Fiend Castle.

  “What sort of intelligence report do you need?”

  The staff member behind the counter said calmly.

  “Information regarding the Overgod mission. Ten million inkstones, right?” A silver-haired, cyclopean youth said coldly while handing over ten million inkstones and his Fiend emblem.

  The intelligence agent behind the counter verified the Fiend emblem. His attitude instantly became more respectful, and he immediately brought out a scroll and scryer recordings.

  After viewing the scryer recordings and the scroll, the silver-haired cyclopean youth turned and prepared to leave. But the staff member suddenly said, “Mr. Sigu, our Fiend Castle just received some information regarding the Overgod talisman, the ‘red caltrop diamond’. This information is absolutely real. The diamond mentioned by the report, even if not an Overgod talisman, is definitely a spiritual treasure comparable to a Sovereign artifact.”

  “Oh?” The silver-haired cyclopean youth turned his head suddenly. “Either an Overgod talisman or a treasure comparable to a Sovereign artifact?”

  “Right.” The staff member nodded with complete confidence. “This is absolutely true.”

  “What is the price of this report?” The silver-haired cyclopean youth said coldly.

  “To someone like you, Lord Sigu, the price isn’t that high. Only ninety billion inkstones!” The staff member said with a smile.

  This price….caused the silver-haired cyclopean youth to frown as well.

  The Fiend Castle was quite clever in setting prices. Ninety billion inkstones meant that the price was within the tens of billions. If they set the price at a hundred billion, that would be on a different level and give people a different type of feeling. The report that they had purchased for a trillion inkstones would thus only have to be sold at ninety billion inkstones for eleven or twice times in order for them to recoup their investment.

  “Fine.” The silver-haired cyclopean youth waved his hand and removed an interspatial ring, then tossed it over. “There are ninety billion inkstones within this.”

  “Lord Sigu, please wait a moment. This sort of important report is being carried by the governor himself, who carries it with him. I will ask him to provide it. Please wait.” The staff member was very courteous. Sigu was a Seven Star Fiend.

  Generally speaking, the intelligence agents would only recommend this sort of information to someone who reached the Six Star Fiend or Seven Star Fiend level. Those who were too weak didn’t have the money to buy information of this level.

  Moments later, the silver-haired cyclopean youth received the intelligence report.

  He flipped through the contents of it while also viewing the dozens of scryer recordings.

  “Something which allows a Highgod who fused with divine sparks to defeat a Six Star Fiend?” The silver-haired cyclopean youth was shocked. He didn’t hesitate at all, immediately flying out of the Fiend Castle at high speed.

  As a Seven Star Fiend, the silver-haired cyclopean youth instantly raised his speed to the highest limit as he flew towards the Muja Continent!

  The Fiend Castles were spread throughout the Infernal Realm. The Infernal Realm had many experts, and quite a few of them were able to purchase this sort of information. Many of them, upon seeing the detailed contents of this report, began to converge towards the Muja Continent. Unfortunately…the Infernal Realm was simply too vast!

  It would take too long for people from other continents to hurry to the Muja Continent.

  But fortunately, the experts also travelled quite quickly.

  Jadefloat Continent. Graceseal City.

  Linley’s group was leisurely wandering about the city.
Afterwards, they habitually arrived at the third floor of the local Fiend Castle, and Linley once more purchased information regarding the Overgod talisman.

  Linley flipped through the intelligence report, then turned to leave.

  “Lord Linley, I have another set of valuable information regarding the red caltrop diamond in specific.” The intelligence agent said hurriedly. After having inspected Linley’s Fiend emblem, he already knew that Linley was a Seven Star Fiend.

  “Oh, valuable information? Regarding the red caltrop diamond? Why did you separate it from the other related reports?” Linley laughed as he looked at the intelligence agent.

  “Boss, the Fiend Castle really knows how to make money.” Bebe sighed.

  “All businessmen are evil, you know.” Yale chortled merrily. Yale had been the manager of the Dawson Conglomerate; he knew quite a bit about business.

  The intelligence agent laughed awkwardly, “Lord Linley, ordinary people aren’t qualified to view this intelligence report, and the price we paid to acquire it was astronomical as well. We can’t operate at a loss, you know. Our Fiend Castle has already verified the information in this report, and we are able to vouch…that this red caltrop diamond, even if it isn’t an Overgod talisman, is something comparable to a Sovereign artifact.”

  “Oh?” Linley’s eyes lit up.

  “Lord Linley, are you willing to buy it? The price isn’t high, just ninety billion inkstones.” The intelligence agent said hurriedly.

  Ninety billion inkstones, to the current Linley, truly was nothing.

  It must be understood that even an ancient clan like Salomon and Nisse’s had hundreds of trillions of inkstones. And the price of a single drop of Sovereign’s Might far surpassed a hundred trillion inkstones.