Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

“Father, you tell me. Is she my mother?” Linley immediately asked.

  “Yes! Absolutely, yes!” Hogg was completely certain. “They look absolutely identical. And her smell…I would never be able to forget it!” Hogg could still remember the scent of his wife, Lina, as she lay against him. Upon seeing the brown-haired Angel, he instantly became certain…

  This was his wife!

  “Haha, Linley, so you are searching for your mother.” Augusta began to laugh. “No wonder you care so much about this matter, Linley. I told you long ago that this was her; no need to be worried! In addition, according to the intelligence reports that my subordinates provided, in the past ten thousand years, there have only been three Deity-level Angel souls provided by the Yulan Plane; two men, one woman. Only one soul became a Twelve-Winged Angel; the woman’s! It’s actually quite odd. Ten thousand years, the Yulan Plane’s church offered that soul, but since then, they haven’t offered any at all.”

  But Linley knew why.

  It was because…the Radiant Church had been annihilated. Naturally, it wouldn’t be able to sacrifice any more souls.

  “For the two of you, mother and son, to be reunited is a joyous occasion.” Augusta chortled as he spoke.

  The Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, chuckled and nodded slightly as well.

  “Right. This is my mother.” Linley didn’t hide it at all, and he looked towards Augusta and said solemnly, “Augusta, as I see it, let’s do this quickly. Give my mother her free will back, and I will give you the blood essences of the Four Divine Beasts. Right. Of the blood essences, there are only twenty eight drops of Black Tortoise blood essence; two drops are missing. Thus, I added two drops of Vermillion Bird blood essence to make up for it. Is that alright?”

  “That’s not too much of an issue.”

  Augusta looked towards Linley, then said slowly, “Linley, I have to inform you of something. After you hear what I have to say, you can decide as to whether or not you wish to make this trade.”

  Linley’s heart trembled. He sensed that new variables were coming into play.

  “Speak.” Linley said.

  Augusta explained, “Angels are created from souls that were sacrificed in material planes. Through the Angelic Resurrection Pools, they are reborn as Angels! There is another often-heard expression; that Angels are human-shaped weapons, and that they can no longer be considered true living creatures at all. Do you know the true meaning within these words?”

  Linley frowned.

  Couldn’t be considered true living creatures? What did this mean?

  Augusta continued, “For a mortal soul to be instantly transformed into a Twelve-Winged Angel…how could any living creature possibly instantly increase in power by that much?”

  “When they are transformed by the Angelic Resurrection Pool, even their souls are slightly changed. Their souls are now no longer contained within their minds, but within their Angelcore; the Angelcore is the nucleus of their existence!” Augusta explained. “In addition, during the transformation, their soul will be changed as well, and all of their former memories will be wiped away. The only thing left to them will be their absolute loyalty to the Sovereigns of Light!”

  Linley’s heart trembled.

  “Augusta, are you saying…?” Linley had a rather foreboding feeling.

  “Right. The Angelic Resurrection Pools, the places where Angels are created, aren’t something that we are capable of creating. The changes they unleash upon the soul are irreversible! Your mother is currently under my control, but even if I give her freedom, your mother would be nothing more than an emancipated Angel. She still won’t have any of the memories from before she became an Angel!” Augusta looked at Linley.

  Linley instantly felt somewhat lost.

  He had thought that upon gaining her freedom, his mother would also regain her memories.

  But now, it seemed, that was completely impossible.

  Augusta’s words were quite reasonable. It was the Angelic Resurrection Pool which had transformed her. The only thing which Augusta could do was to give Linley’s mother free will; he wasn’t able to reverse the changes to her soul.

  “Father.” Linley turned to look at Hogg.

  The nearby Hogg had heard and understood. He knew that there was no way for his wife, Lina, to regain her memories. His face couldn’t help but turn pale as well, but upon seeing Linley turn to him, Hogg still squeezed out a smile. He sent mentally, “Linley, if there is no way to recover her memories, then there is no way. It will be as though your mother and I are meeting again for the first time.”

  “Alright.” Linley nodded slightly.

  “Linley, if you aren’t able to accept this, then we can just go ahead and put aside our agreement.” The Chief Sovereign of Light looked at Linley.

  “No need. You can let my mother regain her freedom.” Linley looked at the Chief Sovereign of Light.

  Augusta nodded, then gritted his teeth and closed his eyes.

  “Eh?” Linley, through his fused divine sense, could tell that Augusta had sent out a tendril of his own divine sense into the mind of the Angel. Slowly, Augusta’s face began to turn rather pale.

  “Hmph.” Augusta let out a low growl.

  Suddenly, Augusta’s face turned bone white, and his entire body swayed uncontrollably. The nearby Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, waved his hand, sending out a surge of Sovereign power to press against Augusta, preventing him from falling.

  “Wait a while. I need to rest a moment.” Augusta said, then immediately closed his eyes to focus internally.

  “It seems as though Augusta’s soul has been damaged.” Linley watched this all happen. He had no idea at all as to the price which Augusta had paid to let Linley’s mother recover her free will. However, from what the Chief Sovereign of Death and others had said, Linley knew that there was definitely a very, very high price to be paid for allowing an Angel to regain free will.

  Augusta didn’t even ask Linley for the blood essences of the Four Divine Beasts; he had first immediately begun to work to recover.

  And now, Linley looked towards his mother, Lina.

  Lina had only been frowning pensively earlier, but now, a look of surprised delight appeared on her face. Lina looked at Hogg. Slightly puzzled, she said, “Based on the conversation you had, you…were my husband, prior to my transformation into an Angel?” Angels were all capable of logic and rational thought.

  They were Angels and had no potential for future advancement, but they were absolutely dedicated to the Sovereigns.

  “Lina, I’m Hogg. Do you remember anything?” Hogg immediately walked before her, his eyes shining. “Do you still remember that torrential, pouring storm of rain we weathered together on Mt. Wushan? Do you still remember our home, Wushan township? Do you remember that night when you were taken away from me, at that hotel in the city of Fenlai?”

  Lina was slightly startled. A lost look appeared in her eyes, and she shook her head slightly. “I, I don’t.”

  Hogg’s eyes couldn’t help but darken, but he immediately said, “That’s fine. You’ll know in the future. I’ll take you back to the Yulan Plane.”

  “I know that I became a Twelve-Winged Angel less than ten thousand years ago.” Lina then let out a beautiful smile. “And I also have the feeling…that your aura seems so familiar. Even though, in my memories, I can’t find a reason why.”

  Despite having had her soul transformed, there was still a hint of blurry recognition in her subconscious, with regards to the person she had loved in her former life.

  “Truly?” Hogg couldn’t help but feel wildly overjoyed.

  “Yes.” Lina nodded slightly.

  Linley, watching this to one side, couldn’t help but feel rather satisfied in his heart. Although his mother had already lost her previous memories after becoming an Angel, perhaps because of what had happened in her previous life, she still had special feelings towards Hogg.

  “How terrible.” The ashen-faced Augusta opened his
eyes, the light in them slightly dimmer than before. He glanced sideways at Linley. “Although I understood that the price to be paid for allowing an Angel to regain free will would be very high…I have never actually done such a thing in the past. The price was even greater than what I had expected.”

  The nearby Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, chuckled. “Augusta, since you’ve already done it, what’s the point of feeling regret?”

  “Give me the blood essences of the Four Divine Beasts.” Augusta looked towards Linley.

  Linley didn’t play any tricks either. Waving his hand, he made four small bottles appear. “Eleven drops of Azure Dragon blood essence, twenty eight of the Black Tortoise, thirty of the White Tiger, and thirty two for the Vermillion Bird.”

  Augusta swept the bottles with his divine sense, and a hint of a smile finally appeared on his face.

  “I hope this doesn’t disappoint me.” Augusta murmured, and he collected the four bottles. The nearby Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, couldn’t help but look at the four bottles, his eyes flashing with light. He very much wanted to be in possession of those four bottles, and given his power, there was no way at all that Linley and Augusta would be able to resist him.

  However, giving his pride, the Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, just quietly watched as this all happened.

  “Augusta, this matter is concluded. I will leave now.” Linley said.

  Augusta didn’t try to keep him for any longer. Immediately afterwards, Linley took his father, ‘Hogg’, and his mother, ‘Lina’, and departed, transforming into a streak of green light which disappeared into the horizons.

  In mid-flight.

  Linley let out a secret sigh of relief as he watched his mother and his father chat. “It is fortunate that Mother seems to have a slight, faint impression of Father. Otherwise, she probably wouldn’t be willing to leave with us. Her memories…alas, the Angelic Resurrection Pool really is…ugh.”

  There was nothing which Linley could do at all.

  When ordinary mortals died, they would transform into departed souls. The weaker ones would transform into weak undead, while the strong ones would transform into powerful undead. The soul itself wouldn’t change at all, and upon becoming a Deity, the undead would regain their memories.

  But Angels were completely different. His mother had been an ordinary mortal, but after her transformation, she had become a Twelve-Winged Angel, comparable to a Seven Star Fiend. For her to have increased in power by that much without her soul being impacted? Not even Linley would believe that.

  “Now, the only option is to rely on time. To let Mother slowly grow accustomed to us and accept us.” Although Linley was slightly disappointed, the smile on his father’s face brought him a hint of satisfaction as well.

  Book 21, The Peak – Chapter 28, Beginning to Act

  A month later. The Higher Plane of the Infernal Realm. Bloodridge Continent, Indigo Prefecture, the Skyrite Mountains.

  “Haha…” A three year old toddler was happily running about on the grass. Hogg and Lina were seated to one side, accompanying the toddler in playing about.

  Linley, Wharton, and Bebe sat together, watching this scene.

  “Big Brother…look at Father. Ever since Mother returned, Father’s been much happier.” Wharton laughed as he spoke. “In the past, although Father would occasionally be happy when seeing us, he would always be thinking of Mother, and he would then seem so dispirited. He’s fine now.”

  “He is.” Linley smiled and let out an emotional sigh.

  His mother, Lina, had been back for a month now. During this period of time, the relationship between Linley’s father and mother had advanced considerably.

  However, Lina clearly found it much harder to accept Linley and Wharton. Although she often smiled when meeting Linley and Wharton, and had grown a bit closer to them, the way she treated Linley and Wharton clearly could not be compared with the way she treated Hogg. Perhaps it was because, when Lina had died, Linley had only been a four year old child, while Wharton had been a mere newborn.

  Lina’s subconscious didn’t have any memories of the adult Linley or Wharton.

  “After a bit of time, Father will take Mother back to the Yulan Plane. At that point in time, when she sees Mt. Wushan and our old home, perhaps Mother will start to remember.” Wharton said.

  Because of Linley’s unique stature within the Yulan Plane, their ancestral estate had been kept in very good condition.

  “When the time comes, I will return alongside Father and Mother.” Linley laughed calmly. “I am also going to begin establishing my divine plane of wind.”

  “Boss, I want to go as well.” Bebe said hurriedly. “I want to see you set up your divine wind of plane as well, Boss.”

  “I’m only sending my wind-type Sovereign clone over, and not my other clones.” Linley said with a laugh.

  Right at this moment, Linley suddenly raised his head as he thought to himself, “Eh? Boson came?”

  Linley’s divine sense had discovered that the Bloodridge Sovereign was hastening towards him.

  “Wait here for now. I need to go back to my residence.” Linley said, and then with a flicker, he arrived within the residence he used for training. Linley’s residence was a place where not even maids could enter without permission.

  Liniley sat down next to a stone table for a few moments, and a blood-robed figure descended from the skies. It was the Bloodridge Sovereign, Boson.

  “Boson, please sit.” Linley said with a laugh.

  “Linley, this is my second time coming to your place in just one or two months.” The Bloodridge Sovereign laughed. “Right, last time, I chatted with you a bit regarding the tenth Planar War. You seemed to have encountered some problems back then. Have those been resolved?” During their last chat, Linley’s face had suddenly turned so ugly, and he had completely lost his composure. Naturally, the Bloodridge Sovereign had noticed.

  This was why he had stopped chatting with Linley and had instead immediately left.

  “Apologies. Last time, I did indeed encounter some problems.” Linley laughed, then stretched his hand out and personally poured some wine for himself and the Bloodridge Sovereign. “However, everything has now been resolved.”

  “It is good that it has been resolved.” The Bloodridge Sovereign laughed. “Linley, when will you begin to search for Emissaries?”

  “Boson, it appears you care about this matter quite a bit.” Linley tipped his cup slightly towards the Bloodridge Sovereign, who let out a resigned laugh and raised his own cup. The two immediately drowned their cups, and then the Bloodridge Sovereign said helplessly, “I’m not the one who cares. This is an assignment which the Chief Sovereign of Destruction has given me. He knows that we are on fairly close terms.”

  Linley nodded slightly.

  “In addition, virtually all the other Sovereigns already have Emissaries. Those Emissaries were carefully selected by their Sovereigns, who aren’t willing to just throw them away to their deaths. Even if the Sovereigns were willing, the Emissaries probably wouldn’t be.” The Bloodridge Sovereign explained.

  Emissaries wouldn’t necessarily follow every single order of a Sovereign.

  If a Sovereign sent an Emissary out to die, could it be that the Emissary would actually accept?

  “So what, I’m supposed to send MY Emissaries out to die?” Linley rebutted.

  “Linley.” The Bloodridge Sovereign said hurriedly. “That’s not what we mean. You should go casually pick out some Emissary candidates, then tell them that if they want to be your Emissary, they have to be tested; tested in the Planar Battlefield. You will first give them a Sovereign artifact! If they survive, they will become a true Emissary. If they die…then in the future, you can find other Emissaries.”

  The Bloodridge Sovereign let out a laugh. “As I see it, there will be quite a few people who are willing to risk their lives for the chance to become a Sovereign’s Emissary.”

  “You people…you really
are sending them to their deaths, you know.” Linley truly wanted to curse.

  “They are naturally going of their own free will.” The Bloodridge Sovereign laughed smugly. “We aren’t forcing them to go.”

  True, they weren’t being forced.

  Those people who were already Emissaries naturally wouldn’t go risk their lives for the sake of a bit of Sovereign’s Might.

  But it was much more likely for those who had not yet become Emissaries to be willing to risk themselves for the sake of becoming an Emissary and receiving a Sovereign artifact.

  The Deities who dared to roam about the Higher Planes and the Divine Planes were mostly an adventuresome lot to begin with. When it was necessary, they would be willing to give the dice a roll. Success meant they would have a Sovereign artifact and become an Emissary, gaining status that was even higher than an Asura’s. They would become one of the most elite Deities in existence. Failure? Naturally, they would perish.

  “The other Sovereigns already have Emissaries; they don’t have any spare spots on the roster. But you do, and you have six of them.” The Bloodridge Sovereign let out a sigh. “There will be very, very few commander-level experts who will enter this Planar War! Thus, six Emissaries will be akin to the edge of the blade, the vanguard for the armies! As long as they aren’t so stupid as to just fight head on, the six of them will be extremely useful.”

  Linley nodded slightly as well.

  Commander-level experts would naturally be of tremendous use in the Planar Wars. But the most useful of all would be Paragons!

  “Why don’t you go find a few Paragons? Paragons are even more effective.” Linley said.

  “In the past, the Paragons were fearless, but this time…Linley, think about it. Every single person who enters will have Sovereign’s Might.” The Bloodridge Sovereign couldn’t help but laugh. “A group attack, with every single person using Sovereign’s Might at full power…even a Paragon would be in mortal danger. Tell me, what can Sovereigns use to persuade those Paragons to enter? Unless they are provided with something sufficiently alluring, they won’t possibly enter.”