Coiling Dragon

by welyjesch

  “Whoosh!”

  These six Emissaries, who had been holding back and lying in wait for a long time, were like six bloodthirsty beasts, charging towards a flock of lambs.

  “Darkness!”

  Bresle’s voice transmitted to the other five.

  “Rumble…” Six surges of Sovereign power arose, and the six formed into the formation of a perfect hexagram star. Light flashed, and in an instant, a terrifying surge of energy arrived within the black-robed Bresle’s body. Bresle, carrying the combined power of the six, stared coldly at the enemies ahead of him as he slashed out with a blade…

  A blade of darkness!

  The surface of the blade that flashed out swirled with a dark light, but beneath it was a multicolored light.

  “Bang!” Wherever the blade flashed past, space collapsed.

  “Not good!” The Chief Sovereign of Light, Augusta, was watching this battle from hundreds of thousands of kilometers away. He couldn’t help but let out a low groan.

  Indeed, the situation was grim. The blade light flashed past at an exceedingly high speed. An Angel Battle Formation of six Twelve-Winged Angels that it passed through instantly crumbled into dust, but the blade light continued to surge forward, transforming yet another Twelve-Winged Angel Battle Formation into dust. Only then did the blade light become powerless, dispersing into a rainbow of colors and collapsing.

  A single attack had killed twelve Twelve-Winged Angels! This sight caused the situation on both sides, the Celestial Realm’s and the Infernal Realm’s, to change immediately.

  Actually, this was par for the course. The Twelve-Winged Angel Battle Formation, with each attack, was able to annihilate tens of Infernal Realm soldiers, after all. This Samsara Battle Formation, formed from six Emissaries, was naturally also capable of killing twelve Angels. In addition, this was with the Angels being in a battle formation of their own; otherwise, they would’ve been able to kill tens of them as well.

  “Haha, kill!” The Infernal Realm’s soldiers felt their morale swell.

  “Kill the six of them!” The commanders of the Celestial Realm army immediately gave the order. And at virtually the same instant, six Angel Battle Formations, as well as many soldiers of the Celestial Realm, immediately unleashed their most powerful attacks. Their target? Those six Emissaries!

  However, even as the Celestial Realm’s warriors began to coordinate, Bresle’s group of six executed their second tactic. “Wind!” Bresle sent mentally with a furious roar. Instantly, six surges of Sovereign power once more began to flow amongst the six of them. Only, this time, it fused into a combination of Sovereign power; around them was now an additional layer of light green Sovereign power.

  “Whoosh!” The six Emissaries, in virtually the same instant, began as formless as the wind, disappearing into the Infernal Realm’s army.

  The many attacks of the Celestial Realm came to nothing, not able to harm the six of them at all.

  “Haha, excellent!” A muscular, steely Emissary said. “Bresle, the idea you came up with really was excellent.”

  “Naturally.” The black-robed Bresle said with a calm laugh, “After each attack, regardless of what the enemy does, immediately flee back and go deep into our main camp, then go forth and attack again, before once more retreating! Hmph, their attacks might kill some of the ordinary soldiers, but no matter what else we lack for, we don’t lack for ordinary soldiers.”

  And then, Bresle gave the order once more…

  “Wind!”

  The six Emissaries suddenly dispersed into the four directions, pulling apart from each other as they charged towards the front.

  “Earth!”

  Bresle issue the order yet again. The six rays of Sovereign power once more coalesced, and a deep, ponderous aura of earth-type Sovereign power embraced the area around them. This extremely powerful energy centered around the body of the muscular Emissary. The big, tall man stared coldly into the distance, then punched out with his fist, sending it crashing down like a mountain towards the foes up ahead, causing the world itself to shatter.

  “Wind!”

  The six Emissaries once more flew backwards and retreated.

  The Angels once again suffered huge losses; twelve more Twelve-Winged Angels once more perished!

  Although twelve Twelve-Winged Angels, compared to the total number of Twelve-Winged Angels in the army, wasn’t all that many, these Emissaries moved and attacked too quickly. If they were able to kill twelve Angels in each attack, that meant that in ten cycles, they would kill 120 Angels. There were only two companies of Angels to begin with, numbering 1200 in total. And within this corridor, there were only six hundred Twelve-Winged Angels.

  The ongoing slaughter and battles had resulted in more than half of the Angels being killed by now. There were less than 200 remaining.

  As for the Infernal Realm’s side, of the three hundred Fiends, less than a hundred remained. As for the Emissaries, more than half of them had been killed by the counterattacks of the Angels.

  It was a massacre!

  “Quick, hurry over and reinforce them.” The Celestial Realm’s officers were growing frantic. “Hurry. If we are late, we won’t make it in time.”

  The Celestial Realm still had reserves; the victorious Twelve-Winged Angels in the other Stellar Corridor. There were six hundred Twelve-Winged Angels in that corridor, and few of them had fallen. More than five hundred Twelve-Winged Angels remained alive. However, battles between Deities could be decided in seconds; most likely, with each second, multiple blows would be exchanged.

  Bresle and the rest of the six Emissaries would probably be able to launch more than ten consecutive attacks in less than thirty seconds.

  Those five-hundred plus Twelve-Winged Angels, even moving at full speed, would need at least one or two minutes in order to hurry over to this Stellar Corridor, and then pass through their own allies towards the front.

  The various Sovereigns fell silent. Everyone could sense what a miserable, deadly encounter this had begun.

  “If those five hundred supporting Twelve-Winged Angels are able to make it over before those hundred Twelve-Winged Angels are killed, then the Celestial Realm will win. If the Infernal Realm manages to charge and break through, then they will win.” Linley could tell exactly what was going on.

  Bresle and the rest of the six Emissaries, as well as the other nine Emissaries on their side, were constantly hunting and killing Angels. They alone would be enough to annihilate a hundred-plus Twelve-Winged Angels.

  “Not good. We have to move faster.” Bresle sent to the other five. “Victory has already been achieved by the enemy in the other Corridor, and in that place, the six hundred Twelve-Winged Angels suffered comparatively low casualties. Once those Twelve-Winged Angels make it over here, we won’t have any hope.”

  Russell sent in a growl, “Move faster. Let’s charge into the Angel army formations.” The other five Emissaries were all shocked. Previously, they had fought like turtles, ambushing then retreating, then ambushing against. Although this was much safer, it was extremely slow in terms of killing the enemies.

  “We don’t have any choice. If this continues, we will definitely lose.” The black-robed Bresle gritted his teeth. “Execute the final plan.”

  “Fine.” “Let’s begin.” The six Emissaries made their decisions almost simultaneously. Although they might very well die if they charged towards their foes and suffered countless assaults, they also might gain victory.

  “Commander General Bell [Bei’er], we are executing the final plan.” The black-robed Bresle sent backwards into the crowd, towards the high command of the Infernal Realm’s side.

  “Haha, excellent. Victory or defeat shall be determined by this final tactic!” That Commander General immediately gave the order to the various managers of the squads. Instantly, the Infernal Realm’s army began to move about in a different manner.

  The black-robed Bresle and the other five Emissaries all had solemn looks on
their faces. “Water!” Bresle thundered. Instantly, six rays of Sovereign power surged forth, and the bodies of Bresle and the rest of the six became like water, flooding everywhere. Silently, soundlessly, the six charged towards the enemy like a flood, going straight towards the base of the Celestial Realm.

  The Celestial Realm’s forces were instantly enraged. The enemy dared to charge straight for them? “Join forces. Kill them.” Not hesitating at all, many of the Celestial Realm’s soldiers and Angels immediately cooperated in attacking those six.

  Unfortunately, the six seeped through their defenses like water, and the group attacks actually ended up killing some of their own people. But more importantly, this ‘water’ tactic was the most defensively power technique available to Bresle’s group. In addition, everyone present either had a defensive Sovereign artifact or a soul-protecting Sovereign artifact.

  The combined defensive power of the six was simply too powerful, especially after they used the ‘water’ tactic’.

  “Haha…” Bresle and the others had weathered the attacks without dying. They immediately began to launch their own berserk attacks. “Earth!” “Darkness!” The six of them, based on their own elements and attributes, had developed a total of four supreme tactics for the formation; Darkness, Water, Wind, and Earth. Earth and Darkness were for attack, Wind was for fleeing and moving about, while Water was the most defensively powerful.

  After having charged into the center of the Angel forces, they no longer had anything to fear. Everyone around them was an enemy; they could strike about as they pleased! As for Sovereign power…Linley had given each of them a hundred drops. They had more than enough.

  “Kill!” The soldiers of the Infernal Realm, along with some Seven Star Fiends, thundered forward like an unstoppable flood.

  Because the Angels had been thrown into a state of complete chaos by those six Emissaries, they weren’t able to mount an effective defense at all to block the Infernal Realm. Instantly, the Celestial Realm finally began to slowly retreat.

  The Infernal Realm’s soldiers all struck out towards the Celestial Realm’s side with relentless attacks, which lessened the pressure on Bresle and the other five as well. “Haha, wipe out all of these Angels.” The Infernal Realm’s side was going berserk.

  Originally, only a hundred Angels remained, but under the frenetic assault of Bresle’s group, another half of them were killed. Actually, given the combined defensive power of Bresle’s group, most likely nearly a hundred Twelve-Winged Angels would need to join forces to kill them. However, in the midst of this chaos, when there were only a hundred or so Twelve-Winged Angels to begin with, and with the other Emissaries and Seven Star Fiends causing trouble as well, the Angels were completely unable to join together into an effective group attack that could annihilate Bresle’s group of six.

  In the blink of an eye…only fifty or sixty Angels remained. In the face of this flood-like surge of soldiers of the Infernal Realm, and against the hammerblows that fell down upon them from the skies, another half instantly died.

  Retreat!

  A frantic retreat!

  The ordinary soldiers of the Celestial Realm were not Angels; they had egos and personal desires. They could make their own choices.

  “We won’t make it in time.” The five hundred Angels from the other Corridor had finally arrived at the borders of this one.

  However, it was the crumbling, retreating Celestial Realm army which welcomed them.

  “Charge in.” The five hundred Twelve-Winged Angels, when faced with this wave of defeated soldiers, found it difficult to advance deeper, especially while the Infernal Realm’s side filled the skies with material attacks and soul attacks as they struck out with abandon.

  In all but the blink of an eye, the Infernal Realm’s soldiers charged all the way to the end of the Stellar Corridor.

  “Rumble!”

  The rainbow light above the Stellar Corridor vanished.

  Both sides had each obtained victory in a Corridor. This Planar War was a draw!

  Book 21, The Peak – Chapter 38 – Lies!

  “Haha…”

  Loud, excited, jubilant laughter rang out from the Stellar Corridor.

  “Success!

  “It’s over!”

  Those surviving Emissaries, including Bresle’s group of six, and the soldiers of the Infernal Realm all revealed smiles on their faces. They were excited, not because they had fought to a draw, but because they were still alive! They had managed to survive this terrifying Planar War.

  Of the three hundred Seven Star Fiends, only forty or so remained alive. Naturally, the survivors would rejoice!

  Hundreds of thousands of kilometers away, at the peak of the mountain. The Sovereigns were all chatting amongst themselves energetically as well. “Orloff, this time, you lose!” The Chief Sovereign of Destruction, Wodred, finally revealed a hint of a smile on his face.

  The Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, chuckled. “Haha…Wodred, since we fought to a draw, it can be said that I lost this round. However, Wodred, the main reason why your Infernal Realm’s side was able to win was because of those six Emissaries who set up a formation. Which Sovereign is in control of those six?”

  Orloff didn’t seem dispirited or discouraged by the defeat at all. He smiled, as cheerful as ever.

  “Those are the six Emissaries under Linley’s command!” The Chief Sovereign of Destruction said. “Oh?” The Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, couldn’t help but turn and look at Linley.

  The Sovereigns that were listening to the conversation between these two Chief Sovereigns also turned to look towards Linley. So those six individuals who had such a major impact on this Planar War were Emissaries under Linley’s command.

  “Linley, you helped out Wodred tremendously, this time.” Orloff laughed as he looked at Linley. Linley said with a calm laugh, “All I provided was six Emissaries. If you, Lord Orloff, had been able to locate a Highgod Paragon, that person would have been able to kill one or two hundred Twelve-Winged Angels with ease, if going all out. A Paragon would’ve been able to change the results of the battle as well.”

  When the six of them joined forces, in the battle, they were indeed roughly as effective as a Paragon would have been.

  “Highgod Paragon? How many of those Highgod Paragons would be willing to risk their lives and participate in this Planar War?” The Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, laughed softly. “If there was no danger involved, they might be willing to assist, but given how dangerous this event was, none of them were willing to enter.”

  To Paragons, not even Sovereign artifacts were that important. What else, then, could Sovereigns use to entice Highgod Paragons into participating? Nothing! And so, naturally, none of the Paragons were willing to take place in the battle.

  “Linley, I’m quite curious. Which of the Emissaries under your control was able to develop that battle formation?” The Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, suddenly asked.

  “This battle formation is known as the Samsara Battle Formation. It was developed by one of my Emissaries, who spent countless years researching it.” Linley didn’t try to hide anything.

  “Samsara Battle Formation…Samsara…Samsara!” The Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, murmured these words a few times, then nodded slightly to himself. Then, he turned to look at Linley, smiling and nodding towards him as well. “That Emissary under your command is, without a doubt, a supreme master at developing magical formations. He was able to develop such a queer union that wastes so little energy. Even I have to admit feeling admiration for him!”

  “Hey, Orloff, how is it that you are so happy, even after losing?” The Chief Sovereign of Death laughed lightly. The Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, said with a calm smile, “Victory, defeat? To gain, to lose…these are only comparative concepts. You can’t judge victory or defeat just from the surface of events, haha…” The Chief Sovereign of Fate laughed happily and without worry. “Everyone, I won’t remain here any longer. I’ll ret
urn to the Celestial Realm now. Right, Linley…”

  Orloff suddenly turned to look towards Linley, then said with a laugh, “When you are free, you must come for a stroll in my Orloff Gardens. I’ve invited you over many times now.”

  “Definitely, definitely.” Linley immediately responded. And so, Orloff immediately led the Sovereigns of the Celestial Realm into a spatial tear that he created.

  “Orloff…” Linley had to let out a praising sigh in his heart. In recent days, he had interacted with the Chief Sovereign of Fate, Orloff, on numerous occasions. Linley was beginning to rather admire this Orloff.

  “Regardless of victory or defeat, he appears so calm and collected, as though there is nothing in the world which can enrage him.” Linley let out a sigh of praise. If Orloff had won this Planar War, he would have gained an additional portion of Will as reward. But Orloff didn’t seem to be moved at all by either victory or defeat; he didn’t seem even the slightest bit dispirited.

  This sort of mental equanimity was something which none of the other Sovereigns could match.

  The Infernal Realm. The Skyrite Mountains.

  Half a year had passed since the conclusion of the Planar War. Linley’s residence was as peaceful as ever.

  “Wade’s gone out for adventuring as well.” Linley walked onto his spacious balcony, staring towards the distant Baruch clan descendants who were in a grassy area. “All of them have a love for battle. It seems as though they won’t be able to stay here for long. Soon, these descendants will all go out and test themselves in adventures.”

  Linley exited the walkway, turning and entering a quiet, secluded guarded. Bebe and Nisse were chatting about something in one corner of the garden, and the two were both laughing gaily.

  “Eh?” Linley turned and saw his father, Hogg, and his mother, Lina. They walked out from the gates of the garden. “Linley.” A constant smile was on Hogg’s face. “Father. Mother.” Linley immediately bowed.