Dragonblood: Book 2 of the Coiling Dragon Saga

by Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi

  “Five years. Okay.” Hope appeared once more in Jenne’s eyes.

  “Jenne.”

  Linley looked at Jenne. “Before I go, I need to tell you something. My real name isn’t ‘Ley’. It is Linley Baruch.”

  “Linley Baruch?” Jenne murmured.

  “Linley? Lord Ley, you are that genius master sculptor?” Lambert cried out in surprise. Lambert had previously stayed in the Holy Union. In the Holy Union, Linley was extremely famous.

  “I hope you won’t reveal my presence or my whereabouts. Farewell.”

  Linley squeezed out a small smile, then turned and immediately strode out of the hall.

  As she looked at Linley’s departing back, the tears finally began to fall from Jenne’s eyes. She balled her fists tightly, her nails piercing into her palm’s flesh.

  On the streets of the prefectural city of Cerre.

  Rebecca and Leena were seated on the Blackcloud Panther, Haeru. Bebe was comfortably resting in Leena’s arms, while Linley, dressed in his warrior’s outfit, was walking alongside Zassler, who was in a long magus robe.

  They were travelling towards the provincial capital of Basil at high speed.

  The provincial capital of Basil was a huge city that could be seen from far away.

  And just like that, Linley’s squad drew close to and entered the provincial capital of Basil.

  “No need to rush out and find that Perry right away. Let’s find a place to stay first,” Linley said.

  Zassler nodded as well.

  There were definitely quite a few people named Perry in the provincial capital. Most likely, finding the right one would take some time. Thus, Linley and Zassler went to a hotel and reserved an individual, stand-alone manor, where their party now stayed.

  Two days after Linley’s party had arrived at the provincial capital of Basil, the Bluewind Hawks of Count Perry arrived at the Sacred Isle of the Radiant Church.

  The Sacred Isle was a lonely place, located outside the Yulan continent.

  The entire Sacred Isle was only a few dozen kilometers long. In truth, in the past, this was a secret base for the Radiant Church. Now, it had been directly converted into their main headquarters.

  It had a Radiant Temple that was nine floors high.

  This Radiant Temple wasn’t as huge as the Radiant Temple of Fenlai City, but it, too, had been painstakingly constructed by the Radiant Church, costing a great deal of effort.

  On the ninth floor of the Radiant Temple.

  Heidens was seated in front of a window. Through the window, he could see the boundless blue ocean waters beyond the island.

  Heidens had been in a fairly good mood recently. The squad of experts of the ninth rank he had sent out had already successfully captured the Arch Magus necromancer, Zassler. Two days ago, he had received more excellent news: in the Eighteen Northern Duchies, his forces had made a tremendous discovery – five potential vessels of the eighth rank.

  Generally speaking, an ordinary person would be able to train their bodies to the sixth rank. That was the maximum limit.

  Some geniuses could reach the seventh rank just by focusing on training their body.

  But… in the Eighteen Northern Duchies, the forces of the Radiant Church had discovered five siblings, all exceedingly strong and durable. None of them had any battle-qi. But all of them had reached the eighth rank as warriors, just based on physical strength.

  “Vessels of the eighth rank. That will definitely be enough to allow Seraphims, the Six-Winged Angels, to display their power.” Heidens couldn’t help but be excited. “Five bodies of the eighth rank. When the Angels possess them, they will definitely be able to transform into five peak-stage Saint-level combatants.”

  Early-stage, middle-stage, and peak-stage Saint-level combatants were on entirely different levels of power.

  Currently, the entire Radiant Church only had five peak-stage Saint-level combatants. But once those five specimens of the eighth rank were brought over, the peak-stage Saint-level experts under the Radiant Church would instantly double!

  “By then, would the Cult of Shadows still be able to stand against us?” Heidens’ face was covered in smiles.

  “Your Holiness.”

  “Enter.” Heidens’ face regained its usual calm.

  A Vicar walked in, respectfully presenting a letter to the Holy Emperor. “Your Holiness, this is a secret message from our supervisor in the O’Brien Empire’s Northwest Administrative Province.”

  “Oh?” Heidens raised an eyebrow.

  The supervisors in the outside areas, aside from their annual reports, would almost never send secret messages. If a secret message was sent out, then it meant that something major has occurred.

  “Could it be that…?” Heidens suddenly remembered that not too long ago, Lampson and his men had just escorted that Arch Magus necromancer into the Northwest Administrative Province.

  Heidens immediately accepted the letter, opening the envelope.

  As soon as he saw its contents, Heidens’ face sank down. “Have Lord Stehle come see me.”

  “Lord Stehle?” The Vicar was surprised.

  In the Radiant Church, the leader of the Ascetics was Lord Fallen Leaf. As for the Special Executors of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal, their leader was Lord Stehle.

  Lord Stehle was only a Special Executor.

  But in terms of power, he was on par with the leader of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal, Praetor Osenno. Both were peak-stage Saint-level combatants. In times of peace, the Radiant Church rarely sent peak-stage Saint-level combatants out on missions.

  “Hurry,” Heidens barked.

  The Vicar immediately came to his senses and hurriedly said, “Yes, Your Holiness.”

  Watching the Vicar depart, Heidens began to frown. “So it seems Lampson’s squad had arrived half a month ago in the Northwest Administrative Province. But there has been no news from our borders informing me of their return to the Holy Union. It seems… they really have been killed.”

  Lampson and ten other experts of the ninth rank had all died.

  This setback was not a small one, but Heidens was able to maintain his calm.

  After all, what the Radiant Church truly relied on was Saint-level combatants. As long as their Saint-level combatants remained, the Radiant Church wouldn’t be threatened at its core.

  “Lampson and the other five were escorting Zassler. Given their ability, one or two combatants of the ninth rank wouldn’t be able to deal with them.” Heidens frowned. “Could it have been a Saint-level combatant? The McKenzie of the Northwest Administrative Province?”

  Heidens couldn’t think of any other possibilities besides McKenzie.

  “McKenzie!” Heidens was filled with a murderous intent.

  To Heidens, those eleven combatants of the ninth rank put together weren’t as valuable as a single Zassler. Zassler’s true value lay not in the man himself, but rather in the training method for Necromantic Magic. As a type of magic on par with Oracular Magic, it was naturally extremely powerful.

  It included maledictive spells, poison gases, plague spells, undead slaves, and the Wraith Call ability. These were all extremely powerful.

  The Radiant Church didn’t reject necromancers from their ranks.

  So long as a necromancer was willing to serve them, they would absolutely be willing to give this necromancer the title of Special Executor. The dark underbelly of the Radiant Church that was the Ecclesiastical Tribunal possessed experts of all types and places.

  Heidens didn’t know that the person who had killed Lampson and his men was Linley. If he had known, Heidens would probably be so angry that he would jump up and down.

  “Your Holiness,” an ice-cold voice rang out.

  “Stehle. Come in,” Heidens said warmly.

  Stehle was only 1.7 meters tall. In the Yulan continent, he would be considered a fairly small and skinny person. He had short white hair, and his eyes were as sharp as knife blades. Judging from his appearance, he seemed to
be a middle-aged man.

  “Your Holiness, is there something you need?” Stehle asked directly.

  Heidens was very direct as well. “According to our reports, Lampson and his men are most likely dead. There is a high chance that the killer is a Saint-level combatant of the O’Brien Empire.”

  Stehle remained silent.

  “I am going to send you to the North Sea Administrative Province of the O’Brien Empire. When you get there, you will meet with another group that is escorting a number of prisoners. No matter what happens, you must ensure that those five siblings are brought back to the Sacred Isle.”

  “And if I encounter Saint-level combatants of the O’Brien Empire?” Stehle asked.

  “Kill them, and then fly back with those five at maximum speed,” Heidens said emotionlessly.

  Once they used those five bodies of the eighth rank as vessels for Angels to descend into, the Radiant Church would have produced five peak-stage Saint-level combatants. For the sake of that, it would be worth it if they had to offend the O’Brien Empire. After all, even if they offended the O’Brien Empire, at worst, the Holy Empire would just have to give the O’Brien Empire some sort of compensation.

  “Alright. I immediately will head out tonight, at nightfall,” Stehle said indifferently.

  120

  Concealed by the Night

  There had been no trace of Linley in over three years. It was impossible for Heidens to connect this affair with Linley. What’s more, even if he did think of Linley, he wouldn’t think that Linley had the ability to kill six experts of the ninth rank.

  Unfortunately…

  Heidens didn’t know that Linley had grown, grown at a speed even faster than he had feared.

  Within a secluded restaurant in the provincial capital of Basil.

  Linley was seated by himself, with Bebe being his only companion. They were casually drinking.

  “Come over here,” Linley called to the waiter.

  “Is there something you need, sir?” That waiter was extremely courteous.

  Linley casually tossed out three gold pieces. “Let me ask you a question. If I’m satisfied with your answer, these three gold pieces are yours.” This waiter’s yearly salary was only around four gold pieces. His eyes immediately lit up with greed.

  “Sir, please ask. I know quite a few things in this province,” the servant said confidently.

  In a place like this restaurant, all sorts of people would come and visit. The servant would overhear a great deal and know a great deal as well.

  “I want to ask you, is there an old man named ‘Perry’ within this City of Basil? His hair is white, and he should appear rather dignified,” Linley whispered into the waiter’s ears.

  The waiter immediately let out a confident laugh, and then, very conscientiously, lowered his voice in response. “You must be referring to Count Perry.”

  “Count Perry?”

  Linley’s eyes lit up.

  The waiter nodded. “In the provincial capital of Basil, there’s only one noble named Perry who is fairly well known. And this Perry is, indeed, an old man, so old that his hair is white. There’s no mistaking it.”

  “Oh.” Linley nodded. “Do you know where Count Perry’s manor is?”

  The servant nodded. “Of course. Count Perry lives on Huating Road, the third residence from the right.”

  “If you come with me, I’ll add another three gold coins,” Linley said.

  After all, Linley was worried that he might get lost by himself. It was better to bring the servant with him. This way, at least he wouldn’t get totally lost.

  Watching Linley bring out another three gold coins, the servant immediately grew excited. “Alright. Sir, please wait a bit. I’ll go talk to the boss first.”

  If he didn’t do anything that day, at worst he would be deducted a day’s pay. But by following Linley, he would be paid three gold coins.

  The provincial capital of Basil. Huating Road.

  Linley stared from afar an ancient looking manor. Judging from the decaying, ivy-wrapped walls, this manor was at least several centuries old.

  “Count Perry, a very kind fellow?”

  Linley sneered.

  This ‘very kind fellow’ the waiter described was the supervisor of affairs for the Radiant Church in the Northwest Administrative Province. The O’Brien Empire was extremely antagonistic towards foreign religions. If Perry were to be discovered, he would definitely be found guilty of a serious crime, to be punished by having his belongings confiscated and his clan wiped out.

  Memorizing the address, Linley immediately turned and left.

  But what Linley didn’t notice was a man staring at him in astonishment from a distance. “Here? He actually showed up here?” The man was amazed.

  “Mm. It’s been three years. I didn’t expect to discover him here. It looks like I’ll receive that reward of five thousand gold coins.” The man was very delighted.

  Walking on the streets, Linley did not notice any of the ordinary commoners who weren’t particularly strong. Naturally, he wouldn’t have paid any attention to this ordinary warrior who was only of the third rank.

  Within the courtyard of the residence behind his hotel.

  Zassler was seated beneath a large tree in the courtyard. Seeing Linley enter, he laughed. “How did it go? Did you find that Perry fellow?”

  “Found him. He’s even a Count. His position isn’t that low,” Linley said.

  Someone capable of becoming the supervisor of affairs for a province definitely wasn’t an incapable person. He would either be a wealthy magnate or a powerful noble.

  “Haha, wonderful. Then tonight, let us… pay a visit.” Zassler’s laughed sinisterly, his eyes emitting a hint of green light.

  Linley nodded calmly.

  “Rebecca, Leena.” Linley raised his head to look at the two twins who had just walked in from the main hall. “Tonight, the two of you need to stay here. Don’t go anywhere.”

  “Understood.” Rebecca and Leena both nodded.

  Zassler laughed in the direction of the twins. “Do as I have taught you, and enter the meditative trance. In a few days, I will begin to commence the ‘Necromantic Initiation Rites’ for both of you.”

  After having been with them for a period of time, Zassler had made the determination that these two twins were highly suited for studying Necromantic Magic.

  In truth, the normal seven elements of magic (earth, fire, water, wind, lightning, light, darkness) all had fairly high requirements with regards to spiritual energy. But the higher-level arts of Oracular Magic, Life Magic, and Necromantic Magic, had terrifyingly high requirements when it came to souls.

  Of these three types of magic, Necromantic Magic had the highest requirements with regards to spiritual purity and soul analysis. Comparatively speaking, it didn’t have much of a requirement with regards to elemental essence affinity.

  “Necromantic Initiation Rites?”

  Rebecca and Leena were both excited. This entire time, they had hoped they would be able to seek revenge for their parents, but they didn’t have any power. But after learning Necromantic Magic, they would have sufficient power.

  That night.

  “Haeru. Protect Rebecca and Leena,” Linley instructed.

  To deal with a minor figure like Perry was an extremely simple task. Linley and Zassler would be more than enough. With Bebe present as well, there would be no chance of failure at all.

  “Be careful,” Rebecca and Leena said.

  Zassler laughed weirdly. “In Basil, aside from McKenzie, there’s no one whom I or Linley need to be concerned with.”

  “Let’s go,” Linley said calmly.

  Both dressed in black, Linley and Zassler very quickly slipped out of the courtyard. The black-furred Bebe also stealthily followed the two, with none the wiser.

  In the dark night, Linley, Zassler, and Bebe were walking in an alleyway.

  “Huating Road must be ahead.” Linley’s memory was v
ery good. Despite having a very complicated layout, Linley was able to thoroughly memorize the layout after having walked through the city once. Linley, Zassler, and Bebe directly passed through the small alleyway and arrived at the outskirts of the walls to Count Perry’s manor.

  Staring at this ancient building, Zassler and Linley exchanged glances.

  “Zassler, you need to be certain.” Linley had never seen Count Perry before.

  “Don’t worry.” Zassler’s lips curled in a dark smile.

  Linley led Zassler forward as they jumped directly past the wall. With regards to how residences were generally laid out, Linley and Zassler both had a good general idea. Usually in front was the main hall, while the second building in the back was where the owner would sleep.

  But Zassler came to a stop in front of the second building as he began to mumble a magical incantation.

  A short while later…

  Grey smoke began to slowly drift towards the building. In a short while, the entire second building was covered by that grey fog. The fog continued to spread until it covered every single building in the residence. Watching this happen, Linley was puzzled.

  Linley took a sniff of the grey fog. As he did, he felt momentarily dizzy, but then instantly recovered.

  “What are you doing?” Linley asked softly.

  “I’m just putting the weaker people here to sleep. Upon reaching the seventh rank, a person can use battle-qi to counteract this fog. Perry is a warrior of the eighth rank.” Zassler knew exactly how strong Perry was.

  “Who is it?!”

  An angry roar could be heard, as an old man and three middle-aged men ran out from the room. The leader stared icily at Linley and Zassler. But because of the grey mist, as well as the fact that it was late at night, they could not make out Linley or Zassler’s appearance.

  “Lord Count.” Three more voices rang out from the courtyard, as two more middle-aged men and a young man ran over.

  The Count had seven experts at his residence; five of the seventh rank, two of the eighth rank.