“Listen up, the five of you. If you keep shouting and making noise, the first time you do so, I’ll break your arms. The second time, I’ll cut off your tongues,” Seqalu said coldly.
His subordinates then removed the cloth gags from the mouths of those five siblings.
The five siblings stared angrily at Seqalu, but they knew that Seqalu was the type of person who meant what he said. The five of them didn’t plan to be so foolish as to make things harder for themselves.
“Seqalu, there will come a day when we five brothers will kill you,” the eldest of the siblings, Barker, said in a cold voice.
Seqalu only let out a chuckle.
Others might not be aware, but he knew… that in the future, these five siblings would have been transformed into vessels for Angels. As for their souls, they would have been destroyed.
“If you have the chance, I’ll welcome you to try.” Seqalu sneered in response.
The Barker brothers had lived in the Eighteen Northern Duchies. They were orphans who had been raised by an old man, whom they called ‘Grandpa’.
Grandpa owned an ordinary restaurant and made enough to raise the five of them. Ever since they were young, the five siblings had been extremely strong. Their Grandpa had previously been a warrior in the army as well, and so ever since they were young, he had trained them. Unexpectedly, the five of them were astonishingly talented. When they were only sixteen years of age, their muscular strength alone had allowed them to reach the sixth rank. By now, the five siblings were thirty, and their physical strength had reached the eighth rank in power.
After their Grandpa had died, the five of them had joined the army.
Within their duchy, which was one of the Eighteen Northern Duchies, these brothers were heroic figures, leading armies with impunity. In battles between duchies, warriors of the eighth rank could be considered top-level figures. These five brothers possessed incredibly durable bodies and very fierce attack power.
However…
In the end, they were still discovered by the Radiant Church’s forces. The Radiant Church immediately dispatched two nearby experts of the ninth rank to lead people to capture them. They had resisted, but when they did, the Radiant Church’s men had wiped out all of their families.
The Barker siblings stared death at these men around them.
The five siblings previously had three wives and two children amongst them. The two unmarried ones also had women they loved, but now everything had been destroyed by the Radiant Church.
“They’ve arrived.”
Linley had been paying attention to that particular courtyard every day. He saw that the previously empty manor was finally filled with people, and judging from the sound of it, quite a few people.
Zassler’s eyes flashed with a green light for a moment. Laughing sinisterly, “We’ve waited for over ten days. Finally, it’s time. Linley, when should we act?” Zassler looked over to him. They had definitive superiority of power. No matter when they acted, it would be successful.
“Later at night.” Linley decided.
Zassler nodded as well.
The nearby Blackcloud Panther, Haeru, was pretending to hide in the grass of the courtyard. The time passed quietly, until nightfall came. The prefectural city of Deco grew quieter and quieter. By nightfall, it was almost totally silent.
Linley, who had been seated in the meditative position, suddenly opened his eyes.
“Let’s go.” Linley glanced at Zassler. “Be careful.”
“Don’t worry.” Zassler laughed self-confidently. “I’m going to summon the undead right now.” After just a few seconds, two golden-furred zombies appeared out of thin air. After a while longer, a humanoid figure wrapped in a black cloak appeared in the middle of the courtyard.
“What is this?” Linley glanced perplexedly at the black-robed humanoid.
“An Ancient Wight of the peak-stage ninth rank.” Zassler laughed delightedly.
Linley nodded. His side had many powerful experts, while the opponent only had two experts of the ninth rank. What’s more, they were attacking from ambush. This battle wouldn’t prove to be challenging at all.
“Let’s go.”
Linley jumped directly over the wall, with Bebe and the Blackcloud Panther following close behind. Zassler, his two golden-furred zombies, and the Ancient Wight also followed behind Linley.
Soon, they arrived at that residence.
“Let’s act separately. I’ll go deal with the guards overseeing those five siblings, and then together, we’ll slaughter our way through each room,” Linley said in a low voice.
“Let’s move.”
The five Barker siblings were in one room. Outside the room were two warriors of the eighth rank standing guard. The two were fairly relaxed, casually scanning their surroundings while chatting.
“Hrm?”
The moment before their deaths, they seemed to have sensed something, as they turned to look. But all they saw were two devilish flashes of purple light.
Blood fountained out of two severed necks.
“Swish!” Bebe, Haeru, the Ancient Wight, and the two golden-furred zombies all charged towards the other rooms, while Linley hurriedly ran into the room with the five siblings.
Upon entering the room, the Barker siblings stared at this ‘monster’ in astonishment. His entire body was covered in black draconic scales, and spikes were emitting from his forehead and back. What’s more, Linley had a pair of dark golden eyes that chilled the hearts of those who saw it.
“Who… who are you?” No matter how bold Barker was, right now, he was rather shocked.
But the only response to his question was a violet flash of sword light.
“Swish!”
Struck by Linley’s ‘Bloodviolet Godsword’, those dark golden ropes all split apart. After having mastered the ‘impose’ ability, Linley’s usage of the Bloodviolet soft sword had reached a new level as well.
‘Impose’ was not restricted by weapon.
A fist could also summon the ‘imposing power’ of the heavens. A sabre or a knife could as well. Bloodviolet was sharp to begin with. Now, with Linley’s battle-qi permeating it, chopping through the ropes was a very easy task.
Seeing the ropes split open, the five siblings immediately understood that this man had come to rescue them. But before they even had a chance to express their thanks, suddenly…
“F*ck off!” An angry shout.
“Aaah!” A pain-filled scream.
The look on Linley’s face changed, and he hurriedly returned to the main courtyard. He saw the black-robed Ancient Wight moaning in pain on the ground, while the stone floor of the courtyard was now covered with cracks. Clearly, these were caused by the Ancient Wight smashing into the floor. In addition, there were hints of green blood on the ground as well.
“What is going on?” Linley was shocked.
Zassler, too, was very surprised. “Not good. There’s an expert here.” The Ancient Wight was a peak-stage combatant of the ninth rank, and its body was extremely durable. The expert in the room was able to injure it heavily and sent it flying in just one move. This was too terrifying.
“Bebe, Haeru, come back,” Linley mentally ordered.
Bebe and Haeru transformed into two black blurs as they returned to the courtyard. By this time, the five Barker brothers had walked out as well, but Linley kept his gaze focused on that room.
“Hrmph.”
With a cold sneer, a short, skinny man walked out from the room. His short silver hair looked like steel wire. This man looked very cold, especially when one saw his icy gaze.
Stehle glanced coldly at the Ancient Wight. “A necromancer?”
Turning his head to look at Linley and Zassler, he sneered, “I was wondering who it was. So it’s the necromancer Zassler, and that so-called genius, the Dragonblood Warrior Linley.”
All the higher-ups of the Radiant Church were very familiar with Linley’s Dragonformed appearance.
�
�Excellent. All of you are targets of the Radiant Church. Today, I’ll take you all.” Stehle’s lips quirked upwards, a cold smile appearing on his lips.
“Swish, swish.” Linley’s draconic tail swished about, slapping the ground.
Suddenly, an earth-colored light covered the entire ground of the courtyard. Everyone in the courtyard felt their head momentarily grow dizzy. Zassler couldn’t help but fall to one knee, but then immediately afterwards, another layer of earthen light covered Zassler, the Ancient Wight, the two golden-furred zombies, Bebe, and Haeru. They no longer were suffering from the effects of this gravitational power.
Earth magic – Supergravity Field.
“So it is as our reports say; not only are you a Dragonblood Warrior, you are a genius magus as well.” Stehle laughed calmly. “Your gravitational field is around eight times that of normal. I didn’t expect that in just a few short years, you would advance from the seventh rank to the eighth rank. Sadly, a genius such as you will die today.”
Stehle walked one step at a time towards Linley.
“Charge.” Zassler let out a low shout.
The two golden-furred zombies immediately let out deep growls, then charged towards Stehle. At the same time, Zassler and Linley’s allies all fled, as if by common agreement.
A cold flash of sword light.
The two golden-furred zombies were immediately chopped in half, collapsing within the courtyard.
“You want to flee?”
Stehle, in the blink of an eye, appeared in the air in front of Linley’s squad. He stood there in mid-air, wielding the longsword which he had just stained with the blood of the golden-furred zombies.
“It really is a Saint-level combatant.” Zassler laughed bitterly
Actually, earlier, when they had seen the peak-stage ninth-ranked Ancient Wight be heavily injured in one blow, Linley had already known that things were not good. He knew that this person was most likely a Saint-level. And now, they knew that to be a fact. Saint-level combatants were able to fly at an astonishing speed. There was no way they would be able to flee.
Linley and Zassler exchanged glances. They knew exactly what sort of situation they had found themselves in.
“I thought today’s activities would have been very stress-free. Who would’ve thought we’d run into a Saint-level combatant?” Linley was extremely unhappy about this. His dark golden eyes stared fixedly at Stehle. “No choice but to go all out.”
124
The Profound Truths of the Earth
The night was as cold as water.
The cold wind of the deep night blew drearily. The squad that had belonged to Stehle had been wiped out earlier. Now, only Stehle remained.
Linley’s side had Linley, Bebe, Haeru, Zassler, and the five Barker brothers.
The opponent’s side had only Stehle.
But without question, right now Linley’s side was in the weaker position. Even fleeing would be very difficult.
“The Supergravity Field’s effects are ground-based. The farther from the ground one is, the less its influence is.” Linley knew very well that once a Saint-level combatant were to fly several dozen meters above the ground, they probably wouldn’t feel the gravitational field at all.
Right now, Stehle was hovering roughly ten or so meters above the ground.
“Even if he is impacted by the gravitational effect, at most it would be around two times normal gravity.” As fast as lightning, Linley considered their options and how they could stay alive.
Zassler said in a low voice, “Linley, Saint-level combatants can fly, but much like flying magical beasts, although they can fly very fast at high speeds, their turning speeds and aerial agility is only perhaps one or two times faster than combatants of the ninth rank.
This reasoning was very simple.
Just like when humans ran at top speed. They would be able to run in a straight line quite easily, but if they were to suddenly turn left, then suddenly turn right, then suddenly run backwards and forward again, you would be lucky to reach a speed of a third of your regular maximum speed.
Linley understood this logic, but he hadn’t thought of it just now. Now that he did, an idea flashed by Linley’s mind.
“What, you want to resist?” Stehle was wielding that sword stained with green blood.
“Bebe, Haeru, don’t leave the Supergravity Field’s area.” Linley’s dark golden eyes stared at Stehle in the air. “Saint-level combatants are very powerful, but he is a warrior. He has no way to counteract the effects of the Supergravity Field. If he wants, he can stay in the air. Once he reaches the ground, his speed will be halved or cut to a third. By then, he won’t be any faster than me, nor will he be faster than you.”
Bebe and Haeru both let out a low growl.
But Zassler frowned. His speed wasn’t that fast.
“Let us face him. We five brothers definitely won’t allow ourselves to hinder you, benefactor.” The Barker brothers called out. The five siblings’ muscles began to ripple and bulge, making them seem like terrifying magical beasts.
Wielding the adamantine heavy sword in his hands, Linley stared at the mid-air Stehle. “Don’t be rash.”
Stehle was in no rush to act either, calmly staring down at them. As a peak-stage Saint-level combatant, how could he be worried about being unable to deal with these people?
“Speed?”
Stehle’s sharp eyes stared coldly at Linley. “This tactic of yours might be useful against those who just entered the Saint level, but unfortunately… I reached the Saint level centuries ago. Kid, the Saint level isn’t as simple as you seem to think it is. The Saint level isn’t just about using strength to brute force things; it requires a deeper understanding.”
Linley stood in front of everyone, sword in hand, staring coldly at Stehle.
This tactic was the only option available to him. Faced with a Saint-level’s speed, he had no place to run. His only option was to remain in the Supergravity Field. Only then did he have a chance at life.
“Whoosh!”
Stehle suddenly shot towards Linley like a released arrow, his black robe slightly fluttering with the wind. However, that longsword of his, covered in golden light, chopped towards Linley at a very ordinary speed.
But once he struck out with his sword, a cold aura seemed to pervade the entire courtyard.
Linley instantly felt as though he had entered a frozen realm. He had been totally surrounded by that freezing aura, while at the same time, the entire area seemed to have been locked by that aura. Although that sword was moving at an ordinary speed, it chopped towards Linley with an irresistible force.
The ‘impose’ level!
“Hrmph.” Slowly yet inexorably, the adamantine heavy sword in Linley’s hands began to move.
Stehle’s eyes suddenly brightened.
“Slash!” His ice-cold longsword suddenly split the air, increasing in speed tenfold. In the blink of an eye, it arrived near Linley’s body.
Linley’s adamantine heavy sword was like a fish in water, agilely gliding through the air to block the ice-cold longsword.
One was fast. The other, slow.
But the strange thing was, the two swords intersected.
“Ruuuumble.” There were no other sounds when the adamantine heavy sword and the ice-cold longsword struck each other. Only, the air itself suddenly shuddered. Linley’s dark golden eyes continued to stare coldly at the opponent.
Profound Truths of the Earth – Triple Layered Waves!
Stehle only sensed a strange vibration being transmitted to him, as though three deep, powerful attacks were viciously attacking his heart.
“Booom!”
A terrifying noise exploded forth from Stehle as his silver battle-qi wildly exploded forth in all directions from Stehle’s body. Every single ray of battle-qi easily shot through the surrounding buildings like needles.
“Careful!” Linley roared loudly, immediately allowing the Dragonblood battle-qi in his own body to ex
plode forth as well, frantically trying to block that omnidirectional blast of silvery battle-qi, so as to protect the five Barker siblings behind him. But despite doing so, he wasn’t able to totally protect everyone, as several strands of silvery battle-qi still struck the five brothers on their bodies. “Slash!” Several dozen bloody lines were drawn on their bodies, but the five brothers had managed to survive.
“What astonishing defense.” Linley sighed in amazement.
Fortunately, Stehle had only accidentally exploded his battle-qi, resulting in it going every which way. This was the only reason why the Barker siblings had not lost their lives, despite them being criss-crossed with bloody lines and wounds.
As for Zassler, in front of him was a lance-wielding knight who was wearing a suit of heavy black armor. This was the ‘Black Knight Captain’, one of the three primary peak-stage undead of the ninth rank under his command.
“Boom!”
The walls nearby all collapsed, and even the nearby manors were impacted by the vibrations. Some people were literally shaken to death by that omnidirectional blast of Saint-level battle-qi.
“Ah!”
“Help!”
The nearby folks all began to scream in panic. An explosion such as this woke up quite a few people in the prefectural city of Deco as well, and all the nearby citizens began to flee their houses.
Linley’s group only stared solemnly at the mid-air Stehle.
A small hint of blood could be seen at the corner of Stehle’s lips. Stehle wiped the blood off, and then stared at Linley in amazement. Finally, he sighed, “Linley, I didn’t expect that you have already surpassed the level of utilizing the force of the heavens and the earth. Admirable, truly admirable.”
Utilizing the force of the heavens and the earth was what was known as ‘impose’. This was the level which ordinary Saint-levels reached.
“He received this attack of mine without any preparation, and yet he wasn’t heavily wounded.” Linley’s heart had grown cold.
Dragonblood: Book 2 of the Coiling Dragon Saga Page 97
