Coiling Dragon (Pan Long)

Within a cold, dark underground room.

A freezing, sea-green glow was faintly flickering within this room. A blurry, indistinct figure garbed totally in darkness was seated in the meditative position. In front of him, there was an enormous crystal the size of a person’s head, which was flashing a gloomy green light.

Within the crystal ball, there was a large amount of fog-like energy swirling about it, and within the center of the fog, there were a few silvery droplets.

The hazy glow which the water crystal was giving off was just enough to illuminate the ancient face of the mysterious person in the room. His face was so old that it looked like a layer of wrinkled skin had been pasted onto a skull. He was so thin, he was skeletal. But his two cold, insidious eyes flashed with green light, making him look so sinister.

He looked like a knife that was covered with poison, a soul-freezing sight to behold.

“Hrm?” The green light in the ancient man’s eyes suddenly glowed more brightly.

A long time later…

“What is going on? Since when did Lord Beirut declare the Eighteen Northern Duchies a forbidden area as well?” The skeletal old man muttered to himself, “It seems Lord Beirut wants to make a show of force. It’s best not to irritate him. Whoever does end up irritating him will most likely turn into the ‘chicken’ in the phrase, ‘killing a chicken to frighten the monkeys’.”

“Only, what a waste of a silver-robed guardian of mine.”

“However, if this refining process is a success, it’d be worth it even if I lose all nine.” The skeletal old man stared at the crystal ball, like a greedy viper who had just discovered his prey.

All of the experts of the Yulan continent, be it the early stage Saints, the Saints who had escaped from the Gebados Planar Prison, or even Deities…upon hearing the sound of that ‘warning’ voice, they all felt their hearts tremble and turn cold.

Beirut!

The King of the Yulan continent. The Apocalypse Wars of ten thousand years ago had solidified his position.

The O’Brien Empire. War God Mountain.

“That should have been Lord Beirut’s voice.” Fain frowned. “The day before Master went to the Necropolis of the Gods, he told me that Lord Beirut had spoken mentally to him, forbidding him from going and causing trouble in the Forest of Darkness and the Eighteen Northern Duchies.”

Linley nodded slightly.

Five years ago, Lord Beirut had only transmitted the message to Linley, the War God, and the High Priest. As the War God left, he of course had to give the instructions to Fain as well.

“That powerful energy wave just now…” Linley hypothesized. “Most likely it was generated from the shockwaves of Lord Beirut killing an expert who had dared engage in slaughter in the Eighteen Northern Duchies.” Linley was shocked at Lord Beirut’s decisiveness as well.

Clearly, Lord Beirut would show no mercy at all.

“Right, Linley.” Fain’s eyes suddenly lit up. “Engage in slaughter in the Eighteen Northern Duchies? How could ordinary Saints so casually engage in slaughter? Tell me, do you think it might be…?”

Linley had the same thought upon hearing this. “Are you referring to the culprit behind the ‘city of the dead’, that silver-robed expert?”

Fain nodded. “If this is the case, then that means the culprit has already been destroyed, right?”

Linley was silent a period of time. “Fain, your guess might be correct, but it also might be wrong. Although Lord Beirut created an extremely powerful energy wave, the person he killed might not have been the silver-robed expert. Even if it was, it’s hard to say whether that silver-robed expert was acting alone.”

“Linley, are you saying…” Fain couldn’t help but feel surprised.

Fain had been certain in his heart that the culprit was nothing more than a Saint with some sort of special goal. He had never considered the possibility that there was a group of silver-robed experts.

But Linley had a different idea.

He knew about the ‘mysterious church’ that had been set up in the Baruch Empire, and thus was able to hypothesize that there was a Deity involved. Linley was beginning to expect…that the experts who had appeared in the Yulan continent weren’t just Saints. There should be Deities as well.

For someone to dare to so openly carry out these ‘cities of death’ actions…most likely it was done at the behest of a Deity-level expert, and most likely that Deity had more than one subordinate.

“Fain.” As soon as Linley thought of the possibility that it was a Deity-level expert behind the scenes, he couldn’t help but feel unconfident. He immediately said to Fain, “We won’t be able to find the culprit just by thinking about things. How about this. Let’s both head to the Forest of Darkness and ask some questions.”

“Go to the Forest of Darkness?”

Fain felt some nervousness in his heart with regards to the Forest of Darkness. Lord Beirut was someone whom even the War God held in reverence. He, Fain, was but a Saint. Of course he would feel some dread towards Beirut.

“It’s fine. Come with me.” Linley still felt rather confident.

Aside from the relationship he had with Bebe, Linley was on fairly good terms with Beirut’s three children, Harry, Hart, and Harvey. Linley just wanted to go ask a few questions. He was confident…that he would be successful.

“Fine. I’ll make a trip with you.” Fain nodded.

Fain immediately gave some instructions to the other people at the War God’s College, then flew alongside Linley away from War God Mountain, disappearing into the boundless night horizons. Fain was extremely fast to begin with, while Linley, due to his training in the ‘Profound Truths of Velocity’, had already reached a ludicrous level of speed.

The two soon arrived at the Forest of Darkness.

Deep in the heart of the Forest of Darkness, that living, metallic castle sat there. Linley stared down in mid-air at that metallic castle, once again feeling a cold sensation in his heart. This enormous metallic life form….Linley expected that it was far more powerful than even Queen Mother Lachapalle.

Linley and Fain landed outside the metallic castle.

In the dark night, the metallic castle simply sat there. One couldn’t hear any sound from inside of it.

Fain and Linley exchanged glances.

“What should we do? Should we shout at him from outside?” Fain laughed bitterly. “Or should we go in? I’ve heard that unless you have the power of a Deity, as soon as you step into the metallic castle, you will be attacked by it.”

“Don’t be impatient.” Linley laughed.

Soon afterwards…

“Swish!” A black ray of light flashed out from within the metallic castle, landing on Linley.

“Boss, I’ve missed you so bad. You only came today!” Bebe raised his little head, staring at Linley with his beady little black eyes which were filled with surprise and joy. Clearly, Bebe had missed Linley very much over their six years of separation.

Linley laughed as he hugged Bebe. Together with Bebe, Linley felt so happy and relaxed.

It was much like how Grandpa Doehring used to be by his side. He would never be at a loss.

“Bebe, I missed you too. Right. Where is Lord Beirut?” Linley asked.

“Grandpa Beirut?” Bebe shook his little head. “I don’t know either. Grandpa Beirut hasn’t been in the castle recently. He said he needs to go out for a few days. It seems as though he is off paying a visit to another plane. He’ll be back in a few days.”

“Not here? Off visiting other planes?” Linley and Fain exchanged glances.

If ‘Grandpa Beirut’ wasn’t within the metallic castle and was off visiting another plane, who had carried out the actions in the Eighteen Northern Duchies? Whose voice had it been just then?

At the same time, they both sighed in their hearts.

“Visited other planes…will be back in a few days…what does Lord Beirut think planar travel is? A type of tourism?” Linley secretly sighed. He had heard from the Planar Overseer, Hodan, how astronomical the price would be to return to a plane after leaving it.

Just look at his own ancestors. Not a single Dragonblood Warrior had returned after leaving this plane.

From this, one could tell how difficult returning was.

But Lord Beirut? He treated interplanar travel as nothing but child’s play.

“Linley, you are looking for my father?” A voice rang out, and a violet-gold flash of light scurried over, hovering in front of Linley and Fain. It was one of the three Violet-Gold Rat Kings.

Linley, seeing the Violet-Gold Rat King, could only let out an awkward laugh.

There was nothing for it. The three Violet-Gold Rat Kings looked identical, as far as Linley was concerned. Even their auras were similar. Linley simply couldn’t tell which of the three Violet-Gold Rat Kings this one was.

“I’m Harry.” This Violet-Gold Rat King clearly understood the problem, so he directly named himself. “Linley, I know why you have come.”

“Oh?” Linley was surprised. He hadn’t even said anything yet.

Harry chortled, “O’Brien Empire, Baruch Empire. The people in the cities of both your Empires have been slaughtered. The reason both of you came is most likely for this affair, yes? Right. This occurred in the Eighteen Northern Duchies as well. Only, as soon as it began, we killed that fellow right away.”

“We?” Linley had a sudden thought.

What did the word ‘we’ from Harry represent?

Fain hurriedly asked, “Harry, might I ask, are there more than one of those silver-robed experts? Why did they do such a thing?”

“Oh, you know that it was a silver-robed man?” Harry was a bit surprised, but then he nodded his little head. “Right. Those murderous silver-robed men…there’s nine of them in total. As for why they are doing such a thing, in actuality, they are doing this at the behest of a Deity level expert.”

Harry clearly knew many things.

Linley was secretly shocked.

So this really was the case! This matter involved a Deity-level expert. Linley and Fain both felt vexed. Deities and Saints were two completely different types of creatures. One was like the heavens while the others were like the earth. Although Linley could easily kill a large number of Saints, in front of a Deity, he couldn’t do anything.

“This…what should we do?” Fain was caught completely off-guard as well.

The War God was still in the Necropolis of the Gods. He, Fain, was a Saint. How could he fight head on against a Deity?

“Oh, don’t worry about that. One of those nine silver robed men have been killed, while the other eight are all scattered in different areas. Oh, two of them are together. They are currently within the borders of the Baruch Empire.” Harry said.

“What?!” Linley instantly had a bad feeling.

Two of them were within the borders of his Baruch Empire? What were they planning?

“Hehe, right. I expect very soon, they will massacre another city.” Harry chortled. Harry didn’t care about cities being massacred. He was a magical beast, after all. To him…humans were an entirely different species. The destruction of a human city had nothing to do with him at all.

Linley instantly grew nervous. “Harry, which city are they at?”

“Linley, are you going to go deal with them?” Fain began to feel worried. “That can’t be done. Didn’t you hear what Harry said? They have a Deity behind them.”

Bebe began to chortle at this time. “Don’t worry. I know about this matter. The Deity behind those nine silver-robed men was badly injured a long time ago, and he won’t easily be provoked to act. More importantly, that Deity is currently busy taking care of an important affair. He won’t have the time to come deal with you.”

Harry nodded his little head as well. “Right. Go kill those two silver robed men. What is there to be afraid of? Even if you do kill them, that Deity won’t know that it was you who did it.”

Linley and Fain immediately both laughed.

Right. If they went to go kill the silver-robed men, as long as they kept a low profile and didn’t allow the Deity to immediately know it was them, how would he possibly find out afterwards who the killers were?

“Alright, Harry. Where are those two silver robed men?” Linley asked.

“Heh heh, now we’re going to have some entertainment to watch.” Harry chortled, revealing two neat rows of sharp white fangs. “Don’t worry. Just follow me, the two of you. I’ll lead the way.” Harry said, then transformed into a ray of violet-gold light, flashing towards the south.

“Hurry up and follow.” Harry’s voice rang out in the forest.

Linley and Fain immediately began to fly as well, with Bebe excitedly standing atop of Linley’s shoulders.

“How does Harry know the details of this so clearly?” Linley was beginning to feel very puzzled. “Also, Bebe and him said that Lord Beirut has already left the Yulan continent, so whose voice rang out just a while ago? And Harry even clearly knows the details and specific situations of Deities and those silver-robed men.”

He also thought back to how, on the day of his wedding, Delia and himself had received, as their wedding gift, a Demigod divine spark.

In addition, Lord Beirut was the controller of the Necropolis of the Gods.

“This Lord Beirut…the Beirut clan…more and more mysterious as I think about it.” Linley looked at Harry, flying excitedly ahead of him. He calmed his mind, then laughed to himself. “Why worry about so many things? So what if Lord Beirut is mysterious? At least he’s our friend, not our enemy!”