Book 14, Fiend – Chapter 9, Omnipresent Danger
The metallic creature that had transformed into an enormous black dragon coiled in the air mid-way up the mountain. All of the members of the Black Dragon who wished to head to Royalwing City all flew over, while a young, muscular man stood at the flank of the metallic creature, opening the doorway.
“All of you, come. Everyone who wishes to go to Royalwing City, five inkstones each!” The young, muscular warrior called out loudly in a disdainful manner.
Those who wanted to go Royalwing City numbered over a hundred. Linley’s group naturally was amongst them.
Five inkstones each. The three of them needed to pay fifteen inkstones. Originally, when selling off those four Demigod artifacts, they had acquired twenty inkstones. More than half was now being used up, just like that.
“It really is expensive!” Bebe muttered in a low voice.
“Didn’t you hear what Buffett said?” Linley said softly. “This metallic creature is reserved for the members of the tribe only, and only members of the tribe are qualified to pay five inkstones for passage in a group. The members of other tribes aren’t even qualified to enter this metallic creature.”
As they spoke, it now came to Linley’s turn.
“Three of us.” Linley indicated, then withdrew two of the long inkstones, each one equivalent to ten inkstones.
The muscular young man accepted them, then gave Linley five smaller inkstones. Impatiently, he said, “Hurry up. Next.” Linley’s group immediately entered the metallic creature’s interior.
The inside of the metallic creature was extremely large. It was separated into a forward cabin and a rear cabin. Those who paid five inkstones like Linley’s group were all placed in the rear cabin, which had a large number of seats automatically created by the metallic creature itself.
The seats were created in rows of four each. Linley’s group of three naturally selected the same row.
“I want the window.” Bebe immediately sat on the inside, which allowed him to see through the metallic creature’s translucent sides towards the outside. Delia sat next to Linley on the outside.
“Finally, we’re leaving the Black Dragon Tribe.” Linley and Delia exchanged a laugh, their hands coming together. As one tribesman after another entered, the spaces in the rear cabin began to fill up. A tousled, jade-haired youngster laughed as he greeted Linley, then sat down next to him.
“Hi there. My name is Daebra [Dai’bo’la]!” The jade-haired youth said in a very friendly manner towards Linley, seated next to him.
“I am Linley.” Linley nodded in a friendly manner.
In the Infernal Realm, one’s status was primarily determined by one’s power. This Daebra was only a Demigod...Daebra had the sense that the woman (Delia) and the youngster (Bebe) had auras that caused him to feel fear. He felt that Linley, however, should be a Demigod.
“Linley, why are you headed to Royalwing City?” Daebra asked curiously.
“Me? This is my first time in the Infernal Realm. I want to take a look in Royalwing City. I’ve never gone there before. You?” Linley asked with a calm laugh.
Daebra lowered his voice. “I want to sell a divine artifact, but selling it in the tribe is too disadvantageous. Thus I decided to go sell it at Royalwing City. This was my good fortune; half a year ago, during that big battle, I was lucky enough to snatch up a God artifact.
During that battle, many Gods had fallen.
At that time, Linley and the other two had killed three Gods, then seized their divine artifacts, sparks, and interspatial rings. During battles, tribesmen who acquired any ordinary items didn’t need to offer it to the chief; the items went to whoever acquired them. This was the rule of the tribe.
“Your luck really isn’t bad.” Linley laughed calmly and said a few words of praise.
“Rumble...”
The metallic creature moved, and a wild surge of energy was released as it instantly transformed into a blur, disappearing from the air above the mountain and departing from the Black Dragon Tribe.
“It’s begun.” Linley murmured to himself.
“From here to Royalwing City will take half a month or so. This half a month will be very boring.” The jade-haired youth next to Linley, ‘Daebra’, said in a somewhat resigned manner.
“Half a month?” Linley had a thought.
He remembered back to what Krate had said; the city closest to the Black Dragon Tribe, ‘Royalwing City’, was over ten million kilometers away from Black Dragon Tribe. Since they would arrive in half a month, that meant that this metallic creature was capable of moving roughly a million kilometers a day.
“Pipe down!” Suddenly, an icy shout rang out from up front. Linley and the others turned to look, and saw that at the corridor between the rear cabin and the front cabin, a golden-haired elder entered the rear cabin, followed by several Gods.
“Lord Edmond [Ai’de’meng] has come as well.” The jade-haired Daebra said softly in surprise.
“Who is Edmond?” Linley lowered his voice as well.
Daebra explained, “Lord Edmond is the chief steward for Lord Chief Stirton. I didn’t expect that Lord Edmond is going on this trip to Royalwing City as well. For even Lord Edmond to be sent...it seems there is a major deal to be made this time in Royalwing City.” Daebra’s understanding of the Black Dragon Tribe was far greater than Linley’s.
Linley looked in surprise towards the distant Edmond as well.
Chief steward?
“This Edmond should be a Highgod.” Bebe’s voice rang out in Linley’s mind.
Linley nodded to himself as well.
Edmond’s gaze was cold and clear as he looked at everyone in the rear cabin. In a calm voice, he barked, “Is there anyone here who is going to Royalwing City for the first time? If this is your first time, stand up!”
Immediately, two people in the rear cabin stood up. Linley, Delia, and Bebe glanced at each other, then stood up as well.
Edmond swept them with his gaze, nodding calmly. “Five in total.” And then, he walked towards Linley’s group, which was closer. Walking next to them, he saw Daebra and then chuckled, “Daebra, you are going as well, young fellow? Go ahead and tell them some of the necessary information they need to be aware of in Royalwing City. If they cause a disaster, they will die, but more importantly, I don’t want the three of them to cause any problems for the tribe.”
“Yes, milord. Don’t worry. I will definitely tell them everything they need to be aware of.” The jade-haired youth, Daebra, said hurriedly.
Edmond nodded calmly. “If there are any problems, I’ll come looking for you. The three of you, sit down.”
After speaking, Edmond walked towards the back, similarly ordering the people next to the other two newcomers to tell them what they needed to be aware of. After finishing speaking, Edmond led his people out of the rear cabin and returned to the front cabin.
The front cabin was where the forces who directly served Chief Stirton stayed.
“What do I need to be aware of when heading to Royalwing City?” Linley looked at Daebra.
Daebra laughed and nodded. “There are indeed a few things. First of all, when you enter any city in the Infernal Realm, you have to pay the city entrance fee. The entrance fee is one inkstone per person!”
“So greedy.” Linley said to himself.
Daebra continued, “After entering the city, it is best for you to follow with the tribe’s people and not run about rashly. This is because after finishing up, everyone is going to immediately leave Royalwing City on that very same day and return back to the tribe.”
“Return on the same day?” Linley was somewhat surprised.
But as Linley saw it, this didn’t matter much to him, as he didn’t have any plans to return to the Black Dragon Tribe at all.
“Right. Return on the same day. This is because Royalwing City...actually, not just Royalwing City, but every city in the Infernal Realm...has a ‘night curfew’. From midnight until five in the morning, nobody is permitted to be on the streets or alleyways of the city. If you are caught...if you are a citizen of Royalwing City, it isn’t as severe; after some punishment, you’ll be released. But if you aren’t a citizen of Royalwing City, then, you will never be able to return to the Black Dragon Tribe.” Daebra said solemnly.
Linley was startled.
“Are you saying that if you are caught at night, you are finished?” Linley stared at Daebra in astonishment.
Daebra nodded solemnly. “Thus, we usually return to the Black Dragon Tribe that same day. We definitely won’t stay the night at Royalwing City. This is because staying a single time at some of the hotels in Royalwing City will cost more than a hundred inkstones. Who is willing to pay that sort of price?”
“Over a hundred inkstones?” The nearby Bebe turned his head.
“Right.” Daebra nodded with certainty.
Linley’s group was astonished. The cost of living in Royalwing City was simply too terrifying. No wonder...Krate had once said that it was very hard for a person to establish himself in Royalwing City!
“Black Dragon, hurry up and come to a halt. When passing through our Mount Petar [Fu’te’er], you need to leave behind some valuables!” A loud, clear voice rang out, shaking through the entire metallic creature. Both the passengers in the front and rear cabins were astonished. Everyone understood...
Not good. They had encountered bandits!
“We just headed out a short while ago, and we already encountered bandits?” Linley was surprised.
It must be understood that Royalwing City was nearly half a month away from them. According to this sort of frequency, how many bandits would they encounter on the way?
Linley looked at Delia and Bebe, saying to himself, “No wonder that Buffett had previously said that if the three of us roamed the Infernal Realm by ourselves, we wouldn’t survive more than a day or two. There are simply too many bandit groups in the Infernal Realm.” Linley and the other two peered through the translucent ‘glass’ and saw a large group of people hovering in mid-air, their leader dressed in a deep blue robe, his blue hair unbound, and with a single horn in his forehead.
“A single horn?”
Linley understood that many other races had different aesthetic standards than humans. Even in human form, they would keep some traces of what they themselves considered most beautiful, such as a horn! This was most likely the case for this bandit leader. There were seventy or eighty people here. They had summoned an enormous elemental beast to block this metallic creature.
The jade-haired youth ‘Daebra’, by Linley’s side, laughed. “Don’t worry, Linley. There won’t be any problems.”
“Hmph! When did you take over Mount Petar? Can it be that you don’t even recognize our Black Dragon Tribe?” The voice of the chief steward, Edmond, rang out. At the same time, Edmond and those two black-robed men flew out of the metallic creature as well.
Linley saw those two black-robed people through the translucent glass. He was immediately surprised. “These are the two black-robed men who helped Lord Stirton in that battle half a year ago.”
At that time, there were a total of three black robed men. One of them had died. These two were the ones who had survived.
In the air above Mount Petar, the metallic lifeform had come to a halt. When the nearly eighty or so Deities saw those three people come out, they were all terrified. They couldn’t sense the power level of these three people...clearly, all three of them were Highgods.
Those two black-robed men in particular, even had a Fiend medallion on their chest!
“Fiends!” Those bandits were terrified.
They had run into a brick wall!
Three Highgods, two of which were Fiends. More than enough to wipe them all out.
“Milords, my truest apologies. We, we made a mistake.” The horned man said in terror.
“Hmph. Bastard. Disappear from my sight!” Edmond shouted coldly.
“Yes, yes!” The horned man was overjoyed. Not hesitating at all, he led his subordinates back downwards, instantly disappearing into the depths of Mount Petar below.
This scene caused Linley to sigh to himself that these bandits truly were weak. However, that was only in comparison to Highgods. If Linley and the other two had encountered these bandits, then it would be very problematic...after all, the enemy had an entire group of Deities, including thirty four Gods.
The metallic creature continued forward.
“The Infernal Realm really is dangerous.” Linley sighed.
“Right. All we can do is follow the forces of the tribe. That’s the only chance we have of entering Royalwing City.” Daebra sighed as well. “But Linley, the Infernal Realm does have some safe zones with no danger, where no one dares to fight. In those places, you can live a very safe life!”
“Oh?” Linley was greatly shocked.
During this period of time in the Infernal Realm, all he had seen was vicious battles. The feeling the Infernal Realm had given him was that any place was ripe for battle and for plunder, with danger everywhere. But from Daebra’s words, it seemed there were some safe zones after all.
“Right. In the Infernal Realm, every single prefecture has around ten cities. The cities are safe.” Daebra said solemnly. “Linley, this is something I have to warn you about. You absolutely cannot fight or kill within the borders of Royalwing City. If you are captured, then in the future, the repercussions will be even worse than if you are caught violating curfew. Not only will you be finished; our entire tribe will most likely face trouble!”
“Not allowed to engage in battle?” Linley actually felt relieved.
Since that was the case, then nobody else would act against them in Royalwing City either.
It seemed...
Royalwing City truly was a safe haven.
“Sadly, the entire Nightblaze Prefecture has a circumference of a billion kilometers, but each of the ten cities only has a circumference of roughly a thousand kilometers. They are too small. Living in Royalwing City is far too expensive as well.” Daebra shook his head, letting out a sigh.