Book 15, Priceless Treasure – Chapter 17, The Fight Over the Priceless Treasure
“Drip, drip...” The golden magma pool was continuing to bubble and boil. The many fiery boulders shooting at them finally came to a halt.
Only now did Linley and the others let out sighs of relief.
Suddenly, the shattered stones that had been broken into dozens of pieces on the ground floated into the air. Everyone grew cautious, prepared to block at any moment. But these levitating stones just flew back towards the walls on each side, merging into those deep holes. After a vibration, the walls of the cave once more returned to normal.
It was as though those attacking boulders had been nothing more than a dream.
“Whew.” Linley’s group let out sighs of relief.
“The survivors are fewer in number again.” Delia said softly. Everyone in the cave sensed a sort of pressure. Just now, those shooting boulders had been nothing more than an appetizer. The main course hadn’t arrived yet. However, less than ten Gods were surviving.
The Highgod Fiend, Sperry, said brightly, “Everyone, we...”
“BANG!”
Very suddenly, three thick electric serpents suddenly snaked across from the distant tunnel entrance, rapidly striking towards the white-horned elder. The strange thing was, the heads of the three electric serpents were flashing were saber light.
“Hrm!” Salomon’s forehead creased slightly.
The white-horned elder immediately grew solemn. His body swayed, and suddenly, one doppelganger after another filled the cave, floating in the air above it. There was an awe-inspiring sight of over three hundred doppelgangers, each one emitting the same soul aura. For the moment, there was no way to tell which one was the real one.
“Haha...” With loud, while laughter, the three electric serpents coiled and twisted, transforming into three people. It was the three Edward brothers.
“The Edward brothers. What are you doing!” The white-horned elder’s angry shout simultaneously came out from the mouths of the three-hundred plus doppelgangers, reverberating throughout the cave. “What are you doing!” “What are you doing!” The angry sound continued to cascade and echo throughout the cave, carrying with it a hint of an unusual vibration.
Linley and the other Gods couldn’t help but feel their heads grow slightly dizzy.
“Profound Mysteries of Music?” Linley couldn’t help but be startled.
The three Edward brothers had separated long ago. They were standing in front of the three exits from the cave, preventing the white-horned elder from fleeing.
“What are we doing?” The eldest of the three Edward brothers laughed coldly, then opened his mouth wide. “Roaaaaaaar!” With this furious, earth-shaking roar, countless bolts of electric light spread out, covering the entire cave. And then, the electric bolts suddenly split apart, heading to two different ends.
The electric light condensed around the two ends, then shot out electricity in each direction.
“Crackle...”
Between each end was a strange electric radiation area, with the three hundred plus doppelgangers caught within the field. But it wasn’t just the three hundred doppelgangers that were caught here; Linley and the others were also caught within it, causing them to suffer as well.
“Linley, Bebe, this is a sort of material attack of the Laws of Lightning. However, it is a rather unique type of material attack. Protect yourselves.” Salomon shouted to them through divine sense.
At the same time, Salomon’s hands spread out, and two rays of black light flashed out, ensconcing Delia and Nisse.
A material attack!
Bebe’s body was unbelievably tough. Naturally, he wouldn’t fear it.
“Thank you.” Linley said towards Salomon through divine sense. It was already very good of him to be willing to protect Delia.
“Ahhh!” In the next instant, Linley sensed an astonishing, unique electric force trying to break through his Pulseguard Armor. Not only did it attack from in front, it also attacked from behind. However, the Pulseguard Armor’s defensive power was quite astonishing indeed.
Linley was able to take it head on.
“Bang!” “Bang!” “Bang!” “Bang!”
One doppelganger after another exploded, while at the same time, of those God-level Fiends, aside from Linley and his group, only two managed to survive. The other Gods all perished.
“Second brother, third brother, you help out as well.” The other two Edward brothers all opened their mouths as well.
With two angry roars erupting, even more electricity spewed forth into the air. Countless flashes of electricity condensed around those two ends, and instantly the penetrative power of the electric field multiplied. Those two luckily surviving God-level Fiends let out miserable cries, and then were burnt by the electricity to ash, leaving behind only their divine sparks.
“Haaargh!” Salomon let out a low growl, and the black light surrounding Nisse and Delia also intensified, with his own expression becoming fiercer.
“Motherf*cker, those three bastards have gone crazy.” Salomon growled in a low voice.
Bebe’s body was extremely durable. Even though the penetrative power of the electric bolts had increased, he was still able to take it head on. As for Linley, however, the ‘Pulseguard Armor’ around his body was beginning to shudder.
“Not good.” Linley could clearly sense how innumerable tiny needle-like electric sparks were piercing through his Pulseguard Armor. The Pulseguard Armor shook violently, and at this point, Linley no longer hid anything. He immediately switched to his original form.
“Huh?”
The three Edwards brothers were greatly shocked. They couldn’t help but look at Linley.
The azure-golden draconic scales covered his entire body, with a faint blue light swirling above the scales. An ancient, powerful aura emanated out from Linley’s Dragonform. Even Highgods couldn’t help but to turn and look. The powerful Dragonformed body didn’t fear the penetrative power of those electric sparks at all.
“He is...?” The three Edwards brothers exchanged glances, coming to the same hypothesis.
With his body so incredibly endurable, there was no way Linley was one of those common Draconians. In addition, that aura he carried was also astonishing.
“It doesn’t matter who he is. Our target is only that white-horned old man. Brothers, let’s do it.” The three Edward brothers leapt forward at virtually the same instant, each wielding a thin knife, with faint electric light crackling on the surface.
The white-horned elder let out an angry shout, and the longstaff in his hand came smashing down!
“Crackle...” Space began to crack and split open.
“The old fellow was pretending to be weak all along!” The three Edward brothers had savage looks on their faces, with the eldest of them using his knife to smash against the longstaff.
“Bang!”
Like echoing thunder, the white-horned elder’s longstaff in his hands began to crackle with electricity, and he couldn’t help but shudder slightly for a moment. At this time, the other two Edward brothers simultaneously shot in this direction like arrows, moving so quickly that even Linley and the others could only feel astonished.
“Absolutely trampled!” Linley frowned. He couldn’t help but to glance at Salomon.
This was the old servant of Salomon!
But Salomon didn’t move at all. He just watched quietly. Clearly, Salomon didn’t want to intervene at all, or perhaps...he didn’t have enough strength to intervene.
“Alas, this old fellow is doing to die.” Linley sighed to himself.
“Growl...” The roar of a dragon could be heard as an enormous electric dragon opened its mouth, bellowing and chomping down towards the white-horned elder. Facing death, the white-horned elder let out a wild, savage cry, and a deep explosion could be heard.
As the lightning dragon dispersed, the corpse of the white-horned elder fell to the ground as well.
The eldest of the three Edward brothers immediately grabbed the interspatial ring, and smiles appeared on their faces as well.
“We finally got it!” The three Edward brothers were incomparably excited.
The boiling, bubbling lava’s golden light shot out towards that interspatial ring, which was so dazzling to behold!
But right now, Linley’s attention was on Salomon and Nisse. Salomon was still very calm, but Nisse’s eyes were beginning to fill with tears.
“This Salomon definitely is unwilling to reveal his identity. The two old fellows are dead. Precisely speaking, this escort mission has lost its employers.” Linley said to himself, and then Linley glanced at the wildly celebrating Edward brothers.
Linley knew very well that the actual priceless treasure lay with Salomon!
“Haha...” Suddenly, a cold, sinister laugh echoed within the cave. Everyone, including the three Edward brothers, turned their heads to look. From another tunnel in the cave, a person appeared, completely covered in a black robe!
The black-robed man’s face was utterly pale, and in his hands, he held a golden kitten. He calmly said, “Do you three brothers think that you’ll be able to acquire the treasure of the Boyd clan?”
These words instantly caused the looks on the faces of the three Edward brothers to change.
“Be good boys and put down the interspatial ring, and I can spare your lives and permit you to depart this place.” The black-robed man, Elquin, said coldly.
Linley and the others very wisely withdrew to the corners of the cave.
“It seems things are going to become increasingly exciting.” Bebe’s eyes were shining.
Linley’s attention was still on the nearby Salomon, who had a hint of a cold laugh on his face. Clearly, the coming disaster for the three Edward brothers was a source of pleasure for him. However, Linley was still puzzled. “Isn’t Salomon worried that the black-robed man will act against him as well?”
“The priceless treasures of the Boyd clan. In your dreams!” The eldest of the three Edward brothers shouted angrily.
“Bang!”
The three simultaneously transformed into three enormous electric serpents, snaking towards Elquin.
Elquin continued to hold the kitten with his left hand. He stretched out his right hand, which was covered with a translucent glove. Through the glove, one could see the details of his right hand clearly...this was a hand which was slightly black and had a yellow tint to it.
A deathly aura!
The right hand stretched out and slapped towards the air in the direction of the three attackers. The three attacking electric serpents bizarrely began to break apart inch by inch, suddenly transforming back into the three Edward brothers. The three Edward brothers were extremely shocked and frightened. Without hesitating, they chose...
To flee!
“Swoosh!” “Swoosh!” “Swoosh!”
The three went flying towards the three different exits. After having exchanged blows, the three Edward brothers had discovered very clearly that they weren’t even close to being a match for the black-robed man. Their difference in power was simply too great. “He is at least a Seven Star Fiend, and he might even be a retired Asura!” The three brothers were terrified.
“Fleeing?” Elquin laughed calmly. “Phusro!”
“Meow.” The kitten in his arms let out a meow.
Suddenly....
The three corridors immediately closed, with this cave now being completely sealed off from the outside.
Seeing this, the three Edward brothers were completely stunned. They all turned and looked at each other, then their leader, the eldest, hurriedly said respectfully, “Milord, we three brothers no longer desire the priceless treasure. We offer it to you, milord, and hope that just like you said earlier, you can spare our lives, milord.”
“Oh. You don’t want it anymore?” Elquin laughed.
The three Edward brothers hurriedly nodded.
“Unfortunately, I’ll only give someone a single chance! Just now, you didn’t take that chance...” As he spoke, Elquin suddenly transformed into hundreds of doppelgangers, surrounding the three Edward brothers.
“Shadowshape Doppelganger technique.” Bebe stared in astonishment, his eyes wide.
Elquin’s usage of it was clearly far superior to Bebe’s, whether in terms of speed or in the number of doppelgangers.
The three Edward brothers were momentarily unable to determine which one was the real body. With a sudden ‘BOOM!’, Elquin’s palm came slamming down towards the youngest of the three Edward brothers, and his head immediately exploded apart.
“Third brother!”
The eyes of the eldest brother and second brother of the three Edwards brothers instantly turned red, while at the same time, they hurriedly began to dodge.
The Shadowshape technique was very terrifying, because the true body could constantly fluctuate between every single shadow. They could dodge a single shadow, but could they dodge so many?
“Soon, it will be your turn.” Elquin’s voice rang out.
“Bang!” Yet another palm suddenly caused a man’s head to shatter.
“Second brother!” Only one remained.
“Bang!” Another black shadow flashed by, and a right hand covered by a translucent glove smashed in the skull of the eldest of the three Edward brothers.
Immediately afterwards, all of the shadows reformed into a single form. The black-robed man was still holding the golden kitten.
Within the cave, Linley and the others didn’t dare to so much as breathe too loudly.
Too terrifying!
“Can it be that he is a Seven Star Fiend? Or even a former Asura?” Linley couldn’t help but make this guess. Linley could tell that this Elquin’s speed was very terrifying. The three Edward brothers weren’t able to react to a single palm attack.
In addition, his strength was formidable as well; the combined attack of the three Edward brothers had been dispersed with a single palm slap!
“Those three idiots wanted to acquire the treasures of the Boyd clan, but they didn’t even know who the real owner of the treasure is.” Esqusin snickered. When these words came out, the muscles on Salomon’s face began to twitch.
Elquin turned to look at Salomon. With a calm laugh, he said, “Child of the Boyd clan, did you think that by hiding amongst the other Fiends that I wouldn’t be able to recognize you? Hand over the fortune of your clan to me. I will give you one chance as well. Give me the treasure, and I will let you leave!”
Salomon’s face instantly turned ashen, without any hint of blood at all.
Salomon turned his head, staring hatefully at Linley. His eyes were filled with venom!
The only person he had told his identity to was Linley!