Book 17, Indigo Prefecture – Chapter 24, Give Me a Ride
Linley was dressed in a sky-blue robe. As he moved through the skies, the long robe fluttered, ruffled by the wind. Behind him, those ten Six Star Fiends were also dressed in uniforms of various colors. While engaging in battle outside, if they were all dressed in the same uniform, it would be too obvious and would result in them being easily discovered by the enemy.
“Everyone, be careful. Our target this time is a squad of the Barbary clan. No matter what, don’t let them discover us. Just fly close to the ground.” Linley instructed, while at the same time, he himself flew downwards, moving close to the surface of the ground. The ten squadmates followed suit.
“Don’t worry, Captain. We won’t go out of our way to engage in battle. They won’t be able to find out.” Melina laughed.
Go out of their way to engage in battle?
Linley couldn’t help but think back to some information the Grand Elder had given him before battle had begun. Both the Four Divine Beasts clan as well as the eight great clans used ambushes, and also laid in wait for the enemy to draw near.
If, for example, the Four Divine Beasts clan didn’t want to fight, they would simply hide in the Skyrite Mountains, and there would be nothing the eight great clans could do about it.
If the eight great clans remained in their own territory and didn’t come out, the Four Divine Beasts clan wouldn’t go to them either.
However...
The eight great clans hated the Four Divine Beasts clan to the core, and the reverse was true as well! Thus, they intentionally challenged each other to battle, time and time again! Neither side would hide. Both sides knew that this was a war of attrition, but the eight great clans were willing to engage in this sort of war, while the Four Divine Beasts clan was too proud and unwilling to submit.
“The eight great clans is quite interesting. Each time, they’ll take predefined routes. This is just a naked challenge.” Linley said to himself.
Of the eight great clans, four of them were located at the eastern edges of Indigo Prefecture, while four were at the western edges of Indigo Prefecture. They were all very unified. They were worried that if they split up, the Four Divine Beasts clan would break them one by one.
But by dividing up in this manner, there was no way the Four Divine Beasts clan would be able to do so.
In addition...
The eight great clans on each side of Indigo Prefecture would often send squads of experts on round trip patrols. Each trip, they would take one of two predefined routes. Any members of the Four Divine Beasts clan they met on the way would be killed!
Sometimes, they would even engage in ambushes at the outer perimeter of the Skyrite Mountains.
“How could my Four Divine Beasts clan possibly swallow this sort of provocation? They are so arrogant as to take predetermined routes. If we just accept this, the Four Divine Beasts clan will become a laughingstock.” Linley understood that in their battles, the enemies were the proactive challengers. After all, their experts were simply too numerous.
After flying for roughly three days, Linley’s group reached their destination, an intelligence outpost located near the predetermined route. Linley glanced at a distant sand dune, which wasn’t very remarkable in this desolate, barren area.
“You can come out.” Linley said calmly.
This intelligence outpost had been provided by the Grand Elder.
The sand dune twisted, and then a figure emerged from within it. It was a very slender, yellow-robed youth. The yellow-robed youth, momentarily puzzled, glanced at Linley, who with a laugh, extended his hand, revealing the Elder’s medallion within.
“Greetings, Elder.” The youth said hurriedly.
“When will the forces of the Barbary clan arrive?” Linley asked.
This intelligence outpost relied on using some special methods, as well as two divine clones in separate locations, to be able to quickly provide intelligence reports. This allowed intelligence reports to be transmitted very quickly. Even over a distance of a hundred million kilometers, the receiver would have the information as soon as the sender sent it.
“To be precise, it is presumed forces of the Barbary clan.” The intelligence agent said. “The presumed forces of the Barbary clan are still millions of kilometers away. Based on their advancing speed, in one or two days, they will arrive here.”
Linley nodded.
“You said, presumed? Can it be that you are not yet completely certain that it is the forces of the Barbary clan?” Linley asked, rather concerned.
“There’s no way to be absolutely certain. That squad, according to our intelligence reports, is primarily made up of water-type experts, but there are two who are not. We are only able to provisionally identify them as members of the Barbary clan, but it is also possible that this is a joint squad formed from two clans.” The youth said.
Linley frowned.
A mixed squad? This was exceedingly rare.
This was because the Elders of the Four Divine Beasts clan generally carried a drop of Sovereign’s Might on them. Once they no longer cared about life and death and activated that drop of Sovereign’s Might and went all out, even a Seven Star Fiend opponent would be doomed.
Thus, the enemy preferred to fight one-on-one. Only in a special circumstance, for example when the target was a Patriarch or Grand Elder level figure, would they send out a joint squad.
“You can stand down for now.” Linley instructed.
“The rest of you, follow me.” Linley flew into the air, and the ten Six Star Fiends followed.
The intelligence agent raised his head, watching them fly away. In his heart, he murmured, “Clansmen, you must win.” As an intelligence agent, he too walked that fine line between life and death. If he were to be discovered by the enemies, the enemies wouldn’t hesitate at all to kill him.
In addition, most of these intelligence agents were very weak.
Their only hope was that experts like Linley would avenge them if they were killed!
A few thousand kilometers away from the intelligence outpost, Linley’s group came to a halt, hiding themselves within a mountain forest. Everyone had very grave expressions on their faces. They all knew that once the battle started, they would very possibly die.
“Captain. When the enemies come, what is our plan?” The big fellow, ‘Shanda’, asked. The other squadmates looked at Linley as well.
“The first target is the enemy’s Seven Star Fiend.” Linley laughed calmly. “Ambushing is pointless. Given their divine sense, they’ll be able to locate us. You just need to wait here. Once the enemies draw near, you can fly into my Blackstone Space and begin battle against them.”
“Us, fly in?” Immediately, some squadmates grasped Linley’s meaning. “Captain, you aren’t going to attack alongside us?”
If they were to remain together, Linley would naturally include them within the Blackstone Space, and thus there was no need for them to ‘fly in’.
“Right. I’ll go ambush them.” Linley laughed.
“What?” The ten people were shocked.
“Captain, you can’t risk yourself like that. It’s better if we stay together. How can you attack by yourself? It is too risky. Even if the ten of us die, you can’t die, Captain.” A skinny man said hurriedly.
Seven Star Fiends were extremely precious to the clan. They represented a mighty pillar supporting the clan.
“Don’t worry. By attacking by myself, I have more than 90% confidence of success.” Linley laughed.
“Huh?” The ten squadmates were stunned.
“As I will be hiding my aura, they’ll only take me to be a God. They won’t be on guard against me.” Linley said. Indigo Prefecture was like other places; there were many tribes to be seen everywhere.
Gods were very common in the Infernal Realm.
Linley’s group, while flying over, had encountered quite a few Gods and Demigods. Naturally, they didn’t pay them any mind.
“They won’t care about me, but when I draw near to them, I’ll launch a sudden attack against them. This will definitely have an extraordinarily good effect.” Linley said confidently.
“Captain.” That Melina said worriedly. “Based on what we can see, you are indeed just a God. Your aura-hiding abilities are indeed formidable. But the enemies are Seven Star Fiends as well. There might be one of them who is capable of detecting your true power, that you are a Highgod.”
The fact that Linley really was just a God was something which only a very, very small number of people in the entire Azure Dragon clan knew about.
For example, the Patriarch and the Grand Elder had discovered this on their own. As for others, even Emanuel believed Linley to be a Highgod who had previously been hiding his power.
“Discover my true power? Discover that I’m a Highgod?” Linley laughed.
He himself really was a God. Why would he need to hide his aura?
“Don’t worry. The enemy won’t find out.” Linley said with supreme confidence.
Immediately, another squad member said worriedly, “Captain, you can’t risk yourself like this. We should join forces and attack together. If we work together, we can still...”
“Enough.” Linley frowned. “I’ve made up my mind. Stop talking.”
The ten squadmates looked at each other, but they had no choice but to accept resignedly. Linley was the captain. At a time like this, they had to obey the orders of their captain. This was a basic requirement.
“You stay here. I’ll be ten kilometers away.” Linley instructed. “At such a short distance, once the battle starteds, you’ll notice it right away. You can immediately hurry to my location. In addition, their divine sense won’t be able to locate you.”
Generally speaking, the divine sense of a Highgod only extended to a thousand meters or so.
Even a Seven Star Fiend was limited to just a few thousand meters. But normally, would they extend their divine sense to the maximum range? Even in a battle squad, the Seven Star Fiend leader would generally just extend his divine sense to a thousand meters, to guarantee a degree of safety.
“Remember. Once battle begins, immediately come. But before it begins, you are not to draw near.” Linley snapped.
The ten were all worried for Linley.
“Do you understand?” Linley roared.
“Yes, Captain.” The ten affirmed.
Linley then flew towards a section of the road in front of them. “Captain, be careful.” A voice rang out from behind. Linley couldn’t help but chuckle. He immediately flew over ten kilometers, where there was a small, squad mountain. Linley dug a cave into the side of the tunnel, then entered it.
Within the cave, he was able to stare at the skies outside through the cave entrance.
“I’ll just pretend to be an ordinary God.” Linley laughed.
Linley was completely confident in this ambush. It would be a strange thing if they were able to see through it. After all, he really was a God.
Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, a day had gone by.
“Swoosh!”
Linley discovered a human figure flying over at high speed. It was that intelligence agent. In the short span of a day, the intelligence agent had already made multiple reports regarding the location of the enemy.
“Elder, the enemies are about to arrive. They are currently less than ten thousand kilometers from here.” The youth said hurriedly. “Elder, remember clearly that the enemies are riding a metallic lifeform shaped into a jade-green serpent.”
“Less than ten thousand kilometers?” Linley was startled into full alert.
A metallic lifeform of a squad of the eight great clans advanced fairly quickly, capable of travelling four or five million kilometers in a day. Less than ten thousand kilometers would be traversed in a short period of time.
“Hurry up and inform the others.” Linley immediately instructed.
“Yes, Elder.” The intelligence agent, knowing that battle was coming, immediately flew away.
Linley immediately flew out of his cave. Walking in the mountain forests by one’s self was a fairly dangerous thing in the Infernal Realm, because other Deities would often be encountered. But Linley wanted this to happen...because this made him all the more unremarkable in the Infernal Realm.
An enormous green serpent flew through the air. It was the metallic lifeform.
“Elder, do you think the Four Divine Beasts clan will dare ambush us this time?” The metallic lifeform had more than ten people.
“Ambush us?”
The Elder was a bald man, very tall and powerful, at least three meters in height. The other squad members were all very tall, the shortest being 2.5 meters. This was caused by the special lineage of the Barbary clan. The eyes of the Elder gleamed with green light, and he laughed, “This time, we have Mr. Mosley [Mau’si’li] accompanying us. I am specialized in material attacks, while he is specialized in soul attacks. No matter who comes, there is no way they will escape with their life.”
“Cole [Ke’luo], I trust that your Barbary clan will be able to dispose of anyone without needing me to interfere.” The speaker was a balding old man who was dressed in a plain gray robe. His ear had two little serpents coiled through them.
.........
“Kid, you, a mere God, dare to roam about in the Infernal Realm? Hurry up, hand over your interspatial ring.” In front of Linley, more than ten bandits had appeared. There were simply too many bandits in the Infernal Realm. Even though Linley had worked hard to avoid them, in the end, he had still run into some.
“Interspatial ring?” Linley pretended to be terrified. “Okay, okay, I’ll give it to you.”
“Haha, not bad.” Those bandits, seeing how obedient Linley was, were very happy. One of them laughed, “We are in a benevolent mood and will spare your life. However, you have to join us. If you do not...”
“I’ll join.” Linley hurriedly nodded.
Right at this moment, in the distant skies, an enormous green serpent was flying over at high speed. Linley was overjoyed. This was the metallic lifeform of the enemy.
“Eh...why haven’t you handed the interspatial ring over yet?” A bandit shouted.
“Swoosh!” Linley suddenly charged into the skies.
The bandits were astonished, but then, enraged, they chased into the skies as well.
The metallic lifeform flew past, and as Linley rose into the heavens, he just so happened to draw near as well. The Six Star Fiends and Seven Star Fiends within couldn’t help but be rather unhappy.
“Motherf*cker, a group of bandits are causing trouble. They actually charged all the way over to us.”
They had already discovered that the people below them consisted of Gods. They weren’t worried at all.
“Milords, please, save me. Help give me a ride. These people want to kill me.” Linley immediately flew to the side of that metallic lifeform, his face filled with terror and panic.
“F*ck off!” A Six Star Fiend immediately shouted.