Book 17, Indigo Prefecture – Chapter 61, Group Battle
The countless members of the Azure Dragon clan who lived in the Skyrite Mountains all heard these insults and the mockery. Many clansmen were infuriated. Fierce looks flashed through their eyes, and they could no longer endure it. Bellowing, they flew out from throughout the Skyrite Mountains.
“Kill!”
“Kill these bastards!”
A large number of figures rose from within the Skyrite Mountains. Moving as fast as lightning, they wildly charged towards the south. Many of them were patrol guards. Many of them were so angry that their eyes had turned crimson, and quite a few other warriors charged towards the east as well.
They had gone mad!
The Four Divine Beasts clansmen had been enraged to the point of insanity! Being killed was nothing more than their severed heads falling to the ground, but the insults the other side was hurling caused these clansmen to go wild. Countless years of pride made it so that these tribesmen weren’t able to endure it any longer.
“Bastards!” Elder Garvey, standing by Linley’s side, was staring angrily, his eyes crimson as well.
They had elected to retreat, because they had realized the hopelessness of the clan’s situation. But now, the enemy had come right up to them, cursing them out while pointing their fingers towards the Four Divine Beasts clansmen’s noses. Everyone found it hard to endure this. All of the Elders were growing utterly enraged. Even Linley, upon hearing the mocking laughter, felt fury rise in his heart. “These eight great clans are forcing us to go battle them!”
“Return! All of you, return!” Gislason roared loudly.
Those reproving shouts echoed throughout the Skyrite Mountains, but many of the ordinary clansmen had never even met the Patriarch. In their rage, how could they possibly recognize their Patriarch’s voice? They didn’t care who was ordering them to stop; they still charged towards the south. All of them wanted to drink the enemy’s blood and devour the enemy’s flesh!
“Rumble...”
More than ten thousand clansmen filled the skies. They threw themselves towards the outside. Even though they were still quite some distance away, they attacked wildly, causing material attacks and spiritual attacks to instantly fill the heavens.
“Kill!” Many clansmen within the Skyrite Mountains who hadn’t flown out yet attacked savagely as well.
“Rumble...”
The skies shone with all sorts of lights, which rushed towards the south in a wave.
“Rumble...”
The many clansmen of the eight great clans all unleashed their terrifying attacks. The color of the sky itself changed. The countless attacks clashed and intersected in mid-air, causing an ear-piercing, rumbling sound. Many attacks, however, passed through to the other side.
“Bang!” “Boom!”
The Four Divine Beasts clan. The eight great clans. The bodies of their clansmen exploded in mid-air or tumbled directly to the ground.
“Kill them!”
Their blood boiling, these enraged clansmen attacked, ignoring all else. However, because many of the clansmen had halted after being ordered to stop, only ten thousand or so had truly charged over. All of those clansmen who had charged over immediately Dragonformed. They would either kill their enemies, or they would themselves die!
The world shook with countless rumbles.
Surrounded like this, those clansmen who had originally elected to remain within the Skyrite Mountains felt their own rage rise as well. They weren’t able to endure any longer. Even Linley felt a murderous intent rise in his heart.
“Quick, all of you, go stop our clansmen. Quick!” Gislason roared angrily towards Linley and the others. “They are just throwing their lives away!”
“Yes, Patriarch!”
Linley and the group of Elders were enraged, but all of them had no choice but to forcibly swallow their anger. They scattered everywhere throughout the Skyrite Mountains, loudly shouting, “Stop. All stop!”
“Stop. Stop!”
After all, it was the clan leaders and the Elders of the Four Divine Beasts clan who had made the decision to stop fighting against the eight great clans. The high level members of the clan knew, but the ordinary clansmen didn’t know. The ordinary clansmen were as proud and arrogant as they had been, ten thousand years ago. They weren’t able to endure this sort of humiliation.
Thanks to the shouts and roars of the Elders, as well as the shouts of the many patrolling warriors who were following the commands of the Elders, the insanity slowly began to fade away.
In that short while...
Tens of thousands of Four Divine Beasts clansmen had died. But of course, the losses of the eight great clans weren’t light either.
“All of you, back!” Linley roared at one clansman after another.
Many of those clansmen had unwilling looks in their eyes, which were filled with rage. They all stared towards the south. After so many years, quite a few members of the Four Divine Beasts clan had gotten to know Linley. The prestige and authority of the Elders was still very effective. All of them thus refrained from charging over.
“Elder Linley, are we supposed to just take it without fighting back?” A youth looked at Linley frantically, his face completely red with rage.
Linley was stunned.
“Just let them ride roughshod over us. To just let them insult us like this?” The youth’s body was trembling. “I would rather die and take a few of them with me, rather than accept this sort of humiliation!” “Elder Linley...are we really not going to fight back?” Quite a few clansmen looked towards Linley, their eyes filled with a hint of despair.
Being insulted and cursed at by others, but not fight back? This was more agonizing to the Four Divine Beasts clansmen than killing them.
“We will have our revenge!” Linley growled. “Don’t worry. We will have our revenge!”
Only now did the clansmen feel slightly better. They all listened to Linley and began to return, but as Linley stared at the surrounding area...he saw that most of the infuriated clansmen had been stopped by his shout.
When Linley had just arrived at the Four Divine Beasts clan, he hadn’t felt too strong a sense of belonging towards the clan.
This was because, deep in Linley’s heart, he had always considered himself to be Linley Baruch! He had a very strong sense of belonging towards the Yulan branch, but that wasn’t the case for the Azure Dragon clan as a whole.
However...
Much time had passed. He had lived here with the Four Divine Beasts clansmen for eight or nine centuries. Over the past eight or nine hundred years, Linley had met too many of his clansmen, all of them who were capable of Dragonforming, and who would all greet him as ‘Elder Linley’ upon seeing him. Unconsciously, without even realizing it...in the Infernal Realm, Linley had already grown to completely consider himself a member of the Four Divine Beasts clan.
“The eight great clans!” Linley stared towards the south, his eyes narrowing.
And then, Linley flew back to the residence of Patriarch Gislason. But right at this moment, yet another wave of mockery and derisive insults rang out.
“Haha, what? Your Four Divine Beasts clan only has this much courage?”
“Just keep hiding. I daresay that even though the Four Divine Beasts clan has people at their very doorstep mocking them and insulting them, they still don’t have the courage to fight back. This news, without a doubt, will spread throughout the Infernal Realm in just a few centuries, and even the rest of the Higher Planes. Haha...we will make sure that the people of the various planes all know what cowards you Four Divine Beasts clansmen are. How spineless!”
The voices continued to echo in the skies.
The Elders had already returned to the side of Patriarch Gislason, all of them utterly enraged.
“I didn’t expect the eight great clans would be this despicable!” The Second Elder was so angry that even his beard was trembling. “When they spread this news throughout the other planes, the various clans will look down upon them as well.”
“Look down upon them?” Patriarch Gislason laughed coldly. “You are wrong. The eight great clans, when spreading this news, will definitely make it all the more colorful. They’ll say that it was the Lord Prefect of Indigo Prefecture who forbade them from attacking the Skyrite Mountains, which is why they were forced to remain outside the borders of the mountain range. This news will perhaps enhance the reputation of the Lord Prefect of Indigo Prefecture. It won’t have much of an impact to the eight great clans. But to our Four Divine Beasts clan...”
Linley understood as well. Once this spread out, the reputation of the Four Divine Beasts clan would forever be tarnished. Others would say that all they were capable of was hiding behind the protection of the Lord Prefect of Indigo Prefecture, and that even when others came to their gates to insult them, they still didn’t have the courage to fight back!
“Patriarch Gislason of the Azure Dragon clan. You are a Patriarch and the son of a Sovereign, and yet you are so spineless and cowardly. You really are an embarrassment to your father. Why don’t you just kill yourself? Haha...”
“You, Gislason, are an embarrassment to the almighty Sovereign. Haha...”
Laughter rang out continuously.
Even after the four Sovereigns died, these people wouldn’t dare to casually besmirch the Sovereigns themselves. After all, even a dead Sovereign was still a Sovereign. The prestige of a Sovereign was inviolable...and if it was violated, if any of the other Sovereigns were to hear their words, be irritated by them, and decide to punish them, they would be doomed.
Gislason’s gaze was like ice.
“Patriarch.” The nearby Elders couldn’t help but look at him.
“These bastards.” Elder Garvey let out a growl, and he immediately transformed into a ray of light, flying towards the north.
“Get back here.” Gislason’s face changed. He immediately flew in pursuit, and Linley and the other Elders followed him.
Although Gislason was far faster than Elder Garvey, the Skyrite Mountains were only so large. By the time they caught up, Gislason and the others had already reached the borders of the Skyrite Mountains.
“Garvey. What are you doing?” Gislason grabbed Elder Garvey.
“Patriarch.” Garvey stared at Gislason.
“Oh. You finally found the courage to come out?” Ten or so figures were hovering there in mid-air, and they glanced over. They clearly had noticed Gislason and the others. “Gislason, what are you doing? Not only are you not fighting back, you aren’t going to let others fight back either? Haha...”
Gislason turned to look at them.
“And who the hell do you think you are?” Gislason’s eyes radiated frost. “Let the Nether Serpent, Edric, and the others come over!”
The leader was a big fellow that was more than three meters tall. Snickering, he said, “Gislason, a hundred years ago, I might have asked the Patriarchs to come over upon hearing your words. Unfortunately...you are not nothing more than a coward who doesn’t even dare to fight back. What right do you have to invite my Patriarch over? I feel ashamed just speaking with you!”
“Impudence.” Gislason’s face seemed to have been covered by ice.
“Bastard!” Garvey, furious, gnashed his teeth, charging forward once more.
“Hold it.” Gislason grabbed Garvey and shouted at him.
“Patriarch!” Garvey turned to look at Gislason, shouting angrily.
“Hey, kid.” The muscular fellow glanced disdainfully at Garvey. “From the looks of you, your rank in the Four Divine Beasts clan should be fairly high. But in all these years, in all the battles between our eight great clans and your clan, I’ve never seen you.”
Garvey’s body trembled.
Indeed. Over the many previous years, because Garvey was one of the slightly weaker Elders, he had never gone to Boodbath Gorge, nor had he fought on behalf of the clan. He had watched as the other Elders sacrificed themselves for the clan, and as he did so, he had always felt guilt in his heart.
“Patriarch. I, Garvey, am an Elder, but in all these years, I’ve never had the chance to do battle.” Garvey’s eyes were bloodshot, and he stared savagely at the Patriarch. “I imagine that in the future, I won’t have the chance to battle the eight great clans either. Today...just grant me my wish.”
Gislason was stunned.
“Elder Garvey...” Linley hurriedly spoke out as well.
“Garvey, don’t...” Gislason hadn’t even finished his words before Elder Garvey let out a low laugh.
“BANG!” Suddenly, a terrifying azure aura emerged from Elder Garvey’s body, and he immediately broke through Gislason’s grip as his body split into two. One was an ordinary divine earth clone, which remained. As for that body which was brimming with azure light, it seemed to have transformed into an illusory dragon, bellowing as it charged towards the south.
Sovereign’s Might!
“Retreat!” The face of that burly warrior changed dramatically.
The ten-plus people by his side had changed as well. They hurriedly scattered in each direction, while the leader let out a low growl. His own body became covered with an azure aura as well; this man was an expert of the Barbary clan, skilled in using water.
“Garvey...” Linley watched, stunned.
Garvey opened his mouth, and instantly, an enormous illusion of an Azure Dragon that was more than ten thousand meters long appeared. An enormous Dragon Roar shot out, immediately enveloping all of the ten-plus people who had wanted to flee. Their bodies stiffened, and they became paralyzed.
Innate divine ability – Dragon Roar!
“Swoosh!”
Elder Garvey immediately scurried over, attacking those people who had been affected by the Dragon Roar in quick succession. “Bang!” “Bang!” Garvey only had the chance to kill two of them, before that man who had also used Sovereign’s Might interposed and blocked him.
The two experts began to battle wildly, exchanging multiple blows. Garvey’s thigh was torn open, and blood splattered everywhere. In terms of power, Elder Garvey was still quite a bit weaker than this muscular man of the Barbary clan.
“Patriarch, quick, save him!” Linley let out a low growl, and he charged forward as well. At the same time...
“BOOM!”
An earthen yellow light surged out from Linley’s body. It was a drop of earth-type Sovereign’s Might.
But right at this moment...
“Swish!” “Swish!” “Swish!” “Swish!”
Six more figures flew out from the eight great clan’s forces, their bodies also radiating that terrifying, powerful aura of Sovereign’s Might. Clearly, they had come to jointly attack and kill Linley. Linley was by himself; how could he possibly overcome these six enemies?
Gislason’s face changed dramatically. He shouted loudly, “Quick, retreat!” At the same time, an azure aura burst forth from his body, and he too transformed into an azure ray of light, streaking through the skies.