Chapter 11: The Figure Behind the Scenes
His entire body was covered in black scales, with pitch-black spikes protruding from his knees and elbows. A row of spikes lined up straight along his back, and most notably, Linley’s pupils had turned a dark gold. The mere sight of those cold, dark-gold pupils fixed on Patterson made his heart tremble.
“You… who are you?” Patterson’s face turned deathly pale with terror. After stammering for a moment, he blurted out this question.
What kind of monster was this before him?
“Who am I?” Linley’s icy gaze locked onto Patterson.
“Creak, creak~~” The sound of bones grinding came from all over Patterson’s body. Linley’s tail, as tough as steel, coiled tightly and powerfully around Patterson, binding him completely. No matter how hard Patterson struggled with his arms, he couldn’t move an inch.
Pain radiated from the bones of his arms throughout his entire body.
“Are you from another plane?” Patterson’s eyes were filled with terror. In his view, Linley’s current appearance could only belong to a race from another dimension. “Linley, please, spare my life. I swear I won’t reveal your secret. I promise.”
Patterson, stared at by Linley’s dark-gold eyes, was completely panicked.
“Spare your life?” A cold smile flickered across Linley’s face. “That’s not impossible. I want to ask you something. About twelve or thirteen years ago, did you send someone to capture a woman?”
Patterson was stunned.
He immediately racked his brain to recall events from twelve or thirteen years ago, but it was far too distant. Most importantly… “Linley, no, Lord Linley. I… I can’t remember.” Patterson said in panic.
“It was a long time ago, and besides, I often had women I fancied brought to my estate. I can’t recall which one you mean.”
Murderous intent surged within Linley’s heart.
This Patterson had apparently been abducting women regularly.
Patterson couldn’t read Linley’s inner thoughts from his outward expression. In his fully dragonized form, Linley appeared cold, merciless, terrifying, and sinister.
“A woman who had just given birth not long ago, who had gone to pray at the Radiant Temple and then returned to her inn.” Linley continued to stare coldly at Patterson, his voice flat and devoid of emotion.
When Patterson heard this, he was stunned for a moment. Then he looked at Linley in shock.
“Remember now?” Linley said coldly.
Patterson naturally remembered. Over the years, he had only abducted women who had just given birth twice. It was deeply etched in his memory. Especially the time twelve or thirteen years ago, when the person who had entrusted him with the task had strictly demanded he keep it secret.
“I really can’t remember,” Patterson said in terror. “Lord Linley, I beg you, spare me. I truly don’t know. You must be mistaken.”
A sharp glint flashed in Linley’s dark-gold pupils.
“You’re asking for death.” Linley’s voice grew even more chilling.
“Ah~~” Patterson screamed in agony. Linley’s powerful tail tightened its grip on him. The increasingly terrifying force made every bone in Patterson’s body groan.
“Creak, creak~~” The sound was enough to make one’s heart shudder.
But Linley still stared coldly at Patterson.
“Crack!”
“Ah!”
The crisp sound of a bone breaking rang out, followed by Patterson’s agonized scream. The bone in his left arm had been crushed and snapped by the pressure.
“Not bad.” The corner of Linley’s mouth curled up slightly, almost as if he were smiling.
But Patterson didn’t see it as a smile. In his current ‘dragonized’ form, Linley’s curled lips only filled Patterson with even more terror and fear.
“You know what’s important. You’ve used most of your battle qi to protect your internal organs, with only a little protecting your arms. That’s right—breaking an arm won’t kill you, but a ruptured organ might cost you your life.” Linley’s voice was calm.
Patterson felt his throat go dry.
He had never imagined Linley could be so terrifying.
“Remember now?” Linley said again.
Patterson desperately wanted to answer, but recalling the punishment for revealing this secret made his heart tremble. So he put on an even more pitiful act, weeping as he said, “Lord Linley, I beg you, don’t torture me anymore. I truly don’t know. Even if you kill me, I wouldn’t know.”
Patterson was convinced that since this had happened over twelve years ago, and Linley was still so young, he was probably only investigating scattered clues. He couldn’t be one hundred percent certain. If he just held firm and didn’t confess, Linley might believe him.
“Lord Linley, if I knew, I would have told you long ago. Why would I suffer for no reason? Lord Linley, please, investigate the truth.” Tears streamed down Patterson’s face, his act so sincere. If Linley hadn’t had the letter left by his father, he might have hesitated.
Linley looked at Patterson, the curl of his lips growing wider.
A chill ran down Patterson’s spine.
“Very good. Excellent.” Linley’s dragon tail still bound Patterson. Suddenly, the tail swung with force, slamming Patterson hard against the marble floor. Fortunately, Linley made sure Patterson landed head-first.
Linley’s tail erupted with power!
Both of Patterson’s legs smashed violently into the marble floor.
“Thud!”
The rapid sound of bones breaking rang out, accompanied by Patterson’s piercing scream.
At the knee of Patterson’s left leg, a stark white bone pierced through the muscle, tearing through his pants and protruding from the surface of his thigh. His right leg went limp on the ground, and blood from his ankles soaked his pants entirely.
“Ah, ah, ah~~~” Patterson screamed continuously.
The pain was excruciating, nearly killing him. Fortunately, his internal organs were protected by battle qi, keeping him alive.
“Demon, demon.” Patterson cursed inwardly. He knew Linley had used tremendous force. As a rank 7 warrior, he couldn’t protect his entire body—only barely shield his vital organs from damage.
Patterson didn’t want to die.
Broken legs?
No matter. With enough money, he could hire a rank 9 grand magus from the Radiant Church to cast ‘Song of Life.’ As long as he didn’t die on the spot, even the most severe injuries could be healed!
“Remember now? Did you capture that woman?” Linley’s voice remained calm, without any fluctuation.
But Patterson’s fear only deepened.
“I remember, I remember.” Sweat beaded on Patterson’s forehead—from pain, from terror.
Patterson knew very well that he and Linley were inside a secret chamber within a hidden building. The chamber was sealed, and even the loudest noise inside would barely be heard by someone pressing their ear against the stone door outside.
But who would press their ear against the door of this secret building?
No matter how loudly he screamed, no one would know.
“If you’d spoken sooner, you wouldn’t have had to suffer this.” Linley’s dark-gold eyes stared calmly at Patterson. “Speak. Tell me everything about what happened back then.”
Patterson nodded hastily. “Lord Linley, back then, I saw that woman and thought she was truly beautiful. I was bewitched for a moment and sent people to capture her. I wanted her to sleep with me, but she was too stubborn and ended up bashing her head against the wall to kill herself.”
As he spoke, Patterson looked at Linley nervously.
In Patterson’s view, very few people in the world knew about that woman’s whereabouts. Linley probably didn’t know.
“You’re still lying!!!”
Linley finally lost his temper. His dark-gold pupils even began to redden. Controlling his dragon tail, Linley brought Patterson right up to his face. Almost nose to nose, Linley stared coldly at him.
Seeing Linley up close—the black scales covering his body, the spikes on his forehead—Patterson’s fear intensified.
“I’m not lying! I’m not lying!” Patterson quickly said.
Linley’s right hand, now transformed into a dragon claw, slapped Patterson across the face.
“Slash!” Five chunks of flesh were torn from Patterson’s left cheek, and blood gushed out. Fortunately, Linley wasn’t trying to kill him; otherwise, that slap would have smashed his head to pieces.
“Ugh, ugh, ugh~~~” Patterson’s voice twisted in pain.
Linley glared coldly at Patterson. “Listen to me, Patterson. I already know a lot about this matter, so you’d better not try to deceive me. Otherwise, the torture you’ll endure will be far worse than this.”
“I can tell you, the woman you captured back then was my mother!”
“Mother?” Patterson was stunned, momentarily forgetting the pain.
“I know everything about my mother’s situation, and I’ve been investigating it. So you’d better tell me everything you know about my mother. Otherwise… you will die without a doubt.” Linley’s voice grew even colder.
In truth, whether Patterson spoke or not, he was doomed to die.
Because Linley’s father had been hunted down and killed on Patterson’s orders. Patterson didn’t know that the man he had sent people to chase and kill a few months ago was Linley’s father. If he did… Patterson’s reaction would have been entirely different.
“Tell me, who did you give my mother to?” Linley stared at Patterson.
“You know?” Patterson’s face turned deathly pale.
Linley actually knew he had given that woman to someone else?
“Tell me his name. Don’t try to fool me. If I find out you’re lying, I’ll make your life worse than death.” Linley’s voice remained flat and emotionless.
Patterson hesitated for a moment.
“It’s useless even if I tell you. You can’t kill him,” Patterson said in a low voice.
“Can’t kill him?” Linley stared coldly at Patterson. “Listen, Patterson. You just need to tell me who he is. Whether I can kill him is none of your concern. How much do you really know about my true strength?”
Hearing this, Patterson had to agree inwardly.
This ‘Linley’ before him was too terrifying. The strength he had shown publicly had already marked him as an absolute genius. But now, it seemed Linley was far more powerful than a rank 7 warrior like himself. He couldn’t even put up a fight against Linley.
Patterson’s mind raced.
Linley didn’t rush him, just kept staring at him with those dark-gold pupils.
After thinking for a long time, Patterson finally gritted his teeth and looked at Linley. “Linley, I’ll tell you who he is, but you have to promise me—you absolutely cannot let anyone know I told you! And you must not kill me.”
Linley’s face remained cold. “Fine. I promise I won’t let anyone know you told me, and I promise I won’t kill you.”
Only then did Patterson breathe a sigh of relief.
“About twelve years ago, some royal members of the Finlay Kingdom went to the Radiant Temple. There, we saw your mother. Later, I had people capture her,” Patterson said quickly. “But it wasn’t my idea. I was just following orders.”
“Who?” Linley demanded.
Patterson glanced at Linley before speaking slowly. “It was my elder brother, the current king of the Finlay Kingdom, Clayde.”
“Clayde?” Linley was taken aback.
The pride of the Finlay Kingdom, known as the Golden Lion Clayde? The rank 9 powerhouse Clayde?
“Yes, it was Clayde,” Patterson confirmed. “But I know Clayde valued your mother greatly. He told me that under no circumstances could I reveal this information, or he would be doomed.”
Linley stared at Patterson.
“He’s telling the truth,” Dylin Cowart’s voice echoed in Linley’s mind. “I can sense the fluctuations in his soul force.”
Linley’s mind was set.
Patterson looked at Linley pleadingly. “Linley, can you spare my life now? I swear, I won’t breathe a word of what happened today.” His eyes were full of hope.
“Fine. I’ll keep my word.” Linley’s dragon tail suddenly loosened.
Patterson fell to the ground, a look of ecstasy spreading across his face as he gazed at Linley with gratitude.
At that moment, a black shadow flashed by.
“Crack.”
The shadowrat ‘Bebe’ had bitten down on Patterson’s neck. Patterson stared in terror at Bebe, who was right in front of him. He had just escaped death, but now he felt the call of the underworld drawing near. Patterson recognized this shadowrat—it was the little mouse that often sat on Linley’s shoulder.
Patterson looked at Linley in disbelief.
“I said I wouldn’t kill you, but I never said my magical beast wouldn’t.” Linley stared coldly at Patterson, whose throat was gushing blood. “And by the way, a few months ago, someone infiltrated your ducal estate, and you later sent people to hunt him down. That man was my father!”