Chapter 9: The Space Ring
“Get it back, now!” Clyde’s neck was flushed red with urgency as he shouted loudly, “The ring, get it back, get it back! A million gold coins!”
When the members of the Thunderbolt Squad heard the words ‘a million gold coins,’ a flicker of greed appeared in their eyes. One by one, powerful warriors began to coordinate their attacks and charge toward Linley, while the leader of the Thunderbolt Squad, Caesar, flew forward first.
“A ring? It seems truly precious.”
Seeing Clyde so frantic, Linley sneered coldly. He suddenly stomped the ground, using the rebound force to rapidly retreat sideways. As he moved back, Linley quickly pulled the ring from the severed hand and then slipped it onto his own finger.
“Linley, this is a space ring,” Doehring Cowart said excitedly. With his powerful soul, he could fully sense the special nature of this ring.
“A space ring? The priceless treasure, a ‘space ring’?” Linley was also greatly shocked.
He had thought this ring was merely a symbolic heirloom of the Finlay royal family. He never expected it to be the legendary ‘space ring.’ Space rings were extremely rare; even among the five Red Cardinals of the Radiant Church, only two possessed space rings.
No one would be foolish enough to sell a space ring.
Once a space ring absorbed blood and recognized its owner, no one else could open it. It was the ultimate mobile treasure vault. Of course… there was another way to open someone else’s space ring: kill the owner. Once the owner died, the space ring became ownerless. Then, by dripping blood on it to claim ownership, one could open the space ring.
“Whoosh.”
Caesar, gripping his greatsword, stared fixedly at Linley. He shot through the air, his greatsword carrying the force of splitting mountains as it tore through the air with a terrifying screech, slashing toward Linley. Linley could clearly see the red light flowing along the blade’s edge.
Unstoppable!
“Swish!” Linley flicked his foot and darted off in another direction.
“Boom!” The entire wall, under the immense force of that terrifying strike, began to collapse outward from the point where the blade struck. A wall nearly a hundred meters long was reduced to rubble in an instant.
“So strong,” Linley thought with alarm.
In the distance, Clyde, protected by nearly ten warriors, ignored the pain of his severed hand and roared, “Quick, get the ring back! Hurry!!!” Clyde was truly going mad. Although he knew that even if the space ring fell into Linley’s hands, Linley couldn’t open it, if the ring remained with Linley, he, as the ring’s owner, would have no chance to access it either.
Two point two billion gold coins, along with countless rare and precious treasures.
The accumulation of the royal family over thousands of years. Losing these treasures and riches was more painful than death itself.
“Crash!”
A wall collapsed as a massive magical beast strode through the palace as if on flat ground, smashing through walls like they were made of mud. This enormous beast had already noticed Clyde, Linley, and the others, and it roared excitedly, “Roar~~”
“Purple-Striped Black Bear!” Linley recognized the familiar figure and was shocked. He still remembered the terrifying strength of the Purple-Striped Black Bear in the Misty Valley. This one was similar in size to that one, but its aura felt slightly weaker.
This Purple-Striped Black Bear was the same ninth-rank beast that had killed Duke Bernard and his group. It had now charged into the palace.
Seeing the large group of Clyde and Linley, the Purple-Striped Black Bear roared with delight and took large strides toward them.
“Thump!” “Thump!” “Thump!” “Thump!”…
The Purple-Striped Black Bear was nothing short of a war machine. Standing three stories tall, with thick, powerful bear paws, even the sturdiest city wall would crack under a heavy slap from those paws. Now, this bear had set its sights on Linley and Clyde’s group.
“Clyde, if you want the ring, come get it yourself!” Linley shouted loudly as he leaped rapidly.
“Bebe, you handle those warriors. I’ll deal with this Caesar,” Linley communicated telepathically.
“Got it, boss. Leave it to me!” Bebe excitedly darted toward the group of warriors.
The warriors’ so-called ‘coordinated attack’ techniques were designed based on human forms and vital points. But against a small, fast, and defensively tough magical beast like Bebe, they were nearly useless.
Bebe raised his sharp claws and swung viciously. With a “Rip!” sound, he tore open most of an eighth-rank warrior’s neck. Blood sprayed wildly, and the warrior’s head flopped down, connected to his body only by a thin layer of skin.
“Hmph.” Caesar’s eyes reddened with anger as he grunted and swung his greatsword horizontally at Linley.
Linley leaped into the air, spinning his feet like a windmill, his toes striking like blades toward Caesar’s neck.
Caesar leaned back to dodge, Linley’s feet grazing his face, barely missing a killing blow. As he leaned back, Caesar kicked out with his right foot like a blade, aiming at Linley. Linley, still midair, didn’t dodge at all.
“Swoosh—”
Linley’s steel-whip-like dragon tail tore through the air, lashing viciously at Caesar.
A trade of blows!
If Caesar hit Linley, Linley’s dragon tail strike would also land on him.
“Hmph.” Caesar stomped the ground with his left foot, shooting backward like an arrow, while his greatsword clashed with Linley’s dragon tail. Caesar retreated about a hundred meters in an instant.
“Whoosh!”
Caesar charged forward again at an angle, his greatsword vibrating, creating five or six afterimages, making it impossible for Linley to predict how to block.
“Ah!” Bebe bit through another seventh-rank warrior’s skull, the seventh warrior he had killed.
This only fueled Caesar’s rage, as he had trained these Thunderbolt warriors himself. But Linley was too troublesome. Linley had not only his hands and feet but also his dragon tail, which was extremely powerful. Moreover, Linley’s defense was astonishing.
Fortunately for Caesar…
Linley’s combat experience and awareness were still inferior to Caesar’s, a true ninth-rank warrior who had trained for over a century.
“Quick, quick! Get the ring back!” Clyde was nearly losing his mind.
The situation was completely against him now. If this continued, he would have no hope of reclaiming the space ring. That ring held the royal family’s thousands of years of accumulated wealth—he would rather die than lose it.
“Roar~~”
The Purple-Striped Black Bear finally arrived. The surrounding warriors immediately scattered, none daring to face it head-on. To fight a powerful ninth-rank magical beast required at least a ninth-rank warrior. And since magical beasts were naturally stronger than humans, even a ninth-rank warrior could only hope to survive.
The Purple-Striped Black Bear stopped and glanced at the group. High-rank magical beasts were no less intelligent than humans, and ninth-rank beasts were even smarter than some people. It easily judged that the group was split into two sides: one side was a man and a magical beast, the other was a team of warriors led by a one-handed man.
And that one-handed man seemed very anxious about that ring.
The Purple-Striped Black Bear understood human language, though it couldn’t speak it. Its eyes gleamed with excitement.
“Ooh ooh~~”
The bear excitedly clapped its paws together, then strode toward Linley and Caesar. Any warrior in its path was met with a massive paw slap, without mercy.
“Ah!” An eighth-rank warrior dodged frantically, a green light shield forming around his body.
But though the Purple-Striped Black Bear’s movement speed wasn’t fast, its paw strikes were terrifyingly quick.
“Smack!” The enormous paw slammed into the eighth-rank warrior. With a sickening crunch of bones and a skull-shattering sound, the warrior’s protective aura shattered, and his entire body was flattened into a meat pancake.
The rocky ground caved into a deep pit, with cracks spreading outward.
“Both ninth-rank, but how is a ninth-rank magical beast so much stronger than a ninth-rank human?” Linley, watching from a distance, was deeply shocked. Caesar, locked in combat with Linley, was also growing anxious. He had no confidence in facing the Purple-Striped Black Bear.
The Purple-Striped Black Bear had thick hide, strong defense, and terrifying strength. Even a dragon would be flattened into a meat pancake by its slap. Its only weakness was its slow movement speed, though its attack speed was still formidable. It was one of the most powerful ninth-rank magical beasts.
“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!”…
Linley and Caesar clashed at incredible speed—hands, feet, dragon tail, and greatsword striking repeatedly. Linley, relying on his strong defense, dared to trade blows, while Caesar’s movements were efficient and experienced, his aura powerful. The two were evenly matched.
“Roar~~”
The Purple-Striped Black Bear closed in on Linley and Caesar in a few strides, then brought both massive paws down from above, aiming at both of them.
“Swish!”
Linley and Caesar both darted away in opposite directions.
“Boom!” The bear’s paws struck the ground with a dull thud, shaking the earth. The ground within a dozen meters of the paws shattered completely. Neither Linley nor Caesar chose to block or counterattack.
The Purple-Striped Black Bear’s paws were its strongest and most dangerous weapons.
Blocking them would only result in both of them becoming meat pancakes.
“Roar~~” The bear roared and turned to chase Linley.
“Why is it chasing me?” Linley relied on his speed to flee. In his dragonized form, he had ninth-rank strength, and his movement speed was a strong point. The bear’s speed was its weakness, so Linley had little trouble evading it.
The bear took large strides, crushing anything in its path.
It was fixated on Linley!
Linley didn’t know that the bear had its eye on the ring. With its intelligence and understanding of human language, it knew that ‘this ring’ was what both sides valued.
In fact, it was common for ninth-rank magical beasts to understand human language. They understood but couldn’t speak due to physical limitations. Once they reached the Saint-level, they could break that barrier and speak human language.
“The ring, the ring…” Clyde was on the verge of tears.
“Your Majesty,” Caesar stood in front of Clyde, “Your Majesty, we must leave now. If we don’t, we’re in danger.”
By now, Bebe had killed fourteen of the thirty-three Thunderbolt Squad members, and the rest were beginning to feel fear. This terrifying magical beast—a small rat—was small, tough, and deadly. It was the perfect form for fighting humans.
“Roar~~”
“Roar~~”
Suddenly, a series of dragon roars echoed from the sky. Dragons with emerald scales, fiery red scales, silver scales, and imposing black scales appeared—hundreds of them flying toward the palace.
Dragons were intelligent and knew the palace held many treasures. They loved collecting valuables.
“Roar~~” The largest black dragon at the front noticed Clyde and Linley’s group and roared loudly. A swarm of dragons dove down. The red and green dragons were eighth-rank, while the black and silver dragons were usually ninth-rank.
Clyde, Caesar, and the others were stunned.
Dealing with one ninth-rank magical beast was hard enough, but a whole group?
“Boss, this is bad! Run!” Bebe’s voice echoed in Linley’s mind. Linley was still being chased by the Purple-Striped Black Bear, which had its eyes on the space ring.