Chapter 22: Warmth
“What does the Grand Elder want with Fuerhan and Yimanuel?” Linley mused to himself. “She said we must unite, but Fuerhan is her son, and Yimanuel is her grandson. It’s unlikely she won’t show any favoritism.”
“Whoosh!” A gust of cold wind blew past, interrupting Linley’s thoughts.
Linley and Solhous were walking along a stone path, flanked by many simple, unadorned buildings and courtyards. Both were lost in their own thoughts, not speaking.
“Ah, Linley.” Solhous quickly forced a smile. “Sorry. I was thinking about the mission earlier and neglected you.”
“It’s fine.” Linley joked. “As long as you don’t lead us the wrong way.”
“The Bloodbath Valley is this small. There aren’t even a thousand people in total. How could I get lost?” Solhous laughed. “Your Thirteenth Squad has ten members in total. They are all experts from the clan, all having reached the Six Star Demon level. Some are close to the Seven Star Demon level.”
Solhous reminded him, “Linley. Don’t underestimate them. After all, the distinction between a Six Star Demon and a Seven Star Demon isn’t that clear-cut.”
Linley nodded.
For example, that ‘Lilmont’ he encountered in the Violet Continent. He was called a Six Star Demon, but he was close to a Seven Star Demon.
“Some are skilled in soul attacks. Some are skilled in material attacks. Some are good at escaping. Their methods also differ; some rely on sound, some on venom… In short, a Six Star Demon isn’t necessarily weaker than a Seven Star Demon. As long as you lead them well, coordinate them properly, and exploit the enemy’s weaknesses, defeating a stronger foe is not impossible.” Solhous said.
“That’s right.” Linley nodded in agreement.
Before his ancestral temple baptism, he could defeat a Seven Star Demon skilled in material attacks, but he feared a Six Star Demon skilled in soul attacks.
Strength isn’t absolute.
“Solhous, look. Those warriors have an extraordinary aura.” Linley pointed at three blood-robed warriors walking down the distant street. Their faces were cold and stern, and even when they smiled, it felt oppressive.
This was because the strong exuded a faint killing intent.
“The warriors of Bloodbath Valley have all experienced countless life-and-death battles. This kind of temperament comes naturally.” Solhous praised.
“We’ve reached the Thirteenth Squad.” Solhous suddenly said.
Linley saw it too. Ahead stood a stone pillar. The top of the pillar was carved with the characters ‘Thirteen’. The surface of the pillar was engraved with many names, quite a few of which were red.
“The names on this pillar are the roster of the Thirteenth Squad members over the past ten thousand years.” Solhous said solemnly. “A squad normally has ten people. Whenever a member dies, they are replaced. The names of the deceased are in red.”
Linley carefully examined the names.
“Thirteenth Squad!” Solhous suddenly shouted.
Immediately, figures flew out from the buildings near the pillar. Each was wearing a blood-red battle robe. In the blink of an eye, the ten Six Star Demon members had assembled. Linley looked them over carefully.
Eight men, two women.
“Just by their aura, these ten are extraordinary. They’re like ten Lilmonts.” Linley thought to himself.
When he first entered the Infernal Realm, how could Linley have imagined that one day he would be leading ten Six Star Demons?
“Elder Solhous?” The woman with short green hair quickly asked. “Who is this beside you?” The other Six Star Demons also looked at Linley with curiosity. It was clear they didn’t know him.
“This is the new Elder of our Azure Dragon clan, ‘Linley’.” Solhous announced loudly. “He is also the new captain of your Thirteenth Squad.”
“Captain?” The ten Six Star Demons exchanged glances.
“Is he really an Elder?” A man asked doubtfully.
Linley smiled and flipped his hand, producing a token. This was the Elder token he had received upon becoming an Elder. Seeing the token, the ten members no longer doubted and immediately spoke respectfully, “Captain!”
In the Bloodbath Valley war teams, the captain of any squad was always an Elder.
So, since Linley was an Elder, they naturally accepted him as their captain.
“Captain, my name is Melina.” The short green-haired woman smiled. “I wonder if the captain could show us your special technique?”
Linley was momentarily stunned. Then he glanced at the other Six Star Demons. The others didn’t speak, but their eyes clearly wanted Linley to demonstrate his abilities. Linley thought to himself, “It seems that whether in a mortal plane’s army or a divine plane’s army, to be a good leader, you have to impress your subordinates.”
Which Six Star Demon didn’t have pride?
How could they willingly submit without seeing Linley’s strength?
“You lot…” Solhous laughed.
“Then, feel it for yourselves.” Linley said with a faint smile. Immediately, a hazy, earthy yellow light spread out, forming a large light barrier that enveloped all ten members.
Blackstone Space!
The sudden arrival of the Blackstone Space caught the ten Six Star Demons off guard. Three of them even staggered, having to brace themselves with their hands on the ground to stand up. Within the ‘Blackstone Space’, even Six Star Demons felt the astonishing pressure.
“Under this kind of pressure, do you think it would be easy for me to kill a few of you?” Linley said with a faint smile.
The ten members felt the incredible gravitational force, looked at each other, and then smiled.
“Captain!” The ten of them almost simultaneously knelt on one knee, saluting respectfully.
Complete submission!
Linley smiled and withdrew the Blackstone Space. “All of you, rise.”
“Captain, this is fantastic! With your gravitational space, when we fight the enemy, we’ll have a huge advantage.” A burly man said excitedly. “In this gravitational space, the enemy is restricted while I am not. Even if the opponent is a Seven Star Demon, I’d dare to fight them.”
A squad captain being strong didn’t excite the members too much, because the captain’s strength was only his own.
What truly excited them was a captain who excelled in supportive abilities that could help the members, like Linley! As long as Linley didn’t apply the gravitational force to them, they could fight above their level against Seven Star Demons.
“What’s your name?” Linley smiled at the burly man in front of him.
“My name is Shanta!” The burly man quickly replied with a smile.
“Each of you, introduce yourselves.” Linley smiled at his subordinates. From now on, as long as he didn’t die, he would be leading this group of members into battle, sharing life and death!
Linley valued his subordinates.
And these members were also excited. Having a captain with such a powerful supportive technique, their interactions were naturally full of joy.
“Linley.” Solhous finally spoke from the side.
“Oh, sorry.” Linley quickly said. “I got so caught up talking with them that I forgot about you, Elder Solhous.”
Solhous shook his head and laughed. “It’s fine. But I can’t stay here any longer. The Grand Elder has given me a task, and I must go.”
Solhous then parted ways with Linley. As for Linley, he moved into the captain’s residence of the Thirteenth Squad. From today onward, Linley would lead these ten Six Star Demon members and begin fighting against the Eight Great Clans.
Time flowed like water. In the blink of an eye, over a year had passed.
In the Grand Canyon of the Celestial Sacrifice Mountains.
Delia leaned against Linley’s arm, nestling close to him as they strolled together. Linley looked at Delia by his side, a warm current flowing gently through his heart. Linley cherished this warmth.
“Linley, I initially thought that when you became the captain of that Bloodbath Valley squad, you’d be off fighting and killing all the time, with no time to spend with me. But it turns out the number of battles is very few.” Delia treasured every moment she had with Linley.
She knew about the clan’s crisis. She wouldn’t ask anything of Linley; cherishing the present was enough.
“I’ve been captain for over a year, but I haven’t had a single battle yet.” Linley said with a faint smile. “Actually, the Bloodbath Valley teams don’t fight often. But every battle is a life-and-death struggle against the enemy’s top experts. We have Seven Star Demons, but so do they, and even more! We are at a disadvantage!”
Linley also felt the pressure, and at the same time, he felt a bit sorry for Delia.
Whether in the Yulan Plane or the Infernal Realm, Delia had always silently supported him. Even as he roamed far and wide, facing crisis after crisis, Delia had never complained.
“When I don’t have a mission, I’ll always be with you.” Linley whispered softly in Delia’s ear, gently kissing her earlobe.
A faint blush rose on Delia’s face.
“We’re outside.” Delia quickly looked around, then blushed and deliberately glared at Linley.
Linley just laughed.
No matter what kind of battle or how great the difficulty, when he was with Delia, Linley felt incredibly relaxed. Delia was his harbor of the soul.
In the second year of Linley’s tenure as captain of the Thirteenth Squad.
The Bloodbath Valley didn’t have too many requirements for its captains. Captains could normally live elsewhere in the Celestial Sacrifice Mountains. If there was a mission, someone would naturally come to notify them. Ordinary members had one month per year to leave the valley.
“Elder.”
“Elder.”
Walking on the stone path of Bloodbath Valley, many blood-robed warriors respectfully greeted Linley. Whether they were from the Azure Dragon clan, the White Tiger clan, or the other two clans, in Bloodbath Valley, they were all the same.
After this long, everyone had come to know Linley.
“Solhous.” Linley looked in surprise at a familiar figure in the distance. It was his old acquaintance, Solhous. But Solhous’s expression was terrible. Linley quickly walked over. Solhous also saw Linley.
“Linley.” Solhous forced a smile.
“Solhous, I haven’t seen you in over a year. Mission over?” Linley asked with a smile.
“Mission’s over.” Solhous sighed deeply.
“What’s wrong?” Linley had a bad feeling.
Solhous gave Linley a bitter look. “Linley, didn’t you notice that this body of mine is my wind-type divine clone?”
“Uh… yes.” Linley looked more carefully and noticed. Solhous sighed, “The enemy in this mission was too powerful. Of my Sixth Squad’s ten members, only four survived. My strongest water-type divine clone is also gone.”
Linley was stunned.
Most members of the Azure Dragon clan had their strongest divine clone as the water-type. If Linley had grown up in the Four Divine Beasts clan and received the ancestral temple baptism early, he probably would have focused on the water element, instead of the earth element as he did now.
“Then you…” Linley didn’t know what to say.
“The water-type divine clone is gone, what else can I do?” Solhous shook his head. “I’m no longer an Elder, and I don’t have that strength anymore. I came here today to report this to the Grand Elder.”
When Elders went to battle, they left behind their useless divine clones.
One reason was to quickly provide intelligence to Bloodbath Valley. The other was to keep a life.
“Solhous, don’t be too disheartened.” Linley didn’t know how to console him.
Solhous took a deep breath. “Disheartened? I’ll go back and continue training. One day, when I’ve trained my wind-type divine clone to be strong enough, I’ll go find those bastards again!” A fierce glint flashed in Solhous’s eyes.
Seeing Solhous’s expression, Linley was startled.
Linley suddenly realized that in this cycle of revenge, the hatred between the Four Divine Beasts clan and the Eight Great Clans was growing deeper and deeper. Experts from the Four Divine Beasts clan died, but so did the enemy’s. If this continued…
It would be an endless, never-ending feud.
“Linley, don’t show any mercy in battle. This isn’t an ordinary fight. The Four Divine Beasts clan and those Eight Great Clans will never reconcile. Given the chance, they will kill you without hesitation.” Solhous warned.
“Don’t worry.”
Linley had come this far from the Yulan Plane. He knew when to show mercy and when to be ruthless! Showing mercy to the Eight Great Clans was being ruthless to his own family and his own clan.
“Elder Linley!” A blood-robed warrior came running from afar.
Linley turned his head. “What is it?” Linley didn’t recognize this blood-robed warrior.
The blood-robed warrior said respectfully, “The Grand Elder requests your presence, Elder Linley.”
Linley shuddered. In the over a year since becoming captain of the Thirteenth Squad, this was the first time the Grand Elder had summoned him.