Chapter 30: The Siege
Within the territory of the Azure Prefecture. Beneath the vast, boundless sky, a winding dragon-shaped metallic lifeform flew high in the air. Moments later, another metallic lifeform shaped like a black panther flew past as well.
Inside the dragon-shaped metallic lifeform, there were twelve people in total.
To be precise, it was eleven people, including Emanuel, and one Death God Puppet. Emanuel glanced at the Death God Puppet and couldn't help but feel a sense of discomfort. This Death God Puppet belonged to Linley. By placing the Death God Puppet here, Linley could determine the location of the metallic lifeform ahead.
"Elder Linley, make sure your metallic lifeform doesn't get too far from mine. Otherwise, if a battle starts and you can't make it in time, it'll be disastrous." Emanuel's eyes flickered with yellow light as he spoke in a low voice.
The Death God Puppet opened its eyes and looked at Emanuel.
"Elder Emanuel, rest assured. Although the position of my metallic lifeform is shifting, it won't stray too far from yours. Once the battle begins, I'll arrive immediately," the Death God Puppet said, using Linley's voice.
"Better make sure you do," Emanuel replied.
With the Death God Puppet inside Emanuel's metallic lifeform, Linley could easily pinpoint its location. Naturally, he could control his own metallic lifeform at will—either staying about ten miles behind Emanuel, ten miles to his right, or even flying ahead of him.
In short...
He tried his best not to arouse suspicion.
"Whoosh!" The dragon-shaped metallic lifeform instantly flew over a wide river. The river's current was swift and turbulent. Suddenly, a human head emerged from the water, looking up as the metallic lifeform flew away. "Hmph, those Azure Dragon clan members sure have guts, still daring to swagger along a fixed route like this. They're all just asking for death!"
When members of the Four Divine Beasts clans deliberately tried to lure enemies into battle, their metallic lifeforms would take the shape of the four divine beasts. Intelligence agents only needed a single glance, coupled with a sweep of their divine sense, to confirm their identity.
"Send this news back immediately." This person, however, had completely failed to notice the other metallic lifeform.
That was because Linley's metallic lifeform was about seven or eight miles away from the river, well off the fixed route. After all, even gods had limited visual range and divine sense range. Seven or eight miles away, with mountains and trees blocking the view—who would notice?
The intelligence network of the eight great clans was highly efficient. That very day, the news was relayed back. Although the eight clans were split between two locations, their communication was extremely fast. They quickly made a decision.
This mission to ambush and kill the Azure Dragon clan squad was assigned to the Ashcroft family and the Barbary family. Since both families had each lost a Seven Star Demon at the hands of the Azure Dragon clan last time, this was considered their chance for revenge.
"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"
More than twenty people were flying at low altitude.
"Last time, we lost two Seven Star Demons, and they didn't lose a single one. This time, we must kill that Seven Star Demon from the Azure Dragon clan," the tall, green-browed man leading the group said in a grave, low voice.
"Big brother, with Elder Bro accompanying us this time, there won't be any problems," another, slightly thinner green-browed man said with a smile.
These two brothers were both three meters tall, typical members of the Barbary family. Their only peculiar feature was their green eyebrows. The "Green Brow Brothers" were two famous Seven Star Demons in the Barbary family, extremely powerful.
As for Bro...
He was renowned throughout the Infernal Realm, a super expert of the Ashcroft family. Sending these three to lead the team this time was also meant to wash away their shame.
It was one thing for their own people to die.
But for two Seven Star Demons to die while the enemy lost none—the eight great clans couldn't tolerate that!
The tall, green-browed man turned to look at the person beside him and couldn't help but shudder inwardly. This person was only about 1.7 meters tall, a "little runt" in the eyes of the Barbary family members.
Yet no one dared to underestimate him.
This man was completely shrouded in a gray robe. He was bald, with withered, curling hair plastered to his scalp. His hair was dry and yellow, as if devoid of any life force. His face was covered in wrinkles, making him look very aged, and two green snakes hung from his ears.
"Hiss~ hiss~" The two green snakes flicked their tongues.
"I hope this time, the Azure Dragon clan sends that one called Linley," Bro said, opening his eyes. His eyes were cloudy, with occasional flashes of yellow light. He spoke hoarsely, "Last time, it was him who killed my grandson."
"If Linley comes, Elder Bro will definitely get to deal with him personally," the thinner green-browed man quickly said. Mosley was indeed Bro's grandson.
"Mm." Bro nodded.
The Green Brow Brothers were formidable in the Barbary family, but in terms of status... they were only mid-tier within the family's council of elders. But Elder Bro was different. He held a very high position in the Ashcroft family.
His strength ranked among the top three in the family. The Ashcroft family sending him out clearly indicated their intention to kill the Azure Dragon clan members.
"I wonder how this Linley compares to that genius elder of the Azure Dragon clan, 'Bru'?" Bro sneered.
"He's definitely no match," the tall, green-browed man said. "That Linley might have a strong body, but his soul defense seems lacking... He's far inferior to that genius elder. For Elder Bro to kill him would be his honor."
Bro, as a member of the Ashcroft family, was naturally skilled in soul attacks. At the same time... his body was also extremely powerful.
Being ranked in the top three of his family, his strength was truly terrifying.
Back in the day, when Bro fought the genius elder 'Bru', neither could kill the other.
If Linley and Emanuel had known that the enemy had dispatched so many experts this time, especially including Bro, they would probably have retreated long ago. But Linley and Emanuel didn't know... so they continued to advance.
Inside the black panther-shaped metallic lifeform, Linley was drinking wine with a Highgod.
"It's been half a year already. These eight clans are really inefficient," Linley remarked.
"Captain, the eight clans are all at the border of the Azure Prefecture, hundreds of millions of miles away from us. Even with high efficiency and speed, it would take at least half a year for them to get here. If they're slow, it could take a year or two," the team member said.
Linley glanced at this team member.
His name was Isado. Because a few people from Linley's Thirteenth Squad had been lost during the last ambush, and although Shanta and the others still had their divine clones, those clones weren't strong enough and had withdrawn from the Bloodbath Valley.
Isado was one of the new replacements.
"Be careful during the battle, Isado," Linley said with a smile. When he had told the Thirteenth Squad that he only needed to bring one person this time, Isado had been the most enthusiastic, convincing the others, and then followed him here.
"I know, Captain." Isado's eyes gleamed. "But Captain, while I need to protect myself, I also need to kill the enemy. For over ten thousand years, I've been waiting for this day... Back then, those eight clans chased us relentlessly. When our Four Divine Beasts clan was strong, they submitted. But once the Patriarch died, they turned into mad dogs... killing everyone from our Four Divine Beasts clan, regardless of age or gender!"
Isado's heart was filled with anger and hatred.
Linley couldn't help but marvel inwardly: "This grudge really runs deep!" Back then, the various clans had launched a frenzied pursuit, chasing them all the way to the Azure Prefecture. This incident was quite famous. When Linley first arrived at the Azure Prefecture and bought books, even the service staff knew about the sensational slaughter involving the Four Divine Beasts clan.
Inside the dragon-shaped metallic lifeform.
"Everyone, stay alert. The enemy could appear at any moment," Emanuel barked. "Remember, no one is allowed to approach this metallic lifeform. Anyone who comes close, even a Demigod or a God, is to be killed without exception."
Linley's previous tactic of approaching the metallic lifeform and then launching a sneak attack had put Emanuel on guard.
"Haha..." The Death God Puppet beside him laughed. The Death God Puppet contained Linley's consciousness and could be considered one of his avatars.
"Nothing funny about it, Elder Linley. You were able to conceal your strength; the enemy might be able to do the same. Better to be cautious," Emanuel said.
"Right, better to be cautious," the Death God Puppet said in Linley's voice.
Just then—
"Not good. The enemy is here!" Emanuel's expression changed drastically. He immediately retracted the metallic lifeform, and instantly, the eleven people and the Death God Puppet were suspended in midair. Through the Death God Puppet, Linley could clearly see more than twenty figures shooting up from the ground below.
"So many?" Emanuel's face turned pale.
"Elder Linley!" Emanuel urged hurriedly. "Get over here quickly."
"Don't worry," the Death God Puppet replied.
"Haha... You Azure Dragon clan brats, all of you, die!" Amidst loud laughter, two tall, similarly built green-browed men, each wielding a double-edged greatsword, shot into the sky. Behind them, twenty-five Six Star Demons also charged forward.
Emanuel's expression was grim.
The gap in strength was too great.
"Roar~"
Emanuel let out a low roar. Green dragon scales immediately sprouted all over his body, and he instantly entered his Dragonform state. At the same time, white mist began to spread around him, shrouding the area in a hazy veil as various illusions manifested.
"Water element laws? We're not inferior to you in that regard."
The Green Brow Brothers laughed loudly as they closed in on Emanuel.
"Pfft!" "Boom!"
The twenty-five Six Star Demons from the eight great clans attacked the ten Six Star Demons from the Azure Dragon clan. The numerical disparity was too great... One by one, the Six Star Demons attacked wildly. Explosions and booms rang out continuously. Space trembled. Blood rained down from the sky as figures plummeted from midair.
"Boom!" Emanuel's left arm was severed, and his entire body was sent flying.
"Die!" A hazy, icy light flashed.
At that moment, Emanuel opened his mouth. Bizarrely, a winding, massive Azure Dragon phantom appeared around his body. The enormous Azure Dragon phantom was as large as a mountain. Its eyes locked onto the two Seven Star Demons.
"Not good."
The Green Brow Brothers' expressions changed.
"Retreat!" The two of them swiftly retreated in opposite directions.
A hazy, cyan halo spread out like ripples on water, instantly washing over the Green Brow Brothers. Both experts shuddered.
Ancestral Divine Ability—Dragon's Roar!
"Captain!" Several Six Star Demons from the eight great clans saw their captain in danger.
"Go!" One after another, they attacked Emanuel. There was a gap between Six Star Demons and Seven Star Demons, but even a Seven Star Demon couldn't afford to be careless against a group of Six Star Demons working together.
Emanuel could only retreat, cursing inwardly: "Where the hell is Linley? Why isn't he here yet?"
The Green Brow Brothers had retreated to opposite sides, widening the distance between them so that the Ancestral Divine Ability 'Dragon's Roar' would have a larger area to cover, weakening its power. At that moment, the tall, green-browed man laughed angrily: "That Ancestral Divine Ability is indeed powerful."
Then, he prepared to charge forward.
Just then—
The green-browed man noticed one of his subordinates frantically sending him a divine sense message: "Captain, watch out!"
The green-browed man quickly turned his head. He only saw a dragonformed figure charging at him at extreme speed. Its dark golden eyes were fixed on him. What shocked the green-browed man the most was that the newcomer had vicious spikes growing out of his back!
"He's Linley!" The green-browed man instantly realized.
Linley's unique Dragonform, after killing two Seven Star Demons, had become known to the experts of the eight great clans.
"Run!" The green-browed man turned to flee.
At that moment, a yellow light spread out, forming a massive spherical yellow light barrier. The Seven Star Demon, the green-browed man, who was only a hundred meters away from Linley, was naturally caught within the barrier's range. A terrifying gravitational force acted upon him.
His speed plummeted!
"Ah!" Knowing he couldn't escape, the green-browed man turned and swung his sword with all his might at Linley.
A hazy, transparent sword shadow detached from the blade and shot toward Linley. Linley had no time to dodge, nor did he try to! He continued charging straight at the green-browed man. As the transparent sword shadow pierced into Linley's body, he also slammed his fist fiercely into the green-browed man's head.
"Boom!"
The head shattered, and the divine spark flew out.
"Big brother!" The thinner green-browed man in the distance cried out in alarm.
On a distant hillside, Elder Bro, who had originally not intended to act, looked up. His eyes lit up. "So that's Linley. Hmph, those idiots from the Barbary family. When they encounter someone with a strong body, they're useless."
Elder Bro then moved his lips slightly.
Instantly—
A massive black serpent phantom materialized behind Elder Bro. This black serpent phantom covered the entire mountain forest. Its size was simply astonishing. A terrifying aura permeated the entire sky.
Having just killed a Seven Star Demon, Linley felt a pang of dread.
Linley turned his head to look down and saw Elder Bro staring coldly at him. The enormous black serpent phantom in particular made Linley recall a scene from the past.
"Not good. It's the Ancestral Divine Ability 'Soul Annihilation'." Linley's expression changed drastically.
Last time, one of his team members had saved him. But this time, there was no one else around him.