Gol D. Ace In Coiling Dragon

As soon as Ignus’ words left his mouth, it caused an uproar among Linley’s followers, all of whom believed Linley was being treated unfairly.

Speaking of Linley’s followers, although he didn’t make it obvious, Ace couldn’t help but take a second look at each of them.

First was the frail-looking elderly man with long white eyebrows that surprisingly stretched down all the way to his chest. Still, what caught Ace’s attention, was that, like Killian and his mother, he too had an affinity to one of the four edicts, but unlike them, his appeared to be to the laws of death. Add that to the fact that he was an arch-mage of the ninth rank; it was clear that he was incredibly powerful amongst mortals.

It was incredible that Ace could sense that without the old man making a move, but Ace’s current [Observation] allowed him to peer into the very depths of one’s soul without their knowing, providing their soul hadn’t reached the saint level.

Still, other than a moment of surprise, he didn’t feel much else. Though he hadn’t met anyone previously with that specific affinity, it was unable to inspire more than a cursory second glance.

The other five, on the other hand, were different. Whilst the old man caught Ace’s attention because of his affinity, these five caught his attention because of their overwhelming physiques.

Each of the five, who, judging by their similarities, appeared to be brothers and warriors of the eighth rank. On its own, that wasn’t very noteworthy, but when Ace realised that none of them had begun cultivating their battle-qi, how could he not be shocked?

As far as he knew, there were only two ways for one to become a warrior of the seventh rank or above without cultivating battle qi. The first was to use his master’s self-created technique [Imposing Devourment]. And the other was to be a descendant of the four supreme warriors.

Since it was all but impossible for these five unknown brothers to get their hands on his master’s technique, Ace knew it had to be the latter. The only thing he couldn’t confirm was which of the four supreme warriors they descended from.

“Boss, you can’t agree to such unfair terms.” The largest of the five brothers blurted out. “We don’t need their help to destroy the church.”

“He’s right,” The decrepit old man said coldly. “We can carry on with our plans and take things slowly. We don’t need them!”

Linley didn’t respond immediately; instead, he turned to his father for his opinion.

“I trust you, son,” Hogg nodded calmly. “As the patriarch, you will have to make many difficult decisions in the future, but whatever you decide, as your father, I will always stand by your side.”

“Same for me, boss,” Bebe voiced via their link. “Whatever you decide, I will always be by your side.”

“Your father’s right, Linley,” the gentle and calming voice of Doehring Cowart sounded in his mind. “As the leader of the group, this decision is yours to make. But remember this, even though your decision effectively affects everyone in the group and a mistake could mean the enslaving of you and your family, you must also know when to bet on yourself.”

Hearing that, Linley’s eyes flashed with resolve. Still, he didn’t hurry to announce his decision as there was still one more person he needed to ask.

“Why’re you looking at me?” Ace asked as Linley’s piercing, azure-coloured, reptilian eyes fell on him. “This decision is yours to make; I don’t care one way or the other.”

It must be remembered that Linley had already vowed to give his life to Ace after taking down the church.

Still, as blunt as Ace’s words may have come across, a smile of appreciation suffused Linley’s mouth as he gave a slight nod before refocusing on the sky-covering crimson dragon. “You have a deal!”

Linley’s words came as a shock to most present, especially to those from the pavilion who understood precisely how high the mountain Linley aspired to climb really was.

It had to be remembered that this was the prerequisite Arianna had set for each of her disciples to break through to the saint realm as well, but unlike Linley, each and every one of them had already started gaining insights into the profundities of the natural laws before breaking through to the seventh-rank, and yet, Linley, who was already at the middle stages of the seventh-rank was yet to gain even the slightest insight into any of them – to them, Linley’s decision was insane!

Ace and Mira, on the other hand, had already guessed Linley would make such a choice. Like them, Linley was a genius with unwavering confidence in himself and his abilities. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have promised to destroy the church within 30 years.

“HAHAHA, GOOD! VERY GOOD!” Ignus’ voice boomed as he laughed before anyone could give voice to their true thoughts. “At least, if nothing else, you have the courage of a true dragon.”

Before any of Linley’s followers could give voice to their growing displeasure of Ignus’ condescending remarks, they watched in shock as the crimson-scaled king of the dragons made a cut on his arm using his sword-like claws before using his spiritual essence to have the man-sized drop of blood, float over to Linley.

“As a reward, I’ll give you a drop of my blood for your father,” Ignus explained, having long since smelt their familial relationship. “I can sense his bloodline hasn’t awakened.”

“Thank you!” Linley sincerely replied as he removed the empty gourd he had previously kept precisely for this occasion.

The gourd he was using utilised similar runes to that of an interspatial ring allowing the user to store far more liquid than what should be possible for a gourd of that size.

“I didn’t do it for you,” Ignus snorted. “I did it so that he would be able to better support you, my investment, whilst struggling futilely to accomplish your goal. I don’t want you dying before you live up to your side of the agreement.”

As he said that, Ignus removed his tail from the body of the Golden Dragon – Siltor – before wrapping it around Vana, the still unconscious Aquatic Dragon, before addressing the rest of his subordinates. “C’mon, we’re leaving.”

Each of the dragons stopped to take a final look at Linley before rising up behind their king. Well, all except one.

“Siltor,” Ignus growled threateningly. “We’re leaving now!”

“NO!” Siltor bellowed unhesitantly. “They killed my son, and now you want to have me submit to them?! Impossible!

I don’t care if there is a God on their side. Either they die, or I do!”

“Do you dare disobey me, Ignus?!” The dragon king growled as he glared at the Golden Dragon glaring at Ace. “Who do…”

“I’ll give you a chance to get your revenge,” Ace suddenly said calmly, cutting Ignus off mid-sentence. “In the future, after breaking through to the saint realm, my junior brother – Kannal – will be coming to find that black lizard to kill him for having his sister killed.”

As he said that, everyone’s heads turned to Kannal, who was still silently glaring at Yasha, before Ace calmly continued.

“I will come with him,” Ace stated indifferently. “At that point, if you still want revenge, you and your wife can challenge me together.”

As he said that, he looked up at the dragon king before continuing. “But if they do, your Lizard Pitt needs to agree to leave me alone.

If not, I will slaughter my way through the Dragon Pitt myself, making your little bet with Linley void.”

“Is that a threat?” Ignus growled, his temper rising quickly for a mere mortal to dare speak to him in such a way.

“Yes!” Ace nodded indifferently.

To him, whose goal was to kill O’Brien, a genuine deity, whether it was the Cult of Darkness or the Dragon’s Pitt, he didn’t put either of them in his eyes. They may be stronger than him now, but surpassing them was only a matter of time!

Ignus’ killing intent suddenly spiked as though he was preparing to take action when Cesar suddenly cleared his throat. It was only gentle, but it was more than enough to remind the crimson dragon of his place.

“How do I know you won’t just run and hide after we leave here today?” Siltor questioned coldly.

“Don’t overestimate yourself,” Ace snorted, unable to hide his disdain. “No lizard is capable of making me hide!”

Ace’s body suddenly flickered as his voice faded, his afterimage vanishing into the wind as he casually made his way back to the city’s insides, having lost interest in talking any further.

Without a second thought, Amira, Killian, and Leo all followed, leading Joel and the others.

Kannal was the last to leave, as he struggled to move his hate-filled eyes from the creature that caused his beloved older sister’s death. Still, Ace had already spoken, giving him his chance at revenge in the future; as such, he too left, not bothering with the saint-level dragons glaring at Ace’s disappearing back furiously.

“This king suggests you hurry back to begin training,” Wukong said casually as he leisurely picked at the contents of his ear. “This king has no idea what level that brat will be at when he makes his way to find you in the future, but this king can promise you that the current you won’t be worth a fart in front of him at that point.”