Gol D. Ace In Coiling Dragon

Over the next couple of hours, things became increasingly tense between the two alliances. Both sides fighting more and more desperately, understanding the importance of winning.

Ultimately though, there was always going to be one side to break the deadlock first.

In the sky above, Jordon and the others sighed helplessly as they watched General Murciel – the Rohault General Ace and the others first fought alongside back when they made their debuts on the Rohault-O’Brien Battlefield – signal for his side to retreat.

General Murciel’s side had fought valiantly. With the support of two of the five Barker brothers as well as Lance and two of the young Pavilion Disciples, when it came to the battle between those at the top level, their side held a slight advantage. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.

Despite their best efforts, the ordinairy soldiers were eventually overrun by the enemy’s superior numbers.

Murciel had already been commanded by Emperor Jordon that they were to give their all, but if things reached the point where there was no hope, then they should retreat.

Although the ownership of the magicite mine would help their future endeavours, it wasn’t to the point where they had to fight to the bitter end.

As such, none of the ‘saint’ level experts on Ace’s side held it against Murciel. He was right to retreat when he did. The only part that made it hard to swallow was that if they were able to hold on for another couple of hours, Hogg or Killian would’ve made it on time to immediately turn the tides.

“Dammit!” Wukong cursed as he watched those saints on the side of the O’Brien alliance smirk victoriously as their soldiers marched victoriously towards the mine. “This king’s tempted to go and slaughter their little soldiers. Let’s see if they’re still smiling then.”

“There’s no use crying over spilt milk,” Jordon sighed as he patted the young ape-like warrior’s shoulder. “Our side fought valiantly. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough this time.”

“Aren’t you worried?” Linley couldn’t help but ask, seeing the middle-aged Emperor’s calmness. “When they get their hands on this mine, it’ll make their armies stronger, thereby making their hold in the region that much firmer.”

“You’re not wrong,” Jordon nodded. “But why should I worry?”

Seeing the confused expression on Linley’s face, Emperor Jordon couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s true that it’ll make their mortal armies stronger, but it won’t change the overall picture much.

At the end of the day, the most important factor of a force’s stability and future development is the power of their powerhouses, and although this mine will inevitably strengthen their armies, it’ll do next to nothing to strengthen their saints.”

Hearing that, understanding dawned on the young Dragonblood Warrior.

“All I have to do now is make sure that my Empire is able to remain standing for the next 100 years,” Jordon chortled as he glanced at the opposing saints in the distance. “After that, when your generation finishes maturing, it’ll be their turn to cower in fear.”

His words caused confident grins to appear on the faces of not just Linley but Wukong, Leona, and even Bebe. They all understood that forget 100, in 50 years, as long as they carry on progressing at their current speeds, they would have nothing to fear in front of any of those so-called Major forces.

“Hmph! Who are those bastards smirking at?” Byrius snorted, glaring venomously at Wukong and the others. “Can’t those fools see that they’ve lost? The mine is ours.”

“Enough,” Fain waved dismissively. “Ignore them. It’s time to claim what’s…”

Before Fain could finish his sentence, he saw something that left him speechless. It wasn’t just him; whether it was him, Byrius, or any of the saints on his side, or even those on their opposing saints, they were all left stunned by what they were seeing.

“Is he serious?” O’Casey, the elder judge of the Cult of Shadows, muttered, not knowing what else to say from beside Gediah.

“What is he thinking?” Linley asked, no less shocked as he watched Ace casually lying on the roof of what appeared to be a recently and quickly made shabby wooden cabin.

It was only when the opposing army appeared around a hundred or so meters from his position that Ace opened his eyes, a smirk forming on his handsome face as he calmly got up, summoning a halberd from his storage ring.

Though not his preferred weapon of choice, this was currently the best pole-arm weapon Ace had at his disposal. It had belonged to one of the fallen angels he had previously killed, and even though it wasn’t at the level of his former glaive, it wasn’t too far off.

The moment they saw that it was Ace who had appeared before them, the soldiers of the O’Brien alliance promptly came to a stop, not daring to go further anymore for fear of angering the young man in front of them, and when they saw him summon a weapon, their hearts seemed to stop beating.

Ace casually swung his halberd, causing a highly compressed but exceedingly large blade of air to shoot forward.

Ace’s [Flying Slash] sliced through the ground just inches in front of their front line. Looking down at the results of Ace’s seemingly casual slash, the bodies of the front-line soldiers began to tremble uncontrollably. If it had gone any further forward, it would’ve been them who were cut in two.

“Those who step past this line will die!” Ace calmly uttered, his voice causing shivers in the soldiers who stood before him.

“What is the meaning of this?!” Fain snarled viciously. “You promised that you wouldn’t be getting involved in the war between mortals.”

“I’m not,” Ace innocently replied.

“Threatening mortals from proceeding isn’t getting involved?” Lehman snorted, his body tensed as though he was prepared to take action at a moment’s notice. “Our alliance won, so this mine is ours!”

“What are you talking about?” Ace raised an eyebrow as though he were looking at an idiot. “This battle was for the ownership of the territory to your rear.

As the winners, that town belongs to you.” Ace nodded with an innocent smile as he continued. “But this mine falls under my already claimed territory.”

It was then that all the saints listening in understood that Ace was right. Strictly speaking, the mine fell somewhere between the two territories, but as it was closer to Ace’s already claimed territory, technically, it fell under Ace’s jurisdiction.

Still, no one bothered with the technicalities, as both sides knew that whichever side won once would more than likely win the next time.

“Fine,” Byrius growled as he barely managed to forcibly suppress his anger. “But that still doesn’t permit you from intervening directly in the matters of mortals. Your actions are preventing them from continuing on with their conquest.”

“Are you an idiot?” Ace asked casually. “This is the territory of My Gol Clan. If I choose to build a home in my clan’s territory, who are you to tell me it’s not allowed?

As for stopping them from proceeding…”

As he said to there, a cold smile suffused Ace’s lips before he continued. “They’re free to proceed at their own risk. I was just politely warning them of the consequences of stepping foot on my land.”

Hearing that, everyone was once again left speechless. In principle, there was nothing wrong with Ace’s words. It was his territory, meaning he was free to build a home as and where he liked. And as such, if others were to intrude, he would be free to attack, and no one would be able to fault him for it.

Their problems had little to do with the principle of the matter and everything to do with the shamelessness of his actions.

Even Linley and Jordon didn’t know what to say about Ace’s actions. As Jordon said previously, it was just a mine. It wouldn’t change the greater picture much. They didn’t understand why Ace was willing to go so far.

How could they possibly know that this mine held the entrance to a pocket dimension that could definitely change the greater picture?

Whether it was for the sake of preventing his enemies from getting stronger or for the sake of drastically speeding up his growth, Ace was unwilling to part with the mine, even if it meant making it a battle between saints.

Linley, Jordon, and Kaymin may have been left speechless by Ace’s shamelessness, but Wukong was all for it.

“Hahaha, good brat,” Wukong laughed boisterously as he and Leona unhesitantly moved to Ace’s side. “This king has long thought this location was a good place to settle down in the future. Have you room for one more?”

Wukong had no idea about the pocket dimension, but since when did he need a reason to slap the faces of those he didn’t like?

“Of course,” Ace chortled, all but disregarding the presence of the enemy’s glaring down at them. “The more the merrier.”

“You really are testing my patience, boy!” Byrius growled as he leapt to action.

As he darted towards Ace, no one from his side made any attempt to stop the brash, red-haired warrior. They were all beyond furious with Ace’s antics.

Since Ace was so determined to cross their bottom line, they would accompany him.

Instead of stopping his junior brother, Fain summoned his sword and moved to intercept Jordon. In his eyes, he was the only one present that could pose a threat to them.

What he hadn’t expected, though, was that instead of attempting to rescue Ace, Jordon’s chilling, undivided attention was focused solely on him.

Seeing his senior brother moving to intercept the only person who could pose a threat to him, the furious grin on Byrius’ face only widened. “No one can save you now, brat!”

Byrius was several times stronger than him. Without question, if Byrius’ attack were to land, Ace would definitely die without a burial ground. Still, Ace’s eyes showed no fear, only mockery. “Now!”

Byrius suddenly felt his heart go cold, instinctively thinking he was caught in some kind of trap. But unlike what he imagined, the trap he’d been caught in consisted solely of Wukong.

Even before Ace had spoken, Wukong had already summoned his trusty staff.

“This king’s your opponent,” Wukong voiced coldly as his staff snaked forward, its body coated in lightning as it aimed to smash into the side of Byrius’ head. “[Piercing Thunder]!”

“Fuck off!” Byrius snorted disdainfully as he swung his sword to meet Wukong’s strike.

Wukong was sent skidding back as the two attacks met, whereas Byrius didn’t take so much as a step back.

As powerful as Wukong was, he was far from a match for Byrius, a man who was one step from the prime saint level.

Still, before Byrius could continue with his attack, he was forced to stop as his body trembled uncontrollably. He let out a pained grunt as his face paled.

In his rage, he had forgotten one very important fact. Though Wukong’s speed and power weren’t much compared to his, it had been two years since Wukong had begun fusing Lightning’s profound mysteries of Judgment and Movement.

Wukong’s spiritual attack was far more powerful than it had been in the past. Spiritual attacks had little to no effect on angels and fallen angels, but Byrius was neither.

At the same time, a small shadowy figure darted out from the poorly made wooden cabin at a speed that caught everyone by surprise.

What made those around even more surprised was the fact that even though it was right before them, they weren’t able to sense its presence. It took no more than a split second to realise it was a small magical beast no bigger than a dog, wearing a shadow robe.

There was nothing more fearful than the unknown. Not being able to sense the beast’s presence made it so that no one dared to face the creature head-on.

Most sighed in relief when they realised they weren’t its target, but there was one unlucky victim who failed to flee before being caught in a giant fiery sphere.

No one even attempted to save Lanke, who had been too slow to escape, but their hearts went cold when they heard the pain-filled shrieks of the man trapped in the fiery dome.

“That’s one down,” the magical beast growled excitedly as the pseudo-god realm dissipated, revealing the figure of a little red beast that looked an awful lot like Carter.