Coiling Dragon Chapter 14
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Coiling Dragon Volume 11 the necropolis of the gods Chapter 14
Book 11, Necropolis of the Gods – Chapter 14: The World of Snow
Olivier’s face was currently very pale. Just then, he had used all the power available to him, but the price of tripling his speed was not a low one. And with the loss of both his legs…Olivier was currently in very bad shape.
“Why aren’t you leaving?” Olivier raised his head, staring at Linley.
Linley just stood there, in no hurry to leave. He could tell that at present, Olivier’s strength had dropped dramatically. With his legs gone, Olivier’s movement ability in any battle with enemies would drop greatly as well. Although he could fly…flying while lacking two legs would make one’s agility drop by half.
“Thank you.” After a long silence, Olivier said these two words. And then, he focused on healing his wounds.
Linley’s heart was in great pain right now. He turned back to look at the third floor. “Barker…if Barker truly died, then if in the future, his wife Leena, their two kids, Gates, and the other brothers ask me…” Linley felt helpless.
In front of the divine beast, Ba-Serpent, he had been lucky to even stay alive.
There was no way Linley could have saved Barker at all.
“I hope that Barker’s luck was as good as mine. Perhaps he will enter the fourth floor, or flee back to the second floor.” Linley stood there without moving, partially to help Olivier protect against any creatures from attacking him, and partially because he wanted to wait…
Wait to see if Barker would come out into the fourth floor as well.
After a long while…
“I’m done.” Olivier stood up and glanced at Linley, not saying anything else. He immediately transformed into a blur as he flew high into the sky.
Linley stood there for another half hour. In the end, he finally let out a long sigh before flying into the air as well.
The frozen ground was blanketed with white snow, and it was also dotted with many large, proudly standing trees. The snow covered these trees with a layer of silver decoration. After flying for a while, Linley saw a familiar face. It was Clay, who had sparred with him at War God Mountain.
“Linley.” Clay laughed as he flew over. “I thought that you had already…below…”
“I just entered the fourth floor. The person after you let out a scream of pain, and the Ba-Serpent woke up.” Linley shook his head. “I was only lucky, but my good friend Barker…”
Clay said consolingly, “Don’t be too sad. Soon after I entered the fourth floor, I discovered Olivier with his legs severed. From him, I learned that the Ba-Serpent had woken up. I thought that all of you had been killed by the Ba-Serpent. It’s already very lucky that you survived. Your friend would feel happy for you as well.”
Linley nodded.
The two flew side by side, and Clay cautioned, “Stop thinking about your friend. This fourth floor is extremely dangerous as well. If you are distracted and die as a result of it, that would be a terrible waste.”
Linley suddenly came to himself. Taking a deep breath, he shook his head a few times. “Got it.”
“Fain told me that in the past, they had retreated to the fifth floor. This Necropolis of the Gods has eighteen floors in total. In the top eleven floors, every five floors represents one ‘layer’. The first four floors aren’t too dangerous, while the fifth floor is actually the least dangerous of the entire layer.” Clay explained.
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Clay had been alive for much longer than Linley. He knew many more things as well.
“Oh? The fifth floor is the safest of the first five floors?” Linley was surprised.
“Right. From what Fain told me, according to the War God, every five floors is a layer. The danger from the first to the fifth floor is fairly average, while the sixth to the tenth floors are extremely dangerous. Even Fain could die at any time.” Clay reminded.
Linley nodded. In the future, he would be extremely careful.
“The sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth layers are all extremely dangerous. Compared to these four floors, the tenth floor is actually less dangerous by comparison.” Clay laughed.
Linley memorized these words. This was all information which Fain had no doubt received from the War God.
The War God had definitely passed through the first ten floors. Naturally, he knew the situation in these floors.
“Five floors a layer, with the fifth floor being the safest floor of the first layer, while the tenth floor is the safest floor of the second layer.” Linley suddenly had a strange feeling. “It seems as though the safe level is to allow everyone some time to prepare.”
Clearly, the sixth floor would suddenly rise greatly in difficulty and danger.
The eleventh floor was a place where there were corpses of Deities and divine sparks. As long as one wasn’t a fool, one would understand…the eleventh floor was most likely far more dangerous than the earlier floors.
While flying past the snowy landscape, Clay laughed, “Only in the first five floors can we rely on our personal strength to fight through those various life forms. Once we reach the sixth floor…we will have to rely on our intelligence, our strength, and our luck, all combined.”
Linley nodded.
In the past, Desri and Fain had been so frightened that they didn’t dare to enter the sixth floor. They had hidden in the fifth floor until the ten years were up.
“Whooosh.”
There was a pile of snow below. Suddenly, a creature erupted from beneath the snow, flashing at Clay like a white flash of lightning. Clay’s body instantly turned metallic, then with a furious roar, his right fist directly down towards that attacking creature.
“Bang!”
The fist slammed directly against a furry palm.
Clay was sent flying backwards at high speed, while that furry creature also landed hard against the ground.
“Such enormous power.” Clay inwardly sighed in amazement.
Linley looked down with surprise as well at that furry creature. Linley had sparred with Clay before, and he knew how physically powerful Clay was. “Clay is ten times as powerful as Haydson was, and his defense is comparable to Barker’s. But he was only on par with this creature.”
The creature below suddenly stood up like a human would.
“A bear?” Linley stared with shock at the creature below and spoke out.
That seemingly bear-like magical beast was covered with white fur, but he had a black ring of fur lining his eyes, as though someone had punched his eyes and made them swell. Actually, that made this furry magical beast seem very adorable.
“I’m not a stupid bear. I’m a Snowy Panda-Cat.” That furry magical beast rebuked.
“Swoosh!” At this moment, the Snowy Panda-Cat suddenly rose up again, this time charging straight at Linley…like a flash of white light, the Snowy Panda-Cat arrived in front of Linley. Linley couldn’t help but be shocked by its speed.
“Whap!”
Linley’s draconic tail, glittering with metallic light, struck against the Snowy Panda-Cat. The sudden attack by the draconic tail was extremely fast, not giving the Snowy Panda-Cat any chance to respond at all.
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“Bang.” The Snowy Panda-Cat slammed into the snowy ground again, while at the same time, a hint of blood appeared atop its pure white fur over its chest. The Snowy Bear stared at Linley, then at Clay, before finally bending over on all fours, then scampering away.
He had fled!
Linley and Clay both couldn’t help but laugh.
“This Snowy Panda-Cat is really amusing. After a simple exchange of blows, he immediately fled.” But Linley was shocked by the power of the Snowy Panda-Cat. Its strength wasn’t one whit inferior to the Worldbear, but its speed was far greater.
No wonder why it was called the Snowy Panda-Cat, and had the word ‘cat’ in its name.
“Haha…if I had to fight this Snowy Panda-Cat by myself, it would really be troublesome. The Snowy Panda-Cat’s speed seems to be faster than mine.” Clay chuckled bitterly. “Linley, I have the feeling that at most, I’ll be able to rest on the fifth floor. The sixth floor, I probably won’t be able to break through.”
“Enough. Let’s first find the tunnel.” Linley flew alongside Clay, searching for the tunnel.
The Snowy Panda-Cats on this fourth floor were very strange. Aside from a few of the Snowy Panda-Cats that would suddenly attack, most of the Snowy Panda-Cats didn’t attack them at all. Instead, most of them were just rolled up into a ball and sleeping on the snow. At first, Linley and Clay had been worried, but afterwards, they felt more relaxed.
“Listen up, the two of you.” Suddenly, an ancient voice rang out.
Linley and Clay, in mid-flight, started, then immediately turning to look at location from which the voice rang out from.
Beneath them was a Snowy Panda-Cat that was only one meter tall that was staring calmly at Linley and Clay. Although the Snowy Panda-Cats were much smaller than Worldbears, they were usually two or three meters tall at their full height. But this Snowy Panda-Cat was only a meter tall.
“This Snowy Panda-Cat is extremely dangerous.” Linley immediately became guarded. This Snowy Panda-Cat, although physically small, gave Linley a sense of danger, not too far from the feeling which the War God and the others gave him.
The ancient voice of the Snowy Panda-Cat rang out again. “I am the clan leader of this clan of Snowy Panda-Cats.”
Linley and Clay exchanged glances. Snowy Panda-Cats had clan leaders?
“Remember. On this fourth floor, as long as my children do not attack you, you are not to attack them either. If you kill any of them, then don’t blame me for acting viciously against you.” With a flip of the Snowy Panda-Cat’s hand, a bamboo flute suddenly appeared.
Right. A bamboo flute.
“Is he going to play the flute?” Linley had never seen someone who was able to injure someone else by playing the flute.
But Linley and Clay both felt that this old fellow in front of them posed an enormous threat. They didn’t dare to say anything, and so Clay hurriedly said, “Don’t worry. Just then, when that Snowy Panda-Cat attacked us, we didn’t go full force against it either. As long as your citizens don’t attack us, we definitely won’t attack your children either.”
“The passageway to the fifth level is over there, next to that giant tree. The passageway is inside the giant tree.” The leader of the Snowy Panda-Cats pointed towards the distant tree.
Linley and Clay immediately began to fly in that direction.
Seeing Linley and Clay leave, the leader of the Snowy Panda-Cats let out a long sigh. His clan of Snowy Panda-Cats had been placed here on the fourth floor of the Necropolis of the Gods, which was like being placed in a prison. As the leader of this clan of Snowy Panda-Cats, he wasn’t able to do anything about that.
Given his current level of strength, it wouldn’t be too hard for him to kill many outsiders and then exchange their corpses for the divine spark of a Demigod. But he didn’t want to do this. The reason was, only he had the power to threaten and frighten experts on Linley’s level.
“If I become a Deity and leave, then these children will die soon afterwards as well.” The Snowy Panda-Cat leader let out a long sigh.
He, too, was a Prime Saint, only a single step away from becoming a Deity. But the power of this leader of the Snowy Panda-Cats was greater than that of the Five Prime Saints. This was because the profound truths he had gained insight into were different from that of others. It was much like how Linley…trained in the Throbbing Pulse of the World. In terms of attack power, it surpassed the insights which most others had gained.
The profound truths this leader of the Snowy Panda-Cats had gained insight into was one of the rarest types of profound truths of the Elemental Laws of the Wind.
The fifth floor. The world of fire.
Linley and Clay, immediately upon arriving in this floor, felt themselves being attacked by waves of heat. This center of this fifth floor was a volcano, while the surrounding area was filled with desolate lava flows. It was an empty land…one could see off into the distance easily.
But the temperature of the lava flows here was very high.
“Boss!” A black shadow suddenly flew over at high speed.
“Bebe.” Linley could clearly feel that it was Bebe who was flying over. Bebe leaped directly into Linley’s arms, his eyes turning misty. “Boss, I arrived at the fifth floor long ago. I’ve been waiting for you here the entire time. Desri and the others said that you encountered the Ba-Serpent on the third floor. I’ve been worried about you the entire time, Boss.”
Linley couldn’t help but think back to what happened on the third floor, his heart once more filled with fear.
“Fortunately, nothing happened. Wonderful.” Bebe’s face was all smiles.
Bebe’s experience had been much easier than Linley’s. He hadn’t encountered the Ba-Serpent, and the attacks of the undead and the other creatures simply didn’t pose any threat to Bebe at all.
“Hey, Boss, where’s Barker? Isn’t Barker with you?” Bebe suddenly wondered.
Linley’s face froze. The look on his face couldn’t help but become somewhat ugly, and his eyes had a hint of pain in them.
Bebe was intelligent. Seeing Linley’s reaction, Bebe was able to guess what happened. “Boss, Barker, he…could it be on the third floor…?” Linley let out a sigh. “Right. On the third floor, the Ba-Serpent woke up. We didn’t have the ability to fight back at all. I was lucky and managed to rely on Bloodviolet to flee to the fourth floor. As for Barker…”
Linley’s voice grew low, and in the end, he wasn’t able to continue.
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The Court of Souls?
Author's Comment: I was asked about reading my work on other sites. The answer is simple: Currently I am not active in any other networks than royalroadl.com. Only here, I correct mistakes and errors. If you read it anywhere else and have to pay for it, or have to deal with an annoying amount of advertisement, You Are Being Betrayed. You would do good if you make other people in that network aware of it. This is a free project of mine for the purpose of having fun. And if people try to make money with it you shouldn't bother visiting their website. The only one whom I actually allowed to have my work on his website is Armaell who invested the time to compile them into pdf. (http://armaell-library.net/author/andur) ——————————————————————————————— Reading Order of the Multiverse-Books ——————————————————————————————— What do we talk about tonight? ~“How about a story?”~ Fine by me. Which story? Hopefully a good one. ~“There was once a lonely child in a world filled with myths, gods and demons. Only power counted there and the weak were worse than cattle. A world where survival of the fittest ruled.”~ Was it strong then? ~“No, but the child had a power. One that made him stand between light and darkness. Nothing could escape him, so he was shunned by his people.”~ What did he do? Did he fight his fate? Did he hide his power? What was it? ~“Oh, he fought. He fought a lot. And no thing could escape his power. It was something that everyone had to live with.”~ So he became a hero and changed the world? ~“…”~ Tell me. ~“Nooo, that's not how the story goes. This isn't a story of a noble man, doing good amidst a sea of monsters. This is a story of a demon who was... kinder than the rest.”~ A kind demon? How boring. ~“I think it would be better if I tell the story, so you can judge for yourself.”~ So tell the story!
8 134Omnipocalypse Monsters(Shelved Timeline)
System Edit: This timeline has been shelved, but the adventures of the Omegas and her kids will continue in the next System Update Timeline with additional foes and challenges early on to guide the Omegas into a less destructive path of protection.The Omnipocalypse was every apocalypse humans ever imagined all happening at once, zombies, plagues, nukes, EMPs, Robot uprisings. Not just the earth either, It happened to every World ever dreamed up by men too: heaven, hell, and every other afterlife or spirit world ended, plus the worlds of books and stories bled into reality. It all broke apart and either; became new places on the chaotic Earth or part of the even messier spirit world. Magic beasts mutated by radiation, Robots mastering Magic, the mixture of everything made the horrors... well, more horrible. Omega; A young Woman with few memories wakes to find she has spent 2500 years in stasis, in a basement of scientific horrors. Creatures and Things that could supposedly destroy the world if ever let free. Horrors of which she was the last to get free. Rather then Quest for world domination or destruction; Omega keeps getting drawn into a protective role over other orphans, lost monsters, and broken AIs. So she decides to build something to help all her little monster family be safe. -------This story is meant to be a behind the scenes look at stories about kids solving problems that should be beyond them. I always wanted to see a story about Professor Oak, Dumbledore, or any other mentor who trains the main characters. I like the idea of someone looking at the apocalyptic world and deciding to make it safe enough that a small child can wander off and make some monster their pet. The pokemon games have fun systems to consider the behind the scenes workings of, like what training a team rocket member goes through to become a villain cut out for children to defeat. how they prevent a deific pokemon from accidentally murdering some little rat with its immense psionic power. However, the story itself is not really meant to be a pokemon parody, I draw inspiration from every genre of fiction, any type of game, this story is the only one I plan of ever writing without a clear cut ending planned, I love the infinite storytelling capacity of things like Doctor who's TARDIS, the Stargate or Rick's portal gun. In this case, I wanted the setting itself to be one where any and every story might happen. Cover Image by kalli gruen from Pixabay Discord Image by Digital Photo and Design DigiPD.com from Pixabay
8 262Lost Stories: Green Knight
From brat to knight to Green Knight to Headmaster, Gawain has lived a very interesting life, which for the first time is now documented. This is the memoir's of Gawain Orkney, the greatest of knights to take the name 'green' and his rise to greatness. From fighting a giant of earth, to facing off against the armies of undead amidst the Red Moon to facing the Stag-horned Knight. Each posing a challenge for him to mature and over come. This is the tale of Sir Gawain Orkney, the Green Knight. This is a standalone prequel to the events of Knights of Avalon: Honor. Avaliable on Amazon.
8 115Flashback: Siren Song
The year is 1969. Yancy Lazarus—bluesman, gambler, future world-class mage and fix-it man—is just a dumb, unlucky kid serving with the 3rd Battalion 3rd Marines in Vietnam.With just a few weeks left to go until Yancy gets shipped back to the States, he’s just trying to keep his head down and avoid a body bag—no mean feat in Nam. But when his squad is tasked with conducting a routine patrol deep in enemy territory, everything goes to nine kinds of hell, and he quickly sees his chances at survival slipping away.When the radio operators start to pick up some funky, dirty ol’ blues all the way out in the backcountry, it’s a nice change of pace. At least until the men in Yancy’s squad start losing their minds, turning on each other with murderous intent as the music works its deadly power within them. Convinced it’s some kind of new psychological warfare initiative, the squad leader forces the men to push deeper and deeper into the Vietnamese jungle, obsessed with locating the music’s source. What they find, however, isn’t some new technology, but an ancient spirit awoken by the terrible war. Even worse, the music is changing Yancy too, awakening something buried inside of him. Only one thing is certain, nothing is ever going to be the same.See how it all began … *** PRAISE FOR SIREN SONG:Hunter's writing is as low-down, gritty, and insidious as the blues Yancy Lazarus loves. Just like the mysterious music drifting through the jungle toward Yancy's squad, Siren Song will get under your skin and sink its hooks into your mind. —eden Hudson, Author of Halo Bound (the Redneck Apocalypse series) *** Hey everyone, this is James Hunter. This story isn't a full length novel--its a novella length work (25K words), and is part of my Yancy Lazarus series. Its already free on Amazon, so I thought I'd post chapters here for the good folks of Royal Road. If you don't want to wait for updates or would prefer to read it on Kindle, you can pick it up for free here: https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B01066TLC0
8 148The Thief's Wager
A routine heist cascades into chaos as the Cathedral burns to the ground. But when a paying client demands the best, Chris O'Connell accepts the challenge. But what did a no name scholar want with rare Mage artifacts? And did it have anything to do with the dead bodies in the basement? For the first time in his life, Chris is in over his head. Captain Zack Dawson, the pragmatic law abiding knight, doesn't believe in demons hunting dark alleyways. Nor can he trust the thief who makes his coin from lying. However, one fact is certain; Lollardum is on a cusp of war. Pitting Mage against Innocent, usurping the divine balance, will destroy the continent. Can they untangle the mess of myth, magic and plain old murder? Or will they become another corpse floating in the river?
8 204Conquest of Avalon
Revenge. The Kingdom of Avalon swept across the Empire of the Fox a generation past, conquering the heartlands and leaving the broken remnants to stew in the island duchy of Guerron. This isn't a story of Good versus Evil, of kindly kings doing their best to lift all subjects, or of unvarnished heroes doing battle against evil. Instead, this story is about power: who has it, who wants it, and what people will do to obtain it. It is about the violence inherent in the imperial project and how even the most well-intentioned rulers and conquerors are, still, engaging in systemic violence against those conquered and defeated. Our three point-of-view characters are a peasant turned fire wizard, an excitable duelist with more enthusiasm than sense, and a scheming mage-priestess bent on reclaiming her family's birthright and waging war on the foreign oppressors who rule her home... no matter the cost in blood or treasure.
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