Masked Knight

The sacred mountain erupted once every hundred years. As the last eruption was fifty years ago, the dwarves were not very alert about a possible eruption of the mountain. However, that night, they had the biggest shock of their lives.

Countless people awoke from their sleep in the middle of the night. They felt the ground shake a little. Those who had just woken up thought they had the wrong impression. But an even greater earthquake appeared.

At first, the citizens of the capital did not care much. After all, the capital was close to the sacred mountain and weak earthquakes often occurred. That was why those who woke up from their sleep did not care about it. At most, they turned their bodies over and went back to sleep. However, the stronger earthquake had really made them quite frightened.

At first, their furniture violently shook and scattered everywhere. After that, the walls started to crack from the earthquake. The people screamed in panic and ran out of their houses to the streets. After that, they saw an even more surprising scene.

The sacred mountain at the distance suddenly erupted.

The erupted flames shot out several hundred or thousand meters. The flames from the summit had shot to the sky. Small fireballs shot out everywhere. People were looking at the horrifying scene and their feet turned soft.

The mountain had suddenly erupted.

Fireballs had shot far away from the summit. The furthest one had even fallen onto the capital city. There was confusion in the streets. People cursed as they ran in every direction, crowding the streets. Even defenders and soldiers of the city were hurriedly dispatched.

At the lake at the foot of that sacred mountain, Sith and Nedis were carrying Rody with Kara following behind them. They were all escaping.

There was a scene at the not-so-distant summit of the sacred mountain that made Rody and the others shocked. They didn't expect the sacred mountain to erupt earlier after collapsing. The flames shot out of the top of the mountain like a Mythological Beast. It was like a large wave in the sky sprinkling in all directions.

A sea of flames slowly flowed down from the mountain. Wherever one went, there was a sea of flames.

Fortunately, Sith knew how to fly with his sorcery. He pulled Rody and Nedis as he flew towards the capital. Kara seemed to be on the verge of collapsing but still managed to keep up.

They were not afraid of the mountain erupting, but the extremely powerful Hakone Serpent was right behind them.

The Hakone Serpent had already freed itself from the mountain rubble as it roared loudly and angrily. Although it only had six heads remaining, it had completely recovered from the wounds it received from the Mystic Dragon Purge. Rody had used all of his strength and only managed to get rid of a head. Although the Hakone Serpent only had six heads left, Rody and Kara had already exhausted all their energy. Even if they were people with strong domain power, they had no choice but to escape.

As they flew over the lake, the lake water started to boil. The surface of the water churned and started to bubble. The ninjas guarding the lake felt the sudden temperature rise and all ran away from the lake. Rody and the others progressed without anybody blocking them.

"Run! The farther the better!" Kara shouted from behind.

In fact, Kara was following from behind to watch the Hakone Serpent's actions. The six heads seemed to be wreaking havoc wildly. Fire, ice, and wind were all thrown out everywhere at the same time. Some shot towards the distance while some hit the sacred mountain.

The large mountain started to tremble even stronger as if it was a wild beast being awoken.

The Hakone Serpent seemed to be confused for a while before regaining consciousness. It then remembered its enemy, Rody. Its large body also flew in the air and over the lake.

At that moment, Rody and the others were already flying above the palace. Countless people from the palace were running around screaming.

An explosive sound then came from behind them. A huge fireball flew past them and struck a distant location, causing a huge fire and thick smoke.

Kara laughed bitterly and said, "The Hakone Serpent has gone mad. We better hide our auras otherwise it would catch up to us sooner or later."

The terrified people of the palace saw a large black figure flying over. They then saw that the figure coming over was a snake with many heads. As the dwarves worship the totem of the Hakone Serpent, they immediately prostrated themselves on the ground and cried out words of worship.

At that point in time, the Hakone Serpent had become enraged from Rody's Mystic Dragon Purge. It flew all over the place but could not see its hateful enemy. In its enraged state, its six heads opened their mouths and shot everywhere with its attacks of different attributes.

The people of the palace knelt on the floor in succession. A middle-aged man wearing a golden robe ran out from a building with golden walls. He saw the panic-stricken people and pulled one of them to the side as he loudly scolded. "Idiot! You guys…"

Before he could continue, there seemed to be a fierce wind coming from the sky with a whistling sound. A huge fireball then came from the sky and hit the center of the palace.

There was a loud explosion and the palace was instantly swallowed by a sea of flames. Black smoke rose up to the sky. The entire palace had turned into a giant crater and the palace itself had disappeared.

The people outside the palace who were on the ground worshipping suddenly looked up and saw that the palace had turned into a sea of flames. The intelligent ones understood the bad situation they were in and ran away screaming.

'The Hakone God wants to destroy us all?'

These were the dwarves' thoughts.

The smoking crater should originally be a brilliant golden palace. This scene made the dwarves clear-headed. They now understood that it was not the time to pray but the time to run.

In mid-air, the Hakone Serpent could not find its enemies. It roared angrily and attacked those that were visible under it.

Screams and fires were everywhere. The entire capital was in chaos. Everyone was frightened as they wondered if it was the end of the world.

At this moment, Rody and the others were sitting above the clouds a few kilometers away. A few of them were surprised as they looked at the fire below them.

Nedis gulped and said, "Didn't you already get rid of two of its heads? Why is it still so powerful?"

Kara sighed and replied, "This is nothing. Even if it has one head remaining, it could reach the power of a strong domain. Right now, it still has six heads. Even if Rody and I are not injured, we cannot fight it directly."

Sith laughed bitterly and asked, "Don't we have any other way? Is hiding here the only thing we can do?"

Kara then said, "The only way to kill the Hakone Serpent is to find its weakness and get rid of its head one by one. When it only has one head remaining, we no longer need to fear it."

Rody opened his mouth to speak, but he was very exhausted that even his voice sounded weak. Rody spoke as though he was out of breath, "Old guy, you are the one who started the fight with this snake. Now that the situation has turned out this way, are you going to say that you have no other methods of solving this and ignore it?"

Kara laughed bitterly. "I also never expected it to be this powerful. Those days when I first met it, I could have quickly and effortlessly killed it."

Rody could not help but curse. "Nonsense! What kind of strength did you have last time? What kind of strength do you have now? If we had your kind of strength during that time, would we be in such a situation?"

Kara was silent as he thought to himself for a long time. He then said, "Now, the only way is for both of us to hide here and restore our strength. We can only go and fight it when we have recovered. We will do it according to how we fought it earlier, by finding its weakness and getting rid of its heads. That is the only method left."

Rody took a deep breath. He looked down and could not help but ask, "What about the dwarves down there?"

They looked back at the numerous towering flames. The capital had also been hit by fireballs. There were countless cries and explosions.

Kara faintly said, "We ignore them. Right now, we cannot stop that monster even if we go down there. We would just be courting death."

The others were silent for a while. They looked at the suffering dwarves below them in pity. Nedis showed a sad expression as she said, "Sigh. It is a pity. I wonder how Yukinari is right now. From the start, he was quite an obedient fellow."

Rody coldly said, "I think you are just reluctant to let go of the exclusive trade of ironwood he promised you."

Nedis laughed and did not refute his words. She then pondered for a moment and suddenly said, "Although we are alright hiding here, it is simply because the snake has not reacted to us. Once it has finished venting, it would inevitably find us. What I mean is, we might as well strike first before it strikes at us." She paused for a while and then said, "I know we cannot defeat it right now. However, I have a plan to hinder it and stall for time. Once we have time, Rody can recover some of his strength and then use his trick to get rid of another head."

She then looked at Kara.

Kara laughed bitterly and said, "Little girl, you don't have to look at me. If you have a plan, just say it."

Nedis rolled her eyes and loudly said, "I am just afraid you would say I am giving you trouble. Right now, we have four people but Rody has temporarily lost his fighting capabilities. That means you are the strongest one here. We can only count on you to hold the monster back. That is why, I am not intentionally doing this to trouble you!"

Kara sighed. "Alright, just say it. I will not argue with a little girl like you."

Nedis laughed and whispered something in Kara's ears. Kara's eyes grew wide as he looked at Nedis. He then frowned and said, "That is the plan?"

"Of course!" Nedis boldly replied, "Unless you can think of something better."

Kara shook his head and sighed. He then said, "Whatever. Right now, we have to make every effort possible. Might as well fight!" He waved his hand, opened up his arms and went towards the Hakone Serpent.

Kara threw two fireballs at the Hakone Serpent at the same time. The large snake was not prepared and the two fireballs struck it. The Hakone Serpent roared and looked up to see its enemy above it. A few of its heads stood up and breathed flames at Kara.

Kara's body suddenly emitted a white light that protected his body and he shot through the sea of flames. He arrived near one of the snake heads. He then raised his hand at the snake's head and shot out a blade of wind at its eyes.

The large snake did not dodge as an attack of that degree would not be able to hurt it. It merely closed its eyes and the attacks were blocked by the thick scales.

Kara saw another snake head that had been waiting for the chance to attack him. Its large mouth was going to bite Kara but Kara's body moved in an arc and managed to avoid that snake head...

Nedis was excited as she looked at Kara and the Hakone Serpent fight. She could not help shouting, "Keep going! Careful…ah, move left! Fast! Move right…above you! You fool, move left! Ah, it is coming back! Yes, that is the way! Keep going…left…right…Not like that you idiot! Left, left, left! I said left!"

Kara had fought skillfully below. He had reached his top speed as he flew around the six heads dexterously. From time to time, he would throw a fireball or a blade of wind at the Hakone Serpent. Although the attacks were unable to hurt it, it made the monster roar in anger.

The Hakone Serpent was made extremely angry by the enemy in front of him and then it suddenly roared in anger and spat out a huge crimson flame. Kara, who was facing the fire, quickly flew down. The Hakone Serpent seemed to have learned to anticipate Kara's movements and was already waiting. Two more of the snake heads then spat out some strange flames...

Kara truly deserved to be known as the Devil God. He seemed to understand the Hakone Serpent's strength and managed to dodge.

However, the dwarves ended up suffering.

The strange flames the Hakone Serpent had used were different. There were no explosions.

Instead, those that touched the fire had all turned into stone regardless of whether it was man, horse, tree, or house.

Everything that the fire touched was instantly petrified.

Nedis and the others who saw it could not help but took a collective breathe in relief. Even Kara was shocked as he cursed. "Little girl! That will not just trouble me! It will kill me!"

Nedis ignored his insults and shouted, "Left! Left!"

At this moment, Kara was in between two snake heads at his left and right. The one on the left spat out flames, while the one on the right spat out ice at Kara who was in the middle.

These two attacks were at the level of a strong domain. Kara naturally did not dare to take the attacks and shrank his body in fear as he teleported. His body flashed and disappeared and then reappeared several tens of meters away.

The fire and the ice struck each other. The two snake heads roared loudly. One was immediately burned by the flames and the other was frozen.

Kara was covered in cold sweat. He had followed Nedis' plan and flew everywhere to lure the Hakone Serpent. He was almost hit several times. If it was not because of his speed advantage, that would have been the end of the Devil God.

He raised his head to take a look. He then moved like lighting and flew up.

Nedis clapped excitedly as she laughed. "Great! I am a genius!"

The snake heads had finally noticed the enemies above him. The heads roared angrily and it wanted to approach. However, when it moved a little, it suddenly paused.

The six snake heads had been entangled with each other...forming a knot. The more it moved, the tighter the knot became.

Nedis looked at Kara who flew to her side. At that moment, Kara had cold sweat. His chest heaved up and down heavily and fear could be seen in his eyes.

Nedis then laughed as she looked at the entangled heads of the Hakone Serpent. She then said, "What a beautiful bowknot!"

八嘎was the word the golden guy said in the raw. It is pronounced Ba(eight) Ga(eccentric/cackling sound). As he was scolding and the dwarves are Japanese, I am guessing he is saying idiot (baka).死马当作活马医 (Sǐ mǎ dàng zuò huó mǎ yī ) Treat (medically) a dead horse as though its still alive. A Chinese idiom that says: to do everything possible and to not give up.