Masked Knight

Rody stood upright in the sky, looking like an ancient devil with the pair of dragon wings spread out. Purple sky-fire and lightning flashed and roared within the huge crack in the sky. Lightning streaked like writhing snakes, but when they struck on Rody's body, they were immediately shattered by the black flames surrounding him.

Rody's body trembled slightly as he held out his hands with his palms stretched, as though forcibly ripping something. He seemed to be exerting a great effort, causing the black flames around his body to surge and shine brightly. The huge crack in the sky soon slowly closed up.

Rody suddenly let out an ear-piercing howl that almost knocked out Old Skeleton and Mouse. The crack in the sky gave a weak sigh like a tired beast. It sounded angry but furiously helpless at the same time.

Rody shattered the last streak of purple lightning with one blow, and the crack in the sky closed up completely. Rody then steadied himself, placed his hands down, and lowered his head to re-examine this land.

Old Skeleton and Mouse both possessed super strength, so their vision was naturally very sharp. Both of them could clearly see the expression on Rody's face. His expression was cold and ghastly. His eyeballs were abnormally black, and the corners of his mouth curved into an eerie smile which would send chills into those who look at him…

Finally, Rody's gaze fell on Old Skeleton and Mouse. He let out another sharp howl and dashed downwards swiftly like a lightning!

He lifted one finger, and a whiff of terrifying black flame sprung up from his fingertip. The air was immediately separated, and he reappeared right in front of Mouse and Old Skeleton.

A murderous look filled his face, and following a slight tap with his fingertip, the boundary set up by a master magician and a master sorceror was disintegrated in an instant. A pair of cold hands grabbed Old Skeleton and Mouse's throats, lifting them from the ground!

Mouse could clearly feel his hand choking her throat. She gazed at Rody fearfully. Sorrow spilled from her gaze, and she called out to him in a hoarse voice, "Rody… Rody… What's wrong with you… you…"

Rody's eyes turned to Mouse who was struggling weakly, and a complicated expression appeared on his face. The expression looked as though he was having an intense struggle in his heart. The hands clutching their throats would relax but then tighten up again. The expression on his face became increasingly pained and frantic. Murderous look and confusion alternated in his eyes. Finally, Rody's hands let go after a loud roar.

Old Skeleton and Mouse fell onto the ground gasping for breath, but Mouse immediately got up and hugged Rody's legs, sobbing, "Rody… Rody… What is wrong with you!"

As Mouse hugged Rody, a murderous look immediately flashed in his eyes, and his hand struck towards Mouse's neck like a lightning. However, halfway through it, his action froze, and a complicated look appeared in his eyes. Rage suddenly flashed across his face but was quickly replaced by reluctance, which then turned into an expression of struggle.

"Silly woman, are you out of your mind!" Old Skeleton dragged Mouse away from behind. He held down Mouse's shoulders tightly and shouted, "He's not Rody now! He's the Mystic Dragon! It's just that Rody's consciousness is fighting with the Mystic Dragon for this body, so he did not kill us… you…"

Mouse's heart ached terribly. Tears streaked her face and she screamed, "No! Why did Rody become like this!"

Mouse struggled desperately, but Old Skeleton held her down firmly. Rody's eyes locked on the two of them standing in front of him, his hands raised and dropped, and dropped and raised again. It was obvious that he was at the edge of flipping out with his inner struggle.

Finally, he opened his mouth and gave a thundering roar filled with rage and helplessness. The pair of dragon wings spread out and after a few howls, he soared into the sky once again. After a series of long screeches, his body shot towards the east and disappeared from their vision in the blink of an eye.

"Rody…" Mouse looked up into the sky and shrieked. Her body then swayed, and she passed out gradually.

Old Skeleton looked helplessly at the woman beneath his feet, and then looked into the east, helplessness filled his heart.

They had lost terribly today. Although they managed to get rid of the pope, that boy, Rody, had become mad. Judging from the way he behaved, it was possible that the Mystic Dragon had taken control of Rody's body. They would need to rack their brains on how to solve this mess.

Old Skeleton lifted Mouse and carried her on his back and walked slowly back on the path they came from.

After walking for some time, he saw a quivering black figure flying towards them from the peak in front. The figure seemed unsteady, and it almost fell down twice, like a big bird with injured wings. As it flew closer, it was actually fatty Sky!

Sky looked extremely wretched. All that was left of his clothes were strips of torn fabric, exposing his fleshy body. He was covered in blood, and there were black and grey patches on his face. His huge head was now bald. Not only was his head bald, even his eyebrows were gone.

When he saw Old Skeleton, he eventually could not hold on any longer, and crashed down in front of Old Skeleton.

"Old Skeleton, please cast dozens of healing spells on me quickly. My goodness, that blow almost crushed me! If it was not because I've battled with the Mystic Dragon for 200 years and bathed in the Mystic Dragon's blood, I would have died today! The God's Vanquishing Spell was indeed powerful! Even a Domain Master is not his match! If it was not because I have a body strengthened by the Mystic Dragon's blood, I would have been killed by the God's Vanquishing Spell today like Master Autumn!" After saying all this in one breath, Sky panted, and he felt like he did not have the strength to move even one finger anymore.

Old Skeleton sighed and placed Black Veil Saint down. He cast several powerful healing magic before Sky finally regained some of his strength and was able to stand up and walk.

After resting for a moment, they saw one fat and one slender figure sped towards them. They were Old Mark and Rulan.

Old Skeleton saw that both of them looked quite wretched too. He could see blood seeping from Old Mark's shoulder from afar. He exclaimed, "Oh heck, tonight is pure bad luck."

During the battle just now, Old Mark and Rulan were not far away. They wanted to rush here, but the fierce battle following Rody's transformation into the Mystic Dragon was earthshaking, like a furious thunderstorm.

Old Skeleton and Mouse were a master magician and a master sorceror, respectively, so they could create a strong boundary to protect themselves. But Old Mark and Rulan were warriors who were not capable of creating boundaries. They could only protect themselves with their own fighting energy. Hence, when they saw the fierce battle going on, they could not come any closer.

Once they came together, Old Skeleton rushed to treat their injuries. Mouse finally regained consciousness, but there was deep sorrow in her face, and she did not utter a single word.

They had a short conversation. All of them were worried about Rody's current situation, but they could not come up with a good solution.

…

Eventually, the sun rose. Above the city walls of Panka City at the edge of the eastern province of the empire, a row of warriors from the Flaming Warriors stood there guarding the city.

Ever since the church and the empire fell out, the Flaming Warriors suddenly rose in revolt in the empire's eastern province, the area where the church had the most profound influence. They took over the control of the majority of areas in the eastern province, and Panka City was one of those cities being controlled by the Flaming Warriors.

In fact, Panka City was just a small stronghold. Situated in the empire's eastern province, Panka City was previously a military stronghold. Four hundred years ago, before the Radiant Empire unified the Radiant Continent, Panka City was a military stronghold at the border of the Empire in the east of the Radiant continent. It was a frontline battlefield used to resist the Radiant Empire's attacks. But after the Radiant Empire unified the Radiant Continent, Panka City had evolved in these 400 years into the Empire's eastern province border's important traffic point. It had also gradually transformed from a military stronghold into a half-military city.

Panka City was not large. Originally, there were fifty thousand ordinary residents, ten thousand local garrisons of the empire, and about ten thousand merchant travelers who came and went. It was merely a pit stop for transportation and trade.

When the church and the empire fell out, the Flaming Warriors seized power here and expelled all the empire's local garrison. As a result, almost all the residents here had fled too!

The local garrisons of the Empire were all local people and they were basically residents of Panka City. When the army was expelled, the residents of Panka City too fled together with the army.

Old Skeleton was correct. Religion was just illusory. For the normal folks, when it involved the matter of survival, being religiously pious would then be far less important.

Hence, although the Flaming Warriors had seized this important city in the eastern region of the Empire, they had lost almost ninety percent of the population. All they got was just an empty city!

But there were still high walls around Panka City, and inside the storehouse, there were also numerous properties of the local government as well as weapons and material resources of the local garrisons. All these had tremendously helped the Flaming Warriors of the church. After obtaining the military resources originally belonging to the local garrisons, the eight thousand Flaming Warriors stationed here had greatly strengthened their military power.

The supreme commander here now was Moreira, a senior warrior of the Flaming Warriors.

Moreira was 40 years old this year. His strength had reached the Empire's Grade 5 Swordsman and was considered a master now. What was more, he was very loyal to the Church. Right now, he was standing on the city wall, gazing at the morning sun in the distance, but there was an uneasiness deep inside his heart.

Currently, there were eight thousand Flaming Warriors in this city and abundant military resources and food supplies. Two days ago, another three thousand Flaming Warriors arrived. These people came from the heart of the eastern province, and it was said that they were here to carry out an important mission. Although Moreira did not know what this mission was, he could guess that they were here to receive some important people at the border of the province.

An important person from the direction of the imperial city… Could it be His Eminence, the honorable Pope?

Apparently, the church was going to start a Great Crusade led by His Eminence, the honorable Pope! To overthrow the Radiant Empire's evil royal family who blasphemed the gods!

Moreira was filled with emotions, but on the other hand, he felt a bit uneasy!

Just last night, the three thousand Flaming Warriors went to the great river to carry out their mission, which was just several dozens of miles away from Panka City. If all went well, they should have come back this morning! But until now, there was no news at all…

Did something go wrong?

Thinking of this, Moreira sighed. He had just sent twice the usual number of scouts to go check things out.

This city was at the border of the eastern province. Once the war with the empire commenced, this place would be the first battlefield to be attacked by the imperial army! Hence, all this while, Moreira had been cautious and intensified the preparations for war. This morning itself, he had sent out two hundred scouts.

But till now there were still no traces of the three thousand Flaming Warriors who went out last night!

Did a large number of imperial army sneak in and finish off the three thousand Flaming Warriors? Probably not! If they were to finish off all the three thousand Flaming Warriors without even one escaping, then there must be a large number of the imperial army! But according to the intelligence at hand, Moreira was certain that there weren't any Empire army with more than two thousand soldiers within a hundred miles of Panka City!

Standing on top of the city walls and looking at the sun which was rising higher and higher, the uneasiness in Moreira's heart intensified, especially when he thought of the peculiar phenomena in the distant sky during the wee hours today…

In the wee hours, there were rumbling thunder and flashes of lightning in the distant sky, but there was not a single drop of rain. Moreira had never seen such strange weather before!

He paced around anxiously and bellowed, "Pass on my orders, assemble the fourth battalion! I'll personally lead them out and have a look!"

After ordering his deputy to guard the gate carefully, he walked towards the gate. At that moment, a loud boom came from the sky!

All of a sudden, a black flame speared its way across the originally clear sky! The black lightning looked as though it was going to tear a slit through the blue sky! A tiny black figure could be seen standing in the sky above Panka City with the naked eyes, and strange black flames seemed to be emitted from it. Although the distance was so far away, an unexplainable fear crawled within Moreira…

Another long groan came from above their heads. The groan was not loud, but it immediately spread across the whole Panka City. A look of horror spread across the faces of the Flaming Warriors standing on the walls. The figure in the sky came down slowly, and it gradually became clear…

It was a person!

A person wrapped in black flames! Although his face was not visible within the black flames, the long groan brought forth an invisible sense of oppression and fear. Moreira subconsciously shouted, "Archers, ready!"

The person in the sky suddenly let out a long howl! The howl was ear-piercing, and the warriors on the city walls screeched in pain. The voice had a strange magic as though it could pull out one's soul from the body.

One after another, the warriors vomited blood. Several warriors with the lesser strength had collapsed after letting out a shrill cry.

Blood trickled from Moreira's mouth too, and he looked up at the human in the sky with fear. The person suddenly opened his arms, and at his back…at his back…

There was a pair of huge wings!

The boundless black flames suddenly surged and burnt like a black sun. The person then opened his arms and a huge black blaze formed in his arms. Finally, there was a long howl…

In Moreira's final memories, he saw that huge black flame came roaring down from the sky with a long fiery tail behind and struck on Panka City…

This was the last sight everyone in Panka City saw that morning before their life ended!

In the palace of the imperial city, Emperor Abbas received an urgent intelligence from the eastern region of the empire.

They had just come back to the imperial city yesterday. These masters were all ashen and wretched. Fatty Sky was the most heavily injured. He was the one who was struck hard by the God's Vanquishing Spell directly, almost getting killed. But the most worried of them all was Black Veil, that lady. She looked empty and dazed, most probably… Most probably those women in Rody's house were going to cause some headaches.

Andy had no choice but to send Fatty to Marquis Rody's Mansion to calm those women down with whatever means possible. The rest of the matter would have to be put off until sometime later.

Just when they had calmed down a bit, he then received this secret report!

In the secret report, the accounts recorded from the officials of several towns in the Empire's eastern province which were still under the control of the Empire's administration were as follows:

One day ago, a peculiar phenomenon suddenly occurred in Panka City which had fallen into the hands of the church!

According to the accounts of witnesses from afar, in the morning that day, a black lightning struck down from the sky and hit Panka City. In an instant, the skies fell apart and the earth opened up, and Panka City was burnt down into ruins! There were no survivors within a radius of ten miles from Panka City, including the eight thousand Flaming Warriors of the church!

Old Andy's eyebrows twitched. He crumpled up the secret report in his hands and sighed, "What bullshit black lightning from the heavens… Sigh, that was obviously that madman Rody's 'Mystic Dragon Purge'!"

Thinking of this, Old Skeleton smiled wryly, "Luckily… luckily that day after Rody boy went mad, he headed towards the east. If he headed to the west, the ones in trouble would be us!"