Dance of the Fire Serpents (Part 2)

The seven fire serpents flew with incredible speed. Wherever they passed through the air, even the houses along the town street caught fire. Flames soared into the sky, creating a scene of disaster. The townspeople of Wushan Town, who had long since taken cover at a distance to watch, felt grief and pain when they saw their homes destroyed.

Before the seven enormous fire serpents, stone houses were like toys, easily ruined as flames filled the sky.

“Go!” The female archer could no longer worry about anything else. She immediately directed the griffin to fly higher.

A Fire-element magus could control the seven fire serpents only within a limited range. Once she flew beyond that range, she would be safe.

“Hiss! Hiss!” Two fire serpents coiled around each other, wrapping up the two female magi and the Bloodthirsty Iron Bull. The sound of flesh burning immediately rose, and Linley could even smell scorched hair.

“Brother Kale, save us!” A female magus’s shrill scream came from within the fire serpents.

“Hmph! Hmph!” The Bloodthirsty Iron Bull’s eyes were terrifyingly red. The muscles all over its body twisted and knotted as it repeatedly bellowed, trying to break free from the fire serpents’ restraints. But each fire serpent’s constriction was terrifyingly strong.

“Louisa!” The red-haired man let out a pained, desperate roar.

The two lovely female magi and the Bloodthirsty Iron Bull were reduced to ash in moments. But the red-haired man had no time to grieve. He and the other two male warriors each had to face an enormous fire serpent. Before the massive serpents, they had no more power to resist than infants.

Even if their fists could shatter stone, what could they do once a fire serpent coiled around them?

“Aah!” The three warriors were wrapped by the fire serpents and could not help screaming miserably.

Amid their screams, the Battle Qi barriers around them shattered in an instant. The hiss of burning rose. The muscles of their faces twitched and twisted, their eyes bulged, and all the hair on their bodies burned away at once. Skin, flesh, bone... nothing could endure the flames of the fire serpents’ terrifying heat.

In a short time, the three formidable warriors were burned to ash.

“Huff, huff...”

The female archer breathed rapidly. At last, she had escaped the range of Dance of the Fire Serpents.

“Luca, Louisa, Brother Kale... I will avenge you. I swear I will.” The female archer wept in agony, then rode the griffin higher into the sky.

“Boom!”

A thick bolt of lightning suddenly struck down from the sky, hitting the unprepared female archer directly. Her entire body was turned to ash, while the griffin’s body blackened and convulsed as it fell from the air. It crashed heavily through the roof of a civilian’s stone house and dropped inside.

“Trying to escape? Hmph.” The mysterious magus snorted.

Watching everything from a hundred meters away, Hillman swallowed, unable to hide his fear. “An eighth-rank magus... and a dual-element magus at that.”

...

“That was called Dance of the Fire Serpents?” Linley stood there in a daze, completely shaken.

The sight of the seven enormous fire serpents rising into the air, their waves of heat surging, made Linley tremble as never before. Each fire serpent was almost as large as the Raptor. When all seven rose into the air, calamity had descended. Houses burned and collapsed, and flames towered to the sky.

In the blink of an eye, four formidable warriors, two magi, one archer, and two Magical Beasts had all died, apart from the griffin, whose fate was still unknown.

The seven enormous fire serpents had vanished, but Linley could still feel the terrible heat rolling off the battlefield. The site of the battle had become a complete ruin. The ruins and continuing waves of heat bore witness to the battle just fought.

“So... so powerful.”

Linley was still breathing quickly. In his mind, the image of the seven enormous fire serpents rising into the sky like an arriving disaster replayed again and again.

Compared with that sight, even the terrifying Raptor seemed slightly less imposing.

Linley’s gaze suddenly fell on the mysterious magus atop the Raptor in the distance. Compared with the Raptor, the magus’s body was much smaller.

“Just now... was he the one who released Dance of the Fire Serpents?” Linley found it hard to believe that someone who looked a full size smaller than Uncle Hillman could unleash such a terrifying, catastrophic attack.

The mysterious magus in the purple robe filled him with fear.

“So this is what a magus is?” For the first time, Linley had a clear understanding of magi.

At the same time...

He began to yearn for the power of a mighty magus.

“If one day I could launch an attack like that...” The thought made Linley’s blood boil to its limit. He felt an overwhelming excitement.

At that moment—

Linley understood the road he would take in the future.

To pursue the pinnacle: the pinnacle of the strong.

“Father.” Linley suddenly spotted his father, Hogg. Wushan Town had suffered an undeserved disaster, and as its lord, Hogg could only feel helpless.

“Don’t make a sound.” Hogg glanced at Linley, signaling for him to remain quiet.

Then Hogg looked at the magus, misery filling his heart. “An eighth-rank magus, and a dual-element one at that. There cannot be many people stronger than him in the entire Kingdom of Fenlai. Why did someone like him come to our Wushan Town?”

Hogg only hoped that the mysterious magus would leave soon and let Wushan Town return to peace.

The mysterious magus jumped down from the Raptor’s back. Though it was as high as a two-story building, he landed with ease.

He walked to where the red-haired man had been burned to death and waved one hand. The ashes were swept aside, revealing a violet diamond surrounded by a dreamlike, brilliant glow. The mysterious magus immediately picked up the Depello Shadow Diamond.

“Haha, the Depello Shadow Diamond! I searched for it for ten years. I never expected that I would find it by chance while taking a shortcut through this town. Haha... Heimans, now that I have the Depello Shadow Diamond and can set it into my staff, let’s see how you can contend with me this time! Haha...” The mysterious magus laughed maniacally.

Hogg, the noble lord of Wushan Town, and a great crowd of townspeople all stood silently at a distance. None of them dared make a sound, afraid of provoking the mysterious magus’s anger.

“Wushan Town. Whose territory is this?” the mysterious magus suddenly asked.

“Father.” Linley’s heart jolted.

Hogg could only brace himself and step forward. Bowing respectfully, he said, “Great Magus, Wushan Town is my territory.”

“Oh.” The mysterious magus’s face remained hidden under his purple robe. He said calmly, “Your Wushan Town has suffered considerable losses this time. I killed everyone in that mercenary party, but they had quite a few Gold Coins on them. The coins may have melted because of Dance of the Fire Serpents, but they can still be exchanged for money. Consider them compensation for Wushan Town.”

Hogg relaxed when he heard this.

This magus probably would not launch a mad slaughter.

“I, Hogg, thank you on behalf of Wushan Town for your generosity, my lord Magus.” Hogg bowed respectfully.

The mysterious magus nodded slightly and walked toward the Raptor. It immediately lay down and stretched out its forelegs. The magus stepped on one of the Raptor’s forelegs, took two steps, and then leapt lightly onto its back.

“Hmph...” The Raptor snorted, blowing out two streams of white mist that smelled of sulfur.

Then the Raptor resumed its heavy march. The residents of Wushan Town watched the huge Raptor and mysterious magus depart until they finally disappeared at the end of the town street. Only then did the knot in their hearts begin to loosen.