Lord Elbirret licked its grotesque bloody maw and raised its head arrogantly as it gazed towards the distant camp. Minister Lao stood atop the beast unfazed by the bloodshed, utilizing the slimy qi to remain atop the snake, and uttered, “My lord, look your puny snacks are fleeing for their lives! Those impudent bastards, how dare they run away!”
With a terrifying roar, Lord Elbirret charged straight towards the Princess’s defenses without a hint of fear. Diana raised her heavy sword and yelled, “First line of defense, prepare! The second line, fire at will! Third line, continue to channel! We'll kill this bastard here!”
The men and women in the first line of defense readied their swords and spears as drops of sweat as big as beans fell from their bodies. The archers making up the second line of defense pulled back their bow strings with trembling hands and fired at the large target that only increased in size as it moved towards them. As for the third line of defense, a circle of sixty mages surrounded an old man with a shaggy beard, channeling all the mana they could gather into him.
Lord Elbirret swiftly crossed the empty battlefield and crashed into the first defense line as swarms of arrows and spears bounced off its steel-like scales harmlessly. Wood and flesh scattered through the air as the men desperately tried to buy any time they could by throwing their lives at the beast. Yet despite their best efforts, the men along the first defense line lasted only twenty minutes before being annihilated.
Princess Diana gritted her teeth and yelled at the archers. “The first line is down, protect the mages at all costs! Archers pull out your melee weapons and hold as long as you can! We can, no, we MUST win this!”
Inwardly cursing under their breaths, the archers rushed the giant snake, literally throwing their bodies at it some harm to the beast. in their attempt to cause at least. Sadly they only managed to leave faint scratches upon the snake's scales before they were swallowed into the beast's maw. The sixty mages behind them furiously channeled every scrap of mana they possessed into the old man, who had gathered their mana into a fist-sized bead that radiated with a powerful gray aura tinged with yellow.
Judging by the color the princess knew that they only needed five more minutes before the bead was fully charged. Alas, with the way the demon was slaughtering through their ranks, the bead wouldn't be charged in time.
Diana felt the weight on her shoulders increase with every man lost. Something within her clicked as a surging rage filled her meridians, allowing her to instantly break through to the 6th level of heavenly refinement.
Wielding her heavy sword the princess leapt into the air with a roar, filled with newfound power, and with beams of qi shooting out of her furious eyes. Alas her war cry was cut short when the giant snake idly swung it its tail, striking her out of the air. Coughing up a mouthful of blood, the air knocked out of her lungs, the princess slid through the dirt and lied motionlessly, her ribs fractured and one of her legs broken.
Despite cladding herself in qi before charging, the princess was trampled upon with ease, leaving her in a sorry state and unable to fight. The remaining archers felt their spirits crushed when they saw the princess’s sorry end, the will to fight within them rapidly vanishing without a trace. Noticing this, the princess clutched her sword in a death grip and used it as a cane, standing proudly despite the excruciating pain coursing through her body.
Taking a heroic pose despite her broken leg and cracked ribs, Princess Diana coughed out a mouthful of blood and yelled, “Keep fighting men! If we fall here, our families will be the next to die under this vicious beast!”
Feeling their fighting spirit ignite once again, the remaining warriors charged towards the snake without fear, trying to buy just a bit more time. The old man in the middle of the circle of mages was short of breath, trying to hold back against the waves of unstable magic power running rampant within his body.
Minister Lao laughed like a madman as a repulsive slimy qi rolled off his body, “You will all die today! Your kingdoms will be wiped away, your families will be slaughtered, and your land devoid of life! Only then will my family's revenge be fulfilled! Kill off their filthy mages and crush their spirit, Lord Elbirret!”
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Paling in fright the princess screamed, “We need just one more minute! Hold out, men! ”
The warriors tried their best to block the snake's path only to be eaten, flattened, or thrown into the air as the beast shot straight for the mages.Diana was horrified, knowing that the bead's current charge wouldn't be strong enough to wound the snake. If only they had just a bit more time, they could have at least caused some damage to the beast.
It seemed as if Lord Elbirret would gobble up all the mages in one fell swoop, but gritting his teeth the elderly mage released the bead’s incomplete beam at the snake with a hysterical scream, “Die!”
Suddenly a blur of red and clear energy entered straight into the beam's path; the princess gasped in shock as the blur came racing towards the blast. The strange blur came to a stop between the beam and the beast, shockingly revealing its identity as Jao!
Without thinking the princess bitterly shook her fist at Jao, “What are you doing Specialist Striker! You're going to die for no reason, hurry up and move!”
But even if Jao wanted to get out of the way, it was too late to dodge the two unstoppable forces from clashing, killing him in the process! Yet if someone gazed closely, they would have noticed that Jao didn’t seem fazed in the slightest. He even rushed straight into the beam!
The beam exploded onto Jao’s body, creating a rumbling sound that blasted in all directions, kicking up dust and sweeping away bodies, the Princess among them. While the Princess was spiraling through the air, shocking transformations began taking place within Jao as a multitude of energy swirled around him. Lord Elbirret actually stopped in its tracks, watching Jao with curious eyes. Inside the chaotic flow of energy, Jao opened his mouth, his voice booming with confidence, “My name is Jao Striker, and I am a failure no more!”
The old mage released a magical beam shockingly soaked into Jao’s body, causing the old man to exclaim exclaimed, “Impossible!” As the magic flowed into his meridians, Jao’s hair turned from scarlet to a soft silver, with the tips of his hair turning a faint shade of purple and his eyes changing to a glowing silver.
A vortex appeared as the explosion faded around him, revealing Jao as he stood face to face with the disgusting snake, looking at the beast with a gaze of contempt that somehow made the creature feel uneasy. Noticing this, Minister Lao patted the head beneath him as he sent a contempt gaze of his own towards Jao, “Fear not my lord, this man is nothing but mere food. Now kill him and move on towards the others!”
Reassured, Lord Elbirriet opened its large slimy maw, maneuvering to eat Jao in one bite. The princess gazed fearfully at Jao’s confident back and yelled, “Get out of the way before you get eaten!
Yet Jao ignored her command, merely gazing over his shoulder at her and winking before turning back to the snake, “You lesser being, daring to stand in the way of Lord Sai’s descendant... You’re seeking death!”
Raising his hand, the mana vortex surrounding Jao suddenly dashed into the ground in front of him as if drawn there by some unknown spell. Alas, how could Elbirret and Minister Lao let Jao do as he wished?
“Die, you filthy vermin!” shouted Minister Lao as Lord Elbirret charged forth.
Smiling coldly, Jao pointed his hand at the grotesque snake ten meters away from him and suddenly made a claw, “Second tier, large class Glass magic <
Cracking sounds came from beneath the ground as dirt blew away, revealing a mind numbingly huge 1,500-meter long glass serpent that leisurely rose from the ground with a thunderous roar before moving with a shocking speed and chomping straight at Minister Lao and Lord Elbirret!
The princess was filled with shock, the mages fainted from the sight, Minister Lao was so stunned his face paled and Lord Elbirret trembling in fright! There was no time to get out of the way! Jao’s glass serpent opened its mouth wide and swallowed Lord Elbirret in a single bite!
Jao closed his hand tightly, a cold smile upon his lips and a vicious look in his silver eyes, “Implode!”
Shimmering brightly, the serpent crushed unto itself, turning the pitiful Minister Lao and Lord Elbirret into a bloody shake before exploding outwards, causing glass shards to fly in all directions.
Jumping in joy with tears in their eyes, the surviving men and women were overjoyed, unable to believe that they were going to live. Despite her injuries, the Princess ordered one of her men to help her to Jao’s side.
‘How did he get so powerful!?’ the Princess wondered as she limped her way over to Jao, almost jumping on him in her joy and only stopping when she saw that he had once again fallen asleep while standing.
Laughing at the strange sight, Diana ordered her men to remake the camp and treat their injured, before calling over a few messengers to tell the retreating army that the beast had been slain, then passed out on the bloody ground, unable to stand her pain any longer.
As she fell to the ground with the world around her slowly fading away, she couldn't help thinking, ‘What an interesting fight….’