Chapter 343: Landslide
A loud crack followed Han Shuo’s strategic retreat down the tunnel. Like a fuse, the first explosion led to a chained set of blasts. The entire mountain shook as the explosives shattered every corner, earth and rock shifting in the wake of the goblin missile detonation.
As explosions ripped through the air above it, the ten-meter long tail of the Ancient Lizard King danced like a python. Its colossal body struggled intensely, trying to break the imprisonment of the ancient formation.
Celt was still waiting for his subordinates outside when the blasts violently shook the mountain. Unprepared for the sudden explosion, it felt like his heart had been pounded by a gigantic mallet, even sending his breathing into chaos.
When he heard the thunderous explosion and saw the gourd mountain crumbling, the pupils of the gorgeously dressed noble dark elf Arlen dilated violently. He turned to grab Celt by his lapel, roaring, “How can this be, why did the goblin missiles explode now?! Damn it, you set us up, didn’t you?”
Celt was even more furious than Arlen. Celt threw the latter away with such force that the dark elf stumbled. Celt’s handsome visage was twisted into a ferocious grimace as he bit off, “Have you no eyes?! Do you not see my people inside too?”
Rumble……
With one last rumble, the mountain finally collapsed in on itself. Dust wreathed around the rubble, slowly settling in the wake of the blasts. Celt and Arlen began to argue furiously, but was quickly interrupted by a series of loud cracks. Something deep within the mountain exploded upwards, throwing the gourd shaped mountain sky high into the distance until it smashed into the ground far away.
A new cloud of dust once again settled over the region. No longer did the landscape have a silhouette of a gourd-shaped mountain, just a pile of reddish brown rubble, a monument of ruin. The only other aftermath of the explosion was the scattered pieces of what was left of the Redbud Knights and the dark elves.
Celt shoved Arlen away rudely. The latter staggered back a step, staring blankly at the ruined gourd mountain, muttering, “Those were my most elite tribesmen! How could this be, how could this be!?”
Celt, on the other hand, was completely clear-headed. His expression was a vicious scowl as he shouted in fury, “Someone must have been stirring up trouble, otherwise that big lizard wouldn’t have been able to escape the mountain and keep my knights from retreating! This matter is not that simple.”
A light went off in Arlen’s head when he heard Celt, following up with a shout, “Indeed, there must be something wrong! Those lowly lizardmen would have been no match for my brave tribesmen by themselves.”
However at that moment, the object of Celt and Arlen’s suspicions, Han Shuo, stood witness to an incredible sight. Creaks echoed around the chamber as the ancient magical formation started to collapse. The explosion had finally destroyed a key component of the formation while reducing the mountain to rubble. As the Ancient Lizard King thrashed like a being possessed, an enormous snap resounded. The ancient magical formation that had bound him for eons… had finally cracked open.
“Aowuuuu……”
An unearthly howl, unlike anything unleashed before, ripped out of the ruined remnants of the mountain. The Ancient Lizard King Degassi exerted every iota of his tremendous strength to further break the formation. The formation had already passed its breaking point from the goblin missiles, and the first crack spread like an errant spiderweb, reaching six of the eight corners.
The Ancient Lizard King brought his massive presence crashing down on every corner of the octagonal magic formation. As each corner crumbled, Dagassi’s aura grew one bit stronger. There was a moment of silence when the last of the corners shattered, and Dagassi erupted from underneath the thousands of pounds of rocks that had previously buried him.
A mountain of corded muscle broke free from the rubble, accompanied by a roar that shook the earth and skies. The Ancient Lizard King took a moment to beat his chest and stamp his feet, giving full vent to his innumerable years of accumulated resentment.
Han Shuo, hiding within the tunnel, suddenly grew aghast. As each formation corner was destroyed, the presence of the Ancient Lizard King had become one notch corner. He had originally estimated the Ancient Lizard King to be as powerful as the Lord of the Flames, but he had been badly mistaken. With the formation in ruins, it seemed his true ability was far more terrifying.
“The ancient magical formation not only confined his body, but also suppressed his power. I didn’t expect this Ancient Lizard King to be so powerful. It may be that only demigods could defeat him!” Han Shuo was strangely terrified when he sensed the Ancient Lizard King’s power.
The lizardmen next to him were gibbering rapidly with excitement, each with an extremely fervent expression. The lizardmen all kowtowed when they saw the Ancient Lizard King’s thick thighs pull free from the cracked ancient formation like towering old trees.
Han Shuo no longer wanted to remain anywhere in the vicinity of this terrifying creature. He shot out from the tunnel that had been torn apart by the Ancient Lizard King. At the same time, his sharp eyes caught sight of a small ground pangolin sneaking out. It was carefully avoiding the furious Ancient Lizard King.
Han Shuo felt something odd when he saw this incredibly small pangolin. The pangolin suddenly shapeshifted into a hawk and put on a burst of speed, clawing frantically at the air to move faster. Han Shuo instantly identified it to be Kassel in disguise.
Standing at the feet of the mountain-like Ancient Lizard King, Han Shuo looked at the stunned invaders. He discovered that Kassel was flying back to Celt’s side, so he held off on dealing with him just yet.
Both the two leaders of the invasion, Celt and Arlen, had oddly colored expressions on their faces. Their lips grew dry when they saw the enormous monster climb out of the ruins, at a loss of what to do next.
“Human, didn’t you say the creature feared flame and missiles?! Why is the mountain gone, but he still alive and well?” Arlen suddenly felt that he had been toyed with. Truth be told, if it wasn’t for the Redbud Knights suffering a loss as big as his, he would’ve already thrown caution to the wind to attack Celt.
Celt was also at a loss for words when confronted with the massive creature who was embroiled in venting its anger amidst wild howls. He weakly stammered, “I, how would I know?”
Kassel flew over and shifted back to human form in a hurry. Before the two invaders could begin arguing again, he pointed at the nondescript figure that was Han Shuo, standing at the feet of the Ancient Lizard King. Kassel’s face was black as he said, “It’s him! He helped the old Lizard King escape! Otherwise, that big lizard would’ve definitely been finished.”
Only then did Celt, Arlen and the dark elf matriarch Dana notice the inconspicuous Han Shuo. Celt and Dana immediately recognized Han Shuo. Their blood hatred of Han Shuo nearly sent them charging straight at him, regardless of the consequences, when they saw him.
“It’s him again! His name is Bryan, a nobleman of the Lancelot Empire. I must personally kill him!” Celt growled between gritted teeth, his eyes fixed on Han Shuo as he explained to Arlen.
End of part 1 of the chapter!
“I know him! He ruined our plans last time, or else we could have made the lizardmen suffer a great deal!” The bewitching Dana was no different, screeching her fury as she pointed at Han Shuo.
“You shameless, despicable little invaders! I’m going to rip you to shreds right now to appease my anger!“ The Ancient Lizard King finally took note of Celt and his band, causing the air to shake with his mental message. He threw his head back in a long roar to the heavens as he began to move towards them.
The earth shook with each foot he stomped down with. Dagassi moved several dozens of meters with each step as his colossal body moved with a speed that belied its size. He quickly caught up with the remnants of the invading army, flattening a group of heavy armor Redbud Knights into meat paste as he made his way over to where Celt was.
Dagassi’s ten meter long tail writhed like it had a mind of its own. Several dozens of Redbud Knights and dark elves were batted into the air like twigs with each swing. The massive body of the Ancient Lizard King moved with an unparalleled presence, projecting an irresistible momentum.
He made the earth tremble with each step, trampling several knights into the mud with each footfall. His tail was like a deadly weapon, snapping in the air with each step, reaping the lives of the knights and dark elves one by one.
Celt and Arlen’s underlings repeatedly fired magic spells at the Ancient Lizard King’s body. However, his huge, rock-like body seemed to possess an outstanding anti-magic effect. That level of attacks simply couldn’t hurt him at all.
Arrows, spears and lances couldn’t pierce his durable body either. Only the two archers wielding strange bows next to Arlen could shoot out arrows possessing dark magic elements, penetrating his skin to leave a minor wound on the Ancient Lizard King’s body.
It was a pity that that level of injury was like a mosquito bite to the Ancient Lizard King. Their effects were minimal, incapable of hindering him as he ravaged their forces. More and more Redbud Knights and dark elves were trampled into bits.
What was even more horrifying was the Ancient Lizard King’s wondrous attacks. Waves and waves of strange, mental energy shot in all directions, even much more powerful now that the old Ancient Lizard King was unsealed. It only took two of these attacks to heavily injure a Redbud Knight, and three to kill one on the spot.
The dark elves were even worse off. Each successful attack meant the death of a dark elf. The only exception was Arlen, who could rely on defensive magics to withstand the attacks.
“Retreat, we all need to retreat!” Celt painfully gave a loud shout. He didn’t take out his artifact “Starry Sky”. He knew that even if he did, he still wouldn’t be able to defeat the Ancient Lizard King with the power he currently possessed. That was why he decisively issued a retreat order.
Needless to say, Arlen was absolutely out of his mind with terror, and just charged haphazardly. In his panic to survive, he even left Dana behind. It was a pity that Dana’s strength didn’t amount to much. In a moment of carelessness, she tripped when she was fleeing and saw a reddish black mountain loom into view as she scrambled to her feet. That was the last thing she saw before she was flattened into meat paste.
Following Dagassi, Han Shuo happily had the Demonslayer Edge absorb the power of the dead invaders. The yin demon was also closely observing Celt, waiting for the moment he lost focus to deliver a fatal blow.
By this time, Cecilia had led her Dark Mantle team to the site of the battle. They had hardly reached the battle when the enormous figure of the Ancient Lizard revealed itself and shocked them silly. They stood at a distance, completely stunned by the turn of events.
“That, what is that thing, it’s so big!” The fire journeyman mage Chrissie even cheered with a look of joy and excitement.
“This must be the creature inside the magic crystal mine. Such strong undulations of power, it should be close to a rank five super rank magic creature. How could such a powerful creature appear in this layer?” Cecilia couldn’t help but exclaim in shock as she watched the mountainous Ancient Lizard King pursue Celt and Arlen.
“Bryan, that’s Bryan!” Emily also exclaimed. She had flown into the sky using her levitation skills, which allowed her to see further. She shouted loudly upon seeing Han Shuo next to the waist of Ancient Lizard King.
Han Shuo had originally been near the Ancient Lizard King’s waist. He flew up to the Ancient Lizard King’s shoulder in the blink of an eye. Pointing at the panicked and escaping Celt and Arlen, he said, “These two fellows are the leaders. Kill them and you can avenge your children’s deaths!”
“Aowuuuuu……”
Dagassi once again let out an earth-shattering roar. The sound wave itself was like a terrifying weapon, turning the shrubs and leaves into dust.
“Damn it, I definitely won’t forgive that despicable human!” The noble dark elf Arlen had almost been injured by that sound wave, and couldn’t help but curse when he heard Han Shuo egg the Ancient Lizard King onwards.
Celt was well aware of how powerful Han Shuo was. He believed that even without the Ancient Lizard King in the picture, Han Shuo would have no trouble annihilating Arlen. Celt kept his mouth shut, sneering inwardly at Arlen while frantically searching for a path to escape. He just wanted to get away from this terrifying Ancient Lizard King as soon as possible.
Dagassi had killed more than a thousand of Redbud Knights and dark elves by then. Only a few hundreds were left of the invaders, and they were bolting in all directions. Not a single one dared to look back, let alone stop to catch their breath.
So advised by Han Shuo, the Ancient Lizard King fixed his eyes on Celt and Arlen and no longer paid any heed to the small fry. His huge body seemed slow, but every step carried him dozens of meters. In addition, he was repeatedly using his presence to attack. The two fellows were being pursued miserably, as they hatefully cursed the instigator in their hearts. Their curses warmly greeted each and every one of Han Shuo’s eighteen generations of ancestors.
“It’s really that brat, why is he together with that monster?” Cecilia was floating next to Emily in the air using an unknown method, looking at Han Shuo sitting comfortably on the Ancient Lizard King’s shoulder. Her heart was in turmoil and her feelings all disarray, as if jars of five-spice powder had been upended.
Cecilia actually hadn’t found Han Shuo annoying in the beginning. On the contrary, she even somewhat appreciated his strength. However, Han Shuo had repeatedly gone against her, from the orc’s shop in the Valley of Sunshine to this mission. He had never once let her conduct her business smoothly.
This made Cecilia, having become one of the three heavyweights in the Dark Mantle at a young age, extremely furious. In her heart, she wanted to see Han Shuo fail. The more he failed, the happier she would feel.
However, reality never pleased her. Earlier she learned from Chrissie that he had caused the loss of Celt’s ear along with the green dragon. Now seeing him in high spirits with the big lizard chasing Celt, how was he failing as she’d wished?
The mission to deal with Celt was originally theirs, but now that the lone Han Shuo had inserted himself, he’d interrupted their plan. He hadn’t even seemed to exert himself at all, yet was able to force Celt into such a miserable state. This was an embarrassment for Cecilia, who’d spent so much time on Celt but was still helpless.
“Ah, it’s really Bryan, he is so handsome!” Chrissie finally saw Han Shuo and couldn’t help but yell.
“You little boy-crazy girl, hurry up and shut your mouth. Don’t lead that big lizard here!” Fearing the lizard would come, Cecilia snapped at Chrissie.
What one didn’t want was obviously what one would get. The Ancient Lizard King didn’t hear them, but the wicked Celt obviously did. He suddenly changed directions, leading the experts of the Redbud Knights straight in their direction.