Chapter 1218: Going Up the Mountain
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
When Hao Ren rushed down the holy mountain and bombarded the Chaos along the way, Veronica was totally stunned.
In fact, everyone was dumbfounded.
Veronica would still be impressed by the bizarre scene many years later. She was deeply shocked by the devastating explosions and the man running down the holy mountain.
“My God!” Morian’s horse rocked uneasily in the flames of the explosion. “Did fire and storm fall from the sky?” the old knight exclaimed as he steadied his horse.
*Boom!*
The man who was running down the mountain pointed at the monsters in the distance, and suddenly, a sparkling rift opened behind him. A huge, shining, silver arrow then flew out of the rift and pierced the sky before it fell into the Army of Chaos in the distance. The explosion was far more devastating and terrifying than the one earlier. A fireball of 100 m in diameter erupted rapidly, and hundreds of monsters instantly turned into ashes. After the fireball went out, a small mushroom cloud slowly rose from the explosion point.
The explosion point was a long way from the knights, but Veronica still felt a hot blast of air almost blowing her off her horse. She could not help wondering,What the hell is this? None of the Royal Mages could have produced fireballs of this size!
By then, Hao Ren was already less than 100 m away from the knights. He had just used a disintegrating missile that he got from the elves of Aerym, and he was quite sad about it. He did not have many of these pollution-free mini-nukes. The largest wave of pursuers behind the knights had been destroyed by nuclear bombs, and the eerie black fog was much thinner after the big explosion. While the black fog seemingly continued to gather and form new monsters again, at least the pressure on the knights would be much less for a window of time.
“Come on! Run this way!” Hao Ren shouted in front of the knights. “This is the way up to the mountain! There’s no fog up there!”
Although Hao Ren did not know where the knights came from or what happened to the monsters that appeared out of thin air, their fierce battle was obvious. Hao Ren was a stranger there, so when he finally found a group of local people, he obviously tried his best to save them.
Otherwise, who else could he ask for directions?
Veronica saw the powerful “spellcaster” giving directions to her warriors, and of course, she doubted his identity. However, she did not have time to spare in such a situation, and the mysterious man did help her, so she raised her sword after a brief hesitation.
“Knights! Follow the hermit!”
Hao Ren froze for a moment. He did not know why he was identified as a hermit, but this did not affect his skilled business practices. More explosives were thrown into the flanks of the knights before he switched weapons. Holding a plasma spear in one hand and a pistol in the other, he began to fight the monsters.
Veronica fell into even greater astonishment.
She did not expect the mysterious “hermit” to not only be a powerful mage but also a skilled melee fighter. His method of fighting with a plasma spear and firing with an alchemy weapon was unheard of. This was not the first time that the princess had gone to battle. She could see that Hao Ren’s weapons were really powerful. The spear was powerful, equally good in offense and defense, while the pistol fired at its targets without a single miss. These were skills that had to be practiced on a cruel battlefield and could not be mastered without experience.
She would not have found it strange if she had known Hao Ren’s background.
In the end, they split open a path amid the explosions and the knights’ valiant fight. The desperate knights saw hope for survival and immediately rushed towards the mountain. Hao Ren led the way ahead of Veronica and Morian. When the old knight noticed that their mysterious ally could only run, he shouted at once, “Hermit, there are extra horses behind us!”
Hao Ren answered without looking up, “No, your horses won’t necessarily run faster than me. You wouldn’t have caught up with me if I hadn’t slowed down!”
He kept running at the same speed as the horse while speaking.
This skill of his was honed by running around trying to catch Lily and Rollie. It was not easy living with unusual creatures.
Veronica was now numb to what was happening in front of her. She no longer doubted if the mysterious man was friendly, instead she began to speculate about his origins. A man suddenly appears in the depths of this forgotten wilderness, in the ancient temple of the holy mountain. How do you explain that?
The princess, who loved to read adventure stories as a child, started to develop a rich imagination. A story gradually formed in her mind. It included a holy battle in the last century, a group of fanatical warriors trapped in the temple, a battle close to total annihilation, a final surviving veteran, a forgotten temple, and a lone hermit guarding the line of defense…
Yes, that had to be it. The Cassouin Grand Temple was once a great temple in the last century, but it was eventually engulfed by chaos. Perhaps one of the guardians of the temple survived and became a hermit who watched over it alone in the dark world.
It was said that the strongest one from the last century could live forever.
At that moment, a golden ray came from the side of both the old knight and Veronica.
The tattered battle flag was finally fully charged. Light golden sparks danced between the rune threads. The sparks grew, eventually converging into golden light.
The bright light of the golden battle flag shone on everyone. Though the light was weak, where it shone, darkness and chaos immediately faded away.
The twisted creatures, which were formed in the darkness, shrieked and retreated the moment they touched the light from the golden flag. Billows of gray smoke rose from their bodies as if they were being burned by the light. For those who had rushed to the front of the knights, it was too late for them to retreat into the darkness. They writhed in the light and gave off a pungent scorched smell, turning into dust in the blink of an eye.
The other monsters quickly retreated into the darkness, and their bodies returned to nothingness in the fog.
The light of the battle flag slowly spread around. Where there was light, the fog became thinner and the shadows melted. The oppressive atmosphere soon dissipated and the surroundings gradually quieted down.
By then, the team had also rushed through the gentle uphill at the foot of the holy mountain. A steeper path lay ahead.
Hao Ren watched in surprise as the flag shone and dispersed the seemingly endless army of monsters. His eyes then fell on the tattered flag.
The goddess’ image was embroidered on the light gold flag with blue and silver silk thread. Although the edges of the flag were frayed, the goddess still remained intact.
It was obviously a powerful magic item… Strictly speaking, it was probably a religious item.
“Your Highness, our horses are dying!”
Veronica looked around and noticed that the knights’ horses were swaying, one after another. Their hairs were quickly turning gray and frizzy, losing their luster. Meanwhile, their eyes were gradually becoming bloodshot.
Veronica looked at the steep path ahead and ordered them to give up their horses.
“We cannot ride anymore. Everybody dismount and walk.”
The knights left their horses and followed Hao Ren up the hill. And before they left, everyone fed their horses some kind of herbal medication.
Hao Ren looked back and saw the horses falling silently one after another. They were rapidly swallowed up by the darkness.