The battle had reached a stalemate.
The remaining six heads of the Hakone Serpent were tangled together in a knot. Even though it roared desperately, it was still just a beast. It was not smart like humans and it did not know how to untie its body.
"Now what?" Rody shouted as he pointed at the Hakone Serpent and laughed bitterly. "It would not remain like this forever. If it was so easily dealt with, it is not worthy of being G.o.d-ranked."
Kara sighed and suddenly said, "It is unfortunate. Although I usurped the Temple"s leaders.h.i.+p position, I do not have any artifacts! Right now, both of us are injured. However, if we have an artifact with us, this would be much easier to handle."
Rody"s heart moved. He could not help but think of the Staff of Moses that had been transformed into a ring. However, he then thought about his subtle relations.h.i.+p with Kara. Although they were currently comrades, it was difficult to say that it would remain the same in the future. The Staff of Moses was a big secret that might be better off not revealed.
Thinking that way, Rody stared at Kara coldly and laughed. "You simply want to take back the G.o.d Slaying Bow. You just need to say it!" Rody then stretched out his palm. A silver bow and arrows appeared on his palm. The bow and arrows s.h.i.+ned with a holy and pure radiance. It was the G.o.d Slaying Bow that Rody took from the Temple at the Thunderous City.
Kara"s eyes revealed a smile. The moment he stretched out his hand, Rody pulled back. Kara was displeased and asked, "Boy, what is the meaning of this?"
Rody coldly laughed. "This bow is now mine. Are you thinking of just taking it away like that? On top of that, you are a spellcaster. Do you even know how to use this? Even if you could, would your archery be better than mine? You might as well tell me how to utilize it. I will do it myself."
Kara was a little bit angry as he replied, "Hmph. What is my ident.i.ty? Why would I bother with this kind of toy? This lousy bow is called the G.o.d Slaying Bow? Hmph. It has a big reputation but in the end, it is just a high-ranked artifact. Do you think an artifact can kill a G.o.d? If you really used this against the G.o.ds, they would casually block it with their hands and send it right back to you. Only you would think of this as a treasure! This so-called G.o.d Slaying Bow may be powerful, but it could only kill one or two people with domain powers at most. It is funny how you humans are not sensible and consider those with powerful domains as G.o.ds! It is simply exaggerated as a G.o.d Slaying Bow!"
Rody"s eyes s.h.i.+ned as he listened to Kara"s words. He then said, "Oh, Are you saying that the G.o.d Slaying Bow cannot harm G.o.ds? Then what does one need to use to hurt the G.o.ds?"
"Hmph…perhaps the Dracula Spear might have some effect. Or maybe…" At this point, Kara suddenly kept quiet as he realized something. He coldly looked at Rody and said, "Boy, why are you asking so much? I will definitely not tell you about this right now."
Rody also did not get angry and laughed. "Alright. According to you, this G.o.d Slaying Bow is not worthy of its name. However, can it deal with the Hakone Serpent?"
Kara laughed and said, "If we used it at the beginning, it would have been ineffective. But now, the Hakone Serpent has lost two of its heads. It has already lost a lot of its strength. Its original strength was about less than half of the G.o.d ranked. Now with two heads less, it would be easier to handle. As long as we find its weakness, we could get rid of the head with an arrow."
They looked at the Hakone Serpent roaring endlessly. Although its body was tangled up and could not move, it was still a dreadful opponent. As a result, Rody and Kara did not really dare to seriously argue. After discussing a little, they decided that Kara would go and distract the large snake and pretend to attack it. Rody would then attack sneakily from above with the G.o.d Slaying Bow and see if it could get rid of a head.
This arrangement was unfair to Kara. Kara had to personally distract the Hakone Serpent. The risk he received would be much higher than Rody who would remain hidden.
However, this decision could not be helped. Rody laughed bitterly and said, "Do I look like I have the strength to fly around and fight it?"
It was true that at the moment, Rody could barely stand. While escaping earlier, he had only managed to recover a bit of his strength. It was just enough to hide and attack sneakily but was still impossible for him to fight directly with the Hakone Serpent.
Kara also restrained himself and did not say anything. He simply complied hesitantly.
However, Nedis saw Kara hesitate and thought he was going to object. She immediately said, "Have you no sense of shame? Rody was the one who got rid of those two heads. Don"t you feel embarra.s.sed?"
This made Kara furious.
He was the Devil G.o.d. He was someone who stood on equal ground with the other G.o.ds. At that moment, Kara shouted, "Shut up! Watch how I deal with this snake!"
Kara"s body soared a little. His exhausted expression was replaced with anger. His entire body was covered in light. His apparition s.h.i.+ned in midair as he roared, "Hakone Serpent! You were defeated by me one thousand years ago! Watch how I deal with you!"
A large light-hammer appeared in his hands. Large light-nails also appeared on both sides of the hammer.
In the sky, Kara"s apparition was about the same size as the Hakone Serpent. Although it was just an image, the glittering gold light was still astonis.h.i.+ng.
Truthfully speaking, Kara"s actions were extremely perilous. With his strength, he could only hold out for a little while as he fought with the Hakone Serpent. That was why fighting recklessly against it in an open s.p.a.ce was simply courting death.
However, the Devil G.o.d"s self-esteem that was hidden in his heart was provoked. As a result, he became reckless.
Suddenly, there was an earth-shatteringly loud sound. The large light-hammer and light-nail in the hands of Kara"s apparition were swung down like lighting.
That lightning knocked the Hakone Serpent"s body to the ground.
There was a huge explosion. The blast from the explosion flew everywhere. Its heads seemed to shorten and did not look like it was in good condition. Its body also sunk a little into the ground. But then, the monster became agitated and opened its mouth. It roared and wanted to rush up to its huge target in the sky.
However, it was thanks to Nedis" idea that made the Hakone Serpent looked like a bowknot. One of its heads rushed forward only to be stopped by the knot behind it.
If it really rushed up, the current strength of the Devil G.o.d Kara would not be enough to stop it.
Kara"s heart burned in anger. Bolts of lightning struck the Hakone Serpent together with the hammer. The electricity burst out in all directions. The Hakone Serpent then managed to suppress the bolts of lightning. Although it started to breathe out flames and ice, Kara was agitated and continued to send out lightning making the Hakone Serpent unable to get back up.
Because Kara was angry, he used his, the Devil G.o.d Kara"s, unique skill.
In the legends, the lightning of the heaven was Kara"s servant and the flames of h.e.l.l were Kara"s slave. It really made Rody and the others expand their horizon.
Although sorcerers could summon lightning, they would need a long incantation before they could summon another one. However, Kara was different. He was like the G.o.d of Lightning. His hammer and nail were like a legendary Lightning G.o.d"s magic weapon. Not only did the bolts of lightning dropped by Kara weaken, instead, it became more violent.
Sith"s eyes turned dull. As one of the top sorcerers of the Roland Continent, he was naturally familiar with the spells that drop lightning. Even the strongest spell, ‘Lightning G.o.d"s Arrival", was not as powerful as Kara"s attack.
Not only were there a dozen bolts of lightning. If Sith was the one that did it, he would have run out of magic power.
At that moment, Kara was really like an ancient Devil G.o.d. Lightning struck one by one as it collided with the flame and ice breaths of the Hakone Serpent. It made the entire sky quiver.
As both sides collided, a large ball of light appeared in the middle. Lightning, fire, and ice could faintly be seen inside that ball of light.
The situation was at a stalemate.
If the Hakone Serpent could have moved, it would have moved forward and destroyed Kara"s apparition. As it could not move, it could only use attacks like its fire breath to fight against Kara.
At that moment, the ball of light in the sky grew larger and larger, looking like it was going to burst. Both sides fought relentlessly and were unwilling to stop. Their attacks seemed to add to the ball of light and caused it to grow bigger.
Rody could already see the bad situation. The Hakone Serpent"s flame seemed to slowly push the ball of light towards Kara. Naturally, it means that Kara does not have the advantageous position.
Although Kara was angry, he was not crazy.
Kara also understood that his current strength was not like when he was the Devil G.o.d in the past. Although he had a strong spirit he had used a lot of his strength on the lightning. However, Kara could feel that his body was having trouble sustaining that strength. In a short while, Kara would have been exhausted.
As Kara watched the ball of light slowly approached him, he ran out of methods to use. He was so tired that he spat out blood. He was also injured and had used too much strength. At that moment, he could barely support himself. Even if he recovered in the future, the injury may be critical. Kara, who was out of options, roared, "Boy! What are you waiting for?"
Rody did not wait. In fact, he had been observing. His G.o.d Slaying Bow had been aimed at the distant Hakone Serpent as he checked its actions.
Rody noticed a strange habit from the Hakone Serpent. Its six heads would open its mouth and take turns attacking with various elements.
However, one of the heads would always occupy the center position. While the other five heads would rise up after attacking, one would immediately shrink back and stay in between the other heads.
The six heads were all similar and even take turns attacking. If it was not carefully observed, it would be very hard to notice.
"It"s now!" Rody took a deep breath. He gathered his barely recovered strength and slowly moved it to his hands. He then drew the G.o.d Slaying Bow in his hands.
The G.o.d Slaying Bow s.h.i.+ned with a white light. The G.o.d Slaying Bow was an artifact. It did not have any real arrows but utilized the user"s magical power, fighting energy, or other kinds of energy to transform into arrows.
The G.o.d Slaying Bow turned brighter and brighter. Rody knew that he could attack now but he needed to be cautious. That one shot was his only chance. It was his desperate and last bit of his strength placed into the bow.
But he suddenly blacked out and felt his own strength dry up. The G.o.d Slaying Bow in his hands flashed a bit. The energy he placed into the G.o.d Slaying Bow could not be sustained and the radiance of the bow started to dim.
Rody became frightened but no matter how hard he tried, he had no strength in his body at all and he could not gather even a little bit of strength.
This was not because Rody was incompetent. He had received an injury from Kara earlier in the day. He then fought against the Hakone Serpent recklessly for so long at night. Rody had never received such a heavy injury since he became powerful. The Mystic Dragon Purge had also used up all his strength. Rody"s vision turned black and he almost fell from the sky.
"I can"t be that unlucky!" Rody lamented. He could not help feeling desperate.
At this time, the ring on Rody"s finger seemingly reacted to the G.o.d Slaying Bow. It s.h.i.+ned slightly with a white light. A warm feeling then flowed out of Rody"s finger. Although the warm feeling was not powerful, it was seemingly endless. The energy split into two: one slowly flowed into Rody"s body and gradually replenished his exhausted body"s energy. The other flowed through Rody"s finger and into the G.o.d Slaying Bow.
The G.o.d Slaying Bow instantly shone as though Rody was holding the sun. It shone so bright that the Hakone Serpent that was fighting Kara noticed him.
The Hakone Serpent became aware of its crisis. One of its heads refused to attack Kara and moved towards Rody. Unfortunately, it could not move. The other five heads were still fighting Kara who was in the sky. The moment this head stretched out, it would immediately be pulled back.
Rody was also surprised at the situation but he could not think too much at the moment. He then took aim at the middle head of the Hakone Serpent.
Rody did not notice that the already-cracked ring on his finger crack even more when his energy was replenished.
The shot arrow flew like a shooting star.
The arrow flew towards the Hakone Serpent. The speed of the arrow did not seem very fast, but it was extremely bright that people"s eyes would not be able to look at it. However, the arrow had actually surpa.s.sed the speed of light. By the time it was seen, it had already struck its target.
The crimson barrier around the Hakone Serpent"s body could not resist at all. It was immediately broken through and was followed by a sharp scream.
The arrow had struck the left eye of the center head. The right side then exploded into flesh and blood from the energy.
The head opened its mouth to roar. After that, something strange happened.
The six heads roared painfully at the same time. Its body twisted as if by instinct. The six heads moved as if to untie the bowknots. The five heads then breathed out white light at the struck head. It seemed as though it was trying to heal the wound. However, the hole in that head grew bigger and burst.
The snake cried out. It could not continue flying and fell to the ground.
"Success!" Rody cried out. However, he also became unsteady and fell. Fortunately, Nedis clung to Rody"s shoulder and embraced him.
Kara screamed in excitement. He then jumped from shock when he saw the violent ball of light.
His and the Hakone Serpent"s attack had initially condensed into a ball of light. When the Hakone Serpent stopped attacking, Kara had also forgotten to shoot lightning. The ball of light that lost its driving force moved towards its original trajectory which was towards Kara.
Fortunately, Kara reacted quickly and shot the ball of light with lightning. The ball of light was then pushed back.
The ball of light moved in a beautiful arc. It fell like the setting sun and its destination was the Hakone Kingdom"s capital.
A few people did not react quickly enough. They heard a loud sound. The blast from the explosion reached those people that were in the sky and sent them flying.
The huge ball of light exploded on the ground and caused a fire.
A huge mushroom cloud rose from the ground.
A person with strong domain powers had fought against the Hakone Serpent for a long time. That ball of light was the condensed power from the full strength attacks of both sides. Naturally, the explosive power of that ball of light would not be a trivial matter.
As he flew into the sky, Kara cursed endlessly because it was not the Hakone Serpent that almost killed him but the explosion.
Still, in the end, Kara was still Kara. He had already flown towards the other three. He then grabbed hold of Nedis" hair and especially Sith"s leg because Sith was almost going to crash. Meanwhile, Nedis continued to hold Rody.
A defensive light burst out from Kara"s body. He then protected the others from the seemingly endless blast.
After some time, the ball of light started to turn into bits and pieces. The huge mushroom cloud also slowly dissipated. Kara then removed his defensive light.
At the moment, Kara was breathing heavily as though he had just run a marathon. His body shook and started to fall. Fortunately, Sith was there. Although Sith was not as powerful as Rody and the others, he was still skilled at flying. He pulled up his few companions and then kept them afloat in the air.
However, the situation below made them all muddleheaded.
At the ground in the distance was a huge crater. The diameter of the crater was about a few dozen miles wide and it was about a dozen meters deep. Inside the crater was a scorched ground. The four of them looked at each other speechlessly.
"d.a.m.n. This crater…" Rody could not help but sigh.
Nedis was the fastest to react. She laughed bitterly and said, "The location of this crater…it should be the capital city of the Hakone Kingdom!" She suddenly became angry and shouted at Kara. "Hey! Who asked you to destroy the Hakone Kingdom"s capital? You killed that Kikukawa boy! All my efforts are wasted! You better reimburse me!"
A tremendous roar was then heard as the remaining five heads of the Hakone Serpent appeared again.