191

The Giant Mountain Serpent

Everyone gripped the rope and took a few steps forward. Suddenly, one of the young women screamed, freezing in place. She accidentally kicked a stone, sending it plummeting into the abyss.

The other four women paled with fear.

Xiang Ligeng swiftly devised a plan. He instructed the women to secure the rope around themselves before proceeding.

The winding mountain path stretched on, narrow and precarious like the towering peaks nearby.

After several cautious hours of walking along the winding path, the terrain ahead finally broadened, distancing them from the perilous mountain wall.

They eventually reached a relatively open and flat area, where they paused to rest.

Forseti and Agamotto began discussing the matter of the Kohnshu's statue.

Initially, Forseti had promised Kongs to craft a flawless vessel combining the qualities of the soul dwelling and demon statues, but achieving this alone with Kongs was proving challenging. Hence, he sought more interaction with Agamotto, the foremost Sorcerer Supreme.

In the midst of their conversation, Forseti inquired, "Khonshu, do you intend to reside permanently within a statue?"

"Otherwise?" Khonshu' voice emanated from the statue. "The method of rebirth utilized by Apocalypse, replacing one's body, is exclusive to him. I'm the sole individual capable of perpetuating my existence this way."

He sighed, adding ruefully, "Had Apocalypse not forcibly deprived me of my body, I might have aged and perished like any other mortal. Instead, I'm consigned to this existence."

"Agamotto, what are your plans as you age?" Khonshu queried suddenly.

"Me?" Agamotto seemed taken aback, then smiled. "I possess no incantations for extending longevity."

Kongs observed, "Indeed, you're still young, possess a corporeal form, and as Sorcerer Supreme, likely possess more choices than I."

"Let fate unfold," Agamotto replied. "Delaying death serves little purpose if one's life mission remains unfulfilled."

"You have an enlightened perspective," Khonshu remarked.

Agamotto grinned. "Perhaps because glimpses of the future occasionally grace my vision."

While the trio conversed, Wu Ding Lishi suddenly leapt up and dashed toward a nearby cave, as if he'd unearthed a treasure trove.

"What a colossal serpent! Brothers, lend a hand!" Wu Ding Lishi exclaimed, his excitement palpable.

Intrigued, the group followed his voice, the four remaining young women joining Wu Ding Lishi at the cave's entrance.

"Heave-ho!"

"Keep at it! Let's extract this giant serpent!" Wu Ding Lishi's voice echoed from within the cave, straining against the enormous creature.

After a concerted effort, they slowly emerged from the cave, clutching the thick, azure tail of the serpent.

"Just how immense is this snake? We can't even see its head!" Tie Han marveled.

"Keep pulling!" Wu Ding Lishi urged, and together they continued tugging the serpent's tail out of the cave. Despite their efforts, the snake's head remained concealed.

Agamotto suddenly tensed, his expression shifting. "Be cautious!"

The four young women paused briefly, but the leader, undeterred, shouted, "Whatever happens, keep pulling! Today, we must draw out this snake!"

Wu Ding Lishi resumed his efforts.

This time, the earth quivered faintly.

Agamotto urgently exclaimed, "Everyone who wishes to survive, assemble here!"

As he spoke, he conjured a dazzling shield of golden-red magic that enveloped them.

Initially stunned, Xiang Ligeng swiftly joined Agamotto, followed by the soldiers and young women.

"What's happening?" Diops queried.

Simultaneously, the earth's tremors intensified, as if a colossal entity slumbering for eons had stirred, lifting its head from the earth's depths...

Wu Ding Lishi hesitated momentarily, releasing the serpent's tail too late.

"Boom—"

A deafening roar reverberated as the ground shook and the mountain quaked, the serpent's tail violently thrashing.

Wu Ding Lishi was flung aside by the tail's force, leaving the other four unconscious. Only Tie Han remained conscious, struggling to rise.

"Boom! Boom!"

The earth trembled violently, the mountainside cracked open, and rocks soared skyward.

Agamotto raised his hands, a colossal magic shield materializing above their heads, intercepting the rain of debris hurtling from above.

Forseti grasped the Scarlet Commander's Shield, activating the Holy Light Shield and casting King's Blessing upon himself while extending Divine Protection to the others.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The barrage of stones relentlessly pounded the magic shield, hastening the mountain's collapse.

"Diops, my shield is one-sided!" Agamotto yelled.

Reacting swiftly, Diops directed a powerful beam from his left eye, piercing beneath the shield to obliterate the larger stones descending upon them.

"Roar—"

A thunderous roar echoed, prompting everyone to glance upward.

"Roar—"

The mountain crumbled further, revealing a nearly hundred-meter-long cyan serpent head rising defiantly, its gaze fierce and resolute!

"This!"

The sight of the serpent's gargantuan head stunned everyone present. None had ever encountered such a colossal serpent, leaving one of the young women unconscious from sheer fright.

As they beheld the mountain-destroying serpent rousing from its slumber, confusion flickered in its eyes as it lifted its head to survey the vast expanse.

"Roar—" It seemed to recollect something, bellowing once more.

"Boom!"

The ground quaked anew, landslides ensued, and the earth split, rocks hurtling through the air.

The serpent shifted its colossal body, revealing its thousand metre true form, sweeping aside a mountain with a mere gesture, wreaking havoc upon its surroundings.

As rubble cascaded incessantly, Agamotto's magic shield finally buckled. In that moment, a colossal boulder, more akin to a hill, plummeted from the heavens.

Diops exerted his left eye to its utmost, yet struggled to annihilate the plummeting hill.

Quickly, Forseti conjured another Holy Light Shield, simultaneously activating Sacrificial Aura to shield those nearby.

The hill descended.

Holy Shield!

"Boom!"

A deafening roar erupted as the earth swallowed them whole.

This catastrophe was but an inadvertent action of the colossal serpent.

Then, like a mountainous behemoth, it coiled and ascended into the sky, vanishing into the nocturnal clouds...