Masked Knight

“Magical artifact?” Rody froze for a moment. “Magic...”

Andy immediately interrupted Rody’s thou`ghts and said, “I know what you are thinking of right now! There are several ‘magical artifacts’ that are being kept in the religious places of the Imperial Capital. However, I can tell you that those ‘magical artifacts’ are fakes and are used by the religious teachers to deceive the foolish believers. Real ‘magical artifacts’ can split the heaven and earth apart, and can cut into mountains and split the ocean.”

Rody grinned and asked, “So what if he has a ‘magical artifact’? What shall we do now? Shall we move ahead or go back? How are we going to get out of this hell of a place? How are we going to get out of this forest?”

Andy suddenly gave a weird laughter and said, “Boy, have you not thought of the reason why Wuya wants to come here?”

Rody froze for a moment. He had been busy running for his life and never had the leisure to think about this. Now that Andy had asked him, all kinds of thoughts started flashing in his mind immediately.

“Wuya is the large snake. The large snake is what the myth calls the ‘Fang of the Pit’. He is also supposed to be a mythical Guardian of the Abyss. The powerful Mystic Dragon, which had once betrayed the gods, was supposed to be in the Gates of the Abyss. Is this the place? Is the Gate of the Abyss in the middle of this deep forest? Is this the place where the Mystic Dragon is imprisoned? It is possible. Nobody had ever heard of such a scary place before.” After that, Rody frowned and continued to think. “Something does not seem right! If this is the place where the Mystic Dragon is imprisoned and Wuya is the legendary Guardian of the Abyss, then he should be guarding this place and preventing more people from entering! Why did he want to risk coming here twice?”

Andy also murmured, “You are right. Something is definitely wrong. There is also another point... Wuya is the Chief of the Flame Tribe but he is only about thirty years old this year. On the other hand, the ninth child of the Mystic Dragon, the Fang of the Pit, is already thousands of years old.”

Seeing Rody suddenly shaking and nodding his head, Diane could not help but ask, “What are you thinking about?”

Rody was suddenly awoken by what Diane said. He then had a thought and asked the girl of the Silvermoon Clan, “Your clan is the guardian of this place. Did you know that the ’Summit of Evil’ is in this canyon? What is the secret of this place?”

Diane froze for a moment. She did not expect Rody would ask that kind of questions. Her expression changed as she whispered, "This secret... only the Elders know! All the ancient texts are also something that only the Elders can read. I do not know that much... Why do you ask all this?”

Rody shook his head and whispered, “I just want to find out more about this strange place... I want to know why Wuya tried so hard to come here...”

Before Rody could finish his sentence, a cold voice suddenly came from behind them. “Why ask her? I will tell you myself!”

Rody and Diane were surprised. They turned around to look. Not knowing when, but Wuya had already arrived behind them.

Although his voice still sounded cold, Wuya actually looked embarrassed. He no longer had the proud and cold expression. His originally spotless white linen clothes were now torn and stained with blood. The left side of his chest had a large patch of blood and it was still dripping.

His face looked green and white. The white parts of his face were also almost transparent. There were some bloodstains at the corner of his mouth. Just now, when he spoke his tone was cold. It was obvious that he was unstable and lacked confidence. Looking at him carefully, it was also obvious that he was fidgeting because of his wounds. He was feeling a little weak.

“You want to know, right? I can tell you!” Wuya sounded conceited as he continued. “What you had thought of earlier is correct. I am Jormungardr. As you said, I am the ninth son of the Mystic Dragon, the Fang of the Pit.”

Rody’s face changed when he realized that Wuya told them everything and did not hide anything. Meanwhile, Diane who was beside Rody exclaimed, "Ah!" They both looked at Wuya with a peculiar expression.

“You wanted to know what is at the end of this forest? Hmph. The ‘Summit of Evil’ is just what the Silvermoon Clan calls it. These are all words from that fellow, Kara! Let me tell you. Deep in these woods is where His Majesty, the great Mystic Dragon, sleeps.”

Those words shocked Rody and Diane. Finally, Rody understood. “Sure enough, it is true!”

Wuya slowly walked over. He seemed to be severely injured, and his movements were unstable. However, Rody sensed an oppressive feeling as Wuya slowly approached him. After all, Wuya was a mythical beast.

Wuya arrived in front of Rody and slowly sat down. He then whispered, "I am the Mystic Dragon’s ninth son. When His Majesty was defeated, he was sealed in this forest. After that, I was also captured and my knowledge was sealed. My originally prideful self became a mindless Mythical Beast! What the hell! How can I, Jormungardr, be compared to lesser creatures? I am a high ranked creature created by the Mystic Dragon! However, they had used magic to keep me here! They made me guard this forest, which is what you call the ‘Gate of the Abyss’! Hmph! Despicable! They actually made the son of the Mystic Dragon guard the Mystic Dragon’s prison!” Wuya spoke in an agitated voice.

“Those despicable enemies had captured me after defeating His Majesty! Not only did they seal His Majesty, but they had also placed a seal on my consciousness! For a thousand years, I was a wild beast with no self-awareness! However, I woke up three decades ago! I realized that I am different from the other inferior creatures in this forest! I am the proud son of His Majesty, the Mystic Dragon. I am supposed to be dominating high above the others and not supposed to be just a simple snake, slithering around and biting others!"

Finally, Rody sighed and asked, “So... the moment you woke up, you immediately looked for a way to revive the Mystic Dragon! Is that why you changed your identity and became Wuya, the head of the Flame Tribe?

“Hahahahaha...” Wuya gave a cold laugh. “I did not transform into him. Rather, I fused with him... As a mere human, he should feel honored to be able to fuse with me, the great Jormungardr!”

Rody suddenly thought of something and asked, “Wait... That... What about the prophecy you were talking about? You requested for the Empire to not enter the mountains... What is the real reason?”

Wuya was silent for a moment before he replied in a soft voice, “The reason I spoke that day is the real reason! The prophecy is true! However, I cannot tell you the source! Besides that, there is also a special reason why I asked you all to not enter the mountain!”

“What is that reason?”

Wuya hesitated for a moment and then he sneered. "There is no harm in telling you. The despicable enemy had sealed away the Mystic Dragon with a spell. Although the spell is powerful, high-level practitioners can still cancel it and revive the Mystic Dragon. However, the despicable enemy had also placed a vicious curse! His Majesty must wake up under certain conditions, otherwise, His Majesty would not be able to regain his original strength. He would become like me, a Mythical Beast without self-awareness!”

Rody nodded and coldly replied, “So, you asked us to reach an agreement with you. You want our Emperor to order the people of the Empire not to enter this mountain?”

Wuya did not deny and replied, "You humans have a lot of high-level practitioners. However, most of you obey the orders of your Emperor."

Rody thought for a moment and then he sneered. “That is right. Everything can be conveniently justified.” He then looked at the pale Diane beside him. He saw that she was looking at Wuya. She tightly held onto her precious crystal-like object, her eyes vigilant and fearful. She was just a girl for whom all these legendary things monsters had suddenly come to life. Naturally, she would feel frightened when she thought of all these terrifying monsters.

On the other hand, Rody was not afraid at all. He had already been trained to have very strong nerves. He did not know what would be so terrifying about that large snake. After all, he had already met the skeleton, Andy and Old Mark, who were also monsters that were centuries old. Besides that, Andy had also said that Wuya had not obtained the ‘Domain Force’. Wuya was at most at the same level as the Black Veil Saint. Rody had already dared to risk his life to fight the Black Veil Saint last time.

“If that is the case, now that you entered this forest again this time, have you presumably found a way to revive the Mystic Dragon?”

Wuya’s expression did not change as he replied, “Yes, I checked the ancient texts of the Silvermoon Clan, which I snatched from them, and found a way to wake up His Majesty... so... I need to take you and this girl together with me.”

Rody felt uneasy and asked, “Why?”

Wuya laughed, but both his laughter and his voice felt extremely cold.

“That is because, to revive His Majesty, I would need the blood of two practitioners. The two practitioners— one must be the descendant of Kara’s clansmen, the other one must be the descendant of Protoss. The people of the Empire are the descendants of Protoss, while this girl from the Silvermoon Clan is a descendant of the Kara clansmen.” Wuya smiled as he spoke.

Rody started to have cold sweat and gave a strained laugh. “Blood? Haha... This is really such an ancient method...”

Wuya’s expression did not change, and he simply said, “Do not worry. I do not kill indiscriminately. Once I have used your blood, I will let you go; as long as you have the ability to go back from here.”

Go back?

Thinking of that river with those fish that could spit out needles and those horrific creatures, Rody sighed.

Wuya no longer spoke and he slowly stood up. His condition seemed to have improved. He looked and nodded at Rody and Diane as an indication that they could continue to walk forward.

Rody felt helpless. He knew that even if he tried to fight back right then, he would not be able to defeat Wuya. At the moment, he and Diane were seriously injured and also exhausted. Any intention to fight a legendary monster in that state was not courage, but suicide.

Wuya walked in front, with Rody and Diane following closely behind.

Their way forward that time was safe, and the terrible monsters of the forest did not appear. During this time, Rody had a complicated feeling in his heart. He did not know whether he was wishing for some powerful monsters to appear and kill Wuya or that he could safely reach his destination.

From the spaces between the leaves, they were able to see that the sky was gradually becoming darker. The three of them had actually been walking for the entire day.

Rody and Diane had been moving around since the previous day and were extremely exhausted. They have had nothing to drink or eat. The injuries on their body seemed to get worse as they staggered forward. Besides that, the two of them were still covered in sludge. Rody, who still had some sludge in his mouth and nose, was in a particularly sorry plight.

Wuya saw that the two of them had slowed down and told them, “It is better if you all walk faster. The forest is safer during the day and only a few monsters will appear. However, in the evening, more monsters will start to come out.”

Rody took a deep breath as he thought of the large monsters earlier. He could not help but give a wry smile and asked, “Daytime is ‘safer’?”

Having said that, Rody still believed Wuya. He began to walk faster as he pulled Diane and moved forward.

As they walked in front, the number of trees started to decrease and finally, they arrived at an open field. Although the dense grass on the field only covered a small area, it reminded Rody of the grasslands in the Northwest.

“We have arrived!” Wuya stopped walking. He sounded excited.

“Didn’t you say that there is a tree as tall as a hill?" Rody asked as he opened his eyes wide.

Wuya ignored Rody. He slowly lowered his head and placed both of his hands together. Then, he suddenly opened up his arms. Rody once again felt dizzy as the space in front of him became distorted. Just when he was stunned, he saw a crack in the space.

Wuya started to sweat. He continued chanting and his mouth started to move faster and faster. The crack also slowly opened up and became bigger. Rody and Diane suddenly exclaimed when they heard a cracking sound. The crack had finally opened up and turned into numerous lights which immediately disappeared.

Presented right in front of Rody was a huge tree trunk.

That tree trunk was so huge that it was hard to imagine... The black trunk was like black iron. Rody sighed. “Incredible... I once thought that the tree that needed ten people to hug was large but... this tree will need more than a few hundred people to hug it... Scary, really scary!”

The tree was like a huge opened umbrella. The large branches spread in all directions. The astonishing thing was that its trunk, branches, and leaves were all black in color.

Rody raised his head to look up. That tree was so tall that it was hard to imagine. Its trunk seemed to have pierced the sky... It was so tall that the eyes could barely see the top.

Rody sighed and said, “No wonder the Mystic Dragon was sealed for more than a thousand years. With such a large tree pressing on it, not to say that it was unable to run, it could have even been crushed to death...”

Wuya stood at a side and felt relieved. He gently waved his sleeves, and both Rody and Diane felt a strong gust of wind. The wind carried them involuntarily to the side of the tree.

The three of them then walked for a while to the other side of the tree. There they saw the stone statue of a huge monster. Behind the statue was a large stone gate.

The statue was magnificent. It looked like a strange and fierce monster. However, Rody did not know what it was. Its body looked like a lion crouching. Its thick mane was like a burning flame. However, it had the head of a man and long hair that hung down on both sides of its face. It had a serious face, and there was even a crown on its head.

Wuya then slowly said, “This is the place!” He then coldly looked at Rody.

Rody gave a wry smile. “You mean it is time to use our blood?”

Wuya nodded. He pointed at the statue and explained, “The two of you, go and smear your blood on the eyes of this statue! Remember to be fast! According to legend, the blood must be fresh and must not have left the human’s body for more than an hour.”

Rody had already stepped back, and he asked softly, “What would happen if we do not smear our blood?”

Wuya gave a cold smile and replied, “Why don’t you go and try?”

Rody thought for a moment and slowly approached the statue. He stretched out his hands to touch the stone gate behind the statue.

Suddenly, he heard a roar and the statue seemed to come alive and roared like a lion. At that same time, Rody felt like his hands were struck by lightning. A great force knocked him out. He flew for quite a distance before falling hard on the ground.

Rody struggled for a while. He sat up and spat out a mouthful of grass. He then cursed, “What the hell?”

Wuya watched Rody struggle to get back up and lightly said, “This is the place that was sealed by a spell. Naturally, nobody will be able to enter. The last time I came here, I tried to use brute force to break in. However, I ended up injured and had to shed my skin twice to recover.”

“Shed your skin?” Rody suddenly understood why Wuya looked so old two days ago. He sighed, “So you were shedding your skin. I thought someone had cast some kind of evil magic on you.”

Wuya ignored Rody, turned his attention to Diane and told her, “You go first. You just need to cut your finger and smear a little bit of your blood on one of its eyes.”

Diane’s expression changed slightly, and she gave a weird look. She took a deep breath and then slowly walked towards the stone statue. When she reached the side of the stone statue, she took out a small curved dagger. Suddenly, with a soft shout, she held the dagger by its hilt and hacked at the stone statue.

Wuya watched coldly from one side as if he knew all along that she would do that. However, he never had the intention to try and stop her.

The dagger in Diane’s hands turned into debris before it could even cut the stone statue. Diane cried out as she was flung away. Incidentally, she landed beside Rody.

Wuya coldly asked, “Are you satisfied now? Do you think you can stop me?”

Diane struggled to get up and gritted her teeth. “I am from the Silvermoon Clan. Our mission is to guard this place! I absolutely cannot allow you to revive the Mystic Dragon!”

Wuya lightly replied, “Your Silvermoon Clan is really stubborn. I knew from the start that you would not be so obedient. I had also wanted to destroy that stone statue the last time I came here. However, I was unable to do it. What makes you think you can do it?”

As Wuya spoke, he stretched out one of his hands. Diane shouted out in fear. She then floated and involuntarily flew towards Wuya.

Wuya then grabbed Diane’s neck as if he was holding a chicken. Diane struggled desperately. However, she was powerless before Wuya. Wuya then stretched out his other hand and, with one finger, gently drew something on Diane’s neck. A shallow wound immediately appeared on her neck and blood started to flow out. Wuya dabbed his finger on a drop of her blood and accurately flicked it onto one of the statue’s eyes.

After that, Wuya released Diane and she immediately fell to the ground. Wuya then said, “I already said I will not kill indiscriminately. However, if you were to create trouble, do you think that I, Jormungardr, do not dare to kill a Kara clansman?”

He then looked at Rody and said, “It is your turn!”

Diane suddenly jumped up from the ground and threw the red crystal-like object to Rody. She then shouted, “Quickly run! If you use this, you can become invisible! He will not be able to catch you. You must not let him succeed!”

Rody took the crystal-like object but he did not move. He coldly looked at Wuya and then he looked at Diane before saying, “There is no use... Wuya does not need to use his eyes. Weren’t you injured by him on the mountain last night?”

Rody walked up to the stone statue in big strides. He used that crystal-like object to pierce his fingers. He then used a drop of his blood and smeared it on the other eye of the statue.

The ground shook slightly, and the statue of the beast became distorted. After that, the stone statue came to life and its original crouching body stood up. First, it shook its shoulders. After that, it opened its big mouth wide and gave a long yawn.

It lazily opened its eyes and looked at the three people in front of him, then gave a terrifying loud roar. However, these three people had already witnessed a lot of things during their journey. Even though the stone statue gave a mighty roar, they were not overly surprised.

That stone statue looked somewhat dispirited and had a helpless expression. It then sighed. “Ah, it has been a few hundred years since I last had visitors...”