That beast stands there with its ravenous sight, sticking out its split tongue with a hiss. The team readied themselves from a strike, terrified as hell but some of them tried to examine the situation. Like what's on Mei Li's head. She has been focused on observing the creature.
There is something uncommon about the snake. On top of its eyes, there are large horns curved a little bit backward. Expanding its sinister allure. The monster began to move and descended, charging so fast that capable of making all of them bounce back in terror. Ha Suan responds quickly, standing in front of his members with a shield on.
Even though they were taking cover behind the leader, it was not enough. The amount of destruction when Carastes run into Ha Suan with that speed, for an instant, tossed them in a near-death state. Some of them ricocheted in various directions in an awful condition, too hard to stand when their bodies felt numb.
"Damn ... it's hurt!" Arknar moaned in pain unable to move other than lying on the dirt.
Howard was seen unconscious. He is supposed to heal the other members, but now it seems they were on their own. Liu Han on the other side, was able to move despite that menace because, in a split second, he was able to avoid it as well as Mei Li. She now tried to bait the serpent with her wonderful acrobatic move.
Even after the dreadful crash, Ha Suan can hold firm with his sword embedded in the sand after he was sent off and dumped around. "What a strength! I shouldn't underestimate it." As he stares at his shield that is destroyed.
He throws it and drinks a bottle of rare tier potion which can be identified as blue color. "Liu Han, recover them as fast as you can! I'm off with Mei Li."
Liu Han nodded and run to Howard as soon as possible. The Healer is their top priority right now, without him, this mission feels impossible to achieve. Mei Li, however, still endures the series of threats from that creature. Her swiftness has made her untouchable, continuously doing some attacks while evading all the dangers.
Mei Li at some issue, miscalculates her stamina regeneration and ends up out of movement. Bad time indeed, when the mouth in front of her has opened wide and it is about to eat her alive. In a sheer moment, Mei Li was vulnerable and saw her death before Ha Suan appeared with a slash that hit the monster.
A loud hiss came from the snake and it squirmed, making the next move with its tail. Ha Suan and Mei Li cannot avoid such a blow and have been blown off a few meters. The beast then hides under the sand and slides in the direction of Liu Han who are still busy rescuing Howard from the last blast.
"Come on!" Liu Han was a little bit bitter, thrilled as the dune move faster towards him. "Please, wake up!"
When that scattered sand approached him, Liu Han witnessed a marvelous view from the serpent. It embarked with its gigantic size, showing off its venomous fangs in front of Liu Han who is about to run away with Howard on his back. Luckily, he can dodge it yet again but in messy conditions because of the impact.
Poor Howard was forced to feel discomfort when his body rolled over, waking him up from his slumber. As his eyes tried to cross what was in front of him, he started mumbling. "What's happening?" He then noticed a man running for his life when Carastes followed him like a dolphin.
The creature leaped from one to another with a fearful sound, shredding Liu Han's mentality to pieces. He could no longer keep his pace as his stamina almost dried, starting hard to breathe. However, he had to ensure that the Carastes were still pursuing him because Arknar and Mei Li stood ahead, casting their ultimate skills.
A light yellowish arrow glowed when she aimed through behind Liu Han, while Arknar held a massive fireball in his hand. The beast closes its gap to prey on a tiny human who is scared of getting caught. The sand beneath Liu Han's feet began to tremble, causing him to struggle to maintain his shaky steps.
"Hang on!" Ha Suan screamed, standing beside Mei Li.
Liu Han is out of breath right now, and his speed drastically changes very slowly. The stamina bar turned red and it was almost dead, he feels like walking but at an immediate tempo. Simultaneously, his sight began to blur, the rays of power in front of him is the only noticeable. Yet, Arknar and Mei Li are about to unleash their supreme.
"Luxa Statera!" Mei Li exclaims, her voice resonating emphatically around them.
"Ignisa Flamen!" Arknar utters deeply, projecting his skill alongside Mei Li.
As the two energies merged, sparkling fires scattered like fireworks. The combination of two colors has made that destructive magic wonderful to look at, let alone its violent effects. Liu Han was on the verge of consciousness, forcing himself to gather all his remaining stamina to stay awake, determined to persevere until the end.
"Move now!" A shout came from Ha Suan carried out directly by Liu Han with his desperate scream.
The young man immediately changes the path sideways, gliding over the sand and starting to overturn. Meanwhile, Carastes is no longer hiding beneath the sand but slithering on the surface, had to face such burst damage. A spectacular explosion hit the snake, burning all over its skin and body without stopping toward Ha Suan and his companions.
The Warrior quickly saves them both, rolling instead of smoothly sliding to the other side of the area. During their tumble, some of their belongings spilled out. Meanwhile, Carastes, who is still on fire, collided with the nearby dune hill, abruptly ending the battle between them.
From a distance, Howard has seen running toward their team members, especially Liu Han. He just lying there with blank eyes staring at the sky. His chest is up and down when he takes a deep breath manually, gradually increasing his stamina again. Not too long his view was disturbed by the dusty face of Howard.
"You ok?" said Howard concerned, starting to begin his tradition. "Axilo."
His palm suddenly started glowing, resembling bright green-white colors. Howard closed both of his eyes, fully focusing on himself as his mana started to decrease. Liu Han felt his body is no longer heavy, and some of the aches disappeared slowly.
"As expected, that spell is not a common heal skill, am I right?" Liu Han noticed his different chants before.
"It is to make sure our bodies stay fit from the harm effects," told Howard open his blue eyes, suddenly his expression becoming serious. "We are still not finished here."
Arknar hurried at two of them followed by the others behind and said, "What a fight! Do we happen to confront that thing again?"
"I don't know," the man with the wizard robe stood, turning his head to the altars. "But this boss has three stages. I wonder what those sculptures have to do with this."
"Let's move out." Ha Suan extended his hand to Liu Han. "Let us do our best!"
The young man smiled and accepted his hand to stand up. "Thank you."
The team walked towards the location of the five altars, only to realize that the statues atop them were shaped like snakes. However, the one in the center stood out distinctly. It was no longer in the form of a serpent but rather a dragon!
Howard, who was still observing, approached the statue. He noticed an inscription engraved there. Roughly translated, it said: "And among them, Vithra ascended into the air and turned the desert into a scorch of fire. Within the Altar of Magic as a protector, required the same power as its own".
"What does all of this mean?" Howard murmured, feeling a powerful jolt like an earthquake.
They all wavered and struggled to regain their balance. Suddenly, to their surprise, a creature emerged from within the sand, forcefully throwing them all off. However, this time, it didn't slither but flew with its wings that spanned the horizon, landing precisely on the central altar.
As the inscription had mentioned, a dragon with thick, red skin perched there, adorned with spikes and horns. Vithra, without hesitation, stretched its neck upward while opening its mouth, forming an orb of energy where massive power converged into one.
"Damn it! What are we supposed to do?" Arknar was thoroughly restless as he witnessed the terrifying scene before him.
"Mei Li!" Without a complete command from Ha Suan, the girl understood and directed her arrow toward the monster.
Upon release, the shot couldn't even break through and strike Vithra, as if there was an unseen barrier encompassing them. Mei Li was immensely taken aback, and hope began to fade.
"What is going on? Are we trapped here?" Arknar exclaimed with anxiety, attempting to run but colliding with the transparent barrier. "This is truly dire! There's no way out!"
"There is one if it's true," Howard uttered, unleashing a basic fire spell on his hand. "Let's try it out, shall we?"
To be continued...
