These seven fire serpents moved with a great rapidity and left destruction in their wake. Wherever they went, the stone houses burst into flames. The great conflagration presented a horrifying sight to the evacuating residents of Dragonspire. From a distance, the villagers gazed in sadness as their houses burned down. The fire serpents showed no respect for the stone houses, knocking the walls over like a playground game and launching fire columns into the sky.
"Run!" In the end, the female archer didn't even have to bother with strategy again and just kept shouting for her griffin to fly higher. A fire-element magus wouldn't have an unlimited range for controlling the serpents; if she could get far enough ahead of it that it couldn't affect them, they would be safe.
"Whooooosh." Two of the hellfire serpents surrounded the two female magi and the Vampiric Iron Bull. That instantaneous stench and sound of burning flesh, Renji felt like he could even smell the singeing of hair. "Big brother Takeshi! Save us!" From inside of that fiery maw, the agonized cry of one of the female magi tore forth.
"Snort. Snort." The Vampiric Iron Bull's eyes glowed with terrifying redness, and its body has been twitching uncontrollably while roaring in fury. But in the end, no matter how hard it tried to rush in the middle of these Fire Serpents, their magical constriction held strong.
"Aiko!" Red-haired warrior cried out in despair, but in no time, the female magi together with the Vampiric Iron Bull had also been cut down, leaving nothing but gray ashes. Remaining only themselves, the red-haired warrior and the other two warriors found themselves each dealing with a fire serpent on their own as their strength and endurance were crushed before the overwhelmingly powerful serpents.
"Ahhhh!" the three warriors screamed in pain as the blazes consumed them. Their battle-qi burnt away, leaving them to suffer through the unbearable heat. Their hairless, skinless, and flesh-less bodies were turned to ash in moments.
"Huff…huff…" The female archer panted, just escaping the brunt of the Inferno Serpent's flames. "Ryu… Aiko… big brother Takeshi… I swear I'll avenge you all. Definitely." And with that, she wept, her griffin climbing higher.
"ZZZZT!" He ground his eyes as a huge bolt of lightning flew from the open sky and blasted the archer by surprise. Her body dissolved from the impact, roasting her griffin deep black. Both of them smacked into the wooden roof of a building and into its stone foundation.
"Trying to run away, eh?" The mysterious magus snorted disdainfully. Over a hundred meters away, Draven looked in shock, his thumping heart trembling. "Not to mention he's an eighth-level magus … he's even a dual-element magus!"
"That was called Inferno Serpent Strike?" To this, Renji stood in shock. The view of gigantic fire serpents, along with the damage they had caused, did not seem less than any wonders. The power of the serpents allied with the destruction they had done overshadowed even the terror of the Dragon King. It seemed as if nothing else was left on the battlefield other than ruins created by this overwhelming attack.
"The Inferno Serpent Strike. unbelievable." Renji steadied his breathing once more. Seven hellfire serpents falling like so many mauls from above. even the Dragon King seemed almost less frightening.
He couldn't look away from the enigmatic Magus astride the back of the Dragon King. With the seemingly humble design of this Magus notwithstanding, Renji suddenly realized he was witnessing colossal might. "Is this the one that had performed the Inferno Serpent Strike?" Renji marvelled how the Magus could be both that little and a doer of such an apocalyptic spell.
"If one day, I too could wield such power…" Renji's blood roared with joy and determination. He could now see himself mastering this land's formidable magic, and he felt a fiery passion for reaching the height of power. "Renji!" Renji noticed his father, Kazuki, standing close by.
Kazuki watched the damage done to Dragonspire Village and felt deep gloom. "Make not a noise," Kazuki indicated Renji through his eyes. His thoughts were very tumultuous, matching their colossal current situation. "An eighth-rank dual-element magus… surely only a few in the entire kingdom of Aerthos reach his level of strength. To think he came to our quite insignificant village…"
As the mysterious magus leaped from the Dragon King, it was, after all, only a two-story drop that he made in one jump, and as he drew to the remains of the red-haired fighter, he flourished his hand to show a violet, almost transparent, gem. "Finally, the d'Bero Shadow Jewel. After ten years of searching, who would have thought I'd find it by accident in this town? Now that I have it, I'm looking forward to seeing what lengths you'll go to, to oppose me the next time, Heymans!"
The magus roared his laughter, victorious.
Kazuki and the rest of the villagers simply stared. No one dared do anything that might provoke the wrath of the all-powerful magus.
"Dragonspire Village, is that how you are called? That is your protector?" the magus boomed, and his voice echoed. "Father…" Renji was appalled.
Kazuki stepped up. "Powerful lord magus, I am the protector of the Dragonspire Village."
"Ah." The magus was still in violet, his face entirely obscured. "Terrible damage your village has suffered. I wiped out this band of minor adventurers, after all. The gold in their pouches has probably been smelted and re-coined by the spell I cast upon them, but it is all there. Take them as a recompense for the damage into which, through your ignorance, you drew Dragonspire village."
Kazuki bowed deeply, relieved that it probably marked the last of the magus's wrath. "On behalf of Dragonspire Village, I thank you for your generosity, lord magus."
The magus nodded and turned to the Dragon King. The beast knelt with an outstretched foreleg for the magus to mount. With a casual flick, he climbed onto the Dragon King's back. "Hmph," the Dragon King huffed, and great billowing belches of white smoke streamed from its flaring nostrils once again. It had barely come to a halt before starting off with heavy tread, this time back in the direction of the distance. The residents of Dragonspire Village stared at it in disbelief, finally loosening the tension within their pounding hearts now that the nightmare seemed to be receding.