MTLNOVEL Chapter 358: Magma and Madness
From the thick, black smoke rising out of the volcano, a figure began to emerge—threatening to annihilate any who dared invade its territory.
A colossal, sinister creature, its sleek body covered in obsidian-like black scales. Below them ran glowing orange veins, reminiscent of flowing lava beneath a volcanic crust. Its eyes burned a fierce molten gold, and smoke constantly escaped from its nostrils as if the mere act of existence was enough to burn the atmosphere to a crisp.
It rocketed skyward like an arrow. In mere seconds, its massive silhouette stretched fully into view, a monstrous form spanning nearly a kilometer in length.
As if guided by an external force, its head moved with terrifying precision, golden eyes scanning the landscape below—until they locked onto Zaroth, who stood frozen, staring up at the mythical beast with wide, stunned eyes.
Just being in the presence of the entity spoke about their power difference. Even if he were to use his strongest attack, gathering all the might that he could muster, Zaroth would not even be able to leave a single scratch on the serpent's body.
"This is why at the end of the day everybody listened to me! Thanks to my mastery of fire, I am able to use magma as well!" Solara exclaimed in pride, enjoying the full view of the majestic creature.
'So she can command it—to some degree,' Zaroth realized. It made sense; she had shot an arrow against him before—one that contained some volume of magma.
'From the looks of it, the beast has magma running through its veins—so it's only natural that Solara would find a way to bend it to her will'
The Magma Serpent flared its nostrils, releasing even more smoke, and dived straight towards Zaroth's location, eyes dead set on killing him.
'This is insane,' he thought. Just the width of the creature was more than fifty meters; even if it were to dive right into him, the amount of damage it would create to the capital would be too grand to count.
But Solara didn't care. She laughed wildly, eyes filled with wonder. It was clear she placed no value on the lives around her.
"Now let's see your expression in the face of despair—" she began, shifting her attention to Zaroth, yet stopped mid-sentence once she realized the man didn't react the way she expected him to.
Zaroth's heart pounded wildly, his hands trembling with worry as adrenaline surged through him, sharpening his vision several-fold. His knuckles had turned white from the force of his grip on the odachi.
His instincts screamed at him to run, to survive.
And yet…
His lips had curled into a unsettling smile, his eyes shining eerily green.
'Can I tame it?' was the only thing resonating in his mind. He had Luna for so long, and she had changed his life so much for the better.
So what would happen if he were to tame a second mythical beast?
"Luna," he spoke out loud, eyes never moving from the magma serpent. There was one thing for certain—if he wanted to tame the being…
"This is a command."
He was going to have to put it down first.
"Kill it. Don't hold back."
ROOOAAAAAARRR
Knowing this wasn't the time nor place to argue, Luna released a devastating roar and soared through the skies, ready to meet her opponent.
The serpent's gaze shifted in response to the challenge. The moment its golden eyes met Luna's undead glare, it knew it had found a worthy foe.
ROOOAAAAAARRR
The colossal being released a roar of its own, changing its trajectory, going towards Luna.
A heartbeat later, the two mythical beings collided. The shockwave from the impact was so powerful that every single window in the vicinity broke.
Thanks to its weight advantage, the serpent was the clear winner as the two beings landed on the ground.
An explosion occurred, raising a giant mushroom cloud in the sky.
Luna, managing to break free, flared her wings, soaring once again into the sky, while the serpent let out a terrifying growl and buried its massive body deep in the ground.
An eerie silence followed. Luna continued to soar higher and higher, eyes scanning the surroundings for any clear indication from where the serpent was going to appear.
ROOOAAAAAARRR
Smashing past the hard ground as well as dozens of buildings, killing unknown amounts of civilians, the serpent showed itself. The colossal being surged upward again, speed several times greater than the speed of sound. Eyes and fangs locked onto Luna, ready to attack.
ROOOAAAAAARRR
Naturally, she wasn't going to stay stationary. As soon as the serpent made its position known, she changed her course, going toward the serpent.
Opening its maw and letting out a loud hissing sound, the serpent shot lava towards her, trying to burn her bones to a crisp.
Luna, unlike any other being, showed no fear in the face of such powerful attack, for she was undead and the very concept of fear was foreign to her.
Masterfully using her wings, she flew around the stream of lava, maneuvering close to the serpent's body.
It was clear that the being was immune to any kind of fire damage—it was made from lava, after all. So she did the next best thing. Using her four giant claws, she scraped them against the being's hard scales, tearing them apart and making a giant volume of lava start falling from the wounds.
ROOOAAAAAARRR
Not expecting to be hurt, the serpent was surprised momentarily, yet it composed itself rather quickly. Tensing its body, the end of its tail moved and hit Luna with devastating power, releasing another powerful shockwave.
She was caught off guard by the clean hit and was sent flying.
The serpent again buried its body in the ground, appearing a few seconds later only to bury itself again, following Luna.
Cries and pleas echoed throughout the entire capital, while the lifeless bodies of civilians and a few guards left standing bore witness to the devastating battle between the two great beings.
While the two mythical beasts continued their fight, Zaroth attacked Solara once again.
Naturally, he had desummoned all of his beasts except Luna, she was going to need all the mana he could give her.
"You are much calmer than I thought you would be. I thought by this point you would be scared shitless," Solara admitted, striking with her fire sword.
"Why would I be scared," Zaroth replied, parrying her strike and countering instantly, "when I'm about to gain a new beast?"
Jumping back, managing to create some distance between them, Solara struggled to suppress a scoff. "You think your dragon can kill my serpent? You seem to be more delusional than I thought."
In the blink of an eye, her sword changed shape into a bow.
Zaroth's eyes widened, seeing an arrow going towards his heart, about to kill him.
Before, he would have been out of options—but not anymore. His body immediately took the form of a shadow, disappearing from the place he was standing on.
The arrow missed and hit the buildings behind. An explosion followed as they were reduced to nothing but rubble.
"Some tricks you know," Solara mused, shifting her body to the side, skillfully dodging Zaroth's slash.
"There is more," Zaroth warned, hand going deep into his shadow. An instant later, he took out a spear and hurled it towards her figure.
Just like when Nightshade used the skill, he could also store things in his shadow. Naturally, he had prepared himself by stashing dozens of weapons inside it, just in case he needed them.
It was clear that she hadn't expected such an attack, leaving her to just barely parry it. But by that point, Zaroth had used shadow travel once more, appearing right next to her.
"Got you!" he exclaimed, odachi making a shallow cut on her left forearm.
Solara's eyes squinted in pain, leading her to retreat a couple of steps back.
By that point, Zaroth wasn't worrying anymore. Hellweaver's poison was about to take effect any second now…
"You really are underestimating me," Solara muttered. A second later, her left arm fell to the ground—and the wound sealed instantly, cauterized by the flames surrounding her body.
'She cut her arm just like that?' Zaroth was momentarily surprised.
Solara was ready to go to any length… just to ensure victory.