Dragon Raja 2; Chapter 188: Jörmungandr (13)

Dragon Raja 2

Lu Mingfei slowly turned his head, planting his feet firmly, ready to run at any moment. In the fire pit, a black creature was slowly moving, about as thick as a bucket, with tiny scales reflecting the light. He couldn’t tell how long it was, but what he could see was about seven or eight meters. It really looked like a giant python, slithering toward Xia Mi, coiling around her pale body. Lu Mingfei swallowed hard. He had never seen a snake that big. Though it wasn’t quite as sophisticated as a Dragon King, Lu Mingfei had always been afraid of snakes and instinctively hid behind Chu Zihang.

The black python suddenly lunged, coiling around Xia Mi’s corpse and springing toward the platform.

A fierce wind swept across the platform as a massive black shadow spread its wings, its mouth opening to a full 180 degrees, teeth sharp as spears! It wasn’t a python at all—it was Fenrir’s unnaturally long tongue!

The long tongue pulled Xia Mi into the dragon’s mouth, where the interlocking teeth slammed shut like a gate. Lu Mingfei vaguely heard the sound of bones shattering. That horrifying mouth had the crushing power of a hydraulic press, instantly turning Xia Mi’s soft body into bloody pulp mixed with bone shards.

The dragon was still alive! It had only been feigning death, waiting for the chance to unleash its hatred. Before it fell, it had desperately searched for Xia Mi because it had finally realized that its twin sister had intended to kill it, and even this low-intelligence dragon had come to understand.

A ferocious thirst for blood controlled its mind, and its veins burned fiercely!

“Dragonbone Cross!” Chu Zihang’s eyes widened in horror.

He had made a fatal mistake—he had confused Xia Mi’s identity. Although it was the body of a human girl, it contained Dragon Skeletons and blood. It was a “Dragonbone Cross” that sealed the power of a Dragon King!

The Dragon King raised his head and spread his wings, his roar high and fierce, filled with madness and sorrow. The entire space shook violently, and countless bone birds fell from the sky, flapping in panic, colliding, and shattering into fragments. They couldn’t even withstand the shockwave of the dragon’s roar.

The dragon had regained life and power, stronger now than ever before—hundreds or thousands of times stronger! His wounds healed rapidly, and muscle grew swiftly over the skeletal lower half. He had devoured his twin sister, merging with the monarchs on their thrones. Hela, the goddess of death, was born, and the Dragon King had been set free from his bindings. Nothing could stop him anymore; the gates of Nibelungen were about to open.

A terrifyingly magnificent domain was expanding. It was the same Yanling that Xia Mi had used earlier, but both the power and range were even greater. The bone birds caught within the domain turned into brilliant golden flames, gliding briefly before transforming into a rain of light that fell gently. The vast space echoed with the terrified screeches of the bone birds, like ten million demons wailing in hell. Fenrir’s wings flapped with gale force, and his body—weighting tens of tons—began to rise slowly! He was flying!

Lu Mingfei was expressionless. He no longer had an appropriate reaction for this—he had used up all his fear when Xia Mi transformed into a dragon, and all his awe had been exhausted while watching Xia Mi duel with Chu Zihang. Now, faced with such god-like majesty, he couldn’t even find the words to make a sarcastic comment. If this were a scene from a play, the writer must be a complete fool! Weren’t the previous conflicts already intense enough? Was there really a need for one climax after another? After Indiana Jones goes through all sorts of trials and finally escapes the Mayan cave with the treasure of extraterrestrials, is it really necessary for Godzilla to suddenly appear, grin at him, and say, “All done? Been waiting for you for a long time—how about another round?”

Seriously?!

A Kamaitachi Empress shrieked as she flew toward them, but she couldn’t escape the rapidly expanding domain. She turned into a ball of lightning-tinged flame, crashing into a nearby cliff, shattering into a burst of brilliant sparks, leaving a charred mark behind. The Kamaitachi flocked together, fleeing into the tunnel like millions of mackerels pouring into a small coral reef crevice. But the tunnel couldn’t accommodate so many Kamaitachi at once, so their bony wings collided, and some of them shattered against the walls. They were originally inhabitants of this space, but now they were desperately trying to escape—this place had become a true realm of death, with the Dragon King dancing in its center!

The Dragon King really was dancing.

The massive creature flapped his wings, spinning and leaping, the burning cinders rising into the air with his movements. His dance was strikingly beautiful, grand, and majestic. The dragon used his immense body to demonstrate intricate ancient movements, like a dancer from an ancient Indian mural.

“This dragon isn’t coming to kill us… What’s he doing?” Lu Mingfei’s eyes widened.

“Yanling: Shiva’s Tandava. The Dance of Destruction.” Chu Zihang’s eyes looked vacant, as if he were mesmerized by the beauty of the dance. “This is the dance of destruction. According to Brahman mythology, there are three gods: Brahma, the creator, Vishnu, the preserver, and Shiva, the destroyer. When Shiva dances, the world reaches the end of a cycle, and the gods rejoice. Brahma awakens anew, Vishnu smiles in approval, but humanity weeps in sorrow. An ancient Indian poet once said that Lord Shiva performed this dance in Mohenjo-Daro, the ‘Mound of the Dead,’ and it brought destruction…”

The bone dust of the Kamaitachi turned into molten golden rain, falling on Chu Zihang’s bare chest. He had completely forgotten the pain and sighed softly, “It’s so beautiful. No wonder, though there is a score for Shiva’s dance, no one in the world can perform the Dance of Destruction. This dance isn’t a human dance; it must be performed with the massive body of a dragon, soaring through the air. Every movement contains draconic script—this Yanling isn’t released through sound, but through the ‘language’ of dance.”

“What the heck! Is this really time for an aesthetics appreciation class?” Lu Mingfei was nearly losing it from anxiety.

“We can’t do anything,” Chu Zihang said, “The world-ending Yanling, ‘Shiva’s Tandava,’ takes a long time to complete. It can’t be interrupted, which is why he pre-constructed a domain similar to a ‘barrier.’ No living being can enter this domain.”

He looked up at the rain of fire falling from the sky. “Anyone who intrudes will end up like those Kamaitachi.”

“And then… what happens when the Yanling is released?” Lu Mingfei stammered, asking.

“There will be nothing but death left in the domain. He is now Hela, the goddess of death. This is his revenge against all of us.”