Dragon Raja 4; Chapter 100: Gate of the Nibelungen (4)

Dragon Raja 4

Time resumed its normal flow, and the servitors all retreated in unison. Nono had just stabbed one of them through the chest with her utility knife, and it had been about to tear her throat apart with its claws. But it suddenly stopped its attack and retreated slowly. As it moved, the knife slid inch by inch out of its chest, leaving a dark hole from which black blood gushed. The spirit collapsed to its knees, rapidly dissolving into a river of black blood.

They had become Odin’s prey, and no one dared to lay even a blade on them now.

Odin advanced on horseback, flames trailing behind him like giant banners. The sound of hooves echoed, each step landing like a blow on Lu Mingfei’s chest.

Lu Mingfei clutched his chest and sighed, “I don’t trust you! You’re a devil through and through! Well, you are literally a devil…”

It seemed Odin wasn’t here to fight them. The great god simply marched forward, holding his banner high, while they, in their foolishness, blocked his path. His presence was like a slowly advancing tsunami, crushing them with sheer pressure from afar. Challenging him? Lu Mingfei wasn’t even confident he could stand upright in front of him. The god didn’t need to strike them down—just passing by would burn them with his flames. Lu Mingze, never one to shy away from trouble, had given him such a terrible idea, and Lu Mingfei actually followed through.

Lu Mingze placed his hand on Lu Mingfei’s shoulder. “Something for Nothing… NoGlues… Black Sheep Wall!”

These were all Yanlings Lu Mingfei frequently used, which usually required him to sacrifice life to buy their usage rights. But tonight, the little devil generously unleashed all three.

Something for Nothing—meant to unlock Lu Mingfei’s bloodline, greatly enhancing his abilities. NoGlues—meant to suppress the opponent’s Yanling, like a prohibition. He had once used this Yanling to forcefully interrupt Herzog from releasing his own Yanling. As for Black Sheep Wall, it was exactly what he needed most now—it could help him find the way out of any labyrinth.

A molten heat surged from his heart, coursing through his veins and spreading across his body. He felt like every cell in him was expanding. Along with it came a surge of confidence. He tightened his grip on his swords, and the sound of his heartbeat echoed like war drums. When he looked at Odin again, he no longer felt like a mountain was bearing down on him. Instead, he was eager for battle. The lightning and flames surrounding Odin silently extinguished, as NoGlues, like the prohibition, restored the balance of elements in the area. Without the flow of elemental energy, most Yanlings couldn’t be released.

Lu Mingfei scanned his surroundings and locked his gaze on the Maybach. Raindrops splashed against it, creating a faint sheen of light. It stood abandoned on the roadside like a masterless steed. That was the hint from Black Sheep Wall. It was the very car Chu Zihang had used to escape this maze years ago.

The little devil had prepared all the conditions, but the most important task still fell to him—he had to dodge Odin’s fatal strike and escape from this near-certain death trap!

Suddenly, Odin charged down the slope, riding a torrent of water as if galloping through a raging sea.

He didn’t use the spear that symbolized his divine authority. Instead, he drew an iron sword from his back and swung it overhead, the blade howling like a wailing spirit.

Lu Mingfei shoved Nono aside and charged toward Odin, sword in hand. Nono, stunned, wanted to rush in to help, but her path was blocked by dozens of blades.

The spirits didn’t harm her, but they wouldn’t let her interfere with the sacred battle. From the moment Odin entered the field, the battlefield belonged only to him and Lu Mingfei.

Sleipnir reared up, and the iron sword slashed down toward Lu Mingfei’s head. Lu Mingfei dropped to his knees and slid through the water, crossing his swords in front of him, aiming to strike at Sleipnir’s belly. This was a standard infantry tactic against cavalry, as the horse’s belly was the most vulnerable part of a heavily armored rider. But Sleipnir had four pairs of iron hooves. The two rear hooves pushed off the ground while the front hooves stomped down heavily. Lu Mingfei rolled to the side to avoid being crushed, but before he could get up, the iron sword swung at him from behind, carried by the combined force of wind, horse, and blade. He raised his sword to block it, and while Tigerfang withstood the bone-shattering blow, Lu Mingfei was sent flying. When he landed, he was too shaken to rise immediately, coughing up blood as he clutched his chest.

Sleipnir spun back like a whirlwind, and Odin raised the iron sword again, striking Lu Mingfei once more and sending him flying a second time. The eight-legged horse pranced in place, like a war machine with no blind spots. Lu Mingfei felt like he was up against an eight-armed Nezha, without any weaknesses to exploit. In his mind, he cursed furiously, “Come down and fight me, you coward! What kind of hero are you, riding a horse? Didn’t we agree not to bring backup? What’s with that spider-horse of yours? Wait till I get in my car, and I’ll run you over! I’ll print tire marks all over your face!”

His inner rant was like a raging storm, but the storm of blades was even fiercer.

The fighting spirit ignited by Something for Nothing was still surging within him, but Lu Mingfei had already deeply understood the gap between himself and Odin—it was the difference between a god and a man, between heaven and earth.

He was panting, holding his blade in front of him, staring into his own eyes reflected in the mirror-like surface of the sword. “Don’t die!”

The three Yanlings that Lu Mingze had given him were one-time uses, but “Don’t die” was Lu Mingfei’s trump card—it had saved his life countless times like the stubborn life force of a cockroach. He couldn’t fall now. If he fell, Odin would surely take his head, and Nono would be impaled by the spirits and hoisted into the sky. Back then, Nono had seemed so awe-inspiring in his eyes, like someone who could do anything. Even now, she boldly declared that she would handle things. But to Lu Mingfei, she was someone who needed protecting. And it was all his fault—he shouldn’t have brought her out of the convent, shouldn’t have ruined her upcoming wedding and bright future.

Although Finger had been the one to make the move, at that moment, Lu Mingfei had been secretly happy. With Nono around, this felt like an adventure. Without her, it would have been a desperate flight for survival.

Nono couldn’t make sense of this deathmatch at all—Odin and Lu Mingfei were moving so fast that it was impossible to distinguish their bodies from their afterimages. The metallic clashes of their weapons echoed repeatedly in the rain, as Odin and his horse circled like a whirlwind, and his heavy iron sword danced and spun. Lu Mingfei was knocked down again and again, only to get back up each time, his blood spraying out, only to be quickly washed away by the rain.

Struggling, Lu Mingfei rose once more, his body swaying. The bone in his left knee was likely shattered beyond repair, an injury that couldn’t be fixed in the short term. Even “Don’t die” wasn’t helping now. Odin stopped his horse and gazed at him from afar. The hunt was entering its final phase, much like a Spanish bullfight. The lancers and picadors would torment the bull until it bled heavily, and then the matador would step in to deliver the fatal blow with his sword. That final strike was coming. Odin lifted the twisted spear from his saddle—his true weapon.

He raised the spear to the sky, and thunderclouds gathered above. Lightning struck the spearhead, making it glow brightly, as if it were made of some crystalline material. Although the NoGlues Yanling was still suppressing the elemental fluctuations in the environment, it couldn’t affect that spear.

It seemed like a dead end. Lu Mingfei stood unsteadily, and a random thought about horses popped into his head. They say if a wild horse injures its knee, it gets abandoned by its herd, left to be eaten by predators. For a horse, running is life. If it can no longer keep up with the others, it’s already dead. Wasn’t Cassell College a bit like that herd? When you first join, you feel like you’ve found a home, but slowly you realize that the weak, the injured, the ones who can’t keep up—like Porquinho—are left behind. The herd always keeps running, but the horses in it keep changing. And when the “dragon” of the Execution Bureau can no longer soar, he too would be left behind, because for a dragon, flying is life.

But where was the herd ultimately heading? And who would be the last horse to reach the destination?

Sleipnir neighed, pawing the ground restlessly with its iron hooves. Lu Mingze’s voice came from behind him. “Don’t lose focus! This is your only chance!”

Lu Mingfei’s spirit lifted as he suddenly remembered the rule Lu Mingze had mentioned. If the prey could avoid Odin’s fatal strike, they could escape the hunting grounds.

It was like certain video games—if a player, down to their last sliver of health, could predict the enemy’s moves, they might have a chance to unleash a powerful counterattack. Lu Mingfei forced himself to stand straight, eyes locked on that spear. In the myths, its name was Gungnir, crafted from the branches of Yggdrasil, meaning it was a weapon close to the world’s source. Its trajectory was drawn by the hands of the Norns themselves, making it impossible for its target to escape. It was a rule-based power, and to break it, one would have to understand the rules. But Lu Mingfei knew nothing about the world’s rules.

There was another theory: Gungnir’s trajectory was like lightning, and lightning is unavoidable because it is the fastest thing in the world. To evade lightning, one must predict its path.

Odin swung the spear lightly, not as if he were striking to kill, but like an artist painting, tracing the delicate flow of a girl’s hair caught in the wind.

All the spirits raised their weapons in silent celebration, as though this were a grand festival where the prey’s blood would seal the ritual.

Gungnir painted intricate patterns in the air, like a complex flower. The overwhelming aura of death pressed down on Lu Mingfei, suffocating him.

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