Devouring World Dragon

Chapter 217 The Return of Myth

The King was once wise. He was the consort of the snake woman Lily, the most beloved child of the Snake Father, possessed an immortal body, and had power second only to the Snake Father. Many snake people firmly believed that the King was actually the offspring of the Snake Father; otherwise, among the countless beings in the world, why would the King's appearance most resemble the Snake Father?

Yes, of all living beings, the king is most like the father of the serpent.

The king felt no emotion; his heart was colder than iron. Iron can be warmed by blood, but the king's heart remained forever cold. It was precisely because of his ruthlessness that he was the most fair, choosing only the most correct course of action, which is why so many snake people revered him as their king.

It is precisely because of this that the snake woman Lily, who can be regarded differently by the ruthless and asexual king, seems so incredible. Many snake people regard the snake woman Lily as the snake woman who is in charge of love.

That was an incredibly glorious mythical era, where a wise and fair king and a snake woman, beloved by the snake people, together created a great age.

The snake people's floating city rose into the sky, making the sky no longer the exclusive domain of birds and angels; colossal bronze giants walked across the lands of the Atlanteans, expanding new colonies for the snake people; scholars, engrossed in magic and astrology, were pursuing the forbidden secrets of immortality; the snake people and their inhabitants sang praises of the father and daughter of the snakes and the wise king, believing that a bright future lay ahead.

however……

It's all over now.

The king who created all of this has also destroyed it all. At this moment, he is nothing more than a mad king of destruction and violence.

"Why..."

His calm face showed neither joy nor anger.

Behind him lay countless corpses and city ruins. Before him, the remaining snake people knelt, fearing death but unable to answer the king's questions, only begging for his forgiveness.

They are the last of the deep-sea creatures.

Now, the survival of the snake-people civilization rests entirely on the king's decision.

……

"call……"

As Roberts rode the stolen flying fish, the wind rushed past his ears like knives, and he could barely open his eyes.

Flying fish are one of the fastest mounts in the Sea Ruins—the underwater world. These winged fish, favored by the snake people since ancient times, resemble their relatives in the sea, but are much larger and bigger.

It has six pairs of cicada-wing-like wings, a slender body, and astonishing speed.

Even cheetahs are not as swift as them, nor are birds as agile; they can fly tens of thousands of miles in just one day and night, surpassing the speed of most aircraft made by humans. Among the army on this expedition were some flying fish mounts, including Roberts', but due to the suddenness of the situation, he had to temporarily seize one as his mount.

however……

"Boom!!!"

With a deafening roar behind them, the massive shockwave from behind caused the flying fish, which was traveling at near-sonic speed, to sway.

"dad……"

Joan, who was struggling to hold onto Roberts tightly, exclaimed in surprise. The flying fish was shaking so violently that it looked like it was about to be overturned.

But at this moment, Roberts could not hear her voice. The flying fish was too fast. Flying fish that were close to the speed of sound were not meant for humans to ride. Even with additional magic, it would be difficult to ride such a fast creature. Roberts could not hear her daughter's voice at all.

"Hold on tight! Hold on tight!"

He struggled to keep the flying fish steady and control this easily startled creature, while yelling at his daughter behind him.

But just then...

"Meaningless."

That chilling voice, like a leech, came from not far away.

Roberts turned his head to look to his side and saw a person flying beside him.

No, that wasn't flying. His body was like a cannonball, and flames burned on his body due to the intense friction with the air. His head, shoulders, back... all the relatively prominent parts of his body burned with flames that were almost rainbow-like due to the friction with the air.

His face was cold and calm; he didn't look at Roberts beside him, but stared ahead.

However, compared to Roberts, his position was still slowly receding, and he soon disappeared from Roberts' sight. But then, another loud booming sound came from behind...

The "person" caught up again, and this time, his gaze was fixed on Roberts.

This time, Roberts finally saw his movements clearly. He wasn't flying; he was simply leaping forward by pushing off the ground. However, the immense force propelled him to near-supersonic speed, making it appear as if he were flying. The ground, unable to withstand such tremendous force, shattered, resulting in the loud crash behind him.

Roberts' face turned ashen.

A monster, a complete monster, how can someone who can break the sound barrier with brute force alone not be a monster?

At this moment, the monster was looking at Roberts, his face showing no emotion, only a calm indifference.

"What's the point of running away like this?"

The sound he uttered changed slightly as he moved at high speed, making his voice sound less like a human voice and more like an electronic voice, vibrating.

I don't know why, but he can speak English, though he seems to have a bit of a French accent.

When faced with the monster, Roberts chose to respond with a gun.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

But the projectile was easily caught by that hand.

His indifferent face shook his head almost imperceptibly. Such courage was commendable, but ultimately futile.

But just then...

"catch!"

With a roar, the flying fish beneath Roberts, which was flying at high speed, suddenly turned its head and made an incredible, rapid turn, flying to the right.

Ok?
Before the indifferent face could even comprehend what was happening, darkness suddenly enveloped everything before them…

……

"Bang!!!"

Under Roberts' watchful gaze, the majestic mountain behind him roared with tremendous force, and amidst the dust billowing up from the massive impact, the mountain, whose age was unknown, began to collapse.

Roberts certainly didn't think his bullets would work on the monster, but they were just meant to distract it. The monster, drawn by the bullets, didn't realize that there was a towering mountain in front of it, and then it crashed headfirst into the mountain.

But will that monster really die because of this?
"Is he...dead?"

Behind her, pale-faced Joan murmured.

Roberts didn't know either, but regardless, he had to escape the monster that was relentlessly pursuing them with his daughter. "So, it's really pointless."

But then that eerily calm voice rang in my ears again.

It felt as if every pore on my body was about to burst open, but before I could react, the flying fish beneath me began to fall.

what happened?
Roberts didn't know, but the only thing he did know was...

In the instant of falling, he instinctively hugged his daughter behind him, and then his body began to fall.

When the body crashes heavily onto the solid ground and rocks, the immense impact is like being pierced through by thousands of sharp knives.

"Uh……"

He was in so much pain that he could barely make a sound. His whole body ached so much that he almost fainted, but he held his daughter tightly in his arms to prevent her from being hit.

The expected attack did not come. His daughter seemed to be calling out for something. Roberts endured the excruciating pain and barely opened his eyes. Before him stood a naked, cold-faced man and a flying fish cut in two at the waist.

For some reason, the cold-faced man simply stared at him indifferently, without making a move.

"Why protect this girl? She can't escape. Your actions are meaningless."

He spoke calmly in a deep voice.

Roberts felt a metallic taste in his mouth. He tried to spit it out, but his internal organs ached, making it impossible for him to speak. However, his inexplicable stubbornness made him still glance coldly at the man in front of him.

He was breathing heavily, coughed up a mouthful of blood, and then looked at the naked man with difficulty and sneered.

“She is my daughter… It’s only natural for a father to protect his daughter…”

The naked man fell into an inexplicable silence, neither confirming nor denying, but simply said...

"Is it natural for a father to protect his daughter? ...Maybe."

As he spoke, he slowly walked toward Joan, who was standing to the side. Roberts didn't know what the man wanted to do, but he could sense the man's intention to attack.

"What are you going to do to my daughter?! Take it out on me!"

Roberts, in excruciating pain, was both shocked and furious. He struggled to get up, but his limbs, wracked with pain, were too weak to move, as if he had broken bones in the fall.

But the naked man ignored him and walked indifferently toward his daughter. Joan tried to back away, but the naked man easily grabbed her hands and feet.

In Joan's panicked gaze, the man's calm eyes showed neither joy nor anger, a calmness that was terrifying.

"Don't worry, I will try my best to make your death painless."

The deep voice spoke these words, and a hand was raised, the palm gradually emitting a strange light.

Roberts is already seriously injured and unable to move. His daughter has been captured by a man known as "King Unogaya". Who can save Joan now?
Looking at the scene before her, Roberts' eyes revealed a rare look of despair.

He could disregard his own life and the lives of others, but he could not disregard the life of his only daughter with Betty—Joan.

At this moment, he wished it was himself who was about to be killed, instead of his daughter. He had already lost too much in his life: his family, Betty, Wendy. Why... why did he have to lose his daughter now?
Is this God's punishment for his excessive killing? Then why is it his loved ones who are being punished instead of himself?!
His crimson pupils gazed at everything before him, yet memories inexplicably began to flood his mind.

……

"...One day, I will tell you..."

That night, Wendy murmured softly.

“…Roberts, I warned you, this woman isn’t trustworthy…isn’t she? The Hermitage protects people…”

Uberto sneered as he faced the three men, including Roberts, who had just met him.

“…Roberts, you may not understand yet, but your daughter was destined to be involved in this from the moment she was born…”

While Joan was unconscious, Uberto had no choice but to speak when confronted by Roberts's questions.

"Don't worry, I will try my best to make your death painless."

……

"Why! Why did you hurt my daughter?! What did she do wrong?!"

Roberts, writhing in excruciating pain, struggled almost frantically, his breathing becoming incredibly difficult, yet he let out a piercing scream.

Despite hearing that shrill sound, the man's calm face remained completely expressionless.

The hand is about to strike...

"Roar!"

A strange roar suddenly rang out from the distant horizon.

The man's hand inexplicably stopped, and he looked towards the distant horizon, where a black dot gradually appeared. In the blink of an eye, that black dot rapidly expanded in the retinas of the group…

With its enormous wings like a bat, sharp horns, fangs, strong forelimbs, and upright pupils, it was a creature that should only appear in mythology.

"call!!!"

Like a thunderclap, amidst a sudden gust of wind, the soaring dragon swept past the man, grabbing Roberts and Joan in its claws and flying towards the sky.

The naked man could have reached out to stop him, and he did.

But for some reason, his movements inexplicably slowed down, causing him to fail. And in that brief moment of slowness, the dragon that seemed to have stepped out of mythology snatched the two men from his grasp.

He only had time to swing his hand once, seemingly gathering the dragon's strength, but still couldn't stop it.

After taking the two men, the soaring dragon flew straight up to the sky above the barrier without stopping, seemingly out of fear of the man on the ground.

Watching the dragon and the two people fly away, the man did not chase after them. He just watched silently, and no one knew what he was thinking.

After a long while, he calmly addressed the void before him.

“You were the one who stopped me just now, Metatron.”

In his vision, a world that resembled hell appeared in a daze. In that world filled with lava, monsters from the old world roared and cursed, while above them sat a broken-winged angel on a throne of swords.

The angel's body bore even more wounds, and its gaze remained calm as it looked at the naked man before it.

(End of this chapter)