Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
In the legends of this world, the Creator Dragon Souls sacrificed themselves and created this continent. But they weren’t chosen to follow a solitary path. They had dependents like the Angels, Elves, and Undead Creatures and also their direct subordinates: the Wyverns.
Wyverns were basically the Creator Dragon Souls’ guards and held an average of level 80. It could also be said that they were considered the most powerful existence above mortals. The only beings who were qualified to be ranked above them were the three Archangels, four legendary generals, and six Deity Wardens.
Rumor had it that Wyverns existed in the thousands. But most of them died during the Creation War when they served as the vanguards for the Dragon Souls. Currently, there were less than a hundred of them and they confined themselves after the Creation War. Some said that they were recuperating in the ‘Wyvern Nest’, which was out of bounds to mortals, and were waiting to resurface. Players only had the chance to witness their graceful bearings through the Creation War images and videos.
But what baffled the players was that not all Dragon Souls summoned Wyverns. Even though, according to the players’ textual research, all the Five Creator Dragon Souls should have personal, devoted Wyverns, such as the Night Wyverns of the Dark Dragon Soul, Rule Wyverns of the Judgment & Ruling Twin Dragon Souls, Holy Wyverns of the Light Dragon Soul, and Void Wyverns of the Void Dragon Soul, players had only seen the Night and Rule Wyverns in the game. The presences of the Holy Wyverns and Void Wyverns were the greatest unsolved mystery. Logically speaking, the Light Dragon Soul wouldn’t be that useless to not summon the Holy Wyverns. On the other hand, it was even stranger for the Void Dragon Soul. Many players heard that the Void Wyverns should be located inside the Deepest Labyrinth and guarding the Void Dragon Soul. However, only Rhode and his men, who had eliminated the Void Dragon Soul, knew that this was untrue. The Void Dragon Soul’s subordinates were basically creatures of the Deepest Labyrinth while the most relatable creature to the Void Dragon Soul was the Void Guard, which was a totally different concept. In the game, the Holy Wyverns and Void Wyverns were as though hiding in their nest and not revealing themselves. No one knew what was going through their heads.
It was during the mid to late stages of the game when players saw the Night Wyverns and Rule Wyverns. The Night Wyverns emerged only when Rhode and the players were at the peak of their fight against the Country of Darkness. On the other hand, the Rule Wyverns appeared after the Country of Darkness was destroyed and Dragon Soul protection crumbled to fight against the Devil Army.
This was why Rhode was flabbergasted. If this happened in the game, he would have taken a screenshot, post it on the forums, and hurled vulgarities.
Just how much vengeance do they have?
Huh?
How much?!
Did I sleep with the Dark Dragon’s wife or mess with its sister? Country of Darkness, must you take it this far? Is it necessary to repeat the Creation War with your Night Wyvern just to attack a fortress? Why?!
Rhode babbled nonsense inwardly. Then, he took in a deep breath and calmed himself down. After all, such a situation wasn’t rare for him. Back then, when they applied the ‘backstabbing’ tactic, they had also met characters they didn’t expect. If this happened in the game at this stage, even a cliff full of players wouldn’t be able to defeat a level 80 Night Wyvern. But the thought of the level 85 Canary and Mini Bubble Gum set his mind at ease. At the same time, he was relieved that he requested for two level 80 sets of armors from Lydia. If not, they were surely doomed if they fought the Night Wyvern in their plain armor.
A total of 150,000 troops: Skeleton Guards, Skeleton Soldiers, Death Knights, over a hundred Skeletal Trolls, an army of nearly a thousand Vampires, 300 Spell Casters led by the Necromancers, Liches, and the Night Wyvern—if Rhode didn’t witness it for himself, perhaps he wouldn’t have believed that this army was formed to take down his newly built fortress. He would’ve thought that they were formed to attack Golden City instead.
Fortunately, it’s a Night Wyvern.
Rhode comforted himself. In fact, there were two totally different concepts in the way players and natives viewed troublesome creatures. Night Wyverns held strong attack, defense, and their strength were enhanced by the Dragon Halo and dark spells, but that was all to the players. Even though Night Wyverns were powerful, they weren’t disgustingly strong. Players often faced BOSSes of the Night Wyverns’ caliber, which was a necessary process to them. On the contrary, the Shadow Demon belonged to the category of an overwhelmingly powerful BOSS, especially with its ability to resurrect and turn corpses into Skeletal Trolls. One could imagine how annoying it was when one was focused on taking down the BOSS while powerful creatures harassed and broke one’s momentum.
On the contrary, the natives had different views. No matter if they were the people of the Light Mainland or Darkness Mainland, they believed that the Night Wyvern was stronger than the Shadow Demon because the latter was a half-physical and half-virtual creature, which was why it would receive more damage when physically attacked. Besides, its biggest flaw was its low resistance to high-level spells, where it would die instantly when its lethal spot was struck.
Forget it. Forget it.
Rhode threw the issues regarding the Night Wyvern to the back of his head. Was there anything in the game that had escaped his blade other than the Country of Law, which didn’t mess with him? He had killed the Archangel, four legendary generals, Dark Dragon, Void Dragon, Demon Lord, and Duke Fiend. Except for the six Deity Wardens, Judgment & Ruling Twin Dragons, and the Queen of the Elf Kingdom, he had basically killed every other BOSS.
What can a mere Night Wyvern do? Just let it be.
Rhode extended his hands and clenched. Then, two petite figures wrapped in white robes emerged before him.
“I’ll leave the rest to you. Gracier, Madaras.”
Rhode said softly to the girls. The Carlesdine’s Stealth Skill allowed them to easily sneak into the enemy camp without detection. If he could seize the chance to assassinate their army commander, the Undead Creatures would surely erupt into chaos. But, even if he killed Cullen the Night Wyvern would instantly retaliate and he admitted that the strength of his cards wasn’t enough to defend against it. The strength of the holy sword cards in his arsenal was similar to him at around level 60. Even with the enhancement of the Stealth Skill, the chances of two level 60 Elves taking down a level 80 Night Wyvern was too slim.
But they were still useful for other situations.
“I need your help. Search for the Fantasy Key to those elemental teleportation doors,” Rhode said softly.
Similar to the Seven Fantasy Boundaries teleportation door in the fortress, this elemental summoning door also needed the support of the Fantasy Key in order to unlock. But he found it a pity that this situation wasn’t as simple as those in the movies or novels, where the protagonist could save the world after destroying the core energy of the summoning spirit. What was the purpose of a summoning object if it could be destroyed that easily? Why would a qualified producer expose such weakness to outsiders? The Fantasy Key’s purpose was to unlock the door that leads to the tunnel of the Seven Fantasy Boundaries and keep them in place. But now, the ten furnaces had been put in place, so it would be impossible to shut down the tunnel by destroying the Fantasy Key just like a Hollywood movie.
However, this wasn’t totally meaningless for Rhode. He could confirm what level of fire elemental creatures the Undead Creatures would summon judging by the Fantasy Key. And…
“It has to be in the middle of all the surrounding elemental teleportation doors. Find it and if possible, bring it back.”
So what if the Night Wyvern was up there? Players didn’t forget about their spoils of war even after defeating the Void Dragon. Besides, without the support of a Fantasy Key, the elemental teleportation door would automatically shut down after using up its energy, which was great news for Rhode. The huge sea of Undead Creatures was sufficient to give him a headache and he didn’t wish to face endless fire elemental creatures too.
The two elf girls nodded slightly and took a step back. Then, they leapt up and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
The Carlesdine’s stealth indeed lives up to their reputation.
The Undead Soldiers hidden under the thick layer of snow, magic eyes hovering in the sky, and numerous detection spells cast by the Necromancers were as though an inescapable net that prohibited any creatures from leaving and entering, where even a legendary being like Rhode had to go the long route. However, that was nothing to Gracier and Madaras. They penetrated their defense line directly and none of the Undead Creatures detected them!
Their Stealth Skill is truly incredible…
After hearing that they had entered the Undead Army campsite, Rhode exclaimed in awe. In the past, players had numerous guesses and analyses about this skill, but according to Rhode, it was a hundred times more insane than what the players imagined. It wasn’t just a skill, but also a rule. The Carlesdine who could use this skill were the materialization of this rule. In the Elf Kingdom, Rhode realized that this skill was extremely competent. Gracier and Madaras could instantly break free from the enemies’ restraint, which proved everything. More importantly, the powers of this skill wouldn’t disappear because it didn’t ‘exist’!
How could one detect something that didn’t exist?
But it wasn’t invincible, after all. If not, the Carlesdine wouldn’t go extinct along with the White Elves after the Creation War. However, now wasn’t the time to think about these matters. Rhode shifted his attention to his spiritual communications and ordered them to take action while he observed everything through their eyes.
What a fascinating line of sight.
The two girls didn’t sneak through the shadow like typical scouts or spies and advance only after the guards left. Instead, they pulled down their hoods and paced as though they were in their own garden. From time to time, Death Knights and fully-armored Skeleton Guards passed by them, but no matter what, no one detected them. Even though Gracier’s and Madaras’s white robes were extraordinarily glaring among the sea of pitch-black Undead Creatures, they were as though nonexistent.
Shortly after, the two girls arrived at the middle, where the elemental teleportation door was. Through their line of sight, Rhode saw a thin, invisible barrier decorated with luxurious looking runes that stopped their path. Behind the barrier was a stone platform in the middle and five Necromancers stood around it with staffs in their hands, scanning the place. It was apparent that they were maintaining the operations of the defensive barrier and those who trespassed would instantly be found.
Little tricks by the Undead Creatures.
Rhode let out a snort. He was familiar with how annoying this defense formation was after years of experience. But Gracier and Madaras weren’t taken aback. They strolled forward gracefully without the slightest hesitation.
In an instant, they passed through the defensive barrier that was secured by numerous webs of detection spells, and the Necromancers who stood 15 meters away from them didn’t notice anything. They clutched their white staffs and focused their attention forward.
The two girls arrived before the slate. Indeed, through their line of sight, Rhode spotted his target.
Fantasy Key.
It was a hexagonal crystal which resembled his water elemental Fantasy Key. But after taking a closer look, he discovered that the ball of flames burned continuously in its center, which showed that the Fantasy Key was in an activated state. Rhode also realized that several magical trap protections surrounded this small crystal, but he knew that they weren’t effective on Gracier and Madaras.
Rhode sensed a spiritual signal from the two girls asking if they should snatch it. But he pondered for a while and came up with an amusing idea.
“Gracier, Madaras, let’s put on some fireworks,” Rhode said.
Schrodinger put away the work in his hand and stepped out of the tent hesitantly. Tears flowed down his cheeks as he scanned the surroundings. All he saw was the Undead Army preparing for battle silently. The Necromancers were also engaged in their jobs. He felt that he had made a wrong decision joining this front line. If it was possible, he would rather be imprisoned, but perhaps the situation would be even worse. He knew that among the Vampires, many had mocked him for fleeing from the battlefield while some Undead Creatures disapproved his actions. Even though the higher-ups were interested in his story and experience from that battle, what purpose did it serve? Schrodinger was born into a Vampire family far from civilization and always reared of rumors as one with a low status. He heard that the mighty Vampires were resentful for his humiliating actions and were going to punish him by sunbathing him: this was the most painful and terrifying punishment for Vampires. They would store him in a sealed jar, toss it into the Light Dragon’s territory, and reveal a small opening. The sun would rise and shine into the jar while he couldn’t break free from the shackles and waited in pain to be slowly burned to death. He heard about this rumor and the thought of it made him shiver. It was due to this that he had chosen to return to this place with Cullen once again.
But now, something was off.
Schrodinger’s nose twitched. He felt unsettled as though some kind of danger was approaching. This was his only talent. He was always able to sense dangerous omens. Of course, many Undead Creatures ridiculed him for being craven and only interested in saving his neck, which was the evilest insult to an Undead Creature.
“…!”
At this moment, the ground trembled.
Bam!
Schrodinger widened his eyes in shock. Suddenly, the magma inside the enormous furnace in the middle surged. Then, a monster of flames emerged from within. It looked around fiercely and slashed its razor-sharp claws at the Skeleton Soldiers around its feet. Then, it snarled and shattered one of them into dust.
Oh my goodness, what exactly is going on?!
Schrodinger hugged the cat in his arms tighter and stepped back frantically. The surrounding furnace teleportation doors shook and scarlet, scorching flames spurted. Then, several fire elemental creatures jumped out and attacked everything in their line of sight. The entire camp was in a tizzy.
“What happened!”
Cullen stepped out of his tent in big strides and his expression froze instantly. At the same time, a fire elemental creature detected him, let out a snarl, and pounced on him. Of course, Cullen didn’t feel threatened at all. He brandished his staff and the fire elemental creature shattered instantly as though it was squashed by an invisible hand. It shrunk abruptly into a small ball of flame and vanished into thin air. Cullen stepped forward and his expression turned ashen as soon as he spotted the other fire elemental creatures leaping out of the furnaces.
“Who activated the summoning stone?!”
After Cullen stomped his way to the summoning stone, most of the fire elemental creatures had been wiped out. Fortunately for them, the fire elemental creatures weren’t high in level, so they weren’t threatening at all.
Then, Cullen noticed that the magical barrier, which he easily dispelled at the swing of his hand, was still in place. On the other hand, the five Necromancers stood in their original positions and everything appeared to be fine.
“Who activated the summoning stone?!”
Cullen repeated, but no one answered. Not only that, but he also discovered that the Necromancers behaved strangely.
He sulked and approached one of the Necromancers. The Necromancer clasped its staff and stood still in its place. However, the spiritual radiance in its eyes were gone.
A gentle breeze blew.
“—”
The Necromancer collapsed like a doll and its bone scattered everywhere. Shortly after, the other four Necromancers also crumbled before him.
Cullen gritted his teeth. After he lowered his head and gazed at the pedestal, he clenched his fists and the spiritual flames of his eyes burned in wrath.
The Fantasy Key was missing.
