“All settled.”
It sure felt different having a BOSS on his side. Rhode landed nimbly on the ground, sheathed his sword, and sauntered to the black crystal. This pitch-black spirit crystal was overflowing with a strange, chilly energy and Grazite’s face could be clearly seen on its surface. There was an instant when Rhode felt as though this skillfully-carved face was still alive.
It was easy to defeat Grazite. But it was hard to kill and imprison his spirit. Although the battle didn’t seem risky, Rhode had already used all of his summoning cards to ensure the success of his plan. A situation would become unexpected whenever there was a deviation and if everything happened within expectations, it would only be an issue with IQ if they still suffered badly in the battle. If they were in any other places, Erin lso couldn’t easily defeat Grazite. Not even fighting until the sky turned murky over the dark earth could allow them to reach a conclusion, not to mention killing each other. If Rhode didn’t rely on Christie to cast a weakening ‘curse’ on Grazite and disrupt the connection between the Bottomless Abyss and him, Grazite wouldn’t have been so effortlessly thrashed by Erin’s dragon’s prestige, as well as by the pincer attacks from Rhode’s group. But one misstep could ruin it all. Grazite’s fate was determined the instant his true self was hauled to this main plane of existence and his connection to the Bottomless Abyss was cut off. Karin’s trap was also of the utmost importance. If it weren’t for this holy sword spirit who was an expert in changing the structures of ritual variations, perhaps Rhode would have to come up with an original, barbaric, and uncertain way to deal with that naive and smart devil. Back then, Rhode was certain that the situation would be harder to handle. He turned to the calm and silent Karin at this thought. At this moment, she had returned to that indifferent young lady he knew. A dagger engraved with inscriptions on its blade flickered in an iridescent sheen on her waist.
Of course, Grazite’s biggest weakness was his over-cautiousness. If he were a true demon, perhaps Rhode wouldn’t have attained victory by sacrificing so little. But it was a pity that Grazite was the ‘devil who most resembled demons’, which made him possess the wariness of demons and arrogance of the chaotic devils. A true demon would never put itself in danger while a true devil would never consider how to protect its life and kill the enemies. The result of both ends was that nothing could be achieved. Grazite’s careful anticipation of returning to the Bottomless Abyss in perfect condition was the last shackle holding him back and eventually severed his way to survival. If he chose to wreak havoc without any consideration from the start, perhaps Rhode might end up in a predicament.
But it was no longer possible for him now. This battle was within Rhode’s calculations—attaining victory by paying the smallest price. Anne was one of the two members who got hurt. She forcibly resisted Grazite’s all-out attack and her arms and legs were severely hurt. If she weren’t a half-beast, she would have turned into mush already. Fortunately, her injuries weren’t too serious and were curable. She was back leaping and frisking about after Mini Bubble Gum cast some healing spells over her. But she was in a sulky mood because the shield that accompanied her for all her adventures was half-destroyed. If it weren’t for the [King’s Protection] that was equipped as a part of her shield that Rhode extorted from the Parliament before, perhaps the entire shield would have been done for.
On the other hand, Bell’s injuries weren’t anywhere less than Anne’s, as the former wasn’t under the protection of the holy powers. Her body had weakened from being eroded by the evil magic spells, but Mini Bubble Gum’s healing spells could easily cure that standard of damage. Bell only needed to recuperate for a while to restore all her strength.
Rhode reached his hand out and swirled the rune threads around the black crystal like he was folding flower petals together and wrapped the spirit crystal entirely. Then, he flipped his right hand around and put it away in his bag. Everything worked out well. Next, he just needed to head back and research the intelligence and memories of this spirit in order to find out what the group of damned devils were up to.
But it was a pity that…
He shrugged helplessly at the sight of the broken snake-shaped sword and shattered shield that seemed ready to be thrown into the waste factory to be melted. This was a bad point about reality. In the game, players only needed to focus on the positions on the BOSS’s body they could deal the highest damage, as well as how quickly they could defeat the BOSS. But in reality, he had to face the powers of the accessories, weapons, and armor that the BOSS was equipped with. If these damned items weren’t damaged, the battle would be extremely tough. But if the items were damaged, it didn’t matter who would be looting them… Rhode turned to Canary and Mini Bubble Gum at this thought. Upon sensing his gaze, the two young ladies turned away, facing the ceiling and ground respectively. The tacit understanding of this trio with the ‘unlucky looting aura’ was thoroughly clear at this moment. On the other hand, the holy sword spirits weren’t within his considerations. Since they were his summoning cards, he suspected that the ‘unlucky looting aura’ was equally terrible in their hands.
“I’m surprised, Your Majesty Rhode. You actually came to the Deepest Labyrinth and fought with a Devil Monarch. If my guesses are right, I must have missed the most exciting part of the battle, right?”
Erin strolled, sizing everything up curiously. A glint of wittiness and some anticipation flashed in her youthful eyes.
“That was only an accident, Your Highness Erin. We coincidentally discovered that a powerful devil was conspiring something, which was why we intervened. Of course, I heard that you were feeling a little bored. That was why I invited you here to this amusing party. Fortunately, it isn’t too late yet.”
Rhode quickly responded with a ridiculous answer, shamelessly erasing the fact that he wasn’t powerful enough to defeat the devil and needed the Moon Princess’s help. If one who wasn’t aware of the truth heard those words, one might believe that Rhode was the one who effortlessly crushed the Devil Monarch.
“Yes. Even though I came late, it still feels great to have a work out.”
Erin said. Rhode didn’t know if she was dubious of his words. But the Moon Princess nodded with a smile and was seemingly delighted.
“But I honestly didn’t know that you were interested in adventures, Your Majesty Rhode. How amusing. I have read several books about adventures, but I couldn’t roam about freely in the Country of Darkness before. Also, the number of adventurers who could visit me were also too little. I have thought of going on adventures, roaming in these strange, mysterious mazes… Indeed, it is more fun to go on adventures in human-form. Perhaps it wouldn’t be as fun if you show up as your original self, Your Majesty Rhode.”
Perhaps this was the reason why Erin gave the adventurers such missions in the game.
Rhode twitched his brow. He finally realized the reason why this Moon Princess often loved to send players on adventures for missions. But come to think of it, she was also rather unlucky. Although she was the younger sister of the Dark Dragon, her staying in the palace was perhaps not much different from being placed on house arrest. But… Rhode declined to comment about her final statement. Of course, he knew that dragon soul heirs had the ability to turn into their dragon-form. But for some unknown reason, he didn’t possess this ability. It was nowhere to be found in his talent trees nor any other places as though it didn’t exist. On the other hand, Erin didn’t seem too mindful about it as she continued to scan the hall. In the Country of Darkness, she could only act like a well-behaved young lady. But now that she was in Rhode’s territory, she could act freely and irresponsibly.
“You can join us if you’re interested. It isn’t a major event, anyway.”
Rhode wasn’t mindful of her joining them. Besides, since she was already here, it was impossible to chase her back. Even if he did politely ask her to leave, he reckoned that she would find ways to follow him around nonetheless. Rather than letting it happen, he might as well let her wander by his side. Besides, regarding the issues of devils and Chaos, perhaps he could reach a consensus with the evil, dark lord through Erin.
Of course, Rhode decided to do a little experiment before that.
“Your Highness Erin, since we’ve killed the Devil Monarch thanks to your arrival, I suppose you have the rights to search for spoils of war.”
Since Marlene wasn’t around and the others had the ‘unlucky looting aura’, there was no harm letting the princess give it a shot. There might even be surprising results.
Since she’s a princess, I suppose her luck wouldn’t be Grade E… right?
