“Will everything be fine, Leader?”
Mini Bubble Gum asked, resting her hands behind her head and gazing forward lazily. Rhode lifted his head, scanned the deep tunnel ahead, and shrugged.
“Who knows. We’ll have to leave it to her now.”
After the dark elves chose to submit to Rhode, he bestowed upon them the dragon mark. Unsure if it was due to the new powers they received or because they were terrified by Mini Bubble Gum’s massacre, the matriarchs didn’t even dare to exchange pleasantries. When Rhode requested them to remove the seal on the tunnel, they nodded in agreement and unlocked the seal on the east tunnel as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile, Rhode dragged Nell out and commanded the matriarchs to listen to her commands in the future. Then, he left right away, leaving the terrible mess behind for Nell. Nell felt helpless by his actions. But despite that, she didn’t comment much. After all, she knew what he meant. She had already gained the formidable power and authority of the high dragon mark. If she couldn’t even handle the trivial matters of Carlesodar, it would only prove her incompetence.
As for how she would go about establishing her forces in Carlesodar and put the cunning matriarchs in order, it wasn’t something within Rhode’s considerations. Anyway, Nell could try her best for now and if she couldn’t, he could still take over later. But Rhode didn’t have much time to waste now. While Mini Bubble Gum and the rest wreaked havoc in the city, Rhode and Icy Snow rested for half a day, left Carlesodar, and headed to the Darkness Capital.
Due to the close connections between the dark elves and the Country of Darkness, Carlesodar had a direct path that linked to the Darkness Capital. But recently, as the situation was too unstable, the path was sealed off by the dark elves. Now that Rhode wanted to use that path, the dark elves unlocked the seal immediately and teleported Rhode and his group to the mountains outside the Darkness Capital.
Icy Snow felt refreshed and energetic after waking up from her sleep. On the other hand, perhaps because Mini Bubble Gum caused too much trouble earlier, she followed the group listlessly with Angelina, who yawned beside her. Rhode transferred the undead army that Angelina beat her brains out to create to Nell as her guards. Angelina was depressed. She missed the feeling of superiority over undead creatures… Because such an opportunity was too rare to receive around Rhode.
Meanwhile, Anne wasn’t as exhausted as them. After smashing the stalactite pillars, she went back and caught up with her sleep. She only got up when Rhode was about to leave. Right now, Anne and Icy Snow were speaking to each other as they skipped ahead of the group. Come to think of it, it felt rather odd. Icy Snow with a strict personality couldn’t get along with Mini Bubble Gum. However, she jested with Anne, who was equally as lazy and undisciplined as Mini Bubble Gum. Considering that both Anne and Icy Snow were half-beasts, could they be considered ‘birds of a feather flocking together’?
The path was neither complicated nor long. Despite that, Anne and Icy Snow became restless shortly after. Not only them, but Rhode also gazed grimly at the tunnel exit that was 200 meters ahead. It was total darkness, which it wasn’t surprising considering that it was the country of eternal darkness on the outside. However, what Rhode felt wasn’t the displeasure against darkness.
But against that mysterious aura instead.
They didn’t react to the aura while in the deep underground. But now, as they approached the surface, a gloomy aura left them in discomfort. It became denser and was as though eroding them. They also felt like they were walking in smelly sewers, where every movement and breath made them nauseous and giddy. When one breathed in the air, one felt dizzy and even one’s reactions became sluggish. In an instant, one couldn’t differentiate the directions at all…
“Hmph.”
Rhode let out a snort. Of course, he knew what was going on. They faced this situation more than once in the land of Chaos. As an inhabitant of Order, they reacted instinctively toward Chaos. Besides, the stronger the Chaos, the bigger their reactions. For instance, Rhode, Icy Snow, and Anne were inhabitants of Order as rule representatives. Their auras were as though clashing with Chaos like water on fire. Upon sensing the strong aura of Chaos, they naturally felt uncomfortable.
Rhode couldn’t help but knit his brows. Even though he learned from Angelina that the Country of Darkness was gradually being infected by Chaos, he didn’t expect it to be so quick. Judging the aura on the surface, it wasn’t too different from a land of Chaos!
Could it be that Ion had been completely influenced by Chaos? This spells trouble.
In the game, Rhode knew that BOSSes who were entirely influenced by Chaos would possess vastly different attributes and skills. What was troublesome was that even though Rhode knew the stats of the Dark Dragon inside out, if Ion were entirely influenced by Chaos, his skills would be another huge issue…
Forget it. It’s not like I don’t have ways against him.
Rhode shook his head and threw the worries to the back of his head. He extended his right arm and along with this action, an azure halo expanded with him in the middle, enfolding his group completely. Shortly after, the gray scenery ahead transformed as its colors turned vibrant.
“Phew… Anne finally feels alive.”
Up until that moment, the stifled Anne let out a long sigh of relief. Icy Snow’s ears also perked up normally as they would. It could be seen that under the influence of Chaos, the group seemed listless and sluggish. And now, after Rhode cast the halo of his Order realm, they finally returned to their usual selves.
“Master, something isn’t right.”
At that moment, Angelina responded.
“Previously, before I left, the aura of Chaos wasn’t this strong yet…”
“It really seems like a problem.”
Upon hearing Angelina’s words, Rhode nodded and hastened his pace.
“All in all, we’re better off leaving this place to find Erin as quickly as possible.”
As the group conversed, they were nearing the tunnel exit. What they had to do next was find the area where Angelina escaped from and go through that tunnel to rescue Erin. But… When Rhode’s group stepped out of the tunnel and witnessed the scenery, they were stunned.
“This…”
Even Angelina was struck speechless by what she witnessed. At a glance, the entire mountains were covered in white fog, as though the entire world were shrouded in clouds. Apart from the silhouettes of towers in the Darkness Capital, everything else was indistinct.
The severity of Chaos has reached this far?!
Looking at this scene, even though Rhode was mentally prepared, he couldn’t help but feel baffled. This place was no different from the land of Chaos he opened up back then! It was totally unprecedented for a place under a dragon soul protection to be in a state worse than a land of Chaos!
Seems like trouble.
Rhode knitted his brows. Just a few moments ago, he attempted to contact Canary, Gillian, and Marlene using the spiritual communication, but to no avail. The signals were consistently cut off, as though they couldn’t be transmitted out of this place. This went to show how much Order had crumbled in this place.
“… Angelina, can you find that place you came out from?”
Rhode sighed and instantly asked. All they could do now was to risk and see whether the foundation of Order in the Country of Darkness was completely influenced by Chaos. This way, at least his group could find the tunnel that Angelina exited from back then. As long as they entered the underground, at least they wouldn’t be influenced by Chaos to this extent. But if the foundation of Order collapsed entirely, it meant that even if Angelina found the right place, the exit might move tens of thousands of miles away on its own… Which wasn’t rare to see in any land of Chaos.
“I-I’ll try…”
At that moment, Angelina wasn’t certain of her chances despite cautiously scanning the terrain when she left. But the problem was that this godforsaken place was basically shrouded in mist, where the terrain wasn’t even visible. It made it harder for her to be able to spot the right tunnel. Angelina squinted her scarlet eyes and scanned the place. Shortly after, her scarlet eyes glinted in a faint, red radiance. She pointed at the northern hill with some hesitation.
“If I recall correctly, it should be in that direction. But now, it is impossible to clearly witness the scenery on the other side, so I’m not too sure…”
Upon hearing her answer, Rhode nodded as this was within his expectation. Fortunately, Rhode had ways to handle the situation. He turned around and gazed at Icy Snow who stood beside him.
“Little Icy.”
“Alright, Big Brother. Let me try.”
After hearing her name, Icy Snow understood his intentions thoroughly. She stretched out her arm and widened her eyes in the direction Angelina pointed. Shortly after, the blurry scenery in front of Icy Snow became clear and distinct. Different sceneries flew past her eyes, flickering like countless cameras shooting from all directions. After a few moments, the scenery before her vision stopped abruptly and three dark tunnels appeared before the group.
“Over there!”
Upon witnessing one of the tunnels, Angelina yelled immediately. She didn’t leave any identification marking on the tunnel. But even so, she used her own unique method to memorize the place when she left. At that moment, when the three tunnels appeared before them, she instantly recognized the tunnel that she escaped from.
“There!”
Sweeping a glance at the tunnel that Angelina pointed at, Icy Snow made her decision swiftly. She extended her hand and pointed at it. All of a sudden, a ray of light emanated from her fingertip, shooting at the white mist. This was Icy Snow’s expert skill—Pathfinding Beam. In the later stages of the game, many dungeons consisted of intricate mazes and traps. This skill could specify a coordinate and emit a beam that sought an automatic path. Through this skill, she could successfully exit the maze or find items she earned.
Rhode’s group relied upon this skill from Icy Snow in the game to overcome tough obstacles a lot. It was especially so with Icy Snow’s ‘space’ skill, which meant that as long as she spotted the target, their group could arrive at the destination in the shortest time possible. And now, it was the same for them. Using her abilities, the group finally confirmed the location.
“Good!”
Rhode heaved a sigh of relief after witnessing the ray of light. He gazed at his surroundings swiftly. At that moment, among the white mist, he heard some strange sounds of friction and deep growls, which were unnatural. Rhode hesitated no more. He stared ahead and commanded.
“Let’s go.”
