Even though two days had gone, Rhode was still in a really good mood, especially when his younger sister brought back the Astral Telescope. Whenever Rhode recalled Ion’s ashen expression as though his father had just passed away, his mood became so good that he could gobble a few more bowls of rice. Although it took less than three hours for him and his younger sister to head and return from the Darkness Capital and they didn’t even bother to speak a few more words or have a chat over tea, Rhode didn’t feel like what she had done was wrong. Even though her behavior was inappropriate according to ‘traditional’ diplomatic protocols, Rhode felt extremely delighted. Moreover, they went to the Darkness Capital to express their stand too.
Since they had gotten the Astral Telescope, they needed to give Ion a warning using their attitude that the Void Territory wouldn’t accept bribes and ‘acting tough and talking soft’ wouldn’t work on them. Rhode hoped that after this encounter, the Dark Dragon would behave himself. Of course, Rhode had his own intention for instigating his younger sister to not show deference to the Dark Dragon. In fact, even so most people didn’t wish to see a war breaking out, Rhode planned to do the exact opposite. He was eager for the Dark Dragon to lose his patience and declare war with him because to Rhode, the most important matter was to open the Dimension Gate and transport the Dragon Soul Continent away from the threat of Chaos. For this to work, he needed to prove his abilities to the other three Creator Dragons (Lilian wasn’t included because she would basically do anything as long as he told her to). Of course, Rhode wouldn’t be that foolish to single out the twin dragons as a point of attack, which was why the Dark Dragon was the best whetstone. As long as he defeated the Dark Dragon, he would have sufficient credits to explain his plans and ‘demand’ that they supported him.
Yes. ‘Demand’ and not ‘request’.
This was why Rhode purposely made things difficult for the Dark Dragon time and time again, ‘taunting’ him to lose his patience and launch an attack. Through this method, Rhode could justifiably turn himself into a victim who had to retaliate with vicious attacks of his own. What is that certain famous sentence? Hmm… Yes! We won’t fire the first bullet, but it doesn’t matter who you fired your first bullet at because as long as you fire it, don’t blame us for going all-out.
As of now, Rhode was acting in accordance to what others thought about the situation and pretended to ‘value harmony’ as much as possible. At the same time, he continuously taunted the Dark Dragon because things couldn’t get better if the Dark Dragon were to lose his patience. Rhode was skilled at doing such things. In the game, he had done several similar things and was never caught by anyone. There was even during the Internet era where a single conversational message over the web could possibly be screen-captured and uploaded to the forums to be exploited. Despite the high risks, Rhode never messed up on his part, not to mention this world with less stricter surveillance. No matter how powerful the twin dragons were, they couldn’t possibly monitor his every action 24/7, right?
Therefore, what he did wasn’t conspiring in secret. Instead, he was conspiring openly. His younger sister didn’t treat the Dark Dragon with deference and even disregarded him, but so what? Did anyone set the rules that one must face others who invaded one’s territory with smiles? Why would Rhode even care about this when he had reached the distinction of the Creator Dragons? If Ion were to send out his armies to the Void Territory over this issue, he would be the childish one instead.
But now, what Rhode did wasn’t for naught. He knew that the Dark Dragon was an unyielding man who wouldn’t let things slide. The Dark Dragon could tolerate it once or twice, but Rhode refused to believe that he could hold it in after 10, 20, 50, or even 100 times. Since the Dark Dragon could hold his patience so well, wouldn’t it be a waste if Rhode didn’t take advantage of him?
But now, Rhode had something more important to attend to.
And that was after a period of time that was neither too short nor long, he was finally about to return to his body.
Even though Rhode felt free and unfettered in his days as a spirit, he still pretty much preferred to restore his body. Of course, this thought was also contradicting. He empathized with his younger sister’s happiness and the nostalgia she had for this world after finally becoming a person during this period. If it was possible, he didn’t wish for this to end. But… he was aware that this couldn’t last forever. After all, even though he could accept this temporary relief, others couldn’t possibly accept the days without him.
“I’m really sorry.”
Gazing at the Astral Telescope that was fully reconstructed, Rhode let out a subtle sigh. After returning from the Darkness Capital, his younger sister reassembled the Astral Telescope in Grandia. As for the coffin engraved with dissonant runes, it was also put aside. As the power in Rhode and his younger sister changed, he felt like the day of him getting back his body was getting closer. This also meant that his younger sister would once again leave this world.
“It’s fine, Big Brother. This surprise is considered the best present for me.”
Lifting her head and gazing at the starry sky, the young lady said softly under her breath. She closed her eyes and stretched out her hand to feel the gentle wind whistling by. The radiance of the sun, the water droplets on the surface of the greenish leaf blades, the crisp, refreshing sound of the flowing creak in the near distance… Everything was coming to an end for her. Shortly after, the power inside her would vanish completely. As the final traces of the power of contrast were lifted, the state between them would automatically reset like how a computer would automatically restart after eliminating the last virus to complete the final step.
“I will surely think of a way to give you a body of your own.”
“I trust you, Big Brother. But don’t stress yourself over it… after all, it isn’t easy.”
Indeed, just as the young lady mentioned, this wasn’t something easily-achievable. If it was only about creating a body with life, it wasn’t hard for him as he had Lapis and Marlene around. The former possessed the prohibited alchemy techniques of the Behermes, while the latter could create ‘humanoids’, so it wasn’t challenging for them to create bodies or robot-like magical puppets.
But the problem was the… soul.
No matter what, Rhode’s younger sister was the first Void Dragon and her powerful strength wasn’t easily supportable by just anything. If not, it wouldn’t be necessary for the dragon soul heirs to be beings formed from the essence coalesced under the respective dragon soul protection to inherit the dragon soul. For instance, Christie. Even though she was the product of the essence between Rhode and his younger sister, the power she possessed wasn’t tolerable for most humans. It was due to this reason that Christie was always sick and frail ever since birth. If Rhode were to randomly find a body as a vessel to inject his younger sister’s soul, there was a high probability that she would end up like Christie. If that happened, the gains wouldn’t make up for the losses. Unlike Cassidy, his younger sister was only a soul fragment. Rhode had discussed this with Alice, Lapis, and Marlene and the conclusion he got was that if he couldn’t find a perfect body for her to recuperate her soul, she would be hurt even more and eventually turned into ashes completely. And that wasn’t what Rhode wanted.
Time’s up.
Rhode sensed his body slowly recovering its strength, weight, shape, and everything else. His spirit-like body took shape slowly. He could no longer float in midair due to the increasing weight and he descended to the surface gradually. In contrast, the young lady started lifting off the ground. She spread her arms apart like an angel, lifting her head and a bright, gentle radiance emanated from her body. Then, specks of light dust dispersed in all directions, bringing a dreamy, beautiful scene to this world. Rhode lifted his head, gazed at the young lady, and extended his arm to hold onto the fair, slender, and soft hand of hers.
The sensation felt as familiar and reminiscent as ever. The warmth from her palm. The gentle touch and scent. Everything was the same as he remembered. Rhode lifted his head and looked at the face that was identical to his. He sensed the touch in his hand gradually fading away as though something that was supposed to be drawn as a line of boundary, turned indistinct, and eventually vanished.
The radiance became brighter and as soon as he narrowed his eyes to the bright light, the warm, familiar touch in his hand disappeared. When he opened his eyes again, the young lady was no longer there and he finally returned to his usual self.
“It has ended…”
Gazing at his palm, Rhode let out a long sigh. He turned to the Astral Telescope and the pitch-black coffin under its supporting pillars had blended almost perfectly into the structure. But before that… Rhode stretched out his hand at this thought. Along with his action, a card in black and white contrast appeared in his hand. His expression turned odd as soon as he witnessed it.
Because that was, in fact, the Contrast Deity Warden, Cassidy.
