“W-What happened?”
Thomas gazed in disbelief. A few moments ago he felt the ground trembling like an earthquake and heard the bursts of anguished screams like the curses of evil spirits, which scared him into curling up instinctively. The soldiers also immediately aimed their guns ahead. Even though they knew that their weapons were no better than scrap metal in this situation, gripping onto them tightly gave them a sense of security, at the very least. No matter what, it was still better than them having nothing to rely on. After all, be it a misconception or whatnot, humans felt safer whenever they held a weapon in their hands.
Meanwhile, they realized that the thick, transparent, and sturdy ice layer emanated a dazzling white radiance. It was so glaring that some of them couldn’t open their eyes or look straight at it. Not only that, but also as this white brilliance erupted, the rumbles of the ground became stronger. They thought this place was about to collapse. Be it the floor, dome, or walls, all of them trembled as though they couldn’t withstand the overwhelming load.
“S-Say, is it better for us to leave this place?”
Gazing at this scene, Thomas couldn’t help but suggest anxiously. Well, he couldn’t be blamed. Like in Hollywood movies, this scene was as though the prior indication of a collapse and explosion after the battle between the protagonist and the final BOSS in the final juncture. Thomas admitted to being a geek, but was never as athletic as a Hollywood actor to escape in a matter of life or death.
But before anyone went along with his suggestion, Mini Bubble Gum’s ice-cold voice sounded and interrupted their thoughts.
“Hmph, trying to escape? Fine. Go ahead since you people love to die. Anyway, Big Sister and I will be waiting here. Scram if you’re leaving. I feel annoyed just looking at you people!”
“Ugh…”
Upon hearing her blunt words, the wavering crowd became speechless. They knew that without these two young ladies, they could never make it out alive. As a matter of fact, if it weren’t for the semi-circular defensive barrier in front of them now, perhaps they would have already fled. Since Mini Bubble Gum and Canary weren’t willing to leave, it wouldn’t work no matter how fiercely they yelled at the young ladies.
Meanwhile, the white radiance brightened. At a glance, everything seemed to be enveloped by it. This scene left the crowd increasingly nervous and even the silent Canary and Mini Bubble Gum who pretended to be calm also became rather concerned. After all, neither of them knew what this meant. They didn’t know if Rhode failed or succeeded. The only thing they could do now was to wait and pray for his well being.
At that moment, the white brilliance that enveloped the entire world dissipated into innumerable light dust that fluttered toward the ceiling. Shortly after, the crowd witnessed the mysterious black mist trapped inside the ice crystal dissolving and disappearing in the radiance. Not only that, but the ice crystal that even Lydia’s blade couldn’t slash also began to disintegrate. It gradually turned into bits of snowy crystals that swirled in the air along with the gales and disappeared entirely.
Kacha… Kacha…
Everyone turned to the sound of the cracks. The pyramid shrouded in white mist had revealed its original state. On its top, cracks began to appear over the surface of the enormous ice column that connected the ceiling. The cracks spread over the surface quickly and the huge ice column shattered in a loud bang. Then, a human figure emanating golden radiance appeared before Marybelle, opening her eyes and witnessing the happenings in silence. That human figure was also Marybelle, just that she was more illusory like a spirit and not a human.
“That is…”
Gazing at the young lady, everyone including Canary and Mini Bubble Gum muttered a few words and didn’t continue speaking. They lifted their heads, gazed at the fuzzy human figure, and waited patiently for an answer. They didn’t know what they would be facing next or in which direction the situation was developing into. All they could do now was to wait.
“…”
Marybelle remained equally silent. She scanned everything before her and extended her arm. Along with this movement, the magic wand and Akashic Key hovering around her landed into her palm. The young lady gripped the magic wand and tapped it forward lightly.
That was an unforgettable and mesmerizing scene. In an instant, the lifeless world sealed in ice restored its vitality. One by one, magical lamps lit up in vibrant lusters, illuminating the entire plaza. The verdant and lush vegetation grew over its surface with innumerable, beautiful flowers blooming fully. Historical dust faded away at that very moment. At a glance, the entire sacred palace was as though a brand new structure.
At that moment, the unconscious people who fell to the ground after breaking free from the restraint of the ice crystal crawled to their feet slowly. They widened their eyes, gazing at the surroundings in a daze. It wasn’t surprising that they had such bewildered expressions. After all, in the memories of these fighters, what they recalled was the battle against Chaos. Before they knew it, the enemies in front of them suddenly vanished for no apparent reason. Then, several streaks of golden radiance suddenly appeared out of thin air and Rhode’s group came walking out from within. At that moment, the nervous Canary and Mini Bubble Gum had already calmed themselves down. No matter what, it seemed like everything went well.
At least that was the case, on the surface.
“I didn’t expect you to actually succeed, Your Majesty.”
Upon landing softly on the ground, Marybelle gazed at Rhode and said. This was the first time she spoke to him in her true self. She stooped over slightly and gave a respectful bow.
“I’ve acknowledged you, Your Majesty. Perhaps you’re already aware of who I am, but I must formally introduce myself again. I am one of the seven deity wardens, the Presence Deity Warden, Marybelle. By order of the former Void Dragon, I arrived here to open up a new territory. If you don’t mind, I would like to continue and complete my task.”
“No, wait up, Marybelle.”
Rhode forced a smile and extended his arm to stop the deity warden before him.
“Before that, I suppose you aren’t aware of how long you’ve been asleep and the current situation. I think we should catch up with each other before deciding on a plan,” Rhode said and glanced at the surroundings.
The situation here was apparently chaotic. Be it Marybelle or Rhode, none of them had figured out the exact situation. At that moment, they needed time to arrange their thoughts before making a decision. Upon hearing Rhode’s remarks, Marybelle agreed without hesitation.
Rhode had to admit that Marybelle was indeed a meticulous and detailed person. After making her decision, she gathered the survivors who had followed her to this world and requested that they continued to watch over the sacred palace and restore its functions. Meanwhile, Rhode’s group followed Marybelle into a meeting room for a discussion. As for Thomas and the rest, even though they hoped to join in, it was a pity that Rhode apparently had no intention of getting them involved. First, they didn’t understand the spoken language of the Dragon Soul Continent, so communications were out of the picture. Second, Rhode didn’t see them as people who carried great weight. They didn’t have the right to make decisions on behalf of humans in determining their fate, which was why it didn’t make sense to let them join in the discussion.
But before that…
“Conclude a contract?”
Upon hearing Marybelle’s words, Rhode gazed at her in astonishment. The former twitched her brow in response.
“Yes, Your Majesty. To tell you the truth, as my body was used to seal off the sinister and cunning Chaos over this long period of time, it is on the verge of crumbling. Even if I were to return to my body now, I can’t revive in perfect condition. Besides, I have doubts over the possibility of my body being in perfect condition. I suppose you’ve already seen what happened in my memories. Frankly, I don’t think my body used to seal off Chaos can avoid the fate of being contaminated by it. For safety’s sake, it is better to abandon my body. Besides, you’re a Spirit Swordsman, Your Majesty. After concluding a contract with you, I can be baptized by Order again and stop Chaos from infiltrating me entirely. Also…”
Marybelle said and gazed at Rhode.
“… I think this will be beneficial for our mutual understanding and trust.”
“…”
Rhode couldn’t help but remain silent. It was obvious that Marybelle was a meticulous person. In order to prevent the possibilities of resurgence from Chaos, she would rather destroy her body. This wasn’t an easy decision achievable by anyone. But Rhode understood why she acted this prudently. After all, Chaos became rather sinister after entering this world. Rhode also wasn’t willing to let history repeat itself where Marybelle was ‘betrayed by a traitor’, which caused her plan to fail completely. Even though Marybelle mentioned that Chaos manipulated and contaminated undead creatures based on their unique characteristic of having separate soul and flesh, the matter of fact was that there were records of humans, angels, and elves being contaminated by Chaos apart from undead creatures too. In this case, it was hard to determine if there were any exceptions. If Chaos lurked inside her body, there would be huge troubles after she returned to her body and Chaos attempted to stain her soul.
But it was equally a risk for Rhode. It could also be said that this was a test of trust between them. Unlike Alice and the other deity wardens, Rhode and Marybelle had no unique relationship at all. This was their first meeting and Marybelle didn’t know what sort of a person this Void Dragon was. On the other hand, Rhode had a hard time judging if Marybelle was still the same deity warden that his younger sister described. And now, concluding a card contract required both sides to interact spiritually. If Marybelle’s soul was stained by Chaos and seized the opportunity to enter Rhode’s body, he would have to suffer a double loss.
“… Alright then, I agree with your request.”
After some consideration, Rhode eventually nodded. Although there were some risks involved, he decided to give it a shot. Of course, he was prepared beforehand. After all, he wasn’t fighting the battle alone. When necessary, he could let his younger sister observe for abnormalities to prevent any potential accidents. This was considered a double insurance for him.
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“You’re welcome, Marybelle. By the way, your sisters must be excited to see you again.”
Rhode said and extended his arm. Shortly after, a system prompt appeared before his eyes.
[Spirit Language activated… Detected Soul Core. Confirm to awaken?]
Awaken.
At this thought, several runes erupted from Marybelle and spun in halos around her. They were like some sort of a scanning device, surrounding and analyzing her. Then, another system prompt appeared.
[Analyzing Spirit Condition——5%——35%——50%]
As the progress bar moved, the spiritual radiance circulating around Marybelle dazzled increasingly. Marybelle stood silently on the spot and waited for the end of this analysis.
[90%——95%——100%]
[Spirit Analysis Complete. Begin Awakening]
The dazzling circular runes emanated an array of vibrant colors. Meanwhile, Marybelle who stood in the middle gradually turned fuzzy and illusory. All of a sudden, she transformed into a light torrent and in the blink of an eye, a platinum card appeared in Rhode’s hand. At the same time, a system prompt that he had waited for a long time appeared.
[Marybelle (Presence Deity Warden) Offense 20 Defense 20: Unique Deity Warden. Unfuseable. Dominator of Presence. Judge of the existence of all things. Absolute Domination. Master of Order’s rules. Skills—Force of Presence (Only a logical presence who fits the specification of Order has the right to exist physically in this world)]
“Phew…”
Rhode heaved a sigh of relief. He gazed at the card in his hand and asked.
“How’s the situation?”
“No problem, Big Brother. No invasion of foreign objects was detected by the system. Marybelle’s soul is in perfect condition. No distortions and turbidites were found.”
“Glad to hear that.”
Rhode felt reassured after hearing the younger sister’s response and turned to Marybelle’s body. The instant her soul was sealed into the card, Marybelle’s body shattered entirely and turned into light dust alongside the ice crystal before vanishing into thin air.
It seems just like what Marybelle mentioned. Even though her body wasn’t invaded by Chaos, it was truly on the verge of collapse after subduing Chaos for millions of years.
At this thought, Rhode shook his head and didn’t say a word. Instead, he turned his wrist around and swung his arm, summoning Marybelle before him once again. This time, the stern young lady revealed a gentle smile.
“Alright then, Your Majesty. Let’s continue our discussion.”
After resolving the trouble regarding Marybelle, everyone entered the meeting room by Marybelle’s lead and began exchanging intelligence. Of course, as Rhode witnessed the happenings in Marybelle’s memories, most of the time, it was him describing the development of Earth and the Dragon Soul Continent and his relationship with the Void Dragon. Marybelle had to admit that she was baffled when she heard that the five Creator Dragons had actually broken through the barrier, arrived on Earth in their spiritual form, and were reincarnated thereafter. It went without saying what expression she revealed when she learned that Rhode and the Void Dragon were siblings. Rhode also didn’t cover up the truth of anything in particular. After all, Marybelle had concluded a contract with him and also seemed to be one worthy of his trust (it would be an entirely different issue if she were Cassidy instead. But come to think of it, perhaps it was due to his ‘transformation’ back then, that resulted in this unfavorable relationship between them…).
After listening to Rhode’s narration, Marybelle finally understood the current situation. Compared to that era of theirs, Earth had had earth-shaking developments. On the other hand, after the monsters (dinosaurs) perished, Earth began another round of evolution which explained why humans eventually appeared in the Dragon Soul Continent. Of course, humans on Earth were different from those in the Dragon Soul Continent. The former couldn’t use spiritual powers and had no magical abilities. Instead, they headed down another road of civilization.
“I see…”
Marybelle nodded to the analysis for the current situation. Then, she pondered for a while and said.
“Alright then, Your Majesty. I suggest we continue our earlier operation to open the Door of Akasha and connect to the Dragon Soul Continent. Through that we can migrate all inhabitants over here. As for humans on this planet… even though they don’t possess spiritual powers, they have deep insights on using tools according to you, Your Majesty. I think we can treat them as useful slaves…”
“Ahem…!”
Upon hearing Marybelle’s remarks, Rhode couldn’t help but let out an awkward cough. Of course, he knew that people without spiritual powers were highly disregarded in the Dragon Soul Continent. In the eyes of people like Marybelle, those people weren’t too different from servants and slaves. However, Rhode was born on Earth, after all, and wasn’t too used to hearing such remarks—or perhaps it was more than just not being too used to it.
He wondered whether Thomas and the others who were waiting outside would lift their guns and rebel after they heard Marybelle treating them as ‘useful slaves and servants’.
“No, it’s not necessary, Marybelle. But I do have a new idea…”
Rhode said and explained his thoughts to her. Upon hearing his idea, Marybelle pondered in silence and said.
“Transport the entire Dragon Soul Continent to this world? Indeed… it will be more convenient. It also allows us to fuse with the Order of this world in the shortest time possible and control this place entirely… If we can establish stable footing in the shortest time here, it won’t be difficult to use the strength of Order in this world to eliminate and subdue Chaos…”
Upon hearing her opinion, Rhode could only force a smile in response. This deity warden was just as how his younger sister described: meticulous and responsible. She couldn’t stop thinking about ways to safeguard the Dragon Soul Continent in this world. Based on the fact that she could destroy the ecosphere of Earth for the sake of eliminating Chaos and prevent the possibilities of accidents by sacrificing her body, this went to show she was ferocious to others but more ruthless to herself. If she determined that humans on Earth were a threat to the Dragon Soul Continent, Rhode was certain that she would suggest destroying Earth without batting an eyelid. All in all, the value of this planet wasn’t worthy of a mention compared to the Dragon Soul Continent in her opinion.
Perhaps to Marybelle, even if the people of this world were able to drive spaceships to explore the universe, they were nothing more than a group of club-wielding monkeys.
All of a sudden, Rhode seemed to recall something. He lifted his head immediately and looked at Marybelle with a stern gaze.
“By the way, Marybelle, can you guarantee that you’ve sealed off and eliminated all Chaos back then?”
“… Theoretically speaking, yes. Just like us, Chaos yearned for the strength of Akasha. That was why I dismantled the Door of Akasha, activated its key to lure Chaos over, and sealed all of them here. Is there any issues with that, Your Majesty?”
After listening to her answer, Rhode couldn’t help but shift his gaze to Erin. Because at that moment, he suddenly recalled the group of unknown black figures who attacked Erin in the Dragon Soul Continent very early on.
“Yes, I suppose there are,” he said.
