Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The undead army pounced on them like ferocious tigers sprinting down mountains.
Orchid Heart narrowed her eyes and one by one, the pages of the tome flipped over quickly. Hundreds of magical barriers flickering in holy radiance resisted the disaster. The wretched death knights and vampires hovering in the air retreated from the dazzling brilliance. At that moment, Orchid Heart revealed an uncharacteristic solemness on her face. She looked up, scanned the surroundings, and blew a sharp whistle. Upon hearing her signal, the soldiers fell back swiftly in that instant and columns of revival light erupted from the battlefield. In just a few moments, the intense battlefield was emptied. The unrelenting undead creatures that smashed through the barriers continued their aggression, attempting to give chase to eradicate the enemies. Looking at this scene, Orchid Heart who stood at the back of her army let out a bored yawn. Then, she extended her hand and snapped her fingers.
Snap!
All of a sudden, the magic tome in her hand emanated a golden radiance and the battlefield collapsed entirely. The strong, heavy land disintegrated into a fragile wooden board. Before the undead creatures were able to escape, they plunged instantly into the endless abyss along with layers of earth. In the blink of an eye, the battlefield was nowhere to be seen, only to be replaced by a vast abyss spanning several hundreds of meters like the humongous mouth of a monster that devoured delivered prey. At the next moment, Orchid Heart nodded in satisfaction, turned around, and sauntered away.
“What exactly is the Country of Darkness trying to do?”
But meanwhile, the young ladies who attained a ‘huge victory’ weren’t in the mood for celebrations. On the contrary, they puckered their brows in confusion. Previously, the Country of Darkness held back their attacks for a period of time after Orchid Heart led and attacked them with an army. But now, the Country of Darkness launched an attack yet again. Not only that, but also in these recent battles, the young ladies realized the increasing number of high-end troops appearing on the battlefield. This was apparently a strange matter as this was simply a game of sounding out to each other. Marlene also believed that the Country of Darkness harbored similar thoughts. This was just a game meant to maintain balance. But now, the Dark Dragon treated this game as a battle involving life and death and continued adding weight to one end of the scale. This felt like a gambler who continued to place increasing bets after losing several games in a casino. If the gambler were to lose everything, perhaps he would flip the table and slaughter the dealers. But the problem was that this was only a game, to begin with, and treating it so seriously rather crossed the line.
“Sigh… those guys are so annoying recently. Anne is exhausted.”
Anne sprawled across the table and rolled about boringly. As a shield warrior, she was naturally selected to join the front line alongside Orchid Heart, Lize, and the others. What baffled them the most was that even though Anne participated in all battles against the Country of Darkness from the beginning, she had never died once. Not only that, but Lize who was protected by her also didn’t die, and not even her skin was scratched. This wasn’t surprising for spell casters like Orchid Heart and Lize, as it was always challenging to break through their defensive spells. However, it was on the other extreme end for a shield warrior like Anne. For her to be leaping and frisking around right now was truly shocking to them.
But come to think of it, this was a period of estrus for Anne and the continuous battles could be considered another channel for her to vent her excess energy, which explained why she was so lively and active right now. On the other hand, Lize who sat beside her let out an exhausted sigh. She couldn’t be blamed since her duty as a cleric became ever more important compared to the past as she needed to lead a team of clerics to revive the fallen soldiers. The revival spells required a high level of concentration and stamina, and she also had to ensure that everyone returned safely from the battlefield. This was impossible in the past, but it became possible now. That was why she felt a heavy sense of responsibility. Even though Orchid Heart was always responsible for the final insurance after the battles (she recorded all revival spells cast by Lize and the clerics from previous battles and released them all at once after the most recent battle was over), Lize still felt a substantial amount of pressure, which was why she seemed listless after every battle.
However, what they were considering right now apparently wasn’t about the battlefield.
“It is all thanks to Miss Orchid Heart’s cautiousness that we made it back safely…”
Marlene said and couldn’t help but nod at Orchid Heart. This time, she expressed her gratitude from the bottom of her heart. Even though many things that Orchid Heart had done seemed ridiculous to them, they were exceptionally effective, as a matter of fact. One of the things she did was command some men to bury crystals containing a variety of spells around the battlefield. The spells included earthquakes, gales, and walls of fire. This left Marlene in doubt. Even though these spells were effective after the enemies entered their range, they didn’t have any special and decisive meaning. For that reason, Marlene didn’t expect them to be useful in such a way—the fissures across the land weren’t only created by the crystals buried underneath. Instead, the very instant Orchid Heart activated the crystals, she also copied the released spells and used them for continuous attacks again, which resulted in an almost impossible miracle. Although Christie and the rest were able to achieve it too, Orchid Heart’s meticulousness left them exclaiming in admiration.
“… But now, the problem is that we don’t know what exactly the Dark Dragon is trying to achieve.”
Marlene said and shifted her gaze to the silent Alice.
“Alice, do you have a solution?”
“If His Majesty were here, I could borrow his power and perhaps spy on the Dark Dragon up to a certain extent. If not, I don’t have a way to confirm the Dark Dragon’s intentions.”
“The great lichs have also shown up this time… don’t tell me the Dark Dragon intends to send out the legendary generals?”
“It doesn’t matter. If he sends out the legendary generals, we will have the right to think that he has broken the rules! In that case, do we even need any reason to deal with him, Big Sisters?”
Cassidy said with a smile. However, deep anger and disdain were hidden underneath that facade.
“Merely a dragon soul heir and he dares to challenge us, the six deity wardens? What a fool. We should use our powers to make that cunning, irritable reptile learn that he belongs to the ground. All he should do is crawl and lift his head to look up at us! Before His Majesty returns, we need to teach that reptile and his critters the proper etiquette!”
Cassidy said with confidence. As of now, Christie, Marlene, Cassidy, and Alice had returned to their positions as deity wardens and the remaining two were still missing. If they knew that Rhode had already found their sister—the missing seventh deity warden, Marybelle—perhaps their confidence would go over the roof. Just as Cassidy said, although on the surface, the strength between the six deity wardens and four legendary generals weren’t too different, the six deity wardens were followers of the former Creator Dragons, after all. On the other hand, the four legendary generals and three archangels were created by the Creator Dragons as ‘guards’ to protect the dragon soul heirs. The six deity wardens (once seven deity wardens) were made to fight against Chaos. Meanwhile, the existence of the four legendary generals and three archangels seemed to be more for handling internal conflicts. In this case, the difference in strength between them was obvious at a glance, where Alice, who wasn’t adept in battle, could crush Balende effortlessly. According to Rhode’s younger sister, Marybelle and Christie would only have to ‘expend a little more energy than usual’ to destroy the dragon soul heirs. Even though Christie was residing in the Astral Temple right now and could only show up in the other Christie temporarily, subduing Ion wouldn’t be a problem if Marlene, Alice, and Cassidy joined hands.
Of course, they also had to ‘expend a little more energy than usual’.
To the deity wardens, that was all there was to the so-called dragon soul heirs.
As of now, they didn’t launch an attack on the Country of Darkness yet due to Rhode’s command. Not only that, but they also felt like the situation was too unusual. Christie, as the strongest general, had to stay behind and watch over Grandia. Marlene was in charge of the front line. Cassidy and Alice were responsible for dealing with any possible crises in the territory. As for the Munn Kingdom, Serene replaced Lydia in dealing with restless troublemakers. Lilian and Sonia continued to do their utmost in conforming the situation in the Country of Light and couldn’t free up their hands temporarily. However, the deity wardens didn’t need the little amount of power Lilian possessed, that was.
“Will the twin dragons take any action?”
“I think it is naive to count on them. I’ll count my blessings if they’re not that foolish to hand over His Majesty’s dragon essence to the Dark Dragon.”
Cassidy snorted and interrupted Alice. It was apparent that Cassidy didn’t have a favorable impression of the twin dragons. Despite that, she smiled elegantly like a true noble young lady and criticized in disdain—perhaps this was her true personality, but with the prerequisite that Rhode wasn’t around her, of course. If not, this young lady with a strong ‘male phobia’ would definitely turn into another manner.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the Country of Darkness was equally solemn and heavy.
Smash!
A crystal-made wineglass inlaid with glorious patterns shattered to dust upon being hurled to the ground by an immense force. Balende half-knelt on the ground, lowered his head, and sensed the rage burning in the man’s eyes in front of him. It was an incomparable wrath. The dark, oppressive palace became even more ice-cold and dangerous, even for Balende who had died and been reborn as a death knight. It was a terrifying rage that almost froze his soul.
“In other words, we lost again?”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Even though they retreated, they didn’t seem to have many casualties. As for our side…”
“You’re saying that they didn’t even send out angels and yet, resisted the undead army with a bunch of humans?”
“… Yes, Your Majesty.”
Balende responded and let out a sigh. In the past, everyone on the continent feared the undead army. But it was entirely different now. Ever since the revival spell was discovered, the threat of the undead army declined sharply. Balende experienced the effects of it because not too long ago, he had led the undead army and gotten into a war of attrition with Orchid Heart.
That’s right, a war of attrition.
This was impossible to describe the undead army, but that was the truth. Even though Balende didn’t show up in the battles personally to avoid going up against the deity wardens, he commanded the army from the rear. Facing his 150,000 troops, Orchid Heart had only sent out 30,000 units. She didn’t draw support from strongholds or an enormous fortress like the one in the Land of Atonement, had no special weapons, and merely set up some defensive mechanisms—yes, just some defensive mechanisms—and clashed with the army of 150,000 troops.
That battle was like a gigantic meat grinder that kept grinding and grinding for three nights. As a result, Orchid Heart successfully withdrew 28,000 people and left behind 2,000 corpses. On the other hand, less than 30,000 remained from the 150,000 troops for Balende’s side… The undead creatures had the absolute upper hand over mortals. But in situations where mortals could be revived, the flaws of the undead army were clearly revealed in comparison.
After all, the so-called undead didn’t have the same meaning as being completely revived.
No matter how strong the overwhelming undead soldiers were, they were just living dead manipulated by death spells. As soon as they were purified, they would return to being what they should have been and would disappear entirely. After losing their source of corpses, the undead army could no longer replenish their strength and their consumption continued to increase. Of course, the Country of Darkness could also cast revival spells, but with the premise that they had to revive all the undead soldiers into living beings. To the Country of Darkness that had undead creatures occupying up to 90 percent of the nation’s population, this would be a tough challenge.
“…”
Upon hearing Balende’s response, Ion didn’t say a word. He let out a grunt and after a few moments, gave a command.
“Charlie!”
“…”
The fallen angel who stood at the side went up silently. Ion stared at him and ordered.
“I order you to lead and attack the maggots who retaliated against us—eradicate them all!”
“Your Majesty?”
Not only was Balende surprised, but Garcia who stood by the side also lifted his head dubiously, totally unaware of what madness the Dark Dragon had gotten into. In fact, they had similar thoughts as Marlene and the rest. From the start, when Ion launched his attacks, it was also considered a ‘game of probing’ to them. But as the situation developed, Balende and Garcia realized the increasingly unusual behavior in Ion. Taking this incident, for instance, he actually sent out high-end forces like the great lichs, which was as though he had decided to skirt the line of the rules. But now, what Ion said wasn’t just skirting the line anymore, but an official declaration of war!
“Your Majesty, please reconsider your decision!”
Balende and Garcia exclaimed almost at the same time. At that moment, they couldn’t care less about the punishment they would receive from disrupting the Dark Dragon.
What kind of joke is this?
It was imaginable for them what would happen if Charlie were to lead the army. The Void Territory would definitely dispatch the deity wardens in response. Balende, who was the strongest among the four legendary generals, was almost killed instantly by one of the deity wardens. If he weren’t lucky back then, perhaps he would be nonexistent by now. In that case, Charlie would surely perish if he were to head into war. Not only that, but perhaps the Country of Light, Country of Law, and Void Territory would also join forces and crusade against them since they broke the rules! If the situation turned out that way, things couldn’t get worse! This would absolutely be a nightmare for the Country of Darkness!
Charlie stood on the spot silently. His eyes stared at the ground indifferently. No one knew what his opinion was toward this order from the Dark Dragon. Perhaps it would be enough for this fallen angel as long as he could participate in a war and other matters were out of his considerations. Or maybe this was why Ion chose him and not Balende and Garcia to lead the war. But it was due to these reasons that Balende and Garcia grew increasingly anxious.
“Your Majesty, if you do this, the Void Territory will…”
“Shut up!”
Before Balende and Garcia could continue their pleas, Ion snapped at them and erupted his formidable dragon’s prestige, making no secret of its presence. It conquered them entirely, forcing them to bow down in respect. At that moment, Balende and Garcia exchanged flustered looks with each other. They spotted the doubts and uncertainties in each other’s eyes.
Just what is wrong with His Majesty?
