“Everything’s fine with the Country of Law for now,” Rhode said after receiving Lesa’s report.
He leaned back on the chair, held up a cup of piping-hot tea, and gazed at the stars outside the window. This place used to be a country under the everlasting, pitch-black sky. But now, it had turned into a boundless night sky with a flowing river of stars.
“Come to think of it… the Country of Darkness’s resistance sure is intense,” Rhode said, sweeping a glance at the map before him.
On their fifth day here, Rhode’s group finally met the strong resistance of the Country of Darkness. Perhaps the Country of Darkness knew from their earlier clash that they didn’t stand a chance against Rhode’s magic warships, which was why Rhode discovered the undead creatures taking the initiative in guerrilla warfare. The undead creatures upheld the principle of ‘if the enemy attacks, we retreat, and if the enemy retreats, we attack’, borrowing the power of the eternal night sky and their familiarity with the land of the Country of Darkness to launch ambushes on Rhode’s group. After Rhode’s group stormed in retaliation, he realized that the enemy’s resistance became stronger and decisively abandoned his plan to continue advancing. In any case, his goal was to turn his magic fleet into a magnet that ‘sucked’ all the powerful undead creatures in the Country of Darkness to one spot, before devouring them chunk by chunk. The stronger the resistance, the more evidence there was to prove that there was an increasing number of powerful beings. Even though this was dangerous for Rhode, he would need to take some risks if he wanted to perfect it. Moreover, such risks were also within his control.
Rhode didn’t care whether the enemies that came forth were undead creatures contaminated by Chaos or just ordinary, powerful undead creatures. His belief was to kill 99 innocent people rather than let that one person off. Besides, it didn’t matter if it wasn’t a lackey of Chaos that he eradicated. Since they were undead creatures anyways, he could weaken the strength of the Country of Darkness for every undead creature he killed. After all, undead creatures couldn’t reproduce on their own. If Rhode used this opportunity to beat up the Country of Darkness, he could wake up smiling. Although this would let Erin down, Rhode wasn’t the least bit pressured committing something like this. Since the Country of Darkness had tyrannized the continent for so long, it was about time for them to fall!
“The current situation is still under control. But Rhode, will Lesa and the Moon Blade Legion be enough to assist the Country of Law? I heard from Lesa’s report that there seem to be intense battles all over the Country of Law.”
Unlike the carefree Rhode, Marlene was deeply worried about the intelligence she had heard. However, Rhode waved his hand airily in response.
“Don’t worry, they’re enough to handle the situation. Remember, we’re not saviors of the world and the Country of Law belongs to the territory of the twin dragons, after all, so they should be the ones to come forward. This time, if it weren’t for the sake of Gracier and Madaras, I wouldn’t have sent out the elf knights. It is good enough that they help in defending the Country of Law. We don’t need to worry about other matters. We’d better focus on the enemies in front of us instead.”
“Okay then.”
Marlene nodded, while Rhode stopped speaking. However, they knew that the enemies before them weren’t undead creatures, but Chaos instead.
“… According to the investigations from Lapis, Karin, and I, the results seem optimistic. Based on our experiments, even though the contamination speed of this mutant of Chaos is fast, after gaining control of it, the contamination speed on Order creatures has gradually decreased. Although it is tough to determine for undead creatures with the same attribute, it is entirely different from humans or other beings with entirely different attributes, where the infected ones are unlikely to spread Chaos to others. If Chaos is spread by a third or fourth party, the contamination can be eliminated entirely. And even if one were contaminated by Chaos, under the worst circumstances, the infected body part can be removed to ensure the safety of life. But for now, we don’t have enough results to prove that.”
“Hmm…”
Upon hearing Marlene’s report, Rhode nodded. Then, he seemed to recall something all of a sudden and asked: “By the way, if one were infected by Chaos and revived thereafter, what would happen?”
“Huh…? About that… Apologies, we currently don’t have any results.”
“Pass on the order. Let Lize and the rest pay attention to it. If there are similar records, report to us immediately.”
“Alright, Rhode.”
Fortunately, according to the investigations of Marlene and the rest, the zombie outbreak in Resident Evil that Rhode was most worried about wouldn’t happen. After all, the Dragon Soul Continent was a world of Order while Chaos was oppressed. In the beginning, Chaos indeed possessed terrifying traits that could infect even dragon soul heirs. But after the experiments, Marlene and the rest discovered that after two or three consecutive and indirect infections, the contamination rate of Chaos became lower. At the end of the journey, its power was as though a ‘Chaos curse’, where clerics could eradicate it effortlessly. Rhode heaved a sigh of relief. He was initially concerned that the influence of Chaos would linger on like a virus and become more powerful with the spread. But now, it seemed like after two to three transmissions, apart from the possibilities of undead creatures being infected, the possibilities of other creatures being infected were greatly reduced.
Despite that, Rhode didn’t let his guard down just yet. Judging from the extent of contamination of the undead creatures, Ion had apparently mastered a technique that could contaminate low-level troops on a large-scale. If not, he couldn’t possibly have strengthened them within such a short period. But every coin had two sides, after all. Even though the strength of these low-level troops multiplied due to the infection of Chaos, they couldn’t contaminate others by themselves.
“Okay then, the next thing is about…”
Knock, knock.
While Rhode spoke, someone suddenly knocked on the door. Anne pushed the door open and entered.
“Is anything the matter, Anne?”
“Yes, Leader. The scout that Sister Heart sent out spotted a team of Chaos elites in the valley who seem really hard to deal with. We’re about to lead a team over to check on the situation…”
“Did something happen?”
Upon hearing Anne’s words, Rhode couldn’t help but feel dubious because he didn’t think it was necessary to report to him over such a small matter. He handed over the control of the magic fleet to Celia while he annihilated undead creatures on the surface with the ground troops. Logically speaking, there was no need to notify him over such a small matter, wasn’t it? Upon hearing Rhode’s question, Anne extended her finger and scratched her cheek awkwardly.
“Actually this time… your younger sister is also participating, Leader.”
“What?!”
Rhode stood to his feet. He couldn’t stay calm any longer.
When Rhode and Anne exited the room and arrived at the nearby plaza, they spotted his younger sister. She was clad in the same pitch-black dress and displayed a gentle smile while standing besides several magician knights. Standing before her was Orchid Heart with her eyes half-open, hugging a tome and speaking softly to her about something. On the other side, Lize gazed at Rhode and Anne with a complicated expression and was seemingly at a loss for words. Upon seeing Rhode’s arrival, his younger sister grinned and took two steps back.
“Hello, Big Brother.”
“What exactly is going on?”
Rhode gazed at his younger sister before turning to Lize. Upon hearing his question, Lize hesitated for a while and said.
“This is what’s going on… Randolf and Joey discovered an encampment belonging to the undead creatures in the valley upfront. There are about a thousand undead creatures infected by Chaos, which was why they came back seeking reinforcements…”
“Can’t we just blast them with the cannon?”
Rhode shrugged in response. In fact, the magic warships were hovering above them right now. Even though the magic warships were gradually depleting in power as the battles became fiercer, they were able to replenish their power with the unlimited magical powers of the Illusion Crystal. As long as the magic warships didn’t consume too much power at once, there shouldn’t be any issues. Due to that reason, Rhode changed his strategy accordingly. He commanded the ground troops to push forward and send out a signal upon facing any enemies. The magic warships would then aim at the specified area and blast it with their magic cannons. It was just like military special forces on Earth, where they sneaked through the enemy rear and sent out signals for the bomber aircraft to deploy air raids to wipe out the enemies. Even if this attack couldn’t fully eradicate the enemies, at least they would be left crippled and stunned. The ground troops could then easily handle the rest of the situation.
“Miss Heart decided to do that too, but she was stopped.”
“This was what happened, Big Brother.”
At that moment, the younger sister spoke.
“If I recall correctly, there is something really important over there; something that we gave the undead creatures of the Country of Darkness to hold in safekeeping. But now, it seems like we need to get it back in advance.”
“Something really important?”
Rhode was taken aback. In this case, it made sense why the younger sister stopped Orchid Heart from bombarding the area with cannons. But…
What exactly is that thing?
“It’s my battle attire.”
Upon realizing the doubt Rhode’s eyes, the younger sister replied with a smile.
“Before I left the Dragon Soul Continent, I left my equipment in the care of the Country of Darkness. And now, since I’m back on the continent, it is only natural for me to reclaim it.”
“…”
Upon hearing the younger sister’s words, Rhode’s expression turned odd instantly. He sized up the slim young lady before him. Due to the years of not exposing herself to sunlight, her skin turned somewhat pale and her fragile body looked as though it would fall to a gentle breeze. No matter what, Rhode just couldn’t imagine this slim, delicate, and always seriously-ill young lady in his memories surviving in the battlefield. According to his younger sister, even though she had completely recovered her strength after fusing with this new body, he never considered letting her engage in battles. Due to that reason, although Rhode clearly knew that she possessed the power of the Void Dragon, he continued to keep her by his side. After all, it was a big brother’s duty to take care of his younger sister. And now, he was powerful enough for that too, wasn’t it?
“Big Brother… This is my world.”
Detecting Rhode’s gaze, the younger sister dwindled her smile and looked at him sternly.
“I’m willing to give my everything for this world; it is my child. And now, it is in danger and I can’t sit idly by. Even though I know what is going through your head, I’m sorry… I have to do it.”
“… Fine then.”
After the siblings exchanged stares for a few moments, Rhode nodded helplessly. He knew that his younger sister was a stubborn person. Once she made up her mind, he would need to let her do it. But he also had conditions of his own.
“But this time, I will go with you. I’m sure you have no objections, right?”
“Of course not, Big Brother. With you by my side, I will feel much safer.”
After hearing Rhode’s condition, the younger sister let out an elated grin. Rhode shrugged powerlessly before gazing at the young lady’s empty hands.
“But where’s your weapon? Do you need to borrow a sword?”
Up until this moment, of Rhode’s holy sword cards, Gracier and Madaras had gone to the Country of Law, Celia took over his duty in commanding the magic warships, and Karin and Lapis were responsible for the research work on Chaos. Currently, the two remaining holy sword cards were Shira and Celestina. Of course, considering Shira’s personality, Rhode definitely wouldn’t lend her to his younger sister. Considering the relationship between him and the origin of the holy sword cards, Rhode believed that his younger sister most likely also used swords in battle.
But to his surprise, the younger sister shook her head.
“It’s fine, Big Brother. I have my own weapon.”
The younger sister replied and let out a sly laughter.
“Besides, I’m sure it isn’t any weaker than any of your holy swords, Big Brother.”
The young lady extended her arms.
“———!”
In an instant, everyone felt a roaring magical torrent exploding from her palms. Flashes of thunder erupted, forming a solid barrier that kept all threats outside. Rhode witnessed the flickering brilliance change into the silhouette of an illusory weapon in midair. It changed its shape gradually, extended in length, and in just a few moments, as the magical winds dispersed, it lay quietly in the young lady’s palm.
After seeing the true identity of that weapon, everyone couldn’t help but gasp in astonishment.
