Rhode never thought he would see Erin in this vulnerable state. In his impression, this princess always showed an elegant and serene smile no matter what difficulties she faced. Even when she was sent to another world, she didn’t give up hope, but continued to search for clues and ways back home instead. She was like the moon in the sky: bright, peaceful, beautiful, and possessed absolute presence.
But now, this big, round moon was clouded by haze.
Erin lay by the corner of the walls. She was pale, and her black, silky hair had lost its luster. A book had also fallen to her left. Looking at this scene, everyone was stunned. After all, it looked too ominous. Rhode strode ahead immediately, extending his arm to hold Erin’s wrist. The moment he held her wrist, he puckered his brows. Because her jade-white wrist felt as cold as steel, which apparently wasn’t normal at all. Erin wasn’t an undead creature. But now, her body was almost like that of a corpse. If it weren’t for the weak pulse, perhaps Rhode would have believed that she was dead.
“There’s actually someone else here?”
Upon gazing at Erin, the two dragon young ladies were bewildered. It was obvious that, just like Rhode mentioned, this was a prison to lock up ones who failed the trials. In that case, no one other than losers should enter this prison. But now, it was apparent that they couldn’t remember who Erin was, which also meant that Erin didn’t partake in the trial. Despite all that, she was still imprisoned…
What exactly was going on?
Rhode had no time to care about their reactions anymore because Erin was in a terrible condition. Even though there were still some signs of vitality in her, she was close to being dead.
“Bubble!”
“Got it. Leave it to me, Leader.”
Upon hearing Rhode’s command, Mini Bubble Gum hurried to Erin’s side and raised her arms. Along with this action, a light beam descended from above, shrouding Erin’s body entirety. Erin couldn’t help but shiver. Despite that, she didn’t open her eyes as she continued to be in deep sleep. Looking at this scene, Mini Bubble Gum was surprised. She waved her arms and three spots of light emanated and revolved around Erin, forming a triangular magical ritual. Shortly after, Erin’s body shone a white radiance that lasted for only a second.
The moon princess still didn’t open her eyes. The spiritual brilliance emanating from her body scattered and vanished after a few moments as though they changed nothing.
“Huh? What in the world?”
Mini Bubble Gum cursed. She extended her arm once more. This time, the little rascal put on a grim expression and muttered a string of incantations. One by one, holy runes appeared before her fingertips. She stretched out and crossed her arms before her, drawing magical trails in the air. The runes coalesced, fused into Erin’s body, and erupted in a blinding halo of light.
Even though this spiritual spell by Mini Bubble Gum appeared gorgeous and powerful, it was a pity that Erin didn’t seem to have the intention of responding to her calling. She continued to lay on the wall with her eyes shut. It seemed like she wasn’t waking up anytime soon. Looking at this scene, Mini Bubble Gum blew her top.
“What’s going on? HP replenishment doesn’t work, undoing of curses doesn’t work. and casting the revival spell also doesn’t work… I should try the great resurrection spell then. I bet it would work…”
Mini Bubble Gum grumbled and rolled up her sleeves, seemingly ready to unleash all her spiritual spells into Erin. Observing her reaction, Rhode was startled. He extended his arm and stopped her hurriedly.
“Alright, Bubble, now isn’t the time for that. Seems like something is really wrong with Erin. We should think of other ways.”
Rhode said, sizing up the young lady. Shortly after, Rhode realized that there was indeed something abnormal with Erin. Her entire body was ice-cold, but her forehead was burning with a fever. Rhode tried several ways to wake Erin up, but to no avail.
What exactly is going on?
“Her source of Order is disrupted.”
While Rhode remained perplexed despite much thought, Cassidy, who stood silently beside him, finally spoke. She brought upon her usual, elegant smile that resembled a wealthy, noble young lady. But this time, her tone of voice was heavier. After Rhode and the others turned to her, Cassidy shrugged and explained.
“Her Highness Erin’s rule is the moon. Logically speaking, even though this rule shouldn’t be disrupted anywhere, it is an exception within a land of Chaos. Because Chaos will cut off any Order between rules. Her Highness Erin is unable to replenish her strength from her rule and still has to face the suppression of Chaos. In order to protect herself, her body has entered a state of deep sleep.”
“In that case, isn’t that the same for us? Besides, Her Highness Erin and I were trapped together, but I didn’t experience similar issues.”
Upon hearing Cassidy’s explanation, Angelina asked with knitted brows. Her experience in escaping with Erin left a deep impression on her. She knew clearly that even though it was a torture to constantly flee in the underground, it only affected her mentally, after all. Meanwhile, Angelina’s rule didn’t face any pressure at all. if not, she couldn’t have possibly survived after being slashed to chunks countless times by the invisible sword. Even though vampires weren’t easily killed, for one like Angelina who was dismembered time and time again, she still took immense damage. If it weren’t for the vampire rule in her, perhaps she wouldn’t have survived to reunite with Rhode.
Cassidy seemed unconcerned. Shortly after, she gave a further explanation.
“That is normal. This time, the ones who His Majesty brought along are spiritually connected to him. Same goes for you, Miss Angelina; you have an extraordinary connection with His Majesty. Moreover, His Majesty, as a source of Order, is beside us right now, which is why we are constantly replenishing our strength of Order from him. But Her Highness Erin is different. Considering the fact that Ion is influenced by Chaos, as his younger sister, it isn’t surprising that she is affected to a certain degree due to their bloodline.”
“I understand the situation now.”
Rhode nodded in response. All in all, Erin wasn’t poisoned, sick, or cursed. Instead, she was in a similar situation as Lilian. As Order disrupted the rule power of Order, Erin wasn’t able to replenish her strength. Even though Erin’s rule was the moon and she could gain strength wherever she was, the problem was that right now, she was in the territory of the Country of Darkness. Besides, she had the same bloodline as Ion, so it went without saying that she instinctively gained power from the moon rule through the Dark Dragon’s soul protection. However, as the Dark Dragon was influenced by Chaos, she wasn’t able to replenish her power. On the contrary, she was suppressed and weakened by Chaos, which explained her state right now.
And now… What should they do?
“Do you have any solution?”
“As for solutions…”
Suddenly, Rhode discovered a look of embarrassment on Cassidy’s face. But shortly after, she restored her usual, elegant smile of a noble young lady.
“… They do exist…”
Cassidy replied, gazed at Anne who stood beside her, and closed her mouth. Judging from her reaction, Rhode was taken aback. This time, among the members of his group, only Anne was considered a ‘free soul’ apart from Nell. Anne didn’t have any contract with him like Angelina, wasn’t connected to him in the system like Mini Bubble Gum, and was unlike Cassidy who reincarnated as his card.
In that case, why was Anne still not affected by Chaos?
At that moment, Rhode suddenly recalled the words that Cassidy explained to Angelina earlier, where she mentioned why the rest weren’t as impacted as Erin.
It was that they had special connections with him. Back then, Rhode didn’t give it much thought, especially after considering the fact that they were his card spirits and phantom guardian. But after turning to Anne and witnessing Cassidy shooting strange looks at her body, he came up with a thought immediately.
The so-called special connections. Could it be…
At this thought, Rhode’s expression turned ugly. He lifted his head and gazed at Cassidy helplessly.
“So, what you meant was…”
“Just like what you’re thinking, Your Majesty.”
Facing his question, Cassidy’s perfectly-disguised, elegant smile finally revealed some embarrassment and a blush emerged across her face. Her eyes also wandered as she said in an awkward tone.
“Your Majesty, as long as you do the same thing that you’ve done with Anne to Her Highness Erin and leave behind your mark in her, you can ease Her Highness Erin’s burden and pain to a certain degree.”
“…”
Facing Cassidy’s response, Rhode was entirely speechless.
