While Erin challenged the inheritance trial, the two dragon young ladies didn’t slow down the pace of dismantling the dragon imprisonment ritual. Just as they mentioned, they must prohibit Chaos from infiltrating the Dark Dragon’s soul whether Erin was able to pass the inheritance ceremony before they dismantled the ritual or not. That was why while Erin was going through the trials, they attempted to remove the ritual step by step and cut off the flow of dragon soul power. Meanwhile, they destroyed the connection between two parties entirely, in order to ensure that the dragon soul power was safe and sound.
And that was the start of the problem.
When the two supervisors were about to cut off the flow of dragon soul power, the power of Chaos pounced from the other end of the tunnel. Fortunately, the two supervisors who were seemingly unreliable could be relied at that moment. The instant they detected the Chaos aura, they expanded their barrier to keep it out. But the Chaos aura apparently had no intention of stopping as it continued to slam unto the defensive barrier. And that was the cause of the two earthquakes that Rhode experienced earlier.
Upon detecting the menacing power of Chaos, the supervisors were flustered. They dispatched forces to request assistance from Rhode. Of course, there was something wrong with the two dragon young ladies’ thoughts. Even though Rhode explained to them the current state of the Country of Darkness, they believed that since they were in the hinterland of the country, Chaos would still be suppressed by Order no matter how strong it was. They didn’t expect Ion to be influenced by Chaos so quickly. As a result, Chaos surged and charged aggressively, startling both of them. They thought they had returned to the era when the war against Chaos occurred.
“Cassidy! Stop them!”
Upon witnessing the increasing strength of Chaos, the steel chains binding the Dark Dragon twitched crazily. Rhode knitted his brows. He didn’t know whether this was retaliation from Chaos or for an entirely different reason. But it was apparent that the situation was far from good. He darted towards Cassidy and gave his command.
“I understand, Your Majesty.”
Although Cassidy didn’t look pleased, she nodded in obedience. She was also aware of how critical the situation was and this wasn’t the time for her to throw a tantrum. She took half a step forward abruptly, extended her right arm to unsheathe the sword on her waist, and pointed the blade at the barrier over the Dark Dragon.
Along with this movement, the barrier resisting the two dragon young ladies’ dark lightning strikes vanished in the blink of an eye. The barrier changed into a brilliance that fused as one with the dark lightning erupting from the young ladies, wrapping the Dark Dragon completely.
“———!”
The lightning strikes inflicted immense pain on the Dark Dragon as she howled unwillingly. However, no one noticed her pain. No one would let her off even when she was trembling in agony—not even Rhode. Because everyone was aware the Dark Dragon was as though the hub of the dragon soul power in this stage. If they didn’t stop Chaos from infiltrating and the Dark Dragon was influenced entirely, the dragon soul power would be in real danger. That was why they gave their all to stop the worst possible consequences from happening.
As the Contrast Deity Warden, Cassidy had her ways to ‘convert’ the power of Chaos to Order. But it was a pity that she was a human with limited strength, after all. If not, the Void Dragon and the rest wouldn’t have had nowhere to flee from the pursuit of Chaos back then. They could simply send out Cassidy, convert the power of Chaos, and wipe out Chaos entirely. But it was a pity that ideals were beautiful, but reality was cruel… Despite that, Cassidy also possessed the strength to fight the power of Chaos. The instant she attacked, Chaos was converted immediately, turning into the power of Order as it charged straight ahead.
Rumble…!
The ground trembled in a magnitude stronger than the previous two tremors. In an instant, not only did dust and gravel fall from the ceiling, but the group standing on the surface also began to lose their footing. But even so, they gnashed their teeth in battle. Upon witnessing Cassidy and the two dragon young ladies working together, the struggling Chaos retreated gradually and disappeared. The steel chains that shook violently also calmed. After some time, the ground finally stopped trembling, but the group wasn’t looking great.
“Almas! Asad! Acsu!”
The instant the earthquake subsided, the two dragon young ladies couldn’t care less about wiping the beads of sweat off their foreheads. They raised their arms abruptly, yelling ancient and mysterious incantations. Shortly after, tens of thousands of runes filled with dark aura emanated across empty stone walls. They packed the entire space, spreading toward the outer areas. After a few moments, the two dragon young ladies lay down their arms and plopped on the ground palely.
One of them lifted their heads and gazed at Rhode.
“Your Majesty the Void Dragon, we’ve sealed off this space temporarily. For the time being, Chaos can’t invade this space. But… In our earlier defenses, we exposed our position. So I suppose after a while, we may face an all-out attack from Chaos!”
“Do you have any solutions?”
Upon hearing her remarks, Rhode put up a grim expression. If they were truly surrounded by Chaos, even he would feel strenuous. Moreover, the real power of the hibernating Dark Dragon was also present. That power must never be dominated by Chaos. If not, the situation would become really dangerous.
“The safest way is to hope that Her Highness Erin completes the inheritance ceremony as soon as possible before Chaos breaks the barrier. Perhaps we may lose part of the dragon soul power, but as long as the dragon soul heir is awakened, we will be able to hold on.”
As soon as possible?
Rhode puckered his brows. Four to five hours were gone and Erin should be in the third… or fourth trial by now. If this continued, she could still complete the trial in 36 hours. But Rhode was also aware that the trials would get harder toward the end, where she might spend even more time.
Is waiting for her here the only way?
“Leader!”
While Rhode pondered deeply, Anne’s voice interrupted his thoughts all of a sudden. He turned around and spotted the young lady sprinting toward him. His heart sank the moment he witnessed her anxious expression.
“What’s wrong?”
“Her Highness Erin seems to be in trouble!”
And that was the truth, as a matter of fact.
“Heyah!”
The dazzling, ice-cold radiance streaked across the darkness in a beautiful blade arc, slashing the creatures before her into half. But despite that, the creatures didn’t collapse. On the contrary, their split bodies twisted and morphed into whole new creatures that continued to jump on the young lady.
What exactly is going on?
Erin resisted the attacks while harboring doubts in her head. She was walking in the maze quietly when a strong earthquake caused the maze to crumble all of a sudden, turning into a ruin. Shortly after, a huge group of creatures emerged from the darkness and ambushed her. Erin thought this was a test for her. But now, for some unknown reason, she felt like the creatures were a little different from the ones she met earlier. Not only that, but she also sensed the presence of Chaos from them…
“How did this happen!”
Gazing at the battle between Erin and the creatures, the two dragon young ladies sulked instantly.
“How is it possible for Chaos creatures to sneak into the sacred grounds?!”
“It shouldn’t be possible for ordinary Chaos, but these guys aren’t.”
Facing their bewilderment, Rhode shook his head. He clearly knew that these Chaos creatures were mutants that hailed from Earth and possessed some attributes of Order. It was apparent that some slipped the net from the clash earlier and turned their attention to Erin… Even though Erin was experienced in dealing with such Chaos creatures, the current situation was entirely different. Her power was sealed, and she wasn’t even as strong as half of her usual self!
“It’s pointless to discuss this now. We need to eliminate those Chaos creatures.”
Rhode declared, turning around to gaze at the two dragon young ladies.
“We need to enter the sacred trial grounds, rescue Erin, and wipe out Chaos. I suppose you’ve witnessed that this isn’t just an ordinary trial. If anything bad is to happen, we may lose everything. We need to do something different at this very moment. Do you have anything else to say?”
“But…”
Upon hearing Rhode’s suggestion, the two dragon young ladies hesitated slightly.
“But Your Majesty the Void Dragon, the imprisonment of the sacred grounds is absolute. Your power will also be weakened once you enter!”
“Of course I’m aware.”
Rhode waved his hand airily.
“But this is the best way for us right now.”
