Upon hearing the little mermaid’s yells, Rhode was shocked. What he was afraid of had finally happened. Previously, he was worried that such a problem would happen, which was why he specifically warned the Queen of Ice. But he never thought that it would actually happen. It seemed like he was one step too late. He wondered what would happen to the water elemental plane after they faced this ambush.
But soon, with the little mermaid’s narration, Rhode learned what occurred. It turned out that when the little mermaid was on the way to the Resonance Hall with the telecommunication crystal, she heard several loud bangs before she activated the telecommunication crystal. When she peeked out in curiosity, she saw a number of water elemental creatures attacking the perimeter of the Ice Throne. She was flabbergasted. She activated the crystal hurriedly to send out the Queen of Ice’s message and scuttled back to the group to report the news. But to the surprise of Rhode and the Queen of Ice, the water elemental creatures that attacked the Ice Throne, in fact, consisted of large groups by the border, which were rarely seen. Generally speaking, the large groups of creatures that roamed the borders wouldn’t enter the core area. After all, apart from the Ice Throne and mermaids, there were many other water elemental creatures gathered here. If they were to accidentally run into the habitats of other water elemental creatures, they would likely be in deadly trouble.
“All in all, let’s go take a look first.”
Upon seeing the Queen of Ice in deep thoughts, Rhode also frowned and suggested. And hearing his advice, the Queen of Ice hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement. Shortly after, the group left the palace and headed outside.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Right after leaving the palace, Rhode heard some loud roars from the outside, which sounded like the battle had become really intense and definitely wasn’t a small fight. The water elemental plane didn’t only have the Ice Throne, so since the water elemental creatures were able to charge all the way into the Ice Throne, it proved that they weren’t weak at all… But… After taking a closer look at them, even Rhode couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his eye.
“I never thought… I would run into an old friend so soon…”
The ‘old friend’ that he mentioned was none other than the invaders that were battling the guards in the distance outside the Ice Throne. In a way, Rhode and the invaders indeed weren’t total strangers because just a few moments ago, he and Gillian had roasted one of them to perfection.
In the distance, a large group of octopuses were clashing with the guards, lashing their flexible tentacles and charging forward with their massive size. The mermaid warriors before them also raised their weapons high in the air, retaliating against the giant octopuses.
But compared to the mess they were in before, the mermaid warriors were now able to hold their ground. After all, they were caught off guard earlier and after that ambush, the Ice Throne beefed up their security, not to mention the fact that the Void Dragon was still here. The water elemental plane had no pitiful desire to embarrass itself in front of outsiders.
“They’re all creatures from the border….”
While carefully surveying the enemies before him, Rhode nodded and narrowed his eyes. He noticed that besides the giant octopuses, golden electric eels and deep-sea nagas were also attacking the Ice Throne. They were elemental creatures that lived on the edges of the water elemental plane for a long time. Compared to other water elemental creatures, they were closer to the border areas and main plane. Even though these creatures were considered to be harmful and dangerous, they didn’t dare to get too close to the core area. They would have never attacked the Ice Throne in large numbers in normal times. But unfortunately, the current situation wasn’t ordinary by any means…
It seems like the influence of Chaos has already taken place.
Gazing at the water elemental creatures that were battling the guards in the distance, Rhode didn’t comment much. It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought about this situation, but it was that the elemental plane was an area that was out of his reach instead. Although he could send players to the elemental plane for a concerted defense, it was a pity that he lacked numbers now. He simply didn’t have enough people to spread out for defense. Otherwise, he wouldn’t need to resort to coming here in person.
But… The current situation wasn’t anywhere better either.
Even though the water elemental creatures tried their best, they still failed to charge into the Ice Throne. However, Rhode could tell that the Ice Throne’s defensive line was becoming unstable, which would be a huge problem. If this clash didn’t occur, Rhode could have taken the Book of Elements, turned on his heel, and left. But now, with this situation in the water elemental plane, he couldn’t leave just like that. If something unexpected happened and impacted the water elemental plane, the main plane would also be affected heavily. When that happened, it would be a complete loss for him.
“Let’s help them.”
At this thought, Rhode said. And when the Queen of Ice heard his words, she was stunned. It seemed like she didn’t really want him to interfere in the water elemental plane’s affairs. But soon, the Queen of Ice took another close look at the defense line before her, lowered her head, and sighed. Then, she replied.
“I’m sorry to trouble you, Your Majesty Void the Dragon.”
While deep down, the Queen of Ice seemed reluctant to let Rhode get involved in disputes within the water elemental plane, the current situation didn’t allow her to think about saving face. It was apparent now that there was really no way that her subjects could hold on much longer. Even though the border areas of elemental planes were remote, the elemental creatures that inhabited them were sometimes the toughest. Besides, not even the Queen of Ice was aware of exactly how many of them there were. Although she could also gather other water elemental creatures for defense and attack, it wasn’t something that could be done immediately. It more or less required some time.
“You don’t need to apologize. The elemental planes are also part of the Dragon Soul Continent. And I don’t want anything to go wrong with my plans.”
Upon hearing the Queen of Ice’s apology, Rhode waved her aside with an airy gesture. Honestly, if it were only him, Gillian, and his group taking on the water elemental creatures, perhaps it would be impossible to resist them all. After all, this was the water elemental plane, which suppressed Gillian’s fire attribute to a great extent. Even though her fire attribute was the nemesis of the water attribute, it would be considered great if she were able to bring out half of her powers in this place. As for the other three, the little mermaid was a separate matter, while Anne and Bell had no experience in dealing with elemental creatures, so Rhode wouldn’t rashly send them to their doom. Even though it was easy enough to deal with one or two water elemental creatures, the problem was that… There were hundreds of them!
But you know what they say; if you can’t beat them alone, you can beat them together…
At this thought, the corners of Rhode’s mouth grew into a smile. He stretched out his arm and soon, along with this movement, a white light emanated on his hand, metamorphosing into a glowing card. He threw it into the air. At the next moment, the silver-whitish card turned into a petite human-shaped figure. As the white light disappeared gradually, Lesa emerged from within.
“Master…”
Upon meeting Rhode, Lesa didn’t look surprised at all. She bowed to him respectfully, raised her head, and waited quietly for his command. Rhode wasted no time. He pointed to the back, indicated to Lesa to observe the battlefield in the distance, and ordered.
“I need help with defense. Water and fire attributes. Around 300 of them…”
“Yes, Master. I got this.”
Upon hearing his order, Lesa nodded, lifted the silver staff in her hand high, and struck down hard on the ground.
Clang!
With this crisp sound, hundreds of light columns descended from the sky all of a sudden, followed by silhouettes emerging from the glow, one after another.
That’s really convenient…
Looking at this scene, Rhode couldn’t help but feel impressed. In his honest opinion, Lesa was one who assisted him the most in battles. Just her ability alone to summon troops out of nowhere was enough to turn around the entire battle. Moreover, she also functioned as a ‘battlefield communications center’ and possessed decent offensive power—self-defense wasn’t an issue for her either. Furthermore, she didn’t cause any trouble with her docile personality. She could be considered to be the best subordinate…
Hmm… Of course, these praises can’t be heard by others.
Hundreds of players soon emerged from the light columns along with Lesa’s summons. Clearly, the players weren’t as obedient as Lesa because the moment they appeared, many began to yell and grumble.
“Holy crap, what the hell? How did we get transported to the water elemental plane?”
“Leader, can you please give a warning before summoning me out of the blue? I was chasing a girl and about to confess to her. You don’t understand how hard it is to make her trust me. She was finally about to be fooled by me… No, to fall in love with me and you did this to me? Do you even have a conscience?”
“Alright, cut the crap.”
Rhode’s head hurt upon listening to the players bustling about with nonsense. He didn’t bother saying anything in response, but waved his hand, pointed to the battlefield, and gave a quick, simple command instead.
“You guys are responsible for helping the guards defend the Ice Throne and drive out the invaders! I don’t want any unnecessary issues. Remember, on my mark, move fast and move hard! Kill them all and leave no one behind!”
“Got it, Leader!”
The pressure on the mermaid guards was lessened by a lot as soon as the players jumped into battle. After all, these players were at the level of ‘Supreme Privileges’. Not only that, but Rhode also specifically requested for players with the water and fire attributes to support the battle. In just a few moments, he witnessed flashing, chilly aura and whistling flames emerging above the battlefield. The players who fought under his orders were also incredibly brave. In just the blink of an eye, they crushed the water elemental creatures that invaded the defensive line.
But even so, the water elemental creatures had no intention of leaving. On the contrary, they seemed to behave crazier as they suffered grave losses from the retaliation. In the end, they simply rammed into the defensive line without considering what their actions ensued.
Under their desperate and insane ramming, the originally stable defensive line was in a somewhat precarious state again.
“That’s strange…”
Wielding his sword and splitting the brazen giant octopus that sneaked up on him into two, Rhode gazed at the water elemental creatures at the back again. Although they weren’t as endless as Chaos creatures, there was a constant stream of them charging toward the Ice Throne. But he found it a little strange that these water elemental creatures were attacking too fiercely, so much so that it felt a little fake to him. It was as if they weren’t extremely ruthless, but were putting on some sort of show to attract the attention of his group…
At this thought, Rhode couldn’t help but sweep a glance at his surroundings. However, he didn’t notice anything odd. The ice crystal barrier outside the Ice Throne was still strong, while everything was normal on the inside. With the Queen of Ice keeping watch, there shouldn’t be any major issues. As for the water elemental creatures that were besieging the outskirts of the Ice Throne… Why did he feel like something was wrong?
“Everyone, slow down and retreat.”
Without the slightest hesitation, Rhode gave his command. Upon hearing his order, the players retreated swiftly. However, as the water elemental creatures were pouncing too aggressively, most of the players were still caught in their attacks and unable to disengage from the battle line.
Something is really wrong.
Looking at the scene, Rhode was fully convinced of his judgment. And at that moment, a bolt of lightning flashed all of a sudden, and a golden electric eel appeared behind him, widening its mouth full of razor-sharp teeth, biting down hard at him. But at the next second, Rhode flourished his sword and pierced its body, splitting it into half in the blink of an eye.
“Those who broke away from the battle line gather here. Remember, pay attention to your surroundings and inform me immediately if you find out anything!”
After taking out the golden electric eel, Rhode leaped backward, a trail of afterimages left in the air, disengaging himself from the battlefield. At that moment, Anne and Bell, who had been waiting for him at the back, went up to him hurriedly.
“Leader, what’s wrong? Why did you retreat?”
Upon seeing Rhode, Anne asked anxiously. After all, it was tough for her to follow his order to stay in the back and stare blankly at others fighting in full swing. Unfortunately for her, this time, Rhode strictly ordered her to stay behind and protect Bell, so she had no choice but to obey. However, after witnessing the battle ahead, she felt a little confused.
“Something isn’t right.”
Upon hearing Anne’s question, Rhode shook his head and said. He scanned the battlefield around him quickly again, before narrowing his eyes. Although the battle situation looked unchanged, not only did the deep-seated uneasiness in his heart not diminish, but it also grew stronger. He had a gut feeling that there was an even more disturbing presence hiding behind the attacks of these water elemental creatures. He originally thought that the water elemental creatures lost their minds from the influence of Chaos. But now, it seemed like the situation wasn’t as simple as he thought…
“Leader, over there! What’s that thing!?”
While Rhode pondered deeply, Anne’s sudden cry startled him. He raised his head and looked over to where she pointed hurriedly. Then, his expression changed slightly.
All of a sudden, a gigantic octopus that was nearly 100 meters long appeared over everyone without any warning. It fluttered dozens of thick, pillar-like tentacles, striking down from above.
“Holy crap. It’s not like we’re filming Deep Rising[1]!”
Looking at this scene, Rhode couldn’t help but grumble. Of course, he knew what this creature was. It was the famous creature of the water elemental plane, Tentacle Orbis. In the game, Rhode had once led his guild to fight against it. This octopus was quite a tough creature to deal with. Besides, it was aggressive and vicious by nature, and could be considered a dominant behemoth on the water elemental plane as well. It could be said that it was as strong as Lydia and the other archangels, and not even the Queen of Ice would be able to overwhelm it completely. And now, it seemed clear that this octopus was also influenced by Chaos, which was why it crawled out of its lair and launched an attack on the Ice Throne.
Immediately after, Rhode witnessed the giant octopus extend its tentacles, wrap around the Ice Throne’s ice crystal barrier, and attach its huge body to it tightly. Not only that, but it also injected a mysterious, deep purple ink into the ice crystal barrier from its mouth. Shortly after, the ice crystal barrier changed color as if it were being contaminated! Its usual water elemental brilliance dimmed all of a sudden, and turned into the gloomy hue of deep purple with a sickening glow.
“Sh*t!”
Looking at this scene, Rhode was stunned. If he wasn’t quite sure what these crazy water elemental creatures wanted to do before, now he finally understood. But he was well aware that the Tentacle Orbis had a move that could erode and destroy any existence completely. And judging from this action, it was clearly injecting its own venom into the ice crystal barrier. And in doing so, not only was the ice crystal barrier contaminated, but the Ice Throne was also affected!
These bastards are trying to destroy the entire Ice Throne!
[1] A 1998 American action horror film.
