The war had just begun.
Rhode lifted his head and wiped the cold sweat on his forehead. The 10 halos around him flickered and rippled like shock waves. Even though it seemed like Rhode, who sat on the throne, was indolent and the strongest man in the world, he knew what kind of torment that was. At that moment, he felt his head swelling in pain. But even so, he didn’t relax his demands, but continued to feel the battlefield in all directions instead.
That’s right, torment. As a Void Dragon, he didn’t have enough power to fight the enemies head-to-head. But he also didn’t need to do that. According to his younger sister, as long as the stability of the Holy Sword Barrier was maintained, he could strengthen the power of the Order of the Dragon Soul Continent from the inside-out, thus suppressing and resisting Chaos.
It might sound easy, but it certainly wasn’t that simple for Rhode. Because this meant that he had to constantly supply power to the 10 holy sword spirits. That was the equivalent of one having to adjust 10 monitoring screens at the same time and also making sure that the firepower in those areas was enough to defeat the enemy, so that they wouldn’t be overwhelmed.
Although the holy sword spirits were considered to have regained their original strength after clearing up the connection to their mental world, Rhode was still cautious with his decisions. Just like Canary thought, this time Chaos was raging and going all-out, which wouldn’t be that easy to resist. If Rhode made a careless mistake, everything would be over.
Not to mention, the holy sword spirits also needed to guard the beacon towers, so the power emitted from the beacon towers would guide the Dragon Soul Continent to overlap with the plane channel. Only then could the Dragon Soul Continent ‘fly’ into the plane channel on its own initiative and teleport into the Solar System.
Hence, the status of the holy sword spirits was the most important thing to pay attention to. If Rhode were distracted or defeated, the beacon towers would also be destroyed and the Dragon Soul Continent would be in grave danger.
It was at that moment that Rhode deeply felt how annoying the offense of Chaos was. In the past, whether it was in the game or in reality, although he faced the Chaos army more than once, he was never so shaken. Because back then, he could turn the Chaos creatures into lone soldiers by severing the connection between Order and Chaos, in which case even the most powerful Chaos creature would die.
But this time was completely different. It was impossible for him to sever the connection between Chaos again, and Chaos’s attack was much stronger than before. The reason why the earlier presences of Chaos were repelled was that they didn’t particularly care about the Dragon Soul Continent. They were like a cat teasing a mouse, but once the mouse bit back, Chaos would immediately retreat. But this time, the mouse planned to escape the cat’s clutches and flee to safety, which was something the cat would never allow. That was why this was a declaration that the previous game had ended and the cat would use all its strength to obliterate the mouse now.
Although it was somewhat pathetic to think of himself as a mouse, it was the truth, after all. In fact, Rhode preferred the Dragon Soul Continent to be the mouse instead so that he would have a chance to transmigrate the entire continent through the plane channel. But now, it seemed obvious that things weren’t going as smoothly as he hoped.
As he expected, the progress of the underground, Country of Light, and Void Territory were all going well. Order and Chaos were natural enemies, while Light was the natural enemy among all enemies. Even though having three holy sword spirits of the light attribute and Holy Maiden Statues as a barrier wouldn’t make them invincible against Chaos, there was still no problem in resisting their attack.
As for the Void Territory, the magical monster nests residing in it also began to display their power. And with the assistance of the magical warships, there wouldn’t be any problems for a while. Although the underground was relatively weak, as the place where the rules of Order were the tightest and most difficult to be penetrated by Chaos, the threat was also the lowest.
Thus, although Nell and Angelina weren’t considered top combatants, under their command and with the cooperation of the dark elves and vampires, as well as the unique terrain, there was still no big problem for them in delaying the time.
On the other hand, the situation over at Erin’s and the elves’ side was a bit worrisome. Undead creatures were supposed to be the best vanguard against Chaos. But after Ion was influenced by Chaos, most of the combat power of the Country of Darkness was converted into Chaos. The remaining forces were still strong, but it was too hard for them to compete with the endless sea of Chaos.
Elves, on the other hand, were naturally sparse in numbers and the countless Chaos was also a nemesis and natural enemy to them. If it weren’t for the fact that Rhode sent Gracier, Madaras, and Cassidy over, considering that the elves weren’t strong enough to fight head-on, the elves would have been the first to collapse…
Rhode’s strategy was to have all the holy sword spirits stationed at the center of the beacon tower of the first level of defense, before dispatching the seven deity wardens on rotation to ensure that they could withstand Chaos’ endless attacks and stall for time.
This strategy was rough, but even his younger sister said that there was no other way. After all, the two sides had dropped all pretense and entered the hostile stage immediately. All conspiracies and plots were meaningless. It was a war to see who had the most perseverance, could survive the longest, and have the last laugh.
Something worthy of a mention was that after the war began, Lapis had been very enthusiastic in asking Rhode to allow her to go to the front line to install Plane Destruction Bombs. But considering all aspects and dangers, he didn’t grant her request for now. After all, he wasn’t yet at that point where he had to let her do it.
“Whew…”
Although he dismissed Lapis’s requests time and time again, deep down, he was actually considering it, as a matter of fact. Chaos’ offense was too aggressive. Despite looking calm, Rhode had considered more than once about whether to give up a few areas and create a void storm to stop Chaos. Only two days had passed since the war began, but to him, the extent of battle was almost equal to two years.
Endless Chaos was simply too much to handle, and even if one launched an AoE attack on the entire map and cleared them all at once, they would fill up the openings in just a few minutes. Honestly, it did require a certain degree of mental preparation to face such a scenario without feelings of despair. Fortunately, it was a walk in the park for most of the players. They were familiar with the attacking style of Chaos.
As for the natives, some of them thought of fleeing in the face of the ferocious battles. But after they witnessed how the barrier troops were ordered by Rhode to kill all deserters, they hesitated whether to ‘die honorably in the war against Chaos’ or ‘be killed by barrier troops during their desertion’. They eventually made the choice to gnash their teeth, embrace themselves, and continue charging forward.
It was with this background that Rhode chose to continue waiting. After all, his younger sister warned him that it was best not to detonate the Plane Destruction Bombs when the plane channel was unfolding. Otherwise, the sudden emergence of the void storm might possibly cause irreversible damage to the plane channel. Thus, even if he wanted to lose a pawn to save a castle, he could only do it after the plane channel took shape and stabilized itself.
“Master, you didn’t sleep for two days. Do you need to take a break?”
Upon hearing his sigh, Karin, who stood in front of him and focused her attention at the fast-jumping data quietly, turned back and asked. As the core and balance of the holy sword spirits, Karin was the only one that remained here. She wasn’t only responsible for coordinating the balance of power of the other nine holy sword spirits, but she also had to keep an eye on the status of the plane channel opening on Rhode’s younger sister’s side. Hence, it could be said that in terms of busyness, she and Rhode were almost on the same level.
“I’m fine for now. I used to play games for a few days straight without feeling sleepy. Although this situation is tougher, I’m still able to hold on.”
In response to Karin’s question, Rhode replied and turned curiously to Karin, who had turned back around and continued her work.
“What about you, Karin? Are you all right?”
It wasn’t for no reason that Rhode asked. The reason why he was able to hang on until that moment without feeling much fatigue was purely due to his Void Dragon constitution. He was able to battle it out with Anne endlessly in bed, so naturally he wouldn’t feel sleepy just because he stayed up for two days. However, Karin was different. She was purely human, and although the work she had to do was easier, it wasn’t much better. Under such circumstances, Rhode felt strange that she could still be as calm as a robot.
“Please don’t worry, Your Majesty. I suppose you already know that my core consciousness and subconscious coexist. I am now dealing with issues along with the projections of my subconscious personality, which isn’t a difficult thing for us to do.”
I see.
When Rhode heard Karin’s answer, he shrugged. Of course, he knew that Karin had the special ability to break through the barrier of subconsciousness and coexist with her projections. This meant that there were four of them handling all information at once and the burden on her was shared among them. Thinking further ahead, maybe she had two personalities working at once, while the other two were resting. She would rotate them around so there wasn’t a need for her body to take a break in the slightest. After all, card spirits could only get mentally tired and not physically.
In a way, this was a skill that Rhode wanted.
“Chaos is relentless.”
Collecting his thoughts, Rhode once again focused his attention on the battlefield and his complexion turned slightly pale. At that moment, nearly a hundred Chaos Lords had been killed, which wasn’t a small number even in the game world. Despite that, the deaths of these Chaos Lords still weren’t enough to stop the Chaos army in its tracks at all. It could be said that what Lydia, Erin, and the others had done was basically useless.
The only thing that mattered was to buy time. Maybe that was the only motivation that supported all those fighting on the front lines. They had to continue fighting until the plane channel opened. But no one knew whether or not it could be achieved.
We still lack manpower.
At that thought, Rhode shook his head helplessly. If he were able to project all of Starlight, there would be no problem in stopping the Chaos armies. These current player projections were still able to resist Chaos’s attacks, but they weren’t able to do that skillfully.
Rhode sensed through his spiritual connection that quite a few of the player projections were starting to feel exhausted. That was also why he felt rather tired. After all, fatigue was something that was as contagious as yawning.
But for now, Rhode remained strong. He closed his eyes and soon, Christie’s face appeared in his mind.
“Is anything the matter, Your Majesty?”
“Get Marybelle to take over for Alice; the latter’s almost at her limit.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Upon hearing Rhode’s command, Christie, who was one of the seven deity wardens, nodded and disconnected the spiritual communication immediately. And it was at that moment that Rhode raised his head and leaned back on the headrest of the chair. The cold touch at the back of his head cooled his burning mind. He continued to close his eyes and let out a soft sigh.
Seven deity wardens.
Despite claiming to be the seven deity wardens, Rhode was only surrounded by the Fate Deity Warden—Christie, Wisdom Deity Warden—Marlene, History Deity Warden—Alice, Contrast Deity Warden—Cassidy, and Presence Deity Warden—Marybelle. The remaining two deity wardens were nowhere to be found. It wasn’t that Rhode hadn’t thought of finding them before the war began, but that he didn’t have the time to do so. As a matter of fact, he and his younger sister had gotten the deity wardens to look for their remaining companions. But unfortunately, there was no good news.
If all the seven deity wardens were here, it might be a little easier on Rhode’s side. The only ones who were great at battles were Christie, Cassidy, and Marybelle. Strictly speaking, Marlene and Alice weren’t considerably strong in combat. Previously, Rhode sent Alice to help Erin and the former, as the History Deity Warden, had indeed shown her impressive skills.
Unfortunately, due to professional incompatibility, history wasn’t meaningful to Chaos. Thus, despite Alice doing her best, she was only able to hold off the counterattack of the Chaos army. That was when Rhode decided firmly to replace Alice with Marybelle. After all, the Presence Deity Warden was simply one in a million in terms of her ability to slaughter on a wide scale.
But Rhode didn’t know that as he was busy deploying his army, a secret conversation was unfolding in a dark, narrow room.
“It looks like the information we got was correct. Even Alice was sent into battle… Her abilities aren’t suited to fighting Chaos head-on, though.”
Under the illumination of the candlelight, the slender, petite figure sitting at the seat of honor could be vaguely seen. She wore a maroon robe, and an odd, white mask with weird patterns painted on it. She sat on a chair that was twice the size of her body, looking rather comical like Alice in Wonderland[1] who took a shrinking pill.
“I can sense the wave motions from the Door of Akasha. Her Majesty is serious this time.”
And in the darkness opposite that petite figure, a dull and indistinct voice like a muffled thunder sounded, echoing unceasingly in the silent room. However, the petite figure didn’t react to it. Instead, she lazily stretched her waist and laid down on the table in front of her without any grace.
“Yeah… The plane channel is opening… But I don’t think it will go smoothly this time either. Her Majesty failed previously and this time, although she has the assistance of her big brother, I’m still not feeling too optimistic.”
“Don’t you intend to report this information?”
Facing the grumbles of the masked young lady, the other individual asked in astonishment. Then, the masked young lady waved her hand lazily.
“There’s no use reporting it now. That big brother has lots of suspicion. Besides, even if they trust the intelligence I provide, they can’t send anyone to do anything for now. They’re sending Alice to the front lines, so do you think Big Sister Christie will come…? Ugh… The possibility isn’t out of the question, though…”
“So I would advise you to think better of it. Big Sister Christie isn’t one whom we can handle once she gets angry.”
“Of course I know that. But now isn’t the time yet… If anything were to go wrong before it achieves its purpose, all of our efforts over the years will be completely wasted. As for Her Majesty… Since they’ve gotten back Big Sister Marybelle, I think we can still hang on for a while.”
The masked young lady, who lay on the table in an unsightly posture, spoke and lifted her head again. Her eyes behind the white mask emanated a mysterious, blue glow.
“I’ll leave it to you then.”
“Sure.”
Upon hearing the masked young lady’s words, the voice in the darkness echoed again with unwavering determination.
“This time, we’ll not fail.”
[1] An 1865 novel by English author Lewis Carroll.
