Order Palace.
Bright sunlight shone through the windows and illuminated the glossy slate. Rhode lifted the teacup and took a sip of the fragrant red tea. Then, he gazed at the twin sisters sitting opposite him.
“Thank you for your assistance for the past two days, Your Majesty Rhode.”
Siena said before bowing respectfully, while Rhode waved his hand casually in response. After the Order Ceremony ended, Lilian and Ion left the Country of Law respectively. Ion was straightforward in his departure because as a person of the Country of Darkness, he wasn’t a fan of the sunlight in the Country of Law. On the other hand, Lilian couldn’t bear to leave Rhode’s side and it was a pity she couldn’t be the decision maker. Even though she wanted to follow Rhode and check out the Void Territory, she had to leave with the three archangels eventually. As for Lydia, Rhode didn’t know how she dealt with the situation thereafter but judging from the tense atmosphere among the three archangels, it was apparent that their opinions weren’t aligned and their relationship seemed to be on an edge. But this wasn’t too surprising. Since communications couldn’t resolve the issue, it was common that sometimes after learning one another’s opinions, they would become increasingly determined about their standpoints and beliefs. And now, it seemed like rupture between them was unavoidable.
Also, there was an even more idiotic matter…
“The emissaries of the Light Parliament expressed that they don’t recognize you as a dragon soul heir.”
“Haha.”
Rhode chuckled and revealed a smile, but no one knew if he had intentionally emphasized on the pronunciation of ‘haha’ clearly.
“Those people have already disregarded their own dragon soul heir, so this isn’t surprising, Your Majesty Siena… Haha. Maybe one day you will hear the Light Parliament announcing that they will remove the position of dragon soul heir and allow the Country of Light to be ruled completely by people.”
Nalea snickered as though it were an interesting joke, but Siena knitted her brows and let out a helpless sigh. As the rulers of the Country of Law and manager of the churches, they knew what the Light Parliament had done in the Country of Light. However, they were powerless against their decisions because no matter what, those were internal affairs which not even they, as the Judgment & Ruling Twin Dragons, could interfere with. If the twin dragons were compared to the court, the situation would be as though the plaintiff submitted a complaint and the defendant pleaded, which led to them passing judgment on the situation. But if the plaintiff didn’t submit a complaint, the existence of the court would be meaningless because the twin dragons couldn’t possibly take up responsibility for nothing as this would throw off the balance in this world.
But the direction of where the Country of Light was heading was indeed worrisome…
“We are powerless in that aspect.”
Siena spoke. To the twin dragons, humans were nothing more than just one of the countless races in this continent and weren’t any different from undead creatures, elves, dwarves, goblins, or giants. Humans didn’t have the right to doubt the identity of a dragon soul heir, so the so-called objection from the Light Parliament was basically a joke and no dragon soul heir would treat them seriously. But it was also this reason that Siena mentioned this issue.
“Your Majesty Rhode, we know that you’ve had some conflicts with the Country of Light in the past…”
“And?”
Rhode replied and gazed silently at the two young ladies. His voice was plain and calm as though they were talking about something unimportant. On the other hand, Siena felt her head hurt after hearing his response. It seemed like it was just as she thought. This dragon soul heir seemed to have a massive resentment toward the Country of Light. Even though his earlier responses sounded as though he didn’t take the matter to heart, she was sure now that he apparently wasn’t interested in discussing this issue. And this meant that he wouldn’t change his opinion based on suggestions from others.
But Siena wanted to try and convince him. In fact, although the Country of Light and Country of Darkness were in a war previously, it was still within control for the Country of Law. Even though Ion had wild ambitions, he was also respectful to the ‘rules’ and knew how to gain personal benefits within Order. This was why the Country of Law remained silent and didn’t intervene when the Country of Darkness attacked the Country of Light. But this dragon soul heir was completely different. It was obvious that he wasn’t only fighting for territory or resources. Instead, Siena discovered that his goal was extremely self-centered and he purely wanted to give the Country of Light a beating. Such goalless and reckless plans were the most worrisome.
“I suppose you’ve realized that the Dragon Soul Continent isn’t in a great state. Since you’ve opened up a land of Chaos, you must’ve also experienced the menacing threats of Chaos. Currently, Chaos is trying to infiltrate this world again to reach its goal. We have to maintain the balance of Order to prevent it from happening and war is the easiest way to break Order and reveal Chaos. So…”
“You hope that I won’t attack the Country of Light?”
Rhode interrupted and placed the teacup on the table. He gazed amusingly at the two sisters. Siena gaped when suddenly, her smirking elder sister held her hand and looked at him.
“Oh no, you’re always so impatient, Siena. No one will listen to you this way.”
“But Big Sister…”
Siena instinctively retorted, but eventually let out a helpless sigh. It seemed like she was so used to her elder sister’s peculiar way of thinking that she raised the white flag immediately. Nalea looked pleasingly at her younger sister who ‘surrendered’ and took a piece of biscuit with a smile. Then, she gazed at Rhode.
“Your Majesty Rhode, we’re not trying to intervene in your matters with the Country of Light because I can see that you are close with Her Majesty Lilian. If you’re only feeling annoyed by those humans, could you please hold back a little? After all, we’ll have a hard time handling things if you take it too far. Unlike Siena, I’m a very lazy person who doesn’t wish to get involved with trouble.”
“Big Sister…”
Siena puckered her brows while Rhode gazed interestingly at Nalea, who always appeared airheaded. Although Nalea sounded as though she was purely complaining, he heard the contradicting threats and pleas behind her words. Indeed, Nalea wanted to avoid trouble and expressed her standpoint that if it were possible, she didn’t wish to have any conflicts with the Void Territory. On the contrary, she was also secretly warning him that if he took things too far, she wouldn’t sit by idly as the Judgment Dragon. Even though this only represented her personal view, it also meant that Siena would also get involved.
Was she simply saying this or was there a deeper meaning?
Rhode gazed into the beautiful golden eyes of Nalea, but couldn’t find the answer he was looking for. It seemed like it was the same as the players had guessed. Nalea was either acting foolish or just purely evil. No matter which, it was the hardest to communicate with someone like her because one wouldn’t know exactly what she was thinking. Nonetheless, it seemed like the Country of Law had expressed their thoughts clearly enough.
But…
“I can understand where you’re coming from, but I never said that I’ll give up. Indeed, just like both of you think, I do detest the Country of Light and it doesn’t matter if I am a friend of Lilian or an enemy to the parliament. But the reason why I attacked the Country of Light wasn’t due to personal grudges. Instead, it was just coincidental that my personal grudges and goal were similar. You see, Your Majesty Nalea, Your Majesty Siena, since this is a job, it will always be better to focus on a job that I like and put all my energy into, right? Can’t destroying Chaos in enjoyment be more comfortable than doing it seriously? Or maybe you need me to do it painfully?”
“Chaos?”
The sisters were astonished. Siena’s ice-cold expression instantly turned solemn while Nalea’s lazy expression became serious. Rhode narrowed his eyes and scanned them. After a few moments, he let out a chuckle.
“Why? What’s the matter? Even a country with such a strict system of governance like the Country of Darkness has been invaded by Chaos, so did you really think that the cheese full of holes—the Country of Light—already hasn’t been infiltrated by Chaos? Or perhaps both of you thought that I’m only thrashing the Country of Light for my personal enjoyment? Of course, I don’t deny this fact, that is.”
“This…”
Siena lowered her head in embarrassment. Just as Rhode mentioned, they couldn’t possibly not suspect the Country of Light before, especially after the parliament strongly promoted the elimination of dragon soul heirs. Even though the twin sisters weren’t largely affected as they resided in the Country of Law, they often heard rumors like ‘Creator Dragon Souls are dictators. Their presences are meaningless. We should overthrow them and use our hands to build the perfect future for ourselves’ and were hugely displeased by them. Of course, they wouldn’t take it to heart if those were just ordinary conversation. After all, the continent was huge and it was only normal that some people disliked authority. But for the parliament to spread propaganda, it wasn’t possible that the twin sisters weren’t feeling resentful.
It went without saying that such abnormal behaviors captured the attention of the Country of Law. But the twin sisters couldn’t possibly launch an investigation on the Country of Light based on that. No matter what, the Country of Law had to maintain their neutral standpoint. If they were to investigate the situation without evidence, it would be disadvantageous for them.
But now, a man who couldn’t care less about his position appeared before them.
“Do you have any evidence?”
Siena asked awkwardly with knitted brows. Even though she didn’t feel like Rhode was too reliable when they first met, she began to feel nervous now after seeing him behaving in this ‘righteous’ manner. On the other hand, Nalea was still smiling and fooling around as though she didn’t hear what he just said and continued to savor the slice of dessert.
Rhode twitched his brows to Siena’s question.
“Of course, I have sufficient evidence to prove that the parliament’s high level has been infiltrated by Chaos. Do you two have any other doubts?”
“Really?!”
Siena stood to her feet anxiously. In fact, they had always been suspicious of the Light Parliament. But as the dragon soul heirs of the Country of Law, they couldn’t understand what was going on internally in the Country of Light. Perhaps they could gather some intelligence, but only the people who lived there understood what exactly the country had become.
“That’s right. I have sufficient, detailed, and concrete evidence. So will both of you continue to stop me?”
“But Your Majesty Rhode, aren’t you afraid of falling into Chaos’s trap? I’ve said earlier that war is the best opportunity for Chaos to enter because after Order crumples, Chaos will take advantage of the lapse…”
“This is why we must resolve all problems as soon as possible. The infected limb should be quickly cut off if it can’t be treated and this will not endanger the life of the subject…” Rhode displayed a beautiful smile. “… Don’t you think so?”
“…”
The sisters fell into deep silence the instant they witnessed his smile. At this moment, they were as though bystanders who clearly sensed his strong, ice-cold murderous intent and matchless desire to destroy his enemies. He had as though unsheathed his sword and pointed its razor-sharp tip at his prey while they were blinded by the radiance from his glistening blade. Siena instinctively swallowed her saliva while Nalea’s smiley face stiffened.
“So… May we know what evidence…”
“History has been distorted.”
At this moment, a voice sounded crisply. Siena turned around immediately and discovered a black-haired young lady clad in a plain dress, sitting quietly with a heavy book in her hands. Siena recognized her since she was the one who led Rhode and his subjects to the sacred palace earlier on. But what surprised her was that this young lady seemed to have been around them all along and they didn’t notice her presence!
This is impossible!
As one of the twin dragons, Siena was aware of everything that was happening within her territory. She quickly analyzed this young lady but what bewildered her was that the young lady didn’t use any teleportation spell or illusion stealth. So… how did she conceal her presence in the first place?
“Excuse me, you are…”
Siena asked. Alice looked up, swept a look at her, and lowered her head again.
“Alice… Alice Darlaston. Nice to meet you, dragon soul heir of the Ruling Dragon.”
“Alice…”
Not only did Siena’s expression change slightly, but Nalea also widened her eyes curiously.
“Uh-oh, I didn’t expect a Deity Warden to be here personally. I’m really surprised…”
“I’m only here to make a statement on behalf of my master.”
Alice turned the page and replied softly.
“The distortion of history is strengthening. Chaos is about to come to this world again. This is all that I can say. As to whether to confirm their authenticity… you should be able to do it, right?”
“… Yes.”
Siena nodded with a subtle expression. Perhaps others weren’t aware, but every dragon soul heir possessed extraordinary powers within their own dragon soul protection. As for Siena and Nalea, anyone who spoke to them would have their sentences taken as ‘testimonies’. As the Judgment & Ruling Twin Dragons, the instant they heard their words, they could determine if the other party was telling the truth. Therefore, the so-called evidence was completed the moment the testimonies were established.
“Exactly.”
Rhode stood up with an unprecedented and pressurizing aura.
“So I hope to make a deal with both of you. I can help you get rid of the trouble. In exchange, I hope that you two will also contribute because no matter what, Chaos is our common enemy, isn’t it?”
Rhode spoke with a smile.
Siena and Nalea exchanged glances. Then, Siena nodded in agreement.
“Since this is verified and related to Chaos, for the sake of the continent, we do have the ability to provide a certain degree of assistance to you.”
“Good.”
The corners of Rhode’s mouth rolled up.
“Alright then. I have a small request…”
