Bam!
The Grim Reaper slammed into Dona and it was too late for the latter to do anything else. If this were a life-and-death battle, she could simply ignore her companions and slash straight down at Rhode instead. But the problem was that this wasn’t a life-and-death battle, after all, and nobody had a reason to fight for their lives. That was why Dona had no choice but to dodge to the side and watch as Rhode’s sword enfolded her vision.
The chaotic battle finally came to an end.
“You’re actually alive, Leader.”
“Yeah, I’m surprised myself.”
Facing Mini Bubble Gum’s sarcasm, Rhode didn’t have any intention of refuting in the slightest. He inhaled heavy breaths and looked at the three holy sword spirits standing before him in silence. However, he didn’t look victorious at all. Just like the three of them, his clothes were also riddled with holes and stained by filthy black smoke. He basically didn’t look any different from the three of them covered in dirt.
Well, all of this was thanks to someone.
In fact, Mini Bubble Gum wasn’t exaggerating either. After the battle ended, one could see that the entire plaza had disintegrated with scorched blast marks and broken rocks were scattered everywhere. The smell of burning smoke also assailed their nostrils. This place had become horrendous. At one glance, this plaza was as if bombarded by heavy bombers hundreds of times.
After replying to Mini Bubble Gum, Rhode gazed at the three holy sword spirits before him. Honestly, the battle wasn’t exciting at all, and from the moment Lapis opened fire, the whole battle entered a disorderly abyss. It was like two teams playing soccer. Both sides expected a great tactical match, but instead, they witnessed 20 men chasing a football around like a rugby game and scoring a goal before they even knew what was happening. It was natural to feel disappointed when something like this happened. At that moment, Dona didn’t look good, while Catherine seemed a little better. As for Eleanor on the other side… What fine weather today…
Detecting the disgruntled gaze from under the dark hood, Rhode whistled to the sky as if he were admiring the beautiful scenery of the azure sky. As a matter of fact, he was indeed innocent. Well… What he did was just accidentally touching Eleanor’s thighs and buttocks when he rushed over to lift her up earlier. But… He couldn’t be blamed for her not wearing any underclothes. Even though the cloak was wide enough to prevent her from exposing herself, wouldn’t it feel similar to the touch? Of course, Rhode certainly wouldn’t admit to touching her inner thigh to stop her counterattack. How was it possible that he would do something so despicable? He always loved his people like his children and never done anything inappropriate to his card spirits.
If you don’t believe me, you can ask Celestina. Will she dare to say no?
Wait… Something doesn’t sound right here.
But despite that, Eleanor’s skin was so smooth to the touch that Rhode almost slipped his hand deeper… Ugh, fortunately for Lapis’s gunfire, no one should have noticed that.
“We lost, Master.”
Although the loss was a bit baffling, Dona was clearly not the calculating type. She looked at Rhode and admitted defeat sincerely. Upon hearing her words, the Grim Reaper grunted softly, obviously a little less than pleased with the result. Despite that, she didn’t comment much, since a battle was ultimately a battle. Since it wasn’t a duel, it was reasonable for the opponent to use whatever tactics they had. There was no point in making up any more excuses for her loss, which was why she gave a light snort to express her displeasure and didn’t speak again. As for the other holy sword spirits, they showed relieved expressions after hearing Dona’s answer. It was clear that they were also quite nervous and anxious about the outcome of this match. Now that Rhode had successfully defeated the three holy sword spirits and gained their recognition, the others were naturally glad with the result.
At that moment, the crowd outside the plaza ran in and surrounded Stefania and Lapis in excitement. At that point in time, Rhode was as though snubbed by them. Well, it wasn’t too surprising since it was clear to everyone what he was capable of. Even if he were to destroy the world, no one would be bewildered. On the other hand, the strength that Stefania and Lapis displayed was really shocking to them. It was especially so for Lapis. No one expected this delicate young lady with such a weak combat strength to actually possess such formidable firepower. If one were to end up as Lapis’s opponent, one would believe that they would have a hard time dodging her artillery fire. So, how about fixing the problem at the source? It wasn’t entirely impossible. But the Light Angel’s all-out strike was resisted by Lapis’s rune shield, so… Who knew what else would happen?
“Lapis, you’re really good, I didn’t think you had it in you. I think you should just become Char’s Zaku II[1]! There’s a whole lot of future ahead of you if you become a Zaku[2], instead of a Gundam[3]. Gundams are just a bunch of useless protagonists who are nothing without their SEED mode[4]. How about that? I will show you the details later; I promise you’ll like it!”
At that moment, the two Mini Bubble Gums jumped up and down around Lapis in excitement, screaming and urging her to strengthen the alchemical equipment they witnessed earlier. According to them, they wanted to equip hundreds of Zakus so that they could feel stronger and better in fights! In a word, no wimping out and just attacking.
Gundam is just a pretty boy who gets what he wants and only Char’s Zaku II is the way!
Whether Lapis would listen to their advice was secondary to the fact that, on the other side, Stefania just received an invitation from Marlene. And truth be told, if Marlene didn’t put too much hope in Stefania earlier, this battle made her witness the true strength of this plane merchant. Thus, Marlene also seemed uncharacteristically enthusiastic and expected a long term partnership with Stefania. Unfortunately, Stefania wasn’t much interested in such things, which Rhode knew by heart. Plane merchants loved roaming between planes. Apart from the plane where they were born, they rarely got emotionally involved in other planes. That was why it wasn’t realistic for Marlene to rope in Stefania. If it were so easy, Rhode would have already succeeded and she would have undoubtedly played a huge part in his major project. After all, no matter what, there were many new, amusing, and powerful items in other planes. If he were able to get his hands on those items with the help of this plane merchant, everything would be much more convenient.
“Congratulations, Big Brother, it looks like you made it.”
It was at that moment that a voice that he couldn’t be more familiar with sounded from the side. Upon hearing her voice, he turned around and looked down, seeing an almost identical face. His younger sister stood quietly beside him, watching him with a grin on her face.
“Yeah…”
Upon hearing his younger sister’s reply, he nodded in a rather complicated mood. Although the process was a little strange, the outcome was good. Since he succeeded, there was no need to say anything more. However, at that moment, another voice sounded all of a sudden.
“Your Majesty, I’m sorry to interrupt you, but Chaos has once again started its attack.”
Alice’s voice wasn’t too loud, but her words silenced the originally bustling crowd as they turned around to look at the ‘History Deity Warden’. As the chronicler of history, there was almost no one in the Dragon Soul Continent who had a more accurate grasp of intelligence than Alice. Since she said that Chaos had started an attack, it was obvious that Chaos had indeed done so. But judging from Alice’s tone, it sounded like things weren’t just as simple as an attack.
“According to the report, undead skeletal dragons have appeared amongst them.”
Upon hearing that statement, Rhode’s good mood from the victory vanished.
Anything that could go wrong will go wrong. Ever since hearing from that fool, Ion, that he actually sold his family’s graves and corpses to Chaos, Rhode had been worried about when the undead dragons would make a comeback. He was also certain that Chaos would contaminate the corpses, forcefully convert their hibernating souls, and turn them into undead creatures with Chaos traits. In that case, it would bring too much pressure to the Dragon Soul Continent. Hundreds of undead skeletal dragons definitely weren’t what the current high-level beings could deal with. Aside from the Country of Light that had been in the middle of a military war during this period, even though the twin dragons promised that they would send rule wyverns to assist the situation, it was an entirely different matter as to how many rule wyverns there were. And now…
Clearly, this war was inevitable for Rhode.
The undead skeletal dragons came aggressively.
As Chaos cleared out once again, several gigantic bone dragons appeared at the front lines at the same time. Their roaring dragon breaths burned down everything in sight. Although the players fought hard, it was still tough for them to inflict much damage to them. It wasn’t that they couldn’t beat them, but they not only had to deal with the dragons, but also defend the entire defensive line. And now, the endless Chaos was speeding up and emerging above the distant horizon, heading toward the defensive line again.
This looks bad.
When Rhode arrived at the first line of defense with Mini Bubble Gum, Canary, and the others, all he saw was a crumbling defensive and overwhelming pitch-black dragon breaths spurting down from the sky, bombarding the defensive line heavily. And under this menacing attack, the defensive line that was strong enough to withstand a thousand armies shook, collapsed, and shattered into ruins. Chaos creatures swarmed ahead, pouncing on any openings in the defensive line. Meanwhile, a series of shining magical lights erupted. With the coordination of the players and natives, they delayed the openings from being filled up like a dam blocking the torrents. But that was only temporary. If they didn’t come up with any solution soon, the entire defensive line would be punctured with holes and the situation would get even more troublesome.
“Notify the twin dragons and tell them to dispatch the rule wyverns to the weakest defensive areas! None of our defenses must be penetrated. We must hold on!”
After giving the order out loud, Rhode turned to look at the sky above him again. The Chaos in the distance emanated a strange glow and was approaching gradually. It looked as if it were determined to dominate the continent this time. But it was a pity that he had no intention of giving up the resistance.
“Though it’s a little rushed, it doesn’t look like there’s a better way to do it now.”
Gritting his teeth, Rhode gazed at the 10 holy sword cards that lay silently on his right palm. Then, he recalled his younger sister’s words from before.
“It’s still a little too early for you to use the Holy Sword Barrier right now, Big Brother. Perhaps you haven’t noticed, but the entire set of holy sword cards has an unique amplification system. If you don’t have a way to grasp the spirits entirely, the barrier will be flawed even after it unfolds. When that happens, there will be no way for us to make improvements to it anymore. So even though time is running out, I suggest you familiarize yourself with the existence of the holy sword spirits before activating the Holy Sword Barrier… Of course, I have another suggestion for you, Big Brother. You can give it a shot and use this battle as a sandbox… Like what I said before… I think you will be interested in that.”
Seems like I can only give it a shot now.
At this thought, Rhode sulked, lifted his head, and looked at the sky. At the next moment, he leaped into the sky in a dazzling flash, soaring toward the undead skeletal dragons.
“Roar———!”
Upon detecting his presence, the skeletal dragons turned around, brandished their claws, and pounced on him. Compared to the enormous skeletal dragons, Rhode seemed so small and yet, he didn’t feel the slightest bit nervous. Instead, facing the four to five skeletal dragons that rushed at him, a strange glint flashed in his eyes, and he stretched out his right hand.
[Holy Sword System———Activate]
Shing———!
The instant he extended his right arm, 10 uniquely colored brilliances erupted from his palm in the shape of a circle, shrouding him and the skeletal dragons. Soon after, dazzling streaks of magical radiance spread toward the position of each holy sword and metamorphosed into an incomparably gorgeous ritual.
Then, Rhode disappeared in a flash.
Along with this movement, 10 holy swords erupted in their unique colors and brilliances. Their shining light intersected and enveloped the enchanted field, enfolding the skeletal dragons within it. And it was until that moment when the skeletal dragons felt something incomparably bizarre. The strong power of Order shone ragingly. A light full of vitality and warmth tore through their souls while death with its piercing coldness entered their hearts and the surging, violent elements crushed them from all directions overwhelmingly, binding everything as one.
The moment the skeletal dragons realized that something was amiss, Rhode arrived at the side of one of the holy swords, extended his arm to grip its hilt, and swung forward.
The blinding flash of light penetrated the ice-cold, enormous bodies of the skeletal dragons. Even the blue flames and darkness of Chaos that shone within them crumbled under the shining light. However, Rhode didn’t stop there. After the flash of light, he reached out, wielded another black magical sword, and flitted across the sky.
Shing! Shing! Shing!
Pitch-black thorns appeared out of thin air, binding the struggling bodies of the skeletal dragons as if they were vampires greedily sucking the murky, black fog. Soon, the black fog and spiritual flames that crumbled in the earlier attack became much weaker. Not only that, but the skeletal dragons also felt their powers being quickly drained away! They howled in rage, trying to break free of the thorny shackles. But it was at that moment that Rhode darted out, tossed the black magical sword aside, and spread his arms apart widely. Along with this movement, two shimmering daggers appeared in his hands.
The two blade rays intersected like lightning blazes, slashing through the bodies of the skeletal dragons again, inflicting lethal damage to their already weakened bodies. But this was still far from the end.
Roars of death and shining souls filled the sky… Continuous blade rays flooded the entire battlefield almost in the blink of an eye. After just a few moments, the skeletal dragons that were flaunting in the sky earlier were now weakened.
This was the true power of the Holy Sword System. When they assembled, the barrier constructed using the holy swords as its base formed a whole new world, tearing through darkness with the power of light, devouring darkness with the power of darkness, converting Chaos with the power of Order, and destroying enemies with the power of elements. A complete system of Order and Chaos was formed at that very moment. And the skeletal dragons were just prey in the spider’s web and no longer a threat to them!
[1] A Mobile Suit featured in the Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin manga.
[2] A fictional line of manned robots from Mobile Suit Gundam.
[3] A Japanese military science fiction media franchise/media mix
[4] Represents the ability for a Gundam with the SEED factor to enter a state of enhanced awareness and peak physical ability.