Chapter 70 Dilemma (2/2)
At this moment, Marlene's blood ran cold. She closed her eyes while tightly holding the wand in her hand. Her mind was completely blank.
Am I going to die?
That was Marlene's only thought at the moment.
The dagger had fallen to the ground and pierced through the shield, followed by flesh and blood.
”Rip!”
But Marlene could not feel any pain.
Am I dead already?
She opened her eyes in surprise. The first thing that appeared before her was a big hand and a sharp, cold dagger that had penetrated the hand.
There was only one owner of the hand.
”Mr. Rhode!”
”Hmph!!”
Rhode's one hand was blocking the spy's attack. He coldly snorted and waved his other hand that was holding a sword.
The girl's expression was unwilling and angry and her eyes bloodshot. Then, a crescent moon-shaped light flashed by her and her head fell heavily to the ground. The body that had lost its balance also fell to the ground. Bright red blood was spraying out from the neck, and the corpse did not stop twitching. The body looked like a dead fish, struggling to live with no more hope.
”Sigh...”
Only when he saw the enemy fall was Rhode finally relieved. He kneeled to the ground while clenching his teeth. Then he pulled the dagger out from his hand forcefully. After that he turned around and angrily stared at Marlene.
”I told you to attack, why didn't you move!”
”...”
Marlene staggered.
She had never seen Rhode angry. In the past, Rhode's expression was mostly calm, and at most he just frowned his brow and snorted. But this time, he was clearly very mad; his beautiful face looked somewhat ferocious, and his two eyes reflected coldness as they pierced towards her.
”Say it!”
”I-I'm sorry...”
Marlene felt that she was really useless, and facing Rhode's anger, she was speechless. If she followed Rhode's order at that time, then she would not have faced any danger. But she lost her focus and was unable to make any response. No matter what, it was her fault, and this had made her feel a deep frustration, a feeling that she hadn't felt for a long time.
”I... It's all my fault...”
Marlene lowered her head.
”I'm sorry, Mr. Rhode. I shouldn't have dozed off...”
”It's not like I don't know what you were thinking. But you have to know, at this kind of time, if you hesitate you might lose your life!”
As for Marlene's apology, Rhode did not verbally accept it, but neither did he verbally reject it.
”Fortunately, I am prepared, but what if it was Lize? What if the enemy's target was Lize? The moment you hesitated was enough for you to hold her dead body to cry for a lifetime!”
”...”
Marlene shrunk her body and could not say anything.
”...Since you know that you're wrong, I will be meting out punishment. You will accept it, right?”
”Of course, Mr. Rhode. What do you want me to do!?”
Upon seeing Rhode give her an opportunity to mend her faults, Marlene hurriedly looked up and asked. But the next thing Rhode did was give her a sword.
”Use this sword and behead those two corpses, then burn them.”
”Eh?”
”If you are not used to killing people, then you can first kill dead people as practice.”
To Marlene, it was indeed a very difficult to do. She hesitantly looking at the sword that Rhode given to her. She trembled while reaching out for it. In the end, she clenched her teeth and took it over.
”I hope that you can remember. If you don't kill them, then the head that is now on on the ground would be yours or your friend's... I hope that you remember this point.”
Seeing Marlene take the sword and walk towards the two corpses, Rhode finally sighed. He leaned to the pillar and sat down while clenching his teeth. I have to say that it really hurts. The dagger was piercing through his palm. The intense pain was really hard to endure, and moreover the dagger was coated with highly poisonous toxins...
Fortunately, my vitality is high.
Rhode raised his left hand and saw a shocking dark-green color in the middle of his palm. He took a deep breath. He had seen the system information indicate that he had completely resisted the toxins. If not, he would not be so stupid as to waste his time to teach Marlene how to kill. Instead, he would have cleared the toxins.
But neither Rhode or Marlene noticed that the blood dripping on Rhode's left hand had fallen into the slate. But it did not dry like ordinary blood. On the contrary, the blood seemed to have a life of its own. It flowed to the sides of the palace lake and quietly spread forward.
Shrouded in the darkness, a place where no one could see, an invisible force had attracted the blood. It flowed upstream, ascended the stairs, pillars, and finally in the altar, it condensed and converged...
”M-Mr. Rhode, I'm done.”
At this time, Marlene had also completed Rhode's command. Her face was pale, it could be seen that it was a hard blow to her. But Rhode did not say anything. He looked at the three corpses not far before him and stood up, then nodded towards Marlene.
”Well done. Make a preparation to leave this ghostly place; there are still two people outside, and we must finish them. Remember, do not do the same mistake...”
”Ah!!!”
Rhode did not finish his sentence. The scream from afar had interrupted him.
What happened?
Rhode vigilantly looked towards the source of the voice: it should be from the secret passage. Were two other spies killed? What was happening?
”Be careful, let's go!”
He no longer cared about bandaging his wound; Rhode immediately pulled Marlene and planned to leave. They had not gone far when suddenly a golden light flashed.
A mysterious and strange character appeared out of thin air, forming an indestructible wall that sealed all the passages. At the same time, Rhode saw that the two statues on both sides of the pillar were emitting magic light!
What the f*ck is happening...
As if they were replying Rhode's thoughts, the statues turned towards Rhode and raised their swords!
After that, a deep voice sounded in the air.
”Descendents of the Guardian Knight, have you finally come to accept the test?”
Test?
Rhode and Marlene glanced at each other.
What test?
”I-I read some information from the pillars just now, Mr. Rhode,” Marlene stammered.
”It seems like this place was used for a knight to pass a test. They came here to train, then when they were acknowledged, they would be given a title of guardian... I don't know what are they guarding, but it seems precious...”
”No matter what are they guarding, it has nothing to do with us.”
The pain in Rhode's left hand was excruciating. Lize was not here, so it could not be taken care of. Although Rhode had bandaged himself, but it was barely better than not treating the wound. It seemed that this was a hidden quest, but with Rhode's current condition, he was not interested in challenging it. He was injured and had wasted quite a lot of power battling with the spies from before. Not to mention, he had used the Dark Soul ring. In this kind of situation, no matter what test, he would have to refuse it.
”I'm sorry, we went the wrong way,” Rhode said while patting Marlene's shoulder. ”Let's go.”
But no voice replied Rhode's answer. It only paused, then continued to say.
”As long as you are able to defeat the divinity, then you will take over their power and responsibility before inheriting the title of guardian.”
...Isn't this a real world? Can't it be humanized? Must it be done like computer game graphics?
Even though he was criticizing, but Rhode also knew that this voice was probably left by damn predecessors and it was useless to talk with it.
”Marlene, activate your magic equipment. Let's go,” he said, holding Marlene's hand.
”Sure, Mr. Rhode.”
After she listened to Rhode's words, she nodded her head and closed her eyes. She stretched out her right hand and placed it in front of her chest. Soon, a white light appeared and wrapped them inside... But then, it suddenly dissipated and returned to nothingness.
”The space is sealed! Mr. Rhode, this space is being sealed!”
Marlene became nervous, uneasily lifting her wand and vigilantly looking at the surroundings, not knowing what to do. At the same time, the voice rang once again.
”Accept the trial, Descendents of the Guardian.”
Following the voice, the two statues pressed forward. Each statue held a sword in one hand, with the other reaching out.
Wait, wait, this gesture is...
Rhode's expression changed.
As if it was replying Rhode's thoughts, a mysterious magic circle suddenly appeared from the hand of the statues. The two then began slowly rotating in the air.
Next, the statues growled and held up a card!
”Whoa!!”
The dust whirled around in the air, and two statues resembling cheetahs appeared from the ground, surrounding Rhode and Marlene. With widened eyes, they stared at Rhode intently.