Chapter 583 - Blackblade Guards (2/2)

“Oh?” Rhode twitched his brow. “Bring me there.”

The sun shone brightly on the vast, serene prairie and the grass rippled to the gentle breeze. Dozen Calvarymen formed an offensive formation swiftly and darted across the prairie with raised pikes, shattering the tranquility. Countless grass clippings were engulfed in their darting gust.

When Rhode arrived at the prairie, a group of Calvarymen reorganized from an offensive triangle formation to a right side attack in mere seconds. At this moment, the leading Cavalryman blew a whistle abruptly as though he had sensed Rhode’s presence. The group of Calvarymen changed their direction and charged toward Rhode magnificently. The loud clip-clops of the horseshoes were as though the sound of deep, rolling thunder. However, Rhode stood still with his hands behind his back and gazed calmly at them.

As the group of Cavalrymen charged closer, they slowed down their speed abruptly and regrouped uniformly, coming to a halt within three steps like a controlled robot. At this moment, the leading Cavalryman approached Rhode and dismounted his horse. He lifted open his black armor mask and revealed a youthful grin. “Good day, Sir Rhode.”

“Seems like you’re doing well, John. How does it feel?” Rhode nodded slightly.

This young man was John Grayer, who Rhode had recruited to Paphield. After the mercenaries left the Paphield frontline, John abided to Rhode’s orders and led over 60 of his Cavalrymen to the fortress. However, instead of being Rhode’s mercenaries, they were his private soldiers and henchmen.

Frankly speaking, John was still doubtful about Rhode before he came to this place because there must still be a limit to a young noble’s strength. If not, Rhode wouldn’t have stooped so low as to lead mercenaries into the battle himself. However, this massive fortress left John dumbfounded. Moreover, Canary and Bubble’s presence in the Legendary Stage had convinced the young man to give his all to work for Rhode. A noble who owned such a massive fortress and had that many powerful subordinates must have a bright future ahead.

At this moment, John had also experienced the benefits of being Rhode’s henchman.

“It’s great, Sir.” John revealed an excited smile and he knocked on his body armor proudly. Unlike the light-weight, half body armor Cavalrymen were usually clad in, this full body armor was incomparably sturdy and every inch of their bodies was completely protected. Not only was there a prismatic shield on their arm which allowed for the tip of a pike to poke through the front, the back of the shield also had two cone-shaped tips like razor-sharp teeth extending out. This design made the Cavalrymen look like monsters with teeth all over their bodies.

“Frankly speaking, I thought this armor would be really heavy, but I didn’t expect it to be almost as light as the leather armor. I don’t feel burdened by it at all! Not only that, but this strange weapon is also extraordinarily great to use. Sir, I didn’t know you could create such equipment!”

It wasn’t without reason for John’s excitement. He grew up in a noble family so he wouldn’t be as naive as ordinary soldiers. After putting on the equipment, he immediately realized that they weren’t ordinary at all. They were alchemy equipment—extremely rare in the market and almost impossible to provide in batches to the soldiers. John remembered that even the top elites of the Southern Legion didn’t have such a great treatment!

But now, he had just arrived and this generous young man had given him such a precious gift, which further assured him that his choice wasn’t a mistake.

Rhode nodded slightly as he observed John’s blissful expression. He knew why John was that excited. This set of alchemy equipment wasn’t imagined by Rhode. Instead, it was invented by the future Country of Darkness. Not only were they light, but the weapon also had strong damage output, which had a relation to why the Country of Darkness was able to breeze their way through all the enemies on the continent during the war. During the creation of the equipment, Rhode and Lapis had considered the differences between the Undead Spirits and Humans and modified them to be more suitable for human usage.

“This set of equipment is still under modification. If you feel there’s anything wrong when using it, feel free to let me know and I will get Lapis to fix it… By the way, I told you to think of a name for this team. Have you done so?” said Rhode.

“Of course, Sir Rhode.” John pushed out his chest proudly. “I’ve decided to call us the ‘Black Rose’. What do you think?”

“…”

was surprised to see the corner of Rhode’s mouth twitch and his expression seemed to have become somewhat complicated.

“Black Rose?” Rhode lifted his head and shot a strange look at John. He sized up John and the group of Cavalrymen in full black armor behind him. Argh. I understand why the word ‘black’ was used. But… Why do I feel this uncomfortable with the word ‘rose’?

The thought of going into battles with this ‘Black Rose’ made him shudder. He scanned John from head to toe peculiarly and muttered inwardly.

Could it be that this young man is also gay like Garcia? If not, why did he choose the word ‘rose’ out of so many possible names in this world?

Rhode was suddenly reminded of some impure memories… What a shocking discovery. If I knew he was a gay, I wouldn’t have brought him back from Paphield. I should’ve just left him with Garcia and let them rub out some sparks with each other.

“… Sir Rhode? Is anything wrong?” John asked with some doubts.

He felt that the name was actually decent. Or perhaps, this was the only name that he came up with after so many days of racking his brain. Although John had gathered his men to brainstorm for, the suggestions he received weren’t all that favorable with names like ‘Black Whirlwind’ or something… John didn’t dare to mention such names to Rhode.

“Uh…” Rhode let out an awkward cough. Then, he calmed himself down and looked at the group of Cavalrymen. “I think this name feels rather weak. In future, you are going to be the first line of attack to charge and break through the enemy lines. ‘Rose’ is a little too… Alright. Let’s name you guys ‘Blackblade Guards’, how about that?”