Chapter 1300 - Lifted Seal (1/2)

“I’m finally back…”

Once again stepping on familiar ground, Rhode finally relaxed his tense body. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time now to take things easy and enjoy the holiday sunshine and peaceful afternoons on the beaches of Hawaii. The battle in the water elemental plane made him realize that the current situation wasn’t going to allow him to continue to be at ease. Since a battle against Chaos occurred in the water elemental plane, it meant that the other elemental planes might not be any better. But then again, Gillian was the fire elemental lord, so why wasn’t she worried about the fire elemental plane at all?

“Don’t worry, Master. Even if something happens, it won’t be anything huge.”

Facing Gillian’s confidence, Rhode couldn’t comment much. Anyway, he couldn’t possibly let her open the elemental channel and head to the fire elemental plane to ‘put out the fire’. Since even Gillian said so herself, Rhode no longer cared about such trivial matters, but focused immediately on the next important issue ahead.

After recovering the Book of Elements, all three books were finally in Rhode’s hands. Next, he needed to awaken the spirits hibernating in the three books and turn them into his card spirits. According to his younger sister, as long as the ten holy sword cards were collected, he could activate the enchanted field and fight against Chaos.

However, Rhode still had a hard time imagining how he would go about fighting Chaos with the ten holy sword cards. He understood their abilities better than anyone. After all, he had been using them ever since he transmigrated to the Dragon Soul Continent. He was also certain that they were powerful, but that was about all. After removing the remaining seals, and in addition to the boost of his Taboo Halo, the holy sword card spirits could battle alongside level 85 peak players, but that was about it. They weren’t as powerful as the seven deity wardens and compared to an archangel like Lydia, they were about the same. So how would they be able to go against Chaos with this level of strength?

Anyway, Rhode didn’t have any way to turn them into even more terrifying beings. In his perspective, the seven deity wardens that were so godlike and qualified to even become game masters of the game still covered their heads and sneaked away like rats in the face of Chaos. Some of them reincarnated, while some fled home. In that case, what sort of powers did the holy sword card spirits possess that made them strong enough against the invasion of Chaos?

But no matter what, since the younger sister said this was the only way without the Order Star, Rhode was left without a choice.

“We finally reached the next step of the plan…”

Looking at the three, heavy, and different-colored books before him, Rhode lowered his head, opened his eyes, and gazed at his surroundings. Currently, the holy sword card spirits had manifested and were looking at him quietly. And one by one, he swept glances across their faces, from Celia, who was the first to follow him around, to Celestina, who often disobeyed his commands, though was subdued by him later. There was also Gracier and Madaras, who went with him everywhere and never expressed their opinions. Shira, who was exceptionally dangerous, was always at the forefront of the battlefield. Little Five, who was indifferent and rarely said a word. Last but not least, the plan creator of the holy sword card deck and the only human among them, Karin.

The seven holy sword card spirits stood there, looking at him silently. Celia seemed as steady as ever, albeit revealing some anticipation and concern. Celestina crossed her arms and looked away with an occasional arrogant look, trying to act as if she didn’t care about what was going on. Gracier and Madaras were still the same as always. They held hands and stood at the side without making a noise, while long hoods covered half their faces. However, the slightly upturned corners of their mouths displayed their excitement. On the other side, Shira leaned on her longsword uncharacteristically, showing her usual, broken grin, staring at the three books with crazy, murderous eyes. Drifting beside her, Little Five gazed into the void with her ethereal eyes. No one knew what she was thinking about. As for Karin…

“Inspection complete, Master. All three books are in perfect condition. Theoretically speaking, there should be no problem in removing the seals.”

After inspecting the seals of the Book of Elements, Book of Life, and Book of Death, Karin lifted her head and spoke with a solemn expression.

“Come to think of it, why are they the only ones who require additional seals, Karin? Are they really that strong?”

At that moment, Rhode finally asked the question from deep inside his mind. As for why Karin used this unique method to seal the three card spirits, no one knew exactly what happened. No matter if it was Marlene who restored the memories of a deity warden or Celia and the rest who became card spirits or his younger sister, no one knew the reason. Because in the first place, the younger sister simply gave the orders, while the rest executed them. As long as everything turned out fine, the process wasn’t within her concern.

“That isn’t the case, Master. Strictly speaking, even though the three big sisters are indeed much stronger than us, compared to the rest…” Karin said, shifting her gaze to Marybelle, Marlene, Alice, and the rest so the subject of comparison was clearly self-evident. “… They aren’t actually that powerful. As a matter of fact, if you didn’t gather us, the other seven holy sword cards, there would br no need to go through all this trouble. If you received these three cards in the first place, you could have summoned them directly, Master.”

“Oh? Why is that so?”

Upon hearing Karin’s words, Rhode was taken aback. He considered the possibility of being unable to remove the seals of the three cards without gathering the other seven. But now, according to Karin, he could remove their seals straight away if he only received the three cards without gathering the rest?

What kind of logic is that?

“Due to resonance, Master.”

Karin, on the other hand, wasn’t annoyed in the least. Shortly after, she explained to him in detail.

“If you look closely at our attributes, you’ll see the reason why.”

“Attributes?”

Rhode was stunned. Then, as though he recalled something, he turned to the crowd… It was at that moment when he realized that with the addition of the three card spirits sealed within the books, he could form three small, unique groups. One group would be led by Celestina and Shira, representing darkness. The other would be led by Gracier and Madaras as the nature group. The last group would be of the light attribute guided by Celia and Little Five (Perhaps it might be unimaginable for many, but, in fact, a specter was an existence of the light attribute). If Rhode were to carefully sort the three groups and awaken the card spirits, he would realize that the three books happened to rule over the darkness, light, and elemental attributes respectively. In this case, the ‘resonance’ that Karin mentioned would also be comprehensible. The same attribute would resonate and provide a boost in strength, which was basic knowledge to players. There was no need for Karin to explain further because this time, Rhode finally understood what she meant.

As a matter of fact, the three card spirits acted as resonance. As soon as they were activated, they would resonate with those of the same attributes as them, leading to an outburst of increased power. This source of energy was undoubtedly powerful, which was why Karin sealed them in the books. If Rhode were to receive the three card spirits without gathering any of the other card spirits, he would lose the resonance of the same attributes, so they wouldn’t cause too much damage even if they were awakened.

But on the other hand, if only one of the light, darkness, and elements was awakened and the remaining two attributes weren’t present to hold down the other two sides of the triangle, the triangle of balance would collapse. When that happened… Although Karin didn’t say it outright, it was definitely not something that they could dismiss with a smile.

In that case…

“Karin, what about yours?”

If Rhode were to split them into groups, Karin would be in an odd position. She wasn’t a being of a certain, specific attribute, but was a human instead…