Chapter 1307 - Restless Crisis (1/2)
Rhode glided across the sky. The shimmering blade rays around him enveloped him in a perfect halo. He looked at the battlefield with a stern expression. Frankly, he wasn’t surprised that the soldiers of the Country of Light were utterly defeated. If they didn’t retreat in this bloodbath, he would be even more astonished. Besides, the quality of those soldiers was also questionable. That was why, from the start, Rhode didn’t have high expectations of them. But now… This defensive line couldn’t be abandoned. It was currently just a prelude, and if any layer of defense was lost at that point, it would be a very unsettling factor for their plans.
That was why they had to secure this defensive line at all costs.
Rhode collected his thoughts, looked up, and took his eyes off the body of the fallen skeletal dragon to the obstacle in front of him. There were about five to six skeletal dragons that attacked this defensive line. Their massive bodies erupted with a gloomy, blue spiritual fire, while black fog wrapped around their bodies. Although there was no telling what Chaos had done to these skeletal dragons, judging from their wild, scarlet eyes, it was apparent that they had completely lost their minds and were turned into frenzied beasts. After witnessing Rhode kill one of them, the remaining skeletal dragons turned around and pounced on him with their razor-sharp teeth and claws.
“Inhale…”
Looking at the skeletal dragon closest to him, Rhode took a deep breath and flipped his right hand around. Soon after, a stack of cards appeared between his fingers. He narrowed his eyes, aimed at the skeletal dragons, and flung his right arm forward. At the next moment, a bright, glowing light escaped his hand. It was a sharp blade coalesced from pure light.
The light blade whistled ahead.
“———!”
In the face of this attack, the skeletal dragon let out a furious roar, raised its head, and snapped its jaws open. At the next moment, a roaring spurt of flames sprayed out of its gigantic mouth, blasting at the light blade.
Shing———!
The moment its fiery breath collided with the light blade, the light blade dispersed all of a sudden. It seemed at first glance that it shattered in the dragon breath. However, that wasn’t the case. The instant the light blade clashed with the dragon breath, the light blade split into five, spread out in all directions, and formed a circle that surrounded the skeletal dragon. Looking at this scene, Rhode’s expression remained unchanged. Instead, he held his right hand forward in an empty grip and made a downward chopping motion.
Swish!
The moment he made that action, a light blade behind the skeletal dragon jumped up and expanded in size. In the blink of an eye, the holy sword glowing in a divine brilliance heavily slashed the skeletal dragon’s body. With a loud bang, the skeletal dragon’s body tilted and an endless source of holy power bombarded its body, shattering the dark fog that had enveloped its body completely.
Upon sensing the blazing holy power, the skeletal dragon howled in wrath and agony, instinctively extending its claws and swinging backward to strike the sword away. But at the same time, another scarlet longsword flew out and whirled from the other side, hacking at its menacing claws. In the sound of a crack, the skeletal dragon’s strong, enormous claw shattered in this ambush by Shira like fragile pieces of glass. Not only that, but half of its right arm was also demolished.
Feeling the intense pain, the skeletal dragon shuddered, swinging its head and attempting to get away from the holy swords. However, its resistance was futile. The moment it turned around, its head shook abruptly. At the next moment, its neck was cut by a criss-cross stroke and almost imperceptible blade rays, to which a stark wound appeared. Shortly after, along with a dazzling thunder, a huge, serrated, chainsaw-like blade also stabbed the wound.
Roaring thunder, exploding flame, ice-cold frost, and collapsing air current proliferated within the skeletal dragon’s body in an instant. The crowd witnessed its huge body expanding like a balloon, before blowing up into pieces, while the murky, black fog was also shredded in the whistling winds. Soon after, the skeletal dragon that was completely sliced to pieces collapsed onto the ground, joining its lifeless companions from before.
Something doesn’t seem right.
Looking at the dark fog dissipating before his eyes, Rhode stretched his wrist. His attack this time wasn’t just as simple as just destroying the enemy anymore. He also needed to determine which attributes worked together more effectively and how he should get them to work together to pose the strongest threat. But now, with two attacks in a row, he didn’t feel satisfied yet. This time, he used five holy swords in this attack. First, Celia’s holy power overwhelmed the undead power that enfolded the skeletal dragon. Then, Shira coordinated with Gracier and Madaras in attacking the skeletal dragon. In the end, it was up to Dona to finish things off with a fatal blow.
However, this combination didn’t seem to be very effective. It wasn’t surprising because Rhode hasn’t even figured out the attributes, attacks, and effects of these cards so far. And the ones he was most familiar with were Celia, Celestina, Gracier, and Madaras. He didn’t use the other holy sword cards as much. Besides, there were many differences between being in sword form and physical form. Rhode could work with them while they were in physical form to conduct battles. But after they returned back into their sword form, they needed to rely more upon his control of the battle to be able to use their powers again. This was also something new to him as he had no prior experience in this field as a Spirit Swordsman. Spirit Swordsman was a class that summoned spirits and displayed swordsmanships to perform powerful combinations and attacks. And now, it was rare for him to be in a situation that required him to fully control the battle as the lone swordsman.
I need more practice.
At this thought, Rhode turned over and projected his gaze at the other skeletal dragons that rushed toward him. Upon hearing their bellows, the corners of his lips perked up into a smile.
All I have is time for now.
The outcome of the battle had been determined upon Rhode’s arrival on the battlefield.
Although the fleeing soldiers of the Country of Light had put the defensive line into perilous danger, after Rhode devastated the skeletal dragons crisply, Lydia didn’t miss the chance to call forth the magic fleet and battle angel army to take on the Chaos creatures again. After facing the strong resistance, the Chaos creatures stopped persisting, but turned back and left the battlefield quickly instead. In the end, the safety of this defensive line was guaranteed.
However, although they were victorious, not a single person showed a relaxed expression; instead, everyone, including Rhode and Lydia, looked grave.
“Thanks to you, Your Majesty Rhode. If it weren’t for your help, this first line of defense would have most likely collapsed.”
Looking at Rhode in front of her, Lydia revealed an expression of helplessness and relief. In fact, she also knew that if he didn’t show up, she would be the only one fighting it out. But this wasn’t a really good idea to her, and more importantly… As a matter of fact, her current situation wasn’t looking exactly great.
Rhode didn’t know that while Lydia gained rule of the Country of Light under Lillian’s appointment, that didn’t mean she earned the heartfelt acknowledgement of its people. Aside from the fact that the Country of Light had been tarnishing the reputation of the Munn Kingdom for so many years, Lydia’s image had long been deeply rooted in their hearts. Moreover, after the continuous battles between the Country of Light and Munn Kingdom, as well as the Country of Light and the Void Territory, the people of the Country of Light had deep and unfavorable impressions of Rhode and Lydia. That was why most of them were still more or less resistant to them.
Previously, they were willing to accept Lillian’s rule because Lillian was born and raised in the Country of Light and considered one of their own. The people believed that she would make the right decision for them. But what about Lydia? She was the archangel of the Munn Kingdom. And now that the Country of Light was in her hands, would she be able and willing to give them good lives ahead?
It seemed like the people of the Country of Light knew that they had bullied Lydia back then… And now, they were feeling nervous about karma.
For that reason, the people of the Country of Light were actually quite wary of Lydia’s rule and management. They had so much fun tarnishing her reputation at first. But now, she became their biggest boss. According to the rumors, this archangel was a murderer who didn’t bat an eye whenever she killed someone, so it was hard to guarantee that she wouldn’t settle old scores. What if she hit on the idea of sending the people to the front lines as an excuse, but actually meant to send them to their deaths? Wasn’t she capable of doing that? Well… It was hard to say.
With these thoughts from the higher-ups, the soldiers below had even more ideas. None of them were willing to be scapegoats, much less letting someone else drag them to their graves.
Back then, you were the one shouting for joy out there in the first place. We’re just ordinary soldiers, so why must we die for the conflicts between higher-ups like you?
In fact, Lydia knew all about this, which explained her awkward expression when she saw Rhode. But honestly, she couldn’t be blamed for that. People were selfish by nature. Even now—so what if it concerned the existence of the entire world? How could one expect everyone to hold such a high level of consciousness to abandon their past differences and strive for the Dragon Soul Continent? Hahaha, how was that possible? Not to mention, in order to avoid causing a panic, Rhode and the rest didn’t tell the truth to the general public. After all, there were only two choices: either succeed or die. Just think about it. Imagine if some scientist on Earth suddenly made an announcement to the world claiming to have discovered that the sun would soon explode and destroy the whole solar system. Humans would either choose to move the Earth out of the solar system or accept their fate and die. What would the reactions be?