Chapter 1374 - Bitter Struggle (1/2)

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

Although Rhode expected the battle to be tough, it was, in fact, much tougher than he had imagined.

Innumerable, undaunted Chaos swarmed and surrounded Rhode and the others in all directions. Facing such a terrifying scene, just stopping Chaos’s attack was enough to consume all of their strength, not to mention attacking the Chaos Core again.

However, Rhode’s group wasn’t foolish either. None of them were silly enough to annihilate the Chaos creatures just so that the Chaos army could replenish their troops again. As for the weaker Chaos creatures, Rhode left them alone since they weren’t too powerful and couldn’t easily break through the defenses of the magical warships.

On the other hand, if they were powerful Chaos Lords, perhaps his group would have been in trouble in a single encounter. Fortunately, the Chaos creatures didn’t massacre one another. The chaotic nature of Chaos was most evident at that moment. They only cared about swarming on each other and didn’t give a damn about what was happening in the slightest.

If Rhode were leading them, perhaps he would have ordered his men to cut down one another if it was necessary to stabilize Order. However, Chaos didn’t have such awareness at all. They were like a swarm of headless flies that only knew that Rhode and the rest were posing a danger to the Chaos Core, and they needed to destroy this threat as soon as possible. As for the rest of the affairs, nothing else mattered to them.

“Chaos is retreating.”

Standing on the city wall, the ashen Marlene couldn’t help but watch as Chaos gradually retreated. Just a moment ago, she had contacted Angelina and Nell through her spiritual connection, and learned that no matter which front they were on, the number of Chaos creatures had decreased drastically. It was apparent that this wasn’t because Chaos was defeated, but that they had a new target.

As for the target of their attack, it went without saying who it was.

In fact, upon realizing that, Marlene knew that Rhode was facing big trouble.

She had to admit that the plan that Rhode and his younger sister came up with was indeed great. However, there was still a fatal flaw in it, and that was that they failed to predict the reaction of Chaos. Since Chaos had no order to speak of, whatever they did wasn’t surprising in the slightest. Thus, from the very beginning, Rhode’s and his younger sister’s plan was to ‘adapt to every situation’. But now, it seemed like this situation was a bit too far beyond the scope of everyone’s imagination. It was true that Marlene and the others, including Rhode, expected the Chaos creatures to ‘return to the palace to save the Emperor’, but none of them expected them to ‘disregard the big picture’ to this huge extent, where they withdrew from every single battlefront!

The retreat of Chaos was naturally good news for the front lines that fought for several days. No matter the Country of Light, Country of Law, Country of Darkness, or Void Territory, they were already exhausted from taking turns in fighting and tiring Chaos out. At that moment, upon witnessing their retreat, the country rulers arranged for their men to rest. Due to the secret measures that Rhode carried out, no one other than Marlene and his trusted aides knew where he went and what he was up to.

As to why Chaos suddenly retreated, the subjects didn’t give much thought to it. At most, they assumed that Chaos was also fatigued at times. But no matter what, Chaos’s retreat still allowed them to have some time to rest. If they didn’t seize this time to relax, maybe they wouldn’t be able to hold on in the next battle.

“Why is Chaos retreating?! How gutless! They’re not gonna trouble Leader again, are they? Big Sister Marlene, do you want us to go and help Leader?”

At that moment, witnessing Chaos’s retreat, Anne jumped around anxiously at the side. She didn’t give up urging on Marlene to bring her along to assist Rhode. But unfortunately, it was useless even if Marlene was touched by her proposal. Because the Chaos Eye was the key to open the path that led them to the core of Chaos, and the Chaos Eye had already been taken by Rhode. Even after Marlene gathered men and headed over to help, it would be pointless if she couldn’t open the path to the core.

“It’s useless, Anne. Without the Chaos Eye, we can’t reach the core. It’s the same no matter where we go…”

At that point, Marlene sighed softly, closed her eyes, and contemplated for a moment. Then, as if she made up her mind about something, she turned to look at Lapis, who stood beside her, and called out her name.

“Lapis.”

“Um… Yes, Miss Marlene? Is anything the matter?”

When Lapis heard Marlene’s call, the former returned to her senses and turned around in surprise. And upon looking at Lapis’s confused gaze, Marlene’s heart sank. But soon, she gazed at the young lady and said.

“Now that Chaos has retreated, you should also start to…”

“…”

Upon hearing Marlene’s words, Lapis turned pale instantly and took two steps backward involuntarily as if the Marlene standing in front of her was a vicious beast about to devour her. And after looking at her ashen face, Marlene felt helpless deep down. But even so, she braced herself and looked at Lapis, speaking.

“You know what to do, Lapis. That was Rhode’s order to you. Now that Chaos has retreated, there’s no better time than now. We shouldn’t waste the time Rhode bought us. You must fulfill your mission in the shortest possible time. Do you understand?”