Chapter 1262: Smoke of War
In an instant, heaven fell and the earth split apart.
An endless storm of Chaos erupted from the void, rus.h.i.+ng toward the sky and earth at a rapid speed. The bright, cold, and gentle glow of the moon stood like a st.u.r.dy city wall, keeping out the storm of Chaos. Like a comet striking earth, the sky and earth seemed to stop for that very moment. Shortly after, limitless air waves erupted, creating the purest ripples of destruction. The solid ground had completely disappeared, only to be replaced by a huge, bottomless gully that was tens of kilometers wide, extending from one end of the horizon to the other, connecting the sky, earth, s.p.a.ce, and time. At that moment, everything was torn apart. Dust to dust, soil to soil, Chaos to Chaos, and Order to Order. Black and white could never merge and water and fire would never live in peace. The extremities of all things were best embodied at that moment.
But that was still far from enough.
“This is the power of the Dark Dragon? This is the true power of the Dark Dragon, Erin? But this is far from enough! The power of Chaos is infinite. Nothing can defeat Chaos!”
Along with Ion’s snarls, the rolling fog before everyone s.h.i.+fted its shape. Shortly after, tens of thousands of strange-looking creatures appeared from the fog, flapping their wings and shrieking as they pounced on Erin. One had to admit that this move from Ion was indeed vicious. He used the power of Chaos to summon Chaos creatures to hurl attacks. But Erin didn’t have enough forces to resist Chaos on her side. In just a few moments, seemingly infinite Chaos creatures charged at the young lady from all directions. She was about to be surrounded by endless hostile enemies, when suddenly…
“You think I’m dead when I don’t speak!?”
Looking at this scene, Rhode was instantly enraged. He raised his right arm and along with this action, a card flickering in golden brilliance appeared and revolved above his palm. At the next moment, he clenched his fists hard.
Crack!
As the card shattered, a dazzling golden brilliance rose from the ground. Then, the huge, mighty Void Dragon appeared. Rhode lifted his head proudly, his golden eyes flas.h.i.+ng in ice-cold glints. He widened his mouth and let out a raging huff.
“Flatten!”
The world transformed rapidly at this simple command. Everything, be it visible or invisible, flattened and compacted. The power of Void surged from all directions, roaring and gus.h.i.+ng under the brilliant moonlight, staggering to form twisted s.p.a.ce cracks. The Chaos creatures that came into contact with the moonlight warped as though they had fallen into a meat grinder. They spun, were ripped apart forcefully, and vanished as if swept and crushed by an invisible grinding disc.
“… What a surprise…”
Hidden in the fog, Ion’s voice was filled with astonishment. It seemed like he didn’t expect Rhode to be here. But Ion apparently had no intention of backing down. On the contrary, right after Rhode made his move, the Chaos fog that slammed onto the Order barrier changed its form again. It withdrew swiftly and coalesced as though it were absorbed by an unknown force. Looking at this scene, Rhode let out a snort.
It’s fine if you’re foolish, Ion, but don’t categorize me as your kind. Do you really think I don’t know what you’re up to?
“s.p.a.ce s.h.i.+ft!”
The moment the Chaos fog coalesced, Rhode gave his second command. Creator Dragons were the supreme G.o.ds of creation. They created this continent. Everything here was born of them and would eventually return to the embrace of the Creator Dragons. To a Creator Dragon of Rhode’s caliber, he didn’t need to activate any skills; just a command was enough to change the world as he ordered. The moment Rhode yelled out the command in the dragon language, the power of Void charged ahead immediately. It was wrapped in silver-whitish moonlight, piercing into Chaos like multiple razor-sharp blades. Upon sensing the invasion of Order, the coalesced Chaos fog scattered instantly. Ear-deafening, piercing screams erupted from the fog. Ion’s smug laughter stopped all of a sudden and became silent. However, Rhode apparently had no intention of stopping his a.s.sault. The Void Dragon soared, raised its front claws, and slashed from above!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
At that moment, the earth was no longer rumbling, but was leaping frantically like a chessboard. Anne and the rest felt like the ground beneath their feet was no longer a flat, solid land, but was like a soft, bouncy trampoline instead. Each and every one of them flew dozens of meters in the air, before finally landing back on the ground. This wasn’t an obstacle for powerful beings like Ca.s.sidy and Mini Bubble Gum, but it was a challenge for the rest. It was especially so for Angelina. Her strength was the weakest among them and the emergence of the Void Dragon stripped her of that little, pitiful authority of rule. In an instant, her strength plummeted and when Rhode banged his claws on the ground, she was almost struck to death. Fortunately, she was lucky enough to remember that she had a pair of wings. She flew up into the sky hurriedly and saved herself from being ma.s.sacred.
Even though Angelina escaped death, she wasn’t that lucky in the face of Chaos. The moment Rhode smacked his claw on the ground, the Chaos fog on the other side surged like water vapor from boiling water, seemingly disintegrating. At the same time, Ion’s raging bellow erupted from the fog again.
“How… How can you do that!”
“I do whatever I want; who gives a sh*t about a bast*rd like you! Get out of your hidey-hole and die!”
Upon hearing Ion’s snarl, Rhode was unconcerned. On the contrary, Rhode raised his claw and slammed the ground again!
Bang!
This time, it wasn’t only the ground that shook, but the entire world instead. Along with this strike, the Chaos fog scattered rapidly just like any dense fog that would disperse one day. At that moment, the Chaos fog that crashed onto the moonlight barrier retreated in a fl.u.s.ter. Gazing at this scene, Rhode’s eyes glinted in a trace of a smile. He lifted his dragon claw again. But this time, it was different. As he raised the claw, a golden radiance appeared from the void and wrapped around it. The power of Order gathered on his claw from the surroundings, coalescing into an incredibly powerful strength.
“Rhode, that is…”
At that moment, Erin witnessed Rhode’s action and couldn’t help but change her expression. But before she continued to say anything more, two emerald trails of light streaked across the sky, appearing before his eyes one after another, stopping his action.
“Your Majesty Rhode, please stop!”
“Oh-no-no, Your Majesty Rhode, calm down… This isn’t good for your body, okay?”
“Get lost!”
Upon facing Siena and Nalea, Rhode had no intention of backing off. Instead, he lifted his right claw and swung it down with might! Looking at this scene, Siena and Nalea hesitated no more. As the two vitality-filled, emerald brilliance flashed by, two enormous dragons appeared in the air. They widened their mouths, snarled, and bit Rhode’s wrist, stopping him from launching the attack.
“Big Brother———!”
Upon holding back Rhode’s aggression, Siena and Nalea noticed a bright radiance flas.h.i.+ng from behind him. At the next moment, another Void Dragon appeared and crashed into Siena. Bang! In a deep collision, Siena was caught off guard as she flew away. The Void Dragon swung her tail abruptly, las.h.i.+ng out at Nalea on the other side. Upon realizing its attack, Nalea’s jaws let go of Rhode’s wrist, and she fluttered her wings and retreated, dodging the ma.s.sive, sweeping tail. The unrestrained Rhode bellowed and brandished his right claw!
“—————”
At that moment, the world had as though stopped spinning; everything froze in time as though nothing would change even until the end of the world. But at the next moment, as Rhode’s claw landed, everything fast-forwarded. The ear-deafening impact swept the land, flattening everything in sight. Bursts of airflows surged from the bottomless abyss on the ends of the world, blasting skyward.
“You all…! How dare you do that! I will not let you off, Creator Dragons! Chaos shall dominate the world; your resistance is meaningless!”
Ion’s roar sounded from the fog once again before disappearing entirely. Along with his retreat, the restless Chaos fog also stopped advancing, but hovered outside the moonlight barrier like crippled creatures instead. Everything returned to its peace as though nothing had happened. But it was apparent that not everyone thought the same.
“Cr*p! What are the two of you doing? Are you done with your nonsense?!”
The Creator Dragons had returned to their human forms. Rhode strode across in displeasure and glared at Siena and Nalea as though he were about to swallow them in rage. Rhode’s emotionless face was long gone, only to be replaced by an uncharacteristically sinister expression. This went to show just how furious he was.
“I was in control of that battle, so why are the two of you here to stop me? What’s wrong with you? G.o.dd*mn it, what I hate the most when I’m fighting the d.a.m.n BOSS is when some transitional animation appears and lets the BOSS escape. NPCs are fools; do you really think we’re idiots too?! You two dumb*sses! Everything would have turned out fine without you hindering! You’re so stupid that you don’t even fit being promiscuous women, so how could you even be Creator Dragons?!”
“Please show some respect, Your Majesty Rhode.”
As usual, Siena put up a solemn expression. It could also be said that she was so solemn that she turned rather ashen.
“Your doings are destroying the Dragon Soul Continent. Don’t you know the consequences after the borders of the Dragon Soul Continent are destroyed…”
“I wouldn’t have done that if I weren’t aware. Say, all of us are Creator Dragons, so how could you treat us as newbies? Of course, I know what sort of impact my actions would bring to the Dragon Soul Continent, but it’s better to deal with painful things quickly. Everything would have ended after throwing that idiot into the realm of Chaos! Do you realize what you’ve done?!”
Siena sulked, at the same time extending her arm to reach for the sword on her back.
“Your actions are threatening the safety of the Dragon Soul Continent! As a guardian of the Dragon Soul Continent, I prohibit you from doing that!”
Upon witnessing Siena’s reaction, Rhode puckered his brow, spread his arms apart, and two swords of black and white appeared in his hands.
“What I did was for the sake of protecting the Dragon Soul Continent! Running away won’t solve the problem! Shall I use action to teach you the logic behind it?”
Erin panicked as the two of them were about to break into a fight. She glanced around her, but didn’t know what to do. At that moment, Rhode’s younger sister and Nalea took half a step forward and stopped them.
“Big Brother, don’t be angry. Now that the situation has come to this… Let’s think about what we should do next.”
“Oh-no-no, Siena, why must you throw your temper at His Majesty Rhode? After all, we’re also wrong in some areas… Alright, alright. Everyone is concerned about the safety of the Dragon Soul Continent. We should think about our next step now, shouldn’t we?”
There was a reason why Rhode was so furious. As a matter of fact, his earlier attack wasn’t only as simple as to defeat Chaos. Instead, he also decided to eradicate the ensuing troubles once and for all. That was why he tried to use the dividing line to completely separate all connections between the land and the world of the Dragon Soul Continent. It was just like slicing off the rotten part of the fruit and tossing it into the bin. As long as Rhode banished this land from s.p.a.ce entirely, it would end up like he mentioned; Ion would be thrown into the realm of Chaos that he revered so highly.
However, the twin dragons suddenly appeared out of nowhere and obstructed him. Rhode caught Ion off guard because the latter didn’t expect him to be so determined, where he was willing to sacrifice two-thirds of the Country of Darkness without batting an eyelid. Without clarifying the situation, Ion was caught in Rhode’s trap. However, the twin dragons’ resistance gave Ion another chance to return to his senses. Ion used the power of Chaos to replenish the area that was cut off by Rhode, causing the two tracts of land that were already on the verge of separation to be reconnected again. Not only that, but it also resulted in Rhode’s action to fail through the lack of a final effort. That was why it wasn’t unreasonable for Rhode to berate the twin dragons.
On the other hand, it went without saying that Siena and Nalea were just fulfilling their duties. They weren’t wrong in their decision because even though Rhode decisively divided the two tracts of land, which separated Ion and them entirely, this brutal method would also bring forth a huge impact to the Dragon Soul Continent. Not only would the main plane be affected, but most worlds of the four main elemental planes and Seven Fantasy Boundaries would also become unstable, thereby influencing the barrier’s resistance against Chaos. Just one mistake would be enough for Chaos to charge into the Dragon Soul Continent from all directions. When that happened, it wasn’t only an issue with the Country of Darkness anymore.
Judging from this point, Rhode and Siena weren’t wrong; it was just that their views were different. Rhode believed in dealing with the pain quickly and as long as he resolved the biggest problem at hand, the remaining issues could be easily handled. On the other hand, Siena was concerned that more troubles would ensue after wiping out the Country of Darkness. For safety’s sake, she would rather keep the Country of Darkness than to let other regions be affected by the threats and instability of Chaos.
All in all, it was just like one being at odds with one’s limb. One side wanted to engage in amputation therapy, while the other preferred a relatively mild and conservative approach. Even though the methods were entirely different, the starting point was the same.
“Tsk…”
Rhode knew that it was pointless to continue bickering with Siena since matters had ended up this way. This time, Ion had learned his lesson and it was likely impossible for Rhode to deploy this strategy again. That was why Rhode glared at Siena and said nothing. Meanwhile, Siena calmed herself down as Nalea consoled her. As a matter of fact, Siena knew that she acted too rashly. At that moment, she didn’t dare to take the risk, which was why she chose to stop Rhode’s attack. She wasn’t willing to gamble the safety of the continent.
“What can we do next? Looks like the only way is to fight as we go, step by step. Since both of you are so empathetic, how about you send soldiers from the Country of Law to take the lead against the invasion of Chaos?”
Facing the younger sister’s words, Rhode let out a snort and said. Upon hearing his response, Nalea chuckled.
“Of course, that’s no issue, Your Majesty Rhode. It is our duty to fight for Order. I wonder what you’ve decided to do though, Your Majesty Rhode.”
“Me? I will find another way to dig a trench. This time, I will find a place where I won’t be interrupted!”
“You’re still intent on giving up half the continent to Chaos?”
Siena tensed up and asked, while Rhode shrugged.
“So what? As long as I deem it fit, I will still do it!”
“You are really…”
“Alright, alright, Big Brother, Siena; stop quarreling. Miss Erin is still watching from the side.”
As Rhode and Siena were about to break into a fight again, the younger sister couldn’t help but force a smile and appease them. Upon hearing her words, Rhode and Siena s.h.i.+fted their gaze to Erin, who put up an awkward smile at the side.
They forgot that… The young lady before them was the true ruler of the Country of Darkness now.