Chapter 1306: Shattered Defenses

That’s the last one!

Observing the pain-ridden skeletal dragons around him, Rhode didn’t say a word. On the contrary, he raised his right hand high and as if responding to his action, the three dazzling light spheres above the enchanted field brightened and erupted. The power of light, darkness, and elements coalesced at that very moment.

Seconds after, the powers surged toward the prey caught in the spider’s web, devouring them completely.

“I see…”

Gazing at the glowing light and Chaos that was gradually disappearing in it, Rhode frowned and muttered to himself. If he didn’t quite understand what the Holy Sword System was all about earlier, now, he sort of understood the meaning behind it. Just as he thought, the entire Holy Sword System was an assemblage of the Dragon Soul Continent. His younger sister once used it as a replacement for the Order Star. But now, after experiencing it for himself, he realized that he was wrong. Although he had never seen the Order Star, according to his younger sister, the Order Star was actually like a solar generator and Chaos was the sunlight. The Order Star absorbed sunlight that shone on the panel and created energy for Order. It was an outward process. But this wasn’t the case with the Holy Sword System, which had little resistance to external invasion as it preferred to resolve issues from the inside instead. It was more like a stomach, and Chaos was the food that entered it. As soon as Chaos got within the boundaries of the Holy Sword System, they were automatically shattered, bound, weakened, and absorbed by holy sword cards, before the remainder was blasted into scraps.

Rhode finally understood why it was necessary to set up three layers of defenses to guard the signal tower. It could delay Chaos from attacking it and stall their progress, allowing the Holy Sword System to digest and destroy Chaos. However, there was also a limit to it and it wasn’t entirely beneficial and harmless. As soon as the barrier expanded, there would be a never-ending war against Chaos. When that happened, both sides could no longer retreat. If Rhode couldn’t transmigrate the Dragon Soul Continent to the solar system, the only thing that awaited them would be the influence of infinite Chaos and inevitable destruction.

But for now, the power wasn’t yet mature. At this point, Rhode still hadn’t grasped the essence of this system and was just using his power to activate the holy swords one by one. When the barrier actually unfolded, it would definitely be impossible for him to do the same. After all, when that happened, the 10 holy sword cards would be enveloping the entire continent in different regions. Even if Rhode were to be as fast as the Flash[1], he couldn’t possibly flee in disarray to activate the holy sword cards for every battle. Perhaps he would die of exhaustion from that first.

Looks like I should keep practising.

He finally understood why his younger sister wanted him to practice on his own for now, rather than simply activating the barrier. The most important thing about this barrier wasn’t regarding his control, but his need to grasp each holy sword card in the shortest possible time and form a regular, autonomous network through mental and spiritual connection. This ensured that the barrier could operate normally. The barrier would be really demanding for its holder, so he had to make sure that every part of the holy sword cards was managed well. But it wasn’t an easy task. After all, it required considerable familiarity between him and the holy sword cards, even to the point of commanding authority. This would ensure that any crisis would be dealt with in the shortest possible time, so that the barrier of the Holy Sword System wouldn’t collapse.

However, it was still a little difficult for him now. Celia and Celestina were the two cards that he wasn’t concerned about. He summoned them on innumerable occasions and was already incredibly familiar with them. The same went for Gracier and Madaras, and Shira wasn’t too bad either. But the remaining Little Five and Karin, as well as the three latest holy sword cards that he received recently, were rarely used. As Karin’s role was like a technician, she was often assigned tasks at the backend, so he didn’t have many chances to interact with her. On the other hand, he wasn’t familiar with Little Five due to the short duration he had gotten her for, so he didn’t have much time to practice. As for the remaining three holy sword cards, there was even less of a need to talk about them. It had been less than a day since he had gotten them, so what was there to say?

It was like playing a strategy game. One had to learn the features of different troops under one’s command in order to be able to make targeted placements and responses. Troops with higher defenses would lead the way. Troops with a longer range of attacks would be more suited for harassment from a distance. Troops with a wider field of vision could be used as scouts. Troops with unique skills could infiltrate the enemy lines. It was only after one understood these features that one wouldn’t make the same mistake of sending a bunch of scouts to hold the high ground, or sending a bunch of robots with no air-defense skills to go up against an enemy stealth plane.

In fact, during the final guard, Rhode found himself a little unable to grasp the power of the three holy sword cards. But fortunately, Karin reacted swiftly and coordinated the situation, which saved Rhode from making a fool of himself. Otherwise, as soon as he lost control of the power of the three holy sword spirits, he might also be covered in dirt with the skeletal dragons. Luckily, Karin’s coordination was great enough to help ease some of his burden. Despite that, he couldn’t rely upon her for this sort of thing forever. She was just a coordinator, while the true master was still him. If he didn’t try his best, it would still be useless no matter how hard Karin coordinated the situation on his behalf.

But now…

Rhode looked up at the defensive line before him. Even though the previous attack by the skeletal dragons left the place a little run-down, the formerly crumbling defensive line was finally held by the players and natives who were stationed here after Rhode got rid of the skeletal dragons. At the moment, the players and natives were desperately patching up holes, while the Chaos creatures retreated after they attacked a long time without success. This was also a trait of Chaos—impatient. Inhabitants of Order could gnash their teeth and not give up until the last moment, but Chaos didn’t have that kind of determination and perseverance. They didn’t need such things in the slightest. Because in many cases, the number of Chaos creatures alone was enough to trample on and crush everything.

But this was also a weakness of Chaos. Once Chaos lacked the quantity to crush their enemies, they rarely had the patience to continue attacking, even if they possessed the strength to fight a protracted battle. That was why Rhode quickly witnessed the Chaos creatures that were attacking the defensive line retreating. And those that didn’t fall back were soon surrounded and wiped out by the players. Soon after, the immediate crisis was considered to be averted. Despite that, Rhode didn’t let his guard down. He puckered his brows and stared at the battlefield in front of him cautiously to ensure there were temporarily no attacks from Chaos. He gave a hand gesture and upon witnessing his intention, Mini Bubble Gum and Canary, who were originally in charge of directing the players below, as well as Icy Snow, rushed to his side.

“What’s wrong, Leader?”

“I need a little more practice, but there isn’t quite enough time for me at the moment… Little Icy, do you know any place that is in a battle right now?”

“Please wait a moment, Big Brother.”

Upon hearing his question, Icy Snow paused for a moment. Then, she lifted her head, looked into the void with her black, glistening eyes, and began her investigation. At times like this, her skills really came in handy.

Before departing, Rhode learned from Alice that Chaos had attacked again and the defensive line at this area was in the most precarious state, which was why he came here. He wasn’t that worried about other places since there were others around to hold down the fort. After all, it was most important to deal with the matter at hand first; as for the other matters, he could wait until this matter was dealt with. And now, after taking care of this side of the battle, he finally shifted his attention to other battlefields.

It wasn’t that he had nothing better to do, but after the earlier experiment, he realized that he still had a lot to learn about the holy sword cards. The best method was to join actual battles to learn the most about their performance and characteristics in the shortest period possible. And now that the battle over at his side ended, he had experienced the advantages and disadvantages of the Holy Sword System firsthand. The next step was to coordinate with the holy sword cards in battles. Time was running out and he didn’t have any time to waste hanging around now.

“All is well on the battlefield in the Country of Law. But for the Munn Kingdom… There are some troubles on the northern border of the Country of Light. Currently, Her Highness Lydia is leading her troops in battle, but it seems like they are in a stalemate and there isn’t much progress.”

“Got it.”

Upon hearing Icy Snow’s report, Rhode nodded. He wasn’t that concerned about the Country of Law. On the other hand, he knew that Lydia wasn’t able to support the Country of Light on her own. Even though Lillian said she was on call for official battles, with the kind of half-*ssed battle skills she possessed right now, they should feel thankful that she didn’t add to the nuisance on the battlefield. As for expecting her to fight against Chaos, Rhode was terrified that she would once again be influenced by Chaos. When that happened, the situation would get even tougher. Also, the Country of Light lacked strong forces, so even with Lydia as backup, it was still a bit of a headache. Rhode had already dispatched most of the players he had on hand to assist Lydia as much as possible. Currently, the Country of Light was stretched to the limit in the face of Chaos, where even he couldn’t help but feel a little regretful attacking the Country of Light too viciously before. If he didn’t kill so many powerful beings of the Country of Light, perhaps there would at least be some cannon fodder blocking the way now!

But it was a pity that what was done couldn’t be undone. Rhode also didn’t find a way to travel back in time. So now, he could only rely upon his own strength.

“Little Icy, come with me. Canary, Bubble, you two are in charge of gathering up the survivors here and keeping an eye on Chaos’s movements. No one knows if those bast*rds will get hot-headed and run headlong into us. To be on the safe side, put yourself on alert for now, and let me know immediately if anything happens.”

Shortly after, Rhode gave his order, before metamorphosing into two streaks of light with Icy Snow and vanishing into the sky.

Meanwhile, in the border areas of the Country of Light, war was spreading wildly.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Brilliances erupted from the magical cannons lined along the edge of the magic warships. The massive skeletal dragons ahead howled and crashed onto the ground amidst the artillery fire. However, facing this scene before her, Lydia’s expression wasn’t relaxed in the slightest. Instead, she frowned and stared anxiously at the smoke in front of her. Sure enough, after a few moments, the thick smoke dispersed all of a sudden and gigantic skeletal dragons surfaced again. Although their bodies of white bones were scorched black from the bombardment of the magical cannons, at least from the looks of it, they were neither cracked nor shattered. Looking at this scene, Lydia knitted her brows even tighter.

“Your Highness, we’re backing down now.”

Standing quietly by Lydia’s side, Gaya spoke with a slightly heavy expression. Her face was equally as pale and even had a hint of a sickly red hue. Facing the attack of the skeletal dragons earlier, she had expended most of her strength. Not only that, but the magic warships that the Munn Kingdom was proud of were also at the end of their ropes now. Although the flagship was still intact and the skeletal dragons weren’t able to do any catastrophic damage to the magic warships due to them being contained by the battle angels, it couldn’t hide the fact that the battle angels were also retreating at a steady pace. And without the support of air defenses, the situation for the ground defenses was slowly turning chaotic. Lydia also witnessed that many of the Country of Light’s soldiers were scared out of their wits in the face of the Chaos creatures. They turned around and fled right away. Looking at this scene, Lydia could only sigh helplessly. What else could she say? The elite troops of the Country of Light had already been sacrificed in the battles between the Country of Darkness and Void Territory. And most of those that remained were ordinary soldiers and new recruits. For them to be able to hold on for so long before fleeing when the defensive line was about to collapse was already very competent of them. However…

“Ahhhh!”

Looking at the Chaos creatures swarming in like locusts from below the city wall, one of the soldiers screamed in fright. The extreme fear was unbearable for him. He yelled like a madman, tossed his sword at the Chaos creatures, and scrambled down the stairs behind the city wall.

“Goddammit! This bunch of worthless trash can’t be trusted at all!”

Watching the soldier flee for his life, a mage player shook his head, grumbled, and waved his hand abruptly. Shortly after, a layer of frost spread along the city wall. In the envelopment of cold air, the tumultuous Chaos creatures stopped their actions instantly. Their pace slowed down and they gradually turned into hundreds of ice sculptures.

“You know, this is the Country of Light. How can you even expect them to fight bravely? Haven’t we been screwed hard enough by them before?”

In response to his comrade’s complaints, the other archer player was clearly unconcerned. Well, it wasn’t too surprising, since Rhode originally recruited the core player base of Starlight from the Munn Kingdom, who had been screwed with by the Country of Light countless times. That was why most players simply didn’t regard these soldiers of the Country of Light highly. Perhaps it was a little disappointing for Lydia to not witness these soldiers fighting to the death for their country, but it wasn’t any astonishing for these players to see these soldiers fleeing from the battlefield. If the soldiers were to shout “let’s fight in the bloodbath until our death!” instead, perhaps the players would suspect whether these soldiers were truly people of the Country of Light…

And now, well…

“How long do you think we’ll be able to hold on?”

Gazing at the Chaos creatures freezing into ice sculptures before his eyes, the archer asked and didn’t stop his hand motions. He held up his pitch-black crossbow that was flickering in the brilliance of runes, aiming at the sea of Chaos creatures. Then, he released several glowing arrows from his crossbow and blasted the enemies. In a string of explosions, the densely packed and frozen Chaos creatures were blown to pieces and swept away. But shortly after, those in the back pounced once again, filling up the gaps ahead.

“Who knows? We shall see. With Her Highness Lydia commanding this time, she probably won’t retreat at the first sign of trouble… But there’s no telling, ’cause those dragons are really too annoying.”

As the mage groaned, he stared in displeasure at the skeletal dragons hovering overhead and battling the magic warships. In fact, with their strength, it wouldn’t be a big problem for them to deal with the skeletal dragons with the magic warships. But now, the problem was that the defensive line couldn’t handle the pressure any longer. Those useless soldiers that were only experts in fleeing made the players exert their full power to keep the defensive line from collapsing to Chaos. In that case, the players didn’t have the time to deal with the skeletal dragons and could only watch helplessly. No wonder these players criticized those soldiers so badly for fleeing for their lives.

“What a bother, it seems like we’re going to have to retreat as well… Hmm… Huh?”

The mage grumbled, but was bewildered by the scene before him all of a sudden. He stared in shock because at that moment, he witnessed a dazzling blade ray emanating from the back and piercing the skeletal dragon in front of him. The instant the shining blade ray came in contact with the skeletal dragon, it split into five, surrounded the skeletal dragon from five directions, and stabbed violently. The next thing the mage saw was the skeletal dragon shattering, falling, and crumbling into pieces.

“That’s… Leader, right?”

[1] A costumed superhero with the power to move at superhuman speeds.