Summoning the Holy Sword

It's that dream again.

Rhode lifted his head and gazed at the dusky sky before him. A flight of stairs spiraled under his feet and extended into the clouds along the stone tower. A chilly breeze blew against his face.

When Rhode arrived at the tower roof, he once again met the petite figure who looked like Christie. She stood silently in the center of the roof and gazed at Rhode with a slight smile.

"Who are you?" Rhode puckered his brows.

At this moment, Rhode could clearly sense that this was only a dream. The bizarre feeling of bewilderment and haziness in his mind interwoven as though devouring his rationality. However, Rhode had no ways of resisting it. He gritted his teeth and held on, staring at the little girl before him. He widened his mouth and repeated his question.

After the incident involving Gracier and Madaras, Rhode no longer treated this as a simple dream. In the game, he had encountered several plots that communicated with him through such dreams. No matter if it was the face that resembled Christie or if she could activate and awaken the Holy Swords, Rhode knew that this was a mystery that he must solve. Apart from that, Rhode was most curious about this little girl.

Although she had the same appearance as Christie, Rhode sensed clearly that she was a totally different presence. Not only that, Rhode also instinctively sensed that he was extremely familiar with her. Seeing this girl was like seeing a friend who had not seen each other for many years and they randomly met on the roadside. Her name was clearly on the verge of escaping his lips, but he just couldn't say it out loud.

The sound of wind whistled past and the little girl reacted to Rhode's question. She placed a finger on her smile and requested for silence. Then, she beckoned before walking to the edge of the tower. Rhode followed uncontrollably as though something was pulling him forward.

The entire world had become incomparably desolated. Not only did the flat surface not have any other buildings, but there was also no vegetation. It felt like the calm before the storm, leaving an unsettling feeling in his mind.

As Rhode paced to the edge of the tower, the little girl chuckled slightly and pointed her finger forward.

Rhode raised his head subconsciously and the scenery before him changed abruptly. The dusky sky and wildland burst into rays of black and white brilliance. In the blink of an eye, the scenery before him turned into a green dense forest and tall mountain range. The thick clouds dispersed to reveal the azure sky and the warm sunshine beamed on the earth.

Rhode was gobsmacked. However, it wasn't due to the extreme changes to the environment that surprised him. Instead, he couldn't be more familiar with what was presented before him: it was the scenery of the Land of Atonement, where his Fortress was located in.

What does she mean by this?

Rhode puckered his brows and turned to the little girl with a dubious look. However, the little girl didn't respond. Instead, she raised her right hand and pointed forward. The sound of the wind changed abruptly. Rhode looked forward. The azure sky had been engulfed and devoured by thick layers of dark clouds that flooded from the horizon, blocking off the vibrant sunlight. As the dark clouds approached, the exuberant green hills and clear waters abruptly deteriorated; withering and drying at a rapid pace. The fertile mother earth cracked and a violent thunderstorm rolled in.

Rhode wasn't scared or bewildered. Instead, his heart was pounding like a tense, excited prophet who had seen his future! He knew what this meant! He knew how and where it was going to happen! Swish! Swish! Swish! As though proving Rhode's imaginations, the sound of waves crashing into rocks sounded in his ears gradually. Shortly after, specks of blue-whitish flames gradually burned in the darkness.

Those are the Undead Flames.

Undead Army.

Rhode lifted his head and endured the roaring storm. He squinted and examined everything before him. At this moment, a bolt of lightning flashed within the dark clouds and illuminated everything in sight. Rhode instantly witnessed a sea of white skeletons within.

A clap of thunder boomed and vanished abruptly.

At the same time, the little girl moved her finger slightly and a dazzling ray of light streaked across the sky shrouded in dark clouds. Shortly after, the pitch-dark, deadly world had as though been swept away by an invisible large hand. The dark clouds dispersed and revealed a dense forest which caught Rhode by surprise. After all, just a second ago, he was still under the pouring storm and facing the invasion of the Undead Army. The emergence of the green exuberant forest with birds chirping left him perplexed. However, he quickly realized that there was a pair of daggers laid down in the empty field of the forest.

Gracier and Madaras.

Rhode turned around and gazed at the little girl. At this moment, the little girl laid down her arm and nodded to Rhode. Then, she took two steps back and lifted the hem of her skirt to bow politely. Along with her actions, Rhode instantly felt the ground beneath his feet crumpling and gravity dragged him down like a monster's claw.

"Hey, wait up. You…"

The ground beneath his feet shattered and he fell right into the endless darkness…

Rhode sat up abruptly.

Luminous moonlight spilled through the window from the bright full moon hanging silently. Christie was still in deep sleep beside him. Ever since Christie had begun accompanying Rhode at night, she received further guidance from Gillian to treat this as part of her nightly duty. This wasn't a bad thing for Rhode. With Christie accompanying him, he could often calm down quickly and feel exceptionally relaxed. Of course, this had nothing to do with lust.

But even so, there was still a disadvantage. Rhode had to shift his 'night activities' to a much more suitable time. Just like the morning activity that he had engaged with Canary in the study room. No matter what, Rhode couldn't possibly do it before Christie.

"Mm…" Christie had entered her deep slumberland.

Rhode stroked her long hair gently and looked over. On the other end of the bed, the little mermaid was also sleeping soundly, curling up inside her water ball. Her sleeping posture was rather amusing and a string of bubbles blew out of her tiny mouth and floated within the water ball.

But Rhode knew it wasn't the time for him to admire this scene. He got his feet off the bed carefully to not wake the two little girls and moved quietly to the open window. He gazed at the Land of Atonement under the beaming moonlight with knitted brows. After Mini Bubble Gum and Canary led the mercenaries to eliminate the points of defect, the social order had stabilized a lot. The day and night times weren't as chaotic as when Rhode's group first arrived. Back then, this territory had long nights and short days with unstable climates. Even though there was only a mountain between the Deep Stone City and the Land of Atonement, the former was like a smooth running clock while the latter was like a damaged clock with irregular speed. Fortunately, this territory had been slowly getting back on track.

But that dream just now…

Rhode's heart sank slightly. He had watched that scene countless times. It was the scene when the Undead Army of the Country of Darkness attacked. Why did the little girl display it before him? But the answer didn't require many thoughts. History was still continuing and the threat of the Country of Darkness perhaps was unavoidable. Ordinary humans couldn't defend against the powerful forces of the Country of Darkness. The bunch of idiots in the Light Parliament thought that they could get their share of the action after witnessing the conflict between the new and old forces in the Country of Darkness. However, they didn't see through the true, hidden meaning behind that. If the Country of Darkness didn't grow stronger day by day where the strength of the rising factions was enough to fight against the long-standing nobles, how would it be possible that they would dare to do that in the Country of Darkness with the tough level restrictions?

The Light Parliament tried pulling chestnuts out of the fire, but they invited trouble instead. In the Country of Darkness, there were almost 300 beings in the Legendary Stage and thousands in the Peak Master Stage under the Four Legendary Generals. Even the low-level Skeletal Soldiers with no self-judgment could rely on their Undead attribute to utterly defeat ordinary soldiers. The Country of Darkness would definitely crush the pathetic forces of the Country of Light.

Although Rhode had Bubble and Canary as his assistants and most of the Undead Army couldn't harm them due to their current 'Supreme Privilege' in level standards, Bubble and Canary would surely flee in defeat when several beings in the Legendary Stage fought them at once or when either one of the Four Legendary Generals or the Dark Dragon Soul emerged. Moreover, the two young ladies were equipped with pitiful, plain equipment and weren't even close to being fully equipped. Under such circumstances, it would pose some difficulty even if they fought their enemies one by one.

It could be seen from here the difference between the strength of the powerful Country of Darkness and the declining Country of Light. The Country of Darkness had Undead Creatures as their main forces and sufficient time to accumulate experience to strengthen their forces. However, the Country of Light was a nation dominated by mankind and the Light Parliament operated with an ideology of human supremacism and didn't trust species with longevity. They believed that humans could only trust themselves and feared that long-living creatures would dominate them. This was why humans, Vampires, Dark Elves, Dwarves, and others could join the war in the Country of Darkness and also why the Angels were unseen by the humans and the Elves and Dwarves seldom communicated with them in the Country of Light. This made up most reasons why they viewed the Munn Kingdom as an enemy. Lydia was obviously looking to restore the sacred status of the Light Dragon and the humans would then be ruled by a non-human being with longevity, which was absolutely unacceptable. As for the half-beast, their existences would be expelled.

Although the Humans had strong learning abilities and outstanding talents, their longevity was a big problem, after all. It was only a problem of time for the beings with longevity to break through, but it would be pointless if a human couldn't transcend into the Legendary Stage in a short period of time because he would only live up to a 100 years. This was also the reason why the Light Parliament didn't dare to take further actions against Rhode after the Mist Sword Saint had been crippled by Mini Bubble Gum. Compared to the other races, it wasn't easy for the humans to cultivate powerful beings. If it happened to the Country of Darkness, they could simply dispatch three more Sword Saints for revenge and even if the next three Sword Saints were defeated, there would still be a whole group of Sword Saints waiting for their turn…

This was the difference.

At the beginning of the game, the average level of all the forces in the Country of Light was 60. The Country of Law had an average level of 70 while the Country of Darkness had the highest average level of 75. As the game was updated, the Void Dragon transcended and became the strongest BOSS in the entire Dragon Soul Continent. The average level of forces under the Void Dragon was 75. In other words, any random soldier would possess the strength of the Master Stage and the BOSSes were in the Legendary Stage. If players didn't exist, the natives would surely be doomed.

Rhode had no intentions of going against the Country of Darkness because it wasn't worth it and unnecessary. It would be even better if he could invite trouble to the certain originators of evil practices.

But… Why?

Rhode frowned at this thought.

In the game, the Country of Light relied on their self-awareness and territorial scope of Soraka Mountain to provoke the Country of Darkness recklessly. But now, the Duke Fiend had been defeated by him and Soraka Mountain had become a dead region. Even if the Light Parliament wished to get their hands on the region, perhaps the Country of Darkness wouldn't mind at all since it had been tainted by Chaos and became unstable after losing the seal. In other words, it basically had no value to them at all. Following the historical process of the game, the Country of Light's fuse for the provocation should have been extinguished by him.

Or perhaps, they have other motives?

Rhode shook his head hopelessly. He thought he could take a break, but the warning of this strange dream had tensed him up. Although he didn't know who that little girl was, he felt that she wouldn't lie to him. At the very least, it was her who helped him repair Gracier and Madaras.

Besides…

Rhode recalled the final scene the little girl had pointed to: Gracier and Madaras laying silently in an empty field of the forest. After being a gamer for many years, Rhode's grasp of the plot's hint was truly accurate. Up until now, the two daggers hadn't transformed into a part of the summoning cards. Perhaps the hint that the little girl had given him might be deeply linked to it.

But…

Rhode rubbed his forehead at the troublesome thought. He knew where that place was and it wouldn't be easily accessible.

The Sacred Forest.

The Country of Law—a sacred place dominated by the Elves.