Chapter 1262: Smoke of War
In an instant, heaven fell and the earth split apart.
An endless storm of Chaos erupted from the void, rushing toward the sky and earth at a rapid speed. The bright, cold, and gentle glow of the moon stood like a sturdy 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, space, 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.
âThis 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!â
Along with Ionâs snarls, the rolling fog before everyone shifted 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 didnât 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 suddenlyâŠ
âYou think Iâm dead when I donât speak!?â
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 flashing in ice-cold glints. He widened his mouth and let out a raging huff.
âFlatten!â
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 gushing under the brilliant moonlight, staggering to form twisted space 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.
â⊠What a surpriseâŠâ
Hidden in the fog, Ionâs voice was filled with astonishment. It seemed like he didnât 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.
Itâs fine if youâre foolish, Ion, but donât categorize me as your kind. Do you really think I donât know what youâre up to?
âSpace shift!â
The moment the Chaos fog coalesced, Rhode gave his second command. Creator Dragons were the supreme Gods 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 Rhodeâs caliber, he didnât 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. Ionâs smug laughter stopped all of a sudden and became silent. However, Rhode apparently had no intention of stopping his assault. 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 wasnât an obstacle for powerful beings like Cassidy 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 massacred.
Even though Angelina escaped death, she wasnât 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, Ionâs raging bellow erupted from the fog again.
âHow⊠How can you do that!â
âI do whatever I want; who gives a sh*t about a bast*rd like you! Get out of your hidey-hole and die!â
Upon hearing Ionâs snarl, Rhode was unconcerned. On the contrary, Rhode raised his claw and slammed the ground again!
Bang!
This time, it wasnât 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 fluster. Gazing at this scene, Rhodeâs 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.
âRhode, that isâŠâ
At that moment, Erin witnessed Rhodeâs action and couldnât 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.
âYour Majesty Rhode, please stop!â
âOh-no-no, Your Majesty Rhode, calm down⊠This isnât good for your body, okay?â
âGet lost!â
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 Rhodeâs wrist, stopping him from launching the attack.
âBig Brotherâââ!â
Upon holding back Rhodeâs aggression, Siena and Nalea noticed a bright radiance flashing 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, lashing out at Nalea on the other side. Upon realizing its attack, Naleaâs jaws let go of Rhodeâs wrist, and she fluttered her wings and retreated, dodging the massive, sweeping tail. The unrestrained Rhode bellowed and brandished his right claw!
âââââââ
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 Rhodeâs 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.
âYou allâŠ! How dare you do that! I will not let you off, Creator Dragons! Chaos shall dominate the world; your resistance is meaningless!â
Ionâs 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.
âCr*p! What are the two of you doing? Are you done with your nonsense?!â
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. Rhodeâs emotionless face was long gone, only to be replaced by an uncharacteristically sinister expression. This went to show just how furious he was.
âI was in control of that battle, so why are the two of you here to stop me? Whatâs wrong with you? Godd*mn it, what I hate the most when Iâm fighting the damn BOSS is when some transitional animation appears and lets the BOSS escape. NPCs are fools; do you really think weâre idiots too?! You two dumb*sses! Everything would have turned out fine without you hindering! Youâre so stupid that you donât even fit being promiscuous women, so how could you even be Creator Dragons?!â
âPlease show some respect, Your Majesty Rhode.â
As usual, Siena put up a solemn expression. It could also be said that she was so solemn that she turned rather ashen.
âYour doings are destroying the Dragon Soul Continent. Donât you know the consequences after the borders of the Dragon Soul Continent are destroyedâŠâ
âI wouldnât have done that if I werenât 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 itâs better to deal with painful things quickly. Everything would have ended after throwing that idiot into the realm of Chaos! Do you realize what youâve done?!â
Siena sulked, at the same time extending her arm to reach for the sword on her back.
âYour actions are threatening the safety of the Dragon Soul Continent! As a guardian of the Dragon Soul Continent, I prohibit you from doing that!â
Upon witnessing Sienaâs reaction, Rhode puckered his brow, spread his arms apart, and two swords of black and white appeared in his hands.
âWhat I did was for the sake of protecting the Dragon Soul Continent! Running away wonât solve the problem! Shall I use action to teach you the logic behind it?â
Erin panicked as the two of them were about to break into a fight. She glanced around her, but didnât know what to do. At that moment, Rhodeâs younger sister and Nalea took half a step forward and stopped them.
âBig Brother, donât be angry. Now that the situation has come to this⊠Letâs think about what we should do next.â
âOh-no-no, Siena, why must you throw your temper at His Majesty Rhode? After all, weâre 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, shouldnât we?â
There was a reason why Rhode was so furious. As a matter of fact, his earlier attack wasnât 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 space 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 didnât 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 Rhodeâs trap. However, the twin dragonsâ 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 Rhodeâs action to fail through the lack of a final effort. That was why it wasnât 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 werenât 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 barrierâs 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 wasnât only an issue with the Country of Darkness anymore.
Judging from this point, Rhode and Siena werenât 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 safetyâs 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 oneâs 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.
âTskâŠâ
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 didnât dare to take the risk, which was why she chose to stop Rhodeâs attack. She wasnât willing to gamble the safety of the continent.
âWhat 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?â
Facing the younger sisterâs words, Rhode let out a snort and said. Upon hearing his response, Nalea chuckled.
âOf course, thatâs no issue, Your Majesty Rhode. It is our duty to fight for Order. I wonder what youâve decided to do though, Your Majesty Rhode.â
âMe? I will find another way to dig a trench. This time, I will find a place where I wonât be interrupted!â
âYouâre still intent on giving up half the continent to Chaos?â
Siena tensed up and asked, while Rhode shrugged.
âSo what? As long as I deem it fit, I will still do it!â
âYou are reallyâŠâ
âAlright, alright, Big Brother, Siena; stop quarreling. Miss Erin is still watching from the side.â
As Rhode and Siena were about to break into a fight again, the younger sister couldnât help but force a smile and appease them. Upon hearing her words, Rhode and Siena shifted 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.
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