Summoning the Holy Sword

Many of them widened their eyes in disbelief. Even though they won the previous battles easily, it didn’t feel good for them, after all. Everyone hated battles, even the easy ones. Although two days had passed, many felt disgusted as soon as they recalled the scenes and mental pressure which the Country of Darkness had brought upon them.

“… Boss, what do you mean?”

Joey scratched his head, but plucked up his courage and asked. In fact, his doubt also represented everyone’s thoughts. Rhode observed everyone’s expressions. Most of them were filled with suspicions and confusions. Only a handful of them, such as John, Marlene, and Old Walker had fallen into deep thoughts. Canary, Mini Bubble Gum, and Orchid Heart weren’t concerned over this issue. As players in the past, they knew the causes and effects of the entire situation. Rhode let out an inward bitter smile. Apart from a few of them, most were mercenaries who were used to fighting and killing, so how was it possible that they would consider the meaning and problem behind the causes?

But it seemed about time for them to attend a lecture.

Rhode spread his arms apart.

“I want to ask everyone of you a question. What do you think was the reason of the Country of Darkness’s attack on the Light Mainland?”

Everyone looked blankly and replied hesitantly.

“This… Because the Undead Creatures are sworn enemies with other living creatures…”

“Because the Country of Light dispatched troops to the border and enraged the Country of Darkness…”

Rhode shrugged.

“But, prosperity doesn’t only bring about benefits. The cake is just this size and that is the same for every forces and nation. When the families rose, they affected the four legendary generals’ benefits. As the most four ancient, largest families in Country of Darkness, the four legendary generals definitely wouldn’t allow anyone to provoke their dignity. Even though they have means to utterly annihilate the smaller families, they will still be others to fill the deficit and they also have no lack of desires for authority and ambitions.”

“But, Rhode, the four legendary generals are so powerful and others try to replace them… Is that possible?”

Marlene expressed her doubts while Rhode nodded slightly.

“That’s right. It would be impossible if they were Humans. But Marlene, don’t forget that they’re Undead Creatures who have no lack of time and patience. Back then, ‘Spirit Chaser’ Balende was only a small team captain of a regional legion, while ‘Blood Countess’ Ashvril was just the illegitimate child of two Vampire families, and ‘Conqueror’ Garcia was only an ordinary child of a human slave family. If they can climb to where they are now over time, why can’t others do the same?”

“That…”

Marlene was speechless. Indeed, humans had short life spans and could only grasp authority whenever the opportunity presented. The so-called patience was about 30 to 50 years and compared to the Undead Creatures who could wait up to centuries, they weren’t even worth a mention at all.

“The capable families who could challenge the four legendary generals didn’t give up while the four legendary generals weren’t willing to hand their wealth and land over to them. However, the cake is only this huge and a tiger can’t withstand the pack of wolves. Both sides might end up in mutual destruction if the conflicts escalated and it is the Country of Darkness’ national power that would take the hit. Under such a circumstance where they can’t share the cake, there is only one way for them—getting more of it to distribute fairly.”

Rhode pointed to the map.

“And the Light Mainland is this cake.”

“But… Sir…”

Sol swallowed his saliva to wet his dry throat. He was a Half-Demon and all he thought everyday in the past was about leading his companions across the continent in search for a place of residence. The furthest he could think ahead was what kind of life he would have. But now, all this discussion about war and the future of this continent sounded too surreal for him.

“I-Is this related to what you’ve mentioned before?”

“Of course.”

This time, it was John who spoke. After figuring out the situation from Rhode’s information, he had his own judgment now.

“Just as Sir has said, the Country of Darkness is just sounding us out at the moment. This is like a battle between two men, where no one will rush ahead immediately. If we can’t defend against the Country of Darkness’ attack, they will be determined to devour us entirely. But if we resisted against them successfully, they will consider if they have a need to continue their attack… Is that right, Sir?”

“That’s right.”

Rhode nodded in agreement. The game had also proven this point. From the start, the Country of Darkness indeed had no intentions or perhaps they didn’t think that they could dominate the entire Light Mainland. This situation was similar to as though a rogue who had groped a beauty and perhaps he would back off after the beauty gave him a tight slap. However, on the contrary, if the beauty trembled and gritted her teeth without retaliating, that would encourage the rogue to continue grabbing her to fulfill his selfish desires.

“The Country of Darkness doesn’t seem interested in breaking out in an all-out war against the Light Mainland—at least for now. Their main goal is to plunder more land and resources to supply their domestic, emerging forces. This is also why the four legendary generals didn’t lead their armies to the battlefield in the first place. At the same time, this also serves as a test and knockout competition for the various forces in the Country of Darkness. The battlefield is like an examination hall. Those who fail will be crushed and only the true elites will survive.”

Rhode couldn’t help but recall the scenarios in the game. After the Country of Darkness launched their attack and dominated the Light Mainland, they agreed to sign a truce agreement with the Light Parliament. Back then, many players couldn’t understand this move. The Country of Darkness came to an abrupt halt in their actions and gave Light Parliament more than a year to recuperate. But, eventually, the Country of Darkness tore up the agreement and continued with their abuse. Come to think of it, perhaps this might be due to them distributing the portion of the cake. In the previous battles, the dazzling new stars from the Country of Darkness emerged one by one and proved their capabilities, which also destroyed all the foolish people in the Country of Light. As a result, the Country of Darkness’s appetite increased. But they eventually needed to digest after consuming too much. Moreover, letting the Light Mainland rest for a year was nothing to them. The characteristics of humans had predetermined that they couldn’t create an army with a million troops within one year.

The pitiful idiots in the Light Parliament saw the opportunity for peace and presented the Light Dragon Soul for negotiations. How foolish they were. Up until this point, Rhode still wasn’t sure how those idiots saw this as a ‘sign of peace’.

“I said all this for you to have an entirely new outlook on the entire situation.”

Rhode shifted his gaze from the map to everyone before him.

“This isn’t just a simple war. The Country of Darkness’s battle lines have faced resistance in the Munn Kingdom, but this isn’t their true strength. I want you to remember this. They are regrouping their troops, reevaluating their strategies, and mobilizing their army. But just as I’ve said, the four legendary generals won’t show up that easily because this might trigger the involvement of the three Archangels, turn into a battle between the Creator Dragon Souls, and become the second Creation War.”

“Don’t we have any ways to stop this battle?”

Lize placed her hands on her chest and said worriedly. Rhode twitched his brows slightly.

“There are indeed some ways. As long as we do our best in defending against the Undead Army’s attack and eliminate their forces, the Country of Darkness will back down as soon as they realized that the damage is far more than their benefits.”

Frankly speaking, Rhode also wasn’t confident in this. This was simply a ‘what if’ that the players had came up with.

“What if this…”

“What if that…”

“What if the Munn Kingdom stopped Country of Darkness’ attack…”

“What if the Country of Light joined forces with the Country of Law to launch attacks against the Country of Darkness…”

But history can’t be changed. This was why all their what ifs remained a presumption. However, the ‘what ifs’ had a possibility of happening in this world. If the Munn Kingdom could resist the Country of Darkness’s attack, would this stop the raging war that would spread throughout the continent?

Rhode had no idea about that too. He could only give it a shot.

Thereafter, everyone left the room with unprecedented solemness in their expressions. If they were only mercenaries who fought for the sake of fighting in the past, they naturally felt the heavy pressure on them now after realizing that this battle that they were involved in was related to the fate of this continent. But this was fine too as there wouldn’t be motivation without pressure… Rhode shifted his gaze to Anne who had laid flat on the table and snoring away. It was apparent that she wasn’t concerned about all this reasoning.

Knock knock.

Agatha’s calm voice sounded from behind the door.

“Sir.”

“Is anything the matter, Agatha?”

“Yes, Sir.”

She ‘slid’ into the room quietly and bowed.

“The Battle Angel Army has arrived in the Fortress.”