Chapter 577 - Fantasy Daybreak
Chapter 577: Fantasy Daybreak
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Starlight coalesced and crashed toward them. A vast sky full of stars interwoven into a large net and their only hope was to retreat. The sneaky shadow watched for its opportunity and followed its sinister tracks to seal their path of retreat. The young ladies leaned against each other’s back. Bubble lifted her clenched fists while Canary raised her flame sword.
Shing! Suddenly, an X-shaped blade ray struck from the side as the young ladies charged forward. Rhode flitted by like a ghost and pierced his twin daggers to their throats silently. If it wasn’t for the trail of spiritual blade rays streaking across the air, perhaps they wouldn’t have noticed Rhode’s ambush.
However, Bubble and Canary weren’t ordinary humans. Although they could only battle with combat techniques due to Rhode’s limitations, their strength of level 85 as phantoms of the Sphere of Mystery shouldn’t be belittled. Besides, as the strongest players of Starlight, they wouldn’t be defeated that easily.
Bubble swung her backhand and a violent airstream rose from the ground, blocking Rhode’s attack like an invisible barrier. Canary pulled back her flame sword before thrusting forward. Then, she cloned herself into nine presences which scattered in all directions. The loud explosion boomed and scarlet flares splashed, devouring everything in its path.
Cough cough…
The flares dispersed and Rhode crawled to his feet. The [Ninth Heaven Phoenix Dance] was indeed first-rate in explosiveness and AOE range where Rhode didn’t even dare to duel with Canary using just swordsmanship in his flourishing phase. Moreover, he wasn’t even half of what he used to be where perhaps he would be a goner if Canary went all-out. But this wasn’t a real duel to begin with, so Rhode pulled himself together quickly after feeling a little disappointed.
Canary and Bubble looked on curiously and in astonishment. Then, Bubble darted over and stared at Rhode. “Leader, what swordsmanship did you use? What swordsmanship was that? Why was it so strange?!”
“Interesting, eh?” Rhode twitched his brows proudly and sniggered inwardly. The reason why he chose to display his newly incomplete swordsmanship before them was for them to understand and appreciate its might. If they were mercenaries, perhaps they would simply gawk at its formidable strength. As the saying ‘the layman looks at the external while the insider looks at the technical aspects’ goes. Rhode didn’t need any more plain praises. Instead, he needed opinions from experts.
Although Canary and Bubble were spellcasters, this didn’t mean that they weren’t experts in close-combat techniques. Bubble’s ‘Crumble Thunder’ fisticuffs and Canary’s ‘Ninth Heaven Phoenix Dance’ swordsmanship had reached the S grade in mastery. Even though the penalty for swordsmanship was higher for the spellcasters than the Spirit Swordsmen, the fact that they were able to reach S grade in mastery proved that they had rich experiences.
Rhode quickly explained the ‘Sword Creation Points’ and the ‘Swordsmanship Creation System’ to them and they were just as interested as him.
Fantasy Daybreak.
Just as Canary had thought, this swordsmanship mainly relied on time differences to launch attacks. However, it wasn’t only as simple as that. Since the [Fantasy Daybreak] was a swordsmanship specially designed for the [Holy Sword Card Deck], Rhode must make full use of his Holy Sword arsenal.
[Starfall] was responsible for frontal combat while [Succubus] was in charge of blockade and support. [Garcia] and [Madaras] were used for ambushes—they complimented one another and formed an inextinguishable triangle loop. Rhode’s attacking swordsmanship also unfolded upon relying on this triangle. With the unique Shadow Clone Technique of the [Fantasy Daybreak], Rhode could easily switch between the three points of ‘A’, ‘B’, and ‘C’. He could launch an attack from ‘A’ and dodge to ‘B’ while coordinating with the clone in ‘A’ to pincer the enemy. Once the enemy counterattacked, Rhode could sneak to ‘C’ and leave behind a clone before returning to ‘A’. After Rhode had returned to ‘A’, his clone in ‘A’ would disappear and be replaced by his true self.
In other words, if Rhode could capture the rhythm, he could continuously switch between the three points with his clones. This way, the enemy would be trapped by his three different attacking styles like prey that had sunk into a bottomless swamp. The [Fantasy Daybreak] had 5 points in [Technique] which allowed Rhode to switch over from the three different attacking styles freely. He could choose to attack aggressively before retaliating and ambushing or also choose to ambush and launch an aggressive attack after the enemy counterattacked. Three different battle styles could be interchangeable and linked up. This was the most powerful aspect of the [Fantasy Daybreak].
However, there were also flaws to this swordsmanship. After all, it had only just been created and there were many areas needed to improve on. Besides, Canary’s performance had proven that this swordsmanship lacked powerful means for retaliation against AOE attacks. Although there were differences in their levels, there would be no purpose in a swordsmanship if it could be destroyed in a single AOE blast. Besides, Rhode was still figuring out the three different tempos. His ambush had failed due to his failure to grasp the critical rhythm and in the end, Canary blasted him away after Bubble captured his true self.
Rhode was extremely confident in this swordsmanship, especially after he had creating it after carefully calculating its attribute values. He realized that this swordsmanship turned out similar to his expectations after creating it with the help of the ‘system’. Although he didn’t know how the system managed to do it, he was still the one benefiting from it. Besides, if Rhode could familiarize with the attack patterns, he would have much more varieties once his [Holy Sword Card Deck] was completed.
“It’s so late already,” said Rhode with a sigh.
The reddish color of dusk had painted the sky when he walked out of the mirage. He had discussed with Bubble and Canary for a long time about the new swordsmanship. Got to say, it was much more efficient to have the help of two capable, trusted aides who truly understood his thoughts. In fact, Rhode might even carry on the discussion till midnight if he wasn’t feeling fatigued from the long journey back to the Fortress.
“Alright then, I’ll make a move now to see what that bunch of idiots are doing. Leader, Big Sister, see you around,” Bubble waved her tiny hand and left, leaving Canary and Rhode behind on this vast grassland.
As Rhode turned his gaze away from Bubble, an aromatic smell assailed his nostrils and he felt two soft, ample objects pushing against his arm. He turned around and saw Canary’s gentle smiling.
“I didn’t expect something this great to happen to you, Rhode. Creating a swordsmanship is something that the players have thought about for a long time. It’s awesome that we have a chance to do it. Alright, in order to celebrate…” Canary slid her slender, fair fingers down Rhode’s top and teased between his legs. Then, she looked up with a crafty smile. “… You get what I mean. Rhode? You’re finally back after a long time and you should make up for it, right?”
“Of course.” Rhode felt the hot blood rolling and flowing in his body. He embraced her slender waist and his unsettled right hand fondled her soft buttocks. Canary trembled slightly and revealed a flushed, alluring expression. Then, she whispered. “Here… or somewhere else?”
“Let’s…”
Suddenly, a crisp, loud voice sounded. “Ah! Leader and Sister Canary, you’re both here!”
Canary stepped back grudgingly and maintained a distance with Rhode while he retracted his right arm and shook his head helplessly. At this moment, Anne was waving her right arm and scampering hurriedly as though she didn’t sense the awkward atmosphere. She grumbled breathlessly. “Really… Leader, where… have you two been. Anne… Anne has been finding you… For a long time… If it wasn’t for… Bubble… who said you’re at the Training Ground…”
“Is anything the matter, Anne?” Rhode expressed a look of ‘apology’ to Canary before turning to Anne. Anne nodded and said sternly. “Of course, Leader. There’s a group of men who came to our Fortress and they look similar to the group that you’ve chased away. They requested to meet you!”
“The same group of people? Can’t you just chase them away?” Rhode puckered his brows.
He didn’t have a favorable impression of the Alchemists. Although they were indeed an arrogant bunch who looked down on the mercenaries and noble families who weren’t established for a long time, they actually had the rights to do so. After all, not everyone could easily recruit an Alchemist Master like Rhode. Even though Alchemists were unarmed and defenseless, many military teams, Guilds, and even murder associations had to maintain a good relationship with the Alchemists to receive alchemy potions and Constructs. However, even though the Alchemists were highly regarded in other regions, Rhode didn’t give a damn about them, especially after they had daringly stepped into his territory to snatch his man…
“No no, Leader,” Anne quickly shook her head and denied. “This group of men dressed similarly, but they seemed more pleasing to my eyes. Oh, by the way, their leader was a white-bearded old man. I’m not too sure of his name… But he seems really powerful.”
“White-bearded old man?” Rhode sulked slightly and nodded after exchanging glances with Canary. “I’ll head over now.”