Summoning the Holy Sword

The Reformist Party had made their decision. However, no one knew if they were frightened by the sudden emergence of 60,000 troops sent by Lydia, or they finally realized that they were heading down a dead end. They gathered the remaining troops of the Southern Legion and headed into Callenbach to defend against Lydia’s attack and also ‘protect’ Callenbach City from being snatched away.

Of course, this decision was seen as a courageous one. However, to Rhode, the Reformist Party was like a group of crazy gambling addicts who had lost everything on the gambling table and were desperately trying to make themselves bankrupt. Although there Southern Legion had gathered about 40,000 troops, the outcome was still unknown if they managed to reach Callenbach to resist against the King’s Party’s 60,000 troops. However, among the 40,000 troops, there were 5,000 civilians apart from the military soldiers.

Yes, civilians.

The Southern Legion’s strength had always been the weakest among all the legions of the Munn Kingdom. They were located in the South that was comparatively peaceful where there weren’t other influences or threats apart from the Barbarians, unlike the North and East. For the Eastern Plain, their borders were connected to the Country of Darkness so the residents had been battling against the Undead Spirits for generations. Of course, such conflicts were settled privately and had never risen to the diplomatic levels. However, the intensity of the conflicts didn’t weaken. Therefore, the battle strength in the Eastern Plain had always been one of the best within the Munn Kingdom.

It was also because the Eastern Plain had been putting themselves at risk for the safety of the Munn Kingdom, the King’s Party had provided them extra care, privileges, and even allowed them to shut themselves out from the outside world. Even when it came to matters like mobilizing troops, the King’s Party would still communicate with them beforehand. It was due to this reason that although the Eastern Plain always remained secretive within the Munn Kingdom, they had a strong influence where even the internal King’s Party or the Reformist Party wouldn’t dare to stir trouble with them.

As for the Northern Legion with borders by the Country of Darkness and the Country of Light, they had the most military troops stationed for defense. Therefore, apart from the Eastern Plains which had always been secretly in conflict with the Country of Darkness, the Northern Legion’s strength could be termed as the worthy number one in the Munn Kingdom.

On the contrary, the South had only needed to deal with the Barbarians and some Undead Creatures that occasionally crossed the border. Furthermore, due to the mountain range that had cut them off, the Southern Legion had the least amount of troops with less than 80,000. Besides, the Southern Legion’s strong suit was in the navy and not the ground forces. However, their battleships were worthless on land no matter how powerful they were.

In the ambush of the Paphield defensive line, the Reformist Party didn’t yield their expected results. If it weren’t for the plan that Baker proposed afterward which led to their success, perhaps they would’ve retreated after considering their failures. But now, since they had conquered Callenbach, the Reformist Party didn’t need to spit out the meat that was already in their mouths. Facing the pressure of Lydia’s army, all they could do was to grit their teeth and fight with all their pathetic lives.

The 40,000 troops was almost all the manpower which the Southern Legion could mobilize. Among them were troops who were hostile and objected the Reformist Party. However, the Southern Parliament had no time to be concerned about their thoughts at this critical juncture. So what if they disapproved of our doings? Their families are living in the city, so even if they disobey my orders, will they be able to abandon their families?

Shauna felt that Canary’s standards were too strict. Although she understood the reasons behind them, Shauna thought that there must also be a certain number of ‘lower-level personnel’ within a Guild. If they didn’t recruit some ordinary mercenaries, there would be no competitiveness. Of course. Shauna didn’t know that Canary and Bubble were actually recruiting the ‘lower-level personnel’. As for those that were eliminated, they weren’t even worthy of stepping into their ranks.

This was only one of the conflicts in the Guild Fortress when Rhode wasn’t around. “Hu… I’m finally back.”

After regaining his senses from the dizziness of the teleportation, Rhode heaved a long sigh of relief as he gazed at the familiar dome on the high ceiling. A comfortable and heartwarming emotion emerged in his heart. After so many days of running about, Rhode was exhausted. Now that he had returned home, he could finally let loose. At this moment, a petite figure had extended its arms and scuttled towards him. “Rhode…!”

Christie dove into Rhode’s embrace and hugged him tightly. The little girl lifted her head and her purple eyes were glinting with concerns and reluctance. Perhaps due to the short sprint, Christie’s delicate body was trembling. Her breathing hastened and beads of sweat formed on her forehead. “… You’re finally back… Rhode…”

“I’m back, Christie,” Rhode greeted with a gentle smile and stroked her long hair lightly. Christie narrowed her eyes like a docile kitten, but, shortly after, she opened her eyes and tugged Rhode’s clothes excitedly. “… Good news… Lapis’… Stone Construct… is completed…”

“Oh?” Rhode’s eyes flashed with curiosity. He stood to his feet and patted her head. “Bring me there.”

“Yes… Okay…” Christie nodded with a smile.

However, she didn’t turn around immediately. Instead, she gazed at the floating azure water ball beside Rhode. Snow laid flat on her tummy and she widened her eyes to look at the little girl before her in astonishment. “… Rhode… Who is she…?” Christie asked curiously.

…

Rhode followed Christie to the alchemy workshop at the back of the Fortress. There was a loud clanging of tools and the messy alchemy workshop in the small courtyard that Marlene had avoided became much cleaner and neater with various alchemy materials laid orderly in a row on the table. Of course, it wasn’t because Lapis suddenly knew how to tidy up the mess before her… Rhode had witnessed the Ocean Elves rushing about and tidying the alchemy workshop.

Rhode turned his attention to the enormous statue.

It was an entirely white, three meter tall Griffin Stone Construct, half-kneeling on the stone base and its eyes embedded with blue crystals emanated faint radiance. It looked up to the sky and displayed an imposing manner with its pure white wings folding gradually. The carved sacred words on its stone base made it look dignified while its swinging large tail appeared as though it was about to leap off from its base and spread its wings wide apart. Snow hid behind Rhode after spotting the frightening statue. After she was sure that it couldn’t move, she carefully peeped her head out. But even so, she covered her eyes with her webbed hands and peeked.

“Not bad,” Rhode nodded in satisfaction at the Stone Construct.

Before Rhode left the Fortress, he had told Lapis about his requirements for the Stone Construct. After all, the main purpose of the Stone Constructs was to handle the air troops of the Country of Darkness: the Gargoyles and Bone Falcons. This was why Rhode requested for the Stone Construct to appear as holy and powerful as possible. And now, it seemed that Lapis had fulfilled his request accurately. The Holy Griffins were a legendary treasure of the Light Dragon’s mythology. Legend had it that the Holy Griffins had been by the Light Dragon’s side to drive off the darkness. Afterward, due to the Light Dragon’s idiotic behaviors which led to a drastic decrease in its strength, these legendary creatures had gone missing and no one knew if they had gone extinct or simply hidden. But now, since Rhode couldn’t create the authentic Holy Griffins, their bootleg version would be good enough to scare off the Undead Creatures. But…

Rhode felt rather uncomfortable knowing that the Soul Cores used to activate these ‘Holy Griffins’ were the same attributes as the Undead Spirits. What exactly is going on…

Rhode lowered his head to Christie. “Did you design this?”

“Yes,” Christie stuck out her chest proudly and nodded with might. “I’ve done a lot… of research… Asked the Cleric Big Sisters… and designed this…” Christie gazed at Rhode in uncertainty. “… Does Rhode… like it…?”

“Of course. I like it a lot, Christie,” Rhode revealed a genuine smile. He could see that Christie had changed. Her life had become much more fruitful and she was no longer the young girl who was shunned by others. She had the ability to do what she really wanted to do. Although she was still physically weak, Rhode believed that if she continued to maintain such high spirits and confidence to lead a blissful life… It would be enough.

But…

“Where’s Lapis?” said Rhode.

“Sister Lapis… Is still busy…” Christie pondered for a moment before answering. Then, she picked up a light iron rod by the wall and tapped on the door lightly. Shortly after, Lapis’ frantic voice sounded from inside. “Eh? Is it Christie? Is anything the matter? Ah, w-w-wait… Wait a moment! Just a moment! A moment!”

Boom! Rhode looked up at the billow of smoke soaring into the sky before turning his gaze to the embarrassed Lapis before him. He once again experienced what it meant that the leopard can’t change its spots. It was the exact same scene when he arrived here with Marlene back then. The only difference was that the Ocean Elves had cleaned up her mess for her. “Ah, Sir Rhode. When did you come back… No wonder Christie rushed out so hurriedly… Sorry to let you see me in this…”

“It’s okay, Lapis. I’m not here to poke fun at you,” Rhode gestured and interrupted her awkward explanation. He let out a cough and looked at the Stone Construct. “I’ve heard from Christie that the Stone Construct has been fully completed?”

“Yes, Sir Rhode,” said Lapis.

Speaking of her profession, Lapis wiped off her awkward and embarrassed expression. She lifted her head and went through the details with Rhode. “I’ve worked according to your request to use the Soul Cores to activate the Stone Construct and they passed the testing phase. If they are used for normal battles, they can last for about two days. If you wish to use them for all-out battles, they can last for about a day as the energy of the Soul Core would be depleted. It will take 10 days to recharge before getting back into action.”

10 days is kind of long.

Rhode knitted his brows. He knew that the air troops of the Undead Army were a troublesome bunch. If his Holy Griffins were only capable of this standard, he wouldn’t have an easy time dealing with them. However, Rhode knew that there were no other choices. Although the Undead Army’s Gargoyles were also alchemic creatures, the source of their strength came from forcefully stripping souls from living creatures and fusing them into the lifeless Gargoyles. However, it wasn’t possible for Lapis to carry out such cruel methods and Rhode couldn’t take it too far under Lydia’s watchful eyes.

“How many have you built in total?” asked Rhode.

“Currently, only one, Sir,” Lapis revealed a helpless expression. “Although we were able to design the Stone Construct quickly thanks to Christie, I spent a lot of time experimenting with the Soul Cores and testing its power consumption. I only managed to resolve all the problems until a few days back…”

“I understand,” replied Rhode.

Lapis appeared somewhat uncertain and apologetic, but Rhode wasn’t as tense as her. As a person who had crossed over from earth, Rhode knew that everything was the toughest in their creation stages. However, once the technical problems were resolved and they received a set of the production process and sufficient materials, it wouldn’t be a problem for mass production.

“According to this speed, how long do you need to create all the Stone Construct?”

“Hmm…” Lapis pondered for a while. “One every five days. Sorry, Sir Rhode, although the Ocean Elves are helpful in many aspects, this is the only thing that…”

“This isn’t your fault, Lapis. You should also take care of yourself. Take it slow.” Rhode knew what Lapis was about to say. However, Rhode couldn’t resolve this problem by himself. No matter what, he didn’t have the channel to search for a group of alchemy apprentice to assist Lapis. Although sculpting could be completed by artisans, the structure of the alchemy spell and the core embedding could only be done by Lapis. Moreover, she was also responsible for concocting the potions for the Guild… Rhode honestly believed that he was like a Southern Slave Owner who treated an Alchemist Master like Lapis as a slave…

But now, there wasn’t any solution to this problem.

Rhode shook his head and threw this thought to the back of his head. Then, he took two steps back and gazed at the Stone Construct. “Alright, Lapis, let me see its powers.”

“Yes, Sir,” Lapis nodded and retreated swiftly. Then, she retrieved a beautiful, polished gem from her pocket and held it in her tiny hand. She shut her eyes and a magical radiance burst out from her hand.

“…!” The statue emanated a white flowing brilliance and the two blue gems shimmered glaringly. It let out a sharp cry and pounced toward Rhode in a white bolt of lightning!