Chapter 1110: Eve of Departure
Chapter 1110: Eve of Departure
Even though Rhode decided to rescue Erin, this didn't mean he could get to work immediately. Before he could do that, he had to handle some important matters. After all, unlike the earlier trip to the underworld, he would be heading to another world this time. As one of the Creator Dragons, it would be a bothersome matter if Erin were to vanish from this world. But he had his own ways around it. After Gillian and Marlene researched and analyzed the black pole, his younger sister also gave a suggestion: if he were truly heading to that unknown world, he must store his dragon essence in this world. After all, he was unlike Erin who was a representative of a rule and a second and new representative would replace her after a period of long disappearance. On the other hand, Creator Dragons were controllers of rules just like how a game could change its customer service officers and GMs, but never switch its developer randomly.
This was why Rhode had to leave his dragon essence in this world and reintegrate with it after his return. As for its custodian, his younger sister suggested Christie. As the first created dependent of the Void Dragon, Christie's strength was most similar to the Void Dragon;s. Besides, after the Void Dragon's soul protection returned to the continent, the core of the Seven Fantasy Boundaries, the Astral Temple, was in a safe place. Therefore, there wouldn't be any issues storing the Void Dragon's essence there. After all, no matter how powerful Ion was, he wouldn't be brave enough to leave the main plane and find trouble with Christie in the Astral Temple. The Seven Fantasy Boundaries was the home court of the Deity Wardens. If Ion was sick of living, Rhode wouldn't stop him from committing suicide.
But there was also a small problem. After handing over his dragon essence, Rhode's level would return to 85, which was the max level of players and he would lose the power of a Creator Dragon. In other words, after transmigrating to that world, all his skills and dragon soul power of would no longer be available. He could only rely on his strength as a Spirit Swordsman in battles. But this was a risk for him. After all, the unknown beings possessed techniques that Creator Dragons couldn't grasp, so it was hard to determine what dangers he would face in that world.
It was due to this reason that not everyone agreed with Rhode's suggestion.
"I understand what you mean, Rhode. But this is too risky."
Marlene knitted her brows. After listening to Rhode's thoughts, she shook her head.
"If it is like what you said, I think we shouldn't go to them. Since they came to this world once, I'm sure they will come again. I think the safest way is for us to wait and bide our time. As long as we're patient enough, we can definitely catch them. When that happens, we only need to make our move here and capture them. Then, we will be able to gain the information we want. I suppose with Angelina, Celestina, and Nell around, there shouldn't be any mistakes."
Indeed, be it vampires, demons, or dark elves, they were adept in interrogation by torture. But the problem was that...
"Alice can't track their location."
Facing Marlene's objection, Rhode spread his arms apart. Meanwhile, Alice nodded and added: "That's right. They are visitors from the outside world and shouldn't belong to our history. That is why I can't find them through the historical records."
Well, she couldn't be blamed. If her historical records were effective on the unknown beings, she would have recorded the battle between Erin and them earlier, instead of learning the truth through the history of air, water, earth and sky of the place where the battle took place.
"In other words, it is tough to find them?"
Upon hearing Alice's comment, Marlene puckered her brows as she felt like this matter was getting increasingly tricky. Regarding how difficult it was to deal with those unknown beings, even though Marlene didn't personally witness Erin's battle with them, even she, as the Wisdom Deity Warden, felt uncertain after researching the black pole and the unique patterns that were totally unknown to her. Besides, she realized that her proud analyzing ability failed to work on the mystical black pole as it was a product from another world and its structure was entirely different. Therefore, it was laborious even for a Wisdom Deity Warden like Marlene, not to mention Lapis who had gone to rest three hours ago after getting a fever from the constant research.
This was also why Marlene strongly objected to Rhode's suggestion. The object that the unknown beings brought to this world couldn't be deciphered, so who knew what stranger and more dangerous things would happen if Rhode headed to their world? Marlene had initially come up with the idea of carrying out the operations on home court, but it seemed like Alice couldn't make it work. After all, if even Alice couldn't make it happen, finding a group of unknown beings who intentionally hid themselves and had odd, unique civilized weapons would be like finding a needle in a haystack. In this case, Rhode might yield greater results by heading to their territory. But...
"It is too dangerous."
"How can you catch tiger cubs without entering the tiger's lair? Since we want results, we need to take certain risks."
Of course, Rhode wouldn't admit to Marlene that he wouldn't have chosen to head there if he could. He was familiar with the Dragon Soul Continent, but the other world was totally unknown and mysterious to him. Moreover, he would lose his power as a Creator Dragon and could only rely on his strength as a Spirit Swordsman to fight for his life. Who knew what sort of ridiculous and absurd creatures he would face? However, since his younger sister took this matter seriously and hoped to investigate the situation herself, Rhode would not hesitate to climb a mountain of swords or plunge into a sea of flames. He couldn't possibly let his younger sister head there alone even if she could. Besides, apart from just being his younger sister, she was also the first Void Dragon who created the Dragon Soul Continent, so it went without saying that she was worried about her world. As her big brother, Rhode had a duty. He had to embrace himself even though he knew he was risking his life.
This is true love!
Forget it, we can discuss the expression of love in detail next time.
"Don't worry, even if something were to happen, I can return anytime with my dragon essence. Even though it is risky, it can still work."
This was the solution they came up with after Rhode's younger sister and Gillian researched the black pole. As of now, Rhode was like a magical girl who had signed an ominous contract. The dragon essence was his 'original self', while his body was the 'tool' controlled by a soul. As long as the dragon essence existed, he could toss his body to anywhere and as soon as he realized something bad was about to happen, he could forcefully trigger the attraction of his body and the dragon soul essence and be transported back. Of course, this method was primitive compared to the mature technique used by the black pole to transmigrate between planes of existence. It was just like comparing a bicycle and BMW. The former just needed to be able to move, while more things were expected from the latter...
But as long as they served their purpose, they were basically the same.
"... Alright then, in this case, I have nothing more to say." Even though Marlene wasn't aware of Rhode's true thoughts, she was apparently convinced by him. After considering it for a few moments, she shook her head. "So, as for the rest..."
"Everything goes on as usual. I've spoken to the twin dragons. They will replace me in looking out for the Void Territory and Country of Light... so don't worry about that scoundrel, Ion, doing anything behind your back. Sonia has also told me that Lilian's strength is recovering steadily. I think with her current strength, even though she can't fight 300 rounds with the Dark Dragon, she should still be strong enough to resist his attack. But you've got to be wary too and be more conservative during this period. By the way, considering the fact that those unknown beings may slip into the Void Territory, you should send out men to patrol. If there is any issue, attack without hesitation. But be careful, don't get caught by that thing like Erin."
"Understood. I will make the arrangements."
After hearing Rhode's advice, Marlene nodded. Then, as though recalling something, she asked with a complicated expression: "Erm... should we let Anne go with you?"
"Hmm?"
Upon hearing her suggestion, Rhode gazed at her with knitted brows. As of now, Anne was no longer fit to be in the first echelon. Besides, she had no self-awareness and pressure, ate and slept all day, and seemed to be indulging in a life of luxury and corruption. It went without saying that Rhode couldn't possibly bring her along to that unknown, dangerous place as even he had to act meticulously on his own. If it were possible, he wouldn't want to bring anyone along.
Even though Marlene realized his doubt, she hesitated, before saying. "... It is winter soon..."
"... I will be back as soon as possible."
Rhode turned pale slightly before giving a negative answer. Although Anne was bothersome, having an outsider was already bothersome enough for him!
That's right. Lydia said she would be heading to that strange place with Rhode to rescue Erin no matter what.
Come to think of it, why didn't I realize in the past that the archangel and moon princess were so 'full of love'? Can't they even consider their standpoints at the very least? Just which play of 'Romeo and Juliet' is this?
Rhode let out a helpless sigh at this thought. Then, he stood up, took the black pole from the side, and pondered in silence. He extended his hand to pat Marlene's head.
"Alright then, I'll leave this place in your care."
Gazing at the young lady, Rhode said in an incomparably serious tone.