Chapter 737: Darkness Falls (IV)

In that instant, everyone lifted their heads instinctively. Three beams of holy light burst through the clouds and into the sky. Then, strong gales dispersed every layer of cloud and presented a clean, night sky before their eyes. However, it was different this time. There were three ritual circles hovering above, which shrouded the entire sky and endless golden lines extended to the horizon. The radiances from every sacred rune were as bright as the full moon. They were rules from the past, present, and future and they coalesced to form the most glorious poem and praise.

That was from the source of the Rule of Light and the core of the Holy Poem, which was recorded and engraved in every corner of the rule framework on this continent. Up until this moment, it was summoned to display the power of the world with everything it had.

"That's the——!"

This was the first time Cullen revealed a horrified expression as he stared in the direction of the fortress. Not only him, but the Undead Creatures around him were also flabbergasted. They might hold high positions and were scheming, but now, they stood on the spot and gazed into the night sky blankly.

A silver-whitish line that was as thin as a finger projected from the sky and shone on one of the Skeletal Troll. It appeared harmless because the Skeletal Troll continued to move forward while the Undead Creatures on its shoulders were unaffected. But shortly after, they knew that they had made the wrong choice.

The runes that had filled the night sky shone.

"Au mo si ter lor."

After the final rune lit up, dazzling golden radiance from the three ritual circles flickered. Shortly after, the most sacred powers in this world coalesced and erupted.

A ten-meters, brilliant light beam descended from above and silver-whitish flames spread in all directions like the rushing tide as soon as it struck the ground. The Undead Creatures in its range couldn't escape the flames' devour and before they left a final trace of their presence in this world, they were instantly swept away. The light torrent gushed and nothing could stop its assault.

Clang!

Frederick stared in disbelief. His sword slipped from his hand and fell on the ground. He had totally forgotten his oath about the 'sword is a knight's life'. His head was a complete blank. He saw the terrifying, enormous Skeletal Trolls falling to the white torrents and shattering into specks of dust. Not only that, but sacred flames also merciless devoured every Undead Creature.

Then, it came the second. Two gigantic light beams shone from above and purified the sins and deaths on the surface. However, it seemed that only the Undead Creatures were harmed by them. On the contrary, the soldiers above the city walls felt a warm, powerful energy blessing them. Then, their injuries instantly healed like the snow that melted entirely to the sun.

The white light beams slowly dispersed. Tens of thousands of Undead Creatures who had pushed their way to the moat vanished completely. There were no traces of corpses anywhere and the pitch-black darkness that enveloped the sky and surface were nowhere to be seen as though they didn't exist.

The relentless Undead Army finally came to a halt. Cullen shut his eyes and turned around to avoid the glaring radiance. He finally understood why the enemy valued his secrets so highly that he didn't dispatch any scouts no matter what. That was because he had the ancient heritage! How was this possible? No one had ever seen this ancient heritage after the holy war from 350 years ago! Who exactly is he? Where did he get them from?

At this moment, the Undead Creatures moved ahead again. Their spirits were long gone and nothing could stop them forever, after all. Shortly after, they advanced like ink that spread across a white sheet of paper. Cullen watched and for some unknown reasons, his heart skipped a beat abruptly. He looked at the fortress ahead and another beam of light descended from the sky.

"Retreat! Retreat now!"

Cullen ordered in a fluster while the Undead Creatures around him watched in silence. Suddenly, another dazzling light beam shone from above and in the blink of an eye, thousands of Undead Creatures vanished.

Cullen lowered his head. The spiritual flames in his eyes seemed incomparably dull. But shortly after, they burned stronger.

"Retreat. Order everyone to retreat."

He issued the order in a hoarse, deep voice.

The Undead Army retreated like the tide toward the protection of the Dark Dragon Soul and waited for their next attack. On the other hand, the soldiers above the city walls exploded into cheers. They knew that this was just a temporary victory, but it was equally precious.

"Sir Overlord, they've retreated."

"I know."

Rhode squinted and spoke with knitted brows. Although the others were excited that the Undead Army had retreated, Rhode wasn't delighted at all because he knew that this was only an intermission. The Undead Army wouldn't give up just yet, even after they realized the existence of the Holy Maiden Statues. The Undead Army had other ways to deal with them. If not, the Light Dragon and Dark Dragon wouldn't be evenly matched during the Creation War. Of course, one of the reasons was also because the Light Dragon didn't have an overpowering construction system like Rhode's. If not, it would have constructed multiple Holy Maiden Statues to deal with the Dark Dragon.

Rhode turned around.

"I have something to attend to. I'll leave everything to you here, Leader Beni. Please report to me immediately if you discover any signs of the enemies."

Unlike the previous meetings that were filled with hopeless emotions, everyone revealed excited expressions this time. Most of them were like Frederick, who didn't feel confident against the Undead Army during the clash. But the tide turned instantly after Rhode activated the Holy Maiden Statues, which instantly gave them strong hopes. It was due to this reason that when Rhode entered the meeting room, he felt everyone's trustful and confident gazes. If it was in the past, many of them would doubt in his abilities to resist the Undead Army.

But, it was a pity that he wasn't here to solidify their confidence. Instead, he was here to pour cold water on them.

"I know what you're going to say, everyone."

Rhode sat down and this statement muted the bustling meeting room. Everyone looked at him dubiously.

"Perhaps you may think that we've won the battle. But I'm sorry to tell you that this is still far from it. Do you still remember how it felt during the battle? I'm confident that you will be extremely familiar with that feeling in the future and that will be the most common situation for us."

"But Sir Overlord."

Frederick stood up and said.

"Previously, even though we indeed struggled to deal with the Undead Creatures, didn't you activate the statues? They're so powerful, which instantly eliminated tens of thousands of the enemies and forced them off. If we continue with this arrangement, how can they defeat us?"

"Their retreat is only temporary because they aren't prepared for this situation, Mr. Frederick."

"But, Sir Overlord, it affects the troops to retreat all of a sudden. Besides, their internal department will..."

"Mr. Frederick."

Rhode gestured to interrupt.

"We're talking about the Undead Creatures here. Their morales will not fall, and neither will they feel disheartened. They only have one belief and it is to charge forward, fight, and reap deaths. That is why I'm confident that they won't be hesitant and wavered by the formidable holy spears. Besides, the Holy Maiden Statues aren't invincible and they have their weaknesses."

"Weaknesses?"

"Yes."

Rhode spread his arms apart.

"They need time to store their powers and the range which their holy spears cover is limited. Each attack requires a charging time of 10 minutes. If the Undead Creatures capture the timing accurately, we will still be overwhelmed. I believe that the enemy commander has realized this, which was why they retreated."

"In other words, if you have more of the statues, we would be able to drive them out of your territory?"

Rhode gazed curiously at Frederick because he didn't expect that this young man would possess the players' line of thoughts. After all, no one around Rhode had thought of this shameless tactic. Rhode nodded firmly.

"Logically speaking, that's right. The Holy Maiden Statues are ancient heritages which possess the holy rule powers of the Light Dragon Soul protection. If I have more of them, we can definitely force the enemies off. But it's a pity that I can't create that many of them in reality."

"Why is that so? Sir Overlord?"

This time, it was another commander who asked. Rhode looked at him meaningfully and shrugged.

"It's simple. Money."

"... Huh?"

Perhaps due to Rhode's overly 'simple and direct' answer, everyone stared blankly with widened eyes. They returned to their senses, but couldn't figure out why.

"Creating a Holy Maiden Statue requires six million gold coins and a huge number of magic crystals and expensive gems. I've spent almost everything to make these three Holy Maiden Statues and I can't afford anymore of them," Rhode said.

The commander nodded and said, "I see. May I ask how long does it take to make one Holy Maiden Statue?"

"One can be built in less than half a month if everything is done quickly."

Rhode believed that his ability to lie through his teeth had absolutely reached the Legendary Stage too.

The commander nodded in agreement and sat down. Rhode observed that some thoughts were going through their heads, but he didn't expose them. Instead, he advised them not to let loose over the next few days and at the same time, requested them to behave like the Vampires—sleep in the morning and work at night. The Undead Army detested the holy powers of the Light Dragon Soul's protection and wouldn't possibly attack in the day, especially in this situation where there was a huge difference in their strength in the enchanted field. After a few moments, Rhode dismissed the meeting and everyone departed. However, Rhode was aware that they definitely had something to discuss in private. But it was fine too since this was part of the '998' sales plan that Gillian and he had discussed.

It seems like everything is going rather smoothly.

Mini Bubble Gum and Canary smiled as they approached Rhode. They didn't turn up for the battle today, which was one of the reasons why the battle was tough. For the sake of safety, Rhode appointed Canary to provide a certain amount of assistance from the Mage Tower. However, they would need to conserve their energy just in case the Night Wyvern attacked. It was due to this that he revealed one of his trump cards so soon. If the cunning and meticulous Lich believed that Rhode had been forced to the edge of the cliff, Rhode wouldn't mind showing him the other trump cards in his hands.

"What's wrong? Is anything the matter?"

"Do you still remember the Dark Elves you've seen earlier, Rhode?"

"Yes. What about them?"

Rhode vaguely remembered. After he returned to the fortress to prepare for the battle, he had thrown this matter to the back of his head. It seemed that there were some troubles?

"Don't tell me you let them slip away?"

"Nope, Leader."

Mini Bubble Gum shook her head hurriedly. Then, she displayed a proud grin.

"But we've captured one of them. Do you wanna check it out?"