Chapter 1374: Bitter Struggle

Although Rhode expected the battle to be tough, it was, in fact, much tougher than he had imagined.

Innumerable, undaunted Chaos swarmed and surrounded Rhode and the others in all directions. Facing such a terrifying scene, just stopping Chaos’s attack was enough to consume all of their strength, not to mention attacking the Chaos Core again.

However, Rhode’s group wasn’t foolish either. None of them were silly enough to annihilate the Chaos creatures just so that the Chaos army could replenish their troops again. As for the weaker Chaos creatures, Rhode left them alone since they weren’t too powerful and couldn’t easily break through the defenses of the magical warships.

On the other hand, if they were powerful Chaos Lords, perhaps his group would have been in trouble in a single encounter. Fortunately, the Chaos creatures didn’t massacre one another. The chaotic nature of Chaos was most evident at that moment. They only cared about swarming on each other and didn’t give a damn about what was happening in the slightest.

If Rhode were leading them, perhaps he would have ordered his men to cut down one another if it was necessary to stabilize Order. However, Chaos didn’t have such awareness at all. They were like a swarm of headless flies that only knew that Rhode and the rest were posing a danger to the Chaos Core, and they needed to destroy this threat as soon as possible. As for the rest of the affairs, nothing else mattered to them.

“Chaos is retreating.”

Standing on the city wall, the ashen Marlene couldn’t help but watch as Chaos gradually retreated. Just a moment ago, she had contacted Angelina and Nell through her spiritual connection, and learned that no matter which front they were on, the number of Chaos creatures had decreased drastically. It was apparent that this wasn’t because Chaos was defeated, but that they had a new target.

As for the target of their attack, it went without saying who it was.

In fact, upon realizing that, Marlene knew that Rhode was facing big trouble.

She had to admit that the plan that Rhode and his younger sister came up with was indeed great. However, there was still a fatal flaw in it, and that was that they failed to predict the reaction of Chaos. Since Chaos had no order to speak of, whatever they did wasn’t surprising in the slightest. Thus, from the very beginning, Rhode’s and his younger sister’s plan was to ‘adapt to every situation’. But now, it seemed like this situation was a bit too far beyond the scope of everyone’s imagination. It was true that Marlene and the others, including Rhode, expected the Chaos creatures to ‘return to the palace to save the Emperor’, but none of them expected them to ‘disregard the big picture’ to this huge extent, where they withdrew from every single battlefront!

The retreat of Chaos was naturally good news for the front lines that fought for several days. No matter the Country of Light, Country of Law, Country of Darkness, or Void Territory, they were already exhausted from taking turns in fighting and tiring Chaos out. At that moment, upon witnessing their retreat, the country rulers arranged for their men to rest. Due to the secret measures that Rhode carried out, no one other than Marlene and his trusted aides knew where he went and what he was up to.

As to why Chaos suddenly retreated, the subjects didn’t give much thought to it. At most, they assumed that Chaos was also fatigued at times. But no matter what, Chaos’s retreat still allowed them to have some time to rest. If they didn’t seize this time to relax, maybe they wouldn’t be able to hold on in the next battle.

“Why is Chaos retreating?! How gutless! They’re not gonna trouble Leader again, are they? Big Sister Marlene, do you want us to go and help Leader?”

At that moment, witnessing Chaos’s retreat, Anne jumped around anxiously at the side. She didn’t give up urging on Marlene to bring her along to assist Rhode. But unfortunately, it was useless even if Marlene was touched by her proposal. Because the Chaos Eye was the key to open the path that led them to the core of Chaos, and the Chaos Eye had already been taken by Rhode. Even after Marlene gathered men and headed over to help, it would be pointless if she couldn’t open the path to the core.

“It’s useless, Anne. Without the Chaos Eye, we can’t reach the core. It’s the same no matter where we go…”

At that point, Marlene sighed softly, closed her eyes, and contemplated for a moment. Then, as if she made up her mind about something, she turned to look at Lapis, who stood beside her, and called out her name.

“Lapis.”

“Um… Yes, Miss Marlene? Is anything the matter?”

When Lapis heard Marlene’s call, the former returned to her senses and turned around in surprise. And upon looking at Lapis’s confused gaze, Marlene’s heart sank. But soon, she gazed at the young lady and said.

“Now that Chaos has retreated, you should also start to…”

“…”

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Upon hearing Marlene’s words, Lapis turned pale instantly and took two steps backward involuntarily as if the Marlene standing in front of her was a vicious beast about to devour her. And after looking at her ashen face, Marlene felt helpless deep down. But even so, she braced herself and looked at Lapis, speaking.

“You know what to do, Lapis. That was Rhode’s order to you. Now that Chaos has retreated, there’s no better time than now. We shouldn’t waste the time Rhode bought us. You must fulfill your mission in the shortest possible time. Do you understand?”

Before the operation began, Rhode had already assigned Lapis her task. He knew that after he attracted the attention of the Chaos Core, the amount of Chaos attacking the defensive lines would decrease dramatically. Thus, he requested Lapis to strike at the right time and plant the Plane Destruction Bombs.

That way, when he returned, she could activate the Plane Destruction Bombs right away to stop the Chaos that was trailing him, at the same time sealing Chaos entirely on the outside, ensuring that they wouldn’t invade their world. However, Lapis didn’t expect that she would have to fulfill her mission so soon.

“Are we really going to…”

“We’re running out of time, Lapis. Don’t forget that it’s Rhode’s orders!”

Marlene knew what Lapis was hesitant about. One of the features of the Plane Destruction Bomb was that it couldn’t be dismantled after installation. Due to this feature, it was like putting a nail in the wall of ‘space’ after installation. Moreover, there was no way to remove the nail and it could only be detonated. Not only that, but also the longer it was left in space, the more unstable it would be.

According to Lapis’s calculations, even if it wasn’t timed after the installation, its stability period was only 24 hours at most. After 24 hours, space would instinctively reject foreign objects, and the affected Plane Destruction Bombs would become increasingly unstable and might explode at any chance.

Back then, in the Darkness Capital, Rhode and the others were around to guard the place and everyone was together within the safe time. That was why Lapis wasn’t worried. But it was different now. Rhode was nowhere to be seen. No one knew when he would get out of the core. If she were to plant the Plane Destruction Bombs and he hadn’t returned after 24 hours, things would get perilous. Who knew; maybe he finally broke free from Chaos and the Plane Destruction Bombs detonated at the same time. In that explosion… Things would surely be lively.

That was why Lapis was extremely reluctant to carry out the order. She was hoping that she could at least contact Rhode and install the Plane Destruction Bombs after hearing back from him. This way, at least he would be able to escape safely. As for the Plane Destruction Bombs, Lapis could control them except for the countdown timer. As soon as she saw Rhode’s return, it was possible for her to detonate them by remote control.

But that also meant that Rhode had a 24 hour buffer. If he didn’t return within 24 hours, he would face the threat of the detonated Plane Destruction Bombs.

“No, Miss Marlene. There’s no word from Sir Rhode yet. If I were to plant the Plane Destruction Bombs now, it would be too dangerous for him!”

What surprised Marlene was that this time, Lapis was determined to disagree with her approach. Of course, Marlene also knew that it was dangerous for Rhode. But the problem was that she had other considerations of her own. The interference from Chaos was too great that she couldn’t contact him using spiritual communication. If Rhode still couldn’t be contacted on his way back, wouldn’t it be too late to reach him after he entered the Void Territory?

Both sides had their own reasons. It wasn’t that Marlene was unconcerned about Rhode but these were his orders. And while Lapis knew that, she trusted her own judgment more. Now that Chaos was in full retreat, a fool would also know that Rhode wouldn’t be able to make it back as easily as he predicted. Not to mention, the amount of Chaos he would encounter on his return alone would be several times greater than expected.

This might prolong the time required on his return as well. On the other hand, Lapis had her own reasons too. Previously, when Rhode created the plan, he didn’t predict that Chaos would retreat all at once, so the plan had to be changed now. As a technician, she was responsible for the technical aspects of the whole plan. She wouldn’t do anything that could potentially be dangerous to him.

“Yawn…”

At that moment, a yawn broke the tense atmosphere. Everyone turned around and saw Orchid Heart, who leaned against the wall, yawning and looking helplessly at the others.

“My junior sure is loved by everyone… Lapis, your views are right. But Marlene, you aren’t wrong either… Tell you what, Marlene. I’ll contact Rhode. Even though it will take some time, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. If nothing surprising happens, I am 80 percent sure that I will be able to reach him. Lapis, in the meantime, you and Marlene will go ahead and set up the Plane Destruction Bombs for other areas and wait for my orders.”

“Huh?”

Upon hearing her words, everyone was stunned.

“Miss Orchid Heart, you are able to contact Rhode?”

It wasn’t surprising that Marlene asked this question. Although she was Rhode’s card spirit, there was no way for her to contact him through the spiritual communication. In that case, it was even more impossible for Orchid Heart, who was a phantom guardian, to reach him. But why was she so confident of her chances?

“Should be fine.”

In response to Marlene’s question, Orchid Heart yawned once more, before looking at the crowd with a lazy smile.

“After all, we’re members of the same guild. So at least… The guild mailbox should still be working.”