Summoning the Holy Sword

“It has begun.”

Standing on a high platform, the young lady looked at the pillars of light roaring in the distance, as well as the sky that changed its colors gradually. A hint of emptiness appeared over her face, but soon, her expression became heavy and serious. She turned and looked at the pitch-black doorway in front of her. She reached out her hand and gently touched the ice-cold, hard stone pillar, feeling the power surging from within.

The original plan was for Rhode to activate the barrier and open up the channel on his own. But now that his younger sister was by his side, he didn’t need to be distracted by dealing with them alone. Thus, he only had to take charge of defending the Dragon Soul Continent with the Holy Sword Barrier, while the younger sister was responsible for activating the Door of Akasha to open the channel to the solar system.

Since she had previously opened a channel to an alternate world, she was more experienced than Rhode in this regard. Moreover, her attributes as a Void Dragon was perfect for creating a channel. On the other hand, Rhode’s void power was more inclined to flattening, sealing, and integrating. In other words, if the younger sister were a pioneer, Rhode would be the equivalent of a builder. After the younger sister explored the territory, he would then build on it. As the saying ‘an art form had its specialties’ went, now that the younger sister had fully recovered her power, proceeding separately was naturally a safer choice for them.

As a Void Dragon, the younger sister also sensed the completion of the Holy Sword Barrier’s activation. She couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. But soon, she collected her thoughts, stretched out her right hand, and held the center of the Door of Akasha. She closed her eyes and called out in a soft voice.

“Open. Door of Akasha.”

“———”

As if responding to the young lady’s call, the center of the pitch-black and profound Door of Akasha emanated spots of light like stars emerging from the night sky. In the blink of an eye, with her palm at the center, thousands of light specks shone, rotating slowly as if they were nebulae. At that moment, the young lady opened her eyes. Her dark eyes focusing on the nebulae in front of her, and even the soft and clear radiance reflected in her eyes. Around the dark and huge doorway, bolts of lightning appeared out of thin air, crackling and enveloping the surroundings of the Door of Akasha. Even the colors became much dimmer.

The younger sister’s face grew more solemn with the emergence of the lightning bolts. Those weren’t ordinary bolts of lightning, but were ruptured and shattered cracks from the plane of existence. Like a prelude to the void storm, this was the most important part of opening the plane channel.

In fact, the essence of a plane channel was torn space, which would be used to expand into a channel. But it wasn’t easy and held high risks. If one didn’t get it right, it would collapse entirely. As a matter of fact, Rhode had already done something similar in the past.

That was when he went to the Darkness Capital and used Lapis’s Plane Destruction Bombs to destroy the capital. The process itself was the same as opening the plane channel. If he were able to control the power of the bombs, it would be as though he opened a plane channel. But if he lost control of the power, it would blow everything up.

What the younger sister was doing to open the plane channel was basically the same as continuously tossing in Plane Destruction Bombs, using their power to ‘blow up’ a path of blood. At the same time, she used her power of the Void Dragon to stabilize the channel that was blown open so as to achieve the goal.

The advantage of such a plane channel was that the void storm on the outer plane was sufficient to resist the intrusion of Chaos. Even if Chaos was endless, it would still be torn to shreds the moment it entered the void storm. This would at least ensure that the channel wouldn’t collapse from an infiltration. But the downside was that it had to be stable the entire time.

And the Dragon Soul Continent, as a place that needed to withstand the onslaught of Chaos, had to ensure that at least two-thirds of it was uncontaminated by Chaos before entering the solar system. Otherwise, Rhode would have to abandon the entire Dragon Soul Continent and take his people far, far away. In any case, it was impossible for them to bring Chaos to the solar system. That previous time was an accident, but once was enough. One simply couldn’t fall in the same place twice, right?

“… Will of Akasha, the root of all things, respond to my call and hear my plea. In the name of the Void, open the door to the otherworld!”

Boom———!

In an instant, a pitch-black and dusky pillar of light shot up into the sky from the Door of Akasha. Immediately after, an unusual, oval-shaped halo of darkness expanded slowly. As the halo spread over the sky, the earth trembled.

“It has begun…”

At that moment, the younger sister revealed a look of relief in her eyes. After activating the Door of Akasha, she was left with the task of maintaining and expanding the plane channel to envelop the entire Dragon Soul Continent. If she were on her own, she would still need to worry about the invasion of Chaos. But now…

“I’ll leave the rest to you, Big Brother. I hope that this time, we will be successful.”

Mumbling to herself, the younger sister raised her head with complicated emotions and looked at the Door of Akasha before her, before closing her eyes once again. Almost immediately after, countless light dust scattered like fireworks from the pitch-black light pillar that burst through the dome flying out in all directions to the Dragon Soul Continent.

At the same time, the battle against Chaos had begun.

“They’re back.”

Canary stood on the city wall and frowned at the overwhelming presence of Chaos before her. As a player, even though she was pretty much familiar with battles against Chaos, this time, it was different… It was the first time she ever participated in one like this. At this thought, Canary reached out her arm and held her hand to her chest, feeling her pounding heart. An inexplicable and unprecedented pressure weighed down her body, making her gasp for air.

On the other hand, the true Canary, who wasn’t a phantom guardian, wasn’t supposed to be on the battlefield. In principle, Rhode disallowed her and Mini Bubble Gum to fight against Chaos because this time, the situation was different from the game. In the game, they were individually capable of fighting Chaos on their own. But now, Chaos was raging and perhaps there were no less than hundreds of lord-level creatures on the battlefield.

In that situation, it was easy for all sorts of accidents to occur. Moreover, Rhode wasn’t certain if he could resurrect the true Canary and Mini Bubble Gum if they were dead. Hence, he expected them to stay in the rear, but both of them stubbornly opposed to his opinion. In the end, considering the extra strength and assurance they provided, he reluctantly agreed to let them go into battle.

However, to be on the safe side, he didn’t place them at the front line; they were also each entrusted to someone he trusted to watch over them. Of course, Mini Bubble Gum was the focus of it.

“Are you worried, Miss Canary?”

Upon hearing the gentle voice, Canary felt her inexplicable tension had eased. She turned around and looked at Lydia who strolled toward her with a smile, before nodding lightly with some embarrassment.

“Yes, Your Highness Lydia. I’m more or less concerned… Honestly, this is my first time experiencing a battle of this scale…”

Canary replied and fell into silence for a moment. As a matter of fact, she was somewhat worried. Unlike the fearless Mini Bubble Gum, Canary had always been cautious. It was especially so after her miscarriage, where she became reluctant to act too aggressively.

Previously, it was unpreventable that she followed Erin and the others around the moon base. As a matter of fact, she still wished to lead a peaceful and quiet life if she could. But this time, it was different. For some reason, after learning about the problem that Rhode was facing, Canary stepped forward without hesitation.

Now that she had the same powerful strength as she had in the game, she needed to do something for her loved ones instead of just watching from the sidelines. She was also aware that the old days of just sitting quietly and waiting for someone to help her were over.

From now on, whether it was for the sake of Rhode, or to gain a high spot in his ever-growing harem, she must make contributions. Perhaps Rhode didn’t care about that, but unless Canary was a woman who was willing to be ‘provided for’ all her life, she would always have a purpose.

As these thoughts cropped up in her head, Canary became even more determined. Her understanding of Rhode was second only to the younger sister and Icy Snow—even Mini Bubble Gum was inferior to her. Thus, Canary was well aware of how much Rhode loved her. However, she couldn’t just sit back and do nothing. No matter what, she had to pay him back in some way.

At this thought, Canary’s expression became firm.

“… But I will do my best. No matter what, I will do what I can; only then will I be able to have a clear conscience.”

“…”

Upon hearing Canary’s words, Lydia was stunned. She narrowed her eyes and surveyed the young lady in front of her. A few moments later, the archangel nodded to Canary with an appreciative look.

“The earth nourishes the growth of all things and not everyone recognizes that. But no matter what, they will eventually return to the warm embrace of the earth… Miss Canary, I admire your courage and conviction. Springs that show up in the desert are even sweeter because they are scarce. But do remember that while birds that return the favor are to be admired, they must be equally careful of the talons of the eagles that soar in the sky.”

“I understand. Thank you for the reminder, Your Highness Lydia. I have no intention of giving up my life easily either,” Canary said, clenching her fists and gazing ahead unflinchingly. “I will do my best to live on. This time, I will never leave his side again.”

“Reporting, Your Highness! The enemy has broken into the range of our defensive line!”

At the same time, a loud and stern report broke the dull atmosphere in the flagship. Upon hearing the report, Lydia smiled and stepped forth, as if the countless Chaos creatures in front of her were non-existent. With a soft and gentle smile, she arrived on the balcony. Facing the black and overwhelming presence of Chaos, the archangel raised her right hand high.

“Let’s begin. Everyone, this is our final battle with Chaos!”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The moment the archangel pointed her right hand forward, golden magical beams spurted out from the magic warships’ turrets one after another along with the thunderous sound of cannon fire. The assault was like an omnipresent storm pressurizing the Chaos army ahead. Along with innumerable, dazzling golden beams streaking across the sky like meteors, explosions of flame and air currents flattened the ground.

From time to time, the blinding lights tore, devoured, and destroyed the Chaos creatures that attempted to pounce on them. For a moment, the rolling waves of darkness seemed to be stopped in their tracks by this embankment of gunfire. But that only lasted for a moment before Chaos once again advanced, seemingly unhindered in the slightest. For them, neither death nor destruction were an issue, for nothing was defined and bound.

However, that didn’t mean that their enemies were only the towering walls in front of them and the magic warships cruising in the sky.

“Amau———Sausn…”

Standing on the deck, Canary raised and stroked her arms like a musical conductor of a symphony orchestra. Along with her movements, magical runes emerged in midair one after another and flowed downward like a waterfall, twisting and spinning into a statement filled with magical power. The elements in the air surged. The air within a radius of hundreds of meters with Canary at its center also flickered with scarlet and green brilliance.

“This…”

Looking at this scene, Lydia’s expression changed slightly. Of course, she knew what sort of power Canary possessed. However, knowing was one thing, while seeing it was another. At that moment, Canary had completely abandoned the burden on her heart and brought out 100 percent of her strength, something she had never done in the game. Although she was aggressive in her attacks, she always held back some of her powers. But this time, she was no longer holding back anything because she was giving everything she had for the one she loved.

“———Killy, Sange!”

At the peak of the elemental coalescence, Canary yelled and made a gesture with her hands in the air, before pushing forward.

And along with this action, the elemental waves that were bound tightly finally erupted.

The air roared and the tempests were no exception either. The winds that were strong enough to take on magical warships couldn’t survive the onslaught of the sea. All the clouds in the sky scattered in the winds. The greenish hue enfolded the top of the firmament as far as the eye could see. In full view of everyone, wind elements rushed from the other side of the horizon, and then like a huge rainbow, or a flood that rushed through the floodgates, it struck headlong into the Chaos creatures in an arc.

The roaring barrier of wind stopped the further attacks by the tens of thousands of Chaos creatures. Winds snarled and tore like a meat grinder ripping apart anything that was swept into it. The earth crumbled, while red, scorching hot magma spewed out from its cracks and burst skyward along with the massive whirlwinds. For a moment, the fiery whirlwinds were like walls of flame rising from the ground and leaping to a height of nearly a thousand meters and even the magical warships had to avoid them.

But this wasn’t the end.

“Argh…”

Canary gnashed her teeth and clenched her hands. Her arms were covered with circuit boards-like magical rituals, shining with alternating green and red brilliance. At that moment, she was the ruler of wind and fire, and there was no one here who could compete against her!

The young lady’s slender arms couldn’t stop trembling. Even with the strength of a top player, Canary’s body was still made of human flesh, after all. She was almost at her limits from withstanding so much pressure, as well as manipulating two types of elements at the level of elemental lords. She gnashed her teeth and pushed the wall of wind and fire forward. The Chaos creatures that pounced on her weren’t spared at all. They were either torn to pieces by the razor-sharp winds or engulfed by the flames. However, there was also a limit to that.

“Go——!”

It was at that moment when Canary suddenly widened her eyes, spread her arms apart, and swung them to the sides abruptly.

“———”

At that instant, everyone shut their eyes.

The magical warships trembled unceasingly in the gushing air currents. The blistering heat gave one the illusion of sticking one’s head into a blazing furnace. The air around one’s ears seemed to expand at that very moment, so much so that one couldn’t hear the sounds of explosion clearly. When everyone opened their eyes again, they were bewildered.

As far as their eyes could see, the earth had cracked and was scorched pitch-black. The mighty presence of Chaos had vanished entirely. Not only that, but if one were to look to the side, one would also find traces of fire rings that were slowly dissipating.

That one strike wiped out all the enemies on the battlefield, leaving not even a scrap behind.

“Whew… Whew…”

Canary breathed a sigh of relief and looked forward. She wasn’t proud of her attack because at the same time, Chaos emerged again.

However, she also had reinforcements on her side.

“They’re back.”

Along with Lydia’s words, Canary caught a glimpse of a shining, meteor-like glow that streaked across the sky and flew toward them.