Summoning the Holy Sword

It was total darkness.

Although Rhode had suffered from the Chaos Flame in the game, it wasn’t real, after all. Even if a sword had pierced through his guts, he wouldn’t feel anything. But Rhode finally experienced the sensation right now.

It was an indescribable pain. He felt as though the blood in his body was flowing inversely. His heart pounded fiercely while his ears buzzed. The strength within his body erupted and expanded in all directions as though the reins were thrown off a horse and it refused to listen to Rhode’s command.

Pfff! Blood spurt out from his mouth as he crashed to the ground. The dusky scenery twisted before his eyes and vague, frantic screams were heard. An indistinct shadow swayed before him and there was an immediate chilly sensation on his abdomen. Before he knew it, an ice-cold, sharp object had punctured his body.

“Master!”

“That idiot!”

Celia yelled hoarsely while Celestina shrieked. The Supervisor thrust the white, unyielding pike into Rhode’s body and nailed him to the ground viciously. The sisters attempted to rescue him, but as soon as they took a step forward, their bodies began to fuzz, twist, and disappear into thin air. At the same time, flames erupted from the pike and devoured Rhode entirely.

“Argh…” Rhode gritted his teeth and his mind was completely murky. His vision started to blur and the usually distinct system prompt was continuously popping up as though it had been disrupted electronically. Even though Rhode couldn’t read its content clearly, he knew that he was a goner.

This Supervisor was much more terrifying than he had ever imagined and he had never thought that she could remain this calm even though she was besieged by that many formidable enemies. Rhode’s displacement effect and the speed of his Storm Slaughter weren’t inferior to teleportation. Rhode had initially decided to leave instantly after grabbing the Copper Mirror, but the Supervisor was surprisingly much quicker than him. She caught on to that concise timing and held Rhode down.

Rhode felt the strength in his body deteriorating and blood draining off gradually. The world around him had as though became dark and cold. But even so, there was still a raging inferno within his body.

I can only rely on this now… Rhode shut his eyes while the extreme pain kept his senses awake. There was only one way left — That was to wait for the opportune timing.

[Detected the… Invasion of… Chaos Fl-… Damage received increased by 50%…]

[Physical… declining, nearing… critical point]

[Damage received reached… 75%. Activate eff-…— Self-breakthrough]

[Strength… Increase… Activated]

In a split second, Rhode felt the raging inferno suppressed deeply in his body finally explode and devour his body. He felt as though he had blended with the earth as one and the flat ground beneath him had spread limitlessly as if it were a part of his body, perception, and himself. That was exactly the symbol of the Legendary Stage, ‘Order Dimension’. A world formed by absolute Order accommodated Rhode completely.

Pow! The equipment on his body vanished into specks of dust. At the same time, Rhode opened his eyes.

The system prompt continued to flash before his eyes. Rhode looked over it and the indistinct scene from before had suddenly cleared up. Not only that, the dark flames had flowed backward, the Supervisor ‘gazed’ at himself with an ashen expression and the spotlessly white pike that had punctured his body flung into the air. Rhode’s consciousness had never been this distinct before. He stared fixedly at the Angel and he could even feel the pain and despair bound by the Chaos and laments deep in her soul.

“You…!” The Supervisor opened her eyes for the first time. Her soulless eyes had been tainted by the mashing of black and white while the glint in her pupil flickered faintly. Not only that, the ground around her, the raging dark flames and everything else had turned dull as if a layer of strange darkness had engulfed them. In an instant, there was nothing else in this world. Rhode glared at the Supervisor. The entire world had vanished entirely. Corina, Di, the Duke Fiend, everything had disappeared. In this world, there was only Rhode and her. And she was about to vanish too.

“You… Impossible. You are…!” The Supervisor didn’t finish her last words.

The murderous intent suppressed deep down in Rhode’s heart were finally unleashed. Gracier pierced the Supervisor’s tender throat without any resistance while Madaras slashed from the side and hacked into her chest. The twin daggers dragged downwards and their razor-sharp blades ripped apart her naked flesh. Fresh blood spewed from the gruesome trail, but strangely, the blood hovered in midair as though gravity was non-existent and coagulated into individual blood balls. Her tinted thin robe tattered under Rhode’s formidable strength and revealed her ample chest and splendid body.

Rhode stood to his feet and penetrated his right dagger into her soft bosom. The dagger was so deep into her that he could feel her pounding heart and ribs as though his hand were in her body. Shortly after, Rhode ‘grasped’ the source of life that was pulsing intensely inside her.

“Die!” Rhode pierced the Supervisor’s heart with Gracier and brandished Madaras at the same time mercilessly. Her skull flew and smashed into the rock wall before crashing to the ground. But, even so, the pair of eyes on the delicate face was still wide opened as though she couldn’t believe everything that she had just witnessed.

“Phew…” The raging murderous intent in his body disappeared gradually. He panted for air as he withdrew Gracier from her body and gazed at the pitiful corpse before him. The Supervisor had been annihilated entirely. Fresh blood spurted from her severed neck, a horrible gash on her chest, and her collarbone to abdomen had been slashed open horribly. A bowl-sized dent replaced her left chest and inside it was a mixture of crushed bones and flesh. Up until this moment, the blood balls fell to the ground and contaminated the place red.

This is really bloody.

Rhode never knew that he had this homicidal maniac side of him. Although he had indeed murdered a number of people after coming to this world, this was the first time he felt satisfied from doing it… Could it be that this Miss Supervisor had opened up an unknown side of him?

This thought flashed in his mind briefly. However, he proceeded to sheath his daggers and pick up the Copper Mirror before turning to everyone. Corina, Di and his dearest Undead Knight hadn’t come to the realization of what had just happened. They continued to stare at Rhode and the corpse behind him in disbelief.

“We don’t have much time; let’s go!” Rhode darted towards the exit as he yelled while the others pursued closely.

But, even so, Rhode sensed the strange doubts from their eyes and he was equally baffled.

The earthquakes continued to shatter the earth and the ground had collapsed into the abyss of darkness entirely — However, as the dusky rays enveloped, the crumbled land hovered and solidified into the strong, flat ground miraculously.

That was ‘Order Dimension’. One world to one person and the display of the Legendary Stage. If the ‘Harmonious Domain’ in the Legendary Stage could discover and grasp rules, one could change the rules to a certain extent after entering the ‘Order Dimension’ in the middle level of the Legendary Stage. Or perhaps, one could remold the entire world as his own and the holder’s rules decided everything in that world.

Rhode leaped up from the pile of crushed rocks while gripping the Copper Mirror. The uneven path and shattered ground beneath his feet had been erased and transformed into infinite, vast plains. This was his Order, and this was his world.

At this point in time, Rhode was also full of doubts. He was fully aware of his current situation. But this was also the reason why he couldn’t figure it out. He definitely knew that it was impossible for him to defeat the Supervisor. Yet, he eliminated her with an instant-kill. Due to this, the ‘Self-breakthrough’ would naturally be triggered once Rhode received damage of 75% or above his limits. The ‘Self-breakthrough’ possessed the effect of transcending the holder’s strength and levels and this would put him in the middle level of the Legendary Stage which brought about the ‘Order Dimension’.

Although Rhode was aware of its effect, he had never tried to risk his life. The reason was fairly simple. The Chaos Realm would annihilate any effects weaker than it. Just like Celestin— she was able to break through into the Legendary Stage under the effects of the Taboo Halo. However, before she could reach the ‘Harmonious Domain’ and set her rules, the effects of the Chaos Realm had forced her off. Perhaps Rhode too would be struck back into his original form by the Chaos Realm after stepping into the Order Dimension. No matter what, Rhode’s actual level wasn’t high and even if he was able to transcend to a level above the Supervisor, there would still be a large difference between the Duke Fiend and him.

But, now… His ‘Order Dimension’ had been retained and wasn’t wiped out by the effects of the Chaos Realm, which seemed totally absurd. The Order and Chaos in the Dragon Soul Continent were extremely opposing. Since he was able to step into the ‘Harmonious Domain’, it meant that he was definitely a civilian of Order and there were no reasons for him to be disregarded by Chaos. However, Rhode couldn’t figure out what exactly happened in Celestina’s case. It was no wonder that Di and Corina looked at him strangely. After all, even true beings in the Legendary Stage like them had been suppressed while a weaker human like Rhode could rise up to the Legendary Stage instantly and not get his strength wiped out by the Chaos Realm. This really was an outrageous situation. Furthermore, one’s Order Dimension represented his attributes and rules. But Rhode stepped into the Order Dimension and he didn’t feel any of that. The Order Dimension before him was incredibly odd and he couldn’t feel the powers of the Four Main Elements, Light, ir Dark. Perhaps it meant that his rules of Order didn’t contain them, but it seemed that it had no relations to time and space either. As an experienced player, he had a deep understanding of these rules and powers. If he had such powers, he would’ve realized it right away.

But the problem was that he couldn’t find a way to realize it. The strange Order Dimension had as though no rules or powers at all. Without a doubt, Rhode could navigate through the system interface to obtain his answers. However, it was unknown if it was due to the effects of the Chaos Flame or his current body mismatching the system requirements, but the system interface was trembling non-stop and even the messages were broken.

However, Rhode decided to forget about it for now because time was of the essence in this critical juncture.

[Self-breakthrough] had a time limit. If Rhode hadn’t escaped before its effect ran out, he would be dead for sure. Previously in the Midsummer Festival, Rhode guarded against Barter’s attack once and he suffered serious damage. This time, he could guarantee that if he didn’t leave this damn place in the shortest time, he would become a proper corpse once the effects of the [Self-breakthrough] had ended. Perhaps the Vampire beside him might conveniently turn him into an undead spirit… But of course, Rhode would politely decline either of the two options.

“Sir, where are we heading to?”

“We’re leaving this place. Follow me, we’re…”

“—!” Before Rhode finished his sentence, a sudden ice-cold, frightening sensation struck his back, followed by an ear-piercing howl. He turned back subconsciously and witnessed the Duke Fiend’s glaring eyes sweep towards them as it turned around.

“It spotted us! Everyone, be careful!” Rhode continued to dash forward as he shouted. There was not much time left for him. Judging from his experience in the game, five hours perhaps was the maximum for the effects of [Self-breakthrough]. If Rhode couldn’t escape the Duke Fiend’s Chaos Realm in five hours’ time, he would definitely be dead.

Of course, he must also pray that the Vampire behind him wouldn’t come up with any funny ideas in the meantime.

“Everyone, be wary of the Chaos Flame. The Duke Fiend will definitely summon Devils to attack us. But its limited powers will only summon low-level Devils. Don’t hassle with them. We need to leave immediately!”

As though responding to Rhode’s words, the Chaos Flame around them swayed and burst upwards all of a sudden. Then, a dozen pitch-black, ugly Imps about the size of Goblins jumped out from within. Their burned, shriveled skin was scarred with burned marks and they chattered while tossing fireballs towards the group aggressively.

In an instant, blaze surged into the sky.

What a load of trouble!

This was the first time Rhode regretted not bringing Gillian along as he wanted to show these annoying Imps who was the best at playing with fireballs.