The Lingering Shadow

Rhode had originally intended to rest for a while near Moonlight Lake before continuing his journey, but after encountering the giant wolf, he was forced to change his plans. Considering that the scent of blood from the corpse would likely attract more unnecessary trouble, Rhode ultimately chose a relatively flat highland upstream of Moonlight Lake as a campsite when the sun went down.

After finishing dinner, Rhode once again took on the role of sentry. Although this was a bit harsh on his body, considering that he was the only one among the three most familiar with the environment of the Silver Moon Forest, and the only one with combat capabilities, there was no other way. Although the fat merchant Mace had volunteered to help, looking at his obese body, Rhode and Lize, while saying nothing, had expressions that fully revealed their attitude. Thus, the tearful fat merchant had nothing to do but sit on the side, boredly sorting through the luggage they had salvaged from the wreckage of the airship.

Of course, Lize was not idle either. At this moment, she was kneeling beside Rhode, placing her hands on his left shoulder.

"aliymia." (Dragon Language: Heal)

Accompanied by the girl's crisp chant, a faint white light emerged from her palms and slowly enveloped Rhode's body. In the Dragon Soul Continent, spellcasters generally used Dragon Language to cast spells. This was because since the creation of the world, nearly seventy percent of magic had been passed down in the form of Dragon Language and was widely adopted by humans during the Age of Great Magic. As for the remaining parts, they were composed of Angelic, Elven, Demonic, and Undead languages. As the race initially created and protected by the Progenitor Dragon, they also inherited the magical talents and long lifespans of the dragons. This became the dividing line for the various classes on the continent. Whether in the Kingdom of Night (Kingdom of Ion, Dragon of Dark Night), the Kingdom of Light (Kingdom of Light Dragon), or the Kingdom of Law (Kingdom of Judgment Dragon), regardless of the political system they adopted, the highest authority was inevitably a Dragon Soul holder who had inherited the souls of the five great dragons, followed by non-humans such as angels, elves, demons, and the undead, and only then, humans.

Of course, due to different political systems, the class composition of each country was not quite the same. As a country ruled by monarchy, the class system of the Kingdom of Night was relatively strict, and there were no humans among its upper echelons. In the Kingdom of Light, which implemented a parliamentary democracy, half of the high-level members in the parliament were humans. In the Kingdom of Law, the number of angels, elves, and humans in the upper class was quite balanced, each occupying one-third. This was because the Kingdom of Law, ruled by religious centralization, believed in the path of balance; for them, balance was the most perfect choice.

Rhode knew the situation of this continent like the back of his hand. He knew what would happen next, which made him somewhat worried. In the game, players were players after all; if they couldn't handle it, they could take off their helmets and walk away. But now it was different; he had become a part of this continent, so what should he do in the face of the disaster that was about to happen?

"Mr. Rhode... Mr. Rhode?"

"What is it?"

Lize's voice woke Rhode from his deep thoughts. He looked up and stared at the girl in front of him. Since then, Lize had finally returned to her usual self. Although a trace of worry would occasionally appear between her brows, it was much better than the gloomy expression she had before, which made it seem like the end of the world and that suicide wouldn't be strange at any moment.

"It's like this."

Lize shook her head, carefully glanced at Mace, who was sitting by the campfire with an expression as if he had been bitten by a snake while counting the supplies in his bag, lowered her voice, and spoke with a serious and earnest demeanor.

"Before... during the battle with the Wind Serpent, I felt something."

"Oh?"

Hearing this, Rhode raised an eyebrow.

"What is it?"

"I felt some dark aura from that Wind Serpent lord."

Speaking of this, Lize bit her lower lip.

"However, this aura is very faint and doesn't seem like something that should belong to a dark-attribute creature... Mr. Rhode, Wind Serpents shouldn't be dark creatures, right?"

Of course not. Wind Serpents belonged to wind elemental creatures and were not even remotely related to dark elemental existences, but...

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure."

Hearing the girl's confident and affirmative answer, Rhode couldn't help but fall into deep thought. He certainly knew what had happened during this period in history. The Wind Serpent packs had repeatedly attacked cargo ships on the Wind Tide Trade Route, causing considerable losses. After sending people to investigate, the Kingdom of Light claimed that this was directed and manipulated by nomadic tribes living in the disputed area in the southern border of Paffield under the rule of the Kingdom of Night. Shortly after this, the Kingdom of Light sent troops to attack that area and carried out expulsions and massacres of the residents. In response to this move by the Kingdom of Light, the Kingdom of Night quickly responded. They not only sent troops to attack the garrison of the Kingdom of Light and reclaimed the land they claimed belonged to them, but also used this as a fuse to launch a full-scale invasion of the Kingdom of Light.

This period of history occurred during the open beta. At that time, Rhode and other players were busy familiarizing themselves with the new environment, new systems, and leveling up, so they didn't delve too deeply into this background. By the time the open beta ended and the game officially launched, with a large influx of players, the Kingdom of Light and the Kingdom of Night had already broken out into a full-scale war. As for what exactly happened, players had their own theories. Some believed it was a tragedy caused by the Kingdom of Light's failed attempt to recover its territory, while another group of conspiracy theorists believed that the Kingdom of Night had deliberately provoked it to achieve its goal of expansion. Many even believed that the Kingdom of Night had long been eyeing the Kingdom of Light, and this was a blunder caused by the Kingdom of Light's own mismanagement—of course, players had no stance and relied entirely on their personal preferences to speculate.

As for these claims, Rhode thought they all had some merit—the southern border region was rich in crystal mines, which were important resources for any country, and the Kingdom of Light had no reason to let go. And Ion, Dragon of Dark Night, who ruled the Kingdom of Night at this time, was indeed a very powerful ruler. Even until the middle of the war, even players known for being cunning, shameless, and rogue found it hard to take advantage of him. It was even rumored that he was not an NPC, but a character played by a member of the game company. As for the last claim, after all, the performance of the Kingdom of Light's parliament during the war could only be described as "pig-like teammates." Many brain-dead orders made players complain, and in the end, there were even strange scenes where players from the same faction actively defected to the Kingdom of Night to fight against the Kingdom of Light, which showed how tragic the situation was at that time.

But now it seems that the second conspiracy theory is closer to reality.

Lize's intuition could not be wrong. As a creature of light elements, angels were very sensitive to dark elements, and she, having inherited half of that bloodline, should be no different. So, the Wind Serpent pack's attack on the Wind Tide Trade Route was indeed a premeditated precursor to the Kingdom of Night's attempt to launch a full-scale attack on the Kingdom of Light?

Things did not seem simple.

"Lize, don't tell anyone about this."

"Okay, Mr. Rhode."

Hearing Rhode's answer, Lize nodded. She withdrew her hands and carefully checked Rhode's wounds again, a smile appearing on her fair face.

"Your wounds have healed a lot. If it continues like this, you should be able to recover in about five or six days."

"Thank you."

Rhode nodded slightly to the girl to express his gratitude. Then, he lowered his head and stared at the system information appearing before his eyes.

The part of his physical health had gradually begun to turn green. If it continued like this, it wouldn't be long before he could move freely. And now, there was still a pile of things for Rhode to do.

What should he do first?

Rhode frowned and fell into deep thought...

At the same time, at the place where the airship crashed, two figures were slowly walking out of the forest.

"Is this the ship you mentioned?"

The leading man spoke coldly. He was wearing beautiful, streamlined, pure white armor etched with patterns carved in shimmering gold thread. If Rhode were here, he would definitely recognize this as the mark of a border defense officer of the Kingdom of Light.

The person standing behind the man was completely wrapped in a black cloak, his appearance indistinguishable. Facing the man's inquiry, he just nodded slightly as an answer.

"They killed my messenger."

A hoarse voice echoed in the forest under the night, giving people a chilling, cold feeling.

"To be finished off by such a group of dirty and incompetent mercenaries, it seems your pet is truly incompetent."

"This is not our fault!"

The voice of the man in the black cloak suddenly rose much higher.

"If you could find me a higher-level... Dominion-level... no, Master-level lord, I wouldn't have to use this kind of low-level creature!"

"Are you kidding me, Dominion-level?"

The man snorted coldly.

"What do you take us for? We are only responsible for providing resources. Your affairs must be handled by yourself. If we could handle everything, then what would we need you for?"

The man paused at this point, his tone softening afterward.

"How much time do you need before you can begin moving again?"

"At least half a month. Do you think it's easy to find a Wind Serpent pack that can be controlled?"

"I'll give you ten days, and we will double the reward."

Hearing the other party's dissatisfied grumbling, the man's expression darkened. He reached into his robes, pulled out a money pouch, and tossed it over.

"Ten days from now, I want you to start moving again."

The pouch hit the ground with a heavy metallic clatter. The black cloak bent down, extended a withered hand to open the pouch, and immediately snapped it shut.

"Fine, ten days. I will honor the agreement."

"I hope you understand that no third person can know about this."

"I understand, of course... By the way, looking at the state of this ship, it seems two or three rats have escaped. Do you want me to help you deal with them?"

"No need."

The man waved his hand.

"I have my own methods."

Upon hearing his reply, the black cloak let out a cold, chilling laugh.

"Very well, then I shall see what kind of methods you have."

A dense mass of shadows manifested out of thin air, enveloping the black cloak before vanishing entirely. Watching the spot where he had disappeared, a look of distinct disgust surfaced on the man's face.

"A greedy, insatiable corpse. One day, even your bones will be reduced to ash!"

With a cold snort, the man turned around, scanned the surrounding forest with a thoughtful expression, then placed one hand on his sword hilt and the other to his lips, blowing a sharp, piercing whistle.

Soon, a griffin circled down from the sky and landed on the ground. At the same time, three figures quietly emerged from the depths of the woods. The man glanced at them, then vaulted onto the griffin.

"Go find those three rats and eliminate them."

He issued the command with cold indifference.