The Fall

Things were looking grim.

Whether it was Rhode or Carter, both shared the same thought at this moment: this Wind Serpent Lord was truly troublesome. Although the Airship was descending rapidly and the forest nearby was already coming into view, at this rate, the ship would likely disintegrate in mid-air before it ever reached the ground!

"Hah!"

Carter lunged forward, the twin blades in his hands carving two cold arcs through the air as he struck directly at the Wind Serpent Lord's massive claws. But just before he could land the blow, the Wind Serpent Lord suddenly opened its maw. Carter felt a wave of foul, fishy stench wash over him; he didn't even have time to confirm what it was before he rolled across the deck. Though he dodged the Wind Serpent Lord's bite, the maneuver signaled the failure of his attack. However, just as Carter stood up and tried to create some distance, the Wind Serpent Lord, seemingly finding this little bug too annoying, suddenly lashed out with a claw. Caught off guard by the creature letting go of the ship's hull, Carter was unprepared. He instinctively raised his twin blades to block, but was sent flying back with a heavy impact. He skidded several meters across the deck before slamming into the mast and coming to a halt.

This won't do.

Rhode furrowed his brows, then looked toward the young girl standing not far behind, her face etched with anxiety.

"Lize, I need your help!"

"Eh?"

"I will draw its attention. When it attacks me, I need you to cast a Shield of Protection on me!"

"Okay!"

Hearing Rhode's words, Lize nodded without a moment's hesitation. She clasped her hands tightly, and a bright, soft light emerged over her body. Seeing this, Rhode didn't say anything more; he simply turned his head, raised his longsword, and thrust it forward with a sudden burst of speed.

Shatter Blade.

A brilliant, gleaming blade of light cut through the air once more, slamming heavily into the Wind Serpent Lord. Although Rhode hadn't consciously condensed the light blades this time, letting them scatter instead, the power was slightly lower than before, and thus it failed to pierce the Wind Serpent Lord's scales. However, the scattered strikes tore several distinct bloody gashes into the membrane of the Wind Serpent Lord's wings, causing the creature to shriek in pain.

"Hiss!!!"

The Wind Serpent Lord's movements stalled abruptly. It whipped its head around, its two crimson eyes burning with the flames of rage, staring fixedly at the young human on the deck. Then, it opened its mouth once more and lunged at Rhode with lightning speed.

The Wind Serpent Lord's speed was indeed not slow. In the blink of an eye, Rhode could see its gaping, blood-red maw hovering above his head. This caused Rhode to tense his nerves; it was a highly risky choice. He had intentionally refrained from using Shadow Blink, maintaining a slower pace specifically to lure the Wind Serpent Lord into an all-out strike. While the danger was immense, a foe's weaknesses become most apparent when they are attacking with full force—this was the exact opportunity Rhode needed to seize!

The Wind Serpent Lord's gaping maw was right before him, so close that in a few more seconds, Rhode would be swallowed whole.

However, it failed to achieve its goal.

Because at that very moment, a faint, white-glowing egg-shaped barrier suddenly appeared around Rhode, blocking the Wind Serpent Lord's fangs. Although the Wind Serpent Lord's momentum slowed for a split second before it completely shattered the barrier, it bit into nothing.

Because the moment the Shield of Protection enveloped him, Rhode had already activated Shadow Blink.

Like a ghostly shadow, he slipped past the Wind Serpent Lord's bite, then raised his pure white longsword high and slashed across its throat.

This was the Wind Serpent Lord's weak point, the most fragile spot on its entire body, though it had kept its neck tucked in previously, making it difficult to strike. This time, however, the enraged Wind Serpent Lord had committed fully to its attack, and because of that, it no longer had the time to protect its most fatal vulnerability.

"---!!!"

A sharp, mournful cry rang out. The Wind Serpent Lord lifted its head as if electrocuted, and from its throat, filthy blood sprayed out, drenching the entire deck. Then, its body went limp, and it collapsed heavily onto the deck, devoid of any further life.

Just then, Rhode saw a patch of deep green rapidly expanding before his eyes.

"Boom!!!"

He felt the ship shudder violently, his body seemingly floating into the air for an instant. Then, everything went black, and Rhode lost consciousness entirely.

When he woke up again, the first thing he felt was the biting cold wind.

"Where am I..."

Opening his eyes, the first thing that greeted him was a beautiful night sky. Unlike an ordinary night, the night here was very "bright"; soft moonlight shone down, casting the shadow of every leaf onto the ground. In the night sky, besides the twinkling stars, ribbons of light emerged, converging into a luminous bond that stretched out in all directions.

This was the hallmark of the Dragon Soul Continent—according to ancient legends, this was originally a chaotic, dangerous space. Later, five great dragons arrived here, and with their own bodies, they created the heavens, the earth, and all things in this once-empty void. To suppress the evil chaos, after using their bodies to create the world, the five dragons cast their own souls into it to restrain the chaotic forces and protect the world's order.

Each dragon's soul had its own unique form, just like the sky above Rhode right now, which represented the protected region of the Dragon Soul of Light. Its characteristic was that even in the dead of night, there would be light shining. In contrast, the region protected by the Dragon Soul of Darkness remained in shadow even during the day, with no trace of light to be seen.

Because of this, the distribution of species across the continent was quite regular.

In the region guarded by the Dragon Soul of Light, one could see all kinds of green plants growing lushly. But in the lands of the Dragon Soul of Darkness, only bioluminescent plants could be found. Naturally, this trait also influenced the distribution of the various races on the continent; humans mostly gathered under the protection of the Dragon Soul of Light, followed by elves and angels. Meanwhile, the undead, vampires, and nightmares—the dark races—naturally became the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Darkness.

There were no gods on this continent; if one had to name them, the five dragons that created the heavens and earth were the objects of their faith. This also included the holders of the Dragon Souls.

Every soul had a core, and even the dragons that created the world were no exception. Their soul cores would reside within a person, and that individual could use this power to adjust the Dragon Soul's protection over the continent. To put it simply, if chaos were a virus and the power of the Dragon Soul were a firewall, then the person holding the soul core would be equivalent to the CPU. As long as the CPU could still process, the firewall would not fail, and it would be enough to keep all chaotic forces completely out of this world. These holders of the soul cores were also regarded as the heirs of the Dragon Souls.

However, such matters held little meaning for Rhode at the moment.

Rhode slowly stood up, a sharp, intense pain sweeping through his body, especially the wound on the left side of his chest, which now seemed even more severe. Previously, Rhode could barely move his left arm, but now he couldn't move it at all; even twitching a finger felt as if the entire arm were submerged in a sea of fire.

Yet, this actually put Rhode at ease. Having sensation meant his arm was still there; if he felt nothing at all, that would be the real trouble.

Looking up, with the help of the bright moonlight, the first thing Rhode saw was the wreckage of the Airship. The tall trees surrounding them indicated they were in a forest. With that, it was clear what had happened. Although Rhode had killed the Wind Serpent Lord, the already fragile Airship had been destroyed upon landing because it couldn't withstand the violent impact.

The forest was silent, not even the chirping of insects could be heard. Rhode looked around and saw bloodstains and corpses everywhere on the ground—some from the Wind Serpent, some human. Not far from Rhode, a petite figure lay motionless.

"Lize!"

Rhode hurried to the girl's side and knelt to carefully observe her condition. Fortunately, although the girl looked pale and her hands were tightly clenched, her breathing was steady. Under Rhode's call, it didn't take long for her to open her eyes.

"I... where am I..."

Lize opened her eyes blankly, staring at the man before her. After a moment, she seemed to regain her senses; it appeared she hadn't fallen lightly either.

"Am I still alive?"

"That's right."

Seeing Lize respond to his words, Rhode finally felt relieved. The girl slowly stood up, shaking her head and biting her lip, as if she hadn't fully recovered yet. But for her, there were more important things to do right now.

"What about everyone else? The Captain? How are they?"

"..."

Rhode did not answer, but Lize did not need one, for she had already seen the scene around her. Her already pale face was now frozen in an expression of utter rigidity.

"How could this be... Krite! Shale! Captain!"

The young girl rushed to the corpses of the mercenaries, desperately calling their names, but not a single one responded. Lize did not give up; she knelt down to carefully examine the mercenaries before her. After confirming that they were truly dead, she did not break down in tears, but instead gritted her teeth and ran to the next person.

However, the girl's efforts yielded no results.

Faced with those already cold, stiff bodies, there was nothing she could do. Although Lize persisted, when she caught sight of Carter, her legs gave way, and she collapsed to the ground.

The mercenary captain, who had been so high-spirited before, had also turned into a cold corpse. Half of his body was wedged into a gap in the deck, a jagged wooden stake piercing through his lower abdomen.

"Cap... Captain..."

Witnessing this, Lize sat blankly on the damp grass. The flame of hope had been completely extinguished from her eyes, replaced only by bewilderment and sorrow. Finally, the girl lowered her head. Though she did not speak, the faint sound of sobbing, carried by the night wind, reached Rhode's ears.

Watching the golden-haired girl's trembling shoulders, Rhode could only stand silently behind her, unable to utter a single word. During the battle, because it was a matter of life and death, he hadn't paid any attention to these things. But now, with everything over, looking at the corpses strewn about, Rhode couldn't help but feel a complex mix of emotions. It wasn't that he hadn't seen corpses before, but those had only been simulated scenes in a game. In the game, people could be resurrected with spells or run back to their bodies as spirits, but this was not a game. When people died, they did not come back, nor did they run back as spirits.

Dead was dead.

At this moment, Rhode seemed to recall that night seven years ago, when he could only watch helplessly—death had walked firmly by his side, and he hadn't been able to stop it.

Just as he intended to say something to comfort the girl, a faint cry for help suddenly drifted over.

"Hey... is anyone there? Help me..."