Summoning the Holy Sword

Ivory Valley—the Elves’ sacred ground and eternal resting place for all Elven heroes. From this description, perhaps one would think that it was an extraordinarily grand place. But this place didn’t seem any much different from other parts of the Elf Forest. Verdant and lush forest, beautiful streams, dense treetops, and bright sun light spilling in from between the leaves. Curious little wild animals like the squirrels jumped down from the branches and peered curiously from the bushes at the two guests. Ivory Valley appeared nothing more than a perfect place for a picnic.

However, the truth was otherwise.

The only sign that could symbolize Ivory Valley was the cloud of white fog permeating in the forest, but it wasn’t dense enough to conceal vision. As one walked through it, one could hear indistinct and faint breathing—the sleeping spirits’ hymns of glory.

And now, Rhode had stepped onto the sacred ground.

He stepped on the fresh, soft grass and took in a deep breath of the fragrant flowers that filled the air. Then, he lifted his head to gaze at everything before him quietly. The twin daggers around his waist trembled and their spiritual undulation surged strongly. Corina followed by his side, but he didn’t need her guidance. He knew what he had to do and where he had to go. He held the dagger hilts gently and stepped into the depth of Ivory Valley.

Corina gazed at him from the back curiously. Although Rhode had informed her of his intentions, she was still curious as to what he was about to do here. Not only that, but this Moon Elf was filled with unprecedented curiosity. Where did he come from exactly? How did he manage to get into contact with the Carlesdines who had vanished entirely? And what does he intend to do here?

Such questions popped up in her mind one by one. As she followed Rhode closely, she realized that this was the first time she was so interested in a Human.

The spiritual undulation guided him.

There weren’t any smaller pathways in Ivory Valley. But he knew where and how he should go ahead because two spiritual undulations that were similar to Gracier and Madaras gradually became distinct. They intertwined and responded with one another as though an obvious signal reflected on a radar. Rhode strode through the underbrush, shrubs, and brooks patiently.

The sound of wind gradually became louder.

“T-This is...”

Corina widened her eyes in astonishment because she sharply sensed the abrupt transformation in the atmosphere. The peaceful Ivory Valley was slowly becoming lively as though a tranquil lake was rolling and boiling over violently. This was nothing that she had ever seen!

The leaves rustled loudly along the strong wind and the surrounding animals were nowhere to be seen. Rhode lifted his head nonchalantly and looked into the depth of the forest with his pitch-black eyes. His vision had as though seen through entire Ivory Valley.

“Mr. Rhode...”

Corina came to a halt and gaped uneasily. Suddenly, the entire Ivory Valley darkened and a scene that she had never seen emerged before her.

Not only did the light green radiance burst with spiritual aura from the land of grass and specks of light dust float skyward, but the surrounding bark also emanated equally dazzling radiance. The two different tones of green blended together perfectly and formed a path that led them deeper into Ivory Valley. As this corridor of light emerged, indistinct figures emerged behind the bushes one by one and watched the two visitors quietly. Some were clad in glorious armor, Mage robe, and Ranger attire.

“This is...”

Corina looked in disbelief. She had been to Ivory Valley several times, but she had never seen it in this state. The Queen Elf often reminisced about the memory of holy spirits. But the holy spirits had never shown themselves before anyone!

Spiritual aura permeated and gentle breeze blew against Rhode as he walked down the corridor of light. The tree branches and tangled vines made way to both sides while the grass obediently paved way for him.

Magnificent.

Rhode didn’t reveal any signs of excitement, but he was exclaiming in awe inwardly. The little girl who resembled Christie didn’t reveal this scene to him, so everything that happened astonished him. He was clear about Ivory Valley’s history and he also knew the ones who had emerged before him. They were generations and generations of Elf heroes and only they were qualified to be buried here. But now, the heroes who should have been fast asleep forever actually appeared. Rhode knew that the holy spirits weren’t here to welcome him. Instead...

He lowered his head and gazed at the twin daggers. Then, he furrowed his brows slightly.

He had always been suspecting that the identities of his spirits in the Holy Sword Card Deck weren’t that simple at all. It was apparent from their offense and defense values and their incredible growth rates. Besides, when the summoned spirits reached their peak, they would possess strength in the Legendary Stage, which wasn’t ordinary at all. The standard, high-end deck for a Spirit Swordsman included a Core Card, Venue Card, various spell cards, and subordinates of the unique element to the deck. Although some luckier players could get their hands on two to three decks, the strength of the decks were insignificant. On the contrary, the Holy Sword Card Deck was entirely different. Like Celia and Celestina, they could reach the Legendary Stage even without unlocking their seal and just by being under the influence of a talent skill. A deck with full 10 cards of legendary level was basically cheating in the game.

The overwhelmingly powerful card deck was also the start of Rhode’s doubts. After he had discussed with Celia and Celestina, the doubt in his heart grew even deeper.

Spirit Swordsmen were different from Mages. Spirit Swordsmen could summon presences that existed on this continent while Mages could only summon presences from other elemental Plane of Existences. This was why Rhode’s summoned spirits mostly appeared normal while Mages’ summons were all a mess. From his conversation with Celia and Celestina, he sensed that they had high statuses and existed since generations ago. Normally speaking, the earlier the generation they came from, the higher their strength would be.

This was the same for Gracier and Madaras.

The thing that Rhode suspected the most was that their backgrounds were pointing toward the same thing—the Creation War.

Yes. The background history which was only described by lines of words in the opening music of the Dragon Soul Continent game.

Rhode didn’t understand the specific details to the history. In fact, apart from the players who were interested in archeology, most of them were only concerned about getting their hands on legendary weapons or magic scrolls and no one knew about the explicit details.

But, even so, Rhode understood this clearly: Gracier and Madaras held high status among the holy spirits!

Their presences woke the holy spirits up from their long slumber, which proved a powerful point. After all, the Carlesdine were rarely seen. But there were up to thousands of Carlesdine during the Creation War. So who would be worth the welcome of that many holy spirits?

The spiritual undulation around his hands surged violently. Rhode lifted his head and spotted two short, unremarkable pine trees before him.

Perhaps due to the long time, their trunks and branches had withered and drooped lifelessly. The towering trees around them had as though submerged their irrelevant presence entirely.

Rhode approached the two pine trees and laid his daggers before him. Then, the daggers flew out of his hands and slowly drifted forward, emanating warm, dazzling spiritual radiance from their blades.

The two pine trees lit up like Christmas trees and specks of green radiance spread upward from their roots. Then, every branches and leaves emanated a glorious luster.

Corina stood behind Rhode and looked at the scene blankly. She was flabbergasted.

At this moment, the radiance on the twin daggers flickered and two young girls emerged before Rhode.

However, Gracier and Madaras were no longer dressed in their usual plain robe. Instead, they were clad in pure, white cloaks inlaid with golden lining. Not only that, but flashy golden threads were also embroidered on the backs of their cloaks. The skin-tight clothing that they wore previously had become spotlessly white and were embedded with leather of beautiful patterns.

An immense air pressure struck forth.

Rhode took a step back uncontrollably as he almost half-knelt to the ground with his weakened knees. He had never sensed such a tremendous might from the two young girls, and not even from Lydia. They were announcing to everyone their strong, absolute authority.

However, Rhode withstood it.

His body shook slightly and he turned to find the pale Corina half-kneeling on the ground with sweat beads spread across her forehead. She didn’t dare to lift her head up.

At this moment, the two young girls turned around and gazed at Rhode with adorable smiles. Gracier and Madaras extended their hand forward. Their sweet, crisp voices sounded in Rhode’s ears like a gentle whisper of the spring breeze.

“You’ve finally awakened us, Master.”

“Our blades will fight for you and our glory will shine for you, Master. We will follow your path to the end. This is our promise and duty...” The two young girls let out a crisp, lovely chuckle before turning around and drifted to the two pine trees. They extended their finger forward and touched the branches.

The two pine trees erupted into a blinding radiance and slowly shattered into countless specks of light, which flew into their petite bodies. Shortly after, the pine trees vanished like melted snow. The brilliant rays on Gracier and Madaras shone increasingly brighter and at the same time, the spiritual radiance on the ground rippled as though responding to their presence. Every tree, branch, leaf glittered fascinatingly like an ensemble. The ground trembled as though the powerful energy contained in them was roaring and trying to break through to the surface...

And they finally emerged.

Boom—!

An ear-deafening, thunderous explosion numbed their ears and everything before them were enveloped in complete whiteness as though the entire world had been devoured.

If Rhode stepped back farther, he could see two light beams emitting from the ground, ripping through the dense clouds, blending into one with the azure sky as though they were pillars that connected heaven and earth. In an instant, the bright sun seemed inferior to the two light beams. The pale green radiance had become the main theme of the world.

“Your Majesty...”

Dale looked up with astonished, widened eyes. Not only him, but the Elf Knights around him were also stupefied and lost their calm. They gazed at the two pillars rushing into the sky in bewilderment.

The Elf Queen neglected the inappropriate behavior of her knights because she also stood to her feet and gazed at the two light beams with a complicated expression. She let out a slight sigh.

“It seems... This is the fate that we certainly have to experience.”

The Elf Queen closed her eyes and listened quietly to the almost inaudible whispers that echoed in the depths of her soul...