The Last King Of Darkness
Chapter 271 - 193: Statue

Chapter 271: Chapter 193: Statue

The brief meeting soon ended, and Jon with Qingyu quickly led the elite battle cluster into the remaining fights.

The campaign triggered by the Abyss Rift was drawing to a close.

Byron Old City stabilized, Laisuo City recovered, the demons released from the Abyss Rift were slaughtered, and the Rift itself damaged. Only the stronghold near the Iron Armor Fortress remained, but it no longer posed a threat.

Composed of Trolian humanity’s finest warriors, the expeditionary force quickly eradicated this last vestige.

Thus, with everyone’s efforts and paying a heavy price, the campaign named "Giant" by the highest Military War Department ended in victory.

But the black tide had not ended.

The battle between light and dark, fire and fog, humans and monsters, would continue.

——

That very night, Rod returned to Royal City with Soron.

The elite battle cluster’s mission had ended, disbanded on the spot, and everyone swiftly returned to their positions. They were all core personnel from various regions, squads, battle groups, and strongholds who could not stay away from their respective territories for long. This operation was a highly risky move, only possible because the recovery operation for Laisuo City went much smoother than expected, which allowed them time to aid the Iron Armor Fortress.

The swift recovery of the Iron Armor Fortress led to even greater stability everywhere else.

And with a more stable situation, the Military War Department had more forces to use, leading to yet more stability across the regions.

That is a virtuous cycle.

Conversely, it would be a vicious cycle.

If such a scenario were to occur, Royal City would only be able to resort to cutting off a limb to save itself.

In such a case, the losses that Trolian humanity would have to bear would far exceed what had been experienced now.

And the key to forming this virtuous cycle was their rapid identification of the entrance to the Abyss Rift and successful elimination of the gigantic demon that sustained the existence of the Rift.

Therefore, there were already proposals within the Military War Department to credit Rod with the foremost merit in the "Giant" campaign.

Of course, this was still just a preliminary proposal.

Rod, merely a new student at the academy and only sixteen years old, to be credited with such a significant accomplishment, qualified for the "Great Medal," to be recorded in the Trolian "Great People’s List," alongside those famous figures of renown.

This was somewhat excessive.

Therefore, the commendation was temporarily postponed until the investigation team could clarify the entire incident’s causes and consequences and unravel all the details of Theodore’s death before discussing awards and merits.

Rod didn’t return to the academy but was instead taken directly to the Royal District situated in the deepest part of the Upper City.

This was his second visit here.

The Royal District was the core area of Troli, where fewer than one hundred thousand residents lived. They were the most prominent and important figures in Royal City, along with the direct family members of those who had made significant sacrifices for humanity.

Viewed from the sky, the Royal District was simple, majestic, and splendid, with each residence in the civilian area exquisitely luxurious and carefully arranged; they were always under the protection of the Holy Fire, unaffected by the Black Fog or monster attacks.

To live here was the ultimate dream of every person, but very few ever saw it realized.

And Rod had briefly achieved this dream.

He was placed in a villa near the castle of the highest Military War Department, awaiting interrogation by the investigation team.

Soron told him that this "interrogation" was neutral and not to worry, he just needed to recount what had happened.

Rod was pleased, finally not being viewed as guilty in coming here.

The villa had a complete set of living facilities, and the Royal City Service Department even assigned him a bunch of maids to take care of his daily life.

This slightly troubled Rod.

These maids were too professional. Feeding and watering were one thing, but managing baths and wiping bottoms, wasn’t that a bit too much?

The most troublesome thing was that they apparently came with the purpose of surveillance, and from the start, they came up with various excuses to strip him of his clothes.

Everything inside his clothes was naturally uncovered, leaving nothing hidden.

During bath time, another maid came in on a pretext, trying to find if he had hidden anything inside his body.

What was even more outrageous was that, when he wanted to sleep, he actually found someone under the bed.

Rod had a hard time shooing them away and lay down on the bed, but something felt off no matter how he tried to sleep. When he got up and flipped the bedclothes, he found a row of maids beneath them.

They claimed they were providing a floor heating service with natural body warmth for the esteemed Lord Rod, which nearly made him so angry his nose almost became crooked.

"If you suspect me, just drag me out and burn me to death, what’s the need for all these ridiculous tricks? And I actually believed Soron’s nonsense!"

"Get out, all of you get out!"

Seeing that Rod was truly angry, the maids could only leave with their heads down and spirits dampened, emerging from the wardrobe, the vanity mirror, the wall panels, the ceiling, and other places, filing out of the bedroom one after another.

The last maid deeply bowed to Rod before she left.

"I’m very sorry, Lord Rod, please don’t be angry. We only wanted to gain an understanding of your quirks and habits, so as to provide you with services that would make your mood more pleasant, preventing any psychological issues during your prolonged battles that might lead you to extremities or cause your soul to blacken. But our skills were too clumsy, causing your displeasure, we truly are sorry."

She bowed deeply again.

"We will return to the nursing academy for further training, and we’ll definitely provide better service next time."

"Good night, Lord Rod, please have a good sleep."

She closed the door and walked out quietly.

Rod scratched his head, feeling that he might have misjudged them, not expecting such services in the Royal City.

But he wasn’t actually angry; it was just that with these people around, he really couldn’t relax enough to enter the Dream Realm.

"Alright... I’ll talk to the Service Department tomorrow, tell them I was very satisfied with their service," he thought.

As the thought flashed by, Rod’s emotions surged, and he quickly jumped into bed, formed a hand gesture, and entered the long-awaited Dream Realm.

Faint mist swirled around him, and the silent Dream Realm was unchanged.

But the Dean’s Spiritual Body was no longer there.

A feeling of loss rose in Rod’s heart for no reason; he had hoped for a miracle—that upon entering the Dream Realm, he would still see the Dean’s figure.

But alas, it was only a dream.

The Dean had left forever.

In his place, at the northernmost part of the Dream Realm on a white marble square, there was a new pure white statue.

He stood tall, clad in a standard academy gown, holding a Magic Wand aloft with one hand, his gaze gentle, his face carrying a smile, as if encouraging his juniors.

This was a statue of Theodore.

Below, written in the language of dreams, were five lines of text:

May the Holy Fire purify my thoughts.

May kindness surround you like a fire.

May justice gather like moths to your luminescence.

May all demons turn to ash.

May sunlight brighten every smile on the earth.

—Theodore Clement, the greatest Spell Talent holder, the noblest teacher, the most affectionate person.

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