The Last King Of Darkness
Chapter 682 - 396: Return to the Battlefield_2

Chapter 682: Chapter 396: Return to the Battlefield_2

The soul reserves still count in the hundreds of millions, but for the Obelisk as it stands, that is hardly enough, and the doll’s fragments still lie quietly under the monument, waiting to be restored.

However, the Book of Knowledge isn’t worried; on the contrary, its actions are quite agile, indicating it’s in a very good mood.

"Master..."

"It has changed somewhat"

In the midst of busy work, some characters flashed across the pages of the book and disappeared in an instant.

"I saw some shadows of great days past; perhaps, this time it could succeed... hehehe, it is worthy of me."

——

Second-Level Combatants are the core combat unit of the Fire Hall, generally operating solo, each responsible for a specific area.

And Rod, having a Battle Group, naturally could bring his group into combat.

Just as he left the Fire Hall, Rod returned to the Royal City and found Mephit, Anna, and Kashan among others at the training ground station.

The period of training had brought them considerable progress.

After devouring 166 Soul Traits of Cold Ice, Mephit’s "Cold Ice" characteristic had advanced further, but exactly how strong it had become, Rod was not too clear.

The true strength of Mephit had always been a mystery.

Anna’s progress was quite significant, her Centaur State had now surpassed all transport in Trojan, making her the fastest mount. Her Spiritual Spears had also increased to 60; even the strongest monsters paused before her 60 times.

But the person who had grown the fastest was Kashan.

Her instructor told Rod with awe: "Kashan has greatly hastened her control over anger since she came here. The force of her punches is increasing, and the impact mark of her heaviest punch has been estimated to exceed 100,000. Do you understand what kind of miracle that is? Kashan’s Spiritual Energy is only Level 6, the Seed of Anger is truly a miraculous Spark of Fire."

Kashan raised her little fist to Rod, as if in challenge, saying, "I will not lose to you."

The instructor scolded, "Kashan, how can you treat Lord Rod like this? Do you know that all your Flame Burning Potions are provided by Lord Rod? The Black Battle Group couldn’t possibly offer you better."

Kashan pouted and didn’t speak, but her golden eyes flashed, clearly unconvinced.

The instructor angrily said, "Kashan! You should know that even now, you cannot possibly have a Strong designation; your abilities are too unstable, and you have only three Fire Sparks. The covert branch can’t provide you with so much resources; they can’t even maintain your original standards! If it were not for Lord Rod, you wouldn’t have grown this fast."

Kashan puffed her cheeks, muttering begrudgingly, "I know, but I just don’t want to say thank you in front of him."

Meanwhile, Rod couldn’t help but almost burst into laughter.

Through Star Square, he observed that Kashan had almost completely converted to his side, whereas Anna’s conversion rate was not as high, and Mephit was utterly untamable.

However, since they weren’t directly involved in combat, it hardly mattered.

Thinking this, Rod quickly stepped forward to stop the instructor who was still intending to scold, and said earnestly, "Kashan, I sincerely apologize for not keeping my promise and taking you to the front lines to fight with me, but I only worried about you, not wanting you to get hurt."

Kashan’s joy +93

Humanity +9

Kashan crossed her arms and turned away with a cold laugh, "Am I so weak in your eyes? I guess you’ve just completely forgotten about me."

Rod laughed, "How is that possible? I remember clearly every moment I spend with you, our days together at the academy were the happiest times for me."

He paused for a moment, then spoke in a deep voice.

"Whenever I fight in the darkness, battling countless monsters, and despair surges through my heart, I always remember those times. They gave me the strength to keep fighting in such desperate situations."

Kashan’s joy +911

Humanity +91

Kashan retorted, "Spare me the lies! With so many beauties around you, how could you think of me? Don’t attribute to me the strength they give you. Just thinking about it disgusts me."

Rod shook his head earnestly, "Kashan, think about it. The moment your resources began to fall short, didn’t I immediately arrange for you to join the Battle Group? Wasn’t I thorough in providing for your needs? When distracted in battle, besides you, who else could I think of?"

Kashan’s joy +1222

Humanity +122

Kashan’s pretty face visibly blushed, yet she still stubbornly said, "Get lost! I don’t want to see you anymore!"

Rod smiled, slightly bowed, and very gentlemanly extended his right hand, saying in a magnetic voice.

"I’m sorry I am late; now, may I have the honor of inviting you to fight alongside me and combat the invasion of the Black Fog?"

Flower of Humanity +1

——

——

All the way, Rod’s face was almost twisted with laughter.

Kashan truly was a treasure!

With just a few words, he managed to secure a rare Flower of Humanity and even rekindle his friendship with her, gaining an additional trump card —

Kashan’s Spark of Fury allowed her to transform anger into power. Coupled with her own "Steel Giant Strength" and "Iron Hardening," these Sparks produced terrifying force.

Rod once made her punch and burst half a base with a single sentence.

Since then, he had an idea.

What if I took it a step further?

For instance, facing a Minotaur head-on?

Undoubtedly, the better his relationship with Kashan, the greater the power of this method would be, surely delivering a punch that Rod could hardly fathom.

And now, Kashan was completely his.

The enemies she killed and the crises she resolved all granted him Divinity.

Therefore, the better Rod managed his relationship with Kashan, the greater the ultimate explosion of power.

Unexpectedly, in the process, he managed to obtain a Flower of Humanity.

The conditions to acquire a Flower of Humanity are harsh, necessitating a joy from the deepest reaches of the soul. To date, Rod had gathered no more than 59.

Since many precious items required it, only five remained, plus the recently acquired one, totaling six.

Kashan’s contribution was like sending charcoal in snowy weather, filling Rod with immense joy.

Anna glanced sideways at him and muttered, "You’re smiling so happily, who knows what schemes you have brewing inside."

She was quite unhappy now — already in combat form and carrying someone on her back was bad enough, but now Rod had also hung a rope on her and attached a cart.

Had she not become a horse?

I am a Centaur! A battle mode after Magic Awakening!

Not a transport tool!

"Anna, look! That Floating Spiritual Power Carriage is about to overtake you! Just because you’re pulling a cart, you can’t keep up with it?"

Boom!

Anna stomped heavily on the ground with one hoof. Her form accelerated again and quickly surpassed the floating carriage in mid-air.

"Well done, Anna, in Trolian, nothing is faster than you!"

Anna proudly raised her head and snorted loudly.

They had traveled 800 kilometers in about a clock hour, arriving at the Third Station on the Western Front.

Though it’s called a station, it was actually just a barren wasteland.

Apart from thick Black Fog and scattered rocks, there was nothing here.

However, a point on the map marked this area as guarded.

The so-called Western Front was made up of such points

The entire front line had only one real stronghold — the Rock Lighthouse.

The operational command point of the battle line was set there, and the commander was an old acquaintance — Herman.

Their task was simple, to prevent all Strong Monsters from crossing during the Battle at Storm Pass.

Rod dismounted, pulling out several flames of Residual Fire from his bosom —

It was naturally impossible for the Guardian Fire to be here.

Since the massive expansion of the Royal City, the already scarce Guardian Fire had become even scarcer, while the Western Front was merely a temporary battle line set up for the Battle at Storm Pass.

The Royal City did not plan to establish a new stronghold beyond the Storm Pass.

That area was getting close to the true depths of darkness and was very dangerous; the strategic focus of the Royal City was not in that direction.

What Rod truly needed to guard against were the monsters from there.

Anna snorted loudly, the strange smell in the air making her very nervous. But she mustered the courage to say, "Rod, light the Residual Fire."

Rod nodded and placed the Fire Spark in the soil.

Bright flames rose up, and its warm power dispersed the lurking cold.

Everyone felt a warmth in their hearts and turned their eyes to the burning Residual Fire.

From the outside, there seemed no difference between Residual Fire and Guardian Fire.

However, Rod knew well that the Strength of the Residual Fire was much lower than that of the Guardian Fire, its range much smaller, mainly serving the purposes of recovery and rest, providing a basic stronghold.