CHAPTER 297: BLUE STONE BAMBOO’S CHILL

...

"Shadow Hall, what do you want?"

As a Controller-level powerhouse, the Mercury Archbishop’s tone was seriously wary of the suddenly appearing Shadow Twins—each powerful aura was roughly equal to his own.

If battle broke out, victory would be hard to predict.

So the Mercury Archbishop planned to understand their purpose and avoid conflict if possible.

From the pitch-black heights, two voices rang out—one cold as ice, the other smiling yet bone-chilling:

"We are the twins born of shadow!"

"The destroyers of Shadow Hall!"

"The inheritors of the Shadow Realm!"

"Today, the Dotruu Kingdom shall cease to exist!"

The arrogant voices clearly reached everyone present.

Sword Saint Levi’s expression was grim:

"Never!"

Surging battle energy erupted as he prepared to charge up and fight the Shadow Twins desperately.

The surrounding Dotruu nobles rushed forward, restraining Sword Saint Levi:

"Lord Levi, don’t!"

"Those two monsters aren’t something we can handle!"

"You bear the kingdom’s heavy responsibility—you mustn’t act rashly!"

"..."

Sword Saint Levi, the King’s Right Hand who’d reached the peak of battle energy, couldn’t break free from the nobles’ restraint.

He could only cry out in anguish:

"How... how can this old man face the people!"

A clever noble immediately got Sword Saint Levi’s meaning and hurriedly said:

"Lord Levi, this isn’t your fault—the Shadow Twins are simply too terrifying.

As the wise King’s Right Hand, with no new king emerged and the country facing destruction, you should preserve your useful body to lead us nobles in rebuilding the kingdom!"

"Yes! Lord Levi!"

"We support you!"

"..."

The nobles’ earnest restraint made Sword Saint Levi unable to hold back tears:

"You’ve put this old man in an impossible position!"

He sighed deeply:

"Sigh, what you say isn’t unreasonable. This old man shall bear the people’s resentment until the day the Dotruu Kingdom is rebuilt!"

Then he looked at the nobles:

"Luckily, this old man had foresight and dug escape tunnels in advance to flee the capital.

Now, this old man orders everyone to evacuate the capital!"

"Yes!"

The Dotruu nobles were overjoyed—worthy of the longest-living Sword Saint to have prepared an escape route.

The group immediately retreated toward a certain location...

...

In the square, among the panicked crowds, one group stayed exceptionally calm.

"This King’s Right Hand is truly wise!"

Among this group, a bald, burly man seemed to catch every word the Dotruu nobles spoke.

"Hehe, I’d say he’s a coward scared of his own shadow!"

The hot-tempered woman despised such timid behavior, her opinion of the Dotruu Kingdom plummeting to freezing.

"The Dotruu nobles are this caliber?

I say we should purge them all together!"

The stern-faced man held even more radical views than the woman.

"Can’t we act yet?"

The short woman was growing somewhat impatient.

"Don’t rush. According to that girl’s intel, the Dotruu Kingdom’s waters haven’t reached their murkiest point yet."

The last person was a one-eyed man with blue light faintly flickering beneath his eye patch—mysterious and extraordinary.

...

On the altar,

The Mercury Archbishop was stunned. He’d never imagined the Shadow Twins’ purpose was to destroy the Dotruu Kingdom!

This was way too unexpected!

Destroying a kingdom—such an extremely heinous crime would inevitably draw the Human Supreme Council’s wrath, ranking even above traitors like himself.

First dark mist layer, vast ice plains.

"Roar!"

Purple Vortex returned, finally bringing back the Blue Stone Bamboo Clan Swords.

However, upon returning, it immediately sensed an unfamiliar aura beside its master.

"Roar?"

"Moo?"

Blood Silver curiously examined Purple Vortex.

Purple Vortex stepped forward, forcibly pushing aside the bewildered Blood Silver to excitedly present twelve pitch-black greatswords before Carlos.

"Purple Vortex, well done!"

"Roar!"

Carlos accepted the twelve pitch-black greatswords. From their exterior, they appeared pretty ordinary—dark blade bodies that drew no attention.

[Unknown Legion’s Rare Greatsword]

[Quality: Blue]

[Sharpness: 26]

[Equipment Requirements: Spiritual Essence 15, Strength 4]

Like other clan swords, before unsealing, they were merely blue spirit gear with no special bonuses.

"Moo!"

Blood Silver snapped back to attention and immediately got pissed—what a rude, ill-mannered jerk!

"Roar!"

Purple Vortex was also furious. Just one trip away and master had gained another retainer.

Seeing master’s intimate behavior toward it—even more excessive than with Red Spirit.

As the first retainer, it had both responsibility and obligation to make this newcomer understand some things required proper order.

Carlos was busy drawing the Blue Stone Bamboo Clan Sword awakening ritual circle and had no time to handle the two retainers’ conflict.

He felt somewhat headache-inducing:

"Go fight outside, but mind your limits."

"Roar!"

"Moo!"

With master’s permission, the two great retainers immediately flew out. Soon, sounds of clashing psionic energy began...

Carlos wasn’t worried they’d have problems. Even if they fought for real, he could stop them in time.

Before long, the awakening ritual circle was done. Carlos immediately placed the twelve greatswords in sequence into the circle’s sword positions.

After placement, Carlos walked to the ritual circle’s center.

Psionic energy surged, activating the circle’s patterns as the twelve greatswords became wreathed in mysterious halos.

Carlos’s expression was serious and solemn as he spoke in special tones:

"Stone Bamboo Extreme Cold!"

Instantly, the twelve greatswords started trembling, floating automatically in midair.

The plain sword bodies began going through wonderful changes, shedding layer by layer like stone bamboo to reveal Blue Stone Bamboo patterns within. Immediately, amazing cold aura spread.

Carlos reached out to touch one of them.

Compared to normal greatswords, this Blue Stone Bamboo Clan Sword seemed crafted from ice crystal—completely crystalline and radiating cold aura.

[Blue Stone Bamboo Clan Sword]

[Quality: Light Gold]

[Sharpness: 49]

[Special Bonuses:

(1) Blue Stone Bamboo Swordsmanship Level +3

(2) +10% damage when using Blue Stone Bamboo Swordsmanship

(3) Bond: Blue Stone Bamboo’s Chill.]

[Equipment Requirements: Spiritual Essence 30, Blue Stone Bamboo Swordsmanship Level 10, Blue Stone Bamboo Family Bloodline, Strength 15, Speed 5]

Same sharpness level as the Redrose Clan Swords, completely reaching light gold quality’s threshold.

Carlos focused on the bond ability.

[Blue Stone Bamboo’s Chill:

Clan swords resonate during combat, adding ice explosion effects. Each additional sword bumps up wielder’s Strength by 1 point and ice damage by 10%.

(Maximum twelve swords, can activate once every 24 hours, lasting one hour).]

"Blue Stone Bamboo Clan Sword resonance increases Strength and ice damage."

Ice explosion: Condensing ultimate cold that produces violent explosions when attacking enemies, dealing massive ice attribute damage.

Carlos’s eyes lit up.

"In the first dark mist layer’s harsh cold environment, Blue Stone Bamboo Clan Swords are absolutely perfect."