Chapter 181: Turmoil

Rod was quite satisfied with the achievements he had made in just a few days. It was far better than he had expected, and now he was filled with hope and anticipation for the future.
On the way back, he was in an especially good mood. For now, he had abandoned his plan to leave. There was still much in the Holy Light Academy’s library that could help him. Additionally, his combat techniques weren’t yet refined, so as a precaution, he decided to stay a while longer to master them. Of course, there was another important reason: to see the outcomes of the conference on the continent. After all, it concerned the safety of the entire continent, and he needed to pay close attention. Moreover, the delegations from the other academies hadn’t left yet, which made Rod feel a bit strange.
“Rod, you’ve made remarkable progress these past few days!” Kiro’s admiring voice came from beside him. Turning around, Rod saw Kiro’s slightly envious and jealous gaze, but he simply smiled.
“Just lucky!” He certainly couldn’t admit it was because of the guidance from the Sword Spirit. Even if he did, probably no one would believe him—they might even think he was crazy.
“Hmph, just dumb luck!” Alice dismissed Rod’s words with disdain. Even a fool could see Rod’s progress. Could luck alone bring about such improvement? No one would believe that he kept getting lucky. Did he think he was the son of the God of Light?
“By the way, have the people from the other academies left yet? When will they go? How’s the conference going?” Not wanting to dwell on this topic, Rod changed the subject and asked Kiro and the others.
Hearing Rod’s question, Kiro’s expression darkened. He glanced at Linda beside him, opened his mouth but said nothing: “I’m not sure. Let’s wait a bit longer. I think they’ll leave soon.”
Noticing Kiro’s gaze, Rod finally realized Linda was there. With a smile, he stopped pressing the matter further. It seemed he would have to wait until no one was around to discuss it.
The group continued walking slowly, and before they knew it, they arrived at the dormitory. At that moment, Linda, who had remained silent until then, finally spoke up: “It’s getting late. I’ll head back to the infirmary. There are still many patients waiting for me!” After hesitating for a moment, she decided to leave first. Otherwise, she wouldn’t know what to say if she stayed any longer. For some reason, seeing Rod today gave her a strange feeling, one that made her uncomfortable.

These past few days, she hadn’t seen him at all, yet she found herself feeling a hint of longing—especially the rare concern and worry she felt during the challenge matches, leaving her unsure what to do. Perhaps she should leave and calm down; she even wondered if she might be sick.

With Linda’s departure, Alice and Lucia also said goodbye to the others and left. It was already late; before long, evening came, with the sunset casting its glow over the academy. The rosy hues signaled the arrival of night. Since the boys’ dormitory was right in front of them, they didn’t stay long.

Next were John, Kenny, and the others, until only Rod, Kiro, and Wiski remained. Watching them leave one by one, Kiro gave a faint wry smile. “Come on, let’s go up.”

With a sigh, he led Rod and the others into the dormitory, straight to Rod’s room, and closed the door. Seeing this, Rod knew Kiro likely had something to say. As the chief disciple of the academy, he must know quite a bit.

“How’s the Continental Conference going?” Rod couldn’t help but ask Kiro again.

“The news has been confirmed—the vampires have formed an alliance. Just a few days ago, they launched an attack. Seven mercenary teams and thirteen adventurers inside Collins Forest became the first to bear the brunt of their assault. In total, seventy people—four Gold Warriors, one Imperial-level fighter, forty-seven Silver Warriors, sixteen Bronze Warriors, and two Advanced Warriors—none of them survived! According to the reports, the battle was quite one-sided; it seems the vampires held a overwhelming advantage. It’s clearly their style of fighting. Now, the news has been suppressed. To the outside world, it’s being framed as a beast invasion, but it still causes widespread panic.

The Continental Conference is nearing its end. An alliance has been formed. Under the pretext of the beast invasion, the countries surrounding Collins Forest and the Source of Darkness have begun mobilizing their armies, raising the combat readiness to the highest level, ready to face any potential battles at any time!

However, there’s still disagreement over who should lead the allied forces. The issue of command authority remains contentious. Although, by agreement, it should fall to our empire, the Ost Empire firmly opposes it. According to my master, the most likely arrangement for the alliance is for each country to send its own commander to lead its troops, with a single commander chosen to have coordination and command powers but no direct authority over them. The supreme commander might be appointed as Marshal Okaz. Discussions are still ongoing.”

The team members from various academies hadn’t left, likely because new tasks had been assigned. It was said that we would be formed into a joint squad to explore and gather information inside Collins Forest, under the guise of mercenaries! An answer is expected within these two days. Overall, the continent is currently in turmoil—though it appears calm on the surface, it’s actually on the verge of explosion, with chaos ready to break out at any moment if one isn’t careful!

Looking at Rod and Viski, Kiro frowned deeply and whispered this situation to them, his expression extremely grave.

Hearing Kiro’s words, Rod and Viski also looked grim, their faces solemn and worried. The vampires acted surprisingly quickly—no one expected them to be so fast. Clearly, their strength was immense, as they were able to eliminate those people silently without leaving any traces of battle. What kind of strength was that? After all, there were four Golden Warriors and one Imperial-level powerhouse. Even if a Saint-level warrior stepped in, it wouldn’t be that easy to defeat them.

The most troublesome ones were still the Demons. The emergence of this powerful race made Rod wonder if the Demons were secretly leading the vampires and werewolves! There was no doubt about the demons’ strength. It was said that even the weakest adult demon had the strength of a Golden Warrior, while ordinary members could reach Imperial-level strength. As for Saint-level strength, only about 1% of them possessed it. Such terrifying numbers were indeed concerning. It was said that there were at least ten God-level powerhouses! If not for their small numbers, the continent would have fallen into their hands long ago—such a force was unmatched.

At this point, they should be secretly grateful that the Demons had been cursed, preventing their population from exceeding 30,000. They could only have fewer, not more. Each new demon born meant one old member had to die. From beginning to end, they could only maintain this number. Otherwise, what force on the continent could stand against them? Even with this small number, they could still dominate the entire continent.

With 30,000 members, there would be at least ten God-level powerhouses, nearly 300 Saint-level powerhouses, thousands or even tens of thousands of Imperial-level powerhouses, along with tens of thousands of Golden Warriors. With such a composition, such an army could truly be called invincible—no one could stop them wherever they went.

It was precisely for this reason that Rod held infinite admiration for Tiger Ripper, who had been hailed as a great emperor two thousand years ago. With his own strength alone, he led the entire army to drive back the vampires and werewolves led by the demons, eventually defeating them and forcing them into the forbidden lands. One could imagine just how formidable his power must have been—probably far beyond the divine realm. It was a completely new, supreme domain.

“Everyone, get ready well in the coming days. Orders are likely to be issued soon. Each of the three academies will send three teams, and the five academies together will send fifteen teams. From these, the top fifteen will be selected to form three small squads, tasked with carrying out missions from three different directions!” Kiro said in a serious tone, observing Rod and Viski’s solemn expressions.

These words once again stunned Rod and Viski slightly. A total of fifteen representative teams from the five academies, amounting to 150 people, with only the top fifteen selected—undoubtedly the strongest among the strong. Yet, the chances of being chosen were very low, making the competition extremely fierce.

“Don’t worry. Basically, no one from the advanced-level representative teams will be selected; maybe just two or three. The rest will be chosen from the intermediate and beginner-level teams!” Seeing their expressions, Kiro naturally guessed what they were worried about and explained.

After all, the members of the advanced-level representative teams were usually the strongest individuals chosen by each team, and most of them were not even academy members. Many had their own duties and tasks to complete, so they naturally couldn’t waste time on this. Just one or two people to lead everyone was sufficient.

“Let us know as soon as there’s any news!” Rod and Viski said at the same time upon hearing this. Everyone had a responsibility in the rise and fall of the nation. At this moment, both of them sincerely hoped to contribute even a small part of their effort.

After some casual conversation, time unknowingly slipped into the late night. Seeing that it was already late and dinner hadn’t been eaten yet, at Kiro’s suggestion, they went to the cafeteria. Only after solving their hunger issues could they consider the matter settled!

Back in his room, looking at the outside darkness, Rod felt somewhat heavy-hearted. Undoubtedly, the news Kiro brought him today was too shocking. Without a doubt, he really hoped to be selected to join this mission, as it would bring tremendous benefits to him in every aspect.

Moreover, for some reason, deep down, he always felt as if there was a voice calling to him, urging him to go, as if this matter was somehow connected to him. It seemed there was something deeply intertwined with him.