Resting Orchid Plane

The **Resting Orchid Plane** is one of Richard's private planes that he inherited from his father. After he conquered the plane, he became the absolute ruler, while the Blood Paladin was the true ruler of this plane when Richard wasn’t around.

## Overview

The Resting Orchid was a rather peculiar plane. It only had a single continent that was less than a million square kilometres in size, and it was surrounded by boundless ocean. Contrasted to bigger, more powerful planes, this was nothing more than an island. The shape of this island was strange as well; it was wide at the centre and tapered out to both ends, but the elevation consistently increased from south to north. At the northern tip was the tallest mountain (called the Godnest) in the land at a little over ten kilometres high. 5;53

Gaton Archeron’s foothold was at the southern tip of this plane. After more than ten years spent on this expedition, his lands now accounted for two-fifths of the entire continent. The indigenous forces were fierce, and a great valley near the centre of the plane made for a natural barrier that aided their defence. Having paid the price of more than three times the casualties over three whole months, the forces of the plane had eventually consumed more than half of his initial invading force and forced him to stall.

It wouldn’t be impossible to decimate the rest of the locals, but it just wasn’t worth it. Such an endeavour would almost completely wear out the army there, and the profits wouldn’t make up for such a loss. The plane wasn’t developed much from Norland either; the cost of transfer was still 30,000 gold, so Gaton didn’t have the finances to send anything more than a small force of elites. In recent days, it was only the thirteen knights entering and exiting the plane.

There was no life in the seas either, only salt water.

There were legendary beings here, and more than one at that. Its magic was developed as well, although it took the route of Klandor’s totemic warriors instead of Norland’s runes.

## Volume 8

The place was cramped as always, the environment basically unchanged. The people themselves had gotten used to Archeron rule, however, and while there were still some plotting to eliminate the invaders that number had fallen to an insignificant level.

The Archerons and the local king of the Resting Orchid Plane had opposed each other for years before Richard conquered the plane, with the kingdom spending exorbitant amounts of money just to maintain its army. There was a soldier for every five commoners, including elderly and children, and with their lack of resources they had slowly been pushed back.

From his experience at the Godnest, Richard knew that this entire plane was only a fragment of what it was in the past, the former complete plane having been destroyed in an enormous battle. A large section of its population were happy just not starving to death, with just forty years of age being considered a long life. However, Richard had solved that problem once he took control. Even now, as he and Senma stepped through the portal, they were joined by a large caravan of 300 carriages that were each filled with ten tonnes of food rations.

The Resting Orchid Plane was quite a peaceful place. Although there were people who wanted to drive the Archerons out, such rebels existed everywhere. Even back in Norland, some of Richard’s vassals dreamed of overthrowing him every night. However, he knew the best way to deal with this was to keep the citizens fed. They would still curse the Archerons, but not as many would be willing to worsen their own lives for their principles.

This didn’t mean violent opposition was to be ignored. Richard had a blanket policy of treating violence with violence, a motto his followers followed so zealously that he himself had to stop them from overdoing it sometimes, but it was better to deal with things in such a way that he didn’t galvanize the entire population of the plane. Right now, that meant dealing with the one symbol of resistance they could gather around.

It is later learned that the Resting Orchid Plane was attacked by the Reapers with the huge warships floating in the void above the plane being the left over debris from the Reaper war. (Book 8 Chapter 99)

### **Trap**

A shocking announcement passed through the Resting Orchid Plane over the next few days. Richard Archeron, the plane’s ruler and master of the Archeron clan, was going to the Godnest to inspect it. He would be staying over in the imperial city for one day along the way.

Climbing onto a griffon for the first time in a while, Richard accompanied Senma on a more scenic route to the capital city of the plane. Having rebuilt the city, he had chosen an important local noble as a puppet king and continued to use the existing infrastructure of the kingdom with little change. The man had been selected mainly for his astuteness; he knew his position well, and acted so respectful that it was almost sickening. Even now, the King had worked through the night to have the central plaza decorated with a wall of flowers, moving the griffon roost for this purpose. Thousands of youths had been summoned and dressed in lavish clothes, performing a dance of welcome.

It hadn’t been long enough since the conquest for the locals of the Resting Orchid Plane to forget about the absurd power of the rune knights. As they got off their mounts, the crowd that was supposed to cheer fell completely silent instead. The imposing auras from the 200 warriors caused left even veterans quivering in their boots, subconsciously making an effort to keep silent.

## Characters

* Stardragon
* Three priests
* Daychaser
* Blacksteel
* Mario Greenforest
	+ Elf, There was a small room in the corner of the hall made from transparent screens, holding a fully naked man with messy hair covering his entire head. There were a number of daggers and swords of all shapes nearby, but most eye-catching was several metal wires hanging down from the ceiling and drilled into his head. These wires were then routed to alchemical apparatus outside the room. The man felt strangely familiar to Richard, with long limbs and a waist slimmer than most men despite his bulging muscles. Just from looks one could tell he excelled at strength and agility, but the guards had all fought to the death so there was nobody to question about who he was. Some closer investigation revealed that his name was Mario Greenforest, one of the three uncrossed names in the record book, but that was it. 5;76. Each attack came at a different pace and angle, some glowing with light while the others were almost unnoticeable.
	+ The followers grew more tense, with even Senma gripping the hilt of her sword. The elf seemed to be slashing wildly, but they knew exactly how powerful those attacks were. Every strike was unexpected and dangerous, capable of threatening a saint’s life. Gangdor’s reaction was the worst; just imagining how he would fare in such a battle, his body started dripping with cold sweat. As someone who excelled in brute strength, such skilful swordplay was the bane of his existence. 5;77
	+ While elven sword arts had great requirements for one’s bloodline, they were also focused around short bursts of high energy which was perfect for him to combine with Mana Armament and Lifesbane.
	+ This puppet only seemed to be level 12 or 13, but those present could tell that his skill was far beyond that level. He had likely wasted away in this prison, slowly losing his strength until this was all that remained.