Soul of Searing Steel

Ying thought that 03 could not see her face as 03 was facing her back at Ying. However, in truth, 03’s real body was a large piece of runic core. She could observe her surroundings by relying on magic. Her magical projection was merely a terminal for her to communicate with others. In any case, she would look good in the others’ eyes as well. Hence, the A.I had already seen the look of admiration on the young Divine Armament’s face.

Thoughts would be reflected on one’s facial expressions. After all, this naive girl did was not pretentious.

03 did not stop inputting data into the storage crystals. While she was working it, she was also evaluating quietly in her heart.

Naive and straightforward… That’s quite similar to her master.

After escaping from the Karlis world and coming to the Mycroft Continent, 03 had been receiving help from Joshua and the other lady servants. She had also truly witnessed a vibrant world where The power of Order was still present, nice and steady, right before her eyes.

Flowing rivers, floating white clouds, peacefully refreshing winds, and countless people living in the city… all these… For an A.I that had been staring at a desolate and dusty world since she was born, everything that she saw on the Mycroft Continent was captivating.

She could still remember the surprise she felt when she first went to the Dark Forest with Joshua to observe other types of daemons and plants. Her heart had raced with excitement and joy.

Filled with such a variety of life on the earth, with such a cycle of life, rich with the vibrant of nature… Everything 03 saw had fully satisfied her own imagination towards a world of Order.

Although those sceneries had made her feel happy and excited, 03 could not help but remember the deserted world full of gravel and boundless plains of dust.

Before Chaos invaded, did that world full of rocks and ruins also look the same as this world? Was that world also filled with all sorts of strange creatures? Did that world have many races with wisdom living on the same continent? Regardless of the sky, the land, or the ocean, was the world always so vibrant before the corruption?

But now, everything had been reduced to dust and ash. The Fire of civilization was extinguished thousands of years ago. Cities and magnificent miracles were turned into ruins. Lives were exterminated. There was nothing left anymore. Even the world itself was coming to an end.

At that time, remembering all those things had made her a little depressed. However, a voice came from her side.

“What did you recall?”

The black-haired warrior was pushing the cart with the runic core on top it as he calmly asked, “Were you recalling the Karlis world?”

“Yes.”

03 remembered that she responded like that. Meanwhile, Joshua just remained in silence for a brief moment. He was thinking. Then he spoke word by word, slow and steady, “I know things about the future.”

That man was wearing a black military coat. He also had a broadsword used to command, hanging by his waist. He looked obvious as he was standing right in the middle of the forest covered by white snow. However, the beasts and daemons in the surroundings did not have even the slightest urge to attack him. Instead, they were hiding from plain sight, lurking quietly, moving around him trying to avoid him. In the meantime, Joshua had once again descended into deep thoughts for a moment after he said that.

03 was waiting for him to finish up what he was trying to say.

After a brief moment, the warrior had finally continued to speak. His voice sounded low and solemn. “Twenty-two years later, just like the Karlis world, the main continent of Mycroft will experience the incursion of Chaos. Countless daemons and monsters from the Dark Abyss will invade and ravage this world. In the future, the world will be scorched by the inferno from hell, turning the world into ashes and dust. Bottomless swamps would be everywhere. The scenery will look far worse than what you have already seen back in the Karlis world.”

The tone of Joshua sounded as if he was the narrator to something that has already happened. There was no fluctuation at all in his tone. He told the story as if he had witnessed everything he just said.

Know things about the future?

Even in the current situation, 03 still felt that it was a ridiculous thing to hear. Even the God of Fate and the world itself would not dare to say that they know things about the future. However, without a reason, regardless of whether it was now or back then, the Artificial Intelligence was willing to believe Joshua, even it did not fit the logic of her circuit.

“Although I don’t want to be the savior of the world,no one would want to see their own world to be turned into dust and ash. So I will give it all I’ve got to destroy the enemies, along with the force that’s trying to do that to my world.”

Directly telling 03 all that, the warrior did not conceal anything from her. He just told her whatever that was on his mind. “I brought you back from the Karlis world… half of the reason was that I didn’t want my comrade to die in vain. The other reason is that the information about the magic energy is stored in the memory of your core.”

03 would not get angry at Joshua for hearing those words from him though. She did not have the ability to have her own thoughts to begin with. The A.I just listened quietly to Joshua telling what he thought about her.

According to Joshua, the information about the magic energy technology in her was enough to start a new era with great technologies and skills. The information could replace the power source of the old era, allowing even the civilians to use and enjoy the convenience of having magic in their lives. The information could also strengthen the technological development of materials, weapons, and armors in this world.

Joshua also said that the Mycroft Continent initially had extremely strong power on its own. If the continent could make use of the magic energy technologies of the Karlisi, the world would definitely get a significant leap forward.

“At the very least, after setting the magic energy technologies into the world, the Aragami back in the Karlis world and these so-called servants of Chaos will become vulnerable to us.”

At that time, the warrior said, “So can you pass me the information from your memories and help me slaughter those disgusting Chaos daemons and the Evil God?”

*****

After coming back from her thoughts, 03 had found herself back in the small study room back in the church.

The silver-haired little girl was still sitting in the corner, waiting for 03 to complete her tasks. Well, the crystals in her hands were almost done with storing the information.

Joshua did promise her that after the completion of today’s work, he would let her take a closer look and experience the lives of the people in the city. After all, that was something that she had longed to experience.

This feeling of having hope was not bad indeed.

In the meantime, Joshua and Nostradamus were still discussing issues and things to be considered on the founding of the Mage Academy that they had tentatively named as the [Winter Fort].

Due to the fact that the matter was of great importance, they had only roughly finalized the collaboration plan and discussed the details about future construction issues. The more specific details would need to wait until the old mage could clear some of his time to come over and visit Joshua in the North. The old mage would need to spend some time observing and picking the most suitable spot to build the future Mage Academy.

Both Joshua and Nostradamus were really looking forward to the day when the academy could be built and established.

“I’ve actually had the thought to establish a new Mage Academy for over a very long time. Noblemen who are willing to cooperate with me basically do not meet the requirement for that. Those who have the resources to build and start an academy are the conservative ones… The energy waves of the dimensional rift in the North are too intense, causing it impossible to create a teleportation passage in the region. At first, I’ve not really considered the possibility here. However, things have changed now.”

The voice of the old mage came through the communication circle along with some echoes. He sounded like he was trying to hold back his laughter. “Joshua, from the day when the construction of the ‘Winter Fort’ is initiated, your name will definitely be put on the blacklist of the conservative aristocrats. Many will curse you…”

“So what does that have to do with me? Who cares what they think?”

Joshua also laughed. He knocked his fingers on the table with a scornful smile on his face. “Only the weak and the dogs will whine behind the backs of others.”

Of course, he knew that his own name would be spoken from the mouths of many people in the future. His name would even echo in the minds of many. Regardless of whether it was his people on his territory or his knights, or the noblemen and mages back in the Imperial City, people would be repeating his name regardless of the time.

There would always be people on the watch, thinking about the actions and choices of this new winter duke in the northern territory. They would always be concerned with what exactly his decisions mean, and how they would impact their plans and future.

Things would become that way without a doubt. Meanwhile, today, after settling the things about the new establishment of the Mage Academy, he knew that he would definitely be hated by more people now. There would even be people attempting to conspire and curse him behind his back. However, Joshua was not bothered by that at all.

The warrior looked at the table with his eyes as if he could see through into the void, seeing the future. Right in both of his eyes, there was not even the slightest sense of fear and hesitation.

All these times, he had suppressed the rebellion on his own territory, swept away the Dark Tide clean, sealed the dimensional rifts shut, and he even traveled over to the other world and defeated countless Chaos daemons and Aragami before returning back to this world in one piece. Everything he had done in the past had made him worthy to be deemed as a brave warrior, a Hero. He was genuinely a champion.

Meanwhile, a champion should have the self-awareness of being a whirlpool.