Soul of Searing Steel

When Igor said that sentence, the surroundings went silent in an instant. Only the sound of winds whispering at a low pitch across the flatland, bringing along some dust and sand.

At this time, both of them stood in the pit caused by the impact during the battle between the warrior and Roland. In the meantime, the city guards did not approach because of the gesture made by Joshua himself. However, the merchants of the caravans that were camping by the area were cleaning up the aftermath of the battle between two Gold-tier champions in the surroundings by the area outside of the city. The head of the holy knight who was lying peacefully on the ground by the side still seemed to be shaken up pretty bad. It seemed that it would take some more time for the young man to regain consciousness.

Regardless of whether it was Joshua who heard the word ‘Evil Gods’, or the old pope who said that term, both of them descended in deep thought and they remained silent. Their expressions looked heavy and serious at the same time.

It must not be easy for them, because they were talking about the Evil Gods, the most powerful monstrosities that wandered in the endless voids as they sought opportunities to destroy worlds.

The term itself could already serve as a warning to anyone, keeping them alert of the threat that existed somewhere in the uncertain corner of the world.

“Haha, the moment when I didn’t pay attention, I have recalled back on some incidents of the past.”

He unconciously touched his beard. However, because Igor was a projection that descended at the current spot of the land the purely condensed projection of the holy light had led him only to touch the air. His arms that were formed from pure energy went through his white beard that was formed from light as well. However, he did not seem to be bothered by it. Instead, he carried on with what he wanted to say, slowly and steadily, “I’ve heard that you have gone over to the other side of a dimensional passage, which is also the true medium of the seal. Is it true?”

“Yes, that’s almost half a year ago.”

The incident where Joshua went over to the other world was basically known to all of the high-level officials of the Empire. Regardless to say that the pope of the Church of the Seven Gods would know about it as well.

However, many people could not understand the concept of what the other end of the seal was. They just assumed that it was a different world with countless unpredicted dangers and countless ferocious daemons in it. Joshua was hesitant about telling what he experienced and knew at the other world, like the Supreme-tier Aragami and the bizarre change in his Azurite, and even the existence of the Steel Python—After all, as the pope of the Church of the Seven Gods. Igor would definitely know more than just a few more secrets. He must have known much more secrets and some information that Joshua’s system might not even be able to list out in details. So this old pope might be able to explain some of those that he wanted to know.

But before Joshua could finish thinking about it, the old pope nodded. Then he said slowly, “The other side of the dimensional passage should look similar to the other Chaos Regions. They should be the remaining worlds that have been destroyed by the Evil Gods.”

He spoke very slowly as if he was recalling some memories of the past. At that moment, Igor’s face had a faint expression of nostalgia. “Those places are extremely dangerous due to the existence of numerous daemons that would raid anything they come across. Meanwhile, because of the corruption caused by the Evil Gods, there is no longer any supply left over there. Upon battling until I was out of food and ammunition, I had to consume the flesh of daemons in order to survive. I had to drink their blood… That was truly a tough adventure.”

After he was done talking, Igor turned his head and looked at Joshua with his gold eyes. He nodded slightly and praised, “I have also been to the other side of the dimension, and I have witnessed how dreadful the Evil Gods can be. That was already thirty-two years ago when I was still thirty-three years old, where I barely made it. And you, you’re only twenty-two years old… You’ve outdone me, who had the support of the Church and I still barely made it back alive. You’ve done so much better than I did back then.”

“Joshua, your Gift is the strongest among all that I’ve seen before. Even the Emperor of the Empire, Israel Diamond, the Apocalyptic Dragon Knight, could not match yours when he was at your age. With a junior like you, I feel safe to tell you some secrets about the Evil Gods.”

Slowly listening to the ethereal voice echoing throughout the surroundings, Joshua narrowed his eyes and became serious.

He knew that the secrets that Igor was going to reveal next would certainly be crucial. He must not miss a single word.

After muttering in a deep voice, the old pope began to explain secrets that only a few Chaos Guardians would speak to each other about. These secrets may not even be known to the high-level of the Church as well. “Maybe you already know that the birth of the Evil Gods came from the suffering destruction of a world, Chaos that was known to be the reverse of the Initial Flame, also the grief of a civilization.”

Joshua recalled back about what the Steel Python told him about the stories about the birth of the [Evil God—Famine]. Upon confirmation, he could not help to nod.

Upon seeing the warrior’s nod, Igor continued to speak more about it. He waved his right hand and a piece of cloth was formed from the holy light. A stream of text began to appear on the surface of the cloth. He explained synchronously along with the appearing text, “The source of the power of these Evil Gods is the destruction of civilizations and the world. Meanwhile, that would also be the shackle that limits them—each Evil God would need to meet certain conditions in order to enter and invade the other worlds. All of the Evil Gods will have different sort of conditions to meet in order for them to enter and invade a world.

Upon saying about that, there were huge distorting dark shadows emerging on the screening curtain of holy light. Meanwhile, there were many textual analysis and explanations on these dark shadows:

“The Evil God that destroyed the world on the other side of the dimensional passage in the North was called [Famine]. The original world where it came from had suffered destruction because of the isolation and loneliness over millions of years and the fact that it was being sealed. And after the destruction and all resources were depleted, it still had not found deep despair in the future. Only the worlds which had civilizations that know the original worlds that these Evil Gods come from and have the ability to explore the void of the stars will allow the Evil God to enter and invade their worlds.”

Listening up to this point, Joshua had also finally understood the reason. He and the pope opened their mouth at the same time and said, “As long as we seal the information about them away, then the Evil Gods will not be able to invade a world that they do not know of at all.”

Upon seeing that the warrior understood that, Igor had a satisfied smile on his face as he continued to talk about it. Meanwhile, the light screen had also moved on to the second distorting dark shadow, “Meanwhile, the Evil God [Plague] that had destroyed the world on the other side of the dimensional passage in the West Mountains of the Plaguelands, also the world I explored when I was young, known to be the original world that this Evil God comes from, had been destroyed because of the large-scale plague that was brought along by countless bodies and magic from the hundred-year war. Countless destructive radioactive forbidden curses and magic spells had caused the cold and the transmitting diseases to destroy all living things. One of the conditions for the Evil God to invade would be a destructive world war and the massive plague. Only during that period of time can it invade our world.”

When the old pope talked about this Evil God, the expression on his face looked deadly serious, “In general, it is impossible for any Evil God to invade a perfect world. But, if any other Evil God can successfully invade our world, [Plague] will definitely follow in next.”

“Truth to be told, there was a third Evil God that once invaded our world.”

The light screen of the holy light shifted to the last distorted dark shadow. Strangely enough, this dark shadow gradually became clearer. Then, a flourishing black forest was actually presented clearly right before Joshua’s eyes.

Just when the warrior was ready to ask his question, Igor began to explain, “During the Three Hundred Lost Years, three Evil Gods had invaded the world. There were also many scattered Void Barons and Kings from the Dark Abyss launching their assaults on our world. However, under the resistance being put by the Sage, the Saints, and the human legions during that period of time, the Evil Gods and the other enemies had failed to invade the world. Meanwhile, this unnamed Evil God had fallen in our world… The Dark Forest that destructively covered the most prosperous part of the continent during that period, also known to be one-third of the area across the entire continent, was the result of the war. That is also where the remaining of the Evil God once was.”

“The Dark Forest… that’s not a cause of nature?”

Joshua, who had already assumed it not to be a cause of nature, was not shocked by this big news, not even a tiny bit. He whispered to himself, “Indeed, the nature that only carries destructive desire aimed only at humanity does not seem to be a natural phenomenon at all. The phenomenon where numerous daemons grouped together and go berserk together does not conform to the laws of nature.”

“That’s right. The Dark Forest should not have existed in the first place.”

When the old pope was speaking, he did not sound anything like an old man of sixty or seventy years old. His pronunciation was crystal clear, and he was also talking swiftly, “Joshua, I told you all these reasons because every Evil God has the ability to chain the happening of invasions. It is possible that when we are battling against one Evil God in our world, the other Evil God might fulfill the condition for it to enter and invade our world. By then, we will have to fight two Evil Gods. And there are also possibilities that we might fulfill the other conditions for the other Evil Gods to enter and invade our world while we are battling against the Evil Gods that have already enter our world. The chain reaction might go on. That is one problem we must try to avoid from happening. Meanwhile, the best way is to eliminate all possible invasions. Meanwhile, you’ve done pretty well at slaughtering the dragons.”

Joshua also immediately responded, “The Berserk Dragon Virus, the Dragon’s Calamity, the Plague, and the world-scale war—these are all doings of the Evil God [Plague]!