Soul of Searing Steel

“What happened?!”

The black Dragon’s Breath swiftly vanished into thin air. Hill’s eyes bulged from anxiety when he saw a white light above the ark. His blue dragon, also his animal companion, also lifted her head up to look at the red flashes of light that suddenly appeared in the sky. That mass of light suddenly appeared above the blood sea and began to release misfortune that unsettled people.

The young elf could not look at that source of light directly. Robzek and Black could sense that something was not right, especially the black draconic girl. She could vaguely sense something in that presence. She noticed that there was some familiar scent in the heart of that light source.

Funa furrowed her brows. Under the radiance of the blood light, she could feel that her spirit was falling apart as a lingering fear spread in the depth of her heart. The blue draconic lady asked, “Mr.Robzek, what exactly is that thing?”

After keeping the ‘Flame of Holy Splendor’ that was used to block the Dragon’s Breath, the Supreme-tier holy knight leaned on Hill who had transformed himself into a seal. Beady cold sweats dripped from his head as he lifted his head up to look at the sky. Just after a few seconds after they had a conversation, the red light had already spread and formed a great mass of light which vaguely turned into a gigantic eye of a giant god. It seemed like a simple rune that contained mysteries.

“Divinity,” Robzek whispered lightly. He who had attained the realm of the Supreme-tier and become the commander of the Hammer of Freedom in the Church of the Seven Gods spoke, “Battle, destruction, slaughtering… incomparably pure, not even the slightest intention of rejection…”

The holy knight turned to his side and looked at the black draconic girl who seemed to have noticed something.

—Master, you are truly remarkable.

High up in the sky, above the blood sea, Mandagar’s gray pupils widened as it looked at the crimson red light before it. A lingering fear spread down its spine.

The Crystalline Black Dragon did not know anything about the current status of the warrior. However, just by sensing the danger from the warrior, Mandagar knew that its life was currently threatened.

“Roar!”

Along with a raging roar, the sonorous voice of the demonic dragon chanted at a rapid pace. More than eighty dark golden light spots instantly appeared around Mandagar’s body. The presence of the light spots instantly absorbed every trace of plasmatic elements within the area of ten kilometers. Gradually, the light spots began to charge up with the energy they absorbed to form blinding light balls.

Each of the light balls was in fact the spirit nodes of the black dragon that contained the energy of the Supreme-tier demonic dragon Mandagar, an amount of energy equal to a full strike at its full strength. Having the ability to summon almost a hundred spirit node would mean that the demonic dragon was capable of summoning almost a hundred superior-scale magic spell. That was one of the greatest ultimate weapon the demonic dragon possessed. It did not intend to use it in a place like this. However, the current situation seemed so perilous that Mandagar would need to use its full strength.

Without even the slightest hesitation, countless light spots that were rapidly drifting around the body of the demonic dragon instantly came to a halt as if time paused. Those light spots launched beams of blinding light towards the red mass of light. The pillars of light appeared just like beams of red-hot molten steel. Every single inch of the air that those beams of red-hot molten steel passed through left ripples behind. The atmosphere of the surroundings of each light beam was visibly distorted.

In a blink of an eye, the entire sky was filled up with golden red flashes of lights.

However, Joshua did not seem to respond to the situation at all.

His entire body was surging with a layer of crimson red flame as he stood still in midair without making even the slightest movement. Those golden red beams of light that were hot enough to vaporize the water in the lake splashed off the body of the warrior like sprinkling water the moment they made contact with the layer of flame barrier around the warrior. Some of the attacks missed, some of them were deflected. Some of them were blocked and some of them were even resisted. Regardless of how many attacks the black dragon threw at the warrior, the crimson flame barrier that seemed ordinary was indestructible.

The warrior focused his red eyes on Mandagar. A strong pressure began to spread into the surroundings, causing every single being in that area to involuntarily raise their alarms. Radiating lines that looked like the pattern of a grid slowly appeared all over his body. Lightning charges sparkled all around his body as a green light flashed at a pace that synchronized with his heartbeat.

In the next moment.

He moved.

—Boom!

A red light instantly spread and covered half the sky above the blood moon. An explosion that was louder than any sound ravaged the world, causing the heaven and earth to tremble for a brief moment. A beam of light flew by and tore through the thunderous rumbling in the area.

Behind that beam of flowing light, the air was scorched as the flames gushed into the surroundings just like the waves, followed by a spreading wave of a horrifying power. That caused a shockwave that went across ten kilometers and a storm that was as deadly as the hurricane at the scale of fourteen. It rammed right into the body of the Crystalline Demonic Dragon which clearly had no way to respond to that, let alone evade it. A hand that burned with blazing flame was stuck right on the waist of Mandagar. After that, a frightening power burst out and pushed the demonic dragon straight into the space in the dark void above the blood moon.

No one could have known how powerful that power was. The only thing that remained clear was that the Demonic Dragon had instantly vanished and appeared just like a red star that was a dozen kilometers away from the surface of the blood moon.

Mandagar roared as it attempted to break itself free from the restraint on it. However, the demonic dragon was like an infant that was helpless against the shackle that was locked onto its waist. Under successive blows of explosive impacts smashing into its gut, Mandagar’s wings completely shattered. Its crystallized four limbs and its tail were also shattered into pieces of crystal shards under the friction and the high heat. The indestructible body that the demonic dragon was so proud to possess looked so fragile in the mighty blows from the warrior.

The power that pushed it backward had yet to come to a halt. That force continued penetrating through the body of the demonic dragon as it continued to propel Mandagar through the atmosphere, leaving a long red trail of light behind in the sky. The continuous shockwaves wore and tore the body of the demonic dragon as the crystal shards were reduced to dust bit by bit.

—It was way much more effective than the combat aura, the fists and the kicks, and even the blades and swords. The body that was assembled from billions of living crystal shards had made Mandagar basically indestructible. Even a deadly strike that was powerful enough to end the life of an ordinary demonic dragon was only capable of causing Mandagar to lose a small portion of its body. It merely lost over 23.52% of its body mass after a long battle with Joshua.

Currently, Mandagar had already lost over 15% of its body mass in just a few seconds.

In its attempt to struggle, the Crystalline Demonic Dragon was shocked to discover that it had been pushed over dozens of kilometers away from the blood moon and was instantly pushed back towards the surface of the blood sea at a rapid speed. It lowered its head as it looked at the human being that was engulfed in flame with its despairing eyes.

That was a crimson dark abyss.

—In the sky.

A crimson star was rapidly enlarging. The falling star turned into a light trail that connected the heaven and earth as it plunged straight into the blood sea.

The viscous blood was reduced to nothing silently before the bloody light trail. Any substance in the world would appear extremely fragile before that sort of power. The red light brought the demonic dragon down into the sea as the impact of the fall hurled up a huge wave tall enough to reach the sky, closely followed by an impactful shockwave that turned the waves into a rain of blood.

A shockwave that was powerful enough to destroy heaven and earth spread from the impact point of the demonic dragon. A bowl-shaped power energy barrier rapidly spread into the surroundings and covered thousands of meters of the sea. The filthy blood vanished in an instant. The entire region of the sea trembled violently as if the entire sea was boiling.

Everyone on the deck of the Epoch witnessed what happened. They were stunned. A violent high-temperature airflow swept towards the ark with an amazingly powerful shockwave.

Robzek yelled. He braced himself for the impact of the shockwave the moment he saw Joshua making his move. Before the high heat airflow made contact with the Epoch , he had already activated a layer of silvery white holy light barrier that covered the entire ark. The Holy tunes glowed bright on top of the holy light barrier and shielded everyone on board like an indestructible sanctuary.

Holy light barriers were usually known to be indestructible. Regardless of how ferocious the impact of shockwaves was, the barrier would only ripple a little. However, the holy knight shocked the moment he saw the ripple spreading across the surface of the holy light barrier before his eyes.

—This was supposed to just be an insignificant weak shockwave from the impact high in the sky!

It was true that he was currently not in a good shape to maintain the barrier at its full functionality, not to mention that he had also forced his power a while ago to support the warrior. In short, he was not in his best state. However, that shockwave should not have caused ripples on the surface of his holy light shield!

In the distance, dark red tornadoes swirled across the gigantic waves one after another. Other than Robzek, everyone who was conscious at the moment closed their eyes. The glare from the explosionthe moment the demonic dragon hit the surface of the sea was no ordinary light for the eyes of any ordinary men to endure. Only the holy knight had the capability to stare straight at that light without being blinded.

After that, the storm began to fade as the giant waves calmed down. Robzek deactivated his holy light barrier after making sure that they were no longer in a perilous situation. The moment the barrier came down, everyone caught a strange stench of something burnt.

In the distance, the blood sea was filling in back. In the middle of the red liquid that remained boiling a little, was a large number of shattered crystal shards drifting on the surface of the sea. They floated up slowly from the deep sea. They struggled hard to piece themselves back into a draconic eye.

The grayish light grew fainter as if it was about to be extinguished.

A shadow of a man appeared in the middle of the blood shroud that shrouded the surroundings.

The warrior was no longer covered in the crimson light barrier. He appeared before the eye of Mandagar.

He stared silently at the only remaining piece of the Crystalline Demonic Dragon with his angry eyes. Then, he turned around and looked towards the other side with his red eyes.

Instantly, in the distance, everyone on board the ark was suddenly overwhelmed with an intense chill going down their spines. There was a pure and directive murderous intent. All of them had a feeling that they would die anytime soon.

However, gradually, the eyes of the warrior that were ferocious and red faded. His eyes began to look conscious and clear again. The lines of patterns on his body faded away too, revealing his ordinary body.

“That’s right…”

Joshua took a deep breath as he calmed the power that was on the brink of losing control. Then he muttered to himself softly and said, “There is only one enemy. They are not the enemy.”

“That’s why I don’t want them to see this.”

To be precise, the warrior did not want to see any of them while he was in that state. Joshua frowned after he had recovered from it. “It turns out that this is the limitation of a single attributed divinity… what a powerful corruptive force.’

A moment ago, the warrior felt like he was making contact with an immense power that was hidden somewhere deep in the multiverses. Everything before his eyes was turned into the most basic existence. It felt similar to the time when the warrior had transformed into the state of ‘King of the Searing Soul’.

Being smaller than dust and being more basic than the elements–that was the force that pushed everything to move forward and interact. That was the force that bound matter together. In that state, he could easily direct them and turned them into his own strength.

However, the things that could drive that power would be pure will to battle and rage, and also the will to destroy and slaughter. Even the warrior who possessed an extremely tough will almost sank into the temptation of the power and lose himself.

“So, a monster that is much more terrifying than the demons… what’s on your mind now?’

A weak spiritual wave was transmitted into the mind of Joshua. The warrior lowered his head and looked at the remaining piece of the demonic dragon that floated on the surface of the blood sea.

Mandagar spoke sarcastically through its spirit, “You plan to help your friends get rid of the brain-eating worms… with that power of yours that could only cause destruction?”

After battling for so long and ending up falling, Mandagar knew that it had completely failed its mission. The main reasons were because it was too obsessed to obtain absolute power and its cautious attitude in getting the ritual completed. And because of that, the demonic dragon did not bring Grundy and the other experimental creatures of its own to the blood moon to complete the ritual. Instead, it divided the force by sending all of them towards Anos Abyss to stop the expedition party from moving forward.

If it had not sent them off, Mandagar would not have suffered a miserable defeat like this. It felt pathetic for making the wrong choices.

Without paying attention to what Mandagar said, Joshua went forward and picked up the crystal fragments that were only the size of an ordinary man. Just when he was about to interrogate the demonic dragon to get some information about the convergence ritual, a tremendous dimensional wave suddenly appeared near the fragments of the continent by the border of the blood moon’s plane.

Looking straight towards the direction where the dimensional space fluctuated, Joshua lowered his head and looked at the fragment of the crystal and asked with a calm tone, “What just happened?’

The demonic dragon responded the warrior straightforwardly, “The great legion of the demon-blooded dragons.”

Its tone was filled with despair and the unwillingness to admit defeat, and yet, also carried slight pride. “Even though my ritual was not completed, the power of my kind has gathered enough forces in the depths of the Dark Abyss. They shall march into the Mycroft Continent through the abyssal rift and they will launch their attack on the Sacred Mountain in the distant sea the moment they arrive.”

“So what thoughts do you have in mind now? Even though you defeated me, you still lose!”

The last remaining shard of the crystal sneered scornfully, “You’ll fail to save anyone… your comrades, your family, and also your world!”

—They would all eventually fall and turn into ashes before the power of my kind!

However, Joshua shook his head and interrupted the evil words spoken by the dragon, “Mandagar, this abyss is accepting me.”

Right behind him was a strange black light which appeared like a magic circle that could summon the demons. It was filled with runes with sly intents and corruptions. “It actually loves me. As long as I am willing to accept its power, I shall become the liege of this plane instantly.”

Joshua looked around the blood sea. His eyes seemed as if he could see right through the void as he looked into the land of the entire Dark Abyss. “This place is just too suitable for me. Wars that last for eternity. Endless battles, endless violence and blood, and endless destruction and doom–as long as I accept the terms, I can turn the entire legion of demonic dragons into ash and dust.”

Fixing its eyes on the back of the warrior, Mandagar could also see the complex abyssal circle that contained endless power. The demonic dragon remained silent. It had experience making deals with Abyssal Lords and the Evil Gods in the past. Hence, it knew better than anyone that the words that came out from the mouth of the warrior were true. That was the crown that would only be offered to the person loved by the plane of the Dark Abyss. As long as this human being nodded his head and agreed to all terms, he would instantly become the dominator of this world.

“However, I will never do that,” after sensing the shock that Mandagar felt through its spirit, Joshua snorted and shook his head. He looked at the fragment of the Crystalline Demonic Dragon he held in hand and said, “Mycroft Continent… Sacred Mountain in the distant sea… none of those places need my saving.’

“The human beings across the Mycroft Continent already have their own civilization and culture. They also possess their own insistence and have built their own history.”

The warrior said disdainfully, “The magic enhancement technology that was created and researched have led the current world to advance into a world that’s not half as bad as the world in my past life at the same timeline. The technology of this world is definitely not worse than the technology of the world in my past life. The elves in the previous era could even build a solar ship to sail across space and galaxies. That ship uses the power gathered from elemental energy. So, basically it is like a nuclear-powered space warship.”

With the dragon’s eyes showing confusion, Joshua looked towards the direction where the ark was. Then he spoke gently, “Even though I have arrived in this world, I never wish to become the savior of the world–no one is entitled to be someone’s savior. Everyone has their own lives. Perhaps they would need help, but they will definitely not be needing anyone of higher power or whatever crap you call it to ‘save’ them.”

“I have faith in their powers. I’m happy that they live. I shall take revenge for them if they ever die.”

The warrior tightened his grip on the crystal fragment in his hand. Then he smiled and said, “Demonic dragon, the human being standing before you is the Chaos Guardian, Joshua van Radcliffe.”

“The man who is born to battle.”