Soul of Searing Steel

By following the path the Mirror of Holy Splendor had given as well as the incredible energy ripples that could be sensed even hundreds of kilometers away, Joshua flew towards the Xayar Mountains from the Grandia Continent southeast.

The map he acquired from the town of Jarien showed that this was a border between the two former empires, the point of division being the Dark Creek Forest within the Xayar Mountains. Both nations had built quite a few semi-permanent fortresses in a standoff, but since they did not clash apart from proxy wars, this region slowly became a hub for trade and transportation.

Nonetheless, that was thirty years ago. After the Cataclysm, most armies within the borders of the Ulan Empire had been dispersed by the endless ranks of Death Shades, since troops that lost their supply lines and equipment were not much different from village robbers. On the other hand, though the Gelug border legions had held on longer, they could only manage to hold on for just a few years.

And with the innumerable invasion of Death Shades, basic production activities of the two great empires had virtually ceased. Thus, only the ancient forests received temporary rest.

“The Dark Creek Forest is one of the rare few but absolutely secure neutral shelters in this world.”

That was what the old heroic spirit had said then in the town of Jarien. At the time, his face had been one whelmed with emotion, as if he beheld secrets that none other knew.

“The powerful existence known as Urbandy lives within that forest,” he then added. “Present it an offering, and it would grant them protection no matter who the person was. Aside from that, it was an ancient life that lived for almost a thousand years—it would be aware of many secrets even the humans have long forgotten.”

“Warrior, you could inquire from it if you’re searching for something or desire some information.”

However, it was clear that there were champions fighting at the Dark Creek Forest at the moment.

Rampantly sweeping away Death Shades at least by the ten thousand along the way, Joshua could sense that the Xayar Mountains that was now engulfed in dust clouds was a violent battlefield brief moments ago. He naturally also discovered the leviathan that was recuperating beneath the dust.

The upper body of the unknown existence alone was more than four-hundred meters tall; it was incessantly absorbing dirt and rock around it and assembling it into stony armor while enlarging itself. The warrior could tell that its left arm was dealt a heavy blow, and with a method that Joshua was extraordinarily familiar with.

It was akin to the self-destruct energies from a Nuclear Star, or that of a solar spear.

—This could be the ‘Dark Creek King’ Urbandy that Jarien mentioned. The warrior immediately understood.

Undoubtedly, this being that appeared capable of standing up against a titan colossus would assuredly possess the confidence to set up a shelter allegedly to be absolutely safe, especially in this dangerous post-apocalyptic world. And with himself approaching so boldly, Joshua would unquestionably be attacked by the alert titan.

But… why would it matter?

To ask for information, one must display their own ability anyway.

Having found an excuse for himself, the corner of Joshua’s lips formed a smile that the divine armament siblings were extremely familiar with.

“Ling, Ying, retreat first,” he said in a quiet voice, “I’ll go take a look.”

Both divine armament siblings—only able to stay in their weapon forms—had the same thought at the same time.

—What you mean ‘take a look’? You’re just looking for a fight, Master!

But the warrior never minded the spiritual-level complaints of his weapons. In a flash, he darted towards the Xayar Mountains.

As expected, he was welcomed by the titan’s raging fist.

The behemoth’s armor had been filled with lava after been blown up by the arrow of light, but his fist came broke apart dust and fog, going straight towards the warrior at several times the speed of sound. In that moment, Urbandy was like a molten demon god from the abyssal hell—it absolutely did not distinguish between the warrior and the Death Shade commanders, and merely unleashed its pure agony and rage.

“Die!” the titan bellowed.

“Good one!”

Joshua’s eyes glinted as he saw the domineering punch that was virtually a mountain. Holding himself aloft in the air, his muscles thumping. Aura that had been refined worked within his body as layers of energy within his body fissured, releasing immeasurably substantial energy. Then, spreading his arms, the warrior struck out with his two fists that were wrapped in golden radiance. As if they were binary suns, both fists faced the titan5’s heavy attack head-on like an ant facing a carriage that was moving swiftly.

In the very next moment, the two forces met.

The ant stopped the carriage.

Boom!

A thunderous reverberation that shook the mountains echoed as both powers were forced to their very limit in the blink of an eye. It was as if a nuclear warhead detonated where it was, and with large bulks of dust clouds that billowed, a lethal translucent shockwave swept through the already shaky peaks amidst the Xayar Mountains. The stone layer integrity of about one-third of the summits shattered, countless boulders falling as if rain from the sky as they crumbled.

After the explosion, the stone mountain titan’s body could be seen falling backward as it lost control. Urbandy stretched out with its left hand, intending to grab a peak to hold itself aloft, only to leave five deep claw marks on the surface of the mountain. In the very next moment, the weight of mountains crashed down upon the surface—the impact akin to the shockwaves of an eight-grade earthquake causing boulders to surge as if they were water.

The right fist that the titan had lashed out with was now distinctly burnt into lava by scorching temperatures, while the deeper layers of stone were filled with cracks as if about to shatter. The presence of the sun wafted from within, tearing through the air with heated winds.

On the other hand, the warrior had been sent flying by the colossal power due to his comparatively small mass, sinking into the cloud layers.

It was only after soaring several thousand meters that Joshua stopped his involuntary motion through his aura. The shockwave of the titan’s fist then spread like twisters towards all directions, causing the cloud layers around him to rumble with thunder.

“Quite incredible,” Joshua said, spitting out a mouthful of blood as he finally dispelled the force of the titan’s fist. He exhaled a long breath of air, a hint of lightning sparkling within the hot air pungent with blood as his internal organs urgently expelled the residual force. His fists, meanwhile, were turned into minced meat, with the bones in his arms contorted.

Even if it was Joshua, he was unable to completely quell the plain and solid strike that had a force up to millions of tons. At his arms where flesh was split open, crimson was flowing like a fountain—but as if his very blood was alive, they crusted and wrapped over the wounds. The misshapen bones too shifted, righting themselves as muscles squirmed.

To Joshua who was almost nearing the threshold of Perfect Body, it was just a flesh wound.

Nearby, the skeleton puppeteer suddenly stopped his mount, an aerial crystal golem.

“Not reinforcements?” It muttered doubtfully. “They’re actually fighting?”

The human silhouette that was immeasurably thin as if it never existed on this world exuded an obscure sound once more.

The spellcaster thought about it, and came to a decision, shaking its head.

“No, he’s alive. If we return now, both will combine forces against us. Furthermore, that’s not a real battle—it would end soon.”

And the truth was just so.

The floored titan struggled to pick itself up. It had to reach out with both arms, grab on to two mountains beside it to right itself.

Then, Urbandy’s angry voice rang across the horizon.

“Human! You’re not with those Death Shades, why would you provoke me!”

After that single clash, the titan quickly sensed that the owner of such pure lifeforce was not the Heroic Spirits or Death Shades that had awakened from their eternal slumber. Even if it were the divine archer who could use Sol’s Arrow, there was a hint of deathliness within its arrow—a scent only the dead possessed.

Joshua’s lifeforce naturally did not have such smell. Conversely, his energy was imbued with such thick vigor it was able to revive withered wood, and not a hint of relation with Death Shades.

Thus, Urbandy understood at once that it made a mistake by lashing out—but it still felt wronged. It had sensed the warrior’s intent for conflict before deciding that the one coming was an enemy and therefore unleashed a full-power blow. But now that it was positive Joshua was no foe, the injured Urbandy naturally would not try to make an adversary out of a strong individual.

For Joshua’s part, he assuredly would not explain the problem. Hearing the titan’s interrogation, he knew that the fight has ended, hence sighing once regretfully. Still, there was a glint in the warrior’s eyes—he was able to learn certain information thanks to Urbandy’s fist. The Dark Creek King’s single jab did not see the use of much technique, and the titan was simply putting his monumental mountains-shifting brute strength behind the attack.

But more importantly, what Joshua learned was not that—he had felt a presence similar to the divine earthen sword, otherwise known as the Longsword of the Ashlands.

A blade that had almost killed him once!

—There’s most certainly inexhaustible connection between this world and the world of Mycroft. The warrior thought, although discovering the specifics still require questions and analysis.

Flying slowly black to the Xayar mountains, the warrior who had two weapons hanging behind him was forced to listen to the divine armament siblings’ nagging.

“Master, you could just walk over normally and there wouldn’t be conflict. Why do you have to fly over so arrogantly…”

“That’s right. It seems that the titan has powerful depth. If not for its wounds from its previous battle, even you, master, would be helpless at the peak of your powers.”

The silver-haired girl’s grudging voice echoed within the warrior’s mind. “It’s still fine when you seek out those Death Shades on purpose, but this titan was obviously neutral, what would we do if he turned into a foe?”

Ling and Ying’s opinions were quite pertinent. But to Joshua, who tried to test the titan’s ability on purpose while testing how much of his energy had been recovered, it was all meaningless.

As he arrived above the Xayar Mountains once more, the titan did not punch out this time.’Heavenly pinnacle… Since when did a champion of such power appear within the borders of the Gelug Empire… In the titan’s deep eye sockets, two bundles of purple flames burnt intensely as Urbandy stared at the warrior before him, an instinctual guess flashing through his mind.

No, there was a dimensional ripple towards the southeastern edge some time ago. This person should be a champion of another world… but why does he smell so similar to us? And why would he come to this world?

There were occasionally champions from other worlds who came to the Grandia continent for exchanges. After trading some knowledge and information, both sides would never meet again due to the dimensional barriers. Still, exactly because of that, everyone would be surprised but not ignorant of guests from other worlds.

Perhaps he’s trying to find a way to breakthrough into divine-domain, and so wandered the many worlds?

And yet, Joshua did not care about what the other thought. He merely landed on a peak and stared at the leviathan before him.

—As I’ve thought! There’s definitely a connection with the Mother Goddess! The warrior thought, verifying its identity immediately.

In the pre-existence and at the latter stages of the Great Mana Tide, the many Divine Shroud Dungeon from the Infinite Horizon had been completed by the combined work of elite players. The last batch that were challenged had precisely been [Raging Gale], [Oceanic Turbulence], [Hundred-headed Serpent], [Stone Mountain Titan]—each level’s boss was a god borne of war, the incarnation of sea, a primordial behemoth and the Mother Goddess respectively.

In the Mother Goddess’s Divine Shroud Dungeon, the final challenge of the Stone Mountain Titan was to defeat a ‘Grand Mountain Titan’– a creature over a thousand meters tall, whose every move would cause a continental-level calamity!

Unlike the common elemental titans, the Majestic Mountain Titans were the direct descendants of the Mother Goddess. They could ignore the clash between the elements while using multiple elements to construct their own body—it was as if they were the earth itself, the bearer of all forces.

And now, Joshua could see on the titan who was supposedly the Dark Creek King the multiple attributes such as ‘Earth’, ‘Flame’, ‘Water’, ‘Plants’ and so forth. Those were enough to prove the other’s identity—a titan that possessed the blood of the gods.

Nether spoke first, merely staring each other down while studying and analyzing the information they could gather from the other’s body.

Soon, Joshua who had largely finished his examination spoke first.

“It’s the first time we’ve met, powerful titan. Are you the lord of this land—Urbandy the Dark Creek King?”

The titan, unable to discern the warrior’s depth after some time, grunted coldly to admit his own identity.

Joshua certainly had moved on his own initiative to provoke the other, while Urbandy also felt that it had struck out pre-emptively. That is why both warrior and titan were in considerably peaceful behavior, and not staying disgruntled by the exchange of blows. Conversely, the warrior had a rather good impression of the powerful titan.

“Human, ” the titan spoke with a voice that quivered hills. ” Why did you come here? You do not need me with your ability, so perhaps you would like to ask for information?”

“Yes,” Joshua replied, and briskly took out a clutch of protocrystals—including the Jewel Seed fragment. He had specially sought them out whenever he sensed their powerful energy ripple along the way as he flew here.

Using aura, the warrior levitated the dazzling gems in the air, and said to the titan with a sonorous voice, “I want to ask you some questions, and these are my offerings to you.”

“… It’s acceptable. Please, ask away.”

Sweeping a glance over the gems in the air, Urbandy slightly nodded. Those these protocrystals shards were not much, but the quality was definitely very good. So, for those gems, the titan decided to let the matter of being injured by the warrior slide.

—Well, he’s quite the difficult opponent, so victory might not be assured.

Joshua then asked his question.

He described in detail the appearance of the red-hair dragon-winged girl, while emphasizing the form of the enchanted robes she wore. The warrior was able to tell that she was also being pursued by quite a few Death Shades, and such a thing was not something trivial that could be forgotten at once in this continent.

Nonetheless, the titan’s face that was formed from stone revealed a curious expression.

“I could answer the question, but could you tell me if your intent is kind or malicious?”

Joshua considered it for a brief few seconds and decided that it was not something to hide. So, he touched his own chest with his own hand.

Green Order power began to cascade, causing Urbandy—who once sensed that same surge from Hillya’s gown—to freeze.

“As you can see, I’m here to search for this long-lost companion,” Joshua said calmly. “I’m from another… Dark Creek King? Your Majesty?”

As the warrior prepared to explain his own origins and the reason he came to seek out Hillya, he saw that the titan was shaking its head.

“… Human. I shall refrain from accepting your offering for these questions.”Urbandy said, turning its head.

It looked toward southwest, purple flames steaming at its gigantic eye sockets. “She should be at the other end of the continent right now.”

At present, the dragon winged girl who had been sent to an overgrown wasteland through a semi fixed-point dimensional portal before all that transpired, stared with a lost expression at her surroundings.

“Where… am I?”