Soul of Searing Steel

Given that Joshua himself was a superior version of a Steel Python and frequently contacted other Steel Pythons, to avoid any misunderstandings that could occur from misperception, he carefully gathered some of the Steel Particles in the surrounding Void and careful studied it.

And his feeling proved correct: there was an unusually faint but pure presence of a Steel Python.

The two paradoxical terms—’faint’ and ‘pure’ were somehow so apt at this moment that Joshua could not at once explain why the presence wafting in the Void was so bizarre. Hence, he simply led Zero Three and accelerated, darting toward Fort Pioneer.

Being one with such quick wit, how could the warrior not have thought of the connection there? The Million Steel Dragon had said that it would be at Fort Pioneer, and then the Steel Python’s presence appeared in Void around the fortress chain… Any with slight imagination would have guessed so, and Joshua was convinced that it was no mere conjecture.

That the enigmatic Metal Dragon God that lurked behind history without making any headlines must be related to the Steel Python.

Joshua moved quickly without any intention of concealment. As a shrill alarm signaling ‘High Energy Signature rapidly approaching’ rang inside Fort Pioneer, he had arrived near its perimeter. The defense department that was charging their energy weapons hence realized that it was a false alarm and that the being who had come was an allied Legendary champion, hence lowering their defenses.

As if sensing that its invited guest has come, the host itself quickly reacted. While Joshua slowed down as he approached Fort Pioneer, a profound will slowly appeared from the fortress, its power stirring the Void and causing the wafting Steel Particle of the Great Mana Tide to churn slightly.

But unusually, such a clear phenomenon did not draw any attention from the defense personnel. They completely ignored that great will, and only greeted Joshua fervently through their communications.

“Interesting. It seems that the god does not have much Steel Python attributes even if it isn’t one.”

Joshua understood many things when he noticed that.

Firstly, the great will that appeared was unquestionably the Million Steel Dragon—the god of Metal Dragons. And its form was remarkably alike to that of Steel Pythons.

Normal beings without Extraordinary ability could not see souls, just as Extraordinary individuals who did not train their ability to the point of ‘qualitative change’ would be unable to see Steel Pythons. If warriors did not condense lifeforce into Steel Strength, mages did not refine element mana into pure mana, psionics did not assemble the three great psionic forces or masters of the Holy Light did not understand the essence of that power, each of their living form would remain as ordinary Extraordinary individuals, having no right to even observe the Steel Python.

That does explain many things—it was simple why the Metal Dragon God was so discreet and seem not to appear in any news. It was not that supernatural champions did not have the right to set their eyes upon it, but they were rare in the first place, with even less of them enjoying gossips. In turn, the Metal Dragon God was a divine mystery to most humans and Dragons.

However, profundity of existence did not represent great ability. Joshua could tell that the Metal Dragon God was not wounded, and it appears that both the civil war against the Pentashade Dragon God and the Chaos Tides originating from the God of Death did not hurt it. Still, it was also clear that it would never be able to defeat the Pentashade Dragon God since their powers were evenly matched.

“Nice to meet you, your majesty.”

Facing that great will across thin air, Joshua reached out to assume a communicative posture.

Hence, an alluring and gentle voice wafted from the other side of the Void.

“Greetings, Slayer of Evil Gods and hero of our world—Count Radcliffe, I am pleased to see you.”

The great will gathered, finally turning into a kindly dragon lady. She had a pair of large dragon horns, although her head, body and limbs were human. A single silver tail gently swirled before her, her dull green copper hair made her appear an elderly noble lady with primly beautiful features.

“I recall that humans favored shaking hands… born with five fingers—agile tools, an envy of the dragons.”

The Million Steel Dragon’s drakonid form smiled as she stepped forward and shook Joshua’s hand. “Back then I had envied the convenience of the human form, hence developing anthropomorphism magic to integrate innate draconic power and human agility. However, a long time had since passed, and not many dragons enjoyed human form… they were still too prideful.

The Metal Dragon God was not speaking draconic tongue, Mycroft’s common tongue or any other language Joshua was familiar with. In fact, the voice the Dragon God made was a melodious dragon cry that resembled a song, and yet that voice reaches the depths of the mind, allowing all life to clearly know its meaning.

Clearly, it was also a special move of the Steel Python, a language that worlds communicated with.

Since she had made herself so clear, Joshua certainly would not pretend to be unaware, and simply asked, “So you are the one who developed anthropomorphic magic. I have a black dragon living at my home myself—it is a spell that brings great convenience. Thank you for contributing to the peace between humans and dragons.”

“Sorry,” the warrior’s tone then suddenly turned. “What is the matter which you have sought me out for, your majesty? And you appear to clearly emanate Steel Python presence… I believe we should learn about each other more before we go into business.”

Joshua winked at Zero Three as he spoke.

The Million Steel Dragon smiled in return, her eyes narrowing. Geometrical runes that resembled broken glass swirled, and after thinking for some moments, the thrillingly beautiful Dragon God’s form began to answer fluently.

“Actually, if not for the information brought by the foreigners of another galaxy, I would never have disturbed your recuperation and rest. While I should have gone to meet you, there are certain important causes for which I would have to prove, and so I could only ask others to tell you.”

There was great respect in the Metal Dragon God’s tone. If Joshua’s addressing her as your majesty was because of her being a race’s patron deity with allegiances to Order and seniority in age, one could tell that she also addressed Joshua with respect from the bottom of her heart.

As a human, or as the King of Searing Souls? It was hard to say.

“There is information that the King of Searing Soul of this generation needs to know,” the Million Steel Dragon could be heard clearly. “Indeed, the reason I have a form resembling a Steel Python is closely related to that information.”

At that, Joshua and Zero Three shared a glance.

Truth be told, the Metal Dragon god had the finest attitude to the point that Joshua himself was uncomfortable. His own use of respectful terms was due to his parents educating which respects the old and cherished the young. And yet, the Dragon God whose age had to be counted in units of millennia and was who knows how many generations older than himself was speaking respectfully as well simply made it too unusual.

Meanwhile, the Million Steel Dragon continued. “You probably would not believe the source of that information—they are a legacy of a previous era, from the last Metal Dragon God.”

“King of Searing Soul. As you would know, us gods of Starfall Era were born from the Glorious Era legacy. The Fairy Queens inherited Fairyland, the Gods of the Deep inherited the power of the water gods, while I inherited the power of the Primordial Dragon Gods… And you would definitely be aware that Astral Dragons such as us are an ancient race from another world.”

Joshua nodded at that—the Astral Dragons’ origins from another world is a ‘secret’ that all champions with some power would know. With data from the Unified Archives, everyone learned that the Astral Dragons had come to this world before the Glorious Era, even before humans left barbarism.

The Astral Dragons often boasted of the might of their former civilization. When humans still made fire from wood, they had already become capable of steering fortresses in the skies to travel the Void. Moreover, those seemingly bragging words were not lies but the truth, when humans had barely divided into humans, elves and dwarves, the advanced civilization of the Astral Dragons that travels the Void—more correctly, the race of survivors was hence left wandering the Mycroft continent.

At the time, the Astral Dragons were really a group of pathetic refugees—each dragon was laden with scars, while all their civilizations’ legacy, even individual ability was broken due to the counter force from different worlds. Immeasurably weak, they lurk in forests and beyond the seas, licking their wounds as they prepared to recover their strength and then explore the brand-new world. But chagrining, due to the difference in time perception, when the earliest generation of Astral Dragons finally recovered from their wounds through slumber, various genius champions of the savage age of men could already destroy mountains, breaking summits over three thousand meters tall with a single blast.

The Astral Dragons were left gaping at the sight. It was not as if they do not have champions of such caliber, but their populations simply did not compare, and only weak-minded leaders would trade the precious lives of each dragon with a single native.

Thus, as time passed, human civilization progressed while the Astral Dragons rather kindly offered aid and observed without interference. Then, as the savage age before the Glorious Era passed, the Astral Dragons were divided into two different races that slowly assimilated into Mycroft.

“However, even if the Metal Dragons had made Mycroft our second home, the bloodline of the Astral Dragons tells us that our true home is not here, but another distant place.

At that, the Metal Dragon God’s tone became serene and quiet. “And that is what I intend to tell you—I have found the old homeland of us Metal Dragons.”

“Is that not great news?”

Joshua was certainly stirred by the spirit that drove the Astral Dragons to search determinedly for their old homeworld over dozens of millennia, but remained puzzled just the same. “I understand that you would thrill, but the question is… what does that have to with me?”

Could it be that the Metal Dragon God had found its homeworld, only to discover that it had long since been left devastated… which was why it wished to request that he go restore life to the world with the Authority of the King of Searing Soul?

Joshua believed that the idea would work. It was a good thing for a world to recover its vigor and Joshua should do what he could, with the Million Steel Dragon itself assuming the task of animating the fuel. It would be best if the deity head for Kronos to convince the Ancient Dragon of Thunder to combine efforts and increase the success rate of reinvigoration.

Joshua’s idea was right, but it was incomplete—the Million Steel Dragon shook its head firmly when he revealed his thoughts.

“You thought correctly.” It said bitterly with a forced smiled. “But that’s not what I wish to convey.”

“Count Radcliffe. With the information provided by those invaders from another galaxy, I have definitely uncovered the location of the Astral Dragons’ homeworld—to be precise, the location of its remains.”

“And together with it, the remains of an entire galaxy.”