Soul Of Starting Steel


Joshua woke up in the middle of a battlefield one day only to discover that he has been transmigrated into a popular MMORPG, Continental War. Discovering that he has not only been displaced in space but also in time, Joshua realizes he has knowledge of the events unfolding around the world as he had played through them as game events. Read on to discover how Joshua forges his path towards becoming a legendary warrior!


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Chapter 1: Who the Hell Stabbed Me in the Back?!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The sky was gloomy and the air was humid.

Deep in Thomas Grand Canyon, corpses were scattered all over the now quiet battlefield. The war had been alleviated and a small group of orcs was retreating towards the canyon.

The vulgar curses along with the chaotic footsteps of their invasive march had alerted and startled most of the vultures that were feasting on the dead corpses.

Crows, vultures, and undead gulls hovered around the corpses. Afraid of the presence of the orcs around, they made loud cries as an attempt to scare away other potential feeders. One of the crows that was braver than the others took its sweet time devouring a long rotten gut. Suddenly, something from within the pile of corpses twitched and scared off the crow.

A small patrol team consisting of only three orcs stopped in their tracks immediately.

"Halt! I heard something."

The green-skinned orc, whose muscular body was clad in broken metal armor and rugged leather squinted to focus on the source of the noise.

"I see something…" said the same orc as he moved closer.

"I see it now. It's a human. I'll take care of him."

The orc gripped his heavy axe tighter and paced slowly towards the pile of corpses.

"Make it quick. We don't want to fall too far behind."

Amidst the darkness of the canyon, not even the crows were capable of seeing further ahead. However, the orc could walk towards the corpse with ease as it relied on his extreme sense of smell. After a quick rummage, the orc had managed to find a living human buried underneath a pile of rotten corpses.

The human was a young male warrior. His armor was broken and in tatters. His sword was bent and chipped in all sort of places. There was something admirable about the warrior. Judging from the orc corpses around, he was the only human that was still alive. Despite that, his condition was not looking great. His weakened state had him knocking on death's door.

Crack!

Lightning struck down somewhere not too far from where the orc stood. The light from the lightning illuminated the entire canyon for a brief second and he could see that the light in the human's eyes had faded.

"Die," muttered the orc as he lifted his axe with both of his hands. With one heavy stroke, the orc swung the axe downward.

Crack!

In a split second, the flash of light beamed off the dull sword and the orc could see a cold stare from the human's eyes.

"Huh?!" The orc gasped.

In an instant, the warrior sprung up from his seemingly unconscious state and slit the orc's left shoulder. The intensity of the stroke was strong enough that it left a long trail of blood spurting out from the open wound. The orc grunted in pain and released the heavy axe in his hand. With quick footwork, the warrior made his way to the side of the massive orc and knocked him off his feet.

"Urgh!"

It all happened too fast. Before the strong orc could even react, he was forced to expel a mouthful of air as a steel-like left arm was pressed against his neck.

"Gaba."

Just when he could move his left arm, a powerful force was pressed against his chest and his neck, struggling to prevent the orc from taking in any air. The orc struggled with all his might. Panic and fear started to invade the orc's mind as his desire to breathe was overwhelming and clouding his judgment. The next thing he knew, everything went dark. Like steel, his eyes were cold.

The orc stopped struggling. There was no more noise, only the cries of the nearby crows.

The human warrior pulled out the sword and knelt beside his kill.

"Calm yourself, Joshua," thought the man. He gathered his strength and scanned the area.

All he could see was dismembered parts of what seemed to be unworldly beings. The scent of blood mixed with the rusty armor made the entire field smell like rust. Although it was not raining, the human's armor and leather hide were drenched with water. His entire arm was covered in blood, which trailed all the way down to his sword. No matter how much he wanted to calm himself, the grip of his hand on the sword refused to relax.

"Gloomy sky… Orcs… A battle?"

Joshua muttered a few words to himself. Each word was spoken with a deeper tone and when he finally came to, he shouted, "Thomas Grand Canyon?!"

The man stood up and turned around frantically.

"Impossible. I should be in the Ancient Dungeon of the Ashen! I should be in Naya Fortress! I should be fighting demons! Why are there orcs?!"

Joshua recalled the vivid image of his battle. He was fighting demons in a scorched land that rained flames and hot lava. Yet, that vivid image was replaced with a gloomy dark sky, wet and cold atmosphere. The difference was like heaven and earth. Something is not right. Something is most certainly not right at all!

Joshua gave up trying to reason with the unknown. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen and found it hard to breathe. He dropped to his hands and panted heavily.

Drip… Drip… Droplets of rain started to fall on his metallic armor and no sooner, a thunderstorm came.

The pain in his chest was not the only sensation he felt then. When the water droplets seeped into his armor, he could feel the prickly pain throbbing all over his body. It was only then he realized that he was bleeding all over. Some cuts were so deep that he could not move freely without triggering the wound's throbbing pain. Joshua turned around and checked on himself. There were wounds so deep that if he did not begin emergency treatment, they would start to fester. Joshua merely scoffed at the pain. As a legendary warrior that had survived countless battles, Joshua had been in worse conditions that one might even consider absolutely hopeless. However, out from the ashes of defeat, Joshua had turned the tides of war more times than he had tasted salt. Such a wound was nothing. A mere flesh wound or so he would say.

"Tsk!" Joshua clicked his tongue disgruntledly. "This is odd. I was sure that I was part of the war. The war that took place in the Starfall Year 853, during the third expansion of Continental War… Thomas Grand Canyon should have been flattened after the Legendary War!"

Joshua ignored the pain he felt on his body and stood up to have one last look at the surroundings. With his still shaky hands, he wiped away the blood-stained rainwater from his eyes and muttered in disbelief.

"Why… How am I here…"

The dark clouds rolled in from the top of the canyon and brought in more thunder and rain. The sound of war could be heard from all places. Crimson colored water that started to turn into rivers flowed from the cliffs.

"This isn't right."

Joshua let the cold rainwater wash the blood on his face and finally realized the truth. "I'm dead."

Memories started flooding in. It was the despicable gloomy sky that had triggered his memories.

Naya Fortress. The Wall of Maria. He stood there, amongst countless warriors battling demons that came like a swarm of locusts in a land where hot lava was flowing like a river. The sky rained flaming meteors and the only silhouettes that could be seen were the wings of rampaging demons. The number of demons that flew in the sky was more than enough to cast their shadows to fully darken the entire battleground. That, and the floating ship that belonged to the demon forces. Rocks that were covered in flames were hurled to the ground. Like a scene of hell on earth, they rained down on the fortress like a meteor shower. Rising from the ash and smoke, the legendary warriors formed an impregnable defensive formation as they charged towards the enemy.

Joshua was one of them. Just when he was about to unsheathe his sword to perform a sword drawing technique, a long blade protruded from his abdomen. Along with some curses, Joshua's memories became scrambled like eggs.

Joshua took a deep breath. He realized the truth and bellowed wildly.

"Who the f*ck stabbed me?!"

Joshua's rage exploded like a whistling kettle. He forced himself to remember everything but could not recall what happened after he saw the sword's blade extending out of his abdomen.

"I've never died… Not once. Not since I became a legendary warrior! F*ck! Just when I thought I was killed by a demon, it was by my fellow comrade!"

Right then, Joshua frowned again. Although he could not let go of the grudge he bore for the backstabber, he had something else to worry about. Whether or not he was still alive, the obvious question should have been where he was. Even if he had died, he should be within the walls of Naya Fortress! How did he manage to magically appear among a bunch of dead orcs?

Right when he was about to take a step, he sensed an ill omen. As a legendary warrior, his body's constitution allowed him to recover faster than normal humans. Wounds that would take months to heal would be reduced to several days. He should be able to walk and run normally after a quick rest yet the wounds on his legs and arms were not even showing signs of healing. Even the pain… it was throbbing like there was a splinter inside.

Did the game developers adjust the sensory settings to a whole new level?

If he was not dead, where was the wound that was supposed to be in his belly? As for the wound that was caused by the curse, he could never heal them without the help of a GM.

What is happening?! The game is not Ubisoft, where the servers are potato and riddled with bugs.

"Move, damn it!" cried Joshua as he tried to force his muscles to move forward. He clenched his teeth to suppress the pain when he moved his right leg. All the wounds that had opened up were immediately exposed to the rainwater. It stung so bad that Joshua could feel the sound of his heart pounding in his ears. Joshua stopped walking and fell to his knees. The metal armor on his body grazed against each other and made a sharp noise. From the edge of his armor, Joshua noticed a small horizontal wound that could have only been formed from a stab.

The pain he felt was so strong that if any normal human were to be placed in his shoes, they would have fainted from the intense pain. Luckily, Joshua was not an average Joe in real life.

Joshua got back up to his feet and took a deep breath only to find that he was unable to restore his breathing rhythm. He ignored that fact and paced slowly towards the same pile of dead corpses where he was pulled out from. The sword in his hands was broken in many places and would easily crumble into dust with a gentle stroke. After so many years of fighting, he knew that it was vital for him to replace the weapon before a fight.

Joshua took some time but he managed to get used to the pain and arrived at the pile of corpses. There, Joshua started stabbing the corpses and managed to retrieve a long spear that was still in good condition. Although the spearhead had suffered a little damage on the edge, it does not affect its penetrating power. He discarded the sword in his hand and brandished the spear around to repel every single raindrop around him. After two seconds, he was certain that the spear was still in a good state and was most suited for his fighting style.

Just when he relaxed and wanted to search for a place to rest, the silence of the grave was broken by the cries of orcs coming from the darkness.

"He killed Togu!"

Two large orcs came out from the shadows and into his field of vision.

Naturally, Joshua was unable to understand what they said due to the difference in language used. However, that was not his worry at the moment. The muscles on them were so huge that the armor covering their forearms was about to burst open. The extreme bloodlust and the crave for revenge were reflected in their eyes.

Once the orcs had confirmed the enemy's position and number, the orcs did not give a second thought before jumping straight towards Joshua.

"Ourgh!" The one that attacked first was wielding a long scimitar. The usual green appearance of the orc darkened into a deeper, darker shade as if he had gone berserk. The blade was held up high in the air. The orc was ready to use his massive size and weight to cleave the weak human in half with a single stroke.

However, before the sword could even be swung, the spearhead whistled through the air like a speeding arrow. The slightly rusty spearhead pierced through the thick metal armor and leather hide, and went straight to the orc's heart. Joshua spun the spearhead clockwise. He then twisted his body and pulled the spear from behind with such force that the faintly beating heart was still attached to the spearhead. The orc fell to the ground, lifeless, while green blood spurted out like a broken fountain.

"Hm… Are you really an orc?" Joshua asked with a condescending look. He turned back to see that the other orc had stopped moving. He could see the fear in his eyes when his comrade was killed in less than a second. "Is it even possible?"

The orc grunted with rage. The wrath in its eyes was fading as he wanted to turn tail and run. However, he was too slow to make his decision.

Joshua stomped his left leg firmly into the ground and took aim. As the orc ran further, Joshua hurled the spear in his hand with such force that it flew across the air at supersonic speed.

Droplets of water in the air evaporated instantly as it came into contact with the spearhead. The orc heard the sound of the spear whistling through the air and tried to parry it. However, just as he turned around, the spear pierced through his waist and pinned him to the ground.

He grunted in pain and spoke something which Joshua could not understand. Joshua walked towards the dying orc and gave it a weird look. The orc tried to summon its strength but his actions only caused more blood to spurt out from his open wound. Within a few seconds, the orc lost its life and remained motionless.

"I am sure that all the orcs have already been extinct! The system even announced that globally!"

When Joshua went to retrieve his spear from the dead orc, he felt a sharp throbbing pain from his scar. It was bleeding.

"Ow… Perhaps I overdid it."

The injuries that he sustained were indeed serious. It was not just his muscles that were aching badly, he could even feel his internal organs bleeding from the inside. After killing three orcs, the pain he felt was so intense that not even the strongest dose of morphine could ease the pain. At that moment, all his wounds, both fresh and old, were crying in pain as though pleading for their owner to stop moving any more.

Joshua paced away from the dead orcs and towards where the light shone the brightest. However, before he could even take five steps, his hands started to tremble violently. He dropped his spear and sat down on the ground.

"Ha… Ha… Ha… Why am I panting for breath? I am a legendary warrior. Such a wound would not make me this exhausted! I should not be this breathless after merely killing three orcs!"

He tried to lift the spear from the ground. As he did, he could feel the icy cold stones on the ground which made his hands shiver.

"Such a sensation… The smell, the pain, the sight… Not even the most powerful gaming company could model such a scene. There's no way the game could virtualize this…"

As more and more doubts began to grow in his mind, the same bad omen from before started to resurface into his sea of thoughts. "Thomas Grand Canyon should have been made into a flatland. Yet, why am I seeing cliffs and trenches? I was supposed to be fighting demons in Naya Fortress yet I am awake in this place…"

The rain continued to pour like cats and dogs and did not show any signs of stopping.

"What is going on?!"

Crack!

A lightning bolt struck down and illuminated the entire canyon for a brief second. Joshua picked up a sword fragment and took the chance to see his reflection.

The face of a stranger was reflected on the sword fragment yet Joshua felt a sense of familiarity from it.

"Who is tha—is that me?! What happened to me?!"

Within a second, a sharp pain struck his brain as if he was cleaved by an axe. Immediately, he fell to the ground and writhed in intense agony.

What came next were all the memories that flooded into his mind that were supposedly his…

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Countless memories flooded into his mind.

Humans achieved evolution through the pain of war. They were a species that thrived on deadly battles.

That was why, when a warrior cleaved an orc in half, there was no emotion. No feelings of remorse.

The dark clouds continued to roll in from the far end of the canyon. Along with the rain and strong gale, sounds of war horns, signaling troops to attack and to withdraw could be heard echoing from all corners of the canyon. It was supposed to be a mere passing shower. However, as the wind blew stronger, heavy rain came down onto the land.

It did not take long for the rain to wash away all the blood stains on Joshua's metal armor. No sooner, the water started to rise. Before he knew it, the water level had already submerged his leg guards.

Joshua's breath did not seem to be coming back, no matter how hard he tried to control it. Weakened beyond comprehension, Joshua's shaky hands reached for his battered helmet. He then discarded it a few feet away. The thick green blood of the orc was washed away by the rain. Mixed along with his own, the discolored blood of both red and green left his black hair.

Eyes dead, Joshua looked around again. There were nothing but corpses and internal organs scattered around. Tons of dead orcs were piled up like a miniature mountain. He was the sole survivor as not a single living being could be seen. The vultures, crows, and scavengers had already left when the rain came pouring down. He was the only human alive.

"I did it."

Joshua laughed maniacally.

One man army. Over hundreds of orcs killed.

Such a tale could perhaps only exist in folktales and bedtime stories. It might seem hard to believe yet he had made that story real.

"Ha… Ha…" Joshua's laughter reverted back to his irregular panting. He could still feel the throbbing pain from the open wound. His headache did not help to ease his physical injuries. The aftermath of war had started to kick in then. His entire being shook so badly that his sight suddenly turned blurry. Countless of visions appeared as if they were actually real.

Demon… Meteor… Kill… Betrayal!

Orcs… War… Territory… Grahhhh!

The pain in his head grew more agonizing. The veins on his temples started to bulge and were already on the verge of bursting. Joshua gripped his head hard with his hands and writhed in pain. Just when he thought that the worst was over, he was experiencing the worst pain he could feel. Compared to arrows and swords, the pain could never compare to the one he was feeling in his head right now.

All his willpower was replaced with rage, reasoning with chaos. At that moment, the being that was Joshua was no longer human, but a hungry, bloodthirsty wolf.

"Demon! Orcs!"

In the darkness of the raining sky and silent canyon, two red eyes gleamed.

All that mattered now was to kill the sons of b*tches until none were left!

Unconsciously, Joshua stood up. The steel sword in his hand rattled with excitement as it sensed the bloodlust from its wielder. The solid iron hilt bent inward from the sheer gripping force.

"Not enough…" The man lifted his head. His eyes were bright crimson. The man turned his head and focused on the approaching orc army. His eyes widened with rage and pure insanity as he cried.

"This is not even enough!"

In the next second, he sprinted like a cheetah. His surroundings went dark and nothing but the orcs were in his sight. Just after a few moments, the orc army stopped moving. Joshua appeared from behind them and out came a splatter of blood.

The battle was merely in its infancy…

"F*ck! When did you become so reckless?!"

Joshua shook his head violently to regain consciousness. His facial muscles twitched. He tried to apply a little pressure to his temple to ease his spinning head and tried to resist the urge to throw up. "I was interdimensionally transported during a fight… So, I didn't die! That's lucky."

After the short burst of pain, Joshua could breathe normally. Regaining his composure, he began to recall his memories.

Joshua van Radcliffe. The eldest son of the baron in the military force located in the northern region. Incidentally, he was also the only person to inherit the title. Following the usual tradition of the Radcliffe family, Joshua was beaten into shape by his father and the knights in service to his family. From a wimpy little crybaby, the boy grew up to be a fine young man.

After reaching his coming of age, he was enlisted in the army and was left there on his own to build relationships and as well as to expand his social circle.

Everything went smoothly and Joshua started out as a bright, happy-go-lucky fellow. Naturally, being the sole successor of a powerful noble family with territory coupled with sharp battle instincts, the man was approached by many. As time flew by, Joshua had performed admirably in the battlefield and had earned many military merits. As such, along with his ranks, he gained many friends and connections all over the place.

The entire 'process' would have been perfect if it were not for a sudden message he received.

Joshua's family being rooted in the cold north, far from the affluent Empire's center of influence in the south was due to one sole reason. It was a service to the people and a duty to guard "something". Although it was unknown to Joshua, the responsibility that was hammered into him since he was a child was severe. The old count never mentioned it in front of anyone else. Not even Joshua. When he tried to ask about it, his father would merely reply him with a vague and unsatisfying answer.

"You're not qualified to learn the truth. Come back to me only when you're capable of standing on your own two feet."

Naturally, for a young man, 'standing on his own two feet' would equate to growing stronger. As such, Joshua had only been pursuing strength the martial way.

When Joshua had received the message from his territory, he felt a little intrigued. Joshua knew his father well enough to know that his father's stubbornness would never bring him to initiate a conversation. In fact, it had been several years since he had last spoke to him. However, when he opened the sealed letter and read its content, his blood was boiling.

[There is trouble with the Seal of the Defended Town. Your father has personally gone to resolve the matter. As there is no one currently in-charge in the city, unknown forces might proceed to scheme an invasion. With the current situation in place, please return to the city to guard the territory.]

The person who sent the letter was the old butler of his house. Joshua was skeptical. He would not believe anyone else but the old butler. He knew the old man since he was young and that he would never lie to him.

Now that there was a new problem brewing at home, a young warrior like Joshua could not rest until something was done.

Just when he had made preparations to retire from the frontline and leave for the north, the Empire had issued a sudden command to the frontline and ordered the army to attack the orcs in the west. It was something that no one could predict. Props to the commander at the headquarters. To cheat the enemies, one must first cheat one's own allies. Joshua was stumped. There was an absolute rule on the Empire's military law, "One cannot leave the frontlines during war".

It did not matter if Joshua was the son of the count of the north, even the nobles could not bend the rules of the military. Hence, there was nothing Joshua could do to solve the problem in the north. As such, with pressing trouble in his mind, he bore an intense hatred and anger into the battlefield.

That and a person from another world had come to merge with his soul and body, becoming a completely different being.

His mind was still as scrambled as a stir-fried beef dish. Both his memories were mixed up like a bowl of fruit salad. The experience of a legendary warrior and 'his' years of vigorous training had given birth to a new Joshua. It allowed him to step onto the battlefield alone and face off hundreds of orcs. Even after the first few battalions were killed, his berserk state was not quelled. As a result, he went straight into the orcs' military encampment and slaughtered them all on his own.

That explained the reason why his entire body was battered. After killing for an entire day and night pushing his way through the narrow canyon, killing more than three hundred orcs, piling all the corpses into mounds, his body went into a state of extreme exhaustion.

"Interesting."

Joshua muttered. The now calm Joshua wiped away the mud and sand that was on his face and raised his head to the sky. The rain had begun to let up, leaving a few dark clouds and lightning that was accompanied by thuder, which was still roaring in the heavens. With a sense of acceptance, Joshua muttered, "Looks like this place is the Mycroft Continent. The battle of the Division started here. This should be the setting of the game."

The rain finally came to an end. He widened his tired eyes and gazed into the night sky. The stars were exceptionally bright since the rain clouds had finally drifted away. He dipped his fingers into the muddy water and tasted it. He then lifted a finger up high and felt the sensation of the wind. "The moon is that way… The wind is blowing the other. There's warmth in the squall. Based on the taste of the mud around me… it should be Starfall Year 831. Right now, I think it's the end of autumn, which is mid-October. The Historical Warfare 'Glorious Expedition' should come to an end soon. The orcs' impregnable Fort D'ruis should be destroyed in the first battle."

"Sigh…" Joshua sighed heavily. "I've come back to this time…"

He then raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "Seems like I'm not too late."

Before he was interdimensionally teleported, he was a veteran player of the Full Dive virtual reality game called 'Continental War'. He was ranked third on the Grand Ranking and first on the Legendary Champions Ranking. The game had been active for eight years in real time and thirty two years in virtual time. It had survived through eight major expansions, twelve historical events, and hundreds of legendary quests. The game had different servers which had its own individual events and plots. The Kingdom in the south, the Empire in the north, the flatlands in the east, and the mountains in the west. Before he was transmigrated, he should be proceeding with events in the southern Kingdom, which required him to travel to the northern Empire. Hence, that was why he knew a little or two about the events that transpired in the north.

The war between the Empire and the orcs was the second historical event called the 'Glorious Expedition', hosted in the northern server. The first event was the beginning of the Great Division War.

At that time, he had been invited by a friend to become a part of the emperor-hired mercenaries, assigned to carry out the Flatland Orcs Massacre Mission. That was why he was not a clueless idiot when he came to this alternate world.

"The victory will belong to the humans. That will be of absolute certainty. The Empire has been training three generations of soldiers. When the day comes, they would be ready to give it their all. Hence, with such preparations, they would have slaughtered all the orcs without a problem. The outcome has been determined. I should be able to retire from the frontline now."

When he came to that conclusion, Joshua became extremely calm despite the throbbing physical pain. He decided to put the matter of him being transported to an alternate world aside. He returned to reality and began to plan the pathway for his future. "Right now, the most crucial thing for me to do now is to find the other humans. Find a safe place to rest and think of the matter after I've recovered."

Joshua had decided to leave the thought of transmigrating to the alternate world behind as it would do him no good in terms of survival.

Both the original Joshua of this world as well as the one that came from the apparent real world were open minded and couldn't care less about the matter. Whatever happened, happened, and could not occur in any other way. One part of him was the kind that could get used to a new place within a few minutes of strolling. The other was the kind of man that would not bother to ponder about the things that he did not understand. All in all, whatever happened, happened. What mattered most was the fact that he was still breathing. If he could not turn back time with a flick of his finger, he would just accept the reality he was brought into and live with it. Or rather, suck it up.

With Joshua's soul, the one that came from Earth, taking control of the reborn 'Joshua', he would need to think well about his next step. Even though there was that problem that needed to be solved back in the North, there's nothing he could do right then with a battered body.

"I need to check on my condition."

Nonchalantly, Joshua raised his hands and gestured downward in the air. A status window appeared out of thin air and Joshua checked his own character status.

[Name: Joshua van Radcliffe]

[Form: Leader]

[Designation: Brave Fighter – Grants a chance to frighten when attacked]

[Race: Human Northwest Faction – Racial Skill: Warrior Race (Battle Experience x1.1)

[Level: Level 28 Silver (Challenger Level: Level 29 Silver)

[Attribute: …]

[Physique: Average Human Life]

[HP: Critical]

[Vitality: Critical]

[Morale: Exhausted]

[Magic Power: Sealed]

[Status: Muscles Torn – Extreme Fatigue – Enfeebled]

[Class: Black Crow Assault / Northern Battle Rider]

[Talent: Weapon Proficiency (Class), Blood for Blood (Self)]

[Profession: Blacksmith]

[Skill: MAX Willpower]

[Profession Skill: Level 21 Weapon Smithing, Level 22 Armor Smithing, Level 9 Magic Weapon Smithing, Level 3 Magic Armor Smithing, Level 1 Magic Tool Smithing]

[Equipment: Broken Helmet, Worn-out Metal Armor, Rusty Sheen Guard, Leather Greaves]

[Weapon: Standard Empire Long Spear Mark III (Damaged)]

[Your enemies would never dare to face you from the front]

"Huh. There's Mortal, Steel, Silver, Gold, Supreme, and Legendary. And I'm Silver tier? I have dropped from Legendary tier to a petty little Silver tier?! Sigh… My stats are indeed worse than before but I could not ask for any better than this. Everything is below average. Hmph. As expected from a man of nobility. A well-trained body is what I really need."

The game 'Continental War' was all too similar to real-world physics. Skills and spells would require the same exact actions, spells, and chants. If one were to take damage, they would feel pain which would affect one's strength. All basic attributes could be trained.

Naturally, the most important aspects to look at were levels and skills. Levels would grant skill points to be used on skills based on one's Class. Collecting skill points was for the purpose of investing to create one's own skill tree as well as to develop a unique fighting style. That was the path which all professional gamers would take.

Before being transmigrated into this world, he had already obtained the achievement [Supreme Skill]. It was one of the requirements to be ranked at Legendary tier. All skills had to be unlocked. He never thought he could bring over his game character stats into this world. That would only mean that he could freely choose his skills without the need to rely on or stick to any given path.

"Still… what's with this 'Form'? Weird…What is 'Challenger Level'? Did players have that sort of thing before? It looks like I am a boss to be killed…"

Joshua did pay much heed to attribute stats since those aspects could be raised easily with a little bit of physical training. As long as he could get himself back to a healthy form, he was confident that he could take on the world. However, his current state was nowhere near healthy. His recovery speed was too slow to a point of nonexistence. He would need healing. Promptly.

Again, Joshua did not want to put too much thought into it. He closed the stat window and limped away using the spear as a walking stick. He could faintly hear the sound of human voices coming from the other end of the canyon and paced towards it. He could walk down several steep hills with some effort and managed to spot the human army encampment based on his memory. Just then, he felt something odd. Something was extremely odd.

"Wait. What did I just miss?! What did I just do?!" He was too used to it before. Joshua widened his eyes in shock when he had realized the truth. "I just transmigrated to another world, didn't I?! Even if I did spend half my life playing games, it wouldn't make sense if my brain could conjure out a system for me! I should not be seeing a window in the beginning! I'm no longer in a game!"

Still in his shocked state, Joshua tried to call out the stat window again. It popped out without fail and Joshua examined the entire window to make sure he was not hallucinating.

"It's real!" Joshua was happy for a moment before he frowned worriedly. "Am I really seeing this? Or is it just a hyper-realistic illusion? I've heard of sailors getting homesick and being able conjure an illusion of their lovers. Perhaps I am doing just that? No… I best hope not."

Just then, he saw a few messages popping up at the corner of his U.I.

[End of Battle. Calculating results.]

[Killed Orc Axe Warrior Togu (Level 19 Silver), Killed Orc Kidnapper Wallon (Level 18 Silver), Killed Orc Elite Soldier Nad'jer (Level 23 Silver)]

[You have obtained 45 Points of Expedition Army Reputation]

[Expedition Army Reputation: Esteemed (5,037)]

"It's real. I couldn't have imagined it. My mind is not brilliant enough to conjure up such things." His frowning expression relaxed immediately. Happily, Joshua smiled. "Since it is this way, there's nothing that I should be afraid of!"

Truth be told, he was a little worried and afraid of his fate in the new world. However, he had nothing to worry about.

As an ex-legendary champion, coupled with the experience and strength of 'Joshua' of this world, he would never have to worry about taking on any challenges! Now that he had the support of the system, he could gain heights that no one could achieve! Such a privilege could affect his fate, his destiny. Perhaps even steer the fate of that world!

Continental War had countless historical events and legendary quests, which resulted in endings which he was dissatisfied with and hated. However, now that he was at the stage where none of that had taken place, he had the chance to make things flow in a different way. Joshua started to feel the excitement building up in his heart. He gripped the spear in his hand tightly and smiled. A bright glint flashed in his eyes. "There's more to this… I'm sure of it!"

A real alternate world. A world that would be larger and wider than the gaming world. He would be sure to see more of what he could not see before. He would be sure to meet more people, fight stronger opponents, kill more devilish enemies…

Such a world could release him from his bonds of mediocrity, a means to release him from his common daily boring life. A means to be… a real hero!

"Hahaha!" Joshua laughed at his own childish thoughts and decided to calm himself down. "Well, I could do that. Only if I get over this. First on the to-do-list. Get a place to rest."

After thinking logically, he realized the harsh reality. "That or I might die from hunger and thirst."

Despite having a computer-like system in a magical, mystical world, he was not in a game any longer. He was living and breathing, and could also die. He would die if his HP went down to zero. His current stats was too low to even lift a fork. Before, he could fight the orcs due to a sudden spike in adrenaline. However, that was before when he was actually fighting for his life. Limping like an old man, he was overwhelmed with fatigue.

He must quickly leave the dangerous canyon. The three orcs he fought before most likely belonged to a group of soldiers that was retreating. There would be a high chance that reinforcements would return to check on the missing orcs and might stumble upon him. There was no way he could fight them again like before.

Despite having starlight shining upon the earth, the canyon was still void of actual illumination. Joshua limped forward slowly and made his way around countless corpses and dismembered limbs.

He could only hear deafening silence. Nothing else. There were no other noises besides the sound of his feet dragging against the muddy ground. After what seemed to be an eternity, he saw tiny dots of light.

It was a bonfire belonging to the human military camp.

Out of the blue, he could hear footsteps coming from the front. Instinctively, he could sense living beings marching towards him, carrying lights and waving them with vigor. Just when he raised his head to observe the source of light more closely, the sound of footsteps got faster.

"Deputy commander?!"

When he was having a moment of doubt, he heard a concerned voice. In the next moment, a large group of men clad in black armor that had dead crows as accessories rushed toward him in a fan out manner.

From his point of view, it looked like they had left their formation and was sprinting towards him.

Joshua stopped in his tracks and took a deep breath. "What the f*ck?! That's scary!"

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Chapter 3: The Itch in the Fists

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

A corner of the canyon was still engulfed by the night sky.

The troops of soldiers rushed over to Joshua with speed that could rival that of a cheetah. Mud was sent flying with each heavy step they took. Just when Joshua forced himself to calm down, he noticed they did not bear any malicious intent. When they were a few meters from him, their speed slowed down. None of them looked beaten up like he was.

"Deputy commander!"

One of the soldiers stood out among the troop and frowned heavily with eyes of concern. "Such injuries… Are you alright?!"

Like hell I am…

When he first saw his face, he could not recognize him. However, his memories came flooding in and he immediately knew the names and faces of all the men that were clad in the crow armor. They were the Crows' Frontline Strike team that was under his command. When he recalled their names and faces, he relaxed and sighed. "Well? Help me out, will you? Please be careful of the wounds. I'm bleeding like a faucet here."

Instantly, like waking up from a dream, the soldiers realized his condition and rushed to help. As soldiers of the Empire, all of them were trained with emergency first-aid skills. However, when they tried to tend to his wounds, they found it to be beyond their capabilities. Such wounds would make any normal human bedridden for months, lest mention of even walking!

Joshua noticed that most of the soldiers around him were in a state of shock, but it was a matter that he did not care. The soldiers were genuinely surprised to see Joshua since they thought he was long dead. How could anyone not be? The man charged into the orc's base camp alone. No one would have thought that he could come back alive, and still walk in one piece! Even though he was limping badly, he was still walking! From the looks of it, he could still fight if needed! As expected of the deputy commander.

It took only two soldiers out of the entire group to help Joshua back to the army camp. There, two priests and one necromancer tended to his wounds.

Even though the necromancer class sounds bad and malicious, they were not the enemies in the Mycroft Continent. They were accepted as official tender to dead corpses for the purpose of studying the human anatomy. In fact, their knowledge expands further to other species as well. They were considered as the best surgeons since they had intimate knowledge of the internal structure of humans. That, and the ability to communicate with spiritual beings. Their contributions proved to be extremely helpful to the army.

Naturally, amongst those that studied the art of necromancy, there was a small faction that specialized in the art of killing. They were called the death reapers. Weirdly enough, they were fascinated with experimenting with living beings, making gruesome modifications to their bodies and corrupting their souls. Some of their greatest achievement were zombies, chimeras, abominations, undead puppets, and many more monsters and unnatural creations famous throughout the history of mankind.

Priests' divine arts were only capable of restoring external wounds and injuries. On the other hand, necromancers excelled at healing internal injuries.

After thirty minutes of healing, and a not so fancy meal, Joshua could feel energy circulating through his body. All the injuries around his abdomen were healed perfectly. The HP value on the Attribute tab had changed from [Critical] to [Injured]. The negative status from before was elevated to only [Exhausted].

Joshua gobbled the last drop of army rations and asked, "Why are you guys here? Give me a brief report."

"We are the company that was in charge of clearing the battlefield to prepare a blockade at Fort D'ruis."

The man that Joshua was talking to was his subordinate, the captain of the company. His name was Ryan. As instructed, Ryan began to explain the situation. "The orc forces on the frontline have been destroyed completely. Currently, they are completely forced back to their base. Our scouts reported that they have withdrawn and are standing guard at the fortress. Our only task for now is to seal off every possible route in and out of the fortress."

The Black Crow Army was one of the four great armies of the Empire. They consisted of the frontal assault division, the general soldiers, the heavy assault knights, and the magicians. The magicians were made up of priests and other magicians that were capable of conjuring spells, both offensive and defensive. There were also five divisions in the department of military logistics.

In the game, there was also a special warrior class called the 'Black Crow Ambusher', a special knight class called the 'Black Crow Conqueror', and a special bandit class called the 'Death Sweeper'.

Joshua was young yet he was one of the two deputy commanders of the frontal assault division. Half the reason was due to his family's name, and the other half was due to his own ability as a fighter. The soldiers were impressed with his fighting skills and revered him as their leader. His position was good but after saving him and knowing of his achievement, their respect towards him was raised even higher. All because Ryan and the other soldiers had scouted the battlefield where he came back from.

The air of the battleground was heavily polluted with the smell of both rust and blood. The earth was sullied heavily by the remains of the corpses and had turned into an unnatural rotten color. The smell that lingered around the place could make any man ill. It was a nightmarish scene and no one could believe that Joshua could survive such a battle that had resulted in such a scene. The fact that he was actually walking back to them was solid proof of what he was capable of.

Ryan then swallowed his pride and spoke, "The sun is still down. We are unable to confirm the exact number of orcs." He paused for a moment. He could not even think of his next words. After a few seconds, the soldier adjusted his helmet and straightforwardly exclaimed, "I… I had been in doubt of your ability as a deputy commander due to your age and proofless strength yet after seeing the battlefield with my own eyes, I must apologize for underestimating you, sir."

Joshua was indifferent to what he said.

"For your glorious deeds, perhaps even the General would see you in a different light. I sincerely hope that you would receive the Blade of Glory."

The Blade of Glory was not a weapon to be used but a medal of honor given to those that had achieved something great in the military. Those who acquired such an item would undoubtedly be a man of prestige and bravery. In the game, however, the Blade of Glory badge was a necessary achievement to obtain the Platinum Trophy achievement. The highest price he had seen players buying it for was over 100,000 gold coins. Normally, the price would only be around 20,000 gold coins. As a comparison to its price, a full set of Magic Armor would be around 70,000 to 80,000 gold coins.

In the game, one Blade of Glory medal would be exchanged for an [Explorer Knight Appointment Manuscript]. The completed task would enable a player to open an instant dungeon in an inhabited wild wasteland or the Dark Forest. Defeat the dungeon and one could build an Explorer Knight's Territory and be its owner.

"Perhaps so," said Joshua with as little interest as possible whilst waving his hand to dismiss it.

Back then, when he was still playing the game, he went through hell and back just to form the best group garrison. Since the Blade of Glory… thing… was a hard to earn item, he spent more than a whole day and night just to defeat the dungeon. The entire ordeal was so mentally and physically taxing that he felt nauseated just thinking about it. Such a thing was not even as valuable as a [Master Healer Appointment Manuscript, hence, it was not even worth thinking about. In fact, he would rather think of nothing right then. Not even about the orcs. The dungeon in the northwest flatlands had been raided more than a hundred times. That was why he could kill the orcs without a second thought.

Joshua felt his body was already on the verge of healing completely. In fact, he felt like all he needed was a good, quiet, and peaceful sleep. Joshua nodded and sent Ryan away politely. "Well… You have your duty to perform. Carry on and do not feel the need to tend to me anymore."

"Ah… What will you be doing now? Deputy commander?"

"I'll be back to talk to the officer alone."

What he meant by the officer was not the army's general but the brigade general of the Frontal Assault division. Following military law and regulations, every army officer must gather together for a meeting to discuss their given task, which included Joshua. However, due to his previous predicament, he had missed the meeting. However, all he needed to do was to speak with his superior officer to notify him of his report.

After rejecting Ryan's men offer of assistance, he changed into fresh new clothes and made his way towards the central command center of the Black Crow Army.

Aside from the wound located at the corner of his eye that could not fully heal, other major wounds had been healed partially. Even though he felt a little tired and his eyelids were weighing a ton, his posture remained neat and refined.

Half an hour later, Joshua reached the central command without any interruption. It was most probably due to his presence of a deputy commander.

On the other hand, his superior officer, the brigade general of the Black Crow Frontal Assault division, clad in heavy gold plated armor, was sipping on a cup of coffee, while reading a report sent by his spy.

He had short curly golden hair and a body that could fight a wild bear. His arms were so ripped that they looked like could explode from his armor at any given time. His gaze was so piercing that they could tear the paper that he was reading then.

"Pfffft—"

Before he could finish his report, Otto spit the cold coffee out and inhaled deeply.

"The Wild Wolf Squad of the E'to tribe has been annihilated?! No survivors? Reinforcements canceled?"

He pulled out a napkin and wiped his mouth. Frowning, he said, "E'to tribe was the largest orc tribe. Wild Wolf Squad consisted of their elite killers. That's more than a hundred Silver-Tier orcs right there. They were all above average in strength and not some random scraps! How could they be completely annihilated?!"

Otto put the report down on his desk and sighed. "Did the orcs capture the spy and beat the crap out of him? No… that wouldn't be right. They wouldn't dare to write something as absurd as this in a million years… Whatever they write must be true…"

Otto picked the report up and flipped a few pages back to read it again.

After a while, someone came into his tent and announced with a deafening voice.

"Report! Deputy commander of the Frontal Assault division, Joshua has arrived!"

"Let him in."

"Sir! Yes, sir!"

Joshua let himself pass the covers of the tent and noted that his superior officer was glaring at him with the eyes that identified him as an enemy.

"Tell me the truth. Were you possessed by the demons from the Abyss?"

"Um… What?"

"You! A man of your caliber annihilated the entire Wild Wolf Squad!? Hah! No offense, but you don't strike me as someone capable of something of that magnitude."

Otto crossed his arms and continued to glare at Joshua. It was as if he was meeting him for the first time. His glare gradually softened, so did his manner of speech. "Even though we have the terrain advantage at our disposal… I must say that your ability has far exceeded what I had expected of you. Gold tier even!"

Joshua finally understood what he was talking about. Otto was informed about his feat of killing a bunch of orcs. Still… What is the Wild Wolf Squad?

Joshua did not realize what facial expression he was making then until Otto screamed. "Look at yourself now! What were you thinking when you were behind enemy lines?! Do you even know what you did?!"

Joshua remained unfazed and when Otto saw it, he sighed heavily. He felt like he was an old man who would never understand the mind of a young man. He sat back on his chair and tapped the table rhythmically. "Do you not want to go back and claim that title of count? My young soon-to-be count?"

Otto knew the count well, who was also Joshua's father. Since both of them had a close relationship, both Joshua and Otto would drop the formalities when conversing with each other.

"…Yes… sir… What you said is true."

"Sigh… Even the blind can see that you're exhausted. Go back and rest. There's nothing for you to do right now."

The brigade general shook his head and signaled Joshua to leave. Right then, when Joshua pulled the tent cloth aside, Otto made a final comment, "I'm glad that you're still alive."

The next day, the battle between the orcs and humans come to a temporary halt. The frontline troop of the Black Crow Army was called back to rest and recuperate.

A large tent, filled with neatly arranged decorations that signified someone of high rank had appeared at the central command center. Inside, there were signs of smoke and ash on the floor. On the table next to the makeshift bed were various tools and canisters that were meant for weapon maintenance.

"Deputy commander!"

Joshua had changed into a new uniform and had slept like a log for the entire night. Just when he was about to complete writing his retirement letter, he heard an officer calling him from outside his tent. He placed the quill aside and said, "Speak your mind."

"The brigade general wishes to have a word with you."

"Coincidentally, I have something to tell him as well. Tell him I'll be right over."

"Roger that, sir."

After a brief period…

"Withdraw?"

"No. Retire."

"It's the same. I understand that there's trouble in your hometown. But right now, it's warring period. I have neither the authority nor clearance to relieve you of your duties."

Otto rested his weary head on his right palm. He looked a little too annoyed and disappointed. "Still… the war is almost over. Winter is coming and the orcs will call off the war. From the looks of it, their rations would not support their cause. When the time comes, you will be transferred back after the usual process."

"It would be too late by then!" Joshua cried. His voice was so loud that other soldiers that were patrolling outside the black and gold adorned giant tent could hear him. The superior officer sitting behind a large mahogany desk frowned immediately. Joshua did not care. "The letter has clearly expressed the urgency of the issue. If I waited until winter, who knows what sort of mess would befall my home!"

"You can scream and shout all you want to me. That does not change the fact that I cannot let you leave. I called you here not to inconvenience you. There are some guys sent by the higher-ups and they called out a few names. One of them was you. All the more reason that I cannot let you go."

Brigade General Otto pressed his hands together and rested his upper body on the wooden desk. He raised his head to look at the serious glare of his underling and felt a little troubled.

"Who are they?"

"You'll see them in a while. Just… They are the Golden Libra.""Joshua van Radcliffe. Born on15th October, Starfall Year 810. The first heir to the ruling family of Moldavia. Army participant in the Year 826. Acceptance by recommendation to the Empire's military academy in Year 828. Year 830, graduated from the military academy with the highest honor. After receiving exemplary experience from the academy, you have been fighting in the frontline at the northeast flatlands, in Thomas Grand Canyon."

A long, monotonous speech was given by a middle-aged man who was sitting at a long board table. The man was wearing a long red robe with black stripes on its edges. Like a machine, his face was impassive and his voice was extremely flat.

"The current time and date is 11:47 hours, Year 831, 16th October."

He paused and turned his head to face Joshua. Finally, after the long meaningless speech of Joshua's personal life, he spoke in a playful tone. "There's thirteen minutes till noon, Mister Deputy Commander of the Black Crow Frontal Assault division. That's thirteen minutes of time for you to explain your offense."

There was a bright and extremely grand medal resting on the man's left breast. The medal had a sword on the upper half and a tasseled wheat décor that surrounded the sword like a reversed arch. It was the symbol for the Golden Libra. A symbol the signified that the wearer as one of the members of the royal court.

"Right… Mr. Investigator, Sir Mengsk. Before we start…"

Thanks to Otto advise, he was mentally prepared for such an interview. Hence, he was not nervous. He cupped both of his hands together and politely asked, "May I have a cup of tea?"

"Absolutely," said the man, again with the monotonous tone. Still, he was good to talk to. "Red tea?"

"Yes, please. A little ice would be nice."

"My pleasure."

The guards that were standing at the door came in and offered him a cup of cold red tea. The investigator then added, "It's twelve minutes to noon."

Joshua took a sip of the cold tea and smiled. "That's seems to be a problem for you."

"Mm."

"Hahaha."

Both of them laughed nonchalantly yet Joshua's mind was whirring.

He had no idea that his act of retiring from the army during a battle had spread so fast to the higher-ups. It was even less than two days! Such an effective investigation!

He knew clearly that a soldier whether high ranked or not, was not allowed to withdraw from a battle in progress due to the possible disruption of the military formation.

When he was 'transferring' between worlds, he had already broken three martial laws. A regular soldier would have been thrown into the stockade and wait for the Court Martial to conduct their judgment. Even he, a noble from a noble family would be sent to stand for trial by the royal court. That was the main reason why Investigator Mengsk was sent there to question Joshua.

The royal court was not a charity organization. They represented the Empire's authority as a whole. The authority covered even the highest of nobles residing in the Empire. They punished criminals that belonged to the nobles and mediated territorial wars. Their duties included reporting directly to the emperor about the hidden Shadow Corp that moved around in secrecy gathering intelligence about the movement of all nobles. All in all, they handled all cases that revolved around the powerful nobles.

Technically, cases such as a son committing homicide, killing his brother and assassinating his father to claim the title of count was part of the report which the royal court must comply. Though, it would seem that the court had never handled such a case before.

He knew the power they held. He knew how ferocious they could be. Yet, Joshua remained unfazed even when Mengsk's voice turned threatening.

"I know my crime. I have disobeyed a direct order, left the command center without permission, and broke from the military formation. In summary, I violated Martial Law rule 2, 6, and 17."

Joshua took another sip of tea and continued his speech, "I will accept any punishment of the court without any objections."

He was calm. Without stuttering, he confessed all his crimes and admitted he was guilty.

"I listen and comply."

There was still no emotion on Mengsk's face, as if he had expected Joshua to say something like that.

"You're exceptionally co-operative."

Joshua placed the cup down on the table and kept quiet.

He was not behaving like a snob, nor did he feel like he was wrongly accused. All because he knew that the law was absolute.

An unbreakable holy guidance of the army.

"The victor has no sin."

Joshua had close ties with the southern royal court and had witnessed many of the cases handled. He knew what those words meant. True, he had disobeyed a direct order and left the formation, disrupting and causing chaos among the soldiers of the frontal assault. However, he did single handedly destroy the orcs' defenses in the left wing and annihilated all the orcs that were withdrawing from the battle.

The man was a killing machine. He had killed over 300 enemies. An achievement which no soldier had ever done before in history. If he had failed, he would be sent to prison and wait for trial. (There's even the possibility of him dying in the war before he was sent to prison.) The investigator would be more than happy to write down his name in the logbook saying something like 'Joshua van Radcliffe, heir to the northern Moldavia family, violated the Martial Law and will be sent to the fourth noble prison.'

However, Joshua did not fail. He succeeded in pushing back the orcs from the canyon. All he had to do was to confess his 'crime' and await his 'punishment'.

"Joshua Van Radcliffe. Your crimes and achievements have been thoroughly investigated by the royal court. You need not fear unjust treatment."

Such a casual phrase, of which Joshua knew what it actually meant. It's what Mengsk, the middle-aged man, working as a diligent investigator for the court, would say when he wanted no trouble for himself and Joshua. All he had to do was to listen to what Mengsk had to say and everything would be over in a blink of an eye.

Without pausing in between sentences, Mengsk quickly connected his sentence coldly and again, monotonously. "After considerations, the court has come to a decision. You have indeed broken the law yet there was nothing but benefits for the army. Your bravery was proven true and contained no malicious schemes towards the Empire and its interests. Henceforth, your judgment has been decided."

"Effective immediately, Joshua van Radcliffe shall be relieved from his duties as the deputy commander or the Black Crow Frontal Assault division. You shall henceforth retire from the army and return to your territory. However, your achievement will not be forgotten, yet your achievement cannot make your violations go unpunished. Hence, the court had decided to award you with the Blade of Glory for your exemplary bravery on the battlefield."

As he finished reading off the scroll in his hands, Mengsk turned to Joshua and smiled eerily. "The judgment has been delivered to the deputy commander of the Black Crow Frontal Assault Army. That is all."

He paced slowly towards Joshua and whispered. "We had initially decided to temporary have you on probation for three months and then raise your ranks to that of a general. However, considering that fact that you have troubles back in the North while the war with the orcs will be prolonged until the end of summer next year, we changed the decision to have you removed from the military and send you back home. How do you plea?"

Plea? What else was there to plea for?! That's what he wanted since the beginning!

Joshua smiled and nodded his head silently.

"I accept and obey."

It was an obvious reward for Joshua. There was no need for the court to remove him from his ranks. Removal from a military rank did not mean that he could never come back. It just meant that he was stripped of his deputy commander role to become a regular soldier. He was never removed from the military. Also, he was able to go home, legally! Joshua, who had made preparations to retire from the military itself was giving a chance to go home. It was more of a reward than a punishment.

"This ends the court session. Please adjourn to your seat and I shall proceed on with the Black Crow Army's tradition. I shall give you the warrior's blessing."

Mengsk's voice became dull and deep, his glare hallow and out of focus. "Humanity's fragility leads to Death."

Unconsciously, Joshua felt the need to stand firm and still. A burning passion rose from his gut and Joshua opened his mouth to speak loud and clear, "Yet Faith bears Life."

"May the Glory of the Dead be with you. O man of Bravery."

The two exchanged salutations and ended the court session.

"Well then. I'll hope that you'll have a nice—"

Mengsk held his tongue when something on inside his robes started to vibrate.

"An emergency magic broadcast message?'

Mengsk nodded apologetically and pulled out a silvery metallic pole that looked like a miniature pitchfork. Engrave on the side of the two forks were runes which he held it against his palm to imbued magic in it to activate the device. "Level 3 Emergency Message… What could it be?"

"Should I take my leave?" asked Joshua promptly when he heard the message's level of importance. He would not want to listen to something he would get into trouble with.

"It's fine. This message has only Level 2 Secrecy. Rest assured that it's something that you should know as well."

The rune was activated and the forks started to vibrate at supersonic speed to produce a machine-like sound.

"Northern Moldavia Family. The Winter Count, Beirut de Radcliffe's death has been certified. Danlya la Radcliffe has submitted paperwork to inherit the count's title."

When the message stopped broadcasting, Mengsk's eyes widened. He felt an intense killing aura behind him which sent a chill down his spine. Even though it was a brief moment, the coldness in the air was so intense, it felt like he was experiencing the fear of being attacked by a dragon. An eerie silence filled the room.

After a short moment, the frost killing intent subsided as Joshua calmed himself down. "Well, what do you know? Isn't this just perfect?"

He spoke but in a volume that was so soft, no one could hear it. "It's about d*mn time for me to return home."

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Chapter 4: Three Million, One Hundred and Ninety Seven Thousand, Four Hundred and Eighty-One

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Starfall Year 831. Winter. 2nd of November. Northern flatlands. Heavy snow.

"I've arrived." Joshua pulled back his hood and jumped down from his horse. Amidst the chilly winter's gale, he gazed towards the horizon and caressed the poor little beast that was nearly frozen to death. He then turned back towards the general direction of his intended destination and sighed. "Seventeen days…"

After the shocking news of the death of the Winter Count, he had started his journey back home from the northwest plain and had taken seventeen days to travel to where he was then. He then finally left the borders of the Empire and entered his northern territory. His hometown.

The place was entirely white, as the snow had blanketed the entire wasteland. Joshua pulled the horse's reins towards a nearby tree for a quick stop. He knelt down and plunged his hand into the snow. "Judging from the snow's thickness, I'm sure that this is the first snowstorm."

He pulled out his hands and noted the depth of the snow. "Hm. Not too bad. This won't affect our speed."

He got up and rubbed his hands to warm himself. "Soon. Real soon."

He took a deep breath and released a long breath that was immediately blown away by the cold northern wind. To take in the frigid air of the North's winter was nostalgic. The wind came from the highlands further up north. It carried the saltiness of the northern sea, of which Joshua felt at ease after inhaling a mouthful of it.

Beirut de Radcliffe was Joshua's father. A headstrong middle-aged man with the will of steel. However, Joshua's memories of him were so scarce that he only remembered bits and pieces of the man he called father. Compared to the Great Leader of the Territory, the people Joshua interacted with the most were the old butler at home and the family knights. His mother, however, had passed away long ago due to an incurable winter fever.

It could be said that Joshua and his father were not close. Yet, even so, the news about his father's death had made his entire being burn with rage. It did not take long for him to calm down. Revenge? No. A man should not know such a word.

Ever since he found out there was trouble stirring up in his territory, the possibility of such event happening had been on his mind. It was expected but still a shock to him when he knew of his father's death.

To die in the line of duty is a warrior's greatest honor. Perhaps that old man did manage to achieve his dream. Still… death would always be a loss. Worse, it was his own relative. It made him irritable and angry.

The thought of his death returned to him. It was a gloomy night sky when he was stabbed from behind by a Blade of Mercury in the middle of a battle in Fort Naya. A powerful curse seeped into his body and drain the energy from within his core.

No matter from which angle one looked at, it was an unforgivable act of betrayal.

Yet, someone made his appearance at the same time as his father's death; his uncle. He had made his appearance when Joshua was preoccupied and had taken the chance to claim the title of count. Nonetheless to say, be it the unknown stabber, or his uncle, both were despicable traitors.

As a traveler from another world, Joshua had a million ways to make himself stronger. As an ex-legendary warrior, a territory was considered something neither needed nor wanted. Given the option of becoming a territorial owner, he would rather be out in the wild traveling the world. It was something that he preferred.

However, his situation was rather straightforward. He did not care about needing the territory or whether he was happy or not. All that mattered then was to find that sucker and beat the sh*t out of him.

"It's time to go." Joshua rested enough. The horse that was kneeling on the ground got up to its feet and neighed. Joshua pulled a handful of dried feed that was treated with alcohol. The strong warhorse gobbled them just as fast as Joshua handed the food to it. As a powerful horse with the blood of a land drake, it drank alcohol and consumed meat. Joshua had been feeding him meat that came from the wild. The horse was good and had never let Joshua down. Its recovery speed was extremely fast. That explained why he had only taken seventeen days to return to the north. Normal horses would have taken twice as long.

Joshua mounted the horse, feeling extremely dissatisfied. "Level 28 Upper Silver tier. I'm too weak. If only I was Gold tier, I would have been back home a long time ago."

The game Continental War had a Level tier system. Mortal: Level 0 – 5. Steel: 6 – 15. Silver: 16 – 30. Gold: 31 – 50. Supreme: 51 – 75. Legendary: 76 – 105. Gold was a tier that separated the strong and the weak.

Normally, an adult man would have the capabilities of a Level 5 Mortal. If he had received training and had served the army, he would be at the rank of Steel. An elite soldier or an officer would be Silver tier. While this concept could only be applied to the people of this world, players in the game had reached the peak of the Silver tier in the first game version. As the game released more content in further expansions, the limits were raised higher. When the fourth expansion was released, strong players were able to achieve the highest tier, which was Legendary, and would gain the ability to truly affect the game progress.

Joshua was only a Level 28 Upper Silver tier. He was merely a normal human being that could not exceed the limits of what humans could do. Under the limitation of the tier, regular running speed would exceed that of a horse, including even resting time. Additionally, the speed of slowest transportation called the draconic caravan was unknown. At the very least, land drakes could move all the time without resting. Their movements would not even be affected by any sort of terrain. Joshua, on the hand, was still traveling by horse. Sometimes even, he had to walk on his feet across tough terrains.

"There's no time left."

Joshua suddenly recalled something.

"Right now, it's only the end of the first expansion, hence it is still peaceful. However, the second expansion marks the beginning of the 'Dark Tide'. The demons would descend, followed by the gods that were chased out by the demons. The war would tear this world apart and the fighting and killing will never cease."

That was only the first expansion; the third and fourth would be even worse. There would even be Chaos Daemons coming down during the fourth expansion. Before coming into this world, Joshua was fighting them on the battlefield. Chaos Daemons… they were the strongest, and most ferocious race that he had ever come across.

Twenty-four years… If my calculations are correct. It will be another twenty-four years before the Chaos Daemons descend. Sigh… Twenty-four years might be long, but such a time would be over in a blink of an eye. Joshua pressed a finger to his temple. In about half a year later, the daemons will come and the world will welcome a burst of power evolution. War across the continent will be elevated to another scale. If that were to happen, I alone wouldn't be enough to handle such a tragedy.

It was true. Even though Joshua strongly believed that he could be stronger than he ever was, a one-man army would not be enough to deal with a demon army that attacked in a tsunami-like wave. He needed a team. A strong powerful group of soldiers that could share his load.

Moldavia would be his place to develop that requirement. Be it a battle team or hiring a private army, Moldavia would be his first place to invest his time. At that moment, Joshua was no longer the deputy commander in the far south that could control large groups of soldiers. He no longer had trustworthy comrades that could help him. Right then, he was alone. Even so, he would not let anything disrupt his life. Come gods or demons, or even another visitor from another world, he would thrive to protect the world.

Nevertheless, the first on his to-do list was to find and end the life of his wretched uncle.

After a short distance, Joshua spotted a road post that looked like a tower. He followed the signs on the post and came to a long stone pavement that was built all the way towards the main city of Moldavia.

"Go." Hearing the command, the horse started galloping at full speed even when there was a layer of ice covering the ground.

The cold white clouds rolled in from the south and had cast a shadow that enveloped all the land in the wasteland mountain ridges. Snowflakes, the size of an adult's palm were falling down as if they were dancing in the air. Despite the heavy snowfall that would obscure one's vision, there were many groups of merchants walking on the pavement. The pavement was made huge enough to allow a large group of ten men or more to walk side by side. The merchants were walking in two directions; some were going towards the city and some were leaving on the draconic caravans. This mode of transport was important for trading among the four territories in the North. Before the invention of airships, these beasts were the only way to transport goods.

"Finally… Some humans."

Joshua sigh with relief when he saw such a scene. It was not that he had not seen any humans during his seventeen days of traveling alone, but the fact that after he had entered the northern region, he had yet to spot a single human.

During normal circumstances, besides adventurers and explorers, humans would never travel far from the main city. Danger awaited in the wasteland, forest, cavern since there were countless of monsters that lurked and hunted. A single mishap would spell doom for anyone. Speaking of dangerous events, there's even the 'Dark Tide' of the 'Dark Forest' that happened once or twice annually.

The Dark Forest and Dark Tide were the two worst problems that all races with power would face throughout the Mycroft Continent. The Empire's territory was huge; it in fact covered the entire northern region of the continent. The northern territory extended up to the Starfall Ocean. The southern region borders up to the center of the continent. If it was not for the constant issue of the Dark Forest and the Dark Tide, the Empire's expansion would have reached far and fast enough that they would have already been at war with the southern Kingdom.

"Excuse me! The one riding the horse alone."

Joshua was riding his horse on the stone pavement at a leisurely speed when someone had called out to him.

He turned to the source of the voice and saw a group of merchants that were preparing to leave the city. A middle-aged man came out of the wagon and greeted him loudly. His face expressed extreme fatigue. "Are you perhaps heading towards Moldavia?"

"Yes, I am." Joshua came to a stop and approached the wagon. "What I can do you for, good sir?"

"Heed this old man's advice. Leave the city. You're better off elsewhere," said the man with a deep and hoarse voice.

"Why is that?" Joshua asked with great interest.

The man had a scar that stretched all the way from his chin to his neck. It looked like it was from a cut. "A snowstorm is coming and the Dark Tide is coming. Many of the city's guards have been assigned to the fortress to strengthen the defenses. I can tell that there will be chaos since a large number of unknown knights came in half a month ago."

"I'm not boasting! Please heed my words. We, the merchants have been traveling for many years, some of us had even met with the ruler of the city. When we say that we have never seen the knights before, they must be coming from somewhere that is not on the map…The citizens of the city are in a state of panic. I am guessing something big is about to happen, hence our departure."

The man gave Joshua a stern look and continued his lecture. "I only warned you about this because you are traveling alone. If there's no urgent business to tend to, I urge you to turn around. There's just too much suspicion in the air now. I heard that even the famous wandering fighters were recruited to join the defense and have started patrolling the city grounds. All the old-timers on the streets are nowhere to be seen anymore. I'm afraid that my suspicion will soon prove right. Something big is coming. Whatever it is, it's not going to be good."

The man had a keen sense of judgment and good observation. That and the man himself was kind enough to give Joshua his advice.

That advice made Joshua think about it for a moment before he realized the reason behind it. Half a month ago was the period when his father's death was confirmed. Many of the higher ranked officers would know about it yet it was not spread to the rest of the common folk. As for the Dark Tide, it was about high time for it to come. Having knights around to defend the city would be the most common thing to do.

On the other hand, about the large number of unknown knights, they were most probably brought in by his uncle. It was most likely preparation to claim the count's title. If that were the case, most of the people living in the city then would be his men.

There was something odd. Joshua may not know much about his uncle yet he was sure that hiring a group of knights, or even just a knight would be beyond his capabilities. There's was no way he could pull that off just by being a merchant.

"Thank you," said Joshua as he nodded earnestly towards the middle-aged man. He lifted his head and smiled. "I'll be frank, you need not be in a hurry to leave. I could tell from the footprints prints in the snow that your wagon is carrying a heavy load. Perhaps you have not made a good sale? Then again, I'd urge you to wait a few days. I'm sure you can expect an unexpected news and sales! Farewell!"

Joshua turned his horse around and sped off without waiting for the man to reply.

"Sigh… Youngsters these days. Being hot-headed will get you nowhere! I'd told him that place is dangerous! Why isn't he listening to my advice… Wait a minute…"

The man frowned while brushing his unkempt beard as he tried his best to remember something. "That man… He seems all too familiar… Could it be?!"

The man raised his head only to find that Joshua was a great distance away from him. "Could it be him?!""Dark Forest… Dark Tide… I'm sure that it about time for that to come. Talk about timing. That old geezer sure know how to grasp attention. One dead and another comes to claim. What a freaking coincidence."

The Dark Forest was a forest of trees that was the result of the fusion of magic and nature. Their growth rate was exceedingly fast and had a terrifying living force. Cut down the entire forest and leave one tree behind, new ones would sprout in a matter of days. The monsters and magical beast that depended on the Dark Forest to survive had numbers enough to frighten any strong army.

The Dark Tide was a phenomenon where the Dark Forest stops growing. For some unknown reason, a large group of monsters would leave the forest due to the loss of their food source and would scatter to attack human cities and fortresses. They knew no fear and could continue to attack until they had no means to attack. In other words, until you chop off their heads and limbs, they would still crawl, bite, gnaw, and commit other atrocities that permitted them to kill and feed. If an adventurer were to stumble across the phenomenon, unless they had the capabilities of a Gold tier, they would be slaughtered like meat on a butcher's table.

Once, a white mage from the Heavenly Tower came to the Dark Forest and assessed its condition. The Dark Tide was directly linked to the Dark Forest and it was found that the Dark Forest spread its growth through the seeds that were ingested by the monsters. Once they died, the seeds would germinate. Once a carrier died, the blood, bones, and rotten flesh will be nourishment for the seed to grow. A flame purifying treatment must be applied once the battle with the Dark Tide had ended. If left untreated, the place where the battle took place would spawn a new Dark Forest which would draw in more monsters. The cycle would continue on until all Dark Forests were eradicated.

If Joshua had inherited the title of count, he would have made the destruction of the Dark Tide his first priority. Not only he had to protect the citizens within the walls, he needed to prevent subsequent attacks from the Dark Forest or any other beings that posed a threat beyond the walls.

"All the knights that were supposed to be under my command must have been assigned to the fortress guarding the Dark Forest. The group of knights brought in by my uncle should be there as well. That means those in charge of protecting this city must have fled long ago. No wonder the merchants skipped town."

Joshua held on to the reins of the horse tighter. "That means I must face all the knights of the opposite side, alone."

He cracked a smile. He, Joshua van Radcliffe, was a man who would never back down from a fight. No matter how high the odds were stacked against him.

Nevertheless, an alternate world and game world was not the same. The game bragged that everything you could in real life, you could do the same in the game. That means, if there was magic Combat Aura in real life, the same would be applied in the game! However, the experience would always be limited to the mechanism of the game. Hence, they were never the same.

However, there was one aspect of himself that was slightly different from the humans in the alternate world, and that was battle experience.

A warrior was trained to wield the sword and destined to fight in the battlefield for as long as he breathed. Even so, the chances of participating in a battle would not exceed a hundred. To be able to slay more than fifty targets in the virgin battle would earn him the respect of his entire battalion. He would be the bravest amongst the brave. This applied to all adventurers as well. A true adventure would require planning ahead for months and even years. Accounting for the time taken traveling and the actual adventure, it could take up to years before one would return to one's home. In one lifetime, an adventurer would only able to set foot into the wild and embark on the adventure for less than ten counts before truly retiring.

Players were not the same. Once a game started, they would aim for levels, quests, equipment, and many others. With every drop of bloodshed, experience points would be gained. Every skill, equipment, and item gained would only grant them better and faster performance for their next grinding session.

Joshua was the owner of a martial arts training center. There were only a few people that had applied to learn martial arts, hence, with the abundance of spare time he had, Joshua had chosen to play the game. The sole purpose of him playing Continental War was to gain experience in fighting styles that could never be applied to the real world. Killing, for an example. However, he would not deny the fact that he preferred the scenery of the game more than the real world. He was there mainly to fight people, and monsters as well. He would continue to fight and challenge stronger and better targets.

In the game, players had an achievement list. In that list, the highest and hardest to achievement was the Platinum Gold Trophy, which was extremely hard to acquire.

However, Joshua was special. In fact, he had the one and only unique achievement that no one had ever acquired, and that was the Diamond Trophy.

[Diamond Trophy – Targets Killed: 3,197,481]

Three million, one hundred and nineteen thousand, four hundred and eighty-one confirmed deaths.

I wonder how many men my uncle has? The past experience of him slaying more targets in a battle made his fists itch for a fight. Could they even satisfy me?

No one could answer such an arrogant question. Alone, Joshua laughed maniacally as he rode the horse swiftly towards the city.

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Chapter 5: The Old Butler

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The cold winter wind brushed across the flatlands. Sometimes, they were gentle enough to make dried-up leaves sway. Sometimes, they were cruel. Blankets of snow would fold and stack on each other to make room for new snow to pile up. However wild or calm the wind might be, the snow would continue to fall from the sky. Joshua clutched his thick winter clothes closer to his body. It had been some time before he could get use to the cold even though he was born there.

As he continued his way on the route, Joshua had not seen any other like him, riding a majestic warhorse. He reached the borders of Moldavia and slowed down. There were more and more people on the route he was using. Excluding the merchants with the land drakes, there were many other caravans with all sort of flags. They could be merchants, or they could also be rich folk trying to escape the cold. What was certain was that the locals there would not want to waste any body heat doing things that would only wear them out.

There were folk traveling in the snow with winter wolves pulling their sleigh. Those were most likely veteran fishermen and old-time hunters. The route to head over the river and the forest were more treacherous than ever. Hence, the best means of transportation were snow sleighs.

"Huh… Winter wolves…"

Joshua noticed the four-legged, furry mammals that were pulling the sleigh. They were large and looked exactly like regular canines. Joshua scoffed. The name may sound majestic and all, but their behavior was exactly that of a Husky. Hold on. Perhaps an Alaskan Malamute would fit the description better. He remembered the difference between the two species since he had a Husky and thought it was a Malamute back then. Either way, the one he had, was extremely cool. A long time ago, when he had just entered the newly launched game, he was alone and was grinding in the far north. There, he spotted a winter wolf at the auction house. He was unable to suppress his love for pets and immediately bought it.

Hmm? Joshua narrowed his gaze as he spotted a lone human figure that was walking alone where everyone else was riding or mounting on a vehicle. He immediately stopped reminiscing the past and focused on the shadowy figure. Just then, he felt nostalgia and a sense of familiarity. How strange…

It was strange indeed. How could a shadowy figure invoke his sense of familiarity? Joshua then focused hard on it and moved his horse towards the shadow. As he got closer and closer, the sense of familiarity got stronger. Yet, he could not figure out who was the person was. It was until when he got close enough that his vision was no longer obscured by the snow, he recognized the person. Shocked, he gasped. "Old butler… Fang?!"

The man responded to the name Fang and lifted his head when he heard the call. The old man lifted his head higher to meet Joshua's gaze and bowed politely.

"It's been a while, Master Joshua."

Without replying, Joshua got down from his horse swiftly and quickly greeted the old butler as his equal. When he had the chance to properly examine the old man, he noticed two aspects that made him feel incredibly aggravated. "What happened?! Your hair! Your hands!"

Joshua held the old man's hands in his own and examined them. The old man merely smiled and allowed the young master to do as he pleased.

The hands that had taken care of him for years—were now aged beyond comprehension. Veins were popping out and the muscles he once had, had degenerated. The man had lost his youth and strength. His skin was now wrinkled. There were wrinkles on his forehead.

Looking at the pair of hands and the old man's happy face, Joshua could not return the smile. He was angry. And that anger belonged to this world's Joshua.

Fang was the butler of the Radcliffe family. He was there when Joshua was born. They had been living together for as long as he could remember. In fact, he was so close to Joshua that Joshua did not see the difference between Fang and his own father. Still, Fang was more caring than his own father. It was because of the years of affection he displayed to Joshua that made him angry.

The man that was standing feebly in front of him was the man that had taken care of Joshua. The cruel scars of time could be seen all around him. The white hair, the feeble smile, the countless wrinkles on his face and hands—It did not take a genius know that the man was now old.

If everything was normal, according to the rules of the world, Fang, the middle-aged man, was supposed to be the same as the other butlers of other families. His appearance and age aside, he was supposed to be the same age as his father, both were about to pass the age of fifty.

A man of that age, that had been through hell and back, growing a full head of white hair should not be something weird.

That was the abnormality. Neither his father nor Fang were normal to begin with!

Aside from the other humans, the Winter Count, Beirut de Radcliffe was a Gold-tier knight. It meant his expected lifespan was as long as 200 years. If one were to take good care of one's health, a Gold-tier knight could live as long as 300 years. Fifty or sixty years old should be the peak of their life. Yet…F ang had… gotten old.

When Joshua was a year old, Fang looked and behaved like a young adult around the age of eighteen or twenty. When Joshua still running around in his mismatched clothes and a wooden toy in his hand, Fang looked and behaved like a young adult around the age of eighteen or twenty. When Joshua was training with his father with a huge steel sword in his hand, Fang would be sitting at the side of the training ground, with fresh hot tea prepared for the both of them. Fang looked and behaved like a young adult around the age of eighteen or twenty. Even when Joshua had entered the military training academy, the one that would greet him at the front gates, with a genuine smile and a head full of rich black hair, was Fang. He looked and behaved like a young adult between the age of eighteen to twenty.

In the past, Joshua used to ask his father puzzling questions. Even in a magical world of dungeons and dragons, eternal youth was something mystical. Excluding the elves, he could not find a race that could have eternal youth and vitality. Even though the head of the Radcliffe family had never answered his question, Joshua knew that a man with black hair, gold with a crimson hue eyes, and a regular appearance of a human, could not possibly be an elf. Yet, in the same manner of speaking, Fang was not a human as well. Without a doubt, he must belong to a mysterious race with an extremely long lifespan.

Still, even after so many years, the Winter Count never answered his question.

"You'll know it someday."

"I have no time to grace that question with an answer."

Many a time, he would simply shrug it off and say those things.

However perplexing it may be, such a species had never brought trouble to the land. In fact, many humans like Joshua were never interested to find the answer to that question. There were just too many beings around them with long lifespans. The barman that served drinks in the local pub could be an elf, the fisherman that sold fish in the market could be an elf as well. No one had the time to discover the truth.

The problem with Joshua's butler was the fact that he had the same appearance for such a long time yet in his absence, Fang had aged so drastically. It begged the question that something must have occurred recently. It could have a connection to the death of the Winter Count, Joshua's father.

The land of providence—what had taken place when he was serving in the south?

"Fang, explain to me what had happened while I was gone," asked Joshua. His tone was firm and commanding. "Answer me!" he yelled, when Fang remained quiet.

After moving through worlds, the man had a sort of disoriented, mixture of feelings. Even though everything around him was without a doubt, real, he could not grasp what was real. Everything was familiar yet alien, some lost, and some remained. Joshua was determined to get answers from the old butler there and then as he had enough. His heart was pumping blood to all the veins in his body at an alarming speed. His cold glare was so sharp that it could pierce through all the realms to search for his nameless enemies.

"The territory…" Fang was stuttering. He was not sure of what to say. After a long silence, the man spoke again. "My young master, I'm afraid it is not time for you to know."

"Why is that?" asked Joshua. His words were deep and stern. He took a step forward and glared down at the old man with a ferocious expression that could frighten any criminal.

"That is because young master is not yet 'qualified'."

Both of them remained quiet for a long time. There were other passersby that were busy with their own business and paid no attention to the conversation with the son of the late Winter Count and the family's butler.

"If you wish to know the truth, you would have to inherit your father's position and title. Become the master of Moldavia. Protect the land as its master and owner. Such a rule cannot be broken. It is what that had been written in the contract."

"Qualified?!" Joshua bellowed.

Joshua was stunned. He felt a sudden epiphany to the truth that he did not want to believe. "The Winter Count has only one son. Without a doubt, I will be the count, for I am the only successor! There's no mistake that even after his death, I would be the one to obtain the title! Not even the emperor would acknowledge that. The master of this land should be me! Joshua van Radcliffe!"

"That would seem to be the truth as well."

"Yet you're here telling me otherwise?! That I am not qualified to the know the truth until I am the count? Who else had the qualification to know? That uncle who came from nowhere?"

When he mentioned about his uncle's matter, Joshua unconsciously grinned with an eerie aura around him. With a glare, he said, "That's right. He does have the authority to take up the title of count. In that case, everything can be made right by ending his life."

Even when he had said something that would have gotten him arrested, the old man refused to answer him. The old man made a quick check on Joshua's wrists and frowned. He averted his golden-crimson eyes immediately before Joshua could notice.

"Qualification is not something as abstract as a title or status. It is a thing," said Fang as if he was reciting a speech that was premade. Joshua listened to him patiently. "It is not that I do not have the information of the location of which your father had hidden it. It is hidden in a place that you should know of."

"What is it? Where? How would I know something that I don't even know?!"

"Young master. Even if it pains me to keep it from you. I am not allowed to. I can't speak of it."

Joshua was not the kind that would wrangle information from a person. He was not that patient. He began to accept the fact after he had noted Fang was in fact being restricted from telling him the truth due to some sort of contract. He sighed and drew out the system window to cast an "Identification" skill.

[Identifying… Level Suppression: Advantage… Attribute Suppression: Advantage]

[Identification Successful]

[Name: Fang Amos]

[Form: Excellent]

[Race: Divine Armament—Racial Skill: Divine Armament Transformation, Resonate with the blood-bonded contractor and transform into a weapon]

[Level: Force Reduced to 1, Death of the Contractor]

[Attribute: Force Reduced to Minimum Basic, Death of the Contractor]

[Physique: Average Alternate World Humanoid]

[HP: Forced Reduced to Minimum Basic, Death of the Contractor]

[Vitality: Force Reduced to Minimum Basic, Death of the Contractor]

[Transformed Weaponry: Amos Dragon-Slaying Blade]

[Status: Life Force Failing (Remaining Lifespan: 10 days)]

[Class: Sixth Generation Anti-Aragami Divine Armament / Butler]

[Innate Ability: Force Deletion, Death of the Contractor]

[Skill: Force Deletion, Death of the Contractor]

[Equipment: Black Butler Uniform]

[A powerful weapon. A loyal butler]

Hold on. What the f*ck is going on?!

Joshua's heart sank when he saw the bunch of information that was projected before him.

Divine Armament?!

Joshua could remember discussing something of that sort back when he was socializing within the gamers' circle. There were even threads on the forum that blasted with heated discussion. It was said to be a powerful and rare contract-based race. However, he had no information about their capabilities since back then; he was new to the game and only focused on information about the legendary dungeon, the [The Ancient Multiverse Bridge's Sacrificial Ground].

His memories had begun to return to him. The contractor's quest for the Divine Armament could be found in the Empire's northern territory. The difficulty was considered to be impossible since there was a time limit. With his capabilities, he could clear the dungeon however, he would exceed the time given and fail the quest as a whole. There were no more than ten players that had managed to find a Divine Armament and form a contract. Those lucky, strong players had purposely leaked the information about it and told the world about the difficulty of the dungeon. As such, the Divine Armament had become a myth among players.

If he was right, he remembered that the place to start the Divine Armament quest was Moldavia city, through the Radcliffe family!

All the passive memories started to resurface and Joshua had begun to understand more and more about his status in the world. After cross referencing the information from both worlds, he had found out that the Radcliffe family had been involved in the game's progress. Through the fragmented memories, he should have guessed that was the 'thing' that his family was protecting, and all of the strange events that had unfolded!

If he guessed it right—the 'thing' would be something truly bad.

No matter what, the current crucial situation was Fang's depleting life force.

"Fang." Joshua frowned and sighed. He tried to think of a way to phrase it but had chosen to come clean. He already knew the truth.

"Yes? Young master?"

"Your… time is short."

The old man twitched a little and remained silent.

"Even if you choose not to answer me, I would have guessed the truth about you. However, that is the past. Right now, I have been thinking of the same thing since I have the intention of taking my father's place. I want you to continue to be my butler. I want you by my side when my future son takes my place."

Fang remained silent.

"Fang. I have you know that you're an important person to me. You're family to me. I only want to know what happened to you! That is all!"

Fang met Joshua's heated eyes. His once golden-crimson eyes had lost its luster, due to his depleted life force. They were now old, dull, yet still as sharp as ever.

"I'm touched at the thought, young master." Fang finally replied. The old man straightened up and took a deep breath as to prepare himself. "A contract is a contract. There are things that I cannot break even though I voluntarily want to. I… I could tell you things that are not of importance."

"As you can see, I am not human. A long time ago, my ancestors and I made a contact with the Radcliffe family. We pledged ourselves to serve the family. The contract binds our life force, hence, when Master passed away, I too, will soon join him in eternal slumber."

The old man bowed suddenly. Joshua could see the man was trembling a little. "I'm sorry for not being able to protect the Master."

Joshua sighed.

"This is the limit to which I can reveal to you. The rest of which you have guessed but I cannot confirm that information. Unless you become the head of the family, unless you become one of the Radcliffes that accepts the responsibility that had been accepted by all Radcliffes. Unless you do that, I cannot tell you anything."

The two men stared at each other for a long time. The snow had started to pile on the shoulders of both men.

After some time, Joshua reached out his arms to dust off the snow that was on his head and shoulders. "I understand. Partially."

He sighed again and his breath was immediately crystallized by the cold wind.

"In that case, what are you going to do for the next remaining ten days of your life? Where are you going?"

"There's no need to weep for me, young master," said Fang as he examined the horse that Joshua had rode. He turned to the emotionless Joshua and smiled. "It's a fine horse."

"…" Joshua kept quiet. He wanted to hear what Fang had to say.

"Death in the line of duty would be a warrior's greatest honor. Both your father and I have no remorse for that belief."

Fang turned to his back facing Joshua and said, "I have only one thing to say." His voice was deep and solemn. "We have uninvited guests in the house now." Fang emphasized the word guests with a certain tone. "Regrettably, I am not in the best condition to 'treat' them well."

"In that case, I'll take the responsibility to clear the garbage. Like what you used to do back then." Joshua understood what he meant. "Clean and spotless."

"Very well. I will pray for your well-being, young master. Good luck."

"Goodbye… Fang…"

The old butler took the reins of the horse and sped off in the opposite direction of where Joshua was headed; where he was staring at then.

Sigh… To be the owner of the Sealed Land? Bah. Joshua scoffed then laughed coldly.

The snow got heavier by the minute and his vision became more obscure. All he could see then was the silhouette of the gigantic city walls. The walls that protected the place where he had traveled more than a thousand kilometers, the Sealed Land, the place where his uncle was going to seize the Count of Moldavia title.

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Chapter 6: Under the Light of the Twin Moons

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Ding… Dong…

The bell rang nine times. The sound of the echoing metal spread out from the center of Moldavia. A few men came down from the bell tower that was erected at the center of a grand church. It was a scheduled call, to inform all that lived in Moldavia to know that night had arrived.

Fire in the lamps that hung on most corners of the streets was put out by patrolling officers. Right then, only faint candlelight could be seen emitting from the closed windows of all residents.

The darkness in the streets was abnormal—It began with a strict order that was decreed half a month ago. All citizens must obey the law. It was a rare sight that the usual busy street of the shopping district was empty. Shops that were well-known for nightlife had ceased their businesses, there was only darkness. The only light source could be seen on the street were those coming from the torches of the patrolling officers. The only place that was brightly illuminated then were countable with one's fingers. Among them, the building that shone the brightest was the central command center. The headquarters of Moldavia and also home of the count, who was owner and master of the city.

The building was grand as it had close to no differences to that of a castle. It was surrounded by a thick and high stone wall which was erected to prevent anyone from seeing the happenings inside."He's alive?!"

A loud roar could be heard from within.

Inside a rather small hall that gave off an ancient vibe, a healthy and rather large man was sitting in an enormous chair in the front of a huge desk. The obese man looked furious as he screamed at a soldier that was kneeling. "How can that be?! Reports say that he had recklessly charged into the enemies' camp! He could not possibly survive that!"

If he was still alive, there's no way he could escape from stirring up trouble when he was trying to get his hands on the count's title.

"My lord, according to the secret report, the man is not only alive but also made a huge contribution to the army. He was awarded the Blade of Glory. Even though he was stripped of his ranks, he was sent back here. In this case, this is a bad situation for us to be in."

The soldier's entire face was masked by his helmet. However, even an idiot could guess that the man was not happy.

"Hmph! So, he is alive. Well, that's nothing to be afraid of. He is just another common Silver-tier warrior." The man, Danlya Radcliffe scoffed condescendingly. The flickering candlelight made his glare a little menacing. "Those knights that were loyal to his father are all stationed at Fort Dark Forest. Those knights were the ones that we are supposed to be wary of. Hmph. They cannot come back to the city before the Dark Tide ends. When that happens, I will be the next Winter Count!"

Even though the manner he spoke was confident, the man was still frowning. He had annoyed look and a glare that could kill a bird just by focusing his sight on them. "Urgh… The fact that he is alive… This could change my plans. Those knights… That man…"

"Sir Danlya, it looks like you have some trouble." A shadowy figure appeared from nowhere and into the hall. The voice he heard was as if someone was standing next to him. The owner of the voice came out of the shadows and revealed himself to be a warrior clad in heavy armor.

Logically speaking, a suit of armor made from heavy metal would have made a metal clanking sound if one were to walk. However, the man that had just appeared seemed to have defied the law of physics. He was obviously walking; even though it was slow, no sound was generated. When Danlya noticed his presence, a voice rang in his mind, "If there something troubling you, I can lend you an ear."

"Swordsman… no. Silencer. Why are you here?"

Danlya returned to his regular state of mind and leaned back into his chair. He frowned and rested his hand on his chin. "You're supposed to be patrolling… I did not pay you good money to have you running around as you wish!" His voice gradually grew louder.

The silencer's helmet twitched a little as he played with his fingers around as to express his annoyance. He then used Spirit Sense to respond, "Technically, I am under your employment. However, need I remind you that without 'their' support, you would not be able to hire me? The rest of us share the same thoughts."

Danlya raised his eyebrows and when he wanted to open his mouth to retort, the silencer continued to talk, "I'm here not to discuss something as trivial as that. There's something important that I think that you'll need to know." The silencer's voice turned stern and deep. "Trust me. I have no reason to lie."

Immediately, Danlya knew that something was wrong and the news was as important as the silencer said it was. "What is it?" asked Danlya despite not being able to see the man's face in the suit of armor. He had chosen to speak in a neutral manner to avoid the risk of offending him.

"The man among 'them' has started to move."

"When will they arrive?"

"Tomorrow."

Danlya face turned black as he sulked menacingly. "I haven't managed to get my hands on this city… If that 'person' arrives now…"

"There's nothing we can do now," said the silencer through Spirit Sense. "It is best for you to prepare a welcome party."

The man kept quiet. The only sound that could be heard was the howl of the winter's wind through the opened window in the ceiling.

At that moment, someone came rushing into the hall. His breathing was so ragged that he could run out of air at any time.

"My Lord! Chr—Young Master Chris is missing!"

"WHAT?!"In a small forest outside of the city, a small bonfire was lit and the flames were flickering wildly as it was blown by the strong wind. Joshua was sitting too close to the fire. Burnt amber burst out occasionally and was immediately blown away. Joshua was sitting in a corner of the forest, to seek shelter from the strong and unforgiving cold wind. It was snowing heavily. The snowstorm was merciless as it froze anything that existed. Those that could not adapt to the cold would experience death by ice. Joshua had almost gotten used to the cold. Although, he would place his hands closer to the fire from time to time. He was only tens of kilometers away from the city.

He reached his hands into a bag of dried food and fed it to the warhorse. "You had it rough there, old buddy."

The horse neighed nonchalantly.

The fire was flickering violently as the wood was almost completely burnt away. Joshua turned to his side and pick out a large block of chopped wood and tossed it into the bonfire. The bonfire welcomed the fried cold wood with fire that brightened the area and provided warmth for Joshua and his horse.

Winter's night in the land of the north came faster than other lands. Rather than chasing the light in the far horizon to reach his destination, it would be best to rest for the night to preserve strength for the next day. Joshua found a small forest and set camp at the edge where the trees were smaller and wildlife was scarce. He took his bags off the horse's saddle and started preparing a meal.

As he gnawed on the stale bread and jerky, he thought of his plan for tomorrow.The gates of the city will close every night at 10 p.m. Right now, even if I tried to rush there, I wouldn't make it in time. Might as well rest here. Who knows what danger I might encounter in the night. Tomorrow, there will be a fight.

When that time comes, the entire city would be filled with his uncle's men. Joshua anticipated an unavoidable fight when he sets foot on the city grounds.

A frigid wind blew by, causing the leaves of the trees to break off and flutter along with the gust.

"The snow is getting thicker…" Joshua muttered to himself and tossed another thick firewood.

Moldavia was only one of the four human settlements around the northern Ias Volcano. From a bird's-eye view, Moldavia was only neighbor to the Ias Volcano and the infamous Dark Forest. Even though there would be half a year of winter, there would be warmth provided by the volcano ashes and the molten lava that flowed out of the peak from time to time. Hence, along the foot of the volcano, the extreme temperature of the lava was cooled down to normal temperature, allowing flora and fauna alike to live. Before human colonization, this place was paradise for living beings. When the humans moved to the land, the trees of that forest were chopped down. Thankfully, through generations of humans clearing the Dark Forest, the land was made habitable. It was only a few hundreds of years ago when the industrial age introduced a faster method of destroying the Dark Forest, allowing the human population to grow at an alarming rate. It was not known to what extent humanity had sacrificed to achieve their goal. At the very least, there was a triangular void that separated the originally semi-circular Dark Forest into two parts. As for the the newly built city, there were more gravestones that had been erected.

The territorial owner of the city of Moldavia was the Radcliffe family, which Joshua belonged to. The older family generation had close ties with the dwarves. They had contributed to the extractions of precious minerals, allowing the Radcliffe family, with the help of the dwarves, to produce stronger weapons and armor. That was the industry which the Radcliffe family excelled in.

However, due to the extreme temperature of the North, regular trades could only last for half a year before merchants were brought in to support the industry.

The meat and bread in his hands were so stale and cold that Joshua had to burn them a little in the bonfire to get them to an edible temperature. After forcing himself to consume the food, Joshua could feel his Happiness gauge drop by 50%.

If only the pine trees here were not poisonous, I would have taken a bite out of the tree barks… At least they are fresh.

Joshua knew many things; from the Green Bear Beast of the Beginner's Village where greenhorns could easily kill with a swing of a twig, to the Sky Crushing Dragons on the Eternal Arctic Circle that took twenty-four veteran adventurers to try and defeat it, the Great God Giants in the Multiverse Sacrificial Ground, and even the Green Frost Titans of the Zenith of the Corroding Winds. All said monsters and legendary beasts' weaknesses and fighting strategies were known to Joshua. In fact, there was no boss in Continental War that he had not fought before.

In the aspect of combat, Joshua could consider himself an expert. None could defy his words for none could challenge him. However, besides combat and knowledge of monsters, he had nothing else that he excelled in.

As the strongest player in the strongest battle team that had fought the most powerful boss in the game, Joshua always found himself rushing to the end and killing the strongest target. As for the rest, such as socializing, coordinating battle strategies, expanding the team, fighting random monsters and NPC, Joshua had no such experience. Not to mention other professions such as cooking.

In other words, in that world, Joshua was the son of a count, a middle-ranked military officer, hence, he would not need to go to the kitchen. He would only need to ring the bell and food would be delivered to him. In the previous world, Joshua was just a small martial arts training center owner. Even though he had no apprentices (due to several reasons), he would not need to cook for there were robots and machines to do that for him. That was the reason why he and 'he' had no reason to learn how to cook!

Clip clop clip clop…

Not far from where Joshua had set up a fire, he could hear the sound of horses' hooves on the solid pavement. It was the same stone pavement that he had left.

Joshua bit down the last piece of jerky and experienced what it was like to swallow something as rough as sawdust. He immediately got up to his feet and gazed at the source of the sound. A man was riding a horse and was galloping with haste away from the city in the middle of the snowstorm.

Hmm. Must be in a rush. Why would he want to travel at night, in the middle of a snowstorm?

Joshua shrugged and tidied the surroundings of the bonfire. He could literally feel the energy in him being hastily replenished as he sat down after dinner. He stretched his hands and feet, made sure that his clothes were covering his entire body, checked if there was enough firewood in place, and slept by the tree root.

The seventeen days of riding was brutal for even a man like Joshua. He, a mortal that had ascended to Silver tier. A tier where a man could run for days without rest, yet there he was, tired, exhausted, sleepy. He emptied his mind from all thoughts and allowed his spirit to rest.

Hours later, the snow finally came to a stop.

Joshua was woken up by the bristling sound of the trees. He gazed up into the night sky and was surprised to see that the clouds had already dispersed.

It was still night, yet Joshua could see dual shadows cast by the twin moons in the night sky. One was as blue as a sapphire and the other was as white as a pearl. The halo of the white moon was wide and bright that it had split the night sky into two. Countless stars could be seen, sparkling like diamonds.

"What a beautiful moonlight."

Joshua yawned and realized something.

When the third expansion is released, the abyss will be unsealed and the twin moons will be devoured. The Eye of Fear will replace the moon in the night sky. This would probably be one of the few times I can probably enjoy the night scene.

The days after the war would only be filled with sorrow. War and battle would rage on for as long as it needed to be. However, the Mycroft Continent was beautiful when the world knew peace. During the early stages of Continental War, many players signed up for the game, only to enjoy the beautiful scenery. They even grind their level just to reach dangerous high-level maps to catch the sights there.These players were famous and were known as the Tourist Party. In the end stage of the game, these players had chosen to change their class into druids in order to participate in a movement called the [World Restorators] with the sole purpose of recreating the beautiful world that they once enjoyed.

Joshua stretched and made preparations for the journey back home. As he did, the sun came up and the moons bid farewell. Joshua sighed at the golden hue of the early dawn of day. He knew that these peaceful days would soon end.

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Chapter 7: A Soldier's Life

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

A hooded rider that was clad in light metal armor and a white leather undercoat layer arrived at the city of Moldavia. He pulled the reins of his horse to stop at the gates where he needed to wait until the gates opened.

The walls of the towering city walls were made with black blocks of refined granite. It was not clear whether or not the builders had done a good job, but the blocks of granite were placed unevenly. Snow could be seen stacked on a few blocks that were not in line with the wall, making the entire city look like an incomplete checkerboard. Still, its colossal size was truly impressive. From afar, people could have mistaken the city walls for giants that were protecting the city inside.

"It's been a while…"

The knight that had just arrived at the city gates was called Elson. He was a knight that was part of the garrison of Fort Dark Forest and had served the Radcliffe family for more than twenty years. For a 39-year-old man, he had a head full of gray hair.

Eighteen days ago, when he was fighting the daemons coming out of the Dark Forest, he was suddenly informed about the sudden, mysterious death of the Winter Count, whom he had pledged to serve. When he heard the news from his comrade-in-arms, he felt no fear or surprise, but a sense of extreme suspicion.

It has to be a joke. His liege was a Gold-tier knight. A man that could even fight a dragon and live to tell the tale. He had even sent an urgent update to the garrison in Fort Dark Forest to strengthen their fortification due to the coming Dark Tide. He had even sent a large group of horsemen to support their cause. How could a man suddenly die?

It did not add up. Something must be wrong.

No matter what sort of reason Elson tried to come up with, the fact that the Winter Count was no longer among the living, did not change.

Many shared his suspicions. However, despite the sense of helplessness in him, there was nothing he could do at the moment. A large number of them also expressed their intention to return to the city to seek the truth. However, they could not do that. All of the soldiers that were assigned in the fortress could not leave their post. The Dark Tide was coming and they would have to deal with the threat of daemons. If the forces in the fortress were unable to stop the coming of the Dark Tide, the overwhelming numbers of daemons would flood the city grounds and destroy one of the four northern territories. The death toll would be too high, which was something the Winter Count would never allow to happen.

The knights of the fortress called for a meeting and during the heated discussion, a suggestion was made.

"Let's send a small platoon to check things out. It should be fine. The main purpose of going back was to gather information, not start fight."

Everyone felt that the suggestion was extremely reasonable. However, their initial plan changed when the returning party was greeted by a large group of wounded soldiers that came from the city itself.

"The count's brother, Danlya the merchant had brought in five platoons of Silver-tier knights and two companies of soldiers to take over the city."

A squad of soldiers had around ten men, a platoon fifty, and a company was a hundred. The group of men that just arrived were the city knights and soldiers that wanted to leave for the Fort Dark Forest to gather information. However, when they left the city, they were immediately overwhelmed by the large force and had to run away, throwing away their battered armor and broken weapons.

"Did he plan this? Did he come to take over the city just after our liege passed away?"

"Hmph! Such a betrayal. The person to inherit the title is young master Joshua! Who does Danlya think he is?!"

Naturally, the act of treason had incurred the wrath of all the soldiers in the Fort Dark Forest. However, even if they wanted to march straight back into the city to take back what was rightfully Joshua's, they were limited to guarding the fortress against the incoming Dark Tide. Two hundred men could make a change but they would be facing fifty Silver-tier knights, equivalent to fifty battle tanks on the frontline.

"The situation now is confusing. To get things straight, we have to go back!"

"We cannot just leave this fortress alone!"The heated discussion grew long until they realized that there was no hope. If they wanted to intervene in the city, they could only do so after the next month when the Dark Tide was dealt with.

"Next month?! By then, that Danlya would have acquired the title of the Winter Count!" A man with an injured arm called out. "If he does, half of us here would be removed! At best, he would only be forced to return to our place of origin. He would not need us; the knights and soldiers of the old count!"

What he said was somewhat true. None of them were willing to leave themselves. However, the incoming Dark Tide could never be ignored, nor could the ascension of Danlya to the position of count.

"The city will be tightly secured. It would be extremely hard for anyone of us to gather any sort of intelligence." An old knight, probably at the age of fifty, spoke out as he continued to sharpen his long sword with a small whetstone. His face and arms were covered in deep scars that could only be the result of hundreds of battles. "Rather than discussing something that would not bear fruit, I have a suggestion. Rather than a squad or platoon, one man should be enough."

He placed the whetstone back into a small leather pouch that he was carrying and sheathed his sword. "I suggest someone amongst us disguise themselves as a lone hunter that has returned to the city after a long hunt."

The discussion came to an end with a final decision. After drawing lots to decide who would go, Elson was the lucky one. That was how he managed to arrive at the front gates of the city.

"It's almost 6 p.m. now. The gates should open at any minute."

Elson was among a group of more than ten people that had reasons to enter the city. He quietly blended in the group and focused his attention on the city walls. There were at least five men patrolling the walls which made him aggravated and suspicious.

"Why do they need so many guards up there?"

He lowered his gaze to the sealed door made from the finest steel that a human could forge. A few unfamiliar guards that were guarding the gates were observing each and everyone's face. Elson removed his hood to get rid of his suspicious form and proceeded to portray a tired expression. It was rather easy since he was genuinely exhausted.

It was known to all that the city gates was a five-feet thick steel wall, designed with an easy mechanism to open and close, only from the inside. It was obviously made with the touch of a dwarf. It was not something that was surprising. There were more than 200,000 dwarves there were living in Moldavia. Half of them chose to live among the humans and even wed them. The other half chose to live deep underneath the earth at the mountainside.

Located not far from the Dark Forest and too close to the Great Ajax 1Mountains, was a large population of dwarves gathering. Despite the cold, the dwarves were living their lives happily and peacefully. They had made a tunnel that allowed the underground lava to flow upwards to form a large pool of lava. It was their source of heat and served as their means to smelt and forge. No daemon would be stupid enough to attack them there since the town of dwarves was surrounded by the hot molten rocks.

Dong… Dong…

The bell in the clock tower rang six times. Promptly after the sixth bell, the door was lifted.

Wrrrrrrr… The sound of the gears behind the walls of the gate could be heard roaring as they lifted the heavy metal door. It took some time but the door was lifted and revealed a semi-circular tunnel that led towards the city.

"Please enter in an orderly manner. Also, refrain from making loud noises."

Elson looked towards the front and saw a soldier of a higher rank. It was obvious since his uniform and armor was far superior compared to the rest of the soldiers around. The people around him heeded his words and formed a straight line. Each of them walked slowly behind each other and followed the instructions of the person in front.

When Joshua got closer to the gates, he could see that the soldier's expression was stoic and stern. He took extra care to hide his presence since the soldier was glaring at everyone's face. No, not glaring, but observing.

Elson dragged his horse along with him and was about to enter the city when a soldier pulled him aside.

"Who are you? Where are you from?" The soldier that pulled him out of the crowd was larger than the rest yet he spoke to Elson in a friendly manner, unlike the rest.

"Good evening, sir. I am a lowly hunter that came from the Red Leaf Village that's in the east. I'm here to trade for some coins. Perhaps, I could interest you in some pelts?" Elson had his line ready and even the deer carcass wrapped in a large blanket that he hunted in the forest. The scar on his face and his well-built physique had made his lie a little convincing. From the looks of it, he was unaffected by the cold weather. Only a veteran hunter could be in such a shape.

"Ah. Haha. No, thank you." The rugged soldier examined the deer and let him go on his way. Elson's deception worked flawlessly. However, before Elson could get away, the soldier tapped his shoulder and whispered, "Security has been tightened here. You are not allowed to go out after 9 p.m."

"Oh. Thank you for the advice," said Elson earnestly and gave the soldier a few silver coins. The soldier face remained stoic yet he took the coins without asking further. The soldier then continued, "Be careful with the wandering warriors. That bunch is not as good to talk to as I am."

He then promptly left Elson alone and went back to join the mean-looking soldier that was still glaring at everyone that walked into the city.

Elson turned to give one last observation to the interior view of the gates and went away. The morning wind of winter was chilly. All the doors were closed. The windows were shut tight and curtains were drawn in. The piled snow that got thicker was not taken care off. The sight of which, Elson thought the city was abandoned

Could this be the after effect of Danlya's temporary ruling? Why would he need to be that strict? Was he trying to take control of the city, or destroy everything that it was once worth?

When Elson kicked the thick snow off his boots, a blaring alarm was sounded from the gates behind him.

Ding dong ding dong!

"Was I found out?!" he cried in his heart.

The blaring alarm sent Elson into a state of anxiety. His hands hastily flew to his waist to pull out a small dagger that was well-hidden underneath his thick leather undercoat. He braced for all that was about to come to him and quickly assumed a fighting stance. Something was wrong, yet it was not about him. He knew it almost immediately when he turned around. He recognized the alarm pattern. The extreme fast knocks of four strikes per second would signal the utmost danger. Such an alarm would only be cast if a threat to the entire city annihilation was imminent.

He was just an average Silver-tier guardian knight. Even if he was discovered, such an alarm would never go off. The most probable threat they could have to face then was either an invading army of Elson's comrades or a powerful Gold-tier attacker. The alarm… was not for him. Who could it be?!

Elson went to a corner of the empty street and hid in an alley where he tied his horse. He then proceeded to move closer towards the gates to observe the situation. Many others that had just entered the city were running away in panic. Elson sneaked in closer and when he was about to be found, he ran around in a frenzy, pretending to be panicking as well. However, he turned his head as quickly and as frequently to observe the situation.

There was nothing wrong! There was no army or powerful attacker. All the common folk had run away and what was left at the gates were the guards that had drawn out their weapon.

… and… a man?!

The gray-haired knight focused his sight on the shadowy figure and saw a face that was all too familiar.

"Wait a minute… That's young master Joshua!" He thought to himself. "What is he doing here?! The man should be in the northwest flatlands! He should be busy with the Glorious Expedition to topple down the impenetrable Fort D'ruis! The war is not over yet! How did he come back!?"

Was he here to claim his right as count?! It would be fatal for him alone! There were more than fifty Silver-tier knights and over a hundred soldiers! Why did he not seek for help in the Fort Dark Forest!? A foolish attempt! A suicide mission! Was he out of his mind?!

Doubt and shock filled Elson's mind and he was stunned there, unable to do anything. The next moment, he heard the sound of hundreds of men marching towards the gates.

Five or more squads of fully armored soldiers, wielding long spears were marching towards the gates. Their target? Joshua.

"Move! Fool!" Elson cried in his heart. He wanted to scream but he was not in his right mind to do so. There were too many of them. Joshua was just a Silver-tier warrior! How could he just stand there and welcome them?! They were going to kill him! Why was he not running?!Why wasn't he running? That was because Joshua wanted them to come to him.

The blaring alarm was still going off and the thick metal door behind him was dropped almost immediately. All means of escape was sealed as Joshua was surrounded from all possible directions. When all were ready to strike him to his death, Joshua stood there, unfazed, unaffected.

Everything was going according to plan. He knew that his face would have been recognized and that all the soldiers that belonged to his uncle would storm out to the gates. He also knew that if he tried to sneak inside, he would also be found. The opponent, his uncle would try his best to kill him. That was the harsh reality of fighting for the title of count.

Joshua's hands and feet were ready to rumble and his heart was as calm as a lake.

Yes, he might be surrounded. Yes, there was no way for him to escape. However, what would an escape path do when the man had no intention to flee?

Was there anyone strong enough to stop him?

"Such a warm welcome."

The air was still. No one dared to move a muscle. Not even the soldiers that had their blade's edge ready to stab Joshua. Joshua's eyes were swimming around, scanning for the superior officer in charge. At then, he spotted him. Just when he was about to open his mouth to give the kill order, Joshua zoomed towards him at insane speed and made the first move. He disarmed the officer's sword and used it for himself.

Without any delay, more than ten soldiers rushed towards him and thrusted their spears at him. Joshua remained calm and took a deep breath.

Combat Aura. The power that was born from life. A power that exists in the bodies of the strong and powerful. It lies deep within the body and the soul, accumulating passively. Joshua took a breath, allowing his lungs to take in as much air as possible to activate his internal organs to trigger the power. The blood would start pumping faster, his veins and arteries would expand. The blood, containing the fluid of life would circulate all around his body to instantly increase his strength by multiple folds. This is one of the Combat Aura skills all warriors on the Mycroft Continent would learn [ Kai 2 ].

Such a skill could allow a human warrior to sent a large orc flying with a single strike. If the warrior was extremely strong to begin with, one might even cleave the orc in half. The skill was so strong that it could strike a diamond in half, turning a harmless dull blade into a blade that could cut through air.

Before coming to this world, Joshua was just an owner of a martial arts training center. There was no such thing as Combat Aura in the real world. However, there were martial arts. Moves, stances, and techniques that could assist oneself to gain unimaginable power. When he played the game, the system dictated everything. Hence, he was not able to bring the best out of both worlds. Things had changed then.

The game had become the real world. Both Combat Aura and martial arts could be used at the same time. In fact, there was a chemical reaction that made his powers more potent than ever when he combined the best of both arts.

Woosh!

A flame-like light that gave off a reddish-orange hue shone brightly in Joshua's chest. Along with it, a loud beating sound of his heart. He could feel each pulse was pulsating with power. Each pulse sent waves of energy and strength throughout his body. Not long after, his entire body was giving out rays of light that were spiraling around him. Like a tornado with him as the center, the air around him begun to spin at an amazing speed that had sent all the snow away from him.

He took a fighting stance, pushed all the power that he had built up into his legs, and took a step forward.

Dong!

The deep, beating sound of his heart grew louder. It was so loud that he could practically hear the blood flowing in his veins like a waterfall. His eyes glowed with an intense crimson fiery light.

It was an experience that Joshua had experienced tens of thousands of times in the game. It was both familiar yet strange to him. It was the color that belonged to both Joshua of the real world, and Joshua of the Mycroft continent.

He could feel the power that was unleashed, crackling with joy as its master was calling out to it.

"Kai—"

He swung his sword back, charging a strike. He focused on one point with everything he had, preparing to give it all.

The power flowed with the special breathing method that he only knew. The power began to flow into his bloodstream, his muscles, his bones; his entire body. At one point, the power that was flowing in him started to leak out due to the excessive build up. He focused those powers that leaked out to the tip of the blade and allow the blinding radiant power to form a shapeless blade.

The enemies were already right in front of him. Their spears were only a few inches away from his eyes. He could see the reflection of his own power, shining off from the tips of their spears.

Slash!

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Chapter 8: You Seem Familiar

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

BAM!

A thunderous explosion erupted, along with Joshua's deafening roar. The unleashing of his powers were just the beginning.

Joshua's Kai create a powerful blast that rippled through the air, distorting the surrounding air powerfully. He was far from done. More and more semi-circular sword blasts were sent out like a machine gun. The powerful blast of his sword attack shattered all the nearby windows. His leaking deep crimson-colored Combat Aura was mixed with the snow. With that, he had managed to destroy the enemies' formation.

The soldiers that came in a large group, wielding spears and sword were all blasted away. The sound of the bones cracking was clear and crisp, and that was extremely terrifying. Those people were thrown back to their comrades and were pushed tens of feet behind. The spears and swords in their hands shattered. The shields were strong enough to withstand the attack but their hands had failed them. Even their armor was not strong enough to block the overwhelming blast that it made countless of maze-like cracks on the armor. Blood started to ooze out from the cracks as they started struggling to even breathe normally, what more to get back up to their feet.

The ferocious wind was still blowing around Joshua, surrounding all that was around him.

Those soldiers were wearing heavy armor that was meant to withstand a heavy blow. The shield in their hand was meant to stop and protect them from any sort of attack. Their formation was meant to be on the frontline, exposed to danger and sustain damage. They were so strong that even charging knights on horses would find it difficult to penetrate their defense. Their prowess was not of regular soldiers. They were the main powerhouse of an army.

However!

Joshua was different from regular soldiers. He was, after all, a legendary warrior. This sort of skill was meant to counter such a formation. Hence, no matter what sort of shield or armor they were using, Joshua's strike was like a hot knife through butter.

The powerful blast of power had blown all the piled-up snow away, revealing the stone pavement underneath. It was supposed to be a long worn-out stone pavement. Those stones were so huge and tough with no regular means to break them. However, Joshua's power blast had just done that. The streets in front of him were unearthed like it was just a blanket sheet. Fragments of what used to be heavy square stones were flung around as if they were pebbles. Along with the broken pieces of mirror, the soldier's swords and spear, the scene of which looked like a monster had just barged through the city. The unharmed soldiers were quivering where they stood unscathed. They might be wound-free, but they were greatly shaken. None of them dared to press forward, or even move a muscle.

It was just a single strike. Yet Joshua had managed to break the formation of all the heavy armored soldier and put a hold on their attack.

Joshua turned to his hands and said, "Hmph. Pity… The sword wasn't good enough for me."

He sighed disappointingly and tossed the hilt of the sword aside. The rest of the metal blade was shattered into nothing. "Must have been made with cheap steel. How else it could break in the middle of my display of power…"

In his mind, the powerful skill that had raised his strength by at least five times would have sliced all the soldier from the front all the way to the back, in half. However, in the middle of his swing, the sword was unable to sustain the power of Joshua's strength. Right when it was about to make contact, the blade shattered. The power that was accumulated could not be concentrated, hence, the power dispersed out and formed a blast wave instead.

Although disappointed, Joshua was still satisfied with the outcome.

"Listen." He moved towards a soldier that had obviously lost the will to continue the attack and spoke to him right in his face. "Right now. I will do the asking and you'll answer me."

"Yes, Sir!" The man shrunk away from Joshua and bowed to him. Even his manner of addressing Joshua had changed to talking to a lord. "We will answer anything you want."

These guys were not real soldiers or knights. Although they might have good fighting capabilities, they were just hired swords. When they faced off an opponent that could not be defeated, an opponent that could easily erase their existence from the land with a single stroke, they would forget what the word loyalty meant and bow down to the strong.

"Who is your boss?"

Joshua immediately got to the point. His fight that had just taken place was too flashy. Who knew how many more soldiers had heard the commotion and were already heading towards the gates then.

"Where is he?"

"We are fighters that are hired by Danlya the merchant. He should be in the mansion in the city center. There are more of us. They are posted everywhere in the city. In fact, they should be heading here."

A cooperative 'hostage' made things easy. He did not even have the slightest sense of loyalty of a true soldier. Then again, it was all too normal. The attack had wounded twelve and killed five. In fact, they had lost one-third of their overall forces. If they were unlucky and had angered the young master, he would have already killed everyone in sight with two more strokes.

"The mansion?" Joshua frowned. The corner of his lips twitched. He raised his head towards the general direction of the mansion and muttered to himself, "Why the rush to move into my home? Bastard, could he be ignoring my existence completely?"

The soldiers dared not answer his question. They had thrown their weapons to the ground and was kneeling down, not in the position of fighters, but of slaves.

Joshua was not interested in handling the defeated soldiers as he had other more pressing matters to attend to.

He promptly walked away from the them and proceeded to pick up a long spear that was still in perfect condition. He then casually approached the superior officers and retrieved a refined dagger from him. Despite the aching heart of losing his precious custom-made protective dagger, the superior office dared not resist. Joshua grinned and walked towards the city center, leaving everyone that was still breathing, unharmed.

When Joshua's shadow was finally out of sight, the defeated soldiers stood up and breathed with a sigh of relief. Cold sweat was dripping down to their chins even though it practically subzero temperature.

"I couldn't even breathe properly when he stood there."

"Oh man… Why would he hire us to fight such a powerful man?"

More and more speeches of gratitude of being alive and the disgruntled complaints about Joshua being overwhelmingly strong was heard from the crowd of battered soldiers. They did not push to chase after Joshua. Instead, they took their time to pile up the deceased. One of the soldiers yelled in anger, "Didn't the instructions mention about one man that was Intermediate Silver tier? The guy just displayed a move that could be dealt by a man that's a Perfect Silver tier! It could even be one step from reaching Gold tier!"

"Please… You have been a mercenary for so many years, have you not learned your lesson when it comes to the words from our benefactor? If everyone knew that the target was strong, who would dare to charge blindly towards him?"

An older man among the group of mercenaries retorted. The way he spoke indicated he was experienced.

"Let this be a lesson. Next time when we receive an assignment, be sure to determine the difficulty on our own. Still, it's too much. The man… He possessed a level of power that was Perfect Silver tier. How could the impersonating count describe his tier as only an average Silver?"

He sighed loudly and continued, "This is a big problem. He now knows the location of the lord. I don't think the guards can hold him off."

"Yeah… There's going to be bloodshed."

Out of the blue, a voice echoed from inside the older man's head. It made his entire body freeze with both fear and surprise. The voice continued, "Looks like there was almost no resistance. What a shame."

As the hidden art of telepathy was used, a fully armored man appeared out of thin air and stood quietly among the battered mercenaries. The armored man stood in front of the old soldier. With his fully hidden face, the armored man looked down on him and spoke telepathically, "How did he defeat you?"

"With a single swing!" The older man responded faster than anyone else could. He knew the wandering warrior that was standing in front of him was someone of higher rank. He could move in and out of the mansion without Danlya's permission. Out of fear, the man quickly summarized Joshua's move. "It was Kai with a power that rivals even the goblin-made Fire Cannon."

"Where he now?"

"Going towards the mansion. Straight ahead."

After ending the conversation, the silencer continued standing ground. Although he looked like he was calm and composed, his mind was racing.

"It looks like the man was telling the truth. The aftermath was proof of that." He thought to himself. "I could defeat these weak mercenaries myself. But I could never do it with such lethality."

"Danlya never mentioned about his strength being so destructive… Hmm. He had ignored trying to seek reinforcement in the Fort Dark Forest and head straight here. This is not going according to plan. No matter…'He' is coming here soon. He might be a Perfect Silver… but that would not change the outcome."

As he thought to himself, he moved to the side of the city walls and merged into the shadows. He set his compass in the proper direction.

"Still… I'd better follow the man. I cannot allow him to proceed any further."

Once he was done thinking, he vanished, just like how he had arrived in the first place, without a trace.From the far corner of the street, far away from the battle scene that had just taken place. Elson's heart was pounding faster and harder than ever. He had only managed to regain his senses after Joshua had demonstrated his overwhelming powers.

"The silencers… They are the few stronger mercenaries in the northern land. Tch… The enemy managed to hire them…" Elson muttered to himself.

"The spirit warrior and the shadow assassin… such an unmatching class could be combined to form a Silver-tier fighter…If he had chosen to walk on a single path, with his talents, he could become a Gold-Tier fighter."

As he regained his composure, Elson paced away from the corner of the street and returned to his horse. "I cannot remain idle anymore or I won't be any help to young master Joshua! I must hurry back! I must inform the others in the fortress! We must send reinforcements!"

Elson untied his horse and walked slowly towards the corner of the street. When he noticed the gates were unguarded, he quickly hopped onto his horse and galloped away.

At the same time, Joshua was sprinting towards the mansion. There was nothing obstructing his way but thick snow as he ran. As he did, there was something in his mind that he could not shake off.

"It's weird, and I've definitely thought of this before… My uncle is just a businessman. So, how did he find the resources to hire so many soldiers and knights? There are even several companies of them!"

He frowned. Something was definitely up. The group of spearmen that he had just easily defeated were obviously ex-military soldiers. Their average level would be around Level 12. Those numbers were not cheap to hire to begin with. If his uncle had several more elite mercenaries that he had not faced, that means his uncle would definitely have someone backing him.

To compare, a normal Level 1 goblin the drawing line, a Steel-tier adult male human would be Level 5. Many would only need to train their muscles and body to achieve Steel tier. Any normal class, or a soldier class human would be around Level 10 on average. If one were to train soldiers to reach that tier, even a noble rich family could only handle three hundred soldiers at once. If the situation was dire, they would then resort to hiring citizens as temporary militia.

That was the trouble to hire regular soldiers, not to mention fifteen Silver-tier knights! Hiring a single fully armored knight would require a large sum of money that one could use to buy an estate. He knew this from conversing with a merchant in passing. To hire twenty to thirty Silver-tier knights, the amount of money spent could bankrupt a not-so-rich territory owner! How could a merchant, famous or not, be able to accomplish such a feat?

"There has to be someone pulling the strings…"

He shook his head at the thought and could not be bothered to probe further.

As the wind blew past his face, Joshua examined the spear in his hand and brandished it to assess its condition. The solid wood and the heavy steel spear tip was in excellent condition. Just by holding the newly obtained weapon, Joshua could feel the sensation of familiarity coming to him. The weapon in his hand, held tight, gave him a feeling of security. "Come a hundred, I'll send a hundred heads rolling."

To hasten his speed back to Moldavia, Joshua had discarded all his military-issued armor and greatsword. He had only brought along dried food and a few other consumables that were light. Hence, without his own weapon, his Talent [Weapon Mastery] had been in great use in that situation. As long as it is a weapon, he could pick it up and use it as if he had been training with it for years.

Joshua stopped. He heard the sound of a company of soldiers coming towards his direction. At that moment, he froze yet remained calm. He knew that the main force would head towards the blaring alarm earlier and return to the mansion after. At that moment, to maintain order and the strict rule made by his uncle, most of the soldiers would be sent out to patrol, leaving only a few men to guard the mansion. It was a perfect chance for him to strike.

Joshua was calm. He had confidence that he could win as long as the guards were not more than twenty Silver-tier knights. Any lesser, he could breeze through easily and kill that son of a b*tch uncle and leave the compound before anyone knew anything. He was, after all, an ex-legendary champion with an abundance of experience and a boss entity. Anyone who wished to challenge him to a fight would need to be at least Level 29.

From the perspective of a regular person, Joshua was a boss entity. Anyone who wishes to challenge him to a fight would need to be at least Level 29. Only a team of well-trained, fully armed, at average Level 29 five man party, might stand a chance at fighting head-to-head with Joshua. With a little planning, they might stand a chance at defeating him. Since his special status identified him as a boss, the difficulty would be harder. Under the same condition, the group of challengers would have more than twenty five men. Only then, might they stand a chance to defeat him.

In the game, he would be the nightmare of any regular player.

The sound of the company of soldiers was getting closer and louder. The time was till dawn, the sun had not fully risen from the horizon. Since there was nothing but snow on the streets, anyone could detect him as long he was in their line of sight. Joshua was not afraid of fights, however, he did not want to waste any more time. He then recalled the memories of 'his' past and found a small alley to hide away.

He went through so many back alleys and when he wanted to cut through the last one to reach the main street, he stopped.

There was someone standing in the open.

Someone all too familiar to him.

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Chapter 9: Like Father, Like Son

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

A man was standing alone in the cold. Though, he did not seem to be waiting for him or anything else. He was just standing there. He was a young blond. His hair was long enough that his fringe overlapped his golden-framed glasses. One look and even an idiot would be able to tell that he was not a fighter. In fact, he looked extreme refined and gentle. When he heard the sound of footsteps coming from an alley before him, he lifted his head. At first, he was stunned but then smiled in relief. Before he could lift his hand to greet Joshua, he was pinned to the wall on his neck and his hand.

"My, my Chris. I didn't expect to see you here."

Joshua got into a power stance and lifted Chris with just his right arm. He removed his spear from his back and displayed a threatening move by stabbing the spear into the snow. With an innocent grin, he greeted Chris. "How are you? Have you been well?"

"Gack! Ack!"

"Oops. I'm sorry. Where are my manners? Let me get you comfortable first."

Joshua lightened the grip on his throat.

"Cough… Cousin, what are you doing?"

Chris' face was back to normal after blood returned to his face. Even though he was just strangled, he did not appear to be afraid of Joshua. "There's no need for such treatment. It's been a while."

"Cousin? Such a word means nothing to me. Count yourself lucky that we are related. Otherwise, I would have killed you before you could even blink," said Joshua who remained stoic.

"You do know what your father did."

The man that Joshua had just lifted up with only one arm was the son of his uncle, Chris la Radcliffe.

It was lucky as well. Joshua had initially thought it was a trap.

"Even so, we have had a good relationship." Chris tried to reason with Joshua. "Good enough that you'd only strangle me instead of detaching my head."

Joshua scoffed at the statement. What he said was true. When Joshua and Chris were younger, both of them shared happy memories playing in the snow together. Instead of a cousin, Joshua once thought of him as a younger brother.

Even so, Joshua did not let him off. His steel-like hand was still gripping his neck, like a python ready to snap it off.

"I don't care about our relationship, cousin or not. The moment your father made his move to claim the count's title, I've taken it as an all-out declaration of war on me."

Joshua did not sugarcoat his words.

Being lazy as always, Joshua had not asked why Chris was there standing in the snow. Hence, without wasting any time, he nudged Chris and asked, "What luck, just when I'm about to attack the mansion, I bump into you! Now, tell me how many guards there are in my mansion and who is supporting your father. You have ten seconds before you'll start appreciating your life."

Joshua's tightened the grip on his young cousin and counted, "Ten."

Chris pupils contracted immediately when he saw the glare in Joshua's eyes. He was not joking. There was not the slightest doubt in his eyes about what he said. He was prepared to kill. Panicking, Chris started sweating. If he did not tell Joshua what he wanted to hear, he would be killed mercilessly.

"There's no need to count. There are twenty four guards in the mansion. Fifteen are Lower Silver tier, six Intermediate Silver tier, and three Upper Silver tier."

Without flinching, Chris reported all he knew about the security details of the mansion. Even though he appeared cool and calm, he was literally sweating like a pig. "I have no information about those supporting him. But, I am sure about one. Oh! I must have you know that I'm against my father's action to fight for the count's title. I am here because I snuck out!"

Chris started to panic and quickly finished his sentence before Joshua could interject. "My brother, you'd see how I responded when I saw you in the alley. I was happy to see you alive and well! You'll know that I'm not with them! I'm with you!"

"…True."

When the reaper was holding your neck, there was no reason to tell a lie. Joshua calmed down. His murderous aura around him subsided yet he did not relax his hands on Chris' neck. "Even so, I'd use you as a hostage to move around. Blame your father if you're hurt."

"Wait! This scheme of taking the count's title was not my father's doing. He is but a chess piece. That's why the people who are playing this game of chess would never consider my life as important!"

Chris stopped panicking when he noticed Joshua had no intention of killing him. However, he started to freak out when he heard what Joshua intention to use him as.

"Think about it. How could someone like my father, a commoner, receive the news about Uncle's death?!"

Chris adjusted his glass and started to talk in a serious manner. "The day after Uncle passed away, a large company of soldiers arrived and surrounded my home. I didn't know at first but they seem to go a long way with my father. After that, my father joined them, and I was taken along forcefully. Still, I'm sure that both my father and I do not trust those men. There's no such thing as a free lunch. The bill is due. Hence, I snuck out last night. It was with my father's advice and secret directions that I am standing here. How else could I be here when I'm just at Steel tier? There's no way I could just walk out undetected."

"You say many things. But the fact remains that your father wants the title."

As a legendary warrior, Joshua's sensitivity to another man's muscle movements and blood circulation was high enough to know that Chris was telling the truth. When he heard what Chris had said, he released him. The young blond man coughed hard and shook his head. "However, I cannot deny one fact. If my father had no intention of taking the title, no one would have come to him. Even if he was being used as a chess piece, my father must have been willing to allow himself to be used."

Joshua crossed his arm. He thought to himself and helped Chris get back to his feet after he had collapsed to the ground, gasping for air. "Tell me everything you know about those men. What you have guessed."

"It was the Wilson family."

Chris rubbed the red mark around his neck to ease the pain. Stumbling around, Chris adjusted his glasses before speaking. There was still traces of fear. "Amongst the four great lords of the north, only the Wilson family would have the motive and the means to rise up against you. They are a family that specializes in crafting weapons and magic accessories as well as trading them. However, since Moldavia has the advantage of the lava pool and the increased population of dwarves, they as master craftsmen, have suffered great losses in their weapons business. Although their production and trades for magic accessories were not affected, it was still a clash of interest that pushed them to rise up against the Radcliffe family in Moldavia."

"What a meaningless motive."

Even though he felt it was a lame excuse to start a war, the reason Chris had just explained was no further than the truth. The generations of humans that lived in Moldavia had good relations with the dwarves of the north. That was how the Moldavia ruling family was able to excel in ore refinery. Moreover, as more and more dwarves were hired and invited into the city, the family had tried to expand their business towards smelting and crafting weapons and armor. Moldavia's entry into the industry had directly affected Wilson's business.

Anyone that lived in the North would know that the means to earn money would be limited. Even though it was meaningless for Joshua, it was a worthwhile risk for the Wilson family. They were also the few potential crime suspects since only a noble could have the resources to hire tens of Silver-tier knights and hundreds of soldiers.

If Moldavia had not need to send all their forces out to face the incoming threat of the Dark Tide in the Dark Forest, Joshua would have the same ability to hire more than a hundred Silver-tier knights. However, at that moment, he was only capable of sending himself into battle and fighting alone.

Just then, Joshua felt like something was off about his young cousin. "Chris, you seem to be unsupportive of your father's actions. Just so you know, even though he was being used as a chess piece, a count is still a powerful seat. When your father acquires the title, not even the Wilson family would be able to fully control your father. At most, they would be able to reclaim their dominant business in the industry. My question to you—would you not want to be a count in the future after your father?"

Chris scoffed. "Not everyone wants to be a noble, Joshua."

He removed his glasses and wiped it clean with his fur coat. "Every man has his own dream."

He blew a mouthful of vapor on the glass and wipe it again. "I like alchemy. I like small businesses. I like a carefree lifestyle. All the things I like can never achieve if I stay in the north. It is unlike the south where everyone was brimming with life. The north… it's cold here. The people are passive. Every year, we have to cling to our lives because of the Dark Tide. You know me, and you know my father. Neither one of us is capable of leading an army to fight daemons. Rather than being a noble, I'd rather be a commoner in the south."

Chris adjusted his glasses and spoke confidently. "Listen. I have a fiancée down south. I have my own laboratory. Here? All I have is an empty house that had been passed down from generations ago. Being a noble is a privilege, yet it also comes with responsibilities. Responsibilities that I could never bear. I would be mad when the day comes that I'll charge into the forest and fight the daemons. There's nothing else to do here! Explore the mountain? I'd lose my mind being a count in a place where winter would freeze even bears!"

"… Well… d*mn. I'd never thought of that before. Now I might give up the throne to your father and be done with it."

Chris was right.

Joshua had grown up in the north and he felt that the northern mountains were a beautiful scene to behold. However, he lived his life in the Empire's southern region and he had found that the people or the place itself were not his cup of tea. A man who had come of age were expected to be able to fight a bear. Those who were unable would be ashamed to even greet the others. It was that kind of culture. How could a gentle alchemist survive in the north where the people there were combatants?

"All that I had to say has been said. All in all, elder cousin, I am here to support your actions." Chris pretended to ignore what Joshua had said about giving the count's title away and continued to show support on his side. "If you do succeed, I'll let you have your way with Father."

"Even if I were to kill him?"

"His blood will never be on my hands. Besides, he betrayed my mother and I am the only child. Our relationship is as cold as ever," said Chris as if he was not joking about it. "However, since his blood flows in my veins, I'd ask you to spare his life."

"You would do that? To your own father? Hmph… Like father, like son."

Joshua was laughing yet his glare was still as cold as the frozen northern ice.

While he was talking to Chris, he had quietly pulled out the refined dagger that he had taken earlier by its hilt. When he was done talking, he immediately turned around at an insane speed and flung the dagger towards the corner of the alley where he came from.

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Chapter 10: One After Another

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Whooosh! Ping!

A loud metal clanging sound exploded in the alley, breaking the eerie silence of the small alley. Joshua eyes' swam around the entire place in search of the dagger. He wanted the dagger to pierce the wall but it seemed that it had bounced off something metallic and fallen to the ground.

At the same time, a shadowy human figure emerged from the darkness and immediately withdrew from the alley.

With keen eyes, Joshua identified the shadowy figure as a warrior clad in heavy armor. His metal armor had many scratches that could only be resulted from arrow grazes and light sword cuts. The armor was made to be tough hence it allowed the dagger to slide off his armor instead of penetrating it.

Even though the hidden man's face was fully covered with armor, both Joshua and Chris could sense the emotion of surprise given off by the warrior.

"Silencer?!"

Chris exclaimed silently and he noted that the warrior in the alley was the same warrior that was always by his father's side. Noting that something was awry, he retreated a step.

When both of them were having their warm conversation, he was silently notified about it by Joshua swift hand movement. He thought it was merely his habit to grab a blade by his hand but little did he know that Joshua could sense out a presence and even pinpoint his position. As an alchemist, his sensory skills were sharper than an average warrior. How did he not sense the silencer?!

The man that was forced out of his hiding, shared the same expression.

"Surprised? Thought so."

Joshua grinned. Swiftly, he pulled out the spear that he stabbed in the snow and entered his battle stance.

"I see that you had combined the techniques of both shadow assassin and spirit warrior. Not bad. Spirit Silencing Aura matches well with Shadow Walk. You can move around stealthily even with heavy armor. It would certainly remove one presence in the field and increase one's survivability."

"Commendable. No one could have detected your presence. But you see, I'm different. You think that the Silencing Aura can help you move without a trace. The problem with that is the aura was a gigantic mute barrier. When you came, all the sounds that were supposed to come from the alley were mysteriously silenced. Even a monkey would know that something was going on."

While he was taunting the silencer, Joshua turned to glare at Chris and hinted him to move back. He knew that the silencer was of Upper Silver tier. If both of them were to fight each other with their unrestrained strength, the damage would be overwhelming and he might get caught in the crossfire. He had the confidence to end the opponent's life within ten seconds, however, the power display will be too great for someone like Chris to handle.

A spirit warrior is a warrior's special class granted with many special supernatural abilities. Even though at first glance, a spirit warrior had anti-magic skills, they were also known to have many other ultimate skills.

The silencer moved away from the alley and stood in the middle of the road. He did not mind that the son of his benefactor was running away. He just stood there, glaring at the warrior that had thrown the dagger at him and got it.

As a spirit warrior that had pledged to be silent, he had special skills to cancel out enemies' spellcasting and possessed the supernatural ability to mute sounds. Being a silencer had its drawbacks; he was mute for the rest of his life and had to use Spirit Sense to communicate with others. To others, it might be some form of punishment or a huge sacrifice. However, the silencer felt it was a worthwhile trade to gain immense power.

Combining the silencing ability and Shadow Step, the silencer had the highest confidence in his own survivability and assassination prowess. However, even the best swimmer would swallow a mouthful of water from time to time. When his stealth was broken by Joshua with a mere dagger, the dissatisfaction he felt was severe. However, the worse was not about being detected.

(Unable to communicate verbally?! What willpower… Unable to communicate… That would make his willpower as resilient as a rock! In that case, a mental attack would not have any effect on him!) (1)

With the helmet covering his entire face, the silencer cocked his head slightly to prepare himself to receive an attack from Joshua, who seemed to be ready to jump at any time. The itch in his hands was ready to counter his attacks.

I have never seen such stubbornness coming from a warrior. My 'Spell Disruption' skill would be useless in a physical brawl. The fact that he could see through my stealth would put me at a huge disadvantage.

Thinking rationally he had decided to not fight the man. He began to take a step back silently.

I could not even exert half of my powers fighting against him. I'd better withdraw now and think of another plan.

"You think you can escape?"

Joshua might have keen eyes, but he was not a mind reader. He could not possibly know how to read the other person's mind, especially when he was fully clad in armor. All he knew that the enemy was planning to escape by sensing his movements. At that moment, he couldn't care less. He flexed his forearm and jumped forward with the spear in his hands, ready to pierce.

With years of combat training, not only he was proficient with all sorts of weapons, he could even use a wood chopping machete as a greatsword and a polearm as a spear.

He stomped the ground with such so much strength that it sent him flying straight like an arrowhead. The spear in his hand was aimed directly at the silencer's heart. The whistling sound of the spearhead flying through the air was so loud and sharp that anyone would deem it as an attack that could pierce through the thickest armor made, including the silencer. He knew that the incoming spearhead was too dangerous to be taken lightly, especially when the incoming attack had him limited to the small narrow alley.

However so, the silencer was still an Upper Silver-tier with superior experience. If the fight was a melee, a close quarters combat, Joshua would surely be the one that had the upper hand. He had nowhere to escape. However, he was only using a long spear. Such a weapon possessed no real threat to him.

The gray metallic armor glowed with a faint radiance and formed a small barrier-like protection. When the spear landed on the armor, the spearhead was deflected, crashed into the wall, and reduced the foundation bricks into dust. The loud crashing sound had alerted the entire neighborhood, prompting the citizens to scream in terror. Amidst the chaos, the silencer jumped to the side and pulled out a scroll out of thin air. With a powerful burst of magic power, he vanished.

"Advanced Invisible Scroll?!"

The burst of magic had traces of light that Joshua recognized. He ran a few meters ahead but immediately came to a stop as he felt it would be pointless in chasing after someone who would be truly invisible.

It was a little unexpected of the silencer to use an Advanced Invisible Scroll in that situation. What else could he do then? Silencing Aura, paired with the Advanced Invisible Scroll effect, and the silencer's own Shadow Step skill stacking on each other would make him walk without leaving a footstep. Not to brag, even though the silencer's attack power was not even half of Joshua's, but if he wanted to disappear, not even a Gold tier could chase after him.

"Shame that I don't have the All-Seeing Eye…"

Knowing that the silencer was running for his life, Joshua had refused to chase after him since he knew it would be a waste of time. Reaching the end of the alley, he scoffed, and started to walk back to where Chris. He started to reminisce the past when he was playing Continental War where he had the passive skill called the 'All-Seeing Eye'.

The passive skills would grant him the ability 'True Sight' where he could see through all disguised, invisible, or hidden players. It also allowed players to identify players that were hidden behind trees in the forest. It was considered to be one of the strongest passive skills available. However, to acquire the passive skill, Joshua had once killed more than have a dozen Elder Cyclops on the ninth floor of the Abyssal Spectre Land. It was to collect all the necessary sacrificial materials for the passive skill quest.

"Still, 'All-Seeing Eye' aside, I had the skill 'Max Mastery'. All normal skills should be available at my disposal."

He opened up his status window to read the skill list again and examined the skill [MAX Mastery]. Joshua remembered the glory of his past and scoffed. "As long as I have the experience, the system will acknowledge it."

As a common knowledge to all gamers out there, there was no game that relied on only one skill to carry 1 the entire game. At the end game stage, having a thousand skills in one's skill tree would be extremely vexing. If the skill was not used, even if one were to strike a pose just like the skill 'Charge', the system would not register the action as a valid trigger for the skill 'Charge'. At any time, if one were to be in a fatal situation, the skills that were placed in the hot bar might be able to save the player. No normal player could search a skill from the list and search for the required skill to save one's *ss. In the end, the player would die and respawn again from the save point.

That was the initial stage of the game. It all changed after the game introduced the 'Legendary' expansion.

Players that had received the 'Legendary' status would stop receiving all support from the system. Bow users would not have crosshairs to assist their aiming, warriors would not have the auto-lock system, mages would have to chant the entire spell to cast a skill. On the other hand, the system had introduced a means to all players to properly activate all their skills without pressing the button. For example, if a warrior wanted to use 'Charge' to rush forward, all he had to do was to physical sprint forward with the weapon pointed to the front. The skill 'Vertical Cleave' would only require the player to lift the weapon up and forcefully cleave it downward. This concept applied to other classes as well.

In summary, all Legendary-tier players would not have the luxury of buttons to press anymore. All skills, abilities would require manual activation. In a way, this implication was made to restrict player's capabilities and to increase the game's 'lifespan'. In a way, a player would invest a long time to fully enjoy the game. Although it had taken some time, players felt that the 'real' game had only just begun when the developers had introduced the new system. The system, to replace all active skill triggering button, was called Mastery. [Skill Mastery].

Those with [Skill Mastery] could freely activate all their skills within their given skill tree. Sadly, the only skills that Joshua remembered clearly were all categorized in the Gold tier. A few aspects that he remembered was that passive skills could be learned and be permanently activated. However, they require players to learn and train manually. The 'All-Seeing Eye' skill had taken him a long duration to acquire. He needed to return to the Abyssal Spectre Land to kill half a dozen Elder Cyclopes, acquire the sacrificial material needed, and reenact the sacrificial ceremony. With his current tier of Silver, it would take years before he could even get the gist of it.

While he was thinking about it, he had arrived at the exit of the alley and saw Chris running towards him. Astonished, he remarked, "That was quick."

As an Steel-tier alchemist, Chris' physique was better than average humans. To prevent from getting caught in crossfires, he usually ran away to find a safe place to hide. After a while, when the battle ended and there was nothing but silence, he would come back to check things out.

Joshua returned to the spot where the spear was stabbed and pulled it out of the crumbling wall.

"No. He ran away. It was a little letdown. But, then again, I too was unable to fight anymore." He showed what was remained of the spear and frowned, "Look, my weapon was broken in half. I swear that the fight had taken less than one second yet the damage is so severe. What a bummer!"

"Forget it. This is but a normal, mass produced weapon. It's normal for such a weapon to break that easily."

Joshua could not help but reminisce about the game again. Back then, he was wielding an indestructible Inscribed Rune Greatsword. He threw the broken spear aside and turned to Joshua. He then immediately frowned and said, "Chris, there's someone behind you. Why are there so many invisible bastards around?!"

"Huh?!"

Chris turned around quickly when Joshua pointed it out and reacted just as fast. At that moment, he trusted him enough to not stop him from doing anything to Joshua. The alchemist then pulled out a bag of glitter powder. He grabbed a handful of them and scattered them forward.

Swooosh.

The powder flew across the alley and fell on something. The powder than made out a silhouette of a human and by the shape of it, it was a female. She stood there, stunned with disbelief that she was found.

"You had flawless invisibility. If the odor on your body wasn't too strong, I couldn't have found you."

Joshua casually waltzed his way toward the stationary female, who did seem on planning to escape and said sternly, "Hmph. I see that you're not up to no good. That or Chris here would have died a long time ago. As such, I'm willing to give you a chance."

Joshua swiftly grabbed the female's shoulder and ask, "Why are you here? Reveal your intentions or I'll turn you into a ghost that's forever invisible, just the way you like it."

Translator Notes:

(1): It is unclear whether this message was the author's own words or the character's monologue.

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Chapter 11: Are You Guys Dumb for Plotting so Much Against Each Other?

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The female stalker with dark gray hair did not intentionally disguise her appearance. She had a slightly gloomy face, not really old in terms of age. Her leather armor on her torso was lightly covered in dust, displaying her currently awkward position. Judging from the current scenario, she seemed to be very surprised by the fact that her flawless stalking was exposed and she felt a little uneasy. Thus, facing Joshua's query, she could only answer anxiously.

"Which part of my body reeks?"

"Answer my question!"

"Ah!" Realizing what she had said, other than feeling embarrassed, this female stalker finally understood the dire situation she was facing. She looked at the calm warrior in front of her, which had a frightening aura emitting from his whole body, causing her to quiver for an instant. Immediately she replied, "Well, I was just coming here to take a look at the situation. Are you Joshua from the Radcliffe family?"

Under tremendous pressure from Joshua while speaking, she observed her surroundings in a panic, searching for a path to retreat from this small alley. Her current scenario was different as compared to the situation the silencer was put in. Her positioning now was too close to Joshua, plus her body was also smudged with alchemy powder. Factoring in all those conditions, she knew she could not easily sneak away from Joshua. Feeling helpless, she ditched the idea of running away.

"Yea, that's me," said Joshua, using one hand to hold onto the female stalker's shoulder. After pondering for a while, Joshua decided against the idea of choking her neck. "Now tell me, what is your name and origin? Don't you dare lie to me! Oh yeah, your scabbard should be a new one right? The smell of leather is too strong."

"So that's where I screwed up," whispered the female stalker. Feeling the strength exerted from Joshua's hand onto her shoulder, the gray-haired girl judged and weighed between the pros and cons of her current scenario. After that, she gave up the idea of keeping her identity a secret and explained, "My name is Nolan Wilson, I came here to—"

"The Wilson family!"

After hearing the name, Chris who was standing beside them adjusted his spectacles and interrupted her speech. "You are from the Wilson family? Oh right, I should have guessed it by the color of your hair. Gray hair, purple pupils, and this gloomy expression of yours!"

"Wilson family?" After hearing the words Chris said, Joshua's facial expression remained the same, as if he was not surprised by the information given. Just a while ago, he met with the enemy's son. Now he met with another member of the Wilson family. All these encounters no longer surprised him.

He looked at Nolan and increased the strength of his grip. With a deep tone, he said, "Being an enemy of mine, you still dare to appear in front of me. I praise you for your bravery. Come to think about it, I guess you have made the same resolution while confronting me?"

"Hold on! Don't just kill me without knowing more about me! Although I'm from the Wilson family, I'm not riding on the same boat with those guys you've mentioned!" Feeling an increased pressure on her shoulder, a force that could possibly destroy her own shoulder blade, Nolan finally displayed her attribute as a professional stalker for being calm and reflexive. Under this life-threatening situation, she spoke concisely and forcefully, "I am the same as the alchemist, I came not for your family's possessions nor properties. In fact, I was looking for a chance or a method to foil this plan!"

"Ha! Today I have already wasted half an hour listening to you and Chris claiming, 'We do not belong to the same group of Wilson family members'. It's hilarious!"

Despite saying that, Joshua's grip on her shoulder actually loosened. He could easily identify that the girl in front of him was not lying to him, nor did she have any reason to either. Joshua lifted his chin slightly and asked, "Chris does not want to become a noble on the northern lands. He does not want to be a puppet for others. However, you would be on the side who receives all the benefits, why would you oppose your family's plan?

"Benefits!" Nolan had a hunch that Joshua would not kill her right off the bat. For a brief moment, she felt relieved. However, she did not dare to tarry with her explanation. "The current plans being carried out against your family stemmed from my elder brother alone. The higher-ups within the family actually remained neutral towards the decision made by my brother. If his plan were to succeed, I wouldn't have cared about it in the first place. However, there are too many uncertainties within this operation itself which would possibly cause me to suffer a loss. Thus, this operation had to be stopped."

"What kind of loss?"

"The family branch which I belong to has about a half of their property located in Moldavia. If chaos were brought forth towards this land, it would only jeopardize my plans in the future."

"And your objective is?"

Both of them exchanged questions and answers within a time span not more than 2 minutes. Looking at this super-efficient interrogation, Chris felt that this young girl faced the same misfortune as he did… Facing the pressure of absolute power and violence, a person's words could be easily delivered in a simple yet oppressive fashion to obtain the information they needed.

Nolan answered, "Killing my brother. That's why I will be standing on your side. Well, pretty please… could you release your hand? My shoulder is breaking apart…"

"I don't really know why but I'm getting used to all these crap. You may continue with your explanation."

Apparently, it is another family feud situation. Frowning, Joshua seemed to be annoyed. All these noble family internal issues had caused quite some annoyance to him. Can't all these issues be settled with a single sword fight? Joshua could only let out a sigh. He released his grip after being requested politely by Nolan. "Obviously, assisting a Winter Count of the Wilson family to ascend in terms of ranking would be more beneficial to the family as a whole. So why does your family's upper rank only stay neutral and observe?"

"Everyone has their own agenda. There is no single shared mindset within a family, not to mention that the Wilson family is a major family. This issue is definitely more apparent in the family." The gray-haired stalker moved her shoulder. While feeling the sore and pain from her shoulder, she did not ignore the question stated by Joshua. "Even if Danlya were to succeed and get promoted, it doesn't mean that he would directly provide benefits to the family at the end of the day. As a matter of fact, with the actions he had taken against the Radcliffes, he would only be able to seize a certain portion of the properties owned by the Radcliffes during the chaos. It is impossible for Danlya to assume complete control over the region with his current capabilities. It is not easy to leverage the power of a count."

"Even if the lord of the lands is an idiot, the knights within their control are not easy to deal with either," said Nolan with a stern expression. "If we were to initiate conflict between the nobles, the royal court will have an excuse to intervene on this matter. They would only need to state that the incidences are against the law, an act which goes against the empire and the king. My elder brother is ambitious and he wants to become the successor to the family. That is why he is taking such a huge risk in initiating all these plans, ignoring the risks and playing around the loopholes of the law to attain his goal."

"I see." Joshua thought for a second there and asked, "Why do you want to kill your brother? Well, let's forget that. After all, it is a war of succession within the family. You don't really have to tell me the details."

Shaking his head, he firmly spoke, "Since that's the case, we shall not delay this matter any further. Now I'm going to slay your uncle and destroy the Wilson family's plan. If you are willing to follow me, then come over here."

"Wait! Do you wish to enter the Count's mansion now?"

Looking at Joshua heading towards the Count's mansion without uttering a single word, Nolan and Chris were shocked by his actions. Immediately they advised Joshua together.

"Can you devise a better plan instead of heading right into the lion's den?"

"I don't have enough time for that, my original plan was to enter the city directly and overcome the obstacles through brute forcing to claim the head of their leader. Initially, I had sufficient time at hand. However, most of it has now been wasted on the both of you as well as those silencers."

Without stopping, Joshua had arrived at the far end of the alley. Glancing back, he said, "The silencers should have informed the other infantries and knights. Now, I would have to take advantage of the timing. Otherwise, as the time passes, the defense would be much tighter and harder to penetrate. All these factors would only increase the difficulty of accomplishing my task. It would be even more unlikely for the both of you to reach your individual goals."

"Joshua, I know that you are very strong as a person. You have successfully slain more than a hundred during the battle between the orcs. However, shouldn't you be preparing yourself with a better weapon at the very least?"

Nolan continued to dissuade Joshua from committing to this reckless plan. She sincerely said, "The count's mansion has more than ten Silver-tier guards. If your infiltration was discovered, these guards could intercept you within five minutes. Without a good weapon in hand, it would be impossible for you to reach them successfully. To make matters worse, I have a valid source of information stating that my elder brother will reach Moldavia by today. He is a Gold-tier warrior. You cannot defeat him with the strength you currently possess!"

"Gold-tier?"

After hearing this term, Joshua stopped advancing. He took a good look at Nolan. The gray-haired girl's countenance did not betray any signs of deception. With a deep voice, he said, "This could be problematic. Are you sure that he will arrive today?"

As an ex-legendary warrior, Joshua knew clearly about the huge gap between a Gold and Silver tier.

To keep the explanation simple, given a scenario where he was fully geared with weapon and armor, Joshua was confident in actually withstanding the onslaught of a dozen Silver-tier attackers. Even if the situation did not favor him, he could always decide to retreat. However, if pitted against a Gold-tier individual, he would have very few ways to deal with said individual; even retreating would be nearly impossible based on his current capabilities.

The Mycroft Continent was a mystical land filled with war and chaos. A full-grown man in this land would possess Steel-tier capabilities. Their strength was much stronger than an ordinary cow. Their constitution was even comparable to the knights on Earth. Silver-tier knights were basically walking cannons. Fully equipped with armor, these Silver-tier knights could be considered as humanoid tanks. When it came to Gold-tier warriors, however, their destructive power would be comparable to that of unlimited payloads detonating after being released from a bomber plane traveling at the speed of sound.

"That's correct. Gold tier. I could not confirm the exact time of his arrival. All I know is that he would arrive today."

Nolan was very sure about the information she had just provided. After she finished her speech, Chris, who was next to her, also joined in the conversation. "Nonetheless, I think you should gather all your knights under your family's banner in Fort Dark Forest and launch an attack with all of them together. Even if there is a Gold-tier warrior on their side, he would not dare to confront the onslaught of hundreds of Silver-tier knights directly."

"…" Joshua frowned, while his gaze emitted an aura to be feared.

By all means, the suggestion that Chris had voiced out was not wrong. According to regular situations, Joshua shouldn't be taking the risk by charging at the enemy alone to slay the enemy's commander. Although killing his own uncle would automatically enable him to inherit the lands of Moldavia as the sole successor, by doing so, his butler, Fang would also reveal the truth about the secrets of his family. However, he only had the capability of a Silver-tier. There was too much risk for him to bear at this juncture.

But who the heck did you think Joshua was? He wasn't an ordinary person to begin with. Our beloved warrior here did not need to play by the rules for the masses.

Summoning his status menu, Joshua inspected his own levels.

[Level 28 – Silver Tier (Challenge Level 29 – Silver Tier)]

[Experience – 4730/5400]

"Just a little bit left to level up," murmured Joshua.

At this very moment, Joshua was devising and formulating a plan for how he should proceed. He still lacked a little bit of experience to level from Level 28 to Level 29. With his level being so close to 30, he was not too far off from being a Gold tier.

If he could kill every single enemy within the city's vicinity, he should be able to increase his level by 1 or 2. After entering the realm of Gold-tier, it would be the moment when he would be able to unleash a series of formidable skills and abilities which were only unlocked after reaching Gold-tier. With those skills in hand, even if there were four to five Gold-tier warriors going against him, it would be a piece of cake for him to handle them.

"You don't have to speak any further. I have already made up… What the—?!"

Just when Joshua finally decided to proceed with his plan of storming the count's mansion, he suddenly felt a searing pain burning on his right wrist.

The pain felt as if an incandescent iron was suddenly plunged into a hot iron bath. Joshua wasn't able to withstand this sudden surge of pain. His left hand held firmly onto his right wrist while he vigorously dripped with cold sweat. The pain was so intense that even Joshua whimpered for an instance. Feeling shocked and furious, Joshua exclaimed, "What is happening?!"

Woooo…

A faint yet strange sound rang in Joshua's ears, brought forth by a form of unknown energy as if it was the wind itself or maybe it was a form of light. The magical energy of the atmosphere gathered together, turning into a half visible form of silver radiance. Initially, it rose with the air, before unexpectedly rushing into Joshua's right wrist like a stream of water flowing into the sea.

Joshua felt surprised as a cooling sensation suddenly permeated throughout his wrist which was previously searing up. As the area of the cooling sensation expanded, he began to notice intriguing runes that formed a sort of tattoo on his wrist as well as the back of his hand. The design of the runes was extremely intricate, with every stroke and pattern remaining unique. Finally, the burning sensation along with the chilling effect on both runes dissipated. The runes transformed into a tattoo in the shape of a two-handed greatsword coiled by a long black snake.

"What's the meaning of this?!"

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Chapter 12: I Have This Feeling That I Could Just Level Up by Unsheathing My Sword

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Joshua inspected the newly formed runes on his right hand. He had a feeling that he had seen these runes somewhere before in his life.

After going through his memories, he finally figured out what it was in no time.

"Fang…" murmured Joshua. Later on, he gazed towards the direction where he last met the old butler. There was once when he carefully examined the old hands of the butler. On the back of his hand existed a slightly different shaped rune but very similar in terms of style.

"At that time, I only noticed Fang aging. However, I never placed too much attention to the other parts of his body."

Although Joshua had identified the familiarity of the rune by linking it to his butler, this information did not really help him in terms of understanding the functionality of the rune. Joshua carefully touched the rune on the back of his hand. He had no idea why it suddenly emerged on his hand and what was the reason it appeared in the first place.

"Joshua? What happened to you?"

All the anomalies which happened previously occurred within seconds. Nolan and Chris could only see Joshua holding onto his wrist all of a sudden before whimpering. They didn't notice the magical energy fluctuation that occurred. Immediately, they went up to Joshua and asked, "Is that an injury from your previous battle?"

"No, it's not related to that," Joshua replied while shaking his head. Joshua then moved his wrist and noticed nothing peculiar. The previous sensation of a sudden spike in heat and chill did not exist… As though he was hallucinating. Other than having an extra tattoo-like pattern on the back of his hand, he didn't notice any damages or degradations in terms of battle prowess that was caused by the phenomena.

"If your condition isn't at its peak, do not overexert yourself. I have a safe house well hidden within the city. You could get some quality rest there."

Nolan was still worried about Joshua's current condition. As a Silver-tier stalker, her observation skills were way better than Chris the alchemist. She had noticed that the warrior in front of her was worrying about something. She was certain that the whimper he let out earlier was real. Thus, to show her sincerity towards Joshua, she said, "You just have to rest for a day. I could arrange for some of my henchmen to provide you with a full set of armor and a weapon. After that, it doesn't matter whether you sneak in and kill Danlya when my brother is not around or carry out other dangerous tasks, you would not be taking too much of a risk."

Joshua was surprised for a moment there.

Not because he was going to accept the suggestion. Although the suggestion given by the gray-haired girl was good and reasonable, he did not plan to do things in such a fashion. At this moment, another issue surfaced.

When Nolan mentioned the word 'weapon', the rune on Joshua's hand actually heated up for a moment. At that instant, he suddenly recalled a very important piece of information.

"Oh yeah! Not only was this rune present on the back of the butler's hand, even the family crest of Radcliffe had a similar rune!"

For things that are too common in life, we tend to overlook it most of the time. Joshua retrieved a pocket watch from his inline pocket. On top of the pocket watch, it displayed the time; half past six in the morning. The most crucial information was that on the back of the pocket watch, there was a very intricately engraved crest on it.

There was one hand holding onto a sword with a snake entwining both the hand and the sword together like a chain.

"It is a perfect match…" Joshua no longer had the urgency to go to the count's mansion. He furrowed his eyebrows while examining his own family crest. Joshua started to ponder about the recent weird occurrence. "Could it be that there's a hidden secret behind this? Oh, wait!"

Tying all the incidences together, Joshua finally caught a glimpse of the whole scenario that had befallen him.

"So that's what had happened.

"Fang had mentioned before that 'Qualification is not something as abstract as a title or status. It is a thing.' Although this rune is not an item itself, it is something that Fang had that I did not possess initially."

All the mysteries had finally been identified and resolved. Joshua didn't really care about the looks Nolan and Chris were exchanging and mumbled to himself.

"Fang does not know that his identity as a Divine Armament has already been known to me. Well, the information later on will be easy to deduce. The weapon shown on this rune represents the Divine Armament. As for the hand shown within the family crest, that represents each and every generation of the Radcliffe family's head of clan, who are also the wielders of Divine Armaments!"

"And that means that the 'qualification' itself is about coming into possession of a Divine Armament!"

The logic behind this was very simple and straightforward. As long as you have sufficient information in hand, you could easily deduce it even if you had the mentality of a child. However, Joshua was a person who had just traveled through dimensions, he could not recall all these details too clearly in a short time frame. Before Joshua had time to celebrate, he once again experienced a burning sensation.

This time, however, it did not inflict pain as its previous occurrence did. The sensation this time around was akin to soaking inside a bucket of warm water which gave off a very pleasant feeling. Other than this warm sensation, Joshua also felt that the rune was actually summoning him to a certain location.

It is not that I do not have any information about the location hidden by your father. Only, it is hidden in a place that you should also know of.

This phrase that was previously mentioned by the old butler suddenly popped up in Joshua's mind. Joshua agreed with that statement. "Of course, I should have known about this…"

After taking in a deep breath and subsequently exhaling, Joshua felt a lot more refreshed. The white fog which was brought forth by the warm air slowly dissipated within the alley. Now, Joshua's complexion went back to normal. He turned his head towards Chris and called out to him with a stern tone. "You! Follow Nolan to the safe house."

Next up, he instructed Nolan, "Lead him away from this area. One more thing, what's your elder brother's Gold-tier phase?"

Nolan was nervous by Joshua's sudden actions; she thought that this warrior would suddenly attack her. She never thought that he would only want her to escort a person to the safe house as well as ask her some questions. After sighing with relief, she answered, "No problem, I can bring him to the safe house. As for my elder brother's current status, he is still in the beginning phase of Gold-tier. He is only 29 years old and had just achieved a breakthrough. He could not possibly be an intermediate Gold-tier."

"Then it is not an issue after all," said Joshua while nodding his head. Without any hesitation, he left the small alley. "From now onwards, both of you only need to stay hidden. Tomorrow, you will hear the good news. Especially for you, Nolan. I'm actually pretty interested in the family faction you are a part of. Maybe we could discuss a collaboration in the near future."

"Okay."

Although Nolan felt that she should continue to advise Joshua, she did not dare to attempt with initiating another conversation with him. Additionally, Joshua's actions were too fast. Both of them could only respond to him in a brief manner before watching him vanish from the alley in the next second.

After exiting the small alley, Joshua didn't stop and continued on his journey. From the time he breached the main gate and met with Chris, the silencer, and Nolan, more than half of an hour had gone by. Based on his own experience, this amount of time was ample enough for the enemy to rally their forces. During this time around, the enemy was probably performing a search between the count's mansion and the main gate. A large-scale search would be unlikely to happen within this short time frame.

Considering that Joshua already lost his best timing for an ambush, he was biding his time to uncover the secrets behind the rune on the back of his hand. He wanted to explore anything related to this rune and observe the entire situation.

The city center of Moldavia was his birthplace. He grew up on this very same land. After living for more than ten years in this city, he was very familiar with the terrain here. He knew every nook and cranny of the city including the residential area, manufacturing area, business district, as well as the military barracks.

After avoiding a few areas with patrols, Joshua utilized all the alleys and shortcuts to arrive at the location where the rune led him to.

"I think I'm close to the destination now."

The burning sensation on his wrist was getting hotter and hotter. At that moment, Joshua had already reached the far end of the western city area with a church located at that place.

Behind the church, a large cemetery could be seen. It was sealed off with metal bars, preventing ordinary civilians from entering that area yet allowing them to see the tombstones erected within the cemetery.

This was a cemetery for warriors.

Not every person within the city had the privilege of having their bodies buried behind the church and receiving the people's blessings. Only those warriors who had sacrificed themselves protecting the city from the onslaught of monsters, beasts and the Dark Tide had the right to receive blessings from the civilians by being buried here. The reason metal bars were used instead of bricks was that it allowed the people here to read about the deeds of these perished warriors.

[Glory belongs to the warriors who fulfilled their deeds. This will be their resting place.]

A stone tablet was erected in front of the church entrance. The phrase stated above was printed onto the stone tablet with molten metal.

Joshua nodded his head in agreement towards the message shown. Later on, he entered the church.

This was a gothic church. On top of the church, there was an old bell tower. Despite having aged, the main door was still quite sturdy. Joshua wasn't able to discover any priests or nuns within the church. To be fair, this was quite logical because there was a larger church located in the city center. All the priests were stationed there. The few cemetery knights which were supposed to be stationed here had probably been relocated under the orders of Danlya.

For Danlya who was already lacking in human resources to even deploy a full-scale patrolling squad within the city could already be considered a wonder. How could he even spare the extra resources required in guarding a dilapidated church?

"The burning sensation is now gone. I guess I have finally arrived at my destination."

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Chapter 13: Sword and Axe, Fire and Steel

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

After taking a stroll inside the church, other than noticing a renewed Statue of the Seven Gods, Joshua didn't notice any significant information related to the rune. This place was only an ordinary church, with some classic wooden chairs, colored glasses, detailed wall paintings, and statues found within this place. Although the items looked aged, it was kept very clean. Dust was hardly spotted on these items. "The prayer hall looks the same as always, quite old but very clean. Did someone actually spend their time cleaning this place?"

There were seven statues located in front of the hall, indicating that the church did not specifically focus on one god, but it is a place for believers to pray for all seven gods of humanity. To the current people in the city, believing in seven gods was a better choice as compared to believing in one.

"I've been to this place…"

Joshua thought for a moment there. Using his right hand, he patted the wooden chair beside him and said, "When I was young, there was a period of time where father would always bring me here to pray on Sundays."

In the past, Joshua simply thought that his father was a person who believed in the gods. However, from the information gathered based on the current scenario, there would be some other reason or secret behind his father's action. He furrowed his eyebrows and tried to think about the past seriously, "That time, father would often go into a room within the church alone. During that time, I will be left to play with the knights. There's definitely some secret behind his action."

Once he remembered these events, Joshua proceeded to the room he vaguely remembered where his father went. After passing the altar and the confession room, he reached a room without windows. The room was a bit dark at the point of time. Once Joshua reached the door of the room which was located slightly on the left, he felt another surge of heat on the back of his hand.

"I guess this would be the place."

After trying to open up the door, he noticed that the door was not locked. After entering the room, he found out that the room was not as dark as expected.

This room looks like a private study room. The floor was made out of black granite. The ceiling had some stones that illuminated golden radiance to light up the room. Those stones were probably fluorite fragments. All four walls within the room were covered with large bookcases. In the middle of the room, there was a table made from Feiyun Wood. Looking at all these designs and decoration, Joshua could only lament, "I can still accept the usage of fluorite fragments, however Feiyun Wood and Ruyue Naga are both high-grade wood. They could be used to make weapons, but then they used it for furniture…"

It was not the time to lament too much on all the wastage here. Joshua took a piece of fluorite fragment to look around the vicinity. After searching for a while, he found some clues to lead him to his goal.

"There is a crack in the floor."

A legendary warrior's eyesight was very sharp. Although Joshua's current capabilities were not on par as his past, his observation skill was still very strong. In addition to that, players for the game were all experts in terms of finding clues to clear quests. With his past experience, Joshua easily located the obvious flaw on the floor. "Although it was covered up pretty nicely, the signs of wear and tear caused by opening the door very often could not be erased."

Extending his arm, Joshua tried to examine every inch within the area to see if there is any mechanics or traps laid. However, when his hand touched a piece of special granite on the floor, a magic pattern suddenly appeared on it. Just when Joshua thought that he activated some traps and tried to fall back, he heard a low mechanical voice.

"Detecting energy… Energy frequency matches with the database. Target: Joshua van Radcliffe. The primary successor of the Radcliffe family. Highest authority access approved. Unlocking entrance."

"An origin of flame, a birth from steel, an indestructible wisdom, an eternal order."

As the ancient prayer was spoken, the black granite opened up a passage in front of Joshua. This passage led all the way down to a narrow channel. Joshua paused for a second and didn't rush into the passageway. Currently, Joshua was trying to recall the ancient prayer that he heard right from the beginning.

In Continental War's third installment late-game portion, on the new map Void Starfield, there was a public dungeon which was quite high in terms of difficulty. The full name of the dungeon was called [The Ancient Multiverse Bridge's Sacrificial Ground]. Players had a tendency to call it Multiverse Sacrificial Ground. Within the core area of this public dungeon, there was a large obelisk. Right at the entrance, there was a stone tablet. On top of it was an ancient manuscript.

The ancient prayer that was spoken previously was the same as the ancient manuscript on the stone tablet.

According to the legend, before the existence of the ancients, the whole galaxy had nothing but void. Within the void, there was only an indescribable force of chaos and silence.

However, within this void, "Fire" was born from nothingness. The light brought forth by the "Fire" illuminated the world. The existence of "Fire" differentiated existences and void, order and chaos, light and darkness. This "Fire" was the beginning of every life-form. It was a form of power that gave birth to all the existence. It was also the power that caused chaos to withdraw and the materialization of life-form. This was how the existence of the world was brought forth, and this was how the origin of the world began.

The "Fire" had disintegrated the Chaos within the world. The residue of Chaos was "Steel". With order being built and solidified as time passed, came the birth of life. Each and every existence soon gained their soul and wisdom from the "Fire". They'd also gained their flesh and power from "Steel". Humans were one of the existences born from this process.

By relying on "Fire", man was able to give names to all the nameless entities, providing laws and logic, sustaining order, and making sure that each of every living being had their value and purpose of existence. Humans had used "Fire" to bring forth hope, encouraging the will of persistence and willingness to explore this wild and unknown world. Whereas "Steel" signified the beginning of creation within the world. "Steel" was also the source of strength and power. It was born from fire, and was refined by humans. Humans utilized bones, stones, copper, and metal to manufacture tools and weapons to face disaster, war, and conflicts. Humans had used "Steel" to bring forth calmness, rationality, absolute power to settle every problem and provide judgment against every evil doings.

An origin of flame, a birth from steel, an indestructible wisdom, an eternal order.

This was the most ancient information known by the players in Continental War, which was also the only myth regarding the world's creation. Even the Seven Gods among Men and gods of other races never refuted this statement. During the old days, Joshua saw a topic about test analysis regarding the validity of this myth in the game forum. However, he had no interest on this matter, thus he didn't even bother clicking it to view in the first place.

When he heard the ancient prayer, he was momentarily surprised. After all, the mainstream religion was still the Seven Gods among Men. The belief towards The Initial Flame and Primordial Steel had long dwindled. Traces of their existence could now only be found in some ancient books.

"Based on what I remember, the mages from the Skypiercing White Tower debated about this case. Magic originated from the remnant The Initial Flame within each multivariate universe, whereas combat aura was originated from the Primordial Steel within every life form.

Joshua looked through the passage for a moment and decided to go through the passageway.

There was nothing to worry about. After all, he had to go down the passageway at the end of the day. Thus, he did not hesitate and moved on.

The passageway towards the underground was actually not very long. There was a fluorite fragment installed on the wall within a certain distance, providing sufficient light for users to see. After a while, Joshua reached the most inner part of the passageway. He found a large and empty space.

In the middle of the hall, there was a great statue. It was an arm holding onto an iron hammer, intertwined by a black snake. It contained a majestic feeling which seeped into a person's soul, making them feel that the arm would swing the hammer and hit it on the ground at any time.

Surrounding the hall were many rooms. Some of the rooms had quite a number of tools used by alchemist and magicians. There was also a crystal forging altar and an elemental hearth seen within this place. All these expensive and valuable items had the capability to cause some misconceptions for people in believing that this area was some super high-tier alchemist workshop. However, the only thing that captivated Joshua's heart was located right in front of him. He had a hunch that the vague radiance at the end of the passage was the thing that summoned him to this very place.

Joshua quickly heads towards the direction of that light. Other than the light in front of him, the passageway was actually covered in darkness. After a while, Joshua's vision suddenly brightened up.

A whole piece of fluorite was hanging on top of the room. The whole environment was filled with a metallic scent. Joshua had to take some time for him to get used to the light here. After adapting towards the light here, he could finally see what was in the room.

"This is…"

Having doubt and uncertainty, Joshua quickly looked through the room once again.

Under the cemetery church lay a hidden room. Within this hidden room, there are countless of weapon sticking onto the ground. There were blades, spears, greatswords and battle axes. Even flails and cross hammers existed there. All of them had one thing in common, that was all of the equipment were very old and had countless of rust marks all over the weapons.

Looking at the conditions of all these weapons, Joshua felt that he was looking at a weapons graveyard. This place looked exactly like a place where all the weapons were going to be buried. However, within this pile of decrepit weapons, there were two that caught his attention.

A greatsword and a battle axe.

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Chapter 14: My Weapon Can Change Into a Girl?! FML!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Joshua approached the greatsword that was nearest to where he stood.

It was a sword so huge that it could be considered extraordinary. However, it was not very detailed, indicating shoddy workmanship. Half of the sword's body was embedded in the middle of the stone-made floor. Even though the sword was only partially visible, it was already half the height of an average human. Although the body of the sword was a little rusty, one could tell that the core of the sword was still strong and durable. The gray surface of the sword was absorbing the light in its surroundings, making it look as if it was shrouded in darkness.

When he stood right before the sword, the tattoo on the back of his palm blazed brightly. Joshua fixed his eyes on the sword and stayed silent as if he was in deep thought.

One moment later, he reached his hand out, gripping the hilt of the sword.

Whistle—

A gust of wind suddenly rose from within the underground room.

Because of that, the smell of rust that overwhelmed the entire room was removed along with the wind. Meanwhile, the other weapons that were rooted in the ground all around the room began to quiver. No matter whether swords, spears, or axes, they resonated faintly, as if they were celebrating. Yet, these weapons emitted a feeling of sorrow as well. With the resonance of the countless weapons around him, Joshua glared at the sword as he attempted to pull it out of the ground, bit by bit.

Light that was formed from magic began to flow out from the void. With the creaking sounds of metal against stone, one could tell that the blade of the sword was gradually leaving the ground, exposing more of itself to Joshua. Even though the sword was covered in dust and dirt, it was not dull at all. Its sharp edges could still reflect the light as bright as the stars.

Looking at the light that continued to shine in all directions, Joshua had already pulled out half the sword. Now, he only needed to pull out the tip of the sword out from the ground. However, the sword appeared to be stubborn, as though it was refusing to leave the ground because something was missing.

"Why are you rejecting me?" Joshua questioned the sword softly.

[Brand the Mark]

Suddenly, a stream of words appeared right before his eyes. Joshua was a little surprised at first. However, an instant later, he reacted to the system notification and said, "Indeed… I see it now!"

Taking a deep breath, Joshua kept all other thoughts aside, emptying his mind and soul. As he began to breathe steadily, his internal organs, bones, muscles and other parts of his body began to quiver. It went along his blood vessels and tendons, all the way to his right hand that was holding the hilt on the sword.

The burning light, also known as Combat Aura, began to condense along with the Origin Force of Searing Steel. Both forces swirled and gathered together at one point on his right hand before the forces were injected into this worn out greatsword, purifying its interior.

The rust was beginning to fade and the dents and cracks on the sword slowly vanished one after another.

Following the glittering radiance that overwhelmed Joshua's sight, Joshua's mark had been branded on the sword. Meanwhile, the last part of the sword, the tip, had left the ground. It was completely pulled out of the ground, leaving some dust flying about around the hole where the sword was plunged in long before.

A powerful blast of magical energy came out of the sword. Light orbs that look like fireflies slowly emerged all around the surroundings in the room. These light orbs then fell onto the blade of the sword like snowflakes. With relative ease, Joshua contained the sword as he focused his sight on the blade.

Right after that, a blinding light shone across every corner of the room. The hilt of the giant sword that he held in his right hand slowly turned into a soft hand. The hand then rested slowly and lightly on his palm. There was a black mark right on the wrist of the silky soft hand. Well, the mark looked similar to the mark he has on his wrist; of a snake entwined around a huge sword.

"Nice to meet you, Master."

The elegant voice that only a lady could have was heard. Joshua raised his head slowly to see a petite figure in a blazer dress standing right in front of him. This girl had a long silvery hair that flowed with the wind. Meanwhile, her two greenish pupils that glowed like fireflies were radiating with a strange vibe.

She smiled at Joshua and bowed to him like a butler. Then she gently pulled out her right hand and bowed at him again. "I shall obey the heir of the Radcliffes to fulfill the promise made in ancient times. You must be my master. I'm Acroll's Swordbreaker. You can call me Ying."

Joshua had a solemn expression on his face. Without saying a word, his gaze was fixed on this girl who had the vibe of an old butler.

It wasn't because he was too shocked or whatsoever. Truth to be told, his thoughts were scrambled so badly that he could not even react to anything anymore. Not long after, realization dawned upon him.

Divine Armaments are not humans that turn into weapons but the other way round! I got it all wrong in the first place! Naturally, he did not voice those thoughts aloud.

Meanwhile, this silver-haired girl called Ying was still chattering delightedly. She was laughing with a slightly aristocratic demeanor. Then she said, "I've answered your call by leading you here. Your will shall be my hope as well. Now, our pact shall be fulfilled!"

"Henceforth, I shall battle by your side. I shall open the way with my conviction and complete all challenges with my strength!"

No matter how dazed he was, Joshua reacted naturally to the situation as he was now on the most important step of forming the pact. The power of the bloodline was gushing through every single vein in his body. With a serious expression, he placed his hand on Ying's forehead.

"If that's the case, the pact has been formed!"

With the influence of some mysterious force, their voices sounded ethereal. Both of them chanted solemnly in unison, "By obeying the ancient covenant, my life is in your hands. My honor lies in the blade that I am. With the blood pact that binds this oath of mine, I shall never turn my back on you."

At that moment, a soft glow appeared from nowhere. Joshua could feel a warm sensation being released from within his body, especially his right wrist. That was the special thing about a bloodline pact. Although Joshua had not gone into a pact with any other Divine Armaments, he was unconsciously familiar with the entire process. He noticed that his body also has an inexplicable sense of ability to adapt. If he could have children in the future, then his children should inherit this sense of his towards the Divine Armaments.

Upon completing forming the pact, the two of them let out a sigh of relief. Ying's sigh was even louder; she seemed very content at the moment, with no intention whatever to hide the evident joy on her face.

However, Joshua knew that "she" was just her outer appearance.

Ying might appear to be a fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl. However, as a condensed form of energy in a humanoid form, she was a Divine Armament after all. Her combat effectiveness in her humanoid state is definitely not weak at all. At the very least, she was much stronger than a large number of Silver-tier humans.

Meanwhile, the attributes of the girl were naturally available to Joshua by now.

[Name: Ying Acroll]

[Form: Excellent]

[Race: Divine Armament – Race Skills: Divine Armament Transformation, Resonates with the Master who formed a Pact with her and transforms into a weapon.]

[Level: 23 – Silver Tier (Challenge Level 16 – Silver Tier)]

[Attributes:…]

[Physique: Small humanoid form with a long lifespan from another world / Sword length – 197cm]

[HP: Lively]

[Vitality: Lively]

[Transformational Weapon: Acroll's Swordbreaker]

[Status: None]

[Class: The Seventh Generation of Divine Armament for slaying Aragami/ Servant]

[Innate Abilities: Spiritual Form Body, Sleepless, Food not required, Pro-Physical]

[Skills: Weakness Break, Oppressive Impairment, Focused Destruction, Sharpness Enhancement, Decapitate, Dreadful Gleam (Mutilation)]

[Equipment: Women's Double-breasted Blazer Dress]

[Divine Armament Transformation Level 1: Last for 1 hour. Cooldown 24 hours. Transforms into weapon state, providing the Master with half of Ying's own health and one-fifth of her attributes]

[Compliant to the Pact to get a new unparalleled weapon for observing the world.]

Attributes, Innate Abilities, and Skills. The power level is not weak at all. Meanwhile, this girl's just like a newborn Divine Armament. She'll definitely become much stronger than now if she's nourished correctly. No wonder the old count saw her as an assistant. It wasn't just because she could transform into a weapon.

Keeping the thoughts in his mind, Joshua knew that Ying was only a newborn. Even so, she already possessed the power level of a Silver while in her humanoid form. She could still transform into her weapon form when facing imminent danger to increase the power level of her master. As expected of the ancient races that had started the continental war. Her cute appearance could just be a guise that hides the fact that she existed along the races back them! She could potentially be just as crazy as the ancient races.

Joshua knew better than anyone about his followers. They were handsome men and women all the way. So even if they couldn't get a powerful pet, they would still pick those that look pretty and nice. Some of them even attempted to do their research on the Outside World and Demonology just so that they could summon a leprechaun or a succubus. Well, that was for the mages only. As for the other people, finding a good pet was more convenient. A normal fighter would already be better off if they could get a mount.

He could imagine how crazy the melee combatants would become when the powerful and adorable race called Divine Armaments was exposed to the public. Well, Joshua had no interest in this and he did not follow any of the related news as well. All he did was focus on slaying the bosses in dungeons. However, he would still hear many things about the Divine Armaments. Mostly because the ladies that went along into the dungeons with him would talk about it on the public chat. Well, that should be sufficient to prove how famous that 'thing' turned out to be.

If Joshua was still in his initial world, and those people in his party discovered this, they would definitely be envious and outraged that their leader who only knew how to hack and slash managed to form a pact with a Divine Armament!

"My name is Joshua van Radcliffe."

He reached out his right hand to the silver-haired girl right in front of him. Joshua lowered his head a little while looking into the eyes of the girl seriously. He said, "I would love to continue our chatter a little more. However, time is running out. Now, I have to fight my enemies. Are you up for it?"

Meanwhile, Ying had also reached out her right hand. Her silky soft hand was too small to grab his palm fully. So she could only rest her hand on top of Joshua's palm. She looked Joshua in the eyes, smiled, and bowed again. "It's my pleasure to fight alongside with you, Master. I'm born for this."

"Very well." Upon ending the conversation, Joshua nodded and turned around. Then, he headed towards the hall beneath the ground, "Then let's depart now."

Ying followed along without saying a word. The two of them headed out of the dark room.

At the same time, the aftermath of Joshua infiltrating the city had only begun to show.

"Incompetent trash!" Infuriated, Danlya fiercely slammed the table in the main hall of his mansion where he usually welcomed his guests. "Fifty heavily equipped soldiers! How can you all fail to last for even a few minutes?! Are you saying you were all defeated by merely a strike?!"

Without having anything to refute, the messenger could only lower his head, observing the situation from the side. He also cursed quietly at soldiers' incompetence. At the same time, he was also praying that Danlya would take it easy on him.

"Keeping silent, huh! So you call yourself one of the strongest mercenaries in the north? You're Silver tier, yet you only know how to retreat! You can't even provide any information about your enemy? Not even his strength?! So what good can you actually do then?!" The chubby man roared at him. He then panted heavily, with the veins on his head visibly popping.

The messenger could only keep his head low and hope for the best that he would not become Danlya's punching bag.

Well, Danlya did not intend to throw a tantrum at the person before him. Although he seemed furious at the moment, his mind was intact, already thinking about something else.

Could it be true that Joshua is so powerful now? No, his talent has always been more superior than my brother's. It seems that after he survived the bloody battle with the orcs, he somehow managed to find a new way to enhance his strength in this time of crisis… now… even the silencers are no match for him. That would mean I have no one left to stop him.

"You, summon the three samurai mercenaries that are hanging around the backyard." After coming to a decision, Danlya commanded the messenger, while frowning. "Tell them I'll even pay more than they requested. Just tell them to stay close to me! Protect me at all cost!"

"Yes!"

Finally, the messenger was able to leave the dreadful hall. He quickly stood up and walked out of the hallway as fast as a rat trying to escape. Then he quickly headed towards the backyard. He did not dare to look back at Danlya's cold eyes when he left.

"The Radcliffe family has only been a family of a single heir. Even if there are other descendants out there, most of them would be sent to the south of the Empire, the origin of the country to become merchants like myself."

After the messenger left, Danlya had no reason to keep his look of fury any longer. He frowned and started thinking. "For generations, my family has been keeping gold to themselves. There must be something, some secrets I have yet to discover… Well, that can be resolved later. However, that Wilson family can't be trusted at all. Their intents have been devious since the beginning. I should place more attention on them rather than on Joshua."

After saying all that, he revealed a cold sneer on his face while he rubbed a huge sapphire ring on his thumb.

"Treating me like a puppet, huh? That's adorable! Do not underestimate a merchant who can make a lot of money!"

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Chapter 15: The Beginning of a Prelude

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"Boring."

Francis was standing right before the entrance of the count's mansion with a long spear and a shield in each hand. He looked at the empty streets as he sighed, "It's pretty obvious that there's no one here. Why was I ordered to guard the entrance? Tsk… The weather is god damn cold!"

The leaves still had some frost on them. The ground was covered with snow. The wind of early winter was chilly. Francis could not help but shiver, as his armor was forged from steel, which was not able to keep Francis warm. On the other hand, the other parts of his armor that were made of leather was as thin as a paper did not prevent the cold air from rushing through them.

Even so, Francis did not let his guard down at all. Instead, he was very serious about his job now. He was looking through every detail around him.

Even though he was complaining, he knew it deep down in his bones that he must work after receiving money from others. Well, he had been a mercenary for over a decade. It was true that guarding an entrance was not exactly an amazing job that most people would be comfortable with. However, that job should be much better than battling against others.

Francis was well aware of the incident at the city gates that happened a while ago, as he was informed not long after he woke up. According to the messenger, the intruder was powerful enough to defeat fifty soldiers that were heavily armed. Now that the intruder was still hiding somewhere in the city without leaving any traces behind, it would be understandable why the person that hired him would act so cautiously.

After all, those were not fifty farmers. They were fifty soldiers who had been trained for this sort of thing! It was still quite unbelievable that one could beat them all single-handedly. Even the mercenaries might not be capable of doing such a thing.

Although Francis believed that the intruder would not attack when the guard of the entire city was on high alert, he would still make sure he did his job at 100%. As long as he could receive the payment for it, he would not suffer any loss. That was his principle and his will to persevere. In the meantime, the other guard who was supposed to guard the entrance with him had gone back to get his clothes after he complained that the weather was too cold… After all, not every man is the same. At least Francis was not willing to behave that way.

Even at the age of forty, Francis was still not able to exceed Silver tier, as a human. That would mean that he did not stand much of a chance to upgrade to the glorious Gold tier. Although he did not have the opportunity to improve, he had a lot of battle experience. He would still be able to be a mercenary to feed himself for the next seven to eight years. He could continue being a mercenary until he was fifty before considering to buy a piece of land to live a quiet life for the rest of his days.

However, would a mercenary get to live his remaining days quietly? That's not bad for a lame joke though.

Upon humoring himself with that thought, he laughed. Suddenly, Francis heard other sounds aside from the sound of the wind blowing.

Thud, thud, thud.

Footsteps could be heard from one corner of the street.

At first, the sound of the footsteps was faint to the point that Francis did not hear anything at all. However, as the person approached closer, the footsteps began to get louder. Francis could no longer contain his curiosity. He turned towards the direction where the sound of the footsteps came.

During normal times, no one would give a sh*t about any footsteps. However, ever since the city was on high alert, only a few would walk around the streets of the city. Furthermore, the disturbance in the morning and the cold weather had led no one to come out of their houses. Under the circumstances where the footsteps were loud and clear, Francis could not help but be skeptical.

A brief moment later, a tall and sturdy man with black hair appeared in Francis' view. There was also a silver-haired girl with green eyes beside the man. Judging from their heights, they looked like father and daughter. Hmm… maybe they are siblings. If that's the case, their hair color does not match.

No no no. Even if these two are close to each other, why would they appear at such a place at such a time then? That is very strange. The weather is so cold and an attack just happened not long ago.

Francis kept his thoughts back to himself and reacted to the situation before him. He witnessed the two walking closer and closer to where he was standing. He had no time to think about it as well. So he walked up to the two, frowned and spoke loudly, "Halt, you two! This is a restricted area, please turn around!"

"He's quite responsible in his job."

After a few seconds of silence, the black-haired man nodded. He seemed to disregard the serious look on Francis's face and the sword Francis was holding. He carried on with his own comments, "So many of them, and you're the only one who has the look of a real warrior."

"What… what do you mean so many of them?"

After reflecting on what the man said for one brief moment, Francis suddenly smelled the scent of blood in the air. Instantly, he felt an intense chill up his spine.

That's right. There should be many more patrols in the area. So these two could not have walked all the way here to the entrance of the count's mansion. So could it be?!

He widened his eyes and stared at the man and the little lady. He dropped his jaw, leaving him speechless as well.

"Those men are dead."

Francis's facial expression changed, yet there was no sign of fluctuation in his voice when the man talked. He was so calm when he answered Francis, "You will be, in a while."

So this man was the trespasser of the city gates!

It was just a guess, a guess that seemed to be correct at the time. Although they were not engaged in combat yet, Francis could feel that his body was overwhelmed with fear the moment he laid eyes on the man. He could not stop his legs from turning wobbly.

Right before him was the man with a sword that annihilated over seventeen heavily armed soldiers back there. He was also the monster that took out a few dozen soldiers that were patrolling the streets without a sound! Judging from his aura, he has not achieved the glorious Gold Tier yet. However, this man could easily take him out. The man was on an entirely different level compared to Francis!

"Please… turn around!"

Shouting out loud with his shaky voice, Francis forcefully suppressed himself from trembling further while raising his long spear up. He raised the tip of the spear towards the man. Although he was overwhelmed by fear, he did not falter at all. Instead, he shouted out loud, "I repeat! This is a restricted area! I shall be forced to comply and attack you if you decide to trespass!"

The man that stood before him was only wearing a very simple set of leather clothes and a set of riding gear. He did not have anything that seemed like a weapon on him. There seemed to be a small blood stain right by the corner of his trousers… It seemed that he killed all of the mercenaries that were patrolling the streets without even using any weapon. That meant this man was much more powerful than anyone could imagine.

Francis understood how powerful the man was. So when Francis was saying those words, he could feel as if his heart was grabbed by another hand firmly. The blood in his entire body had lost control, however, he did not lower his weapon. Even if he lost all his strength because of his fear, he would still be standing there without moving a step backward.

Well, one must make sure the job was done once the money had been received. Guarding the entrance was his current job and responsibility after all. It was true that there were also mercenaries who would abandon their jobs and responsibilities after they got their money. However, Francis was different from those scum. Even though he was not all-powerful, his will was firm and he would not falter, not even a little.

Fighting was not really that terrifying. Fighting to the death was basically the minimum consciousness an Imperial citizen should have. Meanwhile, the harshness of the north was far beyond the other empires. So as a northern mercenary, Francis had his own pride to uphold as well! Even if there was no chance of winning, he had to fight till his last breath!

"Your will is not too bad at all."

The man with black-hair looked at the long spear that Francis pointed at his neck. His face stayed the same. He seemed to be praising him. "However, it's really unfortunate for you."

After that… Well, there was no more after that.

The man suddenly disappeared from Francis's view, followed by a breeze blowing across his face. Francis could feel his chest tighten. The spear in his hand suddenly broke in half by an overwhelming force that he could not see. His body seemed to become much lighter all of a sudden as he flew up high into the air before descending slowly back onto the ground…

His consciousness began to slip. All he could see was darkness. Right before he completely passed out, he could still hear the tightly shut door being struck opened by a fist.

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Chapter 16: Tit for Tat

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

After taking out all of the mercenaries on the three streets and the one right before the entrance of the count's mansion, Joshua did not hesitate to punch the door open after passing through the front yard, with Ying by his side.

"That man's not dead yet."

Following closely beside her master, Ying seemed to be bothered by something.

"Why didn't you kill him?"

"I don't kill those who are not capable to fight back… Well, speaking of which, I feel like a hypocrite for saying that aloud," replied Joshua, while they were observing their surroundings. Well, he did not seem bothered with such a trivial matter though.

"It's just one mercenary. If he's not dead, he's not dead. We don't have to double tap him."

"What does double tap mean?"

"It means delivering a fatal blow to the fallen enemy to ensure their death is certain."

"Then what's a mercenary?"

"They're warriors who earn money by taking on jobs."

It was merely a simple exchange of words. Although Ying had some basic knowledge, her understanding was only limited to some situations and words. She had no clue at all about new words. Joshua believed that her databank was in urgent need of updating. Her knowledge seemed to be at least a few centuries behind time.

Fortunately for him, even though this female Divine Armament's appearance was attractive on the surface, she had a curious mind. She was interested in almost everything around her. It seemed that it would not take long before she could familiarize herself with the world around her if she kept that pace up.

After walking past a corner, they arrived at the hallway that was connected directly to the hall of the mansion.

The size of the count's mansion was similar to the size of a small city within a city. There was a wall with the main door on the outer layer of the mansion. Upon entering the door was a garden. The center point of the mansion was the building where people lived in.

Because Joshua could take longer strides, Ying had to jog a little to keep up. She looked at her surroundings while mumbling to herself, "So this is where Fang lives?"

"You know Van?" Upon picking up some interesting information from her mumbling, Joshua turned around and looked at Ying with a sense of surprise on his face.

"Yes. He used to do maintenance on us." She began talking about herself. Ying smiled slightly. She started recalling the past, "Well, he would probably do it once every two weeks. So you know too, right? Maintaining a Divine Armament is pretty troublesome…"

"No, I don't know actually. I didn't even know anything about Divine Armaments until recently."

"Oh… I see." Ying was momentarily stunned. She didn't realize her master was unaware of her existence until recently. She appeared to be handling the shock pretty badly. "Well, there are so many Divine Armaments that remained here in the blade-sealing chamber. Someone has to step in to maintain them after all. The previous count seemed to be busy all the time. So Fang was the one who did all the maintenance work."

"I see," Joshua nodded and asked again, "From what you said, are all the weapons kept in the catacombs Divine Armaments?"

Initially, Joshua thought there were only two Divine Armaments in the room. The rest of the weapons in the surroundings of the room were regular blades. After all, there were hundreds of weapons in that very room.

"That's right. They all are."

Ying nodded and said, "To ensure the best resonance, each master will get the opportunity to handpick two to three Divine Armaments first. As most of the masters in the past cannot bear the load of controlling many Divine Armaments at the same time, each master can only pick one with the highest synchronization rate. Those that do not resonate with a human will be sealed until the next pick.."

As she was talking, Ying frowned a little. She seemed to be a little puzzled at the moment. "For the sake of optimizing our fullest potential, the core of each Divine Armament is made from a body part of the master. My core is made from part of your right wrist while my brother is made from part of your left wrist. So it's strange. His resonance with you should be much higher than the resonance between you and I. So why did you choose me this time?"

That greataxe? Indeed, that axe gave me a sense of familiarity that couldn't be explained… It seems that the Soul Resonance has made some minor changes that affected the synchronization rate. Oh my… I feel a little guilty about that.

After guessing the reason behind it, Joshua was not stupid enough to say it out loud. Well, he could not help but have a new question after Ying said, "So those Divine Armaments that are currently sealed at the blade-sealing chamber, do they all have their own consciousness? Don't you think they'd be tormented by pain and suffering for being sealed away for so long?"

"Will they?"

Ying did not seem to be bothered. Although she seemed like a fifteen-year-old girl, she was quite cold and indifferent. Her green pupils showed no emotions. "Suffering and loneliness; only humans will feel those emotions. A weapon is forged just to be gripped in the hands of a human. That's the only reason we exist. If we can't be used, we shall wait while being sealed in our own sheaths. We shall wait until the day we're unsheathed for our purpose."

"That's really cold."

"Because our hearts are made of steel."

Ying did not realize it but she just made an unintentional pun. After a while, Joshua and Ying arrived before the main door to the count's mansion. He raised his head up and looked at the small castle. There were huge wooden doors of the size of the city gates. After he carefully observed for a while, he nodded and said, "They seemed to have changed the door to a magic one. The energy waves are quite messy. It'll be much more difficult to open the door now. Still, it's still manageable."

"Master, could it be that you know magic?"

Upon hearing what Joshua said, Ying was curious.

"No, I'm just used to dismantling things."

After ending the conversation with Ying, Joshua raised his fists. His eyes could only see the door that was reinforced by magic over and over again. Comparing it to the thirty-seven energy nodes on those doors made of pure steel, the magic flow and its effect on this magic door were easy for Joshua to see through.

It was just how Joshua put it; he must have destroyed at least 800 of these magic doors if not 1,000. So he was too familiar doing it.

Since that was the case, he swung his fist at the door without holding back!

Bam!

The air twisted in a singular shape. The next thing that followed was a loud bang. However, just before the loud bang could reach anyone's ears, Joshua's right fist had solidly landed on the door. The impact stirred up the wind and waves which set off a gust of wind that blew into the surroundings, sweeping off sand from the ground.

At the same moment, with the breathing technique which he had used countless times in the past, the power within his body rose again. Then red radiance began to flow into the door. Joshua, the legendary warrior, focused his senses and spread out his Combat Aura relentlessly all over the door. He then condensed them into countless light orbs. They were like small knives cutting through the pattern carved on the magic door, slowly destroying the magic circle that was supporting the door.

Everything happened in an instant.

Joshua slowly lowered his fist. A breeze came through. The door right before him began to wither, its ashes carried away by the wind that blew past. Only some residue remained on the ground.

[Supreme: Demolition]

Initially, only those on the powerful Gold tier could attain such a powerful skill. However, a mere Silver tier warrior could simply use the skill like nothing mattered. That would be the most significant benefit of a legendary warrior's [Mastery] skill.

"Why didn't they just use a door made of real steel? It could have been much more difficult for me to break down."

Upon setting foot into the mansion, Joshua turned around signaled Ying to follow him in. "There will be a difficult battle ahead of us. It'll be time for you show them everything you've got. Come on."

"Yes, Master."

Bam!

A loud bang shook the center point of the city.

The bang was low and yet intensely loud. It sounded like a giant hammer just smashed into the city gates.

Even though Danlya was currently sitting in the main hall of the mansion, he could still hear the loud bang clearly.

Danlya was actually deep in thought before that. However, the bang was too loud to be ignored, interrupting his thoughts. So he turned towards the direction of the bang and frowned.

"What now? What's going out there?"

The location where the bang came from was too close to ignore. He could not help to feel something was off.

"I shall go and have a look."

A mercenary who was standing right behind him was ready to go check things out outside. However, he was told to stay put instead, "No, you stay here. Let Nar go first."

This middle-aged man seemed to have other ideas. He continued, "Francis and the other patrollers are out there. If there are any incidents, they'll be the ones to check it out first. You walk slow. It's better for you to stay here and protect me. Nar is a ranger. He's more suitable to do recon."

"You're right."

The mercenary nodded and took a step back. Meanwhile, the ranger with a bow, Nar walked right up. He nodded vaguely to express that he would get it done before heading towards the direction of the loud bang.

"That's strange. Could it be possible that a house has just got destroyed by an avalanche or something? This is the north after all. Each house should have been reinforced to be sturdier and much more durable. The blizzard's not that bad this year. So it shouldn't be possible for any building to get destroyed."

Standing up on his feet, Danlya could sense that the loud bang was not of natural cause. He had seen mythical beasts attacking the city and houses crumbling down before his eyes. However, the loud bang did not sound like any sound he ever heard from those incidents…

Bam!

Another loud bang was heard. It was low and loud as well, more intense than the previous one. If the first bang came from nearby, this one sounded like it was coming from the floor directly below him!

"What the hell is going on now?!"

It was not just the loud bang. Even the tables and chairs trembled a little. It was as if they were hit by a very small earthquake. Even though Danlya was puzzled, his mind was still whirring.

"Not long before this, there was a loud bang nearby. Awhile after that, another incident struck the floor below me. These two incidents must have some sort of connection …That's right, there's an intruder. He must have taken out the patrols and Francis. He must have blown the main gate wide opened and he must have arrived at the mansion by now!"

"Joshua! That's right, it must be him! He actually struck at a time like this! How is that possible?!"

Astonished by what just happened, Danlya regretted endlessly. He should have reacted earlier. However, he had not thought that it would be possible for Joshua to come for him directly. He had never thought it was possible that Joshua would oversee to negotiate or whatever before striking his way to get to him. However, there are more than twenty Silver-tier soldiers guarding the mansion at the moment. So how could he still dare to do it then?!

With regular logic, Danlya could not have guessed what was on Joshua's mind at that moment. He thought that his nephew might lurk around in the dark for some time before seeking an opportunity to strike again. As a result, he never imagined that Joshua would strike at a time where the count's mansion was on highest alert!

"Lando, Rowe, you two should go too!"

After giving the swift order, the middle-aged man said decisively, "Summon the guarding mercenaries as well. Tell them it's a direct order from me!"

"Roger!"

The remaining two Silver-tier mercenaries responded loud and clear. Then they quickly headed downstairs with their heavy footsteps.

"You came alone… How daring of you, Joshua. My idiotic nephew, you'll draw your last breath when the patrols and the mercenaries all over the city gather here!"

Translator Note:

Note that the Divine Armament mentioned has Synchronization and Resonance. Both are used but neither was explained. My guess is that Synchronization means the exchange/flow of power between the weapon and the human, while Resonance is how compatible the weapon is to the human.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

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Chapter 17: How Can Power Be an Inconvenience?

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Getting into the mansion through the main entrance, an orc-skin boot touched the wooden floor. The clear footstep echoed throughout the hall of the mansion.

Joshua looked around at the decorations in the hall. His eyes darted left and right.

The square hall had a diameter of tens of meters, the floor carpeted in beige. There were portraits of the past owners of the mansion across all four walls of the hall. At corners, there were potted plants that seemed to be wilting. Meanwhile, the center of the hall had an ornate weapons rack, which was filled with all types of weapons. Everything just seemed so familiar to Joshua.

The mansion was where he was born and grew up. The entire place basically carried his past, such as a big hole in the carpet that was not far from him. When he was young, he accidentally burned that carpet while he was playing with fire. Because of that, Fang had taught him an unforgettable lesson. All thanks to the old butler's merciful begging, he was not beaten up badly and still had the opportunity to take charge of his own life.

Raising his head to look around, Joshua could not help but think that every corner of the hall had memories of him growing up there. However, the people that lived there were no more. Other than himself, they were all gone… his father passed away. Meanwhile, his old butler had vanished without a trace. The female servants and the other butlers were all banished long ago. So there were no familiar faces at all in this large mansion for the time being.

Not only that, there was a group of shameless individuals that were adamant about occupying the mansion. Their greed seemed to have no boundaries.

Ying raised her head and looked at her master. She could feel Joshua's current emotions. However, as a newborn Divine Armament, her much simpler logical mentality could not understand Joshua's current mixed up feelings.

"I'm home."

Joshua did not suppress his voice on purpose, nor did he deliberately shout it out loud. He merely announced that he was back, like what he usually did when he arrived home, in the past.

However, before Joshua's voice could reverberate through the entire hall, a light flashed by the corner of the stairs which was approximately ten meters from where he was standing now!

Shoof—

A shimmering arrow was traveling almost at the speed of sound, silently aimed at Joshua's neck! The moment when both ears could hear the air trembling so violently that a vague sound was present would be the moment when the arrow would strike its target.

"Hmph."

With a gentle lift of his two fingers, Joshua firmly stopped the incoming arrow. The force contained in that arrow was nullified by his catch. Joshua held the arrow in his hand. Then he turned and looked at the corner where the arrow was struck from in disdain. "An elemental archer… If I were you, I would not have used a silent arrow."

"For a man who survived a battlefield where getting shot at with millions of arrows, this arrow strike has neither strength nor invisibility. The only thing you can get from this would be a little magical effect. Did you know you're hilarious?"

"… You can only talk." The ranger responded darkly.

Not only he failed to ambush Joshua, but he also revealed his location to Joshua as well. This ranger held a crossbow in his hands, a small knife by his waist, and a big bow on his back. So he simply walked out from the shadows to reveal himself. His face was concealed by a hood. The only feature visible to Joshua was his eyes. From his own pocket, the ranger dug out seven different types of crossbow arrows with different magic runes on each of them. He then sneered, "According to the rumors, I expected to find a very powerful man. It didn't cross my mind that the intruder is just an idiot. I can't believe you're not wearing any heavy armor when facing an archer. You didn't even bring a single weapon with you. It seems that the boss was right all along. Those mercenaries are just a bunch of losers. I can't believe they were defeated by an idiot like you!"

While he was talking, the ranger quickly loaded his crossbow with the arrows he took out from his pocket. Then he began to press the trigger of his crossbow repeatedly as fast as he could. There was almost no pause at all. In just a blink of an eye, eight beams of magic bolts were fired at Joshua from different directions.

At the same time, Joshua could only shake his head again and again. He tightened his grip on the arrow he caught earlier on. The steel in his grip started to twist as the sound of cracking and clicking was heard.

"Weak."

With a wave of his hand, an intense sound piercing the air was heard.

The arrow that was crumpled into an iron ball turned into a black stream of light before it was shot right toward the front straight away. The wind swept by the movement of the iron ball deflected all of the arrows that were shot at Joshua. In one brief instant, the iron ball had arrived before the eyes of the ranger. The ranger was just done shooting his arrows from his crossbow. He looked dazed. He did not manage to react to the situation at all.

The strength embedded in the iron ball was so heavy and powerful. If the iron ball could hit the target, even the physical quality of the Silver-tier soldiers cannot afford to take this blow head on. Their skulls would certainly be crushed upon impact. They would die over and over again. However, right before the stream of light could hit the ranger in the face, a shadow suddenly appeared behind him.

Bang!

A soldier wearing chain armor holding a diamond-shaped shield blocked the iron ball at a very close range. The iron ball that was originally an arrow which was forcefully bent into its current shape was shattered into numerous pieces of iron upon the strong impact.

"… Thank you."

"It's nothing. My pleasure."

The ranger was still in shock. However, he reacted swiftly. Then he quickly took the huge bow from behind his back, ready to attack his enemy. He no longer looked down upon Joshua; Joshua's physique was far more powerful than the ranger expected. That strength was almost as powerful as a Gold tier. So the ranger could not have taken that attack head on and survived. He swallowed and said nervously, "Be careful, he is strong. I misjudged him. This is the pinnacle of Radiant Soul!"

"Didn't information on him say he's just Silver tier?"

Without having to be reminded, the warrior was baffled. The impact of the iron ball that he deflected felt like a direct hit from a heavy crossbow. Its impact was so powerful that it left quite a huge mark on the surface of his shield. His hands are now a little numb from taking the impact with his shield.

A few seconds later, three other warriors arrived at the main hall of the mansion. Joshua could hear the scattered footsteps coming from his back. That was the sound of a larger platoon of soldiers gathering in the hall.

"Humph." There was no expression or whatsoever on Joshua's face. He turned his head around and removed the leather cloth on him. After throwing it to the side, he glared coldly at the five Silver tier enemies, "Pests."

"You arrogant piece of sh*t!" The new soldier that just arrived could not help but bellow at Joshua. "There are five of us, and you're just one without even a weapon in your hands! So what makes you so confident to fight us then?! If you surrender now, you might keep your dead body intact at the end of this battle!"

Joshua ignored that soldier, as a warrior only had to move forward. He placed his right hand out and clenched his fist. He put on a posture showing that he was ready. His body seemed to be vibrating slightly. All his muscles were quivering by the second.

A faint glow emitted from within and then spread throughout his body. His skin was visibly turning red.

Sensing a huge threat in the making, the ranger does not intend to continue the battle like that. He quickly pulled the string of his huge bow to the maximum and loaded a good ice-engraved magic rune arrow onto his bow. With his stare, coupled with the whistling sound of the bowstring, an arrow was released, breaking through the air as it roared towards Joshua. Frost spread as the arrow whistled by, caused by the fluctuation of magic in the atmosphere.

The ranger had killed numerous two-headed flying dragons with this powerful hit before. He succeeded in freezing the fire elemental elites as well with this strike. As one of the strongest mercenaries in the north, the ranger had unlocked the potential as an elemental archer to the max. Even the fiery cannon of the goblins would be no match for his frost arrow strike!

Meanwhile, the four remaining soldiers were not just for display either. When the ranger triggered the battle by launching his first attack, the four of them also raised their weapons at the same time and charged towards Joshua. Because the heavy armor that they wore made them extra heavy, their footsteps were so heavy that they broke the wooden floor in the hall. The broken pieces of the wooden floor were sent flying all over the place.

The five of them seemed to be working together as a team at the moment; they were cooperating with each other very well. Their movements did not slow down at all.

However, Joshua showed no trace of fear.

"So what?"

Surrounded by the warriors with four of them charging at him, Joshua grinned but his eyes were cold as steel. He was looking at them like looking at his prey, "Insignificant beings like yourself dare to charge at me?"

Bam!

Joshua gave a powerful stomp to the ground. The stomp was thunderous. The impact of the stomp was so powerful that the carpets, the wooden planks, and even the ground beneath the floor were crushed. Joshua's figure disappeared right before the eyes of the five warriors. In the next instant, the frost arrow that the ranger released landed on the spot where Joshua was initially standing on. The ice runes began to flash. The flying wooden splinters, rocks, and pebbles that were flying all over the place froze instantly. A radius of a dozen meters was instantly covered in frost.

At the same time, Joshua had reached the side of one of the warriors holding a sword, dressed in leather armor. So he reached out his right hand and grabbed on to the side of the leather armor on the warrior who could not believe his own eyes. Then he revealed a smiled filled with disdain.

"So you think I can't kill without a weapon?"

Joshua's muscles began to twitch. He put his strength into his five fingers and instantly put five holes on that leather armor made of orc skin. With his five fingers plunged firmly into the armor, Joshua lifted the warrior's body around with his powerful strength and used the warrior as a shield to block the attacks from the few other warriors.

"Hahaha—How can power be an inconvenience?!"

Picking up the scent of blood, Joshua began to laugh like a madman. Ever since he got through that, this should be the first time he laughed so heartily. His pupils emitted a seemingly red glow. Word for word he said, "Look closely, you bunch of weak scum!"

By putting some strength into it, he tore the leather armor of the warrior with a sword. The pliable and tough leather was as weak as a piece of paper in his hand.

"Clothes!"

With a flick of his hand, the leather that he originally pulled instantly rose up. Under Joshua's swing, this bundle of leather armor was swung powerfully around like a stick. Being swung around like a lashing whip, the warrior with a sword was smashed onto the ground. As the head of the warrior went smashing down to the ground first, his skull cracked and part of it fell on the ground. Blood began to gush out of his mouth and his nose. That poor warrior died on the spot.

"Gravel!"

Without a moment to rest, Joshua stomped the ground and turned his body around with strength. Joshua then used the remaining leather armor in his hand as a bat to smash the ground again. Instantly, the wooden floor continued to crumble. Countless rock shards flew out in all directions upon the impact of the smash. The soldiers were forced to stop attacking. They had to make sure they were protecting their vital spots. Meanwhile, the ranger also intended to retreat for the moment to stay out of the line of fire. However, he had never thought possible that a figure would clash straight into him as if it had been targeting him all the while. Upon getting a powerful hit on the right side of his jaw, the ranger's head spun round and round vigorously. His neck was snapped purely by the force that struck him in the jaw.

That was the doing of half of a leather armor that was torn up badly. Getting tossed around by Joshua, it became as powerful as a real heavy punch.

"And also— your own attacks!"

Grabbing on the opportunity that was presented before him, Joshua flashed himself to the front of a warrior with a flail in his right hand and a large shield in his left. Confronting Joshua's agile movements, the warrior was not slow himself. He immediately swung the weapon in his hand towards Joshua as strong as he could. He intended for his weapon to land on the lower part of his enemy. However, Joshua had seen through his intentions. So when that warrior was attacking and putting his shield up, Joshua reached out his left hand and pressed on the inner side of the warrior's right elbow. Then he pressed it with his strength.

This relied on the strength coming from turning his body around. Then he also pushed his target with his palm. Although the impact was not powerful, the force of the push was much heavier. Even the warrior with the flail could feel that his body lost control for a moment. His entire center of gravity was shifted away instantly, causing him to fall towards the right.

Joshua would never pass on such a great opportunity. Losing his center of gravity would mean that he was vulnerable to any attacks! So Joshua pulled his palm back and struck out again with a penetrating strike right into the throat of the warrior where no armor was there to protect. A crunch was heard. That was the sound of the bones in the throat cracking into pieces.

Six seconds later, Joshua only managed to kill three out of five warriors. He was not contented with his performance though.

Confronting a warrior holding a spear and another warrior holding a shield before him, Joshua spotted the opportunity to strike again. So he made his move and crashed into the arms of the warrior with the spear. Then he pressed one of his hands on the waist of the warrior while the other hand pushing on the shoulder of the warrior. By pouring his strength in, he threw the warrior straight at the other warrior with the shield.

The warrior with the shield actually knew better that Joshua was just trying to use his own teammate against him to blind his sight for a bit. Joshua was just trying to use the other warrior as a shield. So the warrior with the shield quickly leaped backward trying to gain distance between him and Joshua. However, he had never thought that after he managed to dodge his teammate from crashing into him, an iron ball that he knew and made him feel infinitely desperate suddenly appeared right in front of him.

Splat!

The sound of flesh and bones splattered across the ground followed by the sound of bones cracking into pieces were heard. The nose of that warrior holding a shield was penetrated straight through by the iron ball! His consciousness began to slip afterward.

Meanwhile, Joshua also kicked his foot right in the chest of the warrior with the spear who fell to the ground. The warrior vomited blood because all of his ribs were broken. In the end, he died a painful death.

"If I would, even the earth beneath my feet can become my weapon."

Standing in the middle of the mess he made in the hall, Joshua glanced at the five corpses on the ground and smiled in disdain, "Do you really think that my muscles and my skills are just for display?"

Standing behind him, at the main entrance, Ying's silvery hair swayed with the wind. Ying, who was ready to fight, stood helplessly as her green eyes glittered. She did not know what to feel. In the end, she muttered disappointingly, "What about that promise…"

Joshua noticed her reaction and immediately turned around. He smiled at her with a guilty look on his face.

"Ying… My bad. It seems that I haven't had the chance to use you. Next time! For sure!"

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Chapter 18: Invincible (Part 1)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

After turning his head back, Joshua brought up his Attribute tab to have a look at it. Thanks to the five warriors he just killed, Joshua had acquired enough experience points to level up. The three attributes that he frequently relied on had been enhanced automatically after his level was boosted.

Warriors nowadays were mostly Perfect Silver. All they needed was to gain two more levels and they would be able to pass Silver tier into Gold, which regular people could only dream upon achieving. By then, the warriors could stand on the edge of glory. They would become the only revered men of that generation.

Lingering by the main hall, Joshua was breathing heavily to recover his stamina. He had no intention at all to leave the hall for the moment. He promised the old butler to clean out any trash in the hall. In other words, he had no intention to let any of his enemies leave the place alive.

Rage, hatred, disdain, all other negative emotions were chaotically spinning in his mind. Then he relaxed little by little. After that, Joshua's face relaxed. However, his heart was ignited with blazing fire.

Decapitation? Was that it?

You've got to be kidding me.

Other than himself and Ying—everyone in the hall room was dead!

Thud, thud, thud.

The sound of intense but yet uniformed footsteps was approaching the hall. They seemed to be gathering not far from the hall at the moment. After that, they marched into the hall like a strong current of water gushing into the hall. Well, they looked like a few schools of fish binding together before they swam into the riverbank. Joshua could sense that the shimmering souls that were initially scattered across the mansion were about to finish gathering together in one spot.

Furthermore, they were just gathered not far from where Joshua stood.

A few seconds later, the second wave of guards that came late had already appeared on the other side of the main hall. Compared to the first wave which only had five Silver-tier guards, they only arrived less than a minute late. Upon observing the current situation in the hall, they were well aware of what was about to come.

"Ying, stand back a little. No, you should stay outside for the moment."

After seeing the group of elite mercenaries that were secretly trained by the Wilson Family, Joshua turned his head around to tell the little girl.

"But, but we agreed earlier on that you'd use me!"

Ying was having a bad time accepting the new arrangement. Ever since she had formed the pact with Joshua, there were several times that she thought her master would use her in combat. However, her master turned out to be so powerful; he actually took out his enemies with his bare hands.

However, this time, it was obviously different. There were over nineteen Silver-Tier warriors in the vicinity!

"Divine Armament transformations can only last for an hour. We should reserve it for unforeseen circumstances where it might put us in the uttermost dangerous situation. So, for now…"

Looking upon the enemies lining up in their own formation, Joshua could not help but laugh.

The leader was a heavily armored knight He glanced at the mess made in the surrounding with a baffled look on his face. He also noticed that five of his comrades were lying dead on the ground. Glaring at Joshua, he commanded loudly, "The enemy is right in front, let's go!"

"Yes, Sir!"

They did not try to stall, nor attempt to communicate with Joshua. After hearing the command to act, nineteen Silver-tier knights let out a battle cry in unison and went into formation. Stomping through the pathway with intimidating auras, the knights charged towards the lone warrior at an intense pace. The walls, the chairs, the houses and the pots were smashed by the knights as if a tank just passed by. Everything was crushed to bits!

They were all elite mercenaries that were secretly trained by the Wilson family so they were supposedly very experienced. They had exterminated countless enemies, some which included orcs and monsters. Most of them even encountered and triumphed over the white dragons that were wandering in the north, hence they were called the 'White Dragons— they were one of the strongest and largest mercenary groups in the north. So they had no fear when there was only one enemy right before them!

In the face of the formation of the nineteen Silver-tier knights, Joshua slowly closed his eyes as if the rampant knights were completely not there.

"After I traveled to this world, orcs, counts, betrayal…"

He seemed to have said something. However, no one could have heard what he said in the chaotic hall, "Urgent news comes one after another. I didn't even have time to react to the previous ones yet."

So would the mercenaries care whether their enemy was dreaming or not? Of course not. They did not even pay any attention to the peculiarities that were happening to Joshua's body. The friction between their armor pieces was getting louder and noisier. The sound of their heartbeats became obscured by the noise of their armor. They were so fired up that their blood had flooded their brains, causing them to ignore the radiance that was getting thicker and thicker around their enemy.

The smell of steel was mixed with the smell of the leather. Meanwhile, the nearest enemy was only less than five meters away from Joshua

The blades and spears were already right before his eyes.

At that moment, Joshua opened his eyes. Red radiance began to spread. He once again raised his right hand and clenched his fist before he proudly said, "But I do not care about any of that!"

Right before his eyes, words from the system were being refreshed rapidly. The final words that were adjusted to his sight were:

[Supreme. Divine Power!]

Boom!

Followed by a roar from Joshua in the center, the semicircular air barrier began to rise. The air barrier then suddenly burst. Countless shockwaves were unleashed into the surroundings while reddish-gold light shone across the entire hall. The aura that was spreading out into the surroundings was sparkling as if there was a static-field around Joshua. Joshua raised his head and his eyes turned red under the reddish-gold radiance. His skin was covered with a layer of an unusual radiance due to the highly active aura emitting from his body. The moment he opened his mouth, a stream of white light mixed with gold flakes came right out of his mouth. His arrogant yet heroic voice overpowered all the noise as it reverberated across the entire hall.

"I just want to know how strong I am! I ask for nothing more!"

Originally, the hall was quiet. Suddenly, the hall became ignited, followed by the strange distortions in the air. The light that radiated from Joshua's body began to distort the air in the surrounding hall. White mist-like shockwaves were emitted back and forth across the hall. Everything in the surroundings reeled right and left. Although he was all alone in this battle, his aura was as powerful as the existence of a thousand, or maybe ten thousand soldiers! Encountering the nineteen knights that were charging towards him, he chose not to dodge them!

"Die!"

Following the distorted air that created the howling sound of the gust, a vague figure in red suddenly appeared right before the eyes of the heavily armored leader. With a glare as cold as steel, that knight could not even react to the situation as a fist was blocking his sight.

Splat—

Right before the trembling power that was being enhanced to its maximum limit, the head of the knight in heavy armor was struck by Joshua's fist. His entire head was smashed into tiny bits. His body was still motionless before he began to fall to the ground slowly. Meanwhile, Joshua was moving so fast that he seemed to flash across the surroundings of the hall before disappearing from his enemies' view.

Before that, if Joshua were to use his skills to kill his enemies, he had to use his ultimate skill [Divine Power]. His power level had been boosted by two times. It was the same as using pure brute force to attack. He would be an unstoppable monster within the period of twenty-five seconds. He could be deemed a giant behemoth that could demolish the entire city barehanded. As long as it was a head-on battle, even the Gold-tier warriors would die by his hand if they ever wanted to fight him!

Strength, upon accumulation, was equal to destructive power — Take this power, coupled with an experienced legendary warrior, could you even imagine the extent of his destructive power!

Destruction! Complete Annihilation! Unstoppable!

It was like they were hit by a truck. Another knight in heavy armor was struck and flew a great distance, his weapon was shattered into pieces. His body was distorted after the strike and he died in midair. The knights had lost their captain and one of their comrades within a brief second. The remaining Silver-tier warriors were instantly terrified. Their formation seemed to be showing signs that it would be broken soon because of that.

However, they remained as elites who had received intense and strict training. These warriors did not break formation even then. However, Joshua's experience on the battlefield was f*cking rich! He had experienced countless battles and he had not lost a single one of them. He was deemed as the finest legendary warrior. The briefest moments of vulnerability in others would become an opportunity for Joshua!

"Weak!"

He was holding a war hammer that he took from the hands of the knights' dead captain. He then stomped the ground and moved himself over to the right side of the formation, his eyes blazing. Joshua felt like he was back on the battlefield with the orcs where he single-handedly slew 300 orcs. He laughed out loud without holding back.

"You're just pathetic! Weaklings!"

Followed by his manic laughter, a clean slash was swung straight at the knights right before him!

In the end, those mercenaries were still Silver-tier elites after all. Even though Joshua was moving at a high speed where almost no one could see him, there were still a few of them who noticed his movements. One person in particular noticed that Joshua had arrived by his side. So he raised his weapon and he was ready to attack Joshua…

However, before he could even talk, warn his comrades or raise his weapon, he felt a tremble in the air, followed by a whistle of sharp blows. The crisp sound of bones breaking rang across the entire hall. Two knights were smashed in their shoulders and chests with a war hammer. Blood and bones were flying everywhere!

"A bunch of imbeciles like you… I have killed a couple thousand, no, tens of thousands more of you already! And I'm sick of it!"

Some blood splattered on Joshua's face but he was not bothered by it. Instead, he became even more aggressive than before, revealing a sinister smile on his face.

Because the number of people on the other side was much more, their strength there was stronger now. They could really pose a threat to him. So he decided to do a tactical retreat for the moment. Dodge, block, parry?

That's horse sh*t!

No matter this was just a game or a reality, no matter it was the past or current, he had never been careful to begin with! He had never hidden or dodged before!

No, he never had those experiences before! Ever since he was born into this world, Joshua never tolerated or retreated from anything. If one was capable of defeating him, then just do it or just shut the f*ck up!

Now, Joshua had become invincible with [Divine Power]!

Here in this world, everything seemed like reality. The existence of this alternate world was realistic. The increment in power did not only depend on grip strength, arm strength, and one's explosive power. Even speed would be affected by the amount of strength exerted in one's movement. In other words, if one exerted more power in the movement, that person would be able to move faster. Before the enemies could react, Joshua decided to toss aside the blood-stained war hammer aside, disregarding the consequences. His entire body disappeared in a flash as he took the initiative to charge forward.

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Chapter 19: Invincible (Part 2)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

In the presence of glowing red light, the war hammer spun violently like a high-speed circular saw. It was spinning so fast that it appeared like a blurry circular object flying across the hall. Then it landed right on the shield of a warrior in heavy armor who managed to raise his large shield up to block in time. Although he did not fall to the ground after holding his ground against the impact of that strike, his hands were trembling so violently from the impact for holding his shield against the war hammer. As his hands were trembling so violently, the warrior could no longer hold his shield properly with his numbed hands. In order to hold himself against the tremendous force that was pushing him back, he began to take a step back, one at a time, until he was pushed against the wall right behind him. Having no other way out, he was forced to take on the full impact of this strike. The warrior clenched his teeth hard. Blood started to spill from the side of his mouth. Instantly, the wall behind the warrior cracked into web-shaped patterns. Meanwhile, the spinning war hammer had plunged itself into the shield's center.

At the same time, Joshua rushed into the formation of the mercenaries that were partially scattered. He reached out one of his hands and grabbed onto the neck of a Silver-tier warrior wearing plate armor. Without using much strength, he easily lifted the poor warrior up, choking him. The poor warrior was struggling so hard to break free from his grip. However, Joshua's strength was strong enough to crush solid rocks and the skulls and bones of orcs like they were nothing. So the warrior was just as weak as a newborn chicken in Joshua's grip. Now that Joshua's strength had been amplified over a few times, he could now easily crush anyone that was Silver tier.

Having difficulty in killing the warrior, Joshua grabbed onto the right leg of the warrior and used him as a weapon. He began to swing the dead body around in a circle. Instantly, the formation of the knights was swept clean. The formation that was formed from nearly twenty Silver-tier warriors was easily broken by Joshua.

"Pathetic! You're just pathetically weak!"

After whirling the dead body of the warrior like a whirling a huge weapon for a few rounds, Joshua laughed out loud. After that, he tossed the dead body aside, out of his hands. Of course, the warriors that were standing in the line of fire quickly dodged to the side. That large man with his full set of heavy armor weighed approximately four hundred pounds. Followed by a loud bang and a violent tremor, the cracked walls of the count's mansion was completely demolished by the impact of the dead body tossed out by Joshua. A large hole appeared right on the wall. Bricks and rubble of the wall fell and buried the dead warrior and the one with a shield.

Now, it was merely eight seconds since Joshua started his onslaught. Six of the mercenaries were dead. Judging from the current situation, Joshua should be able to slaughter the remaining warriors before his [Divine Power] form ran out of time.

Meanwhile, the warriors of the White Dragon Mercenaries still couldn't believe their own eyes even though they have just witnessed everything.

They were deemed to be the best among the best. The entire group only consist of at least Silver-tier warriors after all. Their weapons were much better than others as well. Each of them was equipped with good armor. Not only they were capable of laying siege to a city, they were capable of hunting a giant dragon! And now, the entire White Dragon group could not even take down the enemy right before them— one man?!

How was that possible?! Even the most absurd knight's novel would not have such a story that would contradict with regular people's common sense. What an incredible development!

Well, their heads were in the right place though. The situation was just unbelievable.

However, Joshua did not need anyone to understand!

Picking up anything from the ground, no matter it was the weapon, the shield, people's dead bodies or a rock, Joshua was moving extremely fast. At the same time, he was throwing whatever he grabbed towards his enemies at a speed where the 'projectiles' were thrown out faster than the arrows getting shot out of a heavy crossbow. Because those 'projectiles' were thrown out at a speed where normal people could not see, the remaining knights could only attempt blocking anything that came at them. They did not even get the chance to get back into formation.

"Argh! Monster! Die!"

A raging roar suddenly echoed across the hall. Initially, the entire hall had was engulfed by a blazing red aura. However, a new aura suddenly appeared in the same hall. A green radiance was suddenly unleashed by one of the mercenaries that was pushed to the edge. His entire body was blazing in flames, rippling back and forth across the surface of his body.

Among the entire White Dragon mercenary group, only three of them were Upper Silver tier. The ranger was already dead. Meanwhile, their captain could not even react to anything before he was punched to death. So this mercenary seemed to be the last one who appeared to have Combat Aura that could affect the outcome of the situation.

Combat Aura, also known as ripple, blazing flames or a flare, was the energy that was born from training one's physical body to the limit. It had no physical shape. It could only circulate within a person's body. However, it can flare if it combined with a warrior's will. It was a miraculous power that could be seen by the naked eye. Well, it would be just like the rippling layer of light that was going back and forth across the surface of Joshua and that warrior's entire body.

It could enhance the strength of the body and alter the situation at will. By some, it was deemed as the third arm of a warrior, an extraordinary beginning. Only Upper Silver tier warriors could perform all these. Only they could enhance their own attributes so much within a brief period of time.

The air in the surroundings began to circulate rapidly. Under the leadership of that Upper Silver-tier warrior, the mercenaries managed to recover from the mess they fell into. They once again stood back up on their feet and regained their morale. One after another they roared. Their bodies swelled little by little as their strength within them began to be unleashed. They were all charging towards Joshua with everything they've got; after today's battle, no matter who won by the end of it, those men would need to rest over half a month before they could recover back to their former state.

However, their target had vanished from their sight once again.

"What just happened? Where did he go?!"

Everyone panicked as they began to look around. However, they reacted almost at the same instant on the next moment—Joshua was right above them!

They lifted their heads immediately, however, it was too late for them. Just when the mercenaries were raising their weapons and shields up getting ready to strike, a violent quake shook the hall, followed by an extremely loud noise. The ceiling on the first floor of the count's mansion crumbled into rubble before collapsing on the mercenaries. Rock and countless furniture fell upon the mercenaries along with the rubble.

Before the mercenaries could get themselves out of the sticky situation, a figure radiating in red aura revealed himself from among the collapsed debris. Joshua aimed at the Upper Silver-tier warrior who unleashed Combat Aura earlier and charged straight at him!

Well, that Upper Silver-tier warrior was indeed an experienced warrior who fought hundreds of battles. He saw through Joshua's intention the moment he noticed Joshua's presence. Meanwhile, his current state allowed him to barely keep up with Joshua's speed. So he swung out the long sword in his hand and roared in rage, "Today, I must kill…"

"Three."

Before that warrior could finish what he wanted to say, he heard a cold voice that seemed to be announcing something. His face changed in an instant; he had noticed Joshua's shadow that he had been trailing doggedly, vanishing without a trace. At the very next moment, he could feel a red radiating light invading his space. His five senses were completely blinded by an absolute force that was directed at him. An ear-piercing supersonic sound announced the appearance of an intimidating, large figure!

Bam!

His sight turned pitch black in an instant. His blood began to ooze out nonstop. The Upper Silver-tier warrior's eyes almost popped like the eyes of a dead fish, his mouth agape with disbelief. Looking at his chest, all he could see was a fist glowing red was plunged in deep. It went straight in and crushed his stomach and torso. Even his spine was about to be blown right out of his body.

"Two."

After removing his fist out of the chest of that warrior, that Upper Silver-tier warrior began to lose consciousness. Following the countless visible shockwaves that ripple along the air, Joshua had once again vanished from everyone's sight. His body instantly appeared right by the side of the other mercenaries who were still turning their heads around to look for him.

Snatching a long sword from one of the mercenaries, Joshua broke the neck of that knight with a karate chop. Then he clenched his fist and flung it back at the other mercenary's face who was attempting to attack him from behind. A powerful impact went straight through the armor made of steel, shocking the mercenary's weak body and made him faint on the spot. At the same time, his hand that was holding the long sword did not stop there. Joshua lowered his body by squatting down a little. Then he began sweeping the sword at the legs of mercenaries around him. With the blazing aura of his movement, the sharp blade that he was wielding cut right through the leggings forged from steel and the lined leather armor made of orc skins with ease. The blade also managed to cut off the legs that the legging armor and the leather armor were supposed to protect.

Right after that, Joshua stood up immediately and did a spin. He was like a whirlwind, swinging the sword in his hand towards the neck of another mercenary ready to take another life.

"One."

Well, even steel could not stop the blade of the sword from cutting through. So how could muscle and flesh withstand the strike then? Because of Joshua's aura, the eyes of the mercenaries that were hit by Joshua's sword were blinded. Blood splattered from their necks and their bodies slowly fell onto the ground one after another. After that, they did not stand up again. At the same time, the sword that Joshua was holding could not withstand the overwhelming burden and broke in half.

On the seventeenth second of [Divine Power, Joshua counted to three. Thirteen of the mercenaries were now dead. Only six of them remained because they were further away from Joshua. They could not even react to the situation after witnessing all of it happening in front of their eyes. How could the battle be over so quickly?! It was not even twenty seconds yet— they could not even get themselves to think what they should do after that. They were just staring at the gruesome remains of their comrades that were splattered on the ground in the hall. Joshua was just standing among all those dead bodies with his body glowing red.

"There's still eight seconds left, seven seconds… Well, it's time I wrap this up."

Joshua took a deep breath. He let loose his tired muscles for which he overstressed for unleashing his power just now. Then he spoke with a tone of regret, "Enough with the warm-ups. You're good, not bad at all."

After a brief moment of rest, Joshua once again charged towards his remaining enemies. That was his final charge. His entire body was once again enveloped in a red aura. Meanwhile, the faces of his enemies were white as a sheet. They could only raise their weapons and try to fight back.

Boom!

With a violent turmoil and the deafening sound of rumbling, the mansion sounded like it was crying. The sturdy structure of the mansion that could withstand cannon attacks was shaking repeatedly. It seemed like the foundation of the mansion was shaken by some horrific event. The glass in the mansion shattered into pieces as red light broke out of the windows. The first half of the count's mansion slowly collapsed. That part of the hall was turned into ruins, burying all the other knights underneath its rubble.

No, there was one man that was not buried.

Bit by bit he rose from the ash and rubble above him. Right behind him was the building gradually collapsing. He turned his back on the ruin stood in the middle of the ground covered by snow.

Joshua.

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Chapter 20: Reasoning in Recklessness: Abide by the Rules

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Starfall Year 831, Winter. 3rd of November. Moldavia. Howling wind.

The sky was gloomy. Gray clouds had shrouded the entire sky. There was no sunlight at all. A breeze blew past the streets sweeping the snow up in mid-air. The weather in the north could change in the snap of a finger. Alongside the sudden gust blowing in, the weather was snowing once again, and it was getting heavier by the minute.

The cold that would chill deep into one's bones began to spread. The blizzard and the strong winds were howling across the night as if they were trying to cover up the other sounds in the city.

Just as the snow was getting heavier, the sound of a loud deafening explosion came from the center of the city. Even people in the suburban area of the city could hear that loud bang.

Boom!

Followed by a tremor that shook the earth across the entire city, the mansion that looked larger than a castle began to collapse like how a sand castle would. Dust and sand were stirred into the air mixing in with the snow in the surroundings. Meanwhile, a man was walking out from the ruins of the collapsed castle one step after another.

Joshua walked out of the dust that covered the air. Meanwhile, right behind him, the count's mansion had turned into a heap of rubble that the only way to restore the mansion's condition was to rebuild it from scratch. Joshua's face was emotionless at that time, as he was deep in thought about something else.

"The enemies in the mansion have been taken care of. So I should focus on exterminating the remaining enemies throughout the city now."

Although he was there alone, he did not hesitate at all to say the word 'exterminating' out loud in front of the hundreds of enemies. Joshua did not seem to give a sh*t about them. He raised his head and looked at the sky, frowning.

"Another blizzard… Can't the north have some good weather sometimes?"

At that moment, there were no clothes or whatsoever to cover Joshua's upper body. Well, that was because no clothes or any other things could withstand the explosive impact of his power. They were all torn to shreds. Meanwhile, his [Divine Power] was beginning to fade. The skin all around his body was beginning to revert back to his initial skin tone. However, the blazing heat that was emitting out of his body had melted the snow all around him into puddles of water.

"Intermediate Silver-tier warriors and some of the patrollers and guards… I've taken out at least half of them… That greedy uncle might not have made it out alive. After all, he barely made it to Steel tier due to his over-reliance of making potions. He shouldn't be capable of getting out of the building before it collapsed entirely."

Upon thinking things through, he felt that everything was going smoothly as planned. So Joshua turned around with confidence that he had left nothing behind. Then he walked towards Ying who was currently feeling unhappy.The young girl did not say a word. She just frowned, with a cold expression on her face.

"It's… it's my fault this time."

Bending down a little, Joshua attempted to comfort Ying with nice words, "However, I did not use you because we need to be prepared for situations that are far more dangerous than this."

Well, it would not be possible for Joshua to say 'Because I've been running on foot alone in the wild for seventeen days. So I was not happy at that moment. That's why I totally forgot that I have a Divine Armament when I was slaughtering the enemies'. As she was a rare and powerful being, of course Joshua would speak seriously, "According to my knowledge, there will be Gold-tier enemies coming at us not long from now. I'm just a Silver-tier. So if I want to defeat them, I can only count on you by then. After all, the duration of the [Divine Armament Transformation] is only 1 hour. We can't afford to simply use it."

"Huh?"

Ying raised her head to look at her master after she spaced out for a brief moment. Although she heard Joshua's voice, she did not actually catch what Joshua just told her. Actually, this female Divine Armament was rather depressed after seeing the count's house in ruins.

"I've never gone to uncle Fang and the previous count's place when they were alive. Now, everything's gone…"

"I see, that's a pity… Wait a minute?!"

Ying's voice was not loud, however, realization struck Joshua like a bolt of lightning. He instantly reacted to the situation by turning his head to look at the remaining dust that was still floating around in the air. He was speechless for half a day.

After seeing the mess he made, he felt guilty for destroying the place, despite his bloodthirsty nature. When the blood rushed to his head, he lost control of himself and destroyed everything. Before the battle, he was still recalling his fond memories. However, after the battle begun, he had forgotten everything. He was overwhelmed by his feeling of delight from bloodshed. He even unleashed all his ultimate skills and turned the entire count's mansion into a heap of rubble.

"It wasn't just the memories. There were also flying carpets from the elves in the south covering the floor of the entire hall. The cost of the materials required for each carpet had already exceeded 20,000 gold pieces. If the cost for making them and their artistic value were considered as well, each carpet could potentially be priceless!"

"The furniture in the main hall were all made of raw materials such as the enchanted red cedar wood. They were made by halfling craftsmen. The workmanship of the halflings is renowned for their fine details and precision. There was no telling if those furniture were treasures left behind by some of my ancestors. Also, the paintings and the sculptures that were hanging on the walls of the hall are also antiques that were kept one by one… Not to mention those things upstairs…"

Upon lowering his head calculating the losses, Joshua realized that the sum of the losses was tremendous. Truth be told, Joshua would rather be surrounded by fifty Silver tier warriors or spend an entire morning playing hide and seek with the guards than bearing such amount of losses. That moment should be the darkest moment in the history of the Radcliffes. The antiques that were collected through the years had been swept clean. More importantly, he was the one who destroyed everything!

"… the Wilson family."

Suddenly, Joshua looked up. His face was filled with murderous intent. The side of his mouth was twitching.

"Providing aid to my enemies and snatching my birthright, followed by such level of destruction—Very well! I'll remember this!"

In a nutshell, it was all their fault! As one of the powerful ones, Joshua had no intention to reason with them. Bringing up the system tab, he took a closer look at his current attributes.

[Name: Joshua van Radcliffe]

[Form: Leader]

[Designation: …]

[Race: …]

[Level: Level 30 Silver (Challenge Level, Level 30 Silver)]

[Attribute:…]

[Status: …]

[Status: Divine Power (Remaining Power X 1.1), Martial Art Form (When making the first move, Strength Agility Endurance 5)]

[Class: …]

[Innate Abilities: Weapon Mastery (Class), Retribution (Individual)]

[Profession: …]

[Skills: MAX Supreme]

[Living Skill: …]

[Equipment:…]

[Weapon: The Seventh Generation of Divine Armament for battling Aragami (Humanoid)]

[Aim: To be Invincible]

Well, others were not important to him. Joshua was only very interested in keeping tabs on his level.

Under the circumstance where a person was on the same tier as his enemy, killing that enemy would reward him regular experience points. For example, if he is a Silver, killing a Silver-tier enemy would bring him regular experience points regardless of the levels. However, if Joshua was too bored and massacred Steel-tier monsters, he would receive a very large penalty in regards to experience points. Of course, if he decided to challenge Gold-tier enemies, he could also acquire experience points, though the success rate of doing so would be extremely small.

Currently, Joshua had killed almost thirty Silver-tier warriors. Furthermore, he killed dozens of Steel-tier warriors as well. As such, Joshua managed to reach Level 30 for the moment. Well, he still had quite a long way to go before he could reach Level 31 to get to Gold tier.

However, that was not a big problem at all.

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Chapter 21: Sometimes, It Would Be Awkward If Your Enemy's Too Weak!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"2,400 experience points to go. Luckily, there's no need to complete the [Quest of Glory]. Or else I would not be able to get to Gold tier even if I'm given a few months."

Joshua looked at his attributes again. After confirming that he did not have to complete the quests that would take an entire to upgrade his rank, he was relieved.

During his previous moments in the game, unless the players reached Level 31 and beyond, the players would need to complete one extremely difficult quest if they wanted to get to Gold tier. The quest had all sort of strange instructions that were quite specific. Players were not allowed to skip the tedious and complicated process of the quest. If the completion of the task was below 75%, the players would fail the quest.

There was nothing much to say about succeeding in completing the quest. However, if the players failed, not only they would be rolled back to level 30, they would also have to wait for a full month before they could attempt the same quest again, which was a lot of time wasted.

2,400 experience points would mean that Joshua had to defeat another four to five Silver-tier warriors to gain that amount of experience points. Truth to be told, that wasn't such a challenge for Joshua. Furthermore, he also had another solution to that problem.

"Adding up the number of patrollers on the streets up to the last Silver-tier guard I killed, I should have killed more than fifty enemies by now. Plus, I'm getting an additional reward of 5,000 experience points for completing the achievement [50 Kills]. So I guess I'll have no problem in leveling up now."

Attempting to bring up the Achievement tab, Joshua noticed that the system had a minor lag. A few seconds later, the tab finally appeared. He could not help but laugh.

"I can't believe that even after I transmigrated, there are still delays."

After mocking the system a little, the achievement list was brought up to him. Suddenly, a massive amount of data began to load out right before Joshua's eyes. His achievements were astounding. Joshua scrolled through the long list of achievements that he completed before he located the section [Can be repeated]. Then he selected [Killstreak] on the list to have a look at it.

"Only over 30 kills?"

Joshua furrowed his brows but decided to brush off such a trivial matter.

"It must be because I let one of them live back then. It doesn't matter much. 3,000 experience points are just enough for it."

At the same time, Ying had stopped looking at the ruins of the mansion or feeling sorry for it. She walked up to Joshua, raised her head to look at her master and asked, "Master, what do we do next? Do we eliminate all enemies within the city?"

"No need to rush for that." Joshua shook his head a little and answered, "They're too scattered around the entire city. Why don't we wait for them to gather first? They'll surely gather in a spot to exchange intel later on. So for now, we rest."

After that, he found a rock and sat on it. Ying followed suit, right next to him.

Warriors were used to waiting around.

Creak—

Meanwhile, in the nearby neighborhood, one of the residents pushed the door open with care. It was a middle-aged lady. She stuck her head out to observe the situation on the streets.

These people were unaware of the recent happenings in the city. Furthermore, the patrollers and the guards in the city had been switched. The residents could still talk about it because they had not seen the faces of those new warriors and soldiers. Also, the weather was awfully cold which was even more of a reason for the people not to step out of their houses.

Now, people needed to buy some groceries out at the stores. This middle-aged lady had already given up the notion of going out of her house as she decided to ignore whatever was happening out there. However, the explosive sound that just occurred was really different; it was much louder than anything she had heard. So she could not help but take a peek outside.

Lifting her head, she glanced at the area outside her doorstep. After checking that there were no guards or soldiers patrolling around, the middle-aged woman let out a breath and started to observe the surroundings for real.

Moments later, she dropped her jaw at what she saw. She was so shocked that she drew a sharp breath and exclaimed, "Good heavens…" She covered her mouth with her both hands as she backed up. Her legs buckled, causing her to collapse on the floor.

"The count's mansion… The count's mansion has been—"

"What happened?"

An impatient man's voice was heard from the house. Also, a faint sound of a child who was complaining about being woken up from his or her sleep could be heard.

"Shut the door quick. The cold wind is coming in. Don't let the child freeze!"

"Geez! Just come and have a look, old man!"

She had no time to explain what she saw. She also did not know what words could be used to describe what she was staring at now. With an agitated expression on her face, she barked, "Quickly! Come here!"

"You foolish woman," grumbled the man. He guessed that something must have happened out there. So he quickly walked out of the house and pulled his wife up from the ground who was sitting right in front of the doorstep. After that, he narrowed his gaze to focus on observing the surroundings.

Well, after that, he eyes widened and his jaw dropped. He froze momentarily then exclaimed, "Good grief! Oh my—"

Not far from where the two were standing right now, was a huge mushroom cloud rising slowly from the center of the city where the count's mansion was located. Right below the mushroom cloud was a large pile of rubble.

The husband and wife looked at each other. Anyone could see it in their eyes that they were currently bewildered at the same time.

So who was it? Who was the one responsible for making a mess in the count's mansion?!

Turning their eyes around, they noticed that there were two dim figures right next to the rubble pile.

At that exact same moment, Joshua had waited more than ten minutes there. Theoretically speaking, any warriors or guards that were Steel or Silver tier would have rushed to the site. However, no one appeared.

"It seems that I've forgotten about it," remarked Joshua, shaking his head regretfully. Joshua reflected on taking things for granted in the game.

After all, this world exists. There was only one life for each individual in this world. Unlike players in the game, these NPCs have aggro meters which will push them into battle until they drew their last breath. Not to mention that these were just mercenaries that were secretly trained by the Wilson family. They were most committed to the principle 'Take the money and work'. So if they ever encountered a monster that could demolish the count's mansion, the first thing that would come to their minds was 'run'. That would not even become a burden to their mental health.

Sometimes, it would be awkward if your enemy's too weak.

Joshua stood up with the intention of leaving the place.

"Ying, come over here. Let's get ready to move."

"Yes, Master. What are we up to now?"

"We shall go to the church square to sound the bell. We shall notify the entire city," declared Joshua who felt that it was right and natural to do so. He then casually added, "Tell them that I, Joshua, the count of this land, has returned."

Since that his greedy uncle died, there shouldn't be anyone who would spring out of nowhere to snatch the count's title from him. Furthermore, his cousin Chris was not the type to go behind his back. Since that was already the case, it would be best to immediately notify the entire city and lift the high alert status from the city. Then he could just get over to the Fort Dark Forest and get reinforcements to maintain order. Any other things that were related to obtaining the title could be dealt with later on.

Walking in the streets, Joshua noticed that many of the residents left their windows and doors opened. They were looking towards the direction where the count's mansion was located at. Their attentions were not on Joshua or Ying as they were fixated on the mushroom cloud that was dispersing with the blowing wind, with bewildered expressions on their faces. Also, some of them had noticed the absence of soldiers and the patrollers and thus walked out to take a look around. The voices of people began to fill the corners of the streets.

All of a sudden, Joshua stopped in his tracks.

He frowned and turned his head. Then he looked into the distance. His eyes looked past the buildings and the blizzard ahead. His eyes were staring straight at the clouds above the sky.

"The sound of the wind." As he said it aloud, Ying overheard it and looked at him with a puzzled expression. Joshua turned around and he suddenly looked dead serious.

What he heard was neither the winter wind that was sweeping the streets cold nor the sound of the northern winds that swept the clouds and frost of the surroundings. What Joshua heard was the rumbling sound that existed between spirits and elements where ordinary people could not notice.

In a distance where men could not see with the naked eye, there was a man, an existence. His magic that quivered the surroundings around the earth. It seemed that the spirits and the elements were all under his command. The slight movement of that power could blow like a wind. Joshua could sense it.

"Gold Tier! Glorious Strength! I can't believe that it would come so soon. A change of plan is needed!"

Taking a deep breath, Joshua sudden roared out loud, "Residents all around, leave at once!"

His voice was not gentle but intimidating and threatening.

"This is not a joke, this is an order. I'll only give you three minutes! Or else…"

Before he finished his words, he stomped the ground. Instantly, the shockwave of his stomp spread out. It felt like a tremor. The explosive sound echoed across the city.

Right before the eyes of the horrified residents, the rocks and stones in the surrounding area of tens of meters were reduced to pebbles. A large crack was presented right on the ground.

There was nothing else left to say. That was purely terrifying to look upon! So was there any reason to hesitate at all?! Well, facing such a threatening man, it would be best to just follow what he wants!

The voices of the people in the surroundings began to get louder a little. After that, one after another quickly went back to their houses and homes. They quickly summoned their husbands, wives, and children. Then they quickly took everything that was previous to them and ran away from the city like refugees.

After the warning, Joshua did not say a word. He was staring at the empty sky. Meanwhile, the silver-haired Divine Armament followed him on his back. Countless people rushed past his left and right, trying to get back to their loved ones.

It was about to come.

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Chapter 22: You Have Stepped on a Toe, My Friend!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Snow was falling from the sky. The sun was almost completely blocked from the earth as only some faint streams of golden light could be seen slipping past the thick gray clouds.

That was the winter in the north. Other than a few days, that place basically had no sun in the sky most of the time, the sky forever gray.

However, that had changed now.

Far beyond the clouds where the sun would set in, was a dim grayish-green light.

That light was only slightly brighter than those lights that escaped through the gray clouds. However, the light was approaching the city closer, getting brighter by the second! Meanwhile, the grayish-green light seemed to be spreading across the clouds as well. Compared to the haze in the surroundings, it was exceptionally obvious.

"The speed's not slowing down at all. It's about to arrive real soon."

Once known as a legendary warrior, Joshua was very sensitive towards the movement of energies all around the surroundings. He could feel the rippling waves of elemental energy expanding in the atmosphere all around. The breezes of energy brushed by Joshua's body. Joshua could not help but clench his fist.

The Mycroft Continent was full of all sorts of strange energies such as magic, spirits, and elements. As long as there is a soul and a body, regardless of any race, one could feel these energies.

Different races would react to the powers differently. Some might require more time and some might not. However, there was no doubt that a life, regardless of whether it had powerful innate talent or not, would not be able to get to Steel tier, stepping out the first extraordinary step if the soul did not go through [Revelation] to get itself and its natural strength in control.

Spiritual, life, and elemental energy… A person would be deemed as a pro only if they mastered these powers. Otherwise, they would only be deemed as an apprentice or an ordinary man.

Meanwhile, humans were known to be the most famous Steel race. When growing up into an adult, as long as they were willing to work train hard, most of them would be able to achieve Steel tier. The best of them might even get to access the boundaries of their souls, bodies, and skills. Once they could access those three most important boundaries in them, they would be able to surpass the limit where they could control extraordinary powers and break through the limit of humans.

That entire process was called [Radiant Spirit]. That was because the soul of that Class at that level could increase further the power that they wielded. That power could even become a visible blinding radiance. With that radiance, regular people's bodies and souls might even get burned.

Meanwhile, the next thing that was going to happen would be…

"Gold-tier enemy."

With a low voice, although Joshua was looking deadly serious now, he did not show any trace of fear on his face. Instead, he was grinning. Anyone could tell from his face that he was very eager to try his strength now.

"One of the Wilson family members, Nolan's eldest brother."

If the Silver-tier warriors were said to be beings that exceeded the limit of men, then the Gold-tier warriors should undoubtedly be super beings, as their bodies would have been reshaped by pure energy. They were basically immune to diseases and the cold. Their limbs could even regenerate after being cut off. They could also fly on their free will. Other than their heads and energy cores, they had no other weaknesses. Those were not even the special attributes of Gold-tier warriors but the basic attributes of their extraordinary bodies.

Ying's spiritual and transcendental build were similar. If Joshua was using [Divine Power, he could become powerful enough to pressure Gold-tier warriors that were weaker. However, there was one thing that kept them from being capable of taking on stronger Gold-tier warriors. That would be the [Glorious Strength] that the Gold-tier warriors had.

That power was deemed to be a [Miracle] that only belonged to one person. Unlike magic, spiritual energy, Combat Aura, and other powers that could be obtained through training by any living things, a [Miracle] was one of a kind in the entire world. Each one could only belong to one person. There were thousands of them. Such power violated basic principles. There was no other way that a person could achieve such heights in obtaining power. According to legends, there was a vampire who managed to achieve Gold tier and obtain the ability to stop time after some training.

Of course, that was only a special case that would never happen again. However, regardless of it being basic attributes, the toughness of their souls, or their ability to control their power, the power level of a Gold-tier warrior definitely surpassed the power level of a Silver tier. Furthermore, Gold tier warriors could fly freely and they also have their [Glorious Strength]. So they could easily defeat ten times the number of low tier enemies.

At this moment, a heavily equipped Gold-tier warrior was vibrating the elements, coming to the main city gates at high speed. The grayish-green radiance that was surrounding him was approaching closer by the second. The aura was dense and intimidating. The entire atmosphere was as if a storm was coming. Meanwhile, his target was undoubtedly Joshua.

Rumble—

The air was torn, causing thunderous noise throughout the surroundings. Joshua no longer paying attention to the enemy who was approaching from afar. Instead, he brought up the system tab to have a look at his own attributes.

[Level 30 (3,817/6,200)]

With a gentle press, Joshua obtained the experience points for completing his achievements.

3,000 experience points were transferred into his experience bar. The numbers in the system began to rise tremendously until it was completely filled. A stream of red lights appeared on Joshua's skin.

[Level 31 (617/8,000)]

For reaching Gold tier, his entire body did not shine. There was also no sign of any aura that could smash rocks and stones into smithereens. Right at that moment of ascending to another tier, Joshua's face was emotionless while he was attempting to control the expanding power buried deep within his body. Without facing any difficulties, he had finally reached Gold tier!

At the same time, an insanely tremendous force came right down to the ground from the sky, sweeping away everything in that area. A purely condensed killing intent was focused on Joshua now.

Boom!

A loud explosive bang was heard after the air was torn, followed by the descent of a radiating shadow from the sky. Meanwhile, the murderous intent that was mixed with rage had been targeted at Joshua. Wordlessly, without any desire to communicate, the Gold-tier warrior who came from afar noticed that all his men were either dead or they had already fled the battlefield. It did not take long at all for him to realize the main reason his plan had failed.

So this 'Silver-tier warrior' who was currently standing in the middle of the city, with no intention of fleeing was the main reason that his plan failed!

The Combat Aura surrounding the warrior ignited. The air around his body was distorted by the rippling waves of the aura emitting out from his body. Waves of white light circulated in the air repeatedly to the point that a conical mist seemed to have formed around that warrior. The Gold-tier warrior descended to the ground at a speed that surpassed the speed of sound. Revealing one of his fists, the violent winds all around instantly turned into a gigantic radiating punch, followed by the intense whistling of air, crashing down upon Joshua who was standing still on the ground. The high-velocity punch was the result of air manipulation. Under the high frequency of vibrating air, even steel would be torn apart into pieces if they were ever hit by that punch.

"Hmph."

Suddenly, a stream of red light flashed across the Gold-tier warrior's eyes. The fierce radiating punch was instantly deflected. The wind had blown away all the stones and dust in the surrounding. Meanwhile, that Gold-tier warrior attempted to shift his direction. Because of that, his body moved a little to the side as if he was attempting to evade an invisible attack.

"What the hell was that?!"

Slowly landing on the other end of the street, the eyes of the Gold-tier warrior were filled with uncertainty. At this moment, Joshua held his fist back. The red Combat Aura was rippling around Joshua as if it was solid. Joshua gave a fierce glare at the Gold-tier warrior. Instantly, a murderous intent filled with bloodlust was locked on the body of the Gold-tier warrior.

Joshua spoke in a slow and clear tone, "Who gave you the impression that I'm just a Silver tier?"

He then stretched out his right hand towards Ying who was smiling all the while standing right behind him. The Divine Armament did not hesitate at all, grabbing Joshua's right hand hastily.

Waves of magic burst into flames. After a blinding flash of light, a silver greatsword that was that exceeded the height of a human appeared in Joshua's hands. A black chain was seen extended from the hilt of the sword. Meanwhile, the other end of the chain was wound around the warrior's right hand. The chain seemed to have sunk into Joshua's wrist.

"My enemy, you shall become the very first soul that Ying and I condemn to death for my goal to reach Gold tier."

Raising his hand up and pointed the tip of his weapon straight at the face of that Gold-tier warrior, Joshua was confident. He had already mastered the power level of a Gold-tier warrior. He grinned at the warrior, his eyes cold.

"So, draw your weapon and die now."

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Chapter 23: There's No Good Ending for Being Weak, Why Can't You Understand That?

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

In the empty streets, Joshua and the Gold-tier warrior faced off each other.

Moz Wilson, the strongest among the younger generation of the Wilson family, was known as a Gold-tier warrior with gray hair and eyes. He was fully equipped with heavy armor. However, his movement did not seem to be slowing down at all despite that. Well, the heavy armor would have immobilized the movement of a normal warrior. It was as though this set of heavy armor was as light as a set of leather armor when equipped by a warrior of this standard.

However, the Gold-tier warrior did not put himself at ease, not even the slightest bit. Joshua could see it in his eyes. Now, this huge and sturdy Gold-tier warrior seemed to be filled with restless thoughts. He was amazed yet puzzled at the same time.

He was so surprised because the power level of this enemy did not tally with the rumors he heard.

Joshua van Radcliffe was still a Silver-tier warrior when he was still in the Black Raven Army about a month ago. So it seemed that he managed to break through his own shell and ascend to Gold. However, he should not be able to get himself familiarized with the newly acquired power of his. Gold tier was deemed to be the ascension of the body to a whole new level. Therefore, no matter what kind of prodigy he turned out to be, it would still require a few months of practice before anyone could master that tier of power!

However, it would be pointless as well even if Moz did not believe it. Currently, Joshua was standing before Moz as a Gold-tier warrior, a strong enemy that could threaten him.

"I'm Moz Wilson."

Unsheathing the broadsword from his waist, Moz appeared calm. He then pointed the tip towards his enemy. His eyes were clear as day now.

"Joshua van Radcliffe."

Joshua did not hesitate to tell his enemy his name as well. It appeared that exchanging names with your enemies was a tradition around the world. It was a gesture to prove that the warriors were fighting fair and square regardless of who would win. It was just a proof of glory.

The next moment after they were done with their conversation, the wind howled. Two weapons clashed with each other. The clanging of steel against steel was so noisy and the friction between the two weapons had made fountains of sparks across the surroundings. However, the two of them did not notice such a trivial thing. In less than a second, they had already clashed their weapons against each other over several rounds. Before the violent airstream could set off any of the impact shockwaves, the two of them had already done testing out each other's strength.

"Not bad!"

Backing up to his initial spot, Moz raised his broadsword and placed it horizontally across his chest. He adjusted his breathing pace and let out a low pitched roar. He entirely disappeared once again. In a blink of an eye, a heavily charged slash attack that was tearing the ground apart was heading straight towards Joshua's head. The black broadsword that was initially placed right before the chest of the Gold-Tier warrior swung out in a blur, like a stream of dark light flashing across the air. Its movement was extremely fast, to the point that it was almost impossible to see.

A tiny fraction his strength was enough to lift and twist the air around him. That strike seemed to be just a normal strike. However, the strength and the speed were unleashed at maximum potential. It was just like a normal strike in between his breathing pace. No subtle changes were needed in that strike at all.

"Foolish."

Upon letting out a roar, Joshua's expression was as cool as steel. Facing such a heavy strike that could easily destroy the castle walls and splitting steel, Joshua chose not to retreat. Instead, he raised his left hand up. He was ready to take on that heavy strike from his enemy with his body made of flesh and blood. With merely his flesh and bones, Joshua stopped the strike with ease. At the same instant, he swung that greatsword of his that he was holding in his right hand from bottom to the top. It was a solid upswing strike that was heading towards Moz!

Puchik—

Flesh and blood… Even if it was the body of a Gold-tier warrior, that body should not be compared to the toughness of a weapon forged from steel. Furthermore, that weapon was infused with Combat Aura. Not to mention that it was swung at Joshua by another Gold-tier warrior at full strength. Joshua's left palm was split in half upon contact with that heavy strike. However, even though that was the case, that strike which was originally aimed at Joshua's head was slightly set off of its track. Because of that, that strike went all the way down by the side of Joshua's body. It was a miss. Meanwhile, because Moz stayed in mid-air after his attack, he did not have any way to borrow a force to change his position in mid-air. Moz was helpless against the fully loaded upswing strike that Joshua threw at him!

After Ying transformed into her Divine Armament form, she became a heavy and huge weapon that was even larger than the size of a human. So while encountering Moz's broadsword Joshua lost the agility in wielding his weapon. It was hard for him to take the pre-emptive strike in battles.

However, that would also mean that if he could land his attacks on his enemies, the damage he could deal would be much higher than the damage regular weapons could deal.

Moz never expected Joshua to risk his life just after their first encounter. Because he did not want to simply let go of the weapon in his hand, Moz did not activate his Combat Aura in the first place to fight back. Instead, he chose to avoid the strike that was coming at him. So the Gold-tier warrior kept his weapon based on his battle instincts and saved himself from Joshua's heavy strike that could have split him in half. However, after a moment's notice, Moz only realized that his elbow on his left hand was broken after deflecting the impact of Joshua's attack.

"…Your courage could even astound the gods."

After witnessing Joshua controlling his arm muscles to stop his bleeding wound, Moz broke out in cold sweat, clenching his teeth.

"I've never met an opponent like you."

"That's because your previous enemies were all weak."

Joshua closed the wound on his left palm looking nonchalant. With his Combat Aura blazing on, his blood and bones were swiftly restored. His left hand regenerated back to its former state. Joshua smiled coldly and said, "You must not have experienced many battles with other Gold-tier warriors. So how would you know the way to use such a skill then?"

He was speaking as if he had experienced many rounds of battles with Gold-tier warriors.

Moz was bewildered for the moment. This guy should have only ascended to Gold tier less than a month ago. Moz looked doubtful. So why did he seem like he was much more experienced than Moz?

Truth to be told, Joshua's experience was much more than Moz's. Furthermore, the difference was not a little, but vast.

After acquiring power, Gold-tier warriors had healing abilities which were on an entirely different level. As long as the warrior's vitality was strong enough and the body of the warrior had sufficient nutrients, the warrior could regrow any lost limbs over a couple of days. As for wounds that did not involve losing a limb, the warrior would only need a matter of seconds to regenerate. They could swiftly recover a certain level of their battle power within that few seconds.

Receiving a wound that could quickly recover as the cost, Joshua had given his enemy a blow that hard to recover from. That was an instinct he had as a legendary warrior.

Joshua once again clenched his healed left fist, unclenched it, and then tightened it again.

Joshua was feeling great at the moment. In fact, he had never felt this great in his life. It went beyond his imagination that he enjoyed the taste of his own and his enemies' blood in a battle of life and death.

Meanwhile, the street where the two of them were battling against each other became silent. The residents that were once living there had moved far away from the streets to seek shelter. Some dust from the rocks that floated out from the potholes was the result of the impact of the battle between the two Gold-tier warriors.

Frankly speaking, Moz's strength most probably went beyond Joshua's current strength, which made sense. After all, there had been two versions of Gold tier before Continental War's server was open to the public. They were from the same legend though. The Gold tier was different from the Gold tier after the Dark Tide. The Gold tier during that time was valued for their quality rather than their numbers. Most of their forms were elites. Some of them were even leaders, so they were much more powerful than the regular form after the Dark Tide.

However, even though that was the case, this is also an insurmountable gap. From physique to the control over the power, ascending to Gold tier was a whole new level, in terms of power. In the game, such process had been replaced with the [Glorious Quest] that countless players were complaining about. The long list of quests had replaced the adjustment process. Meanwhile, in this real world, an adjustment period was needed. Just like a child could not wield a greatsword, an infant could not wield a greataxe. So common people could not have familiarized themselves with such new changes over such a short period of time.

However, how could Joshua be categorized the same as those people?

About a month ago, he could just simply unleash an extraordinary natural gift. His punches could have easily destroyed the mountains and stir up waves. He was a legendary warrior! Now he was 'demoted' back to a Gold-tier warrior. So it would not take long for him to get used to his battle style. It would only take a few seconds—

In other words, he could just easily get used to it during the few seconds while he was talking to his opponent.

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Chapter 24: How Can You Collapse Before I Use My Ultimate Skill?

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

After confirming that most of his strength had recovered, Joshua did not say a word. He immediately held his sword with both hands and charged forward. The silver blade was swung towards Moz's neck with a violent pressure that was enough to rip a regular human's body to shreds. The whistling swing of that sword was intense.

Meanwhile, even though Moz had a broken left elbow, he reacted as a true Gold-tier warrior would, by not hesitating. He stopped breathing for a brief moment and regained his composure. Then he raised his broadsword in an attempt to block that strike.

However, how could it be possible for him to block a two-handed strike with a one-handed weapon? There was no need to think about who would win and who would lose under that circumstance.

A radiance flashed, the shockwave in the next moment swept across the entire street. The scattered rocks and rubble were blown away into the distance. The windows and the doors that were not closed tight cracked. The impactful force from the collision of the two swords resulted in countless shockwaves and explosions. Everything in the surrounding area was wiped clean.

"Arghhh!" Once again, Joshua let out a roar. The red radiance beneath his skin continued to glow, slowly gathering in his hands. Warrior was a Class where players rely on roaring to unlock their full potential. With that loud roar, his power instantly raised by a notch or two. Immediately, that became the last straw that determined the battle between the two of them.

The blade of the greatsword began to press towards Moz's direction inch by inch. Meanwhile, the broadsword that was forged from steel and embedded with god knows what sort of spells was beginning to crack. After a brief moment of cracking up, a loud snapping sound of steel was heard. The broadsword broke into more than two pieces. The heavy silver greatsword was slashed down towards Moz with unstoppable force as if the sword would slice this gray-haired man in half.

However, as a Gold-tier warrior, Moz was not that useless. Although he lost an arm because he underestimated his opponent earlier on, he was ready to face his opponent in his strongest form!

[Glorious Strength: Shape of the Wind]

The power of a Gold was rampaging that moment forth!

Greenish-gray Combat Aura was beginning to rise from the surface of Moz's body. The radiance of glory shone brightly. It looked like green flames blazing on. Moz was controlling the rhythm of his breathing, using his breath as a support to boost all the power in his body. He then used his soul to activate, condense, manipulate, and unleash the power!

Countless strange-looking runes arose from among the blazing flames on Moz. The shattered blade had already been dispersed into the surroundings due to the previous strike from Joshua. However, a strange power formed itself into the shape of the broadsword blade that was shattered. Then the shape of that power condensed, intensified and solidified. Following the sound of flames ignited by a spark on fuel, the sound of flames spreading rapidly was heard. A vague shape of a huge blade that seemed to be formed from the air had replaced the shattered broadsword. The length of the newly 'formed' broadsword was approximately twenty meters. With the reappearance of the broadsword, Moz succeeded in blocking Joshua's incoming strike.

This huge blade that was made of green elemental power trembled from time to time. Other than Joshua's huge sword, anything that came in touch with it seemed to be crushed instantly. It was similar to Moz's light punch in his previous attack. This blade should be able to crush steel and cut through weapons with ease!

Meanwhile, the silver Divine Armament that was engaging it also had the red radiance coursing through the entire huge sword. Within that radiating light, a terrifying power was about to be unleashed.

The red and the green flames were blending into each other. The two huge powers clashed with each other and the impact created a gigantic hole in the street where they were battling against each other. Countless violent air currents which were muted due to their speed had blown the rocks and dirt into the sky, causing a dust storm all around the street. Some of the wooden houses even collapsed and turned into ruins.

At the same time, the situation was a tie. Meanwhile, Moz was completely astounded; he could not believe what just happened.

The elemental blade that was formed from the power of his [Shape of the Wind] could naturally destroy most regular weapons. Even enchanted weapons would suffer damage to some extent. However, witnessing the silver greatsword pressing against his own weapon without sustaining any damage at all— could it be that this normal-looking weapon was actually a legendary weapon that was more than just excellent?!

What the f*ck! Even the Wilson family's armory does not have many legendary weapons! More importantly, none of those legendary weapons were in Moz's hands!

Well, even if Moz used up all of his ultimate moves, he would still not be able to turn the situation around. He did not even force his opponent to activate his [Glorious Strength] yet. Moz could sense that the situation was not in his favor at all. However, Moz was considered to be doing quite well for he had lost the left hand that caused him to not be able to use most of his skills.

Well, would his enemy be kind to him then?

Facing the onslaught of his opponent without triggering his [Glorious Strength, Joshua kept quiet as he was activating his third skill today.

[Supreme: Enrage]

This skill belonged to the strongest warrior in the forest, the Bear Warrior Ursa's Ultimate move—Enrage!

His blood was like boiling magma, his life force actively converted into rage. The power within was slowly spreading every part of his body. The red Combat Aura instantly burst out in a much more powerful manner. In one brief instant, the whole silver greatsword blazed in flames. It looked like a crystalized red sword radiating in blinding light.

Joshua lifted his greatsword and slammed it right down onto the target again and again! Under the circumstance where they were competing with each other in term of strength, the elemental blade that was basically just like the broadsword, cracked bit by bit until it was forced to gradually return to its original elemental state.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The only thing that Moz could do now was back his steps up one after another! Every step backward left a large hole in the ground. Every step he took, he spat blood right out of his lungs. Moz could not withstand such pure violent power that was pushing him back. Followed by the consecutive blows that Joshua was throwing at him, without saying a word, Moz could only clench his teeth and take it all head on.

By the end of it, the elemental blade that was formed from the [Shape of the Wind] had completely disintegrated into countless green light spots, dispersing into the surroundings. At that instant, a radiance flashed across Moz's eyes.

It is time!

Before that, Moz had relied on his [Glorious Strength] to counter Joshua. Even though he failed, it was not for nothing. Now that Joshua's power had been largely amplified because of his secret move, his movement speed was slightly affected. Furthermore, the elemental blade had been dispersed to the surroundings. The powers were clashing in the atmosphere of the city. That moment was also a moment where the insanely powerful enemy let his guard down, showing weakness. So that was it! That was his chance to strike back!

Taking a step forward, pushing his body forward like a whirlwind, Moz abandoned every single defense on himself and turned all of his power into speed. Then he pushed himself forward so fast that his movement speed had exceeded the speed of sound in one instant, offsetting an explosive bang in the atmosphere. He charged straight into a position where Joshua's sharp greatsword could not reach. At the same time, he raised up his right hand and swung a punch right towards Joshua's heart.

Receiving such a swift and intense punch that was enough to break through rocks, the skin on Joshua's chest was instantly torn apart. His muscles and veins were exposed to the air. However, his blood did not ooze out like a fountain or whatsoever even though the punch had landed solidly on Joshua's chest.

Moz believed that he had won!

During that 0.01 second long battle, Moz could only strike out in full strength in time with his Gold-tier body which had undergone severe training and hammering. That was the only punch based on his instincts that could possibly change the tide of battle. Although he did not have enough time to do any thinking, it was a situation where he either did it or die! So before his enemy could react at all, he could basically end the battle with that strike of his!

Joshua van Radcliffe was indeed a powerful enemy… He actually managed to forced Moz to such extent…

A left hand suddenly appeared right before Moz's fist. Moz's fist was firmly gripped by the hand.

His thoughts were cut off, his breath stopped. The gray-haired Gold-tier warrior was so stunned to see that his fist was almost smashed by the left hand into bits. Flesh and blood splattered everywhere. Meanwhile, the shards of the broken bones even went into the muscles of Joshua's chest. The enormous power even completely twisted the joints of his elbow. His entire palm was basically sunk into his chest. A large amount of blood began to splash out from the wounds.

However, that was it! A punch that was initially enough to crush an enemy's heart, go through the chest of the enemy, and break the enemy's backbone and other internal organs had only managed to crush a right hand and a few ribs of the enemy. A Gold-tier warrior would only require a few days to fully heal from that sort of injuries.

A heavy strike from Joshua's knee was struck right in the middle of Moz's chest. Moz's ribs and chest were smashed into bits at the same time. At that moment, Moz could also hear an emotionless voice being spoken from above his head.

"I've got you."

That was a calm and yet much more terrifying sentence to hear. Before the gray-haired Gold-tier warrior could react to the situation at all, his body had dropped heavily to the ground. His blood began to flow out from the large wound right in the middle of his chest. He was lying on the ground while his life was slowly slipped away from his body. Moz was stunned as he fixed his eyes on his enemy. He could not react to anything at all.

Joshua went up to Moz. He turned his right hand around to hold down his huge sword. Coldly, he said, "Die."

Upon a heavy strike down at Moz's body, the huge sword that was tough enough to break steel cut Moz's body in half. Blood began to gush out of that Gold-tier warrior's body like a fountain. Meanwhile, the gray-haired Gold-tier warrior had no breath left to say anything.

I… I'm defeated? I still… I still…

After breathing heavily for a brief moment, he drew his last breath and died.

That battle had only lasted less than two minutes before it was over. So it actually made sense that Moz died unwilling to believe that he was defeated.

"Well, that's not bad at all."

Lifting the broken left hand that did not seem to look like a hand anymore, Joshua frowned. Now that he was still in the [Enrage] status, 80% of his pain had been shielded from him. So the injury in his left hand was like being slammed by a sledgehammer. Even so, he did not feel much pain.

"That's quite a powerful strike before he drew his last breath."

Since the beginning, Joshua did not intend to take out this Gold-tier warrior of the Wilson Family without sustaining any damage; it was too troublesome and the city had sustained too much damage as well. When two warriors of the same tier were battling against each other at full power, they would definitely be throwing skills at each other. So it would only take less than a few minutes before the center of the city was totally destroyed. Even if the priests and the high tier warriors were there to protect the civilians, the number of casualties in the city would still be far too great. Furthermore, those who survived would have no place to stay anymore. Although Moz's [Shape of the Wind] could not deal any damage to the greatsword which Ying transformed into, that power could still destroy any normal houses in a blink of an eye.

If Moz could also infuse his [Glorious Strength] and other more threatening skills during the battle, well, by then…

Tsk, pathetic. That was why Joshua wanted to end the battle with the swiftest method. He had been planning to take out that troublemaker as soon as he could.

So before the Gold-tier warrior could actually unleash all his strength, he was already slain by Joshua.

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Chapter 25: Seven Gods of Men

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

A half-naked man with black hair who was holding a silver greatsword was currently standing right in the middle of a street with no undamaged bricks at all.

After the battle ended, the magic and elemental power that rippled across the battlefield where Joshua and Moz were battling against each other had returned back to their calm state. Meanwhile, the dust was blown away and dispersed from the scene. Joshua could sense that there was no one in the vicinity of hundreds of meters around him. No matter it was the residents or the mercenaries hired by the Wilson family, none of them dared to stay around to observe the place.

Followed by a bright yet non-blinding flash across the sword, the silver greatsword changed back into a silver-haired girl with green eyes who seemed disorientated.

"Master, was that it?"

"That's right." Joshua nodded without hesitation. "I've taken out that uncle who tried to snatch my title and the Gold-tier warrior of the Wilson family who orchestrated all this from the shadows!"

He felt great and relieved at the moment. He began to speak more than he usually did, "I know. There are certainly many plans involved in using a count as a puppet. There are a lot of schemes, a lot of backcourts, a lot of countermeasures… But f*ck it! None of that matters!"

Looking at the silver-haired warrior who died with his eyes wide open, Joshua spoke in disdain, "They thought they were very clever. But the truth is, they were too naïve. I've killed them all. So what's the use even if they had millions of schemes up their sleeves then? A bunch of imbeciles!"

"No, Master… I don't really know much about schemes and this sort of things… What I was trying to say was, don't you feel that the battle only lasted two minutes? Don't you think it's a little too soon for the battle to be over?"

The silver-haired Divine Armament shook her head. She did not understand anything that Joshua had just spoken of. Ying looked at Joshua with dissatisfaction.

"I've waited for so long, and you only used me for two minutes?"

"Huh?"

"I've waited for so long!"

"… Well, I can't deny that, Ying. That's because I have you." Joshua began to adjust his tone back to normal and spoke to Ying calmly. "Without you, the enemy's [Glorious Strength] would never activate. I have no equipment that could block the impact of the enemy's [Shape of the Wind]. The battle outcome with Moz would have become unpredictable."

"Is… is that true?" The silver-haired Divine Armament girl was praised by her master for the first time, which surprised.

"Of course!" Joshua answered assuringly.

Upon hearing her master's words, Ying immediately replied, "It's my honor to serve you, my Master."

After that, the young female Divine Armament smiled, even though was obvious that she was trying not to. She appeared joyful, as she followed Joshua from behind.

… Well, that's good for now.

Upon nodding his head, Joshua did not intend to stay there any longer after he took his weapon back. He looked around for a bit to make sure the direction where he was heading before he began to move. "We're going to the cathedral. We must hurry."

"To ring the bell in order to inform the people?"

"No, to heal my arm."

That was, in fact, a very serious thing to be handled as soon as possible. Since [Enrage] could suppress 80% of the pain Joshua was feeling and greatly enhance his strength, Joshua did not feel much pain in his palm that looked like a smashed mud pie dangling his wrist. However, he was experienced in such regard so he knew that once the effect of the skill faded and the adrenaline stopped, the sudden pain that was enough to make an iron-willed soldier drip cold sweat.

Although he could forcefully endure the pain, why would he want to do that?

Naturally, Ying did not have any objection to that. So the two of them began to rush over to the church not far from them.

Cathedral of St. Laurent

Seven Gods among Men. They were the God of Might and Justice, the God of Love and Hate, the God of Order and Destruction, the God of Law and Freedom, the God of Conservation and Reformation, the God of Skills and Schemes and the God of Life 1 .

These gods had no difference in their status.

However, in the sacrificial rituals, the God of Life would be placed before the others. Well, no one knew the reason behind that. Perhaps many players had tried digging for the explanation on that, but there was no clear answer up until today.

The Seven Gods among Men had no name with real meaning, not they have any form. So no matter if it was the statues, the mural or even the paintings, there was no specific way to express their appearances at all. Each of the gods only had one symbol of their own. Other than responding to the humans' prayers, the gods would basically do nothing as if they never existed in this world.

However, Joshua knew that it would not take long before one of the seven gods, the God of Might and Justice would form an alliance with the Metal Dragon God in order to take down the Pentashade Dragon God. By doing so, they would be able to remove the barriers of the outside world. That event should trigger the prelude to the arrival of the Dark Tide, a World Class Historical Event [Berserk Dragon's Calamity]

The location where Joshua was currently standing at was known to be the cathedral of the God of Might and Justice, the largest meeting place in the North for the worshippers of the God of Might and Justice. It was named after the first saint, St. Laurent. Meanwhile, there was a black holy logo in the shape of a ring hanging above the bell tower that was blinking brightly.

Right by the stairs at the entrance, there was a huge stone tablet which has some words crafted on it.

"Justice without the light will require the strong to prevail."

Frankly speaking, the cathedral had a somber atmosphere to it. It was a church community that reflected the public after all. So no matter how solemn they appeared to be, they had to be friendly to the people. Joshua turned to look at the other side, where there was another stone tablet piece.

"Monday – Friday, Will close in the morning. Afternoon, praise and worship session. Sermon in the evening."

"Saturday afternoon meal. Sunday morning prayer. Afternoon meeting."

There was also another small line of words crafted on the lower part of the stone tablet.

"Bring your own tableware."

After all, this was a church. They could not ask too much from others. Joshua could still remember. When he was still young, he would come here to listen to the hymns. The old priest over here was very familiar with his presence. Would that old priest still be there? Would he still be able to recognize Joshua as the little boy back in the day?

After passing the stairs, he arrived at the doors of the cathedral to find that they were shut. There was also a huge and sturdy wooden plank stuck in between the doors. Well, there was no way that any sound would be able to get past that door. It was all his dead uncle's fault. He was the one who caused all these. Because of his deeds, everyone did not dare to step out of their own houses. Since there was no one coming to pray, the church had no reason to leave their doors open. So they would have to shut their doors tight and stop anyone from entering. Even if Danlya and the Wilson family were ten times braver than they actually were, they would still not be daring enough to touch the sacred cathedral.

It seemed that regular shouting and screaming would do no good in getting the cathedral to open up their doors. With no choice left, Joshua was forced to activate his Combat Aura and knocked heavily on the door several times.

When the red radiance touched the surface of the grayish-brown door, instantly, a milky glow began to surface. This glow shimmered on continuously as if a stone was dropped into the surface of still water that caused countless ripples across the entire surface. It did not take long before the cathedral's stone doors began to open slowly. Four knights that appeared to be the guardians of the cathedral and two Silver-tier priests walked from behind the doors to greet Joshua and Ying.

"The Cathedral of St. Laurent is not open any believers at the moment," said the first knight despondently.

"We are currently not allowing entrance to pilgrims as well." The second knight also spoke in the same manner.

"So no matter your purpose is here, please… Wait a minute, you are?"

Before he could finish the words that he seemed to know by heart, the third knight froze for a moment. After a brief moment of hesitation, he said to his comrades, "Hold on, my fellow mates. This… this person appears to be the next heir."

Meanwhile, the [Enrage] form was about to end. The intense pain was beginning to spread across his entire body. Joshua sighed and said in a helpless tone, "That's right, it's me."

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Chapter 26: Of the Church, Only Seven Members Had an Unspeakable Scheme

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Since they knew the identity of the man that was gravely injured, who could still give off an intimidating aura, things were easier. Even though they thought killing the successor would be simple—

The great twin doors were flung open allowing Joshua and Ying to go in the church. One of the knights of the cathedral hurried to the back, perhaps to report to the higher officials. After a short while, when Joshua's arrival was informed, two priests came to the hall and welcomed him to a small chamber to start the preliminary healing process.

"Please remove the resisting powers against the holy element." The priest that had a younger appearance politely requested. "You are a Gold-tier warrior. If you're unwilling to cooperate with us, I'm afraid that our divine spells would not work on you."

"That's true. My apologies."

Joshua had truly forgotten about having the Level Suppression effect since all the priests that were his comrades were all legendary tier. If he did not remove the Combat Aura around his arm, he would not be able to receive any healing. Hence, he'd rather have a full healing effect than suppressed healing.

"Please continue."

The priests nodded and started to chant their spell.

"Word's Truth: Cleanse."

"Word's Truth: Diminish Bleeding."

The spells used were simple ones to kill all bacteria and to slow down the bleeding process to help stop the bleeding. Perhaps due to a higher tier of power, the priests that were healing Joshua had to use a lot of magic power to break through his powerful resistance. From the looks of it, the church would have a tough time dealing with Joshua. In fact, three knights of the church were getting into a dusty mess just by cleaning Ying. The entire welcoming hall was literally covered in dust.

Not long after, the previous knight that had run off to the back of the church, returned to where Joshua was. Following closely behind him was an Upper Silver-tier, middle-aged priest. Despite having a full head of white hair, the man did not give out the vibe of an old man. In fact, he had his chest held high, his nose pointy, and his eyes sharp, all of which made him appear dependable.

"Master Artanis."

"Master Artanis."

The two priest got up from their healing and bowed to the person.

"Is it done? Not bad."

The man glanced through the work done on Joshua's mangled hand and immediately understood the potential damage to it and how efficient his disciples were. After praising the two priests, he looked at Joshua and shook his head. "Joshua… How did you end up like this?"

"My question exactly, Uncle Artanis. When did St. Laurent become so quiet? Listen carefully. I think, beside us, there's no one around."

The two seemed to be close, however, it was not the time to have a friendly chat. The effect of 'Enrage' had started to wear off. Joshua could not even exert the force to open his mouth when the pain from his crushed hand had started to prickle his brain.

"Follow me to the quiet room."

Artanis knew the degree of such pain. Instantly, he turned and quickly made his way to the back of the church. Joshua gritted his teeth in pain as he got up to follow Artanis. The two priest followed as well.

The four knights in the cathedral stayed back and closed the large door. Ying was done and wanted to follow Joshua, however, she was immediately stopped by Joshua.

"Ying. Please wait here."

"… Yes, Master."

Joshua could not think straight then but could tell from her expression she was feeling disgruntled. No matter how she felt, once the order was given, she had no choice but to obey.

In the quiet room, Joshua, the black-haired warrior, sat down on a stone chair and place his left hand into the center of a crystal basin with markings engraved on the side. Artanis sat down opposite the table. With long sharp pliers, he carefully picked out the bones fragments within his flesh. The other two priests were busy as well.

Of the two priests, one of them was very young. From his appearance, he looked like he had just reached the age of twenty. The other was older. Probably at the age of thirty-four or thirty-five. The younger one was standing beside Artanis and illuminating the table with a divine skill called the 'Shadowless Illumination' while the older one was casting a divine spell called 'Resist Pain' and a bright radiant light. The light was to assist Artanis to have a clearer view of Joshua's hand while also preventing the wound from festering.

From Joshua's point of view, the scene was the same as any modern-day surgery.

"Alright. I'll have to reassemble the larger broken bones and remove the smaller ones. It is time to start the restoration."

After a few seconds later, Artanis stretched out his hand and took a deep breath. He took a piece of clean cloth and wiped away his sweat. "Ahh…I'm getting old. My vision is so blurry that I almost pulled your veins."

The younger priest frowned and said, "I did suggest you get yourself a pair of goblin-made glasses yet you insisted on not getting them!"

"Enough." Artanis glared at the younger priest and continued, "Let's get on with it."

"This will hurt a little."

He touched the basin after a bright light glowed in his palms. The markings on the side of the basin glowed as light filled the engravings on the basin. The center of the basin then glowed with a soft white light, engulfing Joshua's hand. The effect of the light was immediate as he could see and feel his hand was being mended. The wound was closing at incredible speed and the pain subsided. After a while, the wound was closed and his mangled hand was restored to its original shape.

"Hmph. It's almost done."

The middle-aged priest removed his hands from the basin and the light faded away. Joshua closed his hand and nodded his head in satisfaction. "Besides a few missing bones, I can feel that my hand is almost completely healed."

"Let's not be hasty. If you're careful not to get into a similar incident that made your hand that way, you could fully recover within a day with your Gold-tier power rank."

Artanis stood up and took the crystal basin off the table and stared at Joshua sternly. "This is a warning. Although you can heal within a day, do not try to use your left hand for anything drastic for the next two weeks. Unless you planned to visit me again with another wound, I'd charge you for your next visit. Count yourself lucky. I'd charge you 3,000 gold coins for such a treatment. It's free this time since you're close to me."

"Not a problem. However, there's something I'd been wanting to ask. Uncle Artanis, weren't you a priest in the Divine Punisher Guild? How did your healing light become so effective?"

Joshua did not wait for an answer and got of the stone chair. He did not actually care for his answer since his hand was already mended. That was odd. Is switching between different Divine Light possible?

His eyes were glued to the middle-aged priest that was removing the crystal basin. Joshua had no recollection of such a skill back when he was playing the game. If such a skill had existed, his team did not need to consist of a gray knight, sacred knight, and templar. All he needed was to have one Divine Light user and be done with it. Such a thing could never be possible…However, the game had so many things that even if a player were to keep such function a secret, no one would ever find out.

"You're correct. This divine-engraved basin is made of helix crystal. Together, it allows Sacred Fire, Divine Heal, and Holy Judgment to change into healing properties. A month ago, the pope had brought a large number of knights and priests to the church near the holy mountain in the distant sea. Hence, there are only a total of seven members of the church. If it wasn't for that, there would not be many casualties out there."

The man sighed heavily. "Joshua. I'm neither blind nor deaf. I know that you're originally a Silver-tier warrior. Yet you stand right in front of me as a Gold. I couldn't help but notice there's a loud commotion outside not long ago. Coincidently, you come to my church and asked to mend such an injury. Could it be, that you killed them?"

"All of them." Joshua blatantly admitted. It was only then that Joshua used the appropriate tone and manners to talk to the middle-aged man. He was a good friend of the old butler. A Divine Punisher priest of the Church of Justice.

"Whether it was the wretched uncle of mine or the people that were pulling the strings from behind, I killed them all."

"Sigh… Cambrie, Victor. Would you please give us a minute?"

"Yes, Father," said the duo almost immediately. Even though they wanted to know what was going to happened, they had to obey their teacher. They paced towards the door and left the room.

Artanis stood up and went towards the door to lock it without saying a word.

Joshua trusted the man. He was one of the main reasons he had come to the church in the first place. Naturally, the priority was to get his hand healed.

Artanis was the old butler's good friend. Those two had been drinking buddies for the longest time and had been visiting the same bar, the dwarven bar east of the city. At that time, Fang did not age. In fact, he had the appearance and complexion of a young man that people had repeatedly mistaken for them as father and son. Sometimes even grandfather and grandson! Word got out and the two became closer as the two shared the same hobby of drinking good liquor. A long time ago, in a fit of drunken rage, the white-haired priest had demanded everyone around him to address him as a middle-aged man. Never mention the word old or face his wrath.

It was a funny incident to talk about… If only the old butler was still around.

After a long silence, Artanis laughed at the door and came back to his seat. He stared at Joshua's deep crimson eyes that had a slight black tint and said, "I'd never had thought that I'll be able to see you. It's been only two days since I'd received a request."

He shook his head and took out a folded envelope and gave it to Joshua. It was a letter.

"I believed he wanted you to read it when the time is right."

Joshua took the letter and noticed beautiful cursive handwriting on the letter.

It said: [To the New Master of the Radcliffe house—Joshua van Radcliffe]

[From, Your servant Fang]

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Chapter 27: Why Does My Writing Suck When I Have Been Including Tons of Plot and Foreshadowing?

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

When one stood in the center of Moldavia, one of the human territories in the north, one would never expect to see the sun or the moon. There, the wind, snow, and the white thick clouds would never allow the sun to peek at the earth. Mount Great Ajax was covered in clouds, covering the lower part of the volcano with snow and ice that extended all the way down to the 3,000 miles unfrozen river. That was the scenery Moldavian citizens saw every day.

The black granite wall stood in the middle of the snowy plain. A nameless city in the territory of Moldavia, protected by the black granite for as long as it could. Cold, harsh winds blew from the far north, carrying snow. Some landed and some were blown off the walls but never once was fully engulfed by the cruel snow.

The time was already close to 9 a.m. and many travelers could be see coming inside the city. Despite the bright indirect light from the sun, the it was extremely cold that a single breath would turn into visible vapor.

The clock tower bell rang nine times to notify the citizens that it was time to get out of the house for work. For some, it was merely time to get out of bed. Not long after, doors were opened and the citizens started to flood the streets. When they had noticed the mysterious disappearance of the patrolling soldiers, they returned to their homes and brought out cleaning tools to remove the piled-up snow.

Closer to the center of the city, opposite of the center plaza, was a huge Gregorian church. The bell that hung high in the clock tower was still vibrating.

Cathedral of St. Laurent. Inside the church. Main hall.

There was not a single church member in the praying hall made of stone. At that time, there was only a single… being. A silver-haired Divine Armament who was waltzing around the hall playfully, looking at everything, some for the very first time. She would walk up and down aisles between the long benches and would occasionally stop to stare at the ceiling. She would cock her head when she saw something that she was interested in and continue to waltz around after some time.

When she walked to the corner of the hall, she stopped to stare at a large holy statue. She wanted to touch the statue out of curiosity but before her slender little hands could make contact with the white marble statue, she froze in place and retracted her hands.

"One must not simply touch the belongings of others." She muttered to herself and turned the other way to stare at the variety of colorful stained glass on the church walls.

'There are not many unknown things here that were not recorded in the memory crystal.' She thought to herself and smiled.

Not long after, Joshua voice could be heard from behind the church.

"Are you there? Ying, it's time to go."

Joshua came out of the back room, expressionless. Artanis, clad in white clerical clothing followed behind him along with the two other priests. They approached the young Divine Armament.

"Is this the new… maid you hired?"

The middle-aged priest looked down at the young Divine Armament and frowned with concern.

"She's too young and too… small. Where… how did you manage to hire her? As a member of the holy church, I have to warn you about underage… violations."

"Just think of her as my younger sister. Or perhaps a useless daughter. I was never going to expect her to properly take care of the household."

The matter of the Divine Armament was a heavily guarded secret. Joshua was not allowed, and could not afford to let anyone know about them. Lucky for him that his house had a strange practice of hiring servants that did not age. Hence, having a young maid with him was not out of the norm.

"When the snowstorm stops, I want you to help me with gathering the people around."

"I hear and obey, my master."

Artanis bowed to Joshua and said, "I'll be handling the paperwork for the title of count. The Golden Libra of the royal court should not be any trouble to deal with because of your contribution to the Black Crow Army. My guess is that the paperwork should be dealt with flawlessly. Rest well and wait for the good news."

"You have my thanks. The mansion is now in ruins. The only way to communicate with the Empire is the magic communication circle in this church." Joshua nodded with gratitude after saying those words.

"Ying, let's go."

The poor little Divine Armament was at lost since the conversation between Joshua and Artanis was too direct and quick. However, she did not need to understand what they said to begin with.

She nodded gracefully to her master and responded to him with her emerald, unblinking eyes. "Yes, Master."

Artanis scoffed wryly and bid the two farewell. Joshua left the church, followed closely by the silver-haired girl.

They continued to walk without talking for a while and when Joshua had reached the fifth street, he stopped.

"Ying."

"Yes, Master?"

Ying ran in front of him. It was then she noticed the weird expression on his face. It felt like he was thinking of something complicated. The look of his eyes as he was focusing on the far horizon. The furrowed brows… The silence.

Joshua stuttered a little. "Do you think… that… with my current status, I would able to contract two Divine Armament at the same time?"

Ying started pondering when she was asked about a topic of her nature. She winched a little as she was thinking hard.

"It's hard to say…"

"It's fine. Just say what comes to mind."

Ying went silent for a few more second before squeaking. "When it comes to Divine Armaments, Master has a talent for it. In fact, it could be said that you had an incredibly high aptitude for it. In the family lineage, there were some that could not even pull us out, not to mention actually using us during a fight. Thankfully, there were still many who were able to successfully make a contract with us and induce a transformation."

She stuttered a little as to organize her words. "However, those humans weren't able to last very long. That being said, Master was able to pull me out with a single pull. In fact, the contract was made smoothly and flawlessly, I might add. You even induced the transformation and used me without having to put much force. Not many could last as long. At most, the usual contractor would last for ten minutes before they would start feeling weary."

"Just so you know, using us Divine Armament in battle would drain a large amount of energy from the contractor's body to the weapon. When using the skill, that amount of power will be increased. The load on the contractor's body will be high. If one could last for more than ten minutes, one could be said to be extremely strong!"

Ying cocked her head as of she had just realized something strange about Joshua. "Master… Even though you had only fought for two minutes, the power I felt in you could last for as long as an hour! Perhaps even longer! However…"

She stopped her excitement and spoke in a serious manner, "Even so, contracting two Divine Armaments would be a difficult task. The load on the contractor's body would be more than double. It's not the same as 11=2. It's more than that. It's complicated… However, as I was informed, there was no contractor in existence that has used more than one Divine Armament. Otherwise, the blade-sealing chamber would not have stored so many old Divine Armaments."

"Master. Of all the contractors in the family, you are by far the strongest one. However… I feel that having two Divine Armament would be a challenge for you. There's still a huge gap in the power level required."

Joshua listened with his arms crossed and remained emotionless. He nodded and said, "That means, it is possible to contract two Divine Armament at the same time. It is just that my powers and those before me weren't capable of doing so. Correct me if I'm wrong."

"Hmm… It's vague. And complicated! Master, it could be done if you increase your power level by a little more. The main point is that your current power level will not do."

Joshua scoffed and nodded. "I see. Thank you for your explanation."

He realized the truth about his current condition and continued walking. However, after several steps, he realized that Ying was still standing at the same place, not moving but… flinching?

Joshua turned back and tapped her shoulder.

"Is there something wrong?"

She jumped a little and averted her gaze.

"…Nothing. I'm fine, Master…"

Joshua did not bother to ask further questions and made his way towards the west of the city. After several more streets, Ying looked a little flustered. When she could not take it any longer, she squeaked. "Master?"

"What is it?"

"Am I…not good enough for you…?"

Ah…So that what's she was thinking about.

Joshua finally understood what was Ying being flustered about and reflected on what he had just asked. It was, truthfully a little too direct. Ying, having misunderstood his intention was only natural. Since it was his fault, technically, he began to comfort her.

"There's nothing wrong with you. Rest assure that you have performed admirably." Joshua smiled and praised the little girl whilst caressing her palm-sized head. "That reason I'd ask about having about a second Divine Armament was not to replace you. I'd just wanted to know where I was able to…"

He realized his words were only going to hurt her more and quickly stopped to change his phrase. "As long as I have you, there's no better feeling of security."

"Mm!"

Ying smiled and her emerald eyes glittered with happiness when she received the praise from her master. She did not even care about Joshua's unfinished sentence.

While the young female silver-haired Divine Armament was having the time of her life, Joshua was thinking about something else. His hand unconsciously moved to his breast pocket. It was the letter.

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Chapter 28: The Secret Letter

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

[To the New Master of the Radcliffe house – Joshua van Radcliffe]

[From, your servant Fang]

[By the time you read this, you should have gotten rid of the bugs that were infesting the mansion and the city. Artanis is my trusted friend. A man that is very religious. Hence, I entrusted this letter to him with utmost confidence. However, to prevent any breach of privacy, you would have to prove your identity.]

"Such confidence. Was he really that confident that I could eliminate the trash? Even though I did manage to take out the trash… Still, if there's something important to say to me, why did he not talk to me instead?"

Joshua sighed longingly as he held the letter in a small room, located in the far west of the city. He had found a nice place to hide. It was small rest house that belonged to the Radcliffe house which was located in the west, next to the graveyard. Since the main mansion was reduced to rubble, he had no choice but to relocate to the small house. It was all thanks to 'Joshua's' memory that he was able to find the place. The house was bigger than those of the other common folk. Even though it was old and not as fancy as the mansion, it was tidy. There was no wild grass or traces of dirt. The décor and the cleanliness were top notch. It could be because a certain someone frequently visited the place to clean it.

Joshua allowed Ying to wander about while he found a small room to rest and read the letter that was entrusted to Artanis from Fang. He tore the envelope and unfolded the letter. When he had expected a long, well-written text after unfolding it, all he saw was a blank sheet of paper with a small magic circle stamped in the center. The paper itself looked ordinary. Hence, if someone else were to try and remove the seal, the entire letter and its contents would be destroyed. To unseal the letter to reveal the message, he had to do something to trigger the seal.

"Hmm… Could it be?"

After a quick glance, Joshua lifted his index finger and focused his Combat Aura to flow to the top of his finger. The crimson red light flashed around his hand and the light was concentrated at his fingertip.

Hooong….

The vibration of the Combat Aura started to shake the paper as he slowly touched the center of the seal.

Fwoosh….

The magic circle absorbed the light and started to glow. The light circulated around the seal and slowly broke away after some time. The patterns slowly disintegrated into nothingness as the real contents of the letter slowly surfaced out of the blank paper.

It was wise to use Combat Aura to verify one's identity since every person's Combat Aura differed from each other. Like fingerprint recognition tech in the real world, Combat Aura shared the same uniqueness as no two people could share the same aura. It would change according to the breathing technique and body physique.

The text came to light and Joshua lowered his head to read each word.

[Young master. No… To the new head of the Radcliffe house, when you are reading this paper, I have most certainly left this world.]

[Please do not mourn my insignificant death. As my master, the contractor has left the world, so shall I. The reason that I am still able to live and breathe was because the previous head of the house released the restraints of my energy core… Right now, with every breath left inside me, I am to fulfill the last mission that was entrusted to me. I must bury his remains, along with mine, into the tomb of the Radcliffe family. This is the responsibility of a Divine Armament, as well as the job of a butler.]

[Between the two Divine Armaments that I prepared for you, which did you pick? Either way, since you have known about the existence of the Divine Armaments, please allow this lowly butler to explain the origins of us, the Divine Armaments, and how the Radcliffe family was able to make contracts with us.]

Joshua could not believe what he was reading. It had surpassed anything that Joshua had expected.

The truth about the old butler's ten days remaining lifespan and the means of how he was able to stay young was revealed in the letter. Everything else was also true since everything had matched what the system had shown.

Fang's death, was an inevitable act of nature. It was… frustrating to see him leave.

Joshua clenched his fist with utmost annoyance.

The tomb… could it be the one at Fort Dark Forest?

The Radcliffe's mansion was built on the foundations of battle and war. How could a family of such origin forget such glorious history? Their life for blood, their strength for war, their purpose, to kill. As such, even in death, they would be buried with their weapon. Even in death, they would rest in peace in the small family tomb located in the corner of Fort Dark Forest, beside a chapel that was in charge of the burial ceremonies.

Joshua shook his head hard. It was not the time to recall the memories of the past. He took a deep breath and braced himself to read the rest of the letter. He was sure to be reading more information about his otherworldly realm.

[The Divine Armaments, are not a product of this world. To be precise, I and all of the Divine Armament were created with resources from another world. A world that had been obliterated by evil monsters.

The origin of this could be traced back to 347 years ago.

347 years ago, in Starfall Year 494, due to the resurrection of the 'Ancient Dragon – Blazing Black Dragon Alatreon, the Great Ajax volcano erupted, puffing great smoke enough to blanket the icy North entirely. With the great magic power surge spreading through the airspace, the magic teleportation circle that was meant to sent troops from the Empire of the south to the land in the north was ineffective, causing the early sages to fall in the ancient Starfall Ocean. With their demise, the fortress that had stood the test of time—Fort Dark Forest—had lost their only hope for reinforcements.

Desperate times called for desperate measures; hence, the Empire had gathered an army that could be said to be the greatest gathering of the strongest soldiers in the history of mankind. The army comprised of elites. The army was only a small company of 200 men. However, each man was so strong that they could take on a thousand soldiers alone. Hence, with such gathering of powerful men, they were sent to subdue the ancient dragon, pacify the Great Ajax volcano, and to fix the teleportation circle to restore the pathway from the Empire to the Northern land.

The subjugation of the ancient dragon was completely flawlessly and Alatreon was nowhere to be seen. It was unknown to where it had disappeared to start its long hibernation. The Great Ajax volcano was also pacified easily. There were nine magicians that had reached the pinnacle of sorcery worked together to create a powerful magic circle to cease the molten lava activity deep within the volcano. As such, the Great Ajax volcano would never erupt again for thousands of years to come. The teleportation network was restored and the fortress had restored their means of reinforcement. The great army rested in the north before the return to their place of origin.

Everything was according to plan, until one fateful night. The next day, in the forest located somewhere at the foot of the volcano, was a light. In the center of the desolate forest, there was a glow. A small glow that radiated with strong abyssal darkness. It was alien to all, the dark and corrupting light was spewing out smoke. Not long after, the smoke formed a strange line formation. A powerful burst of magic erupted from the source of the light and the land pulsated, like a beating heart, until the earth itself cracked and split apart around the lines that were created by the smoke. Within the gigantic crack, out came monsters that had never been seen. They came in all shape and sizes. Some looked like plants, yet some looked like machines. The monsters that came out were not vulnerable to magic or Combat Aura. Strangely enough, they were weak against physical attacks.

However, even though the means to destroy the alien invaders were simple, the powerful army created by the Empire to subdue the ancient dragon was unable to stop the monsters. Amongst the dwarves that were within the army, there was a powerful dwarf named Ironborn Moira. With his keen eyes and sharp observation, he had noted that the monsters' own claws and fangs were capable of inflicting powerful damage onto themselves. That was not all. He had even managed to observe the death of these monsters which resulted in the conversion of their dead corpses into thick black ash. Furthermore, the death of the monster would result in drops; materials that were very strong and capable of absorbing powerful supernatural forces. Hence, it was discovered why the monsters were not vulnerable to magic or Combat Aura attacks.

Moira proceeded to craft weapons for the army, using the materials gathered after the initial killing of the first wave of monsters. As such, with the provided new weaponry, the army of soldiers was able to slice through the monsters' thick carapace like a hot knife through butter. As such, even if the monsters' spawned unlimitedly, the soldiers would not face any trouble to destroy each and every one that spawned.

The battle lasted for only a day and a night, resulting in the black ash soaring into the high skies, contaminating the clouds and shaded the sun. However, along with the disruption of the burst of magic power from the point of origin, the monsters had stopped spawning and the source had seemed to have closed. The army exterminated every single monster that was still roaming in the forest and went back to report to the Empire.

Concerned over such a mysterious event, the Empire had ordered the army to roam freely in the north to stand guard and to provide instant reinforcements to those who needed them. This allowed the Empire to gather its mightiest warriors.

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Chapter 29: Monolith

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

[Before the coming of the legendary warriors from the Empire, the battle in the forest continued on for four nights. Each night, the same event would repeat. A bright light sparked from inside the forest, followed by a heavy spreading of black smoke. A burst of magic followed by a large crack in the earth. The same event continued until the fourth night, when the resisting soldiers had finally reached their limits. Curious about what they were actually fighting, they decided to send out a few strong ones to enter the crack and to uncover the truth.

Out of all the defending soldiers, only four were chosen. When all of the monsters were killed, the four selected soldiers crawled their way into the crack. It was a revelation. Something that was otherworldly, the crack in the earth, which was suspected to be a doorway to the monster's lair, was a portal. It was a stable dimensional portal that was formed naturally. It seems that the portal could appear at any two worlds that had magic. Any powerful disruption of magic would cause a crack in the dimension, thus allowing the formation of a doorway that bridges two or more worlds.

Knowing the truth of the portal, the four soldiers went across it and came to a deserted wasteland. There were countless monsters, filling the land from the portal till the end of the horizon. The moment the four soldiers stepped onto the land, the monsters immediately sensed them and started to attack the strange aliens from another world.

The four selected soldiers were the strongest amongst the resistance. Hence, they were strong. So strong that the monsters could come in massive waves but they did not falter. Come rain and shine, they would never yield.

They had spent more than several hours killing the monsters that came to them. After processing all the monsters' droppings, one of them had accidentally found a huge monolith that was left behind from a superior, wiped out civilization.

The monolith had writings carved on it, of which, none of the soldiers could understand. However, something magical happened. The soldiers could not read but only stare at the monolith to understand what was the message was. It was a story. A tale of how an entire civilization went extinct.

The content of the message was:

The civilization that lived in this world, strived to succeed through powerful alchemy skills and magic tools. Their mastery of the two aspects was strong enough to allow them to engage in trading with other worlds. Thousands of dimensional airships had flown in the airspace of other worlds, allowing the people of the world to trade across multiple worlds with ease. However, there was one unfortunate incident that occurred while they had traveled to an unknown world. An unknown monster had landed and attacked the carrier.

Even though it took some time and effort, the crew members aboard the airship was able to defeat the monster, not realizing that one of the crew members was planted with a parasite.

On the day the airship returned to their homeworld, bringing in goods and items from the other world to theirs, one monster had spawned out of the infected crew member and attacked everyone present then. The magic tool that the crew member had could not deal any damage to the monster. Unfortunately, this particular civilization did not have any strong soldiers in the first place. There were only people that were highly efficient in using magic tools. Hence, when that single monster was killed, there were only five men left on the airship.

They thought that everything had ended with the monster's death, as they were to document the monster to let everyone know about the dangerous monsters from another world. The problem was, things did not end there. There was more than one airship traveling around the world that was attacked. In truth, there were more than several ships that had been attacked and countless crew members had been infected with the monster's parasite. When the ships had returned to their homeworld, those parasites grew at exponential speed and burst out of their host and started to kill anyone that was around them.

It was the start of the true terror that reduced the civilization to ashes. Despair spread across the land like a plague. What was once a peaceful civilization, was invaded by chaos and evil monsters from another world.

In less than half a year's time, the powerful attacks of the monster, coupled with the terrifying speed and means of spawning, the monster had managed to eliminate all that once stood as tall as the clouds. All construction and proof of a great prosperous civilization were erased. The survivors were sent into hiding to many castles that had stood the test of time. Monsters came in large groups to attack the castles, trying their best to force out the survivors and to devour them.

They lived in constant fear, worry, and despair. Not long after, the emotion of dread turned into something aggressive. They were no longer afraid. Instead, they were angry. The hatred they bore for the monsters were so great, that they had given the monsters a name. Aragami. The raging gods.

No sooner, the survivors started to fight back and from the ashes of their initial defeat, they had risen to resist. The battle between the survivors of that world and the Aragami grew long. Once the survivors had fully analyzed the enemies' weakness, they had started to form a large group of people to start a large-scale counterattack.

Among the survivors were genius alchemists. They had used their powerful technologies that enabled them to travel across universes, and the materials left behind when the monsters had been killed, to create a new type of arsenal. The weapon was made by combining a sealed energy core and one part of the user's body (1) to create an inscribed charm, to form an attachment to the weapon. Through the meticulous implementation of complicated magic circles in the weapon, the powers contained in the materials that were dropped from the monsters once they were killed, could be transferred to the user, allowing them to gain strength and vitality that rivaled the Aragami. As such, even a normal non-combatant could be a professional Aragami slayer just by wielding the weapon. (2) With the power in hand, the initial few soldiers were able to slay the Aragami easily without any casualties. Although it was slow, the progress chart rose exponentially. The more they killed, the more material they could salvage, more weapons could be made, allowing more soldiers to join the fight. That was the birth of the first Divine Armament.

Victory was almost theirs. The survivors that were once hiding in the old castle had given up sulking in a corner and came out to slay the Aragami with their weapon in hand.

Just when victory was so close, the real winner of the war was still not decided.

One fateful day, when the sun was covered in black clouds, making it look like night had been there the entire time, a sudden distortion in space appeared in the high sky. The air got cold and no sooner, breathing was difficult as every breath they took, it felt like thousands of microscopic swords pierced their lungs from the inside. All the survivors looked to the skies and the cold wind froze even the ocean itself. The black smoke concentrated in the sky, along with the gray mist and rain cloud. The sky started to crack and the world itself was being torn apart. The numbers of Aragami that came pouring out of the distortion of space was indescribable with numbers.

An unnamed, unidentified monster, the Evil God, the dimensional demon, had arrived.

The powers granted to the soldiers who wielded the weapon, originated from the deceased monsters. However, the first crafter made fatal mistake to think that the power came from the monsters itself. Without will or conscience, the weapons were unable to resist the call from the beasts. All the survivors were turned back to mere mortals in that instant.

When the last of the Aragami that rained down the sky and swallowed everything that existed, the last to survive…those that cared of preserving the knowledge had decided to pass on the information on this monolith. Here lies the history and the means to create such a weapon.]

"…" Joshua puts the letter down and rubbed his temples after reading such an intense letter. He walked to the window and opened it. He needed to pause for a minute, he needed the cold winter wind to help him relax his troubled mind.

The content of the letter… the event… was rather familiar.

In the fourth expansion of Continental War, the abyss was opened, the demons' descent, the coming of evil, the spreading of chaos… all that… was without a doubt was the same setting of the game and the world that he was in. It was not something that he had looked forward to. Even though the civilization of the game was not able to reach the point where humans were able to cruise across dimensions like airships across the continents, Joshua's current world would not be able to handle such a threat. Even though there were many gods protecting the realm, they had their own fair share of civil wars. If the dimensional demons were to attack this realm, the gods will put aside their conflict and fight the invaders side by side.

The civilization mentioned in the letter was rather unfortunate to be the one that discovered an undefeatable adversary. The world that was destroyed by the monsters had better technology than all of Mycroft Continent combined. If they wished to invade, Joshua could put all his money on the civilization of the other world. However, although they had better technology, the Aragami that emerged out of the Dark Forest was suppressed by the Empire's soldiers. That alone had proved that different civilization progress had led to a different outcome. One aimed for peace and expansion, while the other sought for power and domination.

As for the dimensional demon, that was beyond Joshua's knowledge. In the game, there was a small group of oracles who were known as the fallen gods, that had the potential of legendary tier. However, as for the strength of those dimensional beings, be it the dimensional demon or other beings that roamed the space between dimensions, they were surely beyond [God] level powers, or perhaps even higher than that.

Joshua could not stop thinking and decided to return to the letter.

[The four selected powerful soldiers that went through the portal and arrived in the other world. One of them was your ancestor. They were the ancestors of the Vlads, the Scarlets, the dwarven Ironborns, and the Radcliffes. Together, they had decided to put exploring the unknown world on hold and instead move the monolith back to this world. Once the Empire received the news of the other worlds, they constructed a teleportation circle and sent over a group of mages.

Under the guidance of the legendary mage, Carbala Kaos applied a strong seal onto the crack in the earth, the portal that spawned the Aragami. However, the problem with the portal was the unknown power that drove the dimensional portal. Nonetheless, it was strong. Perhaps, even stronger than the abyss. It was feared by all that the sealing magic applied to the crack was not able to fully close the portal. It was speculated that if there was a burst in magic, causing disruption in the air, the portal would break open once more and the rise of the Aragami would once more plunge this world into darkness. Even though a large number of them will be stuck in the portal, there would be stronger Aragami who could push their way through to reach this world.

To stop the disaster that befell the other world, and to better slay the monsters known as daemons, or Aragami, the four chosen ones, with the legendary mage Carbala, they had decided to forge the weapon that was described on the monolith.

Translator's Note:

(1): One part of the user's body: The author did not explain which part of the user was taken. It could be even an organ, or a bone, or even the soul of the user. It is extremely vague.

—Explained in the next chapter.

(2): Weapon: The author did not describe the weapon. It is unclear whether or not the weapon mention in this chapter is in the form of a sword.

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Chapter 30: Another End

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Each civilization had their own specialty. For the humans in the Mycroft Continent, magic and Combat Aura was their specialty. Advanced alchemy was the specialty of the other world. Hence, when it comes to forging weapons, there were some modifications made while the main frame of the weapon was kept intact. It was, after all, the final weapon created by a dying civilization. Besides a few aspects that could not be understood, most of the methods and materials needed could not be modified.

The primary changes made to the weapon's design were the addition of sealing circles and the rebuilding of the energy core. It was all to prevent the demon's influence on the weapon. Hence, instead of a regular energy core, the magicians and mechanics of this world had inserted man-made soul core. As such, it enhanced the weapons and granted it strong consciences. They had the ability to suppress the call of the dimensional demon. At the end of it all, the final weapon was created. It was not known who was the person who suggested the idea, however, the final weapon's dormant mode was given a humanoid shape. That was the origin of us, the Divine Armaments.

There was something that you should know. Keep in mind, Master Radcliffe, the dimension demon has an all-powerful, near-omniscient level of sensing powers. When a certain number of beings have come to know of his existence, the demon shall be grant a clear vision of that world and would start an all-out invasion. That was why the secret of the Radcliffes cannot be let out. Right now, there are only a few people who know about it and have been sworn to the highest level of secrecy.

When the first few Radcliffes were informed about the existence of the secret, they stood tall and refused to back down. With pride, they took up their swords and bore the responsibility of protecting the land against the rise of the Aragami.

When you were born, a small part of your wrist bones was removed to create the core of the Divine Armaments. They are called Ying and Lin. In the beginning, they had no true form. However, after years of growth, they will listen to you, obeying your every wish, desire, and will. The end form could be anything, but no matter what form they take, they would be your favorite weapons.]

Joshua scoffed at the final comment. After reading the content of the letter, Joshua compared and found it was the same as the setting of the game. The Sealed Land was the place where the portal was. The portal that led to the other world. The world that was destroyed and abandoned. He did not know that the place had such an extensive backstory. Joshua organized his thoughts after taking in so much information. He leaned back in his chair and just when he was about to relax, he heard a loud noise coming from the living room of the house. After the noise died down, he heard Ying's panicked gasp. He could imagine the little Divine Armament had toppled something over and quickly tried to mend it before Joshua realized.

He smiled and turned his hand over and examined his wrist.

"Was is the bone?" He muttered to himself.

His curiosity was piqued, wanting to see it with his own eyes. With no hesitation in his expression, Joshua put the letter aside and focused his Combat Aura on the tips of his fingers. In a flash, he slit his wrist along the veins of both his wrists to pry open the flesh.

Hidden deep within the flesh and bones, there were gems, one in each wrist. Both were glowing with mysterious color and had rune marks on them.

The one in his right wrist was a silver gem with traces of green lining. The one in his left wrist was a black gem with several spots of rubies. Naturally, the one in his right wrist was glowing brighter than the one in his left wrist. Although it was black, it was still brimming with radiance, like an onyx. Even though they had different colors, both gems had rune markings that were branching out. Those runes had merged themselves with Joshua's body to form a perfect symbiotic state. They would grow along with Joshua.

Satisfied with what he saw, Joshua closed his wounds by concentrating his aura around his wrist. Instantly, the wound mended itself immediately, leaving no trace of its existence. Joshua was astonished at his ability to heal yet he remained silent. He took the letter and continued reading.

[The Vlad and Scarlet family, alongside with the Radcliffe family had moved to the north and chose to remain there. Unfortunately, the protection of the secret lasted only until the fourth generation. The Vlads and Scarlets had chosen to abandon their lifelong mission and decided to forget everything that had to do with the other world and the demon. The dwarves had no real connection to the event. All they were entrusted with was the creation of the Divine Armament's core. In fact, the only dwarf that knew about the event was Ironborn Moira. No sooner, it was only the Radcliffes that remained as the guardians of the secret and the Sealed Land.

As time moved on, the Divine Armament had made huge progress from the first prototype, to the latest sixth-generation Divine Armament, which I belong to. It was over 300 years since the first prototype was created and the rise of the Aragami had always been suppressed by the Radcliffes. The seal had never been broken. Everything was perfect… until recently.

Your father, my master, the Winter Count was never uncaring towards you. It was a circumstantial issue. He had to focus his mind on facing the Aragami. Half a month before this letter was written, the Great Ajax volcano had resonated and there was a rise of magic power in the area. Like the past, it was an omen to signify the coming of the Aragami. However, this time, it was different. The Aragami that appeared recently was stronger than any that your father had faced before, The seal had failed to stop them from coming out of the forest.

As such, your father personally led the attack and I was assigned to recall you from the south. He had finally decided that it was time for you to know the truth. Unfortunately, the situation was far dire than expected. Not only did were they much stronger, their numbers exceeded far from the usual count. In total, there were more than twelve Gold-tier Aragami and over hundreds of Silver-tier Aragami that had broken past the seal and came out of the dimension portal.

Unable to assume defense, your father had decided to go for offense instead. However, even after unleashing my true form, and performing mutual resonance, we were unable to defeat the swarm of Aragami. When all hope seemed lost, he had finally decided to do what's right. He had sacrificed all his life force to trade for a momentary power that exceeded those of ordinary humans. He did manage to kill every single Aragami around. However, the damage sustained from the Aragami was fatal. As such, when your father killed the last Aragami, it was his final breath as well. I was supposed to perish along with my master yet, at his final moments, he removed the restraints in my energy core and revoked the contract that bound his lifeforce to mine. In doing so, I was allowed to live for only a short period of time to complete his dying wish.

That concludes all that had passed. The secrets that were passed down to each generation of the Radcliffes have been passed to you, Joshua van Radcliffe. You are now the guardian of the city and the protector of the Seal. Your duty is to kill the unknown daemons. This is an inheritance, a responsibility, an honor, and history.

I find the need to repeat myself once more. This secret cannot be revealed to anyone. This letter must be discarded with extreme measures. If others know about the existence of the Dimensional Demon, I fear that no one can save us all. It would be fine if there are less than a hundred people who know about it but when that numbers go any higher, the Dimensional Demon will be able to detect our world. Once the Dimensional Demon has decided to attack, he will launch an all-out invasive force to destroy this world. Even though the Gods and the World itself will try their best to prevent that from coming in, the Dimensional Demon can still find a way to infiltrate our world. Be it a new species of monsters, blood sacrifice summoning, or anything means of summoning him into the world. It will be possible for the Dimensional Demon to break past the Gods and destroy this world.

You must treat this matter with the utmost priority. Remember, you're bearing the weight of the world on your shoulders. That is what I will leave you with as my parting words. I have nothing else to say. Goodbye, young master. Farewell and be well.

Yours sincerely,

Fang.

"Tsk."

Joshua was mad. His aura was leaking out of his body uncontrollably as it burned everything around him. Not even ash remained. Joshua appeared emotionless even as he felt every vein in his body was pumping power-filled blood all around his body. He was feeling uneasy.

The fire spread and burned down the wooden window. Instantly, the cold wind blew in and dispersed the heat of the room. Joshua was immediately cooled down. The burning aura that fills the room was also removed. He walked towards the window and let the winter wind to cool his head further. He took a deep breath and sighed. The vapor that formed from his breath flowed with the wind, disappearing into the winter's night.

Joshua was not a man of many words, and he disliked expressing his feelings as well. However, at that moment, he had no words to say. He could not even find the proper emotion to feel.

The family of guardians… He had always wonder what it meant ever since he heard some nobles addressing his family name during his graduation from the Empire's Miskatonic Military Academy.

Joshua gazed at the sky. The snowstorm seems to have lightened up a little despite the heavy snowfall. The city was quiet and there was no enemy in sight. Moz was killed. All those that were with the Wilson family had escaped with their lives. It was supposed to be a matter of celebration. Yet…there was no such feeling of joy in him.

Joshua retracted his head back into the burnt room and scoffed disgruntledly.

"This is annoying."

He turned around and reached for the door.

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Chapter 31: Weren't the Fighters in the North Old Farts?

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

There was a door in plain sight, covered only with old plaster. The snow had only made it easier for it to remain hidden. In the corner of a random street of a small neighborhood area, the door was truly invisible. It was not hidden on purpose but merely blended into the background. Without anyone opening it, no one could truly see the door unless they were meant to find it. At that moment, the door was opened, and there were people talking inside.

"Jos… My Lord, did you really kill Moz?"

Nolan, the gray-haired stalker with purple eyes, was the next heir of the Wilson family. Such a girl of her age should be lounging in the garden of her house, enjoying warm food and exquisite wine. Not hiding in a hidden room in the territory of other great houses, in the middle of a raging snowstorm. However, because her reckless, idiotic elder sibling engaged in a mindless pursuit of his own selfish deeds, she was forced to follow him to the main city of Moldovia. The worst of all, she had to stick her neck out, hiding in a small random room, enduring the frigid temperature, to talk to…a monster.

"Did I kill him? I doubt that anyone could still breathe if I cleaved them in half. Ah… Don't get me wrong. Your elder brother was strong. His punches before his death were strong. I felt that."

The man who was standing in front of her was a man with curly long hair that grew past his neck, almost touching his shoulders. His black and red eyes did not show any emotion. Although his appearance was not the best, it had a certain allure, especially his toned muscles and posture. Joshua spoke with such tenacity that his words felt like a hammer pounding on her. Each word could render her breathless as the sheer pressure and intimidating aura he gave off was truly someone who could end her life in a snap.

The man glared directly at the girl. Like cold steel, his eyes pierced through her, sensing her nervousness.

"Where is Chris? Did you not escort him to this safe house?"

He crossed his arms and that made her nauseated.

"Ah… No. That.. er… he left… Alone."

She could feel fear creeping up to her like a spider up one's neck. Her throat went dry and her brain was whirring.

With the best of her ability in mind, she had purposely chosen this safe house to hide in. It was perfectly camouflaged among the other house and would not draw any attention. It was the kind of house which one could escape from or to. The window behind her, the chimney on her left could be easily kicked and destroyed to create a momentary distraction for her to escape. All she had to do next was to activate [Existence Removal, [Human Invisibility, and [Advanced Stealth] for her to remove her presence from the world.

"Speak."

It was only one word. A simple word that rang in her mind like a church bell. She quickly gathered her thoughts to the present situation. Her conscience was drifting towards escaping and when Joshua's deep husky voice rang, she realized that there was no way for her to disobey the man. She sighed at that thought. She was facing a Gold-tier warrior, a warrior that could defeat another Gold-tier warrior with relative ease. If she were to demonstrate a slight move of disobedience, the man could be holding her head in his left hand and her mangled body on his right. She was still young and had no plans to convert her class to a dullahan.

"About two and a half hours ago, Chris received a magic message and left in a hurry. I had no intention to reprimand him hence I let him go. However, he did leave behind a letter addressed to you. It's right there by the table. Don't worry. I wouldn't want to read it."

"Another letter…"

Nolan immediately picked up a change of emotion in the manner of which Joshua spoke. The black-haired warrior's tone suddenly turned sour. He frowned and picked up the letter.

"We're brothers. He had no conflicts with me and neither had I. I have no intention to kill him. But why did he leave in such a hurry? Something is wrong."

That's right! You had no intention of killing me as well, but my legs are giving way just talking to you!

"From the looks of it, I heard it was something about an alchemy laboratory and trading problems in the southern Empire. Perhaps that was the reason he left…"

Feeling a little guilty for his disappearance, Nolan carefully explained to Joshua while constantly monitoring her word choice. Nolan suddenly felt that Chris the alchemist was probably a caster. From his behavior and action, it seems that his intelligence was far higher than hers. He knew when to create a distraction or a reason to leave earlier. Yet, she was left there, in the room, alone, fooled.

"Let it be. I had no interest in his matters."

He placed the letter down and turned to the stalker. He then cracked a smile. The kind of smile that tells you that the person was up to no good.

"For our next topic of discussion, let's talk about the scheme that had led to the severe damage to the city, about the Wilsons that had supported my late uncle."

"About that…"

"Understand this. Think carefully about your next words, if you do not wish to have me knocking on the Wilsons' door. Do you understand?""Sit down Miss Nolan. Let's talk."Starfall Year 831, Winter, 6th of November. Fort Dark Forest.

It was sunny. A day that was rarely seen.

Even though the winter sun was not warm enough for anyone to feel, it was still nice to have some sunlight and heat. For others, it might be just another regular day, but for the guards that were patrolling the city, it was a great day.

However, despite the cheery day in the Fort Dark Forest, things were extremely gloomy in a room.

It was a meeting room, constructed with white granite blocks. A black and gold fur carpet adorned the floor while in the center of the room was a large handcrafted long pinewood table. There were several large warriors clad in heavy armor sitting on all sides of the long table. Everyone was quiet. Everyone was…silent.

"55 silver knights, 120 elite northern riders."

Someone who was sitting on the left side of the long table broke the silence. The man who spoke was a warrior that wore a thick full-face metal helmet that slightly muffled his voice, making it sounds deep and depressing. He continued his report, "It's less than half of the entire fortress's force. Everyone is fully armored and equipped. We are ready to sortie at your command."

"16 men mage group. 9 Upper Silver-tier priests. 6 Silver-tier mages, and one cryomancer."

The second voice came from the right side of the long table. It was an old man and full head of white long hair. He wore single-framed glasses and had a long bronze staff. The man's appearance was both stoic and fierce. You could even misjudge the man as a warrior instead of a mage. His voice came out from the gaps in his teeth.

"All instant-cast scrolls have been readied. We could destroy a large part of the wall with those."

"Chiri! Feng! What nonsense are you talking about?! Speak to me in human language!"

A blond middle-aged knight stood up and slammed the table. He was sitting in the frontmost position of the table. He yelled, "I don't care how many people or things you'd prepared! All that doesn't matter now! What took you so long?! You dare to take your salary?! You dare to call yourself a loyal servant who serves the city lord?!"

"Enough with your blatant words, Zorgen! Don't think for once second that I won't strike you down just because you're the head of the fortress!"

The man with his entire head covered with his helmet stood up as well and confronted the knight that was sitting in the front most of the table.

"Wasn't it you who had given us the order to wait! What are you trying to pull by acting all surprise?! If you're half the man you said you were, you would have already sent troops over to the city and came back victorious by now!"

"He's right. Don't look down on mage! I, Feng Lawrence openly declare that there's no northerner that can't wield a sword! Explain yourself! Or do you prefer to have a duel outside?! Right here, right now!"

The old white-haired mage tossed his bronze staff aside and removed his robes. Scars adorned his muscular body like decorations in a house during a celebration. His muscles were so huge and well-built that he looked like a man that could take on a bear and rip it apart with his bare hands. The unique mage; part arcanist, part berserker flexed his fingers and created a ball of fire in his palm without even saying a word. The ball of flame hovered in his hand, cracking as its holder was ready to hurl it out at any second.

The meeting room then turned rowdy. From an awkward silence, the room was about to turn into a chaotic battleground with those three ready to jump at each other. The rest of the meeting attendees were rather calmed. As if they had seen this scene many a time, they rushed over to the three fighters and held them back.

After a short struggle with the fortress chief, the leader of the mages and the leader of the knights, everything returned to normal.

"What a shame!"

The old mage slammed the table with his fist. It was a disgrace that could be felt by the entire room. Pain, not from slamming the table, but from shame and guilt, was shown on the old man's face.

"As a knight, how could we not serve the Lord!? How could we lose the city?!"

The knight with the full-face helmet voice was furious, yet there was a hint of shame. "If the Lord of the city is still alive, he would… Gahhh!"

"Enough. Who would have thought that Young Master Jos… The new Lord could be so powerful!"

The blond, middle-aged man sighed and raised his eyebrows as he was curious about Joshua. "It is weird. Young master…No. The new Lord should have come to us. Even with the coming of the Dark Tide, we could assemble together and sortie to take back the city with relative ease. Why would we want to fight alone?! We have no knowledge of his return. It was only thanks to Elson that had know about the Lord's return from the Black Crow's Army."

"The Lord himself was strong enough to take down twenty to thirty Silver-tier knights. He single-handedly reclaimed the city! What does he need of us?" Chiri scoffed and removed his helmet. He crossed his arms and planted his face on the table. Solemnly, he said, "A knight, who cannot serve his Lord. A knight, who let his Lord to fight a war on his own. I am guilty of this act! How I'd wish the Dark Tide would come quicker so that I could kill those daemons and wash away my shame with their blood!"

"Right now. It's vital that we do not do anything rash. Best we send back the city guards, for they need to maintain order in the city. That is all."

As the last speech was given, everyone got up their seats and the meeting was adjourned.

The news spread faster than wildfire. One by one, whispers turned into declarations. All knights in other territories, even the dwarves that lived in the north were shocked by the news.

Joshua had returned.

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Chapter 32: I am your Father—No… Liege of the City

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Many were clueless about the death of the Winter Count. When the knights of the mansion received the news about it, their faces went as pale as death. Those were the knights that were staying in the countryside. Due to the heavy snowfall, the route to the city was cut off. Hence, it was already too late when they received the news. The news about the death of the Winter Count, the invasion of outsiders, the new successor's return and how he single-handedly reclaimed the territory. Once they were informed of the entire scenario, those knights were clueless about what to do next. After contemplating for some time, they had decided to send him their congratulations and condolences through a letter to Joshua. They sent their messenger to deliver the letter to the new liege, which represented their promise to serve the new liege of Moldavia when spring came.On the other side of the city, at the foothill of Mount Great Ajax where the dwarves gathered to live, the crimson-yellow molten lava continued to boil and simmer at extreme heat. The unrelenting heat from the pool of flowing lava was a source of perpetual warmth. It was also a gathering place for the fire elementals. Their presence, coupled with the extreme heat of the lava had sent hot air to rise up like steam from a boiling kettle. The hot air rose beyond the clouds in the sky and forced the clouds to move away due to the fast-rising heat. As such, while the clouds were blanketing the entire area of the North, there was a gigantic hole near the volcano. The golden sunlight that came every morning would warm the dwarves, giving them a golden warm gleam.

Underneath where the residential area of the dwarves, there was an underground smelting area. It was where the dwarves placed their furnace. The black steel-casting furnace core.

Circulating in the rune inscribed machinery, iron and steel would melt down into liquid form. Like an obedient cat, the liquid iron and steel would flow along the castings and form into various shapes and sizes according to the cast that was placed. Once the molten iron and steel are cast, the casting tray would be sent to the blacksmiths that would start swinging their hammers to mold the casted iron and steel to form the shape they wanted.

One by one, refined weapons were crafted. Each batch would take some time to make and once the completed product had reached a suitable amount, they will be sent off for export to various territories.

While many others were busy hammering and rising hot metal, there was an elder dwarf that was controlling the huge machinery. He had an earring on each earlobe. His beard was long and pale. Wrinkles and scars were seen on his body yet it failed to diminish the appearance of strength in the old dwarf. His muscles looked like they were hot metals, hammered and crafted perfectly to support the short, yet solid body.

The dwarf shut his eyes, sitting quietly on the control seat. By intuition alone, he was controlling the giant machine. Suddenly, there was as minor shake, and the machine wobbled slightly. The old dwarf felt something. Like a molten iron flowing through a cast for a long thin saber, his eyelids opened, slowly.

Ironborn Moreila, the current Northern Rune Dwarven Leader. The greatest blacksmith of the current generation of dwarves. The old man, who was dubbed as the Wise Old Dwarf for his strength and wisdom, opened his eyes. Despite the glowing hot-rod red of the molten metal around him, his golden eyes had not failed to retain its color as red light shone from his eyes. He raised his head and stared into nothingness. There was something in the air. He could feel it.

"A Divine Armament… Another one has awoken…"

The old dwarf muttered to himself and stood up from the control panel. He called down to his servants and said, "Bring me my iron hammer."

"Yes, sir! O, Great Smither… Is it time?"

The young servant bowed respectfully to his elder. It was a respect that Moreila deserved. An inequivalent title was given to Moreila for his prowess at the art of crafting. Dwarves that shared the surname Ironborn had the ability to craft the best weapons and armors. For Moreila, he had even crafted several Legendary tier weapons that made it into history.

Despite asking humbly, the young dwarf expected no reply from the Great Smither. Unexpectedly, he received one.

"That's right. It is something that my family had promised. A contract that was bound by blood. Something that I cannot refuse."

Moreila smiled weakly. His stares were empty as he recalled a past memory. Slowly, he uttered each word as if they meant something truly special to him. "One Divine Armament. One armor set. In the name of all rune dwarves, this promise was for the chaos guardians, the protectors. An oath. Respect to those that protect."Somewhere far away.

"Moldavia… The home of the Radcliffes."

Located on the western side of the Mount Great Ajax was the Moldavia territory. It was a merry city that was built beside the river. The unfrozen river that extended as far as 3,000 miles. The rivers continued on, following the mountain ranges of the ice valley, crossing through the Northern Empire's ancient holy river, and finally merging with it. Due to the geographical advantage that the city had, the family that governed the territory, the Scarlets, had no use for dragon caravans since they could perform trading all times of the year without the need to be watchful of the seasons.

In the lounge of the liege's mansion…

It was time for nobles to indulge themselves in afternoon tea. After listening to the report by her underling, a young girl, with violet hair, reached out her slender fair hands to pour herself a cup of red tea that was prepared earlier from before she even listened to the report. She took a sip and shut her eyes as if she was thinking of something.

Not long after, she muttered to herself, "From Silver to Gold… Only in a month's time. A single bloodline that has never been broken for 300 years. Such an extraordinary man…"

"Yue, could you write me a letter of congratulations? Please use big words. That man is a Gold-tier warrior who had only recently received the count's title and killed another Gold-tier warrior."On the far side of the Dark Forest. Far north of Mount Great Ajax. The Waniyah Territory.

In a room of an ancient castle among the great mountains, the current head of the Vlad family placed a report on the desk. The man was alone. He had sent away a spy that had only recently delivered the letter to him. Alone in the room, the man leaned against the desk and kept quiet. It was only after, a voice rang out from the darkness. It was a laughter. The sound of his husky, deep, laugh echoed all around the room.

"Not even twenty-five years old and he had managed to be of Gold Tier. Truly… strong."West of Mount Great Ajax, the other side of the Dark Forest. The Wilson family.

The Wilsons were famous for their production of magical accessories and refined weapons. It was their close proximity to the dark forest and the mountain range that allowed them to harvest and mine their required resources. There was also a large band of dragon caravans that allowed the trading in the territory to be rich with sales. The clan, that was only recently established for less than 200 years was considered to begin its rooting into the area.

In the west of the main city, the main meeting hall of the Wilson family was never empty. Discussions, arguments, and many other sources of noise continued without stopping for more than two days. Many people had come in and out of the hall and everyone that did had ugly expressions their faces. Of which, most of them were hatred, disdain, and rage.

One could stand by the gap of the door of the meeting room and hear words such as "Reinforcements", "Compromised", "Counterattack", "War", "Imbecile", and "Gold-tier warrior" which were used frequently.

Not long during the second day, the sounds came to a halt, and the meeting room was finally calmed.

A young girl with gray hair and purple eyes came out of the room. Following closely behind her was many others that shared the same hair color. Most of them had a nasty expression on their face. All, besides the young girl. Her eyes showed signs of bliss.

It was all because of Joshua's abilities and actions that the north was rattled. It was certain that all that with power, could feel his presence.Starfall Year 831, 9th of November, South of Mount Great Ajax. Moldavia.

It was a day with no snow in sight. The sun was shining brightly but was still dimmed by thick clouds. The common folk of the city gathered around the central plaza when the church bell tower was rung. The city priests and knights were running around, gathering as many citizens of Moldavia as they could. Everyone was chattering for the main reason why they were summoned and gathered.

It was not until the very next moment, they understood why.

A man with black wild long hair, clad in heavy armor, black and crimson eyes, walked to the podium. Following behind him was a young little girl with silver hair. From her mannerisms, she was extremely obedient to the man with wild and black long hair. The man stared down at the crowd and displayed a satisfied smiled. He gathered his Combat Aura and bellowed from the top of his lungs, saying, "My fellow citizens! Good day to you. I am your new liege. My name is Joshua van Radcliffe."

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