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Chapter 97: Sunlight Spear

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Praise, the fire in the nothingness. Praise the fire in the light. Praise the light in the thunder!

After that, praise the worthy to be praised! The origin of life, the existence of radiance that shines upon the sacred in the world!

"Praise the sun!"

Raising his long lance in his hand, Joshua was laughing madly while cheering at the same time. Along with his intimidating roar, the Combat Aura that was blazing all around his body began to tremble and gather at a point. The warrior looked like he was holding tightly on a blinding light as blinding as the blazing sun right in his hand. Visible sparks were surging around right on his palm. The holy power that was enough to destroy everything was swiftly formed with the lance as the core point of the power source.

Facing the three Gold-tier daemons that suddenly ambushed him, Joshua had finally used his first skill ever since he entered the Dark Forest—

[Mastery, Sunlight Spear!]

As the winds converged, Chaos was unleashed. The light was condensed to the maximum and exploded. Setting aside the dragon's breath, the warrior charged towards the gigantic dracopider right before his eyes without hesitation.

The remaining three purplish blue eyes on the dracospider were staring straight into Joshua's eyes. There seemed to be sparks from the staring between both of them. However, the red eyes of the warrior that were blazing up like red-hot iron had no remorse at all. By ignoring the terrifyingly powerful attack from his back, Joshua waved his arm and brought out a swipe of gold right in the air. He threw out the blinding light lance that could not be looked at directly. The scorching golden radiance got shot right out and it plunged right into the wound on the dracospider's head that was being burned by the hellblade's flame!

Boom!!

There was no trace of any blood or torn flesh. Right in the middle of the blinding light that was flashing on, waves of impact that got emitted out circularly were beginning to melt everything as the temperature of each coming wave was increasing. Right on the ground, the dust was stirred into the air all into the surroundings. A golden radiating barrier that was in the shape of a half round bowl began to emerge, trapping the upper part of the dracopider's body for over tens of meters long. After that, everything within the barrier became nothingness and ash.

Instantly, between the sky and the ground, in the middle of the Dark Forest, all living beings could not hear any sound, nor could they see any color. They could only feel a blazing and sizzling madness surging around the land back and forth, turning the solid rocks into dust and sand. Dirt and dust were flying all over the place like unsettling waves.

With the strike of 'Sunlight Spear', the dracospider, one of the three Gold-tier daemons had been eliminated. It was supposed to be a victory worth cheering for. However, looking at his current situation, Joshua had no time at all to rest; he turned around. The berserk daemons in the surroundings had already retreated out from the range when the frost butterfly was unleashing its icicle attacks on a large area scale. Meanwhile, the black Chaos breath attack was about to arrive!

The scorching magic wave had brought out a stream of golden lava along the ground. It was like a tornado, instant rolling along with endless magic power. The blast entirely engulfed Joshua who was unable to dodge for he had exhausted all his power a split second ago!

—While Joshua was killing the giant dracospider, on the hilltop.

A silhouette of a man was charging down from higher ground with unstoppable force. Wherever he passed by, there would be countless dark green gusts and waves of blood left behind. The regular berserk daemons had no way to survive even an instant when they got in touch with the dual blades that were wielded by the shadow. They were all instantly shredded into pieces of meats and broken bones. Only the more powerful Silver-tier daemons could die without having their dead bodies shredded. Threatened by such an immense power, the daemons nearby no longer kept their attention fixed on the battles between Gold-tier monsters and that Gold-tier warrior. Instead, they turned around focusing on how to surround the shadow that was so threatening.

However, whatever they tried, nothing worked.

Brandon was using his eyes to the their limit. The green vortexes were swirling rapidly in both of his eyes. He was breathing steadily. He was wielding his two blades streaking countless black lines in the air. Every single hit from his blade had landed precisely on the 'rifts' on all daemons in the surroundings. One instant after another, the Gold-tier swordsman had torn apart the effort of the daemons trying to surround him. He broke out of the siege from the daemons with ease. After charging forward for a while, he arrived at an empty small flatland.

Because Joshua and the dracospider had fought intensely before that, the trees had all collapsed onto the ground. The trees were rammed and crushed into broken pieces. Some were even burned into crisps. Meanwhile, the other daemons around had fled from the area all thanks to the magic attacks of the frost butterfly. The view was clear. Brandon could clearly see the violent battle on the battlefield.

However, he was looking at a scene like this when he arrived; the warrior with the red blazing Combat Aura used his golden spear to take out the entire head of the dracospider. Meanwhile, the Chaos breath that came at the warrior like a black tornado devoured the warrior entirely!

The chill that pierced down deep into bones rose from the back of his spine, through his heart and his brain before reaching the depths of his soul. Having not able to react to what he just saw, the Gold-tier swordsman could not help to feel a chill deep in his heart.

Joshua… did he die?!

With that thought flashed across his mind, instantly, his thoughts in his mind got scrambled. Brandon's instinct had led him to think quickly; now that the dracospider had died and there was no way of telling if Joshua had died or not. However, it seemed that Joshua would also be fatally wounded even if he survived that. If that was the case, it would be wiser to retreat at once and focus on the defense at the wall. Just like what Vale Dani said, even though the Empire was currently occupied with suppressing the Dark Tide in the south and center, however, the north was known to be the land that sealed the dimensional rift. It would not take long before more Mastery strong beings would come to their aid.

As for the dimensional passage, although it was unfortunate, one must not feel frustrated over things that cannot be done.

"No, once the dimensional rift is unsealed and opened, there will be nothing left to defend!"

Clenching his teeth, Brandon suddenly understood. As the enemy of Chaos and one of the Guardians of Order, he was well aware of the consequence if the Evil Gods ever reached their hands into this world. Meanwhile, preventing that kind of fate from becoming real was his duty and his fate. In an instant, he abandoned all of his cowardly thoughts and walked right back into the battlefield with the resolution that he would only give up defending after drawing his last breath.

He would never let Vale Dani die in front of him. He would not let Joshua's death be in vain!

—Far in the distant clouds.

The black and golden dragon that was spreading Chaos mist into the surroundings was flying fast across the sky, arriving at the location where its breath attack landed. It was looking right at the mess that it left on the ground with its only eye left; the ground of the Dark Forest that was once covered in dirt and rocks had now become a giant golden red hole. Inside the hole, there was boiling lava pouring out. In the meantime, golden red sparks of fire were slowly filling in the hole.

Right above the hole, there was the thick dark purplish smoke slowly shrouding the sky as it rose into the sky. In between the smoke and clouds, there was some dim lightning flashing in the air.

The black dragon had waited for a long time, gathering all the Chaos magic power from the mist in the surroundings to launch a devastating blast of breath attack. Under that devastating blast, the Dark Forest had completely been destroyed. The dirt and sand across hundreds of meters of the land had been completely blown apart. Countless dust and dirt were stirred right into the sky and into the clouds, shrouding the dimmed sky darker.

Is it over?

The black dragon knew that the dragon breath that it launched was devastatingly powerful. It might be even more powerful than the ultimate spell that a Gold-tier mage that was on the pinnacle of Gold-tier realm could perform. It was enough to level down hills and burn rivers. It could even potentially be enough to change the geographical terrain of a land. That blast completely destroyed the gate of the fortress not far from it. Theoretically speaking, with its current level, the black dragon should not possess such an immense power. However, the black dragon could already control the power like moving its own finger. There was no sign of any recoil or exhaustion on the dragon.

However, could that tremendous attack really kill that warrior?

The black dragon could remember clearly about the situation when it was roaming around above the wall of the fortress. It could remember the red long lance that pierced through the sky to penetrate the magic barrier around it before plunging into its body. At the same time, the dragon had returned greeted that attack with a dragon breath attack of its own in rage.

Although the black dragon did not have that long time to get that blast of dragon breath ready, it would not have been as powerful as this one even if the dragon was given enough time to charge up the attack. However, it was still a dragon breath attack after all. Other than the impact of it, that dragon breath and this one had no difference in term of the nature of the attack. However, that warrior with the red Combat Aura could actually take the blast of the dragon blast head-on with merely his own flesh!Right in the center of the hole, the lava was boiling hot. There was nothing strange about the situation right now. That had wiped off the doubt that the black dragon had on its mind.

Even if the warrior could kill the dracospider, that powerful spider daemon that could sometimes be hand for it to handle, but the warrior was merely a human after all. He would not be able to survive that sort of attack. Even if he barely survived that attack, the warrior should not be able to withstand the scorching lava from burning him to his death.

He must be dead now.

The black dragon felt relieved and turned its head over looking at the lower side of the hill underneath its body. A dark green speck of light was crossing the battlefield at a faster speed than the speed of sound. Wherever it passed through, that light left an empty passage in between the dust. It was heading straight towards the dimensional rift that seemed to have ceased functioning at the moment.

It nodded lightly and fluttered both of its wings a little, spreading waves of scale power into the air. The dragon then blended itself into the cloud and the black smoke, making itself disappearing from sight. Meanwhile, it gave a mental command to the frost butterfly that was already infected by the seed of Chaos. The frost butterfly that was completely corrupted and controlled by the Chaos began to manipulate the frost again. The blizzard that seemed to have become lighter instantly became strong again. The chilling winds cooled the battlefield that was blazing hot as hell in almost an instant.

The green light dot was the power of Order. The instinct told the black dragon that this was another very powerful opponent. It needed to be ready and be cautious. It needed to handle the opponent seriously.

The two of them had switched their attention to elsewhere. There was no one who still minded about that piece of land. The dracospider with a golden shell which only had half of its body left on the battlefield was slowly buried in snow. The lava in the surroundings was beginning to cool down.

However, right in the middle of the lava that was cooling down and solidifying, a sound was heard.

Thum!

There was a pulse.

Thum! Thum! Thum!

A series of intense heatbeats was suddenly heard.

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Chapter 98: Level Whirring Up!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Along with the beating sound that came from the boiling lava, ripples of dreadful sense began to spread across into the surroundings. The waves then trembled. The golden red lava began rippling as well.

After that, a shadow of a man engulfed in red flaming Combat Aura slowly stood up from the golden red lava pool.

"… Phew."

With a heavy breath along with some hot air, Joshua let out a breath and blew on the hot distorted air all around him. There was lava all over his body, dripping slowly to the ground. However, that man did not seem to be bothered by it at all.

He lifted his head and looked into the sky. He set his sight far beyond the dark clouds as if he could see that gigantic shadow of the black dragon.

Well, that was really powerful.

Sighing deep in his heart, Joshua was standing right in the middle of the lava pool that was condensing slowly as he was feeling the scorching heat all around his body. His eyes did not reflect delight surviving that strike. Instead, he looked grim.

This time, it was not because he did it on purpose or he planned it. It was because he had not thought about it. The breath of the black dragon could actually become so powerful after the black dagon gathered and compressed the magic power of Chaos; from spitting flames to launching electron charged cannon attack, what the f*ck! Even in his previous life, he had never seen such a mindless enhancement in the game! If the developer of the game had the balls to do this kind of enhancement to the game, they would definitely be murdered by the players!

If Joshua's Combat Aura was not more towards fire and blaze, if he had not chosen to learn Steel Armor Kokyu-ho to enhance his endurance in battle, that strike from the Dragon Breath might be the end of him. Even if Joshua could withstand the devastating destruction of the Dragon Breath, he would still definitely die in the boiling lava. The lava would still burn him up alive.

Of course, the real reason that he could survive that blast was not the special attribute of his Combat Aura or his Kokyu-ho skill.

"It seems that my choice was right!"

There will always be a way if you do not falter!

Gripping his left hand into a fist, a loud sonic boom echoed into the surroundings. A shockwave went across the boiling air that looked distorted. The Combat Aura on the warrior began to circulate. Instantly, the lava around Joshua was blasted away by a tremendous force. The metallic armor on Joshua's body was dented and twisted; it was obvious that Joshua was being protected by an unmatchable invisible strength. There was not even a scratch or a burn mark on his entire body. Not even a strand of hair was singed. In other words, the only thing that was not protected was the entire set of armor he was wearing. The remaining of the armor was barely hanging on his body right now.

Currently, deep inside the warrior's body, was a horrific power surging insanely like a tsunami ready to be unleashed. Meanwhile, right on his vision, he could see that endless amount of experience points were pouring in charging up his experience bar. The number just kept rising without an end. After that, a notification popped up into his vision.

It was that moment when Joshua decided to kill the Ajax Aurumseeking Draconian Spider while he ignored the black dragon's attack at the same time. The Azurite that was hanging right before his chest instantly unleashed an indestructible protective barrier that was invisible all around him. That barrier had blocked half of the impact of the Dragon Breath that was as powerful as a blast of cannon that could have taken out hills. When that blast reached the warrior, it only managed to destroy most of the armor on the warrior.

[You have completed a Class Quest—A Festive Purification]

[You have completed the Unlock Condition. You have completely inherited the Inherited Power of the Chaos Guardian!]

[Your Class Level 5]

[You have acquired new Class Gifts: Flare of Purification, Nemesis of Chaos]

[You have acquired new Class Attributes: Radiance of Evil Scorcher, Movable Sacred Ground]

Upon completing his Class Quest [A Festive Purification, Joshua experienced the true meaning and the true feeling wield the power of [Blood of Chaos, Origin of Blazing Flame]!

Fire, was the origin of the beginning, the origin of life itself. It could bring light and warmth, it could bring existence and hope. Fire shapes order and triggers wisdom. Civilizations exist because of fire. The world of humans prospered because of that.

Using the immense Chaos energy from the Gold-tier dracospider's body as a source of fuel to burn, the colorless and odorless Order flames blazed brightly in Joshua's body. It was reconstructing and enhancing his body. In the meantime, the experience points that the warrior earned from slaughtering daemons along the way here were unlocked. Because of that, his level was whirling up like crazy!

35, 36, 37, 38… 44!

Along with the number jumping up, the colorless radiance of Order had once again emanated through the entire body of the warrior, healing up all the internal wounds and wiping away any other side effects that Joshua got from using the Chaos Power, Along with his breathing, the energy particles in the surroundings were gathering to his body as the center core. In one brief instant, including the five levels that were automatically acquired after obtaining the Chaos Guardian Class, Joshua had leveled up ten times in over tens of seconds!

The levels whirred up quick. His heart was beating intensely. His blood was flowing between his veins and bones like the running water vast rivers. This was no longer a good condition, or getting his condition fully restored. The strength of the warrior was now completely different from before. It as like he had just transformed into his second form, a whole new level of power!

Although leveling up would not always boost the power level of a person, however, the enhancement in the quality of the body would definitely increase the abilities of the person in many aspects. Just now, the increase in the power of Order in Joshua's body had tremendously enhanced his physique. Compared that to his previous body tens of minutes ago, this newly enhanced body had undoubtedly become much stronger than he had ever anticipated!

Breathing out heavily, Joshua's breath was visibly gray. The breath was so powerful that it hit the condensed lava like a column of air. There was a small hole on the surface of the condensed lava. While a whistling sound was heard, black dust was stirred up from the surface of the ground. The Combat Aura was surging on. The lava that was about to fully condense into the solid ground was once again melted by the immense power that was surging through Joshua's entire body. With every step he took, the lava was pushed away by his steps, revealing a small path before him.

Upon walking out of the lava pool, he halted, standing right on top of the black ground at the side of the lava pool that had already cooled down a while ago. Joshua then lifted the silver greatsword in his right hand. His face looked deadly serious as he was communicating with his Divine Armament.

"Ying, are you alright?"

The Divine Armament replied Joshua chirpily, "I'm alright! Well… this is a little hot, but Divine Armaments can withstand a temperature much higher than this! So no problem!"

She was not worried about the fact that her master almost died just now; Ying trusted Joshua wholeheartedly. She believed that her master could definitely get out of grave danger and survive a situation like that just now!

"How long more can you stay in your Divine Armament form?"

Indeed, Joshua did not mind the borderline idolated trust given to him by his Divine Armament.

too much about the trust that seemed almost like worship that his Divine Armament had of him. He still had some cards hidden up his sleeve. Also, the situation he was in just now was not considered a desperate situation yet. Furthermore, now that he had acquired the true inherited power of the Chaos Guardian, he could now use more of the much stronger Mastery Skills. Not to mention that his power had increased by ten levels more in one brief instant. So he could definitely bear such confidence now.

Meanwhile, upon the enhancement, his physical fitness was enough to use the Divine Armament for a longer period of time. So now, Joshua would only need to see how long can Ying stay in her Divine Armament form.

"Just now, there was powerful Order energy surging back to me from Master along with the Pact… Hmm… I think I can hold on for more than an hour!"

After remaining silent for a brief moment making some calculations, the Spirit Sense of the girl came from the silver greatsword again. Her voice sounded as if she was a little unsure of what she just said. However, she reassured Joshua again right after that. "To be precise, it's one hour twenty-seven minutes!"

"Very good. That's more than enough already."

Upon nodding his head, Joshua grinned.

That black dragon… How dare it ambush me in battle from the back?!

Behind the back came the burning temperature of the boiling lava pool, followed by cold chilling winds along with snow brushing by the dirt and sand to the front of the warrior. Recalling on a memory of his previous life that seemed to be very long ago, he remembered the mercury blade that pierced him from behind. He grabbed the hilt of his sword tightly and grinned coldly.

Once again, he looked into the sky. The clouds were dark as dark mist was spreading. The evil aura had shrouded the entire sky. Meanwhile, the gift that the Chaos Guardian had allowed him to quickly identify the shadow that had been staying hidden among the clouds all the while.

There was no need to wait for long. Black dragon, you're going down now!

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Chapter 99: Eat My Huge-*ss Sword!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Since he had found his target, it was time to begin. With two hands grabbing tight on the hilt of his silver greatsword that was larger than the size of a human's body with all ten of his fingers, Joshua emptied his soul and continued to communicate with his weapon.

In his previous life, he would not have done this willingly. A warrior was deemed as the wielder of weapon and skills, an expert of battle and killing. He was controlling a long lance and a greataxe, a sharp blade, and a heavy hammer. The warrior would only need to use tools and weapons to eliminate their enemies quicker. That was all.

However, after transmigrating to this world for quite some time, Joshua had finally understood one thing.

This was a world of fantasy. It was a world miracle that had Combat Aura and magic, demons and giant dragons rampaging across the continent, extraordinary weapons; just like Ying herself. The weapons had their own will and awareness. They also had their very own souls, their own 'flame'.

Since that was the case, they must be given respect.

Even though Ying had been saying that she was just a weapon every day, even though she was just a tool for her master to wield, Joshua had not treated her like one.

Taking off the broken helmet that was no longer usable, Joshua threw it to the ground. The helmet fell heavily onto the ground and the impact of the fall stirred up some dirt and dust. His black hair was moving along the wind. The eyes of the warrior were as bright as blazing flames.

"Ying, follow my pace."

Now was the time where the cooperation between the two of them mattered the most.

"Yes, Master!"

Based on the record in the memory core, Ying had also instantly understood what the warrior wanted. She immediately became serious. Her Spirit Sense was also being adjusted according to her master's. Finally, by the pact, the soul wavelengths of the two of them instantly resonated!

[Divine Armament Transformation Level 2!]

Just like the record in the inherited memory not only was a Divine Armament an extremely sharp blade, it was also an extremely tough and powerful weapon. These Divine Armaments had the same wisdom of life as the humans, not just passive weapons. Being in the same pact, they could respond by becoming more powerful beings. As the cost of it, their bodies would have to sustain a whole new level of burden.

For a person that just leveled up ten times, having all wounds and injuries lifted off of him, Joshua's overall attributes and power level had increased tremendously. It would not be a matter at all for him to handle!

Immense magic power was surging through the runes on his right arm from the Divine Armament's pact. The external energy was flowing in Joshua's body. However, the power that came from the external environment was circulating in his body as if the power was his to begin with. So basically, the warrior was heavily enhanced right now. He had become far tougher and more powerful than the giant dragon!

"But Master… If we're going to use this form all the while in battle, I-I can only last for less than twenty minutes…"

The magic power continued to surge intensely. The Spirit Sense wave of the female Divine Armament came in a little rush. Under the resonance of the two souls, Ying was also sustaining quite a heavy amount of burden. The twenty-minute limit was not the limit that Joshua could hold out for. It was Ying's.

"I've told you earlier. It's more than enough."

The warrior grinned.

I had no idea how strong I've become.

Compared to his previous power level, Joshua's overall strength had increased by a notch. However, there was no clear way to tell how much stronger he had become. Regardless, the improvement would be obvious.

As the legendary warrior in the previous life, Joshua knew better than anyone that how powerful the body of a Gold-tier warrior could be: running in the supersonic speed, the ability to fly freely, the ability to regrow lost limbs, and the ability of immune to all sorts of disease. These mentioned abilities were just the basics. Crushing a Silver-tier bull to its death literally with one hand, launching a punch as powerful as a cannon, and many other feats would be just a walk in the park. Just like what he was capable of a while ago, a truly powerful Gold-tier warrior could even submerge in lava and swim in molten steel. They could even chew steel and swallow gold, or eat rocks and dirt just to survive the worst situation they could possibly get themselves into.

However, currently, Joshua's body was greatly enhanced by the Flame of Order. There was no telling what heights his newly enhanced body was capable of.

As an extraordinary combatant with a physique similar to daemons or even the supernatural beings such as dragons, the energy in Joshua's body was hundred or thousand times stronger than the ones in normal people. That would also mean that, even if he wanted to use skills similar to Berserk that would potentially overload the body of the user at some point, Joshua would not have to worry about his body not able to cope up with the load.

Not to mention he also had the martial arts skills obtained in his previous life. He had mastered the way to use his muscles and bones and the way to control the blood flow in his internal organs.

"Phew—"

Upon exhaling, he took in another breath of air. The powerful lungs of the Gold-tier warrior were sucking in endless air like a black hole. Regardless of the black smoke that was mixed up in the dust in the air or the purplish Chaos mist in the surroundings, Joshua breathed in all of it without rejecting any of it. He just sucked everything into his lungs.

Right after that, he let out a long roar.

Along with the insanely long roar that sounded like a roar of a dragon, sonic waves rippled. His muscles and bones resonated. The blood in his body was boiling up along with the roar, followed by an extremely powerful tremble across his lungs. The trembling was so strong that a heavy and vigorous rumbling began to spread into the surroundings. The atmosphere around was torn apart by this sound as if the clear sound of broken glass was echoing down from the sky. Within the area of hundreds of meters, the blizzard that was pouring down like the feathers of a goose was being resonated by that long roar into ice crystals that looked like dust, falling down to the ground.

With a non-human body, a tremendously strong will, equipped with martial art skills and Combat Aura that was one of a kind in the entire world, coupled with mastered knowledge and skills to kill, the warrior had no idea how much stronger he had become.

He bent his knees slightly. The muscles in his legs were charging up like a bowstring being pulled. The power was being built up slowly. Then, the red Combat Aura that was blazing around his body turned dark red. His muscles were unleashing the power at the same time, bursting out on the spot—the howling winds blew the snow that were accumulated on the ground. The rocks were crushed and shattered into pieces. Gravity suddenly lost its meaning. The warrior levitated in the air and flew straight past the like an arrow traveling in the speed that exceeded the speed of sound.

Right in the middle of the sky, Joshua who was wrapped in a dreadful blood-red radiance stared straight through the clouds where the black dragon was currently at.

Dragon and Chaos.

Regardless of any of that, anything that needed to face him would become vulnerable. They would be so weak that they might not even withstand one hit from Joshua.

—High above in the sky, in the middle of the clouds.

The Corrupted Black Dragon that was camouflaging itself in the dark purplish mists went through the blizzard that was summoned by the frost butterfly. It was observing the dark green light dot that seemed to be slaughtering the Berserk Daemons and the Aragami at a restless rate.

Blood of many colors was flying all around the battlefield. Broken bones and minced meat pieces were spinning all over the place as well. Right in the middle of the Dark Tide, there existed a bloody path where broken bones and shredded meat pieces were scattered all over the path.

This human is very powerful indeed.

Looking at the fact that the golden-haired swordsman could almost instantly kill all of the daemons and mature Aragami on the battlefield, the black dragon had a thought to himself; if it went down to take care of the golden-haired swordsman by itself, any small mistake it might make battling that swordsman would lead it to have the same fate as the mindless daemons and the Aragami that were slaughtered. If that warrior with the red Combat Aura joined forces with the swordsman, the black dragon would not be able to handle the two of them even if it was largely enhanced by the Chaos power.

Not only the dual swords that were rippling with the waves of Order in the hands of the swordsman were extremely sharp, they also could repel the power of Chaos. The swords were swung across the air, leaving countless traces of light rifts in the middle of the air. Instantly, the Chaos energy that was surging in the air around tens of meters were all wiped clean. It was like they were burned by flames. There was no trace of any Chaos energy in the vicinity after that.

That was not the end. The black dragon believed that there was another dreadful ability being kept hidden in the body of the swordsman. As such, the swordsman could take out the Berserk Daemons and the Aragami while ignoring their defenses, killing them one at a time with only one blow to each of them. It seemed that the swordsman was reserving his strength for the battle that had yet to come.

However, he also seemed to have run out of luck and stamina.

Upon killing so many of the monsters, that golden-haired swordsman had finally slowed down on his pace of killing the monsters. The traces of winds that were stirred up across the air had begun to reveal some vulnerable spots while he was whirling his blades. Smelling the opportunity that emerged, the daemons and the mature Aragami that were coated with crystallized shell in the surroundings instantly surrounded the swordsman.

The fangs, the claws, and the impacts. The Dark Tide horde that was gushing ferociously at the dark green Combat Aura had the swordsman surrounded for good. Although each of his strikes could still kill one daemon or one Aragami at a time, however, he knew better than anyone that he could not last for long anymore. The black dragon knew about it well as well.

The frost butterfly was continuously casting the blizzard and coldness with the purpose of exhausted the stamina of the swordsman. Meanwhile, the monsters were charging at him endlessly, giving him no time at all to catch his breath either. Furthermore, there were also all sorts of hidden cursed magic power, negative spellsWith the long roar that echoed through the surroundings, suddenly, a loud explosive sound was heard from the black dragon's back. That interrupted the thought that was running through its mind. The fluttering wings of the dragon instantly stuttered. It immediately felt an intensely horrific threat that seemed to be able to kill it in one brief instant approaching him at high speed!

It quickly turned its head around and looked around at its surroundings. However, it did not see anything. With its wisdom, it suddenly dawned on the black dragon that even though there was nothing in the surrounding, there should only be one possibility left!

Up above the sky!

"Hiss rawgh!!!"

It noticed the light source that was far above its back. The black dragon let out a raging roar and lifted its head up. It widened its one and only eye and looked beyond the clouds in the sky. Its eye seemed a little anxious. Instantly, through the endless clouds covering the sky, the giant dragon cold finally see the huge source of light that was totally clouded by the dark clouds, the blazing sun!

Meanwhile, right at the light source that was emanating endless source of light, there was a shadow of a man. It was lending the light of that sun to hide his breath and his presence. Gathering a blinding thunderous lightning in his hand, in an instant, he also noticed that the black dragon had discovered his presence. So he had no reason to hold back anything anymore. Upon charging up his Combat Aura, it instantly exploded, spewing out into the surroundings in the middle of the sky.

The radiance of the sun was being swept. Gust and thunder were rumbling in the surroundings. The dark clouds that were covering the entire sky were being blasted away by that power. The Dark Forest that had not been exposed to the sun because of months of blizzards had finally been bestowed with a layer of golden light upon it!

Meanwhile, during that moment, a silver greatsword that was surging with golden radiance landed from the sky along with a red shadow. The sword was aimed straight down towards the head of the black dragon—

[Mastery, Sunlight Blade!]

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Chapter 100: The Dogfight between Blade and Fang

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Just like someone pouring ink into clear water, the darkness spread into the surroundings. Facing the blazing spear of the sun slashing down upon it from above the sky, the black dragon instantly beat its wings contaminating the sky with its dark purplish Chaos powder at an attempt to hide its own body. Under the interruption of that magic power, every means of communication would be isolated and blocked. Even the divination spell would not be able to locate its whereabouts.

However, the black dragon's effort did not do any good. Joshua had already locked on to the its breath and presence.

Upon completing the Class quest of the Chaos Guardian, the warrior had acquired the two Gifts called [Flare of Purification] and [Nemesis of Chaos]. Both of the Gifts could allow the warrior to see through the dark purplish Chaos power and mist. Whatever the black dragon attempted to do, it just seemed like a pointless attempt to struggle to Joshua.

Driving the red radiance piercing through the atmosphere of the air, even the sound of the strike had been abandoned right behind his own body. The only thing that came across his ears was the cold wind, blowing the warrior's hair all around making him look godly insane. While Joshua was holding on the silver greatsword that was surging with golden thunder strike, he was looking at how fast he was passing through the dark clouds. His eyes did not even move a little. He was focused.

So when was the last time he slew a dragon?

That seemed to be long time ago.

The Corrupted Black Dragon… Upon thinking about the fact that he was ready to kill this opponent with immense power that could potentially threaten his life, the Warrior could not be able to suppress the intense urge in his heart. His power went along his blood, surging across his entire body. His soul had become excited as well.

"—Phew!"

The air began to rumble. The pitch black light column came shooting out from the dark mists that looked as dark as the color of ink. The air was struck by a high heat laser beam. Frost and snow evaporated into thin air. That Dragon Breath attack was unmatchably fast. It was launched towards Joshua along with enormous high heat. However, that blast was sliced in half by the warrior with his greatsword. With the great sword as the separation point, the two beams of black chaos radiance passed through the warrior. The high-temperature breath attack had hit his skin. However, there was no trace of any burn marks on his skin.

After the first confrontation, the warrior continued to accelerate. Joshua fell right from the sky at higher speed now. He was falling toward the black dragon. He was approaching the below of the mountain rapidly. The two of them were getting closer and closer at the same time. Meanwhile, right behind the warrior's back, the rumbling sonic boom continued to form. However, the sound could not catch up with his speed at all.

Whooosh!

The mist was separated from within. One beam, two beams, three beams! More of the light beam attacks were seen launched towards the red shadow of a man in attempt to stop him from reaching the ground. At the same time when the black dragon was spamming its Dragon Breath attacks, it was also fluttering its wings as it was making its way descending lower to the ground. It was trying to gain distance from Joshua.

Dodging, accelerating, and blocking to avoid being sliced in half, Joshua had handled the 'obstacles' that his enemy threw at him with ease. He had been very used to handling the strike back of the dragon, He could even completely block the attacks with merely his instinct. The warrior's eyes had seen through the dark mist that was getting thinner by the second. He was staring straight at the black dragon that was approaching him. Then he muttered to himself.

"The most vulnerable time—"

The sound was torn by the strong winds, spreading into the air. At that particular moment, Joshua could see every detail on his opponent very clearly. The two colors, black and gold, on the body of the giant dragon were extremely smooth. Its strong dragon wings had bizarre patterns on them. They were emitting the waves of Chaos energy into the surroundings. Meanwhile, there was also a golden horn standing high on the dragon as if it could pierce through the sky.

The golden draconic pupils met with the red eyes of the warrior, angrily staring at each other. The pressure and might of the most powerful overlord of the natural world rushed forth, but Joshua tightened his grip on the Divine Armament greatsword with both his hands, seemingly without a hint of fear; black red flames ran up and down his entire frame, gathering in the body of the sword into a dazzling golden light. The light circulated within it, while everything seemed to freeze for a moment.

"Rawgh!"

The black dragon had given up its retreat. Its dragon instinct had surpassed the antithesis of Chaos and Order. It let out a roar, and it beat its wings; in that moment, all the remaining black mist that surrounded them were drawn in, and then gathered in the huge mouth filled with fangs.The strong winds that were infused with the scent of destruction were overflowing. This was the strongest Dragon Breath ever launched after the siege back at the fortress not long ago. The threat of death rose in the hearts of both sides, but Joshua and the dragon did not retreat.

The most vulnerable time was also the one moment where preparation was done being made, the one moment bright before an attack; right before the attack was launched from its mouth.

The red Combat Aura then burst right behind its body, emitting out a large circular shock wave that went into the surroundings pushing dust and sand on the ground away intensely. However, Joshua's speed was even faster by another level. He was hammering the strength that he borrowed from the sun and the inertia that he gained from the height he was falling down from. Lifting his arm up, instantly, the radiance on the silver greatsword immediately diminished. The thunder strike seemed to be dimmed. Then the radiance vanished completely.

"Die!"

Upon saying the word out loud, a shapeless light sword suddenly expanded!

Just like how the light from the blazing sun was rotating in the sky, countless beams shot out like fireworks. The radiance that shrank was unleashed in an instant. The air was compressed by the shapeless radiance of his Combat Aura. Then a roaring rumble that was as loud as the explosive thunder was heard!

Boom!!!!

Having not enough time to aim its Dragon Breath attack, the black dragon was suddenly struck by Joshua's sword. The intense explosion and impact made the dragon lose the ability to control its magic power anymore. Along with a deep miserable roar, instantly, a beam of black breath attack that was much more powerful than the one before this was launched. The breath attack passed by the left side of the warrior, however, the attack did not hit the intended target.

This pillar of light ionized the atmosphere; the air was being forcefully diffused by the scorching scent that decomposes and melts. The chaotic magic surged, and in that moment Joshua's left arm had lost a huge chunk of flesh. The wound was charred due to the high temperature, so there was no bleeding.

Even with the Steel Armor Kokyu-ho and the enhancement from the resonance with his Divine Armament, Joshua's body could not block the Dragon Breath with such immense destructive power that seemed to be able to obliterate everything. However, compared to the black dragon which had its wing cut into half and its chest slit open by one-third, the injuries that the warrior sustained were so minor to the point that he could just ignore it!

The greatsword that was even larger than the size of a human was plunged into the chest of the dragon. Dark purplish blood was oozing out madly. The breath of the black dragon swiftly weakened. Although that large sword was merely like a small knife stuck in the dragon's body in term of size, however, this so-called small knife came at it like a rapid lightning strike that could penetrate the rock solid dragon scale and its muscle with only one strike. The outer layer of skin and the bones beneath were all crushed. The blood and bones became extremely vulnerable after being struck by that sword. If the black dragon did not enhance its body with Chaos power before that, it might have been slashed into half by that powerful strike.

However, the dragon was not cut into half after all. Even though the black dragon was heavily wounded, its fire of life had not been extinguished. The excruciating pain was stimulating its brain. The chaotic, berserk, and impulsive instinct was scrambling its thoughts. Because its wing and chest was wounded by the sword, its backbones also revealed some cracks. The dragon's two front legs could not exert strength. It could not attack the warrior that was currently standing in front of its chest. The purplish-blue eye of the black dragon suddenly widened. It instantly opened up its big mouth, its fangs covered with some black gas substance. After that, the dragon lowered its head and lunged straight at Joshua who was right before his chest, attempting to chew him up.

Before using any weapons or equipment, the teeth and fingernails of a human were the strongest weapons there were on that particular human himself. Meanwhile, the dragon's teeth and fangs were much superior compared to other blades and weapons. Needless to say about the flesh and bones of the warrior, even the strongest and toughest metal would not be able to sustain more than a few chews from the dragon.

"Are you trying to eat me?"

Tightening his left fist and lifting it up with strength, Joshua struck the dragon hard right in the jaw with a Rising Dragon Fist. The sound of bones cracking was heard coming right from the collision between the warrior's left fist and the dragon's jaws. The warrior's left fist was almost crushed! However, he used that hand to grab onto the jaw of the dragon, foiling the dragon's attempts at biting him.

Under the tremendous pressure exerted on the dragon's jaw, that large wound that was inflicted by the high-temperature Dragon Breath on his arm burst open countless times as blood splattered from his wound over and over again. Joshua grit his teeth and ignored the bones and the muscles on his left arm that were collapsing bit by bit under the powerful struggle of the dragon trying to rid itself of the grip of Joshua. He was standing right before the chest of the Black Dragon. Holding the silver greatsword in his right arm tightly, he had the intention to slash his sword straight at the dragon to continue his assault on the dragon.

However, he no longer had the support from the inertia from falling down from high above the sky. Furthermore, the golden radiance of the sun that gathered in his sword had also been depleted after the previous strike. Meanwhile, he could not continue gathering his Combat Aura to activate his ultimate skill while he was engaged in battle with the black dragon. Although the silver Divine Armament was still cutting the flesh and bones of the black dragon inch by inch as we speak, causing the fresh blood that was infused with the Chaos power oozing out like a fountain splashing on the entire body of the warrior, the speed of killing the dragon was deemed to be too slow.

"Just open up already!"

Adjusting the little remained Combat Aura to unleash his strength, the bloody-red radiance flashed brightly. The ear-piercing sound of a sonic boom came from beneath the leg of Joshua. He pushed himself forward. The air, the sound and the body of the dragon were all torn apart. After penetrating the chest of the black dragon, Joshua left a large hole in it. The power was charged into the body of the dragon. One of its ribs was even broken.

However, regardless of anything, the body of a man was still considered too small when facing a dragon. Even though Joshua managed to unleash his strength, slashing its chest open and breaking a rib, the strike could not reach the heart of the dragon just yet. Upon feeling its life was being threatened on another whole new level, the Corrupted Black Dragon continued to roar in rage. It was attempting to bite the warrior that was currently standing right before its chest.

The one dragon and one man in the air had directed all their strength at each other. They even stopped focusing on staying afloat.

Red and black, steel and blood. The two moving radiances intertwined with each other. They were falling while they were engaged in a fierce dogfight.

White ripples of air, transparent shock waves, Combat Aura infused with murderous intend, the Dragon Breath attack. The battle went on vigorously. The chaotic energy that was being shot out in all directions had pulled out violent turbulence that could pierce heaven and earth. The turbulence was going towards the direction below as it was rolling downwards. Because of that turbulence, the daemon horde that was surrounding the dark green shadow of a man, began to retreat in a hurry!

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Chapter 101: Fall to the Ground

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy TranslationStanding among the broken bones and internal organs of the corpses on the hilltop wielding his dual swords with not the slightest expression on his face, the Gold-tier swordsman was gathering his strength from all parts of his exhausted body. After that, he swung his sword, throwing a green hurricane to push all the monsters that were charging at him. There, he gained one brief moment to catch his breath again.

Looking around the surroundings, the daemons that were pushed back had stopped their assault. They were chewing on their dead comrades' bodies, devouring them. However, there was no sense of any fear in the greenish-blue eyes of the daemons. The frenzied instinct of these daemons had led them to fear nothing about the swordsman. They paused their assault only with the purpose to fill in their empty stomachs.

Other than devouring and slaughtering, there was nothing else on the minds of these monsters. They were basically like puppets that were manipulated completely.

Truth be told, wouldn't that make them just a bunch of bloody meat puppets after they being completely dominated by the Berserk Dragon Virus?

Would I be eaten alive like that? Brandon could not help but have that thought and smiled.

"That's pretty bad."

With so many daemons surrounding him, he could never break out of there with merely his own power… Could it be that now was the time to use it?

Upon resting his thoughts there, he could not help but grip the dual blades of Order in his hands. A pure white sacred radiance flashed across the dual-sword weapons that were forged by the ancient sage.

Before the Gold-tier swordsman could make up his mind, he suddenly noticed that there was a light source shining on by the sky.

Breathing heavily in the middle of the blizzard and the northern wind, he lifted his head to look at the sky. He could not help but mutter to himself, "What the hell is that…"

From his view, not far from where he stood, the sky that was covered by dark clouds was suddenly shattered by some sort of power, along with a flash of golden light and a thick and huge black light column. The remaining dark clouds and the dark mist in the sky dispersed swiftly. Meanwhile, two sources of radiance, one red and another black, were intertwined with each other, falling down to the ground from high above the sky at high speed.

That black radiance was rippling with Chaos waves that were condensed to the max. Meanwhile, Brandon's body which had been representing light obviously felt repulsive towards that light source. On the other hand, the swordsman had an extremely familiar feeling towards the red radiance…

"Joshua?!"

Swinging his sword breaking the ground, the swordsman chopped off the head of a ferret-type daemon that was attempting to ambush him from the side. The gray brain juice along with a strong stench was oozing on the swordsman. However, Brandon was not bothered by that trivial thing at all. Instead, he was shocked at one fact.

"He's still alive?!"

Meanwhile, Joshua seemed to be battling against an extremely powerful enemy. That's right, it was that black dragon. He was currently battling the black dragon!

Having no time to think about how Joshua survived the Dragon Breath attack, Brandon instantly felt alive and motivated to kill his enemies on the battlefield after knowing that his comrade still lived and his comrade was still battling against the source of this war.

He was not alone on the battlefield. There was still hope after all. Most importantly, the dracospider was dead and the black dragon was currently engaged with Joshua. That being said, the dimensional door nearby would only be guarded by the Gold-Tier frost butterfly that was actually not that powerful… there was a chance!

Not to mention that the man withstood the blast of the Dragon Breath head on was still battling. So what reason could he use as an excuse that he could not do it then?!

"At first, I thought about using it when I'm about to destroy the dimensional door…"

Upon muttering to himself in a soft voice, he suddenly felt competitive. The Gold-tier swordsman laughed out loud and lifted the two sacred swords that he was holding tight in his hands. Then he crossed the two swords against each other—right on the surface of the two swords, there were countless ancient runes flashing and moving around. Some even shifted out of the swords themselves and moved all around the blades of the swords. "However, it seems that I might die if I don't use it here and now."

Facing the daemons that once again charged at him, Brandon did not hesitate at all. He immediately charged out as well to engage the daemons. Because the two swords that he was holding were radiating, sacred storm winds and the radiance of the stars began to appear around his body. Soft voices sounded like a melodious song of praise.

Let the strike back begin!

—along in the middle of the two light sources falling down from the sky.

153 years ago, St. George Ascalon, the dragon slayer of the high seas at the Sacred Mountain had told his grandchildren about one serious matter. Meanwhile, this one thing had become the most important rule that one must obey while slaying a dragon.

"Never get into an aerial battle with a dragon."

The gigantic body of the dragon had brought them power and life that was far beyond those of the humans. Speaking only about the surge of power, powerful warriors or mages could potentially defeat a giant dragon. They might even be capable of killing one. However, in term of endurance, the giant dragon would undoubtedly win the battle. Hence, it would be a dumb decision to get into an aerial battle with a dragon.

That was reasonably said though.

Joshua was in a bitter battle because he got into an aerial battle with the black dragon.

As a pragmatist who grew stronger with every battle he participated in, Joshua had already used his strongest attack in the beginning of the battle to inflict the most damage to his enemy. Sometimes, he might even get to instantly kill his opponent. The [Sunlight Spear] and the [Sunlight Blade] that he used were also his ultimate attacks that produced stunning results. The dracospider died instantly while the black dragon had its chest and its backbone slashed open—based on his countless experience on slaying dragons, he knew that the outcome of the battle had been locked. He knew he would be the one who would win the battle by the end of it.

Even though he did not have the strength to smash his opponent's heart to pieces because his left arm was brushed by the black dragon's breath, yet apart from slimes, there has never been a creature in this world that could fight back even with half their torso and spine cleaved in half, not even dragons!

However, the giant dragon that were currently battling Joshua for its own life had totally ignored that one iron rule.

Its lungs were split open and the arteries near its heart were cut off. The endless red Combat Aura that was directed into the body of the dragon by the silver Divine Armament made the dragon's body implode, which caused a mess out of the muscles and blood flow in its body. Such serious injuries should have fatally wounded or killed the black dragon. However, it still had enough strength remaining to roar out in rage, wrenching its long neck searching for a position getting itself reach to bite the man with a silver greatsword in his hand standing right before its chest.

Boom!

A punch was launched along a thunderous sound. A powerful impact tore a hole in the atmosphere. The deafening explosive sound came from the tip of the warrior's fist. Joshua was clenching his teeth which began to reveal cracks around them. He was using his left arm that seemed bloody and almost shattered to regain control over the giant dragon by grabbing down on its jaw. Because of that, he managed to avoid being bitten on his shoulder by the giant dragon.

With the greatsword that was plunged in the middle of the black dragon's chest as the support point, the warrior pressed both of his legs against the blood and flesh of the dragon, treating the blood and flesh of the dragon as his standing ground. In the meantime, he was pressing the greatsword deeper towards the heart of the black dragon with his left hand while holding himself against the struggle of the giant dragon with his left hand.

The warrior had enhanced his own power with both his martial art skills and Combat Aura. Furthermore, his Divine Armament was also pumping raw enhanced magic through him. So currently speaking from only the perspective of power, Joshua was almost as powerful as the giant dragon. At least the situation was as mentioned when the dragon was heavily wounded now. On the other hand, speaking from only the perspective of endurance, both of them were at about the same level. The contaminated blood of the black dragon was gushing out from the opening of the wound, exhausting the stamina of the black dragon at an insanely fast rate. Meanwhile, every bone in the left hand of the warrior was crushed and shattered. They were being held up together purely by the Joshua's own Combat Aura.

Fortunately, because of the injuries on its backbone, the black dragon could not use its front limbs to deal immense damage that could obliterate the mountains to Joshua. Or else, the warrior would have been smashed like meat pieces, or get incinerated into ash and dust.

Both of them were inflicted with heavy injuries that could have caused either any man or any dragon to lose their battle capability for the moment. However, neither had thoughts of surrendering. Instead, they chose to continue falling while they were battling each other.

Distance from the ground, 500 meters!

This dragon seemed bizarrely odd!

Joshua, with his furious burning gaze, took a closer look at the flesh of the enemy right in front of his eyes. Instantly, he saw countless small tentacles wiggling around the wounds and injuries of the giant dragon. They seemed to be attempting to heal the wounds! At the same time, these tentacles were also attempting to push the Divine Armament that was being pushed closer and closer towards the heart of the giant dragon. That tremendous amount of power seemed like it was about to bounce the greatsword out from the body of the dragon!

Tsk! This black dragon that was corrupted by Chaos was no longer a normal living creature. It had become something like the Aragami, the beings that were blessed by the Evil Gods. That being said, any normal heavy damage or damage to its vulnerable weak spots would no longer work on the dragon!

Along with the black dragon's attacks that went berserk, the dark purplish mist was once again spread into the surroundings through its wings. The mist then engulfed the body of the warrior and the black dragon. Meanwhile, upon understanding that point, Joshua immediately switched to using another method to attack. He knew that it was pointless to continue fighting this type of monster. If his judgement was wrong in the first place, then he needed to change his mindset immediately!

Distance from the ground, 200 meters!

Having nothing left to think, Joshua pulled out the silver greatsword that almost penetrated the heart of the dragon. Instantly, the black blood began to ooze out like a fountain, splashing Joshua's body once again. Meanwhile, the black dragon that intended to attack Joshua suddenly froze. He could feel that its entire body had lost all of its energy to move.

Although the greatsword was plunged in its body, however, the sword had also suppressed the blood vessels and muscles of the dragon. Before that, the dragon attempted to prevent its heart from being cut in half. It had been using its muscle power in an attempt to squeeze out the greatsword. However, now that the warrior suddenly pulled the sword out, the dragon had squeezed most of its blood out through the wound as he was focusing all its strength on removing the sword out of its wound previously. As the remaining blood in the dragon's body was not much to begin with before losing more blood, the dragon instantly lost most of its stamina to the point that it was on the verge of dying.

Distance to the ground, last 30 meters!

"Just go down like a good puppy!"

While the dragon froze, Joshua took advantage of it. The warrior who was as exhausted as the dragon straight away reached out his leg and kicked it right in the chest wound of the dragon. After all, he no longer needed to use any fancy ultimate skill to end this. All he needed to do was to use his body that had been enhanced by ten levels and kick right at the center point of the dragon to shove it down to the round!

Distance from the ground—zero meters!

Boom!

Instantly, one large and one small cloud of fog exploded on the surface of the black ground. Those were the impacts that Joshua and the black dragon crushed down onto the ground. The dust and sand were stirred up vigorously into the air by the shockwaves of the impacts.

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Chapter 102: The Fall of the Berserk Dragon

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

It was most pointless to battle a colossal beast. They do not know about one's highly mastered skills or how hard one trained in order to get those skills. They only knew the simplest ways to attack. They would only use those simplest skills to fight until one remained.

However, it was also the highest honor to battle a colossal beast as they were born with immense power and had the power of the bloodline. Because giant beasts were pure, so if you can hunt them and kill them, that would mean that your power could be unmatchably powerful.

The dragon was deemed as the most powerful among all other giant beasts. One could become an artistocrat if he or she was capable of slaying a dragon.

Upon waiting for the impact of the crashes to calm, there were only gray smokes riding into the sky from the ground. There were two smoke columns, one big and one small, rising into the sky above in the middle of the Dark Forest.

Because before they fall to the ground, the red light was emitting an oppressive power wave while the black light was emitting a faint scent of a Berserk Dragon. As the two intertwining lights were falling down with intimidating waves, the daemons in the surroundings were retreating in attempt to avoid from being caught in the middle of that battle. None of them dared to get near. With the two lights as the center point, there were no daemons at all within the radius of a hundred meters.

—Because, right there, that dragon was their 'king'.

Kachak…

At the source point of the rising smoke column that was smaller, right in the middle of the crater, a soft sound was heard. There was a visible shadow of a man and a silver greatsword with a reflective blade.

Opening his eyes swiftly, two red lights were visible. When Joshua woke up from a short-term concussion, he could only feel that his two ears were buzzing insanely. All sorts of noises were overwhelming his mind. He felt chaotic at the moment.

He looked at the surroundings instinctively. However, he noticed that everything around him was just dark. Sand and dust were flying all over the place. There was a miserable roaring sound coming from afar.

The ground began to rumble. That was the sound of the Dark Tide charging forward. The warrior immediately reacted to the situation he was in right now.

"It seems that I could not fully nullify the impact of the fall. What a bad fall."

Muttering softly to himself, Joshua shook his head for a bit and wiped away the blood that was dripping down from his forehead. Meanwhile, a large amount of data appeared right in front of his eyes.

[Unknown Martial Art Posture: During first engagement, Strength, Agility, Endurance 15 Points]

[Unknown Power Surge: Within two minutes, Strength, Agility 20, Endurance -15]

[Divine Armament Transformation Level 2: Outburst State, Strength, Agility, Endurance 10, Spirit Sense 5]

[Guardian's Strength of Inheritance: All Attributes permanently 20. For each Chaos Daemon slain, all Attributes 0.01 (Upon death, appoint a bloodline to inherit this power. The Inheritance compatibility differs based on individual quality)]

[Berserk: Agility 20, Strength 15, Endurance -20]

[Steel Armor Kokyu-ho: Reduce Physical Damage received…]

[Left arm heavily wounded…]

Martial arts, Combat Aura, Skills… all sorts of enhanced status, enhanced abilities and passive skills, everything had been added onto Joshua. These enhancements were enough to improve his entire attributes by almost two times. Furthermore, the drastic increase in his level before this had boosted the quality of his body by a lot, leading the warrior to become capable of waking up from the concussion from the impact of falling almost instantly.

Using the silver greatsword that he had been holding on to since the beginning of the battle to support himself, Joshua stood up on his feet in the middle of the crater that was formed from the impact of his own fall. At the same instant, regardless of whether it was his bones or his muscles, his skins or his internal organs, every single part of his body from the top to the bottom, from the inside to the outside, the warrior was suffering the excruciating pain that could torment a grown man into surrendering his life and die. However, Joshua was not bothered by that.

If heaven was on the left, the warrior would go to the right. As a legendary warrior in the previous life, he had experienced countless battles. He survived far more battles and more fatal injuries than anyone could imagine. So these injuries that he had currently were just like mosquito bites. Compared to the injuries he had while he was crossing into this time, his wounds were not really that bad.

He could still fight.

Taking one step after another walking out of the smoke that was beginning to disperse, the strength of the Gold-tier warrior was slowly recovering over the time. His wounds were slowly recovering. Although the injuries to his internal organs that were caused by the falling impact could not be healed for the moment, all other wounds and injuries that were minor had been sealed shut. The purplish bruises were also slowly fading away. By the time Joshua walked out of the smoky area, other than his left arm, every single wound and injury on him had completely healed.

Of course, the bones that were shattered in his left arm could not be healed within such a short period of time. That was the cost that Joshua must bare for making a slight miscalculation in his judgment. He misjudged that he was battling a dragon. However, he had not imagined that this dragon had already mutated into god knows what kind of monster.

"I should have noticed this earlier on. The dragon-slaying stone did not have any intense reaction in the first place. This is a pure-blood dragon. The outcome of the reaction was just similar to the reaction when the stone was exposed to the half-blood dracospider."

After reflecting on his own mistakes for a brief moment, Joshua sighed. Because he had not slain a dragon for so long, he got carried away and forgot how terrifying the Chaos corruption could me.

Once Chaos invaded, doomsday would follow. That was the Chaos that came from the void, a world that did not belong there. Chaos would corrupt and invade on a worldwide scale. Its existence was purely dreadful. It was deemed to be the eternal enemy of the world order, also the only ignited flame of the origin that existed in the first place.

Its corruption… how could it be possible that any living things would be able to maintain their initial attributes? In other words, the appearance of the Corrupted Black Dragons that spread the Berserk Dragon viruses looked too much alike as the regular Chaos Daemons. That was why Joshua was under the impression that he was still battling a dragon.

After all, it was just like a virus. The destructive dragon that was born from a corpse really matched Chaos too well.

"Hiss rawgh—!"

Along with the howling winds, an unusual roar came from the large impact crater not far from Joshua. Along with the iconic dark purplish mist of the black dragon that rises into the sky, a black shadow slowly emerged from the smoke. It went out of the gray smoke and dust there were flying all over the place, walking towards Joshua while staring at Joshua with its one and only golden eye from afar.

The black dragon was not dead yet.

Just like half a month ago, it was just similar to what Joshua saw in the distress letter that Vale Dani sent to him. Half of the body of this dragon was white-golden while the other half was dark as night. The golden half of the dragon had a horn that grew upward whereas the dark half of the dragon had a horn that bent downwards to its neck. While obvious, the dragon eyes were different. The dark half of the dragon was missing an eye while the golden half of the dragon had its eye shut. This duo-colored dragon had big and wide wings with powerful sharp claws on its edge. Each of its limb were filled with muscles that rippled with power.

However, now, because of the corruption of Chaos, that half body of the dragon that was golden-white had been contaminated with some dark purplish color. Something… perhaps with a conscience had corrupted it and started an uncontrollable mutation in the dragon. As a result, the dragon was unable to maintain its original form.

Right before its chest, because Joshua had struck its chest with a blast of [Sunlight Blade] and intimidating power of the dragon-slaying stone, there was a huge wound that was still dripping with liquid. However, the liquid that was dripping out of the wound was no longer blood. It had become some sort of unusual mucus. When the mucus dripped onto the ground, the surface of the solid ground decayed, leaving holes and some strange foul stench in the air.

Meanwhile, there were countless small tentacles wriggling all over the wound on the dragon's chest. They were combining into strings of granules before combining altogether. It did not take long before that long wound that was cut open on the chest of the black dragon to heal and leave behind a long scar. There were signs of glittering black red lights around the wound though.

As the cost of healing, the Corrupted Black Dragon's half white-golden body had now completely vanished. The entire dragon had completely become a black gigantic daemon. It no longer emitted the scent of a dragon, instead, it was rippling with pure Chaos waves.

"Rawgh… rawgh!!!"

Roaring in a low and miserable voice, Joshua who had been looking into its eyes since the beginning could tell that the black dragon would not give in before it was completely corrupted by Chaos.

It was still not willing to let go.

One moment right before the Corrupted Black Dragon could scatter and disappear, the only thing that it could recall was that scene.

Life was defined by that scene. The dragon that was halfway going through metamorphosis had been ambushed by one of its same species which managed to do it a little faster than it could. So the dragon had no choice but to stop its awakening process that could only happen once in its entire life. Meanwhile, right after that, endless pain and suffering was oppressing its mental state, causing the dragon which once roamed across the Dark Forest freely to fall into the corruption of Chaos.

"Chaos is the enemy of Order."

Upon taking a deep breath, Joshua managed to recover himself almost back to his former state. He gripped his weapons tightly. His Combat Aura was once again blazing around his body.

Upon seeing the black dragon's body changing and mutating drastically, the eyes of the warrior looked tired. He lifted the silver Divine Armament in his hand and aimed the tip of it towards the daemon that was looking at him with its purely insane eyes.

"Poor Berserk Dragon… You have met your doom before you could complete your awakening process."

So, just die.

"… Hiss! Rawgh—!"

Not understanding the words of the warrior, this daemon was merely hating the living being that was emitting out waves of Order.

Upon roaring out loud in rage, right in the middle of the berserk sound waves that was trembling the entire atmosphere in the air, that was a complete mutation. That Chaos dragon had mutated into something that had a pair of huge wings with six arms. It possessed a strange and immense power. Its six limbs were distorted. After reaching them all out ferociously, the dragon directly leaped into the air from the ground. The giant body that was tens of meters tall rushed towards Joshua along with the dark purplish Chaos mist surging around its body.

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Chapter 103: Avatar!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Chaos was just something like that. It would just corrupt the mind and soul, body, and will of a living being without any sound or scent. It would extinguish the flame in the hearts of men bit by bit. After that, the corrupted would fall into Chaos and get turned into living corpses or puppets without any sense of free will.

Chaos that emerged in the northern sealed land and the being that was responsible for the ambush at the high seas of the south. There must be a large conspiracy behind all those incidents. That conspiracy would undoubtedly affect the lives and the fates of countless men. It could even be the origin of the countless historical quests that happened in the previous life. It could also be the first reason why catastrophic disasters and wars happened in the first place.

It might be possible that all of these happenings were just a part of the conspiracy that the worshipers and believers of the Evil Gods had been planning for over hundreds of years. They had been waiting for the right moment with patience. As long as they could get the dimensional rift activated, their plans that they went through a lot of hardships just to get everything in place would begin to be set in motion. They would be pulling the world into Chaos one step after another as time pass by.

So what?

Joshua did not give a sh*t about it.

Just like that dracospider which Joshua blew off half of its body, just like the black dragon which was oppressed by Joshua so much that it could not even use any skill to attack Joshua, and just like the Gold-tier frost butterfly that had been hiding in between the blizzard and the clouds.

Conspiracy—was utterly pointless!

Saving Moldova or the entire continent was not as complicated as anyone thought! As long as Joshua could take out all enemies and launch an explosive punch at the dimensional rift to shatter it, the problem would be solved!

The frost butterfly that was concealing itself far away in the clouds had once again summoned the blizzard. The sky was once again covered by dark clouds. The ice and snow that was infused with the power of Chaos had once again poured down from the sky. The two smoke columns were being blown away by the strong howling winds and the wind from the blizzard. Meanwhile, at the same instance, Joshua was acting like how he usually react while he was facing the charging black dragon right before his eyes. He did not choose to dodge. Instead, he lifted his head and looked at every move that the black dragon was doing.

Chaos was gathering.

It was just like dirty water flowing all into the same abyss. That purely black body of the monster that had no sign of any life was surging vigorously with waves of Chaos power. Then there was a stream of contaminated black trace left in the sky.

Even after the black dragon had lost its free will and wisdom, its strength was still much more powerful than a normal human. In just one brief moment, that monster had charged over hundreds of meters over to ram Joshua at the speed that was faster than the speed of sound. The huge body of the monster that was tens of meters tall charged over, rippling shockwaves, stirring the air all around into small black tornados. The current of air flowing around was insanely fast and violent as if the wind could potentially tear metal and steel apart.

Meanwhile, this body no longer had a soul, nor any wisdom. It had become a mere walking dead.

Therefore, it was vulnerable now!

"Ha!"

Lifting his right arm that was holding the silver greatsword and placing the sword before his eyes, Joshua was facing towards the enemy which had recovered back to its full state with his half-wounded state. At that moment, there was no sign of any expression on Joshua's face. He let out a roar and completely disappeared out of the monster's sight all of a sudden.

On the next moment, he already began charging towards his enemy.

Right at the 0.001 second, a black and a red light dot were seen clashing into each other in the middle of the sky. The sound barrier was broken through by the intense sound of the impact and the flying snow in the surroundings was flushed away by the shockwave that was emitted out from the impact point of the two light dots. At that moment, as an intense light flashed into the surroundings, there was no other sound could be heard in this world. Everything went completely silent.

After the silence, along came a shrilling hurricane that blew all dirt and sand off the ground, away from the entire region of this land. The only things that were left on the land were the rocks and some solid frosty ground.

A large shadow was seen flipping round and round flying out of the clashing lights. Then the shadow crash landed on the ground. Meanwhile, one large shadow and one small shadow had also flown out of the clashing point of the lights in the sky, leaving traces over hundreds of meters across the surface of the ground.

The battle was not as intense as anyone had imagined it to be. It was even simpler than the battle while the two of them were intertwined with each other while falling from the sky before that. This battle had ended in one split moment.

There was no soul to direct the magic power. It was just a disorganized stream of water. There was no wisdom controlling the flesh. It was merely a moving piece of meat. It was true that the Chaos cured black dragon's injuries and restored its power back to full. However, it also took away the one thing that the black dragon needed to stand a chance battling against the Gold-tier warrior.

Struggling to stand up from the ground while holding on his silver greatsword, Joshua did not say a word. He turned around and looked at the large body that seemed to remain unmoved.

During the moment when the battle started, Joshua made use of his opponent for rushing straight at him. He stopped the black dragon's head and withstood the impact of that headbutt. With a swing of his sword, he cut off the head of the black dragon. That Chaos daemon did not even know how to dodge anymore. Although Joshua had also sustained quite a lot of damage holding back against the impact of the black dragon's head ramming into him, he could still handle that amount of damage done to him.

Hundreds of meters away from him, the daemons in the surroundings began to get agitated. They could feel that the breath of their 'king' had suddenly vanished. The only existence that could bring terror to them had almost vanished. That had led the daemons to lurk from afar. However, their instincts were telling to stall first. So they did not move yet.

However, that did not have anything to do with the warrior. He had walked across hundreds of meters all the way to the front of the black dragon.

There was no blood oozing or flowing out of the huge wound from the remaining neck of the dragon. There as only some disgusting black mucus dripping off the cut wound. The black corrosive liquid had melted the land and the rocks, giving out some stinky stench that could make people dizzy for smelling it. Upon confirming the dragon's death, Joshua felt relieved and let out a breath. His face finally revealed a real smile.

This battle was not tough for him, instead, Joshua felt contented with it. Joshua's heart was actually really simple and pure. He only sought for the pleasure that only existed when both sides were going all out at each other in a battle. That pleasure could lift off the tiredness in his body.

Wait a minute, tiredness?

Upon setting his thoughts on that, the red eyes of the warrior widened.

He had not forgotten his misjudgment of the dragon-slaying stone; that black dragon was a Chaos daemon in the purest form of Chaos. So why didn't the Azurite react? What about the physical feedback?!

Something was off. That dragon was not dead yet!

Just when Joshua reacted to the whole situation, he noticed that the dark purplish mist had once again risen up around the headless corpse of the black dragon!

"Master, beware!"

The anxious voice of the Divine Armament passed through Joshua's mind. However, before that, the warrior had begun to back off a little after his instinct told him to do so. He pulled his legs down a little and he was ready to leap backward in an attempt to gain some distance in between him and the dragon.

However, feeling his body tensing up and froze, Joshua could feel that his legs were drained. He lowered his head to have a look at his legs just to notice that there was some dark purplish color spreading up from the bottom of his legs. There were also lines of strange runes extending on the part of his legs that were tainted by the dark purplish color.

Berserk Dragon Virus! Chaos power corruption! When did it happen?!

That's right, while they were caught in an aerial fight in the middle of the sky; attacking each other violently and intensely. So the blood of his opponent must have entered his own body by accident, through the wound on his body.

It was pointless for Joshua to recall on that now. Even with his legs drained, he could still back up a little without a problem. He immediately controlled his Combat Aura and blew out an impact below his body. The powerful impact then pushed his body towards the direction the aimed to go. However, even though he was temporarily far away from the black dragon, the dark purplish mist had shrouded the entire body of the Warrior. His body had been infected with the Berserk Dragon Virus. That had also contaminated his will.

Order and Chaos were always conflicting with each other. So for both sides, their opposition side was like the most deadly poison.

"Hiss—"

A strange hissing sound came from the remaining body of the dragon that was unleashing the mist. The black dragon that was headless stood back up on its feet. The large body was shaky a little as if it could just collapse back onto the ground anytime. However, regardless of anything, the dragon was not dead yet.

After standing firmly on its feet, it began to vibrate its vocal cords. Its lungs were also exhaling air. However, without the head, the black dragon could not let out an intimidating dragon roar like it was doing when its head was still attached. Regardless of everything, it was still the source that spreads the Chaos. It was still the alpha among all frenzied monsters in the entire Mount Great Ajax—their king!

"Rawgh!!!"

Sensing the breath of the Berserk Dragon once again, the endless horde of the daemons that were observing from the sides was once again agitated to attack! Regardless of whether it was a giant buffalo or a demonic bear, or a berserk bee or a termite, anything that was corrupted by Chaos, or any daemons that was infected by the Berserk Dragon Virus, they had received the same order at the same time!

Take out that human!

Rumbling!!!

The mountains began to tremble, so did the Dark Forest. Endless hordes of frenzied monsters began to charge at Joshua like a gushing tidal wave under the order of their 'beloved' king!

Facing the ferocious horde of daemons charging towards him, having the bones in his left arm completely shattered and both of his legs being infected with the Chaos venom, there was no expression at all on Joshua's face. Before that, there was still a smile on his face, but now, there was nothing. He looked at the black dragon that was slowly retreating from not far from him. The deep wound on its neck was wriggling vigorously as if a second head was about to pop right out of the wound.

"Pretending to be dead. That's your final life-saving card?"

Sighing in a low voice, a white steam was exhaled right out of Joshua's mouth. Then the white steam was blown away by the strong current of wind. Standing in the middle of the blizzard snow, the Warrior who was battling alone had a sense of sarcasm in his eyes.

Black dragon… you've brought so much problem to me, giving me a battle that I've long waited for. I should feel contented now.

You should have been an opponent worthy to be respected. However, no one would have thought that the moment after you've been corrupted by the Chaos, you actually became a pathetic and sad creature.

So why would the frenzied monsters care about an enemy that was standing still on the ground? Regardless of whether Joshua's both legs were still in good condition or moveable or not, they were currently charging at Joshua like a wave of mad daemons. They were ready to attack. They were ready to destroy anything that stood in front of them. So the daemon horde had not noticed the strange change on the warrior's body, and also the light circle that was getting more obvious as time passes.

Sticky saliva was dripping down to the ground from between the teeth of the monsters. Their sharp claws had crushed the rocks on the ground they stomped on. They were approaching Joshua closer and closer with every passing moment. Joshua could even smell the disgusting scent of their bodies now.

The enemies were just right before his eyes.

At that moment, Joshua had finally made peace to go with his decision. He took a deep breath and raised the silver greatsword that he was holding tight in his hand. The warrior's red eyes began to emanate red-golden radiance. He was facing an endless wave of enemies while laughing with pride, "Final trump card… I have that as well."

Boom!

Along with an explosive tremble, having Joshua as the center point of it, a golden radiance that was emanating brightly instantly enlarged into a light barrier. After that, it expanded rapidly into the surroundings. In the middle of the golden light, all the impurities and Chaos that were scattered in the atmosphere were dispelled. The fierce and vigorous Combat Aura turned into a burning flame, surging around the warrior's body. His body was currently being pumped with an unparalleled power. His veins and bones were buzzing. His muscles were expanding. His blood was coursing through his veins like an endless powerful flowing river stream.

In the meantime, the violent sound that carried along boundless anger penetrated through the blizzard and the wind, overshadowing the howling and the roaring of the daemons. That sound echoed back and forth on the land.

"Allow me to show you the final attack of a warrior!"

At the same time, right before the sight view of Joshua, there were a series of words in gold appeared—

[Mastery: Avatar 1 !]

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Chapter 104: Cutting It in Half with a Sword!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Having no clue why, the flying snow had suddenly vanished. The dark clouds began to scatter then disappear. Sunlight started to shine upon the ground. Under the bright shining light of the sun, the red-golden light aura stayed around Joshua. The high-temperature was distorting the air around. The turbulent air flow was raging around. There was even a translucent shockwave spreading out in all directions. Meanwhile, the overbearing momentum had forced the monster horde to stop their assaults on Joshua. After that, they did not dare to approach Joshua at all.

[Avatar]'s insane power was surging back and forth around the body of the warrior, clearing out any sign of contamination, Chaos or any other traces of evil in his body. Under the unparalleled burst of his Combat Aura, any other traces of elemental power from the outside had been wiped clean. Needless to say, the Berserk Dragon Virus and the Chaos power that were spreading fast into his body were wiped out; the red golden radiance flashed. Those strange lines of runes immediately vanished without a trace. The fatigued muscles on his legs were restored back to normal. His legs were filled with energy once again.

Boom!

Taking a step forward, the ground trembled. Joshua held his sword with only one hand. He did not show the slightest hint of hesitation on his face. He was determined to charge into the Dark Tide, towards the black dragon that was shielding itself behind the tremendous horde. Along with his vigorous steps forward, strong winds howled. There was a distorted red light line right behind his back while he was charging forward. From that moment on, the warrior no longer held back at all. In any case, he could not afford to hold back now. He had to unleash his full power now!

Right in the eyes of the daemons and the Aragami, all they could see was a faint glow of a red lightning strike, followed by a silver flash that was reflected from the blade of a greatsword. Their purplish blue eyes could only see Joshua's shadow. Before they could see anything else, their heads were already being cut off and sent flying into the air.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

Joshua's shadow went straight through the formation of daemons. The daemons that were on his two sides were all dead the moment he passed by. Their heads were all cleaved right off their bodies by Joshua's greatsword. Their bodies were slashed opened like they were made of thin papers. The spilling blood splattered so frequently that the battlefield looked as if it was being shrouded in blood mist all over the place. After that, the blood evaporated into steamy blood mist! Meanwhile, when the Berserk monsters only began to react to the situation after being attacked by Joshua, Joshua had already gone past them. He had reached a further place when the daemons started to react.

"Just break off already!"

Upon letting out a raging roar, followed by creating a powerful air blade strike towards the monsters in front of him, Joshua slashed tens of daemons right in front of him with the air blade strike at the same instant like they were made of paper-thin material. In the meantime, he swung his sword half a circle and took out a few of the crystallized Aragami that were charging at him. After that, Joshua took the opportunity to push forward through the empty path that he just cleared out for himself. His movements were fluid with no signs of hesitation whatsoever.

At the same time, on the third second after Joshua began charging forward, the black dragon was beginning to heal. Its two horns and eyes had not even grown back yet.

[Avatar] was known as the final attack of all warriors. That final ultimate skill could be deemed as a powerful life source that could eliminate all negative status and negative effects, canceling any effect of any spells. However, as the cost of it, the user would have to exhaust 10% of his or her Combat Aura in each passing second. Meanwhile, that was the main reason Joshua had been trying to avoid using that skill. Once it was activated, even if he was at this full strength, he might not be able to last more than ten seconds.

Currently, because of the corruption of the Chaos magic that was coursing through his legs, Joshua had no choice but to activate this final skill. And because of that skill, his left arm that that was broken could still be used around in the battle. He need not worry about any restriction caused by the Gift spells cast by daemons from other worlds.

Shoosh!!

Although the greatsword that Ying transformed into was not very convenient to be swung around, the impact and power that it wielded were unrivaled. Any daemon would just be cut in half by the sharp blade of the sword, even one gentle touch would do it. Because of that, the daemons would also lose a chunk of flesh or more upon getting in contact with the Combat Aura that was surging vigorously around the sword.

Without a moment to waste, Joshua continued to slay any daemon or Aragami within his reach. He was relying on the restoration effect that the Azurite could offer to maintain the effect of his [Avatar]. The silver greatsword was being whirled around like a silver tornado surrounding the warrior. Any daemon that attempted to get near would immediately be shredded into pieces.

When a warrior had an extraordinary power that exceeded everyone's expectation, skills that were fully adapted and mastered, and an unstoppable resolution, then no one or nothing could stand in his way. No one could stop him from moving forward.

The mountains would not be able to, neither would the seas. Hence, the endless Dark Tide would not be able to stop him as well!

His right arm had been swinging around to the point that no one could even see the shadow of his arm. The silver flashes of the reflection from the sword were stacking up layer by layer, so fast that Joshua looked like he was currently shielded by a silver radiating barrier. Instantly, the daemons all around him were getting slashed up as if they were devoured by the radiating barrier that were actually flashes of reflection from the blade. Although Joshua had his left arm heavily injured at the moment and he was forced only to use one hand in battle, however, his assaults were still as intimidating as before when he was wielding both his greatsword and his lance. He was charging forward swiftly, turning himself into a stream of golden light cutting through the Dark Tide. In the meantime, the daemons were cut in half one after another and their heads were sent flying all around the air.

"A chance!"

With a swing that swept horizontally across the air, the sword landed right on a daemon that was in the form of a rhino. The neck of that daemon was broken and distorted by the immense impact of the strike. Then the huge body of the daemon slammed onto the ground and it began to tumble. The next thing that happened was that the huge and heavy body of the daemon rolled onto a group of daemons. Joshua swept his eyes across the situation in his surroundings and he instantly noticed that he was only less than fifty meters away from the black dragon that was about to completely regrow its head! Half of its head had already grown back!

In the meantime, on the sixth second after Joshua activated his [Avatar, even though the Azurite was endlessly recharging Joshua's power back up, however, Joshua only had approximately 20% Combat Aura left!

"Rise!"

The warrior stomped his feet onto the ground with might, which generated an intense explosive sound. Then the ground that was rock solid was shattered by the impact of that stomp. A large crack appeared, and the initially flat ground was separated into a few smaller parts. Meanwhile, after the mountains and the ground trembled violently, a large rock rose from the ground. It was like a huge monolith standing solidly in the middle of the monster horde. However, it was just a rock though.

Boom!!!

With two steps out, Joshua leaped onto the top of the huge rock. Adjusting himself ninety degrees from the ground, he bent his legs down and his muscles tightened up. Meanwhile, his eyes peered at the Dark Tide monsters. He was looking directly at the black dragon that was completely corrupted by Chaos. The red blazing radiances in his eyes appeared to be boiling.

Combat Aura was a form of power that could only be generated when one's body had been trained to the limit. It was very simple to use it. All you need to do is to ignite your heart, your flame, your will, and your belief.

Currently, the warrior's Combat Aura was set ablaze to the limit!

Joshua knew no strategy. He did not even want to consider using any dirty tricks!

He could become the Legendary warrior all by himself mainly because no one could beat him!

Kicking off both feet, a shockwave stirred up the dust all around. The standing huge rock immediately rolled after being pushed by the shockwave that was visible. The warrior used the rock as his standing point and he pushed himself into unleashing his fastest speed. He was charging at the fastest speed an arrow could travel!

Right in the middle of the sky, he laughed out loud. "I'm strong not because I'm a legendary warrior!"

Instead, Joshua was called the legendary warrior because he was strong!

These bunch of pathetic weaklings! They'd better not confuse the cause and effect of it!

Along with the prideful statement, the red golden radiance was shot into the sky like a meteor that was blazing on with an aura that could annihilate anything, breaking off the tide of the Dark Tide, pushing towards the chaotic black dragon that was heavily protected by many daemons. In the meantime, Joshua had arrived right above the black dragon. The huge silver greatsword that was engulfed with the blazing Combat Aura was swung from the top to the bottom. The sharp edge of the blade was swung straight at the body of the black dragon!

Whoosh—!!!

It seemed like a normal slash with a sword. However, that swing of the sword had a strange whooshing sound. The wind was stirred along by an explosive force that burst in the air. As the blade went across the air and left a trace of a red light mark in the form of a line in the air, multiple explosive sounds were emitted right out the air. Just before the head of the black dragon was about to fully heal, just when Chaos energy had been charged to the maximum, just one moment before the dragon was about to undergo metamorphosis, the swing of the greatsword that was infused with Joshua's rage was slashed straight onto the head of the dragon!

The black dragon that was completely taken over by Chaos opened its mouth wide as if it was about to let out a raging roar. However, it was too late for anything now. Ever since it had lost its awareness, its body had become the possession of the Evil Gods. It had been condemned to be helpless against the attack of the warrior. Under the shining light of the Gold-tier warrior's Combat Aura, the black dragon could only 'stare' at Joshua's sword that came straight at it with its 'head' that had not even had its eye grown back!

Splat— Plik plak!!!

A red radiance was pulled down in a straight line right in between the huge body of the dragon. Meanwhile, the entire body of the dragon had been slashed open. The bones within the body were shattered into a million pieces. The sound of its bones being crushed continued on. The black dragon stood with its huge black body still on the ground. A line of red-golden light trace that looked like a line of boiling lava drain appeared right in the middle of its entire body. Slowly, the dragon's body was split in half.

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Chapter 105: The Dragon Died, but a Demon Rose

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Pulling the greatsword out of the ground, Joshua lifted his head and looked at the dragon that resurrected itself once before. He looked at the same dragon that he just killed one more time and remained silent.

Boom!

The gigantic body of the dragon slowly collapsed onto the ground. The impact from its body stirred the dust and sand on the ground up into the air. Meanwhile, some black mist that looked like threads floated out from the corpse of the black dragon as if they were trying to vanish into the air. However, the Azurite that was hanging right before Joshua's chest absorbed those black mist. The flame of order that was calm and powerful was burning vigorously within that small pearl. It was using the power of Chaos as its new source of fuel, turning such contaminating existence into an endless stream of power, restoring the stamina and power of the warrior.

That dragon had died for real this time.

After a long battle, things finally came to an end now.

"… Finally… it's done."

Sensing that there was a pure and enormous amount of energy restoring his Combat Aura and stamina, the tired Joshua wiped off the dust on his shoulders. Then he chose a rock and sat himself down. Then he closed his eyes and calmly control the power within his body in an attempt to heal his own wounds.

The dragon was dead now. That monster had not used any sort of Gift, nor did it show off its own melee combat skills that it was so proud of. The warrior had been suppressing it with ferocious attacks all the while throughout the battle. Because of that, it was fatally wounded and it got devoured by its own Chaos power. By the end of it, it was sliced in half by a sword that came right from the top all the way through it.

Currently, without the Berserk Dragon, without the so-called 'king' to lead them, the daemons in the surroundings instantly fell into chaos. Without receiving an order from a higher order or leader, the true nature of Chaos became even more obvious now. The daemons were beginning to lose their minds and roared around like they had just lost their purpose. They even started battling each other. Some of the daemons that were ferocious by nature even started to hunt down the other daemons in the surroundings just to fill their empty bellies.

However, regardless of how ferocious they turned out to be, none of them dared to approach the warrior who was resting up on the side. Looking at such a powerful existence that was capable of clearing out a path through the Dark Tide none of the daemons would want to provoke him.

After losing their leader, the true nature of the Chaos army had revealed itself; bully the weak and fear the strong. There was no such thing as sanity and logic in Chaos. Even if they were the same species, there was nothing there to stop them from slaughtering each other.

Sitting on the rock, breathing in the cold air, Joshua noticed that the blizzard was not the only thing that stopped. He was not bothered by that at all because he was also almost done with healing his own wounds all around his body. He could not care less about the daemons killing each other. That was because he had seen such scenes for far too many times in the previous life. So there was nothing special about it.

Furthermore, after he slew that black dragon for real, he had finally gotten himself some time to think about something else.

First of all, why would the existence of the outer world bestow the black dragon with such immense power?

Even though Joshua had slain this dragon twice, truthfully, only Joshua himself knew. If his attack was not violently consecutive and having no vulnerability at all, giving no chance for the black dragon to fight back, then the black dragon would have caused more harm to him in the previous battle. From the perspective of the warrior, the dragon must possess the power to breach the defenses of the fortress all by itself.

One must know that when the black dragon was enhanced by Chaos, it only used its simplest attack, the Breath Attack to break through the defense of Joshua's Steel Armor Kokyu-ho and his Combat Aura. If such a destructive power could be used to the max, even the thick metallic super wall that was as thick as tens of meters might not be able to withstand that attack—bestowing such power upon a Gold-tier daemon was obviously a little too much already.

At first, Joshua could not fathom the incident. However, currently, he had seen the true form of the Dark Tide where the Daemons were killing each other. The warrior finally knew the reason behind all that.

The Berserk Dragon Virus and Chaos could both cause endless descent and corruption to whoever was the victim of it. Meanwhile, the Corrupted Black Dragon was the core that controlled and spread Chaos across this world!

As the manipulator of the core to spread the Berserk Dragon Virus that was turned from Chaos, all Daemons that were corrupted would listen to the will of the black dragon. As the king of the Chaos Berserk Daemons, as long as the dragon wanted, it could subdue all daemons to submit to it. It could just order the daemons to jump off the cliff to drown themselves in the sea. Meanwhile, the existence behind this incident obviously wanted something that was completely opposite of this. They did not need a being that could control the Berserk Daemon Army but cannot be controlled by the existence itself.

So from that point of view, the black dragon's fall was a must. Even if the dragon was not oppressed by the series of intense attacks from the warrior himself, the dragon would still fall into the abyss of Chaos for being bestowed with too much power. After that, the dragon would still become a puppet to whatever entity that was lurking behind the incident.

However, regardless of whether it would fall or not, that dragon would still not be able to match Joshua's strength. That was an unquestionable truth.

"Rawgh!!!"

Suddenly, just when Joshua was still thinking about the incident, a thunderous roar was suddenly heard across the battlefield.

Along with the thunderous roar of the monsters, an dreadful feeling was felt in the atmosphere. Followed by a loud bang that might shatter the heavens, in the eyes of the warrior, the black radiating column of dimensional rift emerged once again not far from between heaven and earth. It stirred the dark clouds and pierced the sky while it was still spreading endless waves of Chaos energy into the surroundings.

"The dimensional rift… looks like this will be the last time."

Noticing the intense wave that the light column was nurturing, Joshua who had done adjusting himself looked grim while he stood on the rock. He turned his head around and looked at the pitch-black light column and the ever-expanding dark sky right above his head. Then, he grabbed the hilt of his Divine Armament tightly.

—Nearby the dimensional rift

A silhouette of a man that was surging with dark green radiance was pulling his dual blades out of the gigantic butterfly's corpse. A cold gray liquid that had a sweet yet bloody stench dripped right out from the wound.

This dead butterfly had a pair of translucent wings that had icy blue runes on them. The snow and frost were gathering because of these strange runes. Even the clouds were moved there. The clouds were basically gathering slowly to one spot as well.

Brandon was using his trembling hand to sweep away the sweat that was frozen on his head. Then he kept the dual blades back into their scabbards. After that, he took a deep breath and let the breath out, adjusting his Combat Aura to shake off all sorts of ice and crystals off his body.

Before that, he had gone through hell while he was charging through the Dark Tide. He was even surrounded by the daemons at a point. So now, the Gold-tier swordsman had finally arrived nearby the dimensional rift. However, he was a little unlucky. He actually stumbled across the Gold-tier frost butterfly while he was charging through the forest.

Even though the frost butterfly was not built for battle, it was still a Gold-Ttier daemon after all. So the two of them had prepared themselves for a battle in an instant. Facing an opponent of the same tier, the frost butterfly immediately stopped manipulating the weather of the sky. Then, dozens of magic spells with structures that looked simple but with destructive power that was not weak instantly flew towards Brandon like a thunderstorm.

Kachak!

Right in both of his eyes, the light blue radiance was circulating vigorously. With the force in his magical eyes, Brandon could easily break off the spells that the Gold-tier daemon threw at him. After that, he took a step forward and started charging forward; there was nothing much to say about what happened next. After a lot of battles, the Gold-tier swordsman had finally slain his opponent with his dual blades.

Although the battle was a little tougher than he expected, he won by the end of it.

However, not long after he could feel happy about his victory, suddenly, a violent tremble shook heaven and earth and a loud bang was heard. Everything came from deep within the forest right before Brandon's eyes. A gigantic black light column emerged and fly up into the sky, piercing through the clouds and the sky, tainting the sky with a layer of pitch black. Endless breaths from another world were gushing into the atmosphere of this world like a tidal wave. There was no boundary to it.

Maybe that was because he was being too near to the light column at the moment. Because of the Order Attributes imbued in him, he felt surprisingly disgusted by the presence of that light source. Brandon could also clearly felt that there was a condense terrifying energy right within the light column. That energy was hidden in the middle of the light column as if it was nurturing something.

"The dracospider is dead. Joshua is dealing with the black dragon. Meanwhile, I've just killed the frost butterfly… So if I destroy the dimensional passage to the other world, I might be able to put a stop to all of these. Chaos might stop invading our world!"

Muttering softly to himself, Brandon looked at the black light column and took a deep breath. Then he was tending to his body that was tired.

He should try to recover his status as much as he could before the final moment arrived.

—Moldova Fortress.

Right on top of the frozen wall, the Silver-tier knights were running back and forth. They were wielding their weapons around preventing the daemons from getting up to the wall. Meanwhile, the archers, mages, and the soldiers that were manning the cannons were aiming their attacks with calm precision. Along with the sounds of shooting cannon, arrows, and spells, the alchemy cannon blasts were bombarding the ground where the daemons were. Meanwhile, blood splattered all around the place like large red flowers blooming all over the place. At the same time, arrows and spells were raining intensely and vigorously upon the daemons, causing countless holes among the Black Rising.

Such situation would not be inconvenient for a human. However, it would not be convenient either. The two sides were still in a deadlock. The guarding force of the fortress was relying on the large number of supplies they acquired by spending a fortune and also things that they created with alchemy to reduce the number of daemons that were charging at the fortress. The situation would remain until one side collapsed.

However, suddenly, the daemons that were set on breaching the defenses of the fortress suddenly changed their mind. Their iron will to take down the fortress seemed to have been broken somehow. They began to kill each other among themselves. Even one daemon that was in lizard form suddenly gave up and left after it was just one step from stepping into the fortress. It just turned around and bit the other daemon that was right beside it. The two daemons suddenly got into a fight and fell off the wall, pushing the other daemons that were crawling on the walls along with them.

"What is going on… the Dark Tide seems to have descended into chaos?"

Right in the middle of the city, Vale Dani who was getting ready to move out furrowed her brows. She even blinked her eyes for a couple of times and looked far into the battlefield doubtfully. Then she muttered softly to herself, "Could it be possible that Brandon and Joshua have taken out the leader of the daemons?"

However, that should not be possible. Other than the monster ants, there were no other daemons that would begin killing among themselves after their leader died…

Just when she was getting deep in thought, a strange whistle that was difficult for the mortals to understand echoed through the mountains. There was a flash coming from far away, right in the middle of the Dark Forest. Along with an enormous magic tide emitting out, a stream of black light column was formed. The light column then rose into the sky straight away!

Vale Dani stood up from her chair right away. Her expression was of bewilderment and fear. "That's the third time that there's a strange phenomenon happening over the dimensional rift. Will Brandon and Joshua make it in time?"

Upon shaking her head, the violet-haired mage had a worried look on her face. She was not very happy about the fact that she could not follow her loved one and her ally into battle. However, regardless of that, Vale Dani understood. The fortress was the place that she could fully utilize her skills and abilities to the max.

After letting out a soft sigh, Vale Dani put both of her palms together and closed her eyes. Then she prayed to the gods.

"I pray that everything will be fine."

—right by the dragon's corpse.

Behind Joshua's back, the black dragon's corpse had gone through an unusual change under the influence of the enormous Chaos power that was brought into this world through the dimensional rift.

The body that was initially drained completely by the Azurite was now expanding up slowly. After that, the entire body turned into a shapeless muddy substance that looked like black liquid. That black liquid was decaying the ground and the rocks on the ground. Then it swiftly spread, making its way towards the other corpses of the daemons in its surroundings.

It was silent and scentless. Many corpses of the Berserk Daemons had been devoured by this black liquid just like that. They were completely sucked dry; that black liquid seemed to be gathering its strength, growling slowly into something more powerful. Not long after that, this shapeless black liquid had devoured more than a hundred corpses of the daemons, increasing its mass It became so much that it was even bigger than the size of the black dragon now.

Right by the shadow, this black liquid reached out towards Joshua who was walking towards the dimensional rift. It was reaching out as if it was extending its tentacles and spikes towards Joshua.

The dragon had died, however, a demon rose.

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Chapter 106: The Destruction of Killer Instinct

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

After the black water completely turned into tentacles which brought forth a heavy amount of destruction, it then immediately focused its attack on the man who killed it previously, aiming to fully devour him. Under the assault of this monster, Joshua was able to react accordingly.

The sudden attack launched by the monster happened completely unnoticed. Stealthily and speedily, without even a single trace of killing intent, it had completely hidden itself from the awareness of the surrounding. At the very last instant, it released an attack so powerful, which one could not find any form of openings.

Shick—

After a long drawn out battle, the fatigue Joshua was feeling finally kicked in. His instincts to sense danger were not completely functional at that moment. No matter how fast his physical body was, he was not able to fully dodge the attack in time. At that moment, there was a black tentacle shaped like a razor-sharp blade seen in the vicinity. On top of that razor-sharp blade, there were traces of fresh blood. Joshua had lost a part of his left shoulder after being assaulted.

The warrior's shoulder and remains of his armor flew up with a certain magnitude and landed in the black pool of mud. Without the protection of his Combat Aura, even if the warrior's physique was strong in the first place, it could not withstand the corrosion of the black substance. Just within seconds, the pile of flesh completely disintegrated.

"Damn it!"

Gurgle gurgle gurgle

The sound of digestion could be heard. Bones, flesh, and sand were being dissolved by the black substance. After devouring Joshua's flesh, the black puddle formed a semi-circular pile of moving sand. On top of the surface, multiple expressions of beasts in pain were seen. Those expressions were extremely pitiful as if they were begging for true death, releasing themselves from this utter torment.

Following the movement of the black puddle with sand and mud, the expressions kept changing non-stop. There were the faces of a rhinoceros, a winter wolf, daemons, worms, etc. There was even the shadow of a dragon seen within the scene. It was struggling within the black puddle and was extremely hideous.

Numerous distorted expressions were shown on top of numerous beast. There were even screams of despair releasing from depths of their soul.

"Is this the Formless Spawn or the Abyssal Mirebeast?"

After stopping his bleeding, Joshua no longer cared about the fact that he was attacked. With a calm and clear mind, he analyzed the issue right before him.

The beasts which came from the Chaos dimension were called Formless Spawns, descendants of the Evil Gods. The Abyssal Mirebeast were born from the remains of greater daemons from the abyss which had failed to evolve. Only these two categories of daemons had the capability to devour blood and flesh, together with the capability of strengthening their own soul. They also had the capability to withstand strong attacks and massive vitality to continue living.

He suddenly remembered during his aerial battle with the black dragon, there was a substance which interfered with their combat during that moment. In addition to the last moment where Joshua beheaded the dragon, there was no fresh blood to be found. Instead, a black viscous liquid dripped from the wound.

"Now I get it. Right from the start, this creature hid within the black dragon. Taking the opportunity when the host died and my focus relaxed, it launches its attack against me…"

Joshua did not even pay a single attention to the wound he just got inflicted upon. With his seemingly cold behavior, Joshua held onto his Divine Armament firmly. Within his words, there were traces of anger. The female Divine Armament felt these changes happening within her master through their pact. Even Ying felt terror with these changes.

A dense amount of killing intent… This had never been felt by Ying from her master. No matter how violent her master acted previously, there were still traces of enjoyment and excitement during his battles. But this, this was very different from the norm.

He was extremely pissed off!

All the bones on Joshua's left arm previously had already shattered without any ability to move around. At this moment, he even lost his shoulder blade bone which rendered his left arm completely useless. The arms right now depended on the last stretch of muscle to hang itself onto Joshua's body. It was very inconvenient.

The daemons within the vicinity were still trying to kill each other.

The ones that were slain would be sucked into the black substance and then consumed. This process allowed the black substance to keep increasing its height to more than ten-meters high. Joshua looked at the scene in front of him without saying a word, however, Ying could feel an intense rage roaring within the depths of Joshua's soul.

It was supposed to be a happy killing spree, why would these uninteresting events happen at the end?!

With a single step forward, the warrior's body turned into a flash of light and reached near the formless spawn. Joshua then raised his sword, forming a strong whirlwind and slashed the monster. The formless spawn itself was not solid in the first place, it was then slashed into numerous droplets. During that moment, the black substance tried to corrode the Divine Armament, but it failed due to a blazing aura coating the huge blade.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

Joshua used his remaining functional arm to wield the Divine Armament, putting forth a ferocious attack against the black substance like a monster in front of him. With each and every slash he made, he cut down every piece of tentacle which tried to perform a counter-attack. This black substance could not resist against the fierce onslaught from Joshua. Each and every time it tried to form an attack against Joshua, it was instantly disrupted by Joshua.

How could a monster without wisdom possibly think to analyze Joshua's attack? If its previous attack were to land on his right shoulder, it would be advantageous for it. However, now it had landed on his left shoulder which was practically useless in the first place, it could hardly affect the current combat capability of Joshua.

The problem for Joshua right now was no matter how many times he tried to destroy the monster, this black mud-like creature would only need to wiggle a little bit, and it will be fully healed again. The dragon-slaying stone engravings and Combat Aura were slowly fading with each attack, yet not much significant damage was seen on the monster.

"This is really bothersome,"Joshua muttered as he attacked.

Chaos beings were not easy to deal with. They were supposedly dead by default, yet their existence still persisted. They were like sticky bubble gum which was stuck to your hair, it just gives you that much of an annoyance to get rid of.

Behind his back, a loud rumble was heard. Without turning his head back, Joshua knew that it was the dimensional door that was trying to release the chaotic aura from the other dimension to invade the forest near Moldova so that this territory will be converted into the territory of Chaos.

This disgusting feeling really got on everyone's nerves. It felt really uncomfortable.

"I do not have time to waste on you. Brandon himself definitely does not have the capability to destroy the door alone. I have to go there immediately"

True Chaos could only be destroyed by fire.

The red Combat Aura slowly turned dim on the silver greatsword. The color change was close to black. Whenever an attack landed on the mud-like creature, it would cause more damage to this being. Each and every attack disintegrated more of the black puddle, which was also its life source.

Within the depths of Joshua's eyes, a light that brought silence and death was released. The black Combat Aura spread throughout Joshua's body and continued to combust.

Fire was the creator of the world and was the source of order. Its existence gave birth to life and brought forth order to the living. However, fire was not a kind existence. It could also create destruction and death towards all being, disintegrating them into ashes and nothingness.

It was the same as Combat Aura. Combat Aura was a source of life, yet it could devour another living thing.

Thus, the combustion of soul and will, gives birth to an incredible form of power. Across this long drawn battle, lots of daemons had been slain by Joshua. The afterimage of these daemons appeared within the flames that were surrounding Joshua. As Joshua focused, his thirst for combat increased. The power that was formed could only be stated as unique only to Joshua.

The hunger for killing and combat could never be satisfied. This was Joshua belief!

[Glorious Strength: Satsui Hadou!]

Voom!

A huge flame burst from Joshua's body. The armor which was damaged by dragon's breath and lava were instantly shattered into pieces when the flame surged upon Joshua's body. The strong power that rushed out from within Joshua's body had destroyed his own armor. The black-red Combat Aura had finally successfully transformed into a complete dark flame, coating Joshua's body.

This was the power that annihilated everything. It had been in a slumber within Joshua for many years. Finally, it was summoned by his master.

"If I cannot destroy you in one hit, I'll take 10, 100, 1000 or more."

Joshua stopped his attack for a moment. Facing this persistent creature which just could not die, Joshua had no more patience left. He raised his greatsword which was covered with a black aura. This black aura had caused numerous rocks and dead daemons' blood to be suspended in midair, which surrounded Joshua while rotating slowly.

Joshua was calm and collected at that moment.

"Disappear!"

The dark aura consumed Chaos. The killing intent from Joshua induced an aura of fear coated on top of the Divine Armament. At that very instant, the world lost its color and its light. A sudden silence covered the entire world. Out of a sudden, only a beam of light was seen, followed by numerous afterimage which shattered the silence of the world.

[Instant Thousand Cuts]

Within the darkness, a huge sword was swung onto the enemy. The sharp edge cut into the black mud at a quick pace, leaving only the afterimage of the greatsword. With the buff of the killing intent, the warrior was able to move his body to the utmost limit. Countless of slashes was released upon the enemy. Within this instance, the chaos creature was no more but numerous shattered pieces.

Disappear!

The attack using the strength to the utmost limit with condensed killing intent released thousands of slashes upon the chaotic being. These attacks landed on the body of this black entity and disintegrated it into nothingness. Even if the enemy was a chaos being, it could never live another day after sustaining such an attack.

As the darkness faded, Joshua's killing intent subsided and he kept his greatsword. Without caring about the creature's carcass, he moved toward the direction of the dimensional gate.

The Azurite on his chest was releasing waves and waves of heat. The power that was released aided in Joshua's recovery. Joshua was floating in the skies with black aura completely covering his whole body. Without any delay, he dashed towards the black pillar of light with incredible speed, only leaving behind his afterimage.

In any case, the battle which was not much of a big deal to Joshua finally came to an end.

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Starfall Year 831, 21st of December. 11 a.m.

That was the time where the Dark Tide attacked the fortress of Moldova for the third week. The blizzard might have subsided, yet there was still a very dim view surrounding the fortress even during the afternoon.

Deep at the center of the Dark Forest, there laid a spot where the cold wind and a very dense amount of magical energy could be found. From this location, the sun rays were not able to pierce through the forest as if a thick coating of darkness covered the land. The only light that could only be seen was when the daemons fought each other, and during their collision between each attack, provided a small glimpse of light within this complete darkness.

Nonetheless, due to the death of three Gold-tier daemons, the situation was not as critical as before. With the death of the corrupted dragon and frost butterfly, there was no longer condensed black mist and chaotic blizzard covering the land. All the remaining daemons were not a great threat towards the fortress. Even the flying-type daemons were mostly annihilated by the group of mages in the fortress.

The remaining land-based daemons could only try to kill each other for food, due to the lack of leadership after the Gold-tier daemon perished. They could not bring forth any threat to the fortress.

There were only a few scattered Aragami that would still bring forth some pressure and problems to the fortress.

In the heart of the Dark Forest, Joshua swung his sword while traveling at high speed and shattered the flying-type Aragami into pieces. At the same time, the atmosphere void of light devoured the remains of this dragonfly-like Aragami.

"Strange… There is not that much Aragami as I thought."

With heavy killing intent, Joshua's movements could no longer be traced by ordinary humans' eyesight. He could now travel a few hundred meters within seconds, leaving behind his afterimage only. The young warrior used not more than ten seconds to reach the location where the beam of black light was situated.

Meanwhile, he was communicating with his Divine Armament.

"Ying, can you sense how many Aragami there are within the vicinity?"

"There are a few only. Master, this situation is weird. Although the Chaos energy is extremely strong, there were not more than 5000 Aragami being summoned to this realm…"

Ying doubted herself for a while and said, "I am not sure if my detection mechanism has malfunctioned. This is the only number of Aragami I could detect."

Although Ying was now in the form of a weapon, she still had the detection rune which was engraved upon her to use to detect the overall environment, especially Aragami activity within her vicinity. The dimensional rift had already been activated three times. Under normal circumstances, there should be more than ten thousand Aragami breaching this dimension.

However, the current scenario was different from the normal occurrences. The number of enemies she detected was not even up to half of the Aragami in the past.

Without any change in expression, the Joshua who was covered with blood and slight wounds said, "Without sending any small trash to invade us, who knows that if they would send in the big guys after us."

"Big… guy?" The Divine Armament asked curiously. Joshua could not give her a solid answer at the moment. He was thinking about another issue.

The Evil God from the void was an existence that was feared in his previous life. Even during the fourth expansion of Continental War, there was not a lot of information about it.

The Distorted Void was the same large dimension as compared to the Space Void and Bottomless Dark Abyss. According to the rumors in the past, the Evil God's power was way stronger than the boss within the Dark Abyss. The Evil God was the manipulator behind the scenes, the strongest among villains. Even Joshua, who was the only Perfect Legendary-tier warrior; his level and capability could only match against the King of the Dark Abyss and the Demon Lord. He was still not capable to go against the Evil God and the Great Daemon of Dark Abyss.

Now, he only had the capability of a Gold-tier, yet he had to interfere with the invasion of the Evil God.

If the warrior could not settle this issue, the entire northern region including Moldova and his homeland would be destroyed.

Based on the information of his previous life, Moldavia was not destroyed. The Radcliffe family's quest for the Divine Armament was introduced during the third expansion of the game. If Joshua did not assist in the invasion of Moldova, the tragedy would have probably not occurred as well. The only downside would be the Scarlet family suffering a major loss. After all, if the strong folk within the Empire felt the emergence of new dimension gate, they would be the first to provide aid to stop this tragedy.

Although those people could be relied on, putting your fate in the hands of others seemed like a silly thing to do. A warrior with the will and strength to fight would never think about that as an option to live.

To solve this matter now, it was all up to Joshua.

Zoom!

Joshua looked at the dark beam within the Dark Forest. Then, he looked around the forest, as if he was searching for something.

Brandon was supposed to be here somewhere.

Joshua had already known right from the start that there was a person behind him which was following him closely. When he was fighting against the dracospider, he had confirmed that it was indeed the case. Even during the time he was descending from the sky after the battle against the black dragon, he could vaguely see a green dot which kept moving forward towards the dimensional gate.

Without a doubt, the aura that was released from the green dot was Brandon himself. When Joshua was destroying both Gold-tier daemons, this swordsman also assisted in killing the frost butterfly to stop the blizzard.

Now, Brandon was trying to achieve the same goal, which was to destroy the dimensional rift right in front of him.

"RRAARRRR!!!"

Daemons and Aragami on the ground were howling together as a group. At this very moment, a piercing sound could be heard. This sound was so strong, that it was able to waver a person's heart, causing fear and discomfort.

The beam of dark light which had pierced through the cloud fluctuated. The bottom part of the beam released a large amount of dark mist.

Hearing the loud piercing noise together with the energy which was contained within, Joshua body immediately reacted and prepared for battle even though he was not perturbed by the chaos energy from within. Joshua frowned and looked towards the vast sky. An eerie feeling that was released from the beam of light caused Joshua to feel very uncomfortable. Joshua then slowed down to examine the situation.

After controlling this unpleasant feeling, Joshua took out his silver greatsword and slowly approached the beam of light. The chaos energy from the source of trouble had rejected the power of order from Joshua's body. However, Joshua unleashed his Combat Aura and continued to move forward.

After a while, he had reached the bottom part of the beam of light. Joshua then focused and examined the particular phenomena.

"What the heck is this?!"

With a sharp vision and the attributes of the [Chaos Guardian, it allowed Joshua to see through the chaos energy and unveil the truth behind it. However, what he saw was something that brought a chill down his spine.

There was a huge shadow from behind with a very strong magical energy. It was a monster as huge as a hill. With the help of the beam of light, it was slowly traversing to this dimension.

There were no weak Aragami. As for regular fully grown Aragami, there wasn't a single Aragami which was at the level of Gold-tier in the first place. What lay behind this attack was a monster with a huge horn and a pair of bone wings on its back. The monster was covered with numerous eyes and tentacles. This gigantic monster had an aura greater than Silver or Gold tier. Its power had probably reached the tier of [Supreme]!

Supreme tier!

Before the Dark Tide existed in the Mycroft Continent, reaching the lands of Continental War, Supreme was the term to define the strongest person! Within the entire northern Empire, only the emperor had this strength. The other mages of the royal court normally would only reach Perfect Supreme. With the power of Supreme, it was capable to become the ruler of a certain land.

"Hmm… that big beast is coming."

Joshua muttered and smiled, "Ying, look. This was the big guy that I mentioned previously."

The ongoing plot was just too familiar to Joshua. During the days where Joshua battled against the daemons from the Dark Abyss, they often met with scenarios where small fry were only sent as fodder. When the attack mattered, the enemy would send a strong boss to turn the tide of battle.

The only difference in this situation was, the big guy that was sent was just a 'little bit' too strong.Was that something that she and her master could defend against?

Of course, that was impossible!

Although Joshua was confident, he was not stupid. There was no way for the Intermediate Gold-tier to be able to defeat a superior Aragami, which was a few ranks greater than him. Only the dumb would think that Joshua could deal with it. These people would probably unable to survive even the first episode.

"This is definitely going to be a headache."

The warrior was currently floating in mid-air, observing the situation and trying to think of a counter-measure to it.

If the beast was sent towards the realm, it would be an apocalypse. However, they were still not at the stage of despair yet. The greater Aragami was still on its way. Within that period, it could not retaliate. Thus, if Joshua could destroy the gateway in time, the big guy over on the other side could only scramble back to its own world.

As for destroying dimensional rift… Sad to say, it was Joshua's forte!

Just as the warrior finished his own observation on the dimensional rift, a green light flew from the depths of the Dark Forest towards Joshua.

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It was without doubt that the person traveling in green light was Brandon.

"You've finally appeared. Are you alright?"

Joshua greeted his battle partner. Joshua was not afraid to fly in mid-air was because there were no Gold-tier daemons that could threaten him in the first place. The other reason was he wanted to show Brandon his location.

"Not bad… but I won't say it was all good on my end."

Brandon replied softly with an exhausted look on his face. The sweat and blood during his last battle had all been crystallized into ice on both his forehead and chin. He looked very out of shape at the moment.

This was expected. The Dual Blades of Order were not the same as the Azurite which had the ability to transform Chaos energy into recovery energy for the warrior to replenish his vitality. His dual blades could be considered one of the best divine weapons in this world, however, it was not designed to be used in long drawn out battle.

Based on the appearance of both warriors, Joshua was actually in worse shape than Brandon. Even with the regenerative properties provided by the Azurite, Joshua looked more battered than Brandon.

Brandon still had a complete set of armor attached to his body with very few signs of damage on his body. Joshua, on the other hand, had his upper body armor completely damaged to the point where he was considered naked. There were numerous marks of injury around his body. He lost a huge chunk of flesh on his left shoulder together with his left arm being completely useless. Joshua would need at least a few months to recuperate until he reached the peak of his battle performance.

Joshua stopped Brandon from proceeding onwards and told him to look at the situation right in front of him. There was not much time left for Joshua to take action as the big boss was still being sent to the black forest from the other side.

The huge bone wings had already completed half of its transfer process. It's huge horn released a whitish green radiance which looked like electricity. The eyes on its forehead were also releasing some weird light as if the eye would actually shoot off laser beams to kill its enemy.

"This is…"

When Brandon finally saw the view in front of him clearly, he was instantly sent to the state of shock. Luckily, he was an experienced Chaos Guardian. With all the experience and knowledge he had absorbed throughout the years, a monster of this scale only gave him a temporary shocked as he was able to recover and analyze the battle ahead.

After a while, this Gold-tier warrior could only come up with one verdict:

"If this Aragami was able to travel here successfully, we don't stand a chance against it."

"That's for sure. Supreme-tir Aragami, even if both of us were to team up, we could not even scratch through its defense."

Joshua focused on the bottom part of the dimensional rift and smiled. He then pointed his sword towards that direction and said, "Based on my estimation, this big boy here would take eight minutes to break free from the control of the dimension and proceed to attack us with ranged magical attacks. At the twelve-minute mark, it could complete its transfer and begin to freely roam our world."

The story next would be mass destruction whenever it went. Moldavia would suffer a huge damage.

The warrior then turned his head and spoke to the golden-haired swordsman who was having a rough time finding ways to stop this boss, "The only way to stop this thing is to destroy the gateway to this world. Before he can set foot here, we will kick its ass back to where it came from."

Brandon was overwhelmed when he heard the plan.

Destroying the gateway was a given. That was his main objective. However, the question was how to destroy it. They could not even get near to the dimensional rift!

Within the eyes of Brandon, what he saw was a Chaos creature the size of a hill. This huge mass could easily create a barrier of force which could easily prevent any objects from getting close to it. Even the smaller sized Aragami could not approach it. That was even truer when it came to both Chaos Guardians.

In fact, Brandon had already tried to get closer to the gateway. He wanted to channel all his power of order into his dual blades to destroy the pathway. However, he could not sustain himself forward and was blown away by it.

"If it was moments ago, I could unleash my full potential to build myself a path towards the gateway and destroy it."

Shaking his head, Brandon continued saying, "But I am completely drained now. The Combat Aura I had was completely depleted. Even if I were to combust my soul and life, I could not recover my battle power to a full 100%."

After finishing his line, this Gold-tier warrior felt a bit of despair.

After fighting so long, was defeat their final destination?

"True. If it was not this Supreme Aragami, even if it were ten thousand normal daemons attacking us, it should not be much of a problem. Those small fry cannot stop us from destroying the dimensional rift in the first place."

Joshua did not care about the feeling of his comrade now as he looked towards the incoming disaster. In his head, plans were being formulated to stop this crisis. Together with his experience, he gauged his current battle power and craft out the best possible plan, "We only have one choice left in this situation."

After finishing his analysis, Joshua looked at his comrade and said, "Brandon, use your strongest skill to open a path for me within this magic tide. I will take my chance to destroy the gateway!"

"The strongest… attack?"

Brandon subconsciously thought about what Joshua said and replied, "Are you referring to my Demonic eyes? Right, I can see the weakness of the dimensional rift, but I have no chance at getting near it."

Joshua was confused this time, "What are you saying?"

How could you not know about your most famous, strongest skill?

After thinking for a while, the warrior finally realized.

Now it was still Starfall Year 831. The person he knew which raided the Dark Abyss and killed the Demon Lord was a legendary warrior. Now, he was only a Gold-tier swordsman. Not to mention about legendary tier, he hadn't even reached the tier of Supreme in the first place. He would not know that he was known to have [Annihilation] as his most popular skill while he was the Sword of the Empire!

The real Brandon was now an exhausted person, floating right beside of him. Brandon probably had not got in contact with any of these legendary skills yet.

This was awkward nonetheless. Suddenly, he smiled as he noticed there was still a glimpse of hope.

What a coincidence.

In the previous world's records, Brandon had slain the Demon Lord of Gluttony with that skill. It was not a sword skill!

Who would have thought, Joshua's knowledge of the previous world would be useful here…

"Brandon, do you trust me?"

Joshua raised a question for Brandon in a very serious manner.

"Of course, you were willing to risk your life to aid Vale Dani and proceeded to destroy Chaos without any hesitation. I truly believe in you," Brandon replied in a swift manner.

"Then that is good enough."

Joshua nodded his head and focused his eyes on the Dual Blades of Order.

Sharpest Edge and Ordinal Blade. Both simple designs yet were an outrageously strong combination that released a tinge of white light on their tips. Approaching the heart of Chaos, these two blades trembled in excitement, as if they wanted to devour everything near them.

"Come on Brandon, repeat what I am going to say."

Without giving Brandon any time to react, Joshua started his first sentence. He stumbled on the words at first, but as it followed through, it became much smoother. A very complex intonation was used to speak. This intonation had an ancient flavor, as the words were being said, the magical energy within the vicinity stagnated.

"Fire burns the soul, with our body being its fuel…"

"Fire burns the soul, with our body being its fuel…"

Brandon immediately mimicked the words being said. At first, he was stumbling as well, but with his capability to control his body, he had successfully replicated Joshua's intonation. As he continued, Brandon felt surprised.

This voice… Could it be…

There was no mistake about it. It was the communication language between the saints and their followers from the legendary Glorious Era!

How come Joshua who had only become the Chaos Guardian a while ago, who had no idea about his own family secrets actually know about the knowledge of the ancients? How could he directly use this ancient knowledge to converse with the magical energy of the world, when our royal magicians were still trying their best to decrypt the meaning of this ancient language?!

Brandon had a lot of things running through his head now. He was utterly shocked by what was happening. Despite all of that, he still managed to perfectly replicate each word from Joshua.

At the end of the day, this warrior in front of him was not an enemy but an ally. If he had chosen to believe in him in the first place, he would continue to do so.

"Brilliance of the star, the holy strength…"

"Brilliance of the star, the holy strength…"

After that phrase was spoken, Joshua stopped and looked at Brandon's weapon.

It was radiating brightly, but not damaging to the eyes. The brilliance was similar to the star, traversing on top of the dual blade. The head of this golden-haired swordsman was suddenly filled with a lot of things. They were all the words of the ancient creed which allowed Brandon to continue his chants.

The light of order accompanying by the gale of holy mist blew with the sound of the thousand cheers. Due to the buff provided by the weapon, Brandon had fully recovered his battle prowess. He held firmly onto his dual blade seemed to have the power of the stars, the strength of a great mountain itself.

"Order as brilliance!"

"Burst!"

The radiance of the blade kept on increasing as the final words were said. Accompanying the final words, was the sound of glass cracking and shaking the lands with the cleaning wind summoned. It could purify the lands and eliminate darkness. At the same moment, a huge ray of light from the sword, powered by the holy light of order was released upon the pitch black chaos dark beam of light, sent directly against it!

[Holy Legacy. The Holy Brilliance!]

Crack.

"Now!"

When Brandon unleashed the true name of his weapon, the Holy Brilliance broke through the Chaos Tide towards the light pillar. Joshua immediately burst into full force and rushed towards his target. The killing intent turned his aura black and surrounded his whole body. It allowed the warrior to breach the speed of sound and reach the bottom of the light pillar which was where the dimensional rift was located.

The silver Divine Armament in hand was coated with all the killing intent released from Joshua. Only a pair of red eyes could be seen within the pitch black body. An unimaginable amount of power was unleashed from the warrior's body, pushing it to the utmost limit that this body had never sustained before. He released a barrage of attacks against the magical core at lightning speed.

The large horned Aragami with huge bone wings which had successfully transferred half of its body and saw the attack that broke apart his chaos tide. At the same time, a black figure rushed towards it at high speed to destroy the gateway which it was using to travel to this world. Feeling the rage, this big monster opened its mouth and roared.

The question was, would Joshua give a damn about it? He then raised his greatsword and swung at the magical core at full force! In that instance, the magical energy which sustained the gateway was disturbed. It wasn't able to sustain itself, thus finally broke down and vanished.

You want to come here and wreak havoc?

Not a chance!

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Chapter 109: The Falling Tide

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The fall of Black Dragon turned into the Dark Tide and plunged the Empire into chaos. Along with it, came the Berserk Dragon's plague that causes mass hysteria throughout the Empire. As Chaos lurked in the North, it opened an invisible dimensional rift. From it, the Aragami began to emerge and they would turn this frozen land into a domain filled with chaos.

This occurrence was nothing new as it was the norm for Chaos to lurk around and overtake the land. The folklores even comprised of stories that depicted the invasion of chaos. However, there was still something strange about the whole incident.

It all happened too obviously as if someone was in the background, guiding them to cause all the occurrences.As the dimensional rift broke down bit by bit by invisible corrupted magic, the massive Aragami started to struggle. It knew that the dimensional pathway was collapsing. With sheer brute force, the Aragami tried to shift its massive body. All it wanted then was to squash the little black bug.

The struggle was in vain as half of its body was in the dimensional rift, rendering it immobile. It let out a furious roar and shot out countless death rays from the top of its head. The rays that blast out were blatantly fatal as the magical power rips the air apart as the rays homing towards the warrior.

What if, all that happened in the North… was nothing but a huge conspiracy… However, that wasn't the truth! The truth is laying right there! Whatever that lies behind the Aragami would be untold secrets!

So what?!

It was the time nor the place to have such thoughts.

Joshua's body glowed as if he was teleporting. He evaded countless magic death rays and carved his way out, destroying another one of the many seals.

There were only one-third left.

The warrior was not concern of the remaining death rays that were still chasing after him. Such an attack was too simple for him. He could even close his eyes and dodge it if he wanted to. Instead of wasting his concentration on the attack, he was calculating how to strike the seals on the dimensional rift.

At that moment, Brandon loosened his grip on the artifact that was in his hands. The power that the artifact, the power of Order that was constantly released has started to diminish. Inversely, Chaos power that was being suppressed had started to filled the battlefield. Like beating pulse, waves of Chaos energy bombarded the warrior, reducing his mobility.

That was not enough to slow him down. Joshua, without hesitation, charged up his Combat Aura and coat his entire body with it. That allowed him to maneuver around and strike his target without being affected by Chaos energy.

Chaos magic, to put it simply, was a term coined for easier understanding. In reality, Chaos energy and magic power was as different as the sky and the earth.

Magic was born from the residue of the Initial Flame. It represented Soul and Wisdom; Combat Aura originated from the condensation of the Primordial Steel. It was the crystallization of both Life and Belief. Both of these powers could be trained and they are the power of Order.

However, it was different with the power of Chaos. As the name implied, it is a power that was meant to cause disruption. An eternal presence. The kind of power that no living being should be able to wield, much less train in it. Those that stray too close to the power of Chaos will eventually be consumed by it.

The seals that were keeping the dimensional rift intact were made from Chaos energy. Hence, due to its nature, it was extremely unstable and could be easily destroyed.

In the red fiery eyes of Joshua there were 109 seals which shone brightly near the dimensional rift under the black pillar of light. Two-third of the seals that had been destroyed stopped glowing.

The seals were like an anchor that linked the Mycroft Continent and another world together. Although it would not sever the ties between these two worlds, it would surely affect passageway.

That should be enough time.

The warrior bit down his pain as the surrounding pulse of power of Chaos reached its peak. With effort, Joshua moved towards the last of the seal to destroy them. Due to the destruction of several seals, the strength of the rift was compromised, making the other seals that were still anchoring both worlds weak and fragile. At the start of the battle, Joshua would still needed to summon his full strength to destroy the seal, but now, all he needed to do was lightly tap the seal to break it.

Without the protection of a Gold-tier Aragami, there was no way for the Greater Aragami to exit the rift! Not even a Abyssal Demon would be that stupid.

Too naïve!

"Crawl back to whichever hole you crawled out from!"

"Hah—!"

A silvery-white light gleamed with brightness as the sword sliced through the black ink-like smoke that were gushing out of the rift. With a powerful blast of black pulse, all the remaining Seals were destroyed.

[Shockwave Slash]!

In the end, all of the shining lights faded into nothing.

All the seals were destroyed!

Boom! Boom!

Loud explosions could be heard with the destruction of all 109 seals. The unstable dimensional structure crumbled down and the energy flow went haywire. A chain reaction of magic rapidly condensing and expanding caused a string of continuous explosions.

Boooom!

The first explosion started and shattered the dark sky, driving away the dark clouds, allowing the sunlight started to shine down.

Booom!

The second explosion could be heard with the reater Aragami's body slowly fading away. As it gave out a ferocious roar, the dimensional rift closed off and its body disintegrated, turning into bright light.

Booom!

The third explosion blasted, the black pillar of light started to twist around and crumbled away, disappearing like smoke like it never existed.Starfall Year 831, 21st of December, Morning 7.09 a.m.

The North of Empire in Moldova Forest which had over 200,000 Daemons, caused the Dark Tide due to the unknown dimensional passage from another world. According to the [Empire's Level of Catastrophe Manual, it was the highest level of "Catastrophe".Starfall Year 831, 21st of December, Morning 11.12 a.m.

Four hours after the dimensional rift was open.

Due to the destruction of the seals, the dimensional rift collapsed and could not be restored within three months. That marked the end of the calamity.The golden rays of the sun shone down to the earth, the sky getting back to the way it used to be. There was a big deep pit at what used to be a dimensional door, and some black smoke could be seen rising from within.

Natural dimensional rifts were not easy to destroy but at least in these few months, there was enough time to send strong mages from the Empire to seal off the place. This was all thanks to Joshua for destroying the seals and rendering them useless and unable to gather the magic to open the dimensional rift.

The warrior slowly descended down to the ground; the dark aura disappearing from his body like a burnt out flame.

"Hooh."

Joshua breathed heavily as his body was exhausted from the fight; his breath formed a white vapor as warm air merged with the cold surroundings. Although he was worn out, a smile could be seen on his face, feeling satisfied with what was done.

Although it was not a battle, it still felt so amazing!

A flash shone through and the silver-white greatsword in his hand transformed into a silver-haired girl. Ying's eyes were filled with worry. She held onto the warrior as he wobbled and seemed like he might fall down any second.

"No worries, I'm just a little tired after a long fight."

This journey had been quite a fulfilling one, go through the daemon hordes, slaying the dracospider, bringing down Alatreon and cutting down the Chaos beings from their bodies. Finally, Joshua used up the last of his energy to ward off Chaos, destroying all the seals. Even with Azurite's healing power, it seemed like Joshua's energy was completely depleted.

"Ying, I'm going to sit here and rest. Wake me up if something happens."

The warrior found a nearby boulder to sit on. Facing the bright sky, he closed his eyes and his head slowly drooped as he fell into a deep slumber. His body was healing up through Kokyu-ho.

Ying bit her lip, wanting to talk to her master but did not want to disturb his rest. She sat beside him quietly and kept watch of the surroundings while he rested.

Up in the sky, a dark green light shone through and crashed into the Dark Forest not far away, causing a heap of dust to rise in the air.

That must be Brandon after he used the Shrine Keeper's Dual Blades of Order, which took a tremendous toll on his body.

Releasing the divine item is not something a Gold-tier swordsman could handle; the temporary boost of energy had now caused him to lose his energy for a while. Who would care about that little rascal… The silver-haired girl checked the surroundings. There is not a single Aragami or daemon near the dimensional tift, and it was now safe.

Time passed quickly with Joshua's breathing becoming steadier and his wounds were also slowly healing up. At the other end of the sky, a magic light shone through and someone was rushing towards the fortress.

"It must be that woman."

Ying mumbled in a low voice as she lifted her head to the sky looking at that bright sun. Her eyes glittered from the sunlight and then she looked at the direction of the dimensional rift.

"Hmm?"

The female Divine Armament sprang up as if she found something.

Beside the big pit, there was something shining.

She looked at Joshua who was resting and after she made sure her master's condition was stable, she ran towards the bright light.

She bent down and lifted her white tiny hands to pick up the strange item.

A reddish-black light was coming out from the crystal-like object. It looked like a star.

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Chapter 110: The Secret Empire Meeting

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Midnight.

A sudden heavy downpour with crystal shards fell from high above the sky, the dark clouds gathered on top of the mountain and covered the beautiful starlight. The rain fell onto the snowy ground and generated fog which clouded one's sight.

Suddenly, a purplish lightning ripped through the sky in the thick dark clouds, bringing light to the ground like the sun normally did.

Through the lightning, it unearthed a massive huge city in the rainy fog which could be seen built between three hilltops.

Starfall Year 831, the 21st of December, 8.35 p.m., North Empire, Imperial City.

Three black hilltops could be seen, which separated this area from the next. Behind this sturdy wall, it had a clean, white massive city. It was situated in between the mountains on top of the rocks. There were small castles and mage towers on top of the three hilltops; their towering height protects the human Empire's important city.

In the dark night, the prismatic light shone on the streets and the chilling night froze the rain which turned into thin ice. The people on the streets appeared to be in a hurry to get home but still walked with caution to avoid slipping.

A man wearing a hooded white long robe slowly walked on the streets; his body tall and his wrinkled hands wearing three diamond rings. The man was elderly.

He witnessed that the surrounding people had difficulty in walking. He shook his head and smiled as he mumbled, "It is too difficult to even walk in this weather."

He chanted a few words and pointed in the distance. An unknown magic started to spread throughout the whole city covering few thousand meters of land and melted the ice. At this moment, the people around were surprised to feel that they no longer had difficulty walking and that it was safe.

The hooded man smiled as this problem had been solved; he then continued to walk towards the center of the city, there is a beautiful palace made of basalt.

That was the Emperor's residence, Morlaix Palace.

Morlaix Palace was like a city within a city; it was surrounded by sturdy city walls and at the entrance, there were countless Steel-tier knights patrolling. Their armor and weapons were the finest of the finest and they bore the royal insignia of five stars enveloping the sun, which looked majestic.

From the sentries' demeanor, physique, and gait, one could tell that they were veterans. They are the best among the best who were suitable to guard the palace.

The hooded white long robe man reached the doorstep of the palace entrance and a weird power stroke of the rain and snow around his body. Upon seeing this strange sight, the patrol knights stepped up to question him.

The first person to approach the man was the team leader of the Steel-tier patrol.

He used a stern but polite way to talk to this hooded man, "Sir, this is the emperor's land, please leave if you have no business here."

He pointed to a direction and said, "It is best to not use spells within the Empire, if you want to avoid rain please head towards the street management center where you will get a free umbrella."

The hooded man was surprised after listening to the guard's polite dissuading; he looked at the knight in front of him and he smiled.

"Israel's men have a greater knight's demeanor, they are different and far better than his father's."

An old man's voice came out from the hood, he took off his hood and showed his appearance of white hair and a long beard. He smiled at the knights.

The Steel-tier knight was astonished for two minutes and the chilly rain splattered on his face which startled and woke him up. He stepped back flustered, bowed down and said, "Sir, I'm sorry I didn't know that it's you! Grandmaster, please head inside, the emperor is expecting you in his study!"

The other knights were also astonished to see the old man's face and they all bowed when they saw him.

The old man pat on their soldier to let them get back up and continued to stride through the palace hall.

He walked across a long path and into the courtyard. Along the path were statues of the late emperors. The old man finally reached the innermost section of the magnificent palace, with a golden door in front of him.

"Lil' Israel, I am here."

The old man opened the door and walked in without knocking.

The room glistened gold. Along the path, there were a few huge luminescent rocks on the ceiling. They were as bright as the sun shining down, lighting the room up. The floor was made up of white crystal marble and there were huge metal racks on four walls. In the middle of the room, there is a Feiun wood carved study table with a dark-gold haired man sitting on the chair reading ancient books.

This man was tall and athletic; his handsome and angular face was expressionless. He wore a red beast hide long robe made of leopard skin. The beast hide and scale was from the chest of the red dragon, the sturdiest skin.

The young man sighed, closed the book and said, "Teacher Nostradamus, one must knock before entering a room, have you forgotten your own teachings?"

"I did teach you that there is no need for formalities between two known friends."

The white-haired old man did not take account of the statute of the young man as he smiled and walked in front of the table. He waved his hand in midair and a goat fur chair appeared. It seemed comfortable to sit on. "Excessive distance is not a good thing, my lord."

Israel Diamond who was the North Empire's highest ruler shook his head and laughed at the old man in front of him. The old man had been his teacher and guide for many years; he was unable to show an emperor's prestige towards this man. The young man cleared off the books to one side and said, "Understood, head of the Imperial Royal Mage Guild, Grandmaster of the Empire. Four hours ago, you told me that you have something urgent to tell me. Now that you are here, care to explain yourself?"

Nostradamus frowned and had a strange look on his face. "Your Grace, do you really have no clue at all?"

Israel shook his head. He pounded the table and two summoning circles appeared. Two cups of hot tea appeared after a bright light. He handed over one of the cups to the old man and he himself sipped the tea and said, "The three armies have invaded the daemons' castle for a long time but there is no result, I am even considering to go the frontline myself. Not to mention the recent Dark Tide appearing everywhere, I do not have the time to worry other things."

"Your Majesty, you do not need to worry about the Black Rising at all."

The old man disagreed with the emperor's statement while he adjusted his robe and said sternly, "The black dragon that caused the Dark Tide in the North, you didn't even send someone to slay it."

As an emperor he disliked people to doubt his decisions, even if that person was his teacher. "Teacher, your claim is completely wrong. A few weeks earlier I ordered Examiner Mengsk to deliver a dragon-slaying stone to the Radcliffes. With the item's help and their power, not even a full-fledged giant Gold-tier dragon stands a chance. Not to mention just a couple of berserk daemons and Gold-intermediate tier dragons."

"If it is a giant dragon, who told you that it is still a dragon?"

The old man shook his head took out a white report, on it, there were tons of words and there also a red seal that said, "The Royal Mage Guild discovered that the recent event of Dark Tide in the Empire is not only caused by the black dragon's virus. It is confirmed that there is Chaos power in it!"

Nostradamus pointed at the facts and said, "That is a Chaos being! Think about it, what does a Chaos creature going to the North want to do?"

The emperor frowned as he opened the books on the table and murmured, "Gate keepers from Radcliffe family, it tried to attack Moldavia and open the dimensional rift?"

"No, it has already opened the dimensional rift."

The old man was lost for words. "Your Grace, I know that because of the late emperor you have been focusing too much on the battle with the orcs. But it is in fact not important as they have yet to recover from the last battle. We, on the other hand, have to recover for many years, even if the battle drags on, the orcs are sure to lose."

"Chaos is humanity's biggest nemesis!"

"Teacher you are right. The orcs are nothing, I'm too obsessed with them. Hold on, did you say that the dimensional rift was opened?"

The emperor was not angry as he knew his teacher spoke the truth. After a while, he reacted to his teacher's words and become serious.

The young emperor did not doubt his teacher; he was furious and said, "The dimensional rift has been opened?! Damn, what are those examiners doing? Why am I not informed of such important things?"

As an emperor and also a legendary warrior, he was unable to focus everything at once about what happens in the Empire. So after he ascended the throne, he formed 'Anbu' the intelligence group to gain control of the noble court. Now, the seemingly kind emperor interest was piqued with his subordinates' incompetence.

"No, the northern four plains have five Gold-pinnacle tier warriors, but the Wilson family's warrior was slain by Radcliffe family's young heir. They are unable to ward off the Chaos tide with their strength."

Now is not the time to be angry, the dark golden-haired emperor stood up and his scary determination gushed out and stopped the movement of everything; even dust was frozen in midair.

"This is a continent-level catastrophe, I must gather my finest troop to hold it!"

"Israel, you are wrong. There is always someone that is extraordinary."

The old man who was the head of the Royal Mage Guild was not affected by the legendary warrior's or his student's power. He stood up and said, "Just like that time when I led a mage group and successfully defeated the orc shaman army in one fell swoop. Also, like you who single-handedly cut down the chief orc by charging into the horde and entered Legendary. There is always someone who is able to do extraordinary things. The dimensional rift has been closed!"

The emperor had some doubt in his eyes and the old man said, "Today at 10.20 a.m., the Mage Guild detected magic disruption for three hours and the source was at Moldova. Approximately forty minutes later, while I was going to inform you of it, the scout group reported and said that the disruption had stopped and the dimensional rift had been closed completely."

"Due to the equipment's delay, I thought that it must have been a mistake. However, after a series of verifications, I have confirmed that the dimensional rift had been opened and then someone destroyed the seals and forcefully sealed it up."

"This is great news, it seems that I will have to prepare a big reward."

"Israel sat back on the chair, feeling relieved. "The dimensional rift was opened and in no more than four hours it was destroyed. It is an outstanding achievement. So teacher, why are you here today?"

"The dimensions of other worlds need to be sealed."

"These important incidents I will need to do it myself, otherwise I will be worried," said his teacher with a smile.

"To be able to quell the Dark Tide and forcibly close the dimensional rift. I look forward to meeting this young warrior."

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Chapter 111: Drink Up Warriors, You Earned It

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Starfall Year 831, the 24th of December, North Moldova, Dark Forest Fortress.

The Dark Tide had disappeared, the Berserk Daemons that gathered there killed each other and stained the white snow around the fortress with purplish-red blood.

After confirming that most of the daemons returned to the depths of the forest, the fortress fell into a joyful triumph. The soldiers had been mentally drained during the long fight; even if they were given a few days' rest, they were still unable to loosen up. With the news of the Dark Tide being quelled, the soldiers were finally able to relieve their stress, and laughter was heard from the frozen towers.

The snow in front of the houses was swept away swiftly and red flags of victory were hung up. Even those who lost their father or son cried tears of joy that they had finally won.

Even though their faces were soaked with tears, they still let out a victorious cry.

The violet-haired countess, Vale Dani passed orders that by evening there would be a huge feast to celebrate the end of the war. Anyone could join and the food was all free, everyone was permitted to drink to their heart's content until the next day.

In this mystical world, tasks were completed more efficiently. With the help of Iron and Silver-tier knights, piles of firewood were piled up and tables were set. The roasting grill and barrels of wine were in place. The two flagpoles in the center of the fortress were hung with Scarlet family's flag of a hexagram with red and gold linings and the other one is Radcliffe family's flag which was the wielded swords with black and gold linings.

Time flew by fast and all the preparations were done and now is just have to wait for evening. The prismatic lights lit up the whole square and the firewood have been lit up too. The whole fortress was shining brightly like a bright star at night. The vegetables, seasoned meats were prepared and all the people had been sitting there tired but happy.

The dark sky was cloudless and there were twin moons shining down the land along with bright stars; the purplish blue sky was a beautiful sight. Under this sky, the fortress master Vale Dani walked towards the high platform looking at her citizens.

At this moment, she breathed in and her expression changed continuously as she remembered the harsh memories of the battle and the wait for reinforcements. After a while, she calmed herself down and smiled while giving her speech.

"There will be no need for words, my brave warriors, celebrate this victorious battle!"

Before Vale Dani walked down the platform, her people had started cheering, "Bless the victory! Long live my lady! Long live the celebration!"

There were some that lifted their cups and shouted, "A toast to our reinforcements!"

The high spirits elevated along with the bonfire burning vigorously and emanated golden-red flames. Everyone was in a good mood, celebrating with joy.

The countess walked away from the platform and entered a beautiful house across the city square.

She opened the main gate and went to the second floor where she went into a big hall. In the hall, there was a glowing stone carved out from the blue crystal that looked so fine and elegant. The glow-stone from the ceiling gave out a mysterious glow that spread through the surroundings.

Along the hall, there was a medium-wide table where she could see two men sitting, one was dark-haired while the other had golden hair. Both of them had a cup in their hands and they were chatting.

"Joshua, where did you hear this word from?"

The golden-haired swordsman with red eyes answered with a soft voice, "Since that time, when I reach the depths of the Holy Guardian's Dual Blades of Order, I found it astounding!"

"It came to my mind out of a sudden."

With his left hand wrapped up after being treated by the priest, the flesh on black-haired warrior's shoulder had regrown a bit. Although his bones had yet to regrow, he could still move with the help of Combat Aura. "I guess it must be a message left by the Azurite."

Joshua used his right hand and drank down the booze and as the scorching feel goes down his throat said, "It can also be a blessing from the Sages."

If the officials were seen as gods, they might as well be real Sages.

"So did the Azurite tell you anything more?"

Brandon seemed to accept the unreliable explanations and he said stiffly, "Do you really know the deep meaning of the words? Please forgive me for rushing because these are the words used by the Sages during the Glorious Era. It is a long lost language, even the Imperial Royal Mage Guild is still doing preliminary decoding. Your knowledge of this matter will be of great advantage to us!"

"The Azurite did not tell me anything more and I only understood its basic meaning."

Joshua shook his head and he did not dare to tell him that the reason for him to know this phrase is from pre-existence when Brandon attacked the Dark Abyss and slew the Demon Lord of Gluttony. This event was broadcasted as the official trailer of Continental War's fourth expansion. The incantation for the release of divine items was not long and it sounded cool. Seven out of ten players knew this incantation well and Joshua remembered it because it is used by one of the strong characters.

His memory of things was sometimes useful in strange places.

Just as Brandon asked Joshua those questions and he had no idea how to explain to him, Vale Dani walked in and sat beside Brandon, clinging to his arms. Brandon ceased asking Joshua anymore after his partner arrived.

Both of them were lovey-dovey whenever they were together.

The celebration of the three Gold-pinnacle tier warriors had started and the silver-haired girl brought in the scrumptious food and presented it on the table. There were vegetables, beast meat, sea delicacies, and soup. After a while, the table was filled up with the food and among them was sizzling roast beef with golden-brown skin. The smell of food filled up the entire room.

"For victory! For friendship! For humanity!"

"Cheers!"

Joshua had a big toast with his friends and quickly helped himself to the feast.

An embarrassing moment was when Vale Dani and Brandon both lay on the table completely drunk. Their bodies and faces were all red and they fell into a deep sleep.

"What? Just after a few cups and they are drunk?"

Joshua with his face slightly red felt amazed with the two Gold-Tier warriors as he looked at three empty barrels beside him. "I thought northerners are good at drinking?"

The fortress had no supply of red wine; all they had were small barrels of dwarves' wheat liquor. The citizens in the fortress all drank the same liquor but these two were the first ones to get drunk.

Although he knew that his friends did not use magic to get rid of the effects of liquor, the soldiers were also the same. He could now see that their alcohol tolerance compared to others.

Although it is a bit disappointing to drink alone, Joshua called for their servant Yue and she brought both her masters back into the room outside the hall.

After Joshua finished the dishes, he felt bored and he wandered around bringing his liquor along.

The house was brightly lit and the decorations were beautiful, he could see that there were no traces of people going there. It was for greeting guests.

Joshua felt that he deserved to be treated as a guest here as he had rushed from Moldavia all the way here and he even got injured on the way here.

When he was moving around in the house, he heard a familiar sound somewhere not far from there.

"That is why it's said that the greatsword is the most powerful weapon!"

When Joshua walked into the room he is surprised to see his Divine Armament. The silver-haired girl is sitting on the couch and there was a little girl with gold-haired and red eyes. The little girl was excited without knowing what Ying told her and she said, "Sis, I thought you said magic is the best of all."

"Do not bother about how others look at you little Florence, you work hard in what you want to be. Everybody forges their own path."

Ying was different compared to when she always stayed beside Joshua, her face was slightly red and appeared like a priest preaching to a little girl. She clenched her fist and wave it in the air and said, "My master is a warrior and your father is a swordsman there is no class which is the best. It all depends on what a person wants!"

This girl is drunk. No, she is definitely drunk, not only Ying the other little girl is also drunk. Both of them must have quietly sipped some liquor!

Joshua laughed and shook his head, with a simple glance he looked at the little girl. She resembled Brandon and Vale Dani a lot, she had her father's hair color and pupils. Besides them was another girl with purple hair, who was older than they were. She had fallen asleep and her sleeping posture was of a cat curled up.

"Excuse me sir."

Behind Joshua came the maid, Yue who had silver hair and blue eyes. In her hand she had a woolen blanket with red flower patterns that seemed comfortable.

She seemed to have come for the little girl who had slept off.

He nodded his head and stepped aside and he did not plan to disturb Ying, he stood there and looked at everything.

Yue was a responsible maid who did not speak much, she gently covered the purple-haired girl with the blanket. She cleaned the plates on the table swiftly and cleanly.

After seeing the things in front of him, Joshua felt warm.

Since Joshua traveled through the dimension, he had changed the lives of many people such as Ying, Vale Dani, Brandon and many other warriors and civilians. They had their lives changed through battle and regained the reason to live. The two girls in front of him were also the same; their mother did not die like pre-existence because of the warrior's help and they would have a happy childhood.

They might not know, but that was a fact.

Joshua did not mind protecting the weak or changing other people's life. He also did not mind how others saw him, all he ever wanted was to fight with strong opponents to quench his desire.

However, the life in front of him filled with peace and harmony was not so bad at all.

He walked away from the room and headed towards the window on his side looking down at the celebration. All the soldiers were having a fun time and relaxing, they stuffed food in their mouths whether they were cooked or not.

Through drinking liquor and splashing they forget the hardships they had endured and laughed happily. Some of them who were drunk started to challenge others at arm wrestling, making the atmosphere livelier.

The expressionless Joshua started to have a smile on his face.

Maybe this is the purpose of traveling here?

He shook his head and gave a toast to the moon and drank up, after that he just walked away.

It did no good to think about these trivial matters.

Be it victorious or utter defeat; be it joyful or sorrow in this suspense thrilling world filled with endless battles, as a warrior, to be able to drink was the happiest moment!

The second day, noon.

In front of the Dark Forest Fortress was a group of heavily armored knights with the same silver-white equipment they wore when they first departed. They were in their formation, waiting for their leader's order.

Joshua on his black warhorse in front of the fortress, he waved at the swordsman and sorceress to tell them goodbye.

The flag of wielded swords with black and gold linings waved in the air and loud cheers could be heard.

The knights received the blessing from the people of the fortress and they started to march home.

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Chapter 112: Homecoming and Healing

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The cold wind that chilled down to the bone was howling on. The cold air had seeped into the armor. The sunlight of winter was shining upon the silver armor that the Knights were wearing.

The reflection of the sunlight was making the armor glitter.

On the main path that connects Moldavia and Moldova, a platoon of knights was riding on their horses without saying anything. In between the trampling of the horseshoes, snow and dirt weresplashing all over the place, leaving a trail of gray dust cloud at the end of the platoon that was advancing forward.

Because they were not in a hurry to arrive at their destination, the knights were riding at a pace slower than the pace when they were hustling over to Moldova. Days of riding forward on their horses had not worn them out at all. Instead, they were riding at a comfortable pace.

However, regardless of how slow they were, they were about to arrive at their destination soon.

Joshua was holding on the reins of his black horse. He did not set his eyes towards the front. Instead, he was looking at the clouds that were constantly changing with glassy eyes. Right behind his back, Ying was clinging to the waist of the Warrior. Her delicate and small face looked drowsy though.

This was different from the journey back then. They had to clear out some daemons that were scattered around while they were on their way to Moldova to provide their support. However, currently, there was basically nothing else other than just frosty snow and some trees. So there was no need for them to annihilate any daemons along their way back… Sometimes, they would see some lone-rangers or travelers walking in the snow, or even hunters wandering around the woods. There were only a few of them though. Meanwhile, because of the Black Rising that just happened recently, the Dragonic Caravan had hidden themselves and vanished from the land as if they had never existed. Well, they would probably show themselves again in a week or two to do business again.

Looking at the repeating scenes could really annoy and wear off people's minds.

"Everyone, we're about to arrive at our destination. Cheer up. The main city is just ahead of us."

"Yes, sir!"

Encouraging the morale of his people, Joshua had also felt a flutter in his heart. He felt joy blooming from the bottom of his heart.

Ever since he arrived in this world in last October, he had been traveling and battling half the time. It had been more than two months he arrived here now. Furthermore, he had not been staying in the main city for long. However, the warrior still treated the city that was built on an ice land as his settlement in this world.

Well, anyone would look forward to getting home and rest.

Far within sight, the gigantic wall that was forged from black granite was within the view of everyone. The black city that was standing firm right in the middle of heaven and earth was extremely obvious at first sight. Upon receiving the motivation that was lying in front of their eyes, the entire platoon increased their pace forward a little.

Starfall Year 831, 28th of December, 3.47 p.m., the knights that traveled over distant land had returned to their home.

Moldavia did not change much at all even after their baron was not present for over a month. The scouts that were stationed on top of the tower had noticed the flag and the warrior who was leading the platoon coming from afar. So they immediately started opening up the heavily fortified door. The knights came into the city through the entrance of the city. Under the eyes of the people in the city, Joshua led the platoon into the military camp to the northern side of the city in an orderly manner.

When everyone had reported to the camp, Joshua declared that the party was officially disbanded. As long as they had registered their names with the military, everyone that took part in the expedition would receive a thirty-day holiday.

For the expedition to support Moldova, even though the Warrior had basically done everything that was important all by himself, however, he managed to break through the Black Rising horde to reach the fortress of Moldova all because he had his fifty knights along with him. Without combining the strength of the entire platoon, even with Joshua's power, he would not have rammed all the way through the 200,000 daemons all by himself. Well, that time, the Daemons had not been corrupted by Chaos, so even after Joshua killed them, Joshua would not get any recovery support from the Azurite.

The Knights who had received the holiday were extremely joyful right now. Especially since it was almost time for the new year. Although the weather in the North was always the same and there would not be any large-scale new year celebration happening in this city like the other large cities, however, it was perfect for them to have more quality time with their family together.

However, because they departed from Black Forest Fortress, so they did not bring along their stuff along, Meanwhile, some of the knights had families back in the fortress. So a part of them decided to stay in the main city to have a few days rest before they get back to the fortress. Of course, Joshua would not really reject or ignore such a reasonable request now, would he?

Upon picking up the pen, registering the number of knights who would need to use a warhorse, the warrior looked at the words that he could not understand and slightly furrowed his brows. After having some simple thoughts, he randomly picked an Upper Silver-Tier knight and ordered him to take charge of monitoring and adjusting the changes in this regard. Meanwhile, he held the hand of the silver-haired girl and walked towards the church right in the middle of the city.

"Master, what do you want to do…"

"Healing."

After replying Ying, Joshua attempted to move his left hand. However, his wound had not even closed yet, and the bones right by his shoulder were only beginning to regenerate. His attempt to move his arm had only managed to let him move his palm a little bit. The warrior could not help but sigh and shake his head.

Even though the priests from the fortress in Moldova had tried their best, but they were still too young. Their standard in handling the wounds was still far from enough. Meanwhile, Artanis who was an Upper Silver-Tier priest that was on the verge to become a Gold-Tier priest had vanished. No one knew where he went.

To attempt healing as fast as he could, Joshua did not waste a single second. He went to the middle of the city immediately, to the Shrine of the God of Might and Justice, right by the entrance of St. Laurent Church.

Right on top of the clock tower, the black round holy emblem was shining bright, unleashing the holy radiance all across the surroundings. Many believers come and go from the church.

"Now must be the time for the hymns to be played or the time to feast together."

With such thoughts flashed across the mind, Joshua nodded to greet the people that were paying their respects to him. After walking up the stairs, he passed by the giant stone tables and into the church.

Upon walking past the corridor, he lifted his head and instantly, he saw someone who he was very familiar with; the white-haired Priest Artanis seemed to have expected that the warrior would come here for him. He was wearing wooden-framed spectacles, holding some books in his hands, standing right in the middle of the main hall. He was waiting for Joshua to approach him.

"It's been a while since you left the fortress."

Joshua attempted to keep his battle aura in check, trying to be as normal as the other people around him. However, he soon realized that his intimidating aura could not be kept in or unleashed like his power. It would always be there—he could tell from the eyes of the believers that were filled with respect and fear at the same time. He could tell that his attempt was pointless.

Artanis also shook his head without saying a word about it. As an acquaintance to Joshua, he did not waste his breath with all the small talk. He went straight to the point. "You're here to heal, right?"

"That's right. My left arm is severely injured. The bones on my shoulder have been…"

Upon roughly explaining his injuries and how he got himself injured, Joshua noticed that the old priest's eyes were suddenly clouded with rage. That rage was aimed at Joshua's stubbornness for not following his advice previously.

"How many times have I told you this… You need to be aware of the injuries you have on your left hand! Your injuries have not recovered yet, you know? Remember the battle you had with that Gold-Tier warrior? You've suffered quite a lot of internal injuries that have yet to recover. Why did you even go into a melee battle with the Black Dragon? You've even used your Combat Aura to power up your ultimate skills—you're not the Guardian God of the savages. You're also not the descendant of the druids that could turn yourself into a draconic beast! You're just a warrior who relies on weapons and skills to battle! Using brute force instead of the advantages you already have, you deserve to suffer such heavy injuries!"

Upon listening to the scolding of the priest, Joshua did not feel offended or angry at all. Well, firstly, the priest was actually a generation older than Joshua was. Furthermore, Artanis was a doctor, a healer. Joshua had always held healers and priests in high regard. After all, truth to be told, Joshua should be the one to be blamed for his own injuries. He did too many stupid mistakes because he was too reckless in the first place. Not to mention that he was currently asking for a favor. It was alright to let the person scold him for a bit.

After repeatedly scolding Joshua for being reckless, Artanis then brought it up again saying, "If you ever not take care of your own body again and let your left arm get injured again and again, your arm will have to be put in a cast for a year just to heal!" Joshua quickly nodded his head to express that he understood.

"As for now, because the people in Moldova handled this in time and your life force is strong, you'll only need about a month to fully recover from this."

After touching Joshua's left hand, using holy light to detect the situation of Joshua's body, the white-haired old priest muttered to himself and shook his head. Then he said, "Nevermind, follow me to my quarters. I shall take care of it for you."

"Remember, this time, I shall charge a fee. I will send the bill to the Lord's mansion."

"No problem. Although I've no idea how much I have, that should be sufficient."

The warrior shrugged. Then he turned his head around and looked at the silver-haired girl. Then he said, "Ying, do you plan to stay here, or do you plan to follow us and look at how he is going to treat my injuries?"

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Chapter 113: Healing, the System, and the Shrine's Rumour

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"Huh?"

After being asked all of a sudden, Ying who was looking all around the place with interest was surprised. She then reacted to Joshua's question and said, "I'm coming with Master."

Her eyes sparkled when she said that. She seemed to be very curious about how humans healed.

"Do you just take a bone or a piece of flesh and nail them down to your wounds? But human flesh and steel aren't the same right? That soft and squishy thing… How do you even forge it into a fixed shape?"

Having strange ideas in the little mind of hers, she did not voice her question aloud. Joshua who had gotten the answer from her and Artanis had not been paying attention to Ying's facial expression. The two men then continued on to discuss some trivial matters as the three of them walked towards the quarters.

At that time, the warrior was wearing a normal white t-shirt. His armor had already been taken off while he was back at the military camp. He was also wearing a brown jacket on top of the white t-shirt though. At the same time, he was in a pair of navy blue trousers and dark brown leather boots. With the bandage on his left hand, he looked nothing like a count of a territory. He looked just like a random mercenary or an orc hunter from the west side of the mountains.

"Honestly, Joshua, you need to change your clothing style a little"

Turning his eyes towards the black-haired count that looked very young, the old priest could not help but sigh, "If Fang and the late count were still around… nevermind. With your current aura, no one would dare to treat you like a mercenary anyway."

After all, Joshua was most probably be seen as a cold merciless killer that did not count his kills. If this was not his own territory, people might have already screamed for help and guards of the city would have come over to take him.

Joshua was not bothered by it at all. "If it's for the banquets, I'll suit up properly. But for regular occasions, I'll just wear clothing that is as convenient as possible." He shrugged and said, "No matter how well you are dressed, no one will care about it when you're in a battle. Even if your clothes are made of gold, your enemies would not go soft on you."

"That's not the point…"

While the two men were talking, along with Artanis and his two apprentices, and also Ying, the five of them walked across the praying hall through the long carpet and onto the altar in the hall. Then they walked through the corridor that was quiet and arrived at the room that Joshua was healed in previously.

The warrior was familiar with the room of course. So he just sat on a chair and took off his jacket. Then he put his left arm out. Meanwhile, the two apprentices immediately took out a crystal ball and placed it on Joshua's arm. Then they took off the bandages that were wrapped around Joshua's arm like they were very used to doing it. After that, Joshua's swollen arm was slightly revealed to the two apprentices. His shoulder seemed to have sunken in.

"What a serious injury…"

The younger apprentice muttered softly to himself. Meanwhile, the middle-aged priest spoke politely to Joshua, "Sir, can you disengage the protection of your Combat Aura? Your instinct's protective energy is giving me trouble to put my spells in order to heal you."

After saying that, this Silver-tier apprentice that was already middle-aged could not help but sigh. The difference among humans could really differ a lot. He had been an apprentice to be a priest for over twenty years. He had dedicated his entire life and his efforts in researching holy spells, honing his belief. However, he had only reached Intermediate Silver tier. Meanwhile, this young count right before him only seemed to be in his twenties but had already reached Gold tier…

That's right, he was still a new Gold tier power user at that time. Now, his strength had grown unpredictably powerful. With merely his instinct's protective power, he could already repel the holy spell the apprentice was trying to apply on Joshua. Isn't Joshua's power growth a little too fast?

Upon hearing the healer's request, Joshua naturally followed the apprentice's instruction. Meanwhile, when the two apprentices were casting all sorts of holy spells on Joshua's arm, Artanis walked to a rack in the resting room. He seemed to be looking for something.

After a brief moment, he took out a piece of crystal accessory and put it on himself.

Upon walking up to the warrior, Artanis looked at Joshua with a doubtful face. Then he explained, "Your injuries are far too great than I expected. Also, your bones are cracked and some parts are missing. I'll need to cast some additional enhanced holy spells to support the holy light in speeding up the healing process. We need to enhance the healing power and the speed of regenerating your bones. So it takes longer time for us to prepare."

Well, that reason was reasonable. Holy spell items were much easier to make then enhanced items. Basically, each priest would have a few equipment or items to handle different sorts of situations.

Walking up to the warrior, the white-haired Priest and his two apprentices began to gather the strength of the holy light, getting ready to heal. The blinding white light began to radiate and went into the translucent crystal. Along with vague buzzing sound, the milky-white radiance began to charge up the crystal.

The time required to heal was very long. The milky-white radiance was floating around the left arm of the warrior. Because his level and skills had been boosted up, Joshua's body had become much more powerful and enhanced than before. The holy light of the two Silver-tier apprentices was not powerful enough to heal at the pace like they did last time. Their healing skill became much slower than before now.

However, Artanis was still a Perfect Silver-tier priest after all. He could become a powerful Gold-tier priest anytime now. Furthermore, he also had his own holy spell appliances. Heavily enhanced with power, the effect of his holy spells could still provide significant healing on the warrior.

Joshua let out a relieved breath as his left arm was feeling the healing power. He laid back on the chair to relax. Moving his eyes slightly, he brought up the system tab.

The warrior was used to look at the system only after the major battles were over. He just wanted to see how much he gained from each battle.

After that, he was bombarded with tons of information right in his face.

[You have killed the Gold-Tier Daemon—Ajax Aurumseeking Draconian Spider]

[You have killed the Gold-Tier Chaos Daemon—Chaotic Gore Magala a.k.a Corrupted Black Dragon]

[You have killed the Gold-Tier Daemon—Completely Formless Spawn]

[You have destroyed the Outer World Dimensional Rift]

[You have defeated the Supreme Aragami, Ouroboros! You have foiled a conspiracy against the material world!]

[Legendary Event— Outer World Dimensional Rift: Starfall Year 831, 21st of December, 7.09 a.m..

Northern land of the Empire, in the Dark Forest on the Moldova territory, an unknown reason had caused the Outer World Dimensional Rift to emerge. Countless Chaos creatures appeared and formed into a large Dark Tide that had more than 200,000 Daemons in it. According to the Empire's Level of Catastrophe Manual, the event is determined to be the highest catastrophic disaster in the whole history.

Meanwhile, at the fourth hour that the dimensional rift was activated, the Count of Moldavia, Joshua van Radcliffe charged into the heart of the Dark Tide and slew three Gold-tier daemons. Then he destroyed all of the dimensional nodes, stopping the rift from functioning. The rift should not be able to get activated again for the next three months. The disaster has been averted.]

[Your World Fame 5]

Joshua looked at the information with a calm face. For that, he had already expected to see all that. Even though he had obtained five points of World Fame after all that, it did not surprise him much.

Truth to be told, currently, it was only the transitional period between the first patch and second expansion. The entire Mycroft Continent had not really entered into the era where the Continental War exploded. This war that involved the dimensional rift was, in fact, an extremely rare event for the entire world as of today. So, the system only rewarded Joshua with only five points of World Fame. Otherwise, if this sort of event which only had a few Gold-tier Daemons on the battlefield was put into the middle stage of the second expansion where the world had wars that involve Berserk Dragons all over the whole continent, it would look like child's play.

Joshua turned his eyes around and looked at his personal information tab.

[Name: Joshua van Radcliffe]

[Form: Hero]

[Designation: Turn back the powers of darkness]

[Race: Human's Northern Division]

[Race Skills: Battle Race (Battle Experience Points X 1.1)]

[Level: Level 45 Intermediate Gold-Tier Glorious Radiance]

[Challenge Level: Level 42 (Hero)]

[Attributes: …

Charm: 1]

[Status: Left arm crushed and suffers heavy injury (Healing)]

[Class: Level 45 Chaos Guardian

—Hero Class, this is a Special Inheritance that only aims to destroy Chaos. As long as any wizards or warriors possess a specially enhanced item of Order, they would be able to acquire the Class. After acquiring the Class, your eyes will be able to see Chaos that lurks everywhere. You can now see if a person is upholding Order or not with ease. Meanwhile, your body will surge with powerful Order power that can make the other normal people in your surroundings to feel more comfortable and strong. However, it will also hurt anyone that upholds the power of Chaos. That means you'll become a part of the very existence that threatens Chaos the most. However, you will become the guardian on the side of Order.]

[The Fame of Chaos is inherently hateful, and the Fame of Order is inherently friendly.]

[-Gift-]

[Weapon Mastery: Can proficiently use any weapon that is forged by humans—Weapon Mastery is Battle Mastery's basic condition.]

[Bloody Combat Restitution: Right before death, enter a state of fake death. During faking death, you will recover Health Points slowly—Although you're still heavily wounded after this, the person who survives will win at the end of the battle!]

[Order of Emmanuel: Aura-type Skill, when within the effective territory of Order, all ability X 1.1. When within the effective territory of the Chaos, this skill will be nullified. Range 50 meters X 50 meters.

—Life requires the power of Order. It can make people more comfortable and strong.]

[Base Distinguish: Without being blocked by a Spell, the user can distinguish the base of the spiritual radiance of a living being. White represents Order, green represents Kindness, black represents Chaos, red represents Evil.

—Heart and soul will not lie]

[Flare of Purification: Aura-type skill. During a battle, purify and hurt all Chaos living beings, Chaos items and Chaos spells within the area of 25 X 25 meters around the user. The effect can be stacked once.

—Impure strength shall be returned to dust by Order]

[Nemesis of Chaos: You understand the weakness and attributes of Chaos. Any Chaos attributed enemy that tries to hide, sneak or go invisible will be detected by you. Your damage dealt on enemies with Chaos Attributes X 1.2

—Demons and monsters, there is literally nowhere for you to die. Demons of mischief, you shall be slaughtered like sacrificial lambs]

[-Special Attributes-]

[Unkindled Flame: The negative effects that are cast on you by any beings with Chaos will only have minimal effect on you. Other than a small number of special power, they will not be able to affect your body and soul.

—Even if the new woods are not ignited, that will still be the original form of fire.]

[Radiance of Evil's Bane: When you kill enemies on the side of Chaos, you gain additional 30% Experience Points. If you will receive rewards for killing these monsters in the first place, your rewards that you will get will be doubled or tripled.

—Blood of Chaos will be the Source of Fire]

[Hallowed Haven: Aura-type Attribute, you will be the center of it. Region or territory within the range of (Level X Level) will be treated as the Shrine of Order. The current range is 45 X 45 meters.

—No judgment required when you're facing Chaos. The ground beneath your feet is the Holy Ground, while you shall be the executioner for Order…]

Upon looking at the Attributes on his system tab, Joshua could only come up with a thought.

The Class of Chaos Guardian was really not just intimidating by name. The series of Gifts and special Attributes of the Class could really aim their enemies down to their every bone. The warrior felt that if his status was perfect now, he could go up against Chaos by the number of one against one hundred. By relying on the recovery power of the Azurite, he could even do it without leaving a single scratch on himself.

Meanwhile, from the moment he crossed into this world until this current moment, Joshua had improved from merely a Silver tier all the way up to being a Gold tier within two months. Well, wasn't the progress a little too fast now?

Just when the warrior was sighing, the silver-haired lady sitting beside him let out a yawn as she looked disappointed.

—So this is how humans heal. They just use lights to rub the arm. So where are all the processes to forge blood and bones?! Could it be true that humans are made of light?! Otherwise, why didn't they use their original materials, their own flesh and blood, to fix themselves?!

While she was thinking deep, Ying had suddenly felt tired… That's strange. She noticed that she had been sleeping a lot lately. Well, she was a Divine Armament, she should not feel tired at all…

At the same moment when she was having that thought, the milky-white radiance vanished. The crystal that was glowing brightly began to dim down a little.

"The first step of healing is complete."

Upon letting the two apprentices leave and take a break, Artanis was feeling a little worn out as he wiped off the sweat on his forehead. After taking in a deep breath, he spoke, "The priest in Moldova did a good job taking care of your wound. The bones in your left arm have been connected together again. At least you can pick up things now. Based on the recovery rate of a Gold-tier warrior, it will only take a month, more or less, for you to fully heal. However, on one condition. You must not partake in vigorous activities. Meanwhile, about the part of your bone that is missing, you only need to consume more on the bones of the beasts in order for your bone to grow back. I'm afraid to tell you that even if we gather all the holy light from the world, it will not heal you. Consuming more beast bones is the only way to grow your bones back."

"That will be enough."

Attempting to move his hand, Joshua could finally clench his fist firmly. Then he revealed a satisfied smile on his face. "Based on my prediction, it will most probably take about three to four months to heal so much. With your healing power, I've been saved multiple times. You've done me a great favor."

While the white-haired priest was keeping his crystal back on his rack, he heard Joshua thanking him. Then he immediately turned around with a serious look on his face. "This is not a favor, my liege. You need to pay the medical fee."

"Of course, why would I not pay you?"

Helplessly nodding his head a little, Joshua stood up from his chair and looked at the surroundings with a strange feeling. "I've left the main city unattended for about one month since, but I've not expected that you and your apprentices to be here. I came here today because I wanted to find the old Gold-tier archbishop. He could have cured me much more easily than you guys. With his presence, you would not have needed to waste so much effort on healing me. Haven't they come back from the distant mountains?"

"It doesn't matter even if I have to put even more effort… But they won't be coming back anymore, my liege."

Upon saying that, Artanis was placing crystal round plate and all sorts of his crystal accessories back onto the rack. After that, he activated his holy spell and had everything locked up neat and nicely. This white-haired priest then had a strange expression on his face. "Actually, I should have told you about this earlier on. However, I had not seen you for a long time, so I was too excited and happy, I forgot to inform you about this… Come, have a look at this."

After finishing his piece, he rested his arms down. He then showed Joshua the special emblem that was pinned on the priest's long robe by his chest.

"Black halo, sacred thorns…"

Upon looking at the symbol on the man's chest, Joshua frowned. Then he muttered to himself softly, "Along with the cross of Justice… Wait a minute, Artanis, you?!"

The warrior dropped his jaw for a moment there.

"That's right."

Upon nodding his head with joy, the old priest revealed a complex and yet prideful smile on his face.

"I, Artanis, am now the Archbishop of St. Laurent Cathedral!"

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"You are planning on becoming Gold tier now?"

Joshua furrowed his brows a little. Then he caught the point of this incident.

Regardless of where and when, the archbishop of a church of the Seven Gods must be Gold tier. So they would select a person that had already reached the pinnacle of Silver tier—Perfect Silver tier. Because this person must be able to become a Gold before he or she could become the next archbishop of the church. This rule had remained in place all these years. Meanwhile, the man that was standing right in front of Joshua had fulfilled the criteria.

"Indeed. Truthfully, when you were preparing to depart over to Moldova to provide support, I found enlightenment."

Artanis did not try to hide his own strength. He conjured a blazing white holy light right on his palm. Then he turned it into a warm light ball. It was blazing on vigorously as if it could burn an entire river.

This white-haired priest focused his eyes on the lively radiance. He had a complex look in his eyes. "For so many years, I've fought the orcs, I've fought the dragons, I've even fought the mermaids in the deep sea—I've followed Master Archbishop to the abyss many times over…"

After remaining in silence for a moment, he tightened his palm and extinguished the light ball in the middle of his palm. Then Artanis sighed. "Intense battles did not make my conviction and beliefs purer. Instead, the peace in the church where I nurture apprentices had led to seeing my own soul clearer than before."

"Where your heart is calm, you shall acquire wisdom from the calmness… The wisdom of fire is the origin of power. In few months' time, when I begin transcending into an Extraordinary body, I shall become a Gold-tier being."

So it seemed that Artanis had chosen to walk on the path of Wisdom.

"No matter what, stepping into the realm of Extraordinary is a new beginning. Congratulations."

Thinking deeply, although the two of them had chosen a different path for themselves, Joshua still congratulated the man with all his heart. Then he said, "It seems that my territory is going to have a Gold-tier priest. I wonder how many are going to envy us."

"You're unmatchable!"

Shaking his head while he laughed out loud, the white-haired priest adjusted his wooden-framed spectacles and said, "Well, let's cast aside the fact that I have no followers at all. Manpower is needed over at the Sacred Mountain. Currently, I'm all alone here. Joshua, you've already become a Gold-tier warrior when you're not even twenty-five-years old. You're actually more terrifying than the monsters I've encountered…"

"Same goes with you…"

The two of them suddenly began to butter each other up.

The warrior felt relaxed when he was talking to Artanis. However, when the two of them were praising each other, he had something else on his mind.

—Deep in the Sacred Mountain, what is really going on over there?

Far at the high seas of the Sacred Mountain, as one of the five largest forces in the world, the leading church of the Seven Gods was located on an isolated island. Even so, they were the strongest holy land, the only ones in the entire world that can train holy knights, paladins, and priests. The people from all around the world were well aware of the fame and prestige of the Sacred Mountain. The good would be admired, and the evil would experience fear from the bottom of their hearts.

In the previous life, they were unrivaled in being active. Not only were they known to be very active in suppressing the giant beasts and educating thousands of indigenous peoples across thousands of lands the Four Seas, they had also helped the kingdoms in the distant South to solve and calm the catastrophic disasters. They had even assisted the West Mountains to launch their sacred crusade against believers of the Evil God. Meanwhile, the Sacred Mountain was also the first force in the previous life to send a holy expedition to the abyss. Because of this, Joshua knew very much about the power of this extraordinary force. He knew what they were capable of doing.

However, even Joshua did not know the reason why the Sacred Mountain would summon most of their available holy Class bearers that were stationed all over the continent in this time, Starfall 831 Year. At the very least, it did not happen back then in the distant South.

"Could it be because of the upcoming Berserk Dragon Disaster that'd happen soon?'

As a transmigrator that knew of the future, Joshua swiftly thought of one possibility.

Indeed, judging based on the dimensional rift incident, there must be some Chaos believers that exist beyond the sea in the distant South. The Marine Abyssal Dragons in the deep ocean should be extinct already. Furthermore, the Pentashade Dragon God might have sided with Chaos now.

The sacred mountain that was originally located in the high seas really needed to gather every single manpower it could get to cope with the upcoming big event; that would be a world-class epic historical event: The opening of the second expansion of 'Continental War', [The Fall of the Dragon God, The Rise of the Berserk Dragon Disaster] .

As the center of the events to come, holy Class bearers from the distant South were not required to be summoned back. Instead, they should send out a large-scale party to support.

Leaving his thoughts there, Joshua turned his eyes on the translucent rune plate made of crystal that was put on the cabinet, locked by Artanis a while ago.

It is indeed a strategic resource for to be able to freely change the type of the holy light. Judging that the old priest is handling it with care, it seems that there is only a small number of it in the entire church of the Seven Gods. Well, that explains why I've not seen or heard about such strange and powerful equipment before in the previous life. It also seems that such powerful item should only be possessed by an archbishop, or be placed in the center core in the formation of the holy spell of the sacred land.

Clenching his left fist once again, the warrior could feel that the muscles and the bones in his left arm had recovered quite a lot. Artanis' holy spell was really effective on him. Of course, it was a little off the rails for a priest from the Divine Punisher Guild to have such a powerful holy spell in the arts of healing.

Normally, for the holy Class bearers who used holy light, other than distinguishing among themselves based on the gods that they believed and had faith in, they would generally determine their identity based on the types of holy light they possessed.

For Artanis, because his awakened holy light was the [Seraph's Holy Light] which could cause the most devastating damage, he became an Inquisitor for the Divine Punisher Guild. If it weren't for the spiral crystal rune plate that he used earlier, the old priest would not have been able to heal Joshua. If his holy spell reached a maximum point, he could have drilled a large hole in the Warrior's hand instead of healing him. After all, healing was not the old priest's official Class.

Normally, normal holy knights and priests could only use the most fundamental, the most basic skill in the art of healing, the [Healing's Holy Light]. That skill was purely used for healing purposes only. Although the skill itself could not deal any damage to the enemies at all, the skill could support the person to be tougher and harder to go down. Well, if a holy knight or a priest could heal themselves back to their best state, then they could easily hold their huge shields and heavy hammers to battle against beast and dragons. Furthermore, under the blessing of holy light, normal magic attacks would basically be ineffective against them. They would become literally like meat grinders on the battlefield, shredding the monsters into pieces.

Meanwhile, the gray knights and the sanctioner would use a much rarer skill called [Judgement's Holy Light]. That was a power that required very high-level Gifts and minds. The effect of the [Judgement's Holy Light] was just similar to the effect of the Order power that was dwelling in the Azurite. The power would be effective against all monsters that sided with Chaos. The gray radiance would spread and no daemons that were corrupted by Chaos would survive.

"It's almost time to go."

Time waited for no man. Joshua decided to end the conversation there. He nodded and told Artanis, "I've just returned not long ago, there are definitely a lot of things left unsettled back at the liege's mansion. So let's talk again some other day when we're both free."

"Not a problem, my liege. I wish you the very best."

After a slight bow at Joshua, the old priest did not forget to remind him, "Remember, come again next week. I need to inspect your wounds again." After that, he reminded Joshua the other thing as well, "Remember to pay up as well, my liege. The holy spell equipment and the church's holy light storage would need money to be maintained."

"Of course I will."

Joshua then turned around and looked at the corner of the resting room. Artanis' two apprentices closed their eyes to restore their mental power.

Although they were also Silver tier just like their mentor, however, they were still unmatchable to the priest that had already reached the pinnacle of the Silver tier. The old priest could still chat and joke with Joshua while he was healing Joshua. However, the two apprentices were already exhausted from focusing on healing Joshua's left arm.

Sitting on the chair right beside the two apprentices was Ying…

"Huh?"

Blinking with his eyes, Joshua looked at his own Divine Armament with a little surprise. Right before him, the silver-haired girl that was sitting on a chair made of redwood had her arms folded with her head leaning on the cabinet next to her. Her long hair was lying straight down. Her eyes were shut. Her breathing was steady. She seemed to have fallen asleep.

"Fell asleep I see… That's strange—didn't people say that Divine Armaments need no food or sleep?"

Upon shaking his head, the warrior was not bothered too much by that. Well, Ying had been eating and having tea together with the warrior back then. Nothing seemed wrong about that though. After so many days of battling and traveling in a hurry, it was normal that she would feel exhausted and fall asleep.

Looking at the silver-haired girl who had fallen into a deep slumber, Joshua gently touched Ying's head. He did not have the heart to wake her up now. However, when she felt that she was being touched by someone, Ying immediately opened up her eyes and woke right up from her dreams.

"What happened…"

She seemed like she had not woken up completely from her dreams.

"You're awake? You have to be more careful next time. It's not good to fall asleep outside. Let's go home and take a good rest."

After seeing Ying's confused face, the warrior informed her.

After waiting for the Divine Armament girl to get ready, Joshua turned around and walked towards the door of the room. Then he waved his hand at Artanis as a farewell. "Then, see you. I hope that you can reach Gold tier as soon as possible."

"Thank you for your blessing, my liege. We shall meet again next time."

—West side of the city, the Liege's Mansion.

Because of winter, the efficiency of work on the reconstruction of the liege's mansion had been reduced to minimal. And because of that, the reconstruction of the mansion had not been completed. So the warrior could only momentarily stay at the other mansion which was located at the west side of the city.

In the study room of the other mansion, Joshua had changed into another set of clothes. He was sitting right before the study table. His eyes were focused on the documents and letters that had piled up the entire surface of his study table. At the same time, Joshua could not help but sigh aloud.

Although the main city had its own military and administrative team to deal with administrative issues, however, Joshua had not returned to the city for over a month. There were some things that require the attention of the baron of the city. He needed to make the decision on some issues. So that was how his workload piled up so much. As for letters, most of them were merely greeting letters that had no important contexts in them. Only a few of the letters were much more important. Joshua had picked them out one after another and left the unimportant ones aside.

"Alphonso…"

Picking up a milky-colored letter, Joshua softly read out the name on the edge of the letterhead.

That was the name of the man Joshua asked to do a favor for him at the spring auction. He asked the Alphonso to purchase some strange items. And now, this was a letter that Alphonso sent to him.

However, it was not spring yet. The auction should not have begun yet. So what was so urgent that he had to send a letter?

While thinking of the possible reasons, Joshua tore the envelope and took the letter out to read.

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Chapter 115: The World in a Nightmare

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"Interesting."

Joshua's eyes were moving up and down scanning the context of the letter that Alphonso set to him. Then he was muttering to himself in a low-pitched voice while he was walking back and forth in his study room. The warrior then noticed that the letter that Alphonso sent him had nothing to do with the auction. However, the letter still contained important information… At the very least, the letters contained information about what was happening with the Empire.

Some information was about his family business and industry.

"Someone is targeting me? That's interesting indeed."

He then looked at the letter one more time and leaned back a little. Joshua was sitting on a chair with a comfortable cushion on it. Then he went deep into thought.

As everyone knew, regardless whether they were civilians or noblemen; businessmen or craftsmen, for most of the people in this world, money was the far most important among all. The same thing applied to Joshua's family. There was no exception at all.

For a frontier military family that was currently rooted in the North, because of the need to maintain an army of more than 2,000 people for many years and to maintain the defences for the gigantic Black Forest Fortress, the tax revenue in the territory simply could not meet the required amount needed to cover the cost for all that. Even if it was treated as a hypothetical checkpoint, it would not make sense for adventurers and caravans pay for passing by the roads of the region. What really could let the entire territory run normally was because of the Radcliffe family's mining industry that spread throughout the Central and Northern Empire.

Because they were working with the rune dwarves in the northern land to mine the treasured resources in Mount Great Ajax, the quality of the ore deposits that the Radcliffe family mined had always been excellent. Not to mention that the quantity of the ores they could mine was not small at all. Furthermore, their products had always been the preferred choice for blacksmiths and builders. Basically, they could sell as much as they get from their mining outcome. Also, the Empire would intentionally or unintentionally support the Radcliffe's industry from time to time. The Radcliffe family had even become one of the major raw material and weapon suppliers for the Five Armies of the Empire. Joshua joined the Black Raven Army and became the second in command in the army because of that one reason.

With the support of all those stable sources of income, at least Joshua did not need to worry about his family's future. He could even extend his family's condition better in the future—when Joshua's father was still alive and well, that old duke was not satisfied with the 'small' profit from selling raw materials and weapons. He wanted to become one of the best weapon manufacturers in the world.

With the runic dwarves aiding in term of skills in forgery, and the advantage of having the volcanic mining area and the mountain all to themselves, the Radcliffe definitely had the capability to forge the best swords and armor there were all over the world—under the order of the late duke, the insignia where an arm holding on to a sword, the ore dealers throughout the Empire also began to sell weapons and armor.

Meanwhile, that action had naturally affected the profit of other merchants and dealers out there, especially the dealers that initially sold weapons and armor before the Radcliffe family did.

That was the source why there were people out there trying to aim Joshua's Family.

"Now that I've time to think about it, it seems that the real reason that the Wilson family was trying to aid my cheapskate uncle to get onto the throne was to take advantage of the Radcliffe's industry."

Joshua shook his head and muttered to himself softly, "Indeed. The idea of manufacturing and sell the raw materials is like declaring war on many parties. No wonder those people attempted to get my industry and properties while the situation in Moldavia was unstable."

Alphonso was currently in the Empire. He sent this letter to Joshua to inform Joshua about the current situation; most probably because in the beginning of the war with the orcs, a large group of families who sent out their merchants did not expect Joshua to survive the war and come back alive. Danlya had also succeeded in showing his 'friendliness' to many people before he went back to claim the title of the northern land's baron.

Therefore, when Joshua killed his own cheapskate uncle with ease and claimed everything that was supposed to be his in the first place, those merchants who intended to side with Danyla wanted revenge. Immediately, these merchants had sold their shops to the competitors of the Radcliffe family. Meanwhile, the competitors had accepted their offer without the slightest hesitation.

Furthermore, Joshua had already gone over to Moldova to provide support to the Scarlet family not long after he took over as the count. He did not detect the problem earlier on. Out of the five shops in the Empire, only two of the Radcliffe family's shops remained in the main city. Fortunate for the Radcliffes, the situations in the other cities were still alright, there was no sign of any large-scale purchase and sales happening over the other cities. So the loss that the Radcliffe suffered was not that huge yet. However, they suffered a major hit in their name.

"Short-sighted and idiotic. Siding with Danyla was not even a big deal. They would still be serving the same family. It's not like I'm a demon or something. If you're willing to serve nicely, only idiots would want to chase away a merchant with many connections all over the continent."

Upon shaking his head, Joshua looked at the letter. Then he narrowed his eyes and smiled coldly. "As for now… This is treason."

Meanwhile, treason shall be greeted with no mercy or kindness.

The warrior stood up from his chair and picked up his pen. Then he wrote something in a notebook, "It's time to find a dimensional passage to the Empire to have a look at things over there… I shall also look at whoever is trying to stab me and my family in the back."

After remembering the names of the people who were so daring to buy his family's properties, Joshua wrote the names down in the notebook. Then he looked at the last part of the letter that Alphonso sent him.

[… for that, I request for my liege to grant me the same power in managing your properties in the Empire. I have the uttermost confidence that we can stabilize the situation and even take back two of our shops.

To earn your trust, I am willing to swear allegiance to the Radcliffe family. On the name and honor of the Carlos' family, our entire family shall serve you henceforth.

Yours faithfully, Alphonso Carlos.]

"This man really knows when to grab an opportunity. Anyway, an owner of a shop that can take charge of a shop in a place like the Empire is basically a person was brought up and trained to do it. Some may even need to rely on close relatives who have connections… As for an outsider, a leader of a local guild, do you intend to rely on a few words and some money to acquire property in a place like the Empire?"

An image of a middle-aged man with a scar on his neck emerged in his thoughts. Joshua smiled and said, "Although he is just grabbing on the opportunity like a real merchant that knows how to secure his winnings, and even swore his allegiance to me, I really like his style."

The warrior did not dislike such a simple and direct way of doing things. Well, it was normal and natural for one person wanting to climb higher. Well, a person must have the desire before he or she could really fight for it. Since Alphonso looked up to Joshua and was willing to get onto that boat with Joshua, what harm could it bring if Joshua gave him a chance to try then? He was willing to purchase the special items for Joshua. So it would make sense that he wanted to serve Joshua with all his heart.

"Phew…"

Suddenly, right by the side of the study room, a soft sound echoed.

The warrior turned his head and looked at the direction where the sound echoed from. As expected, the silver-haired girl that was lying on the sofa by the side of the wall had once again fallen asleep.

Upon approaching slowly and bending down a little, Joshua lowered his head and looked closer at Ying who was lying on the sofa that was made from orc skin. Her eyes were shut tightly. Her long eyelashes were moving along the air she breathed out. The female Divine Armament was breathing steadily. The expression on her face suggested that she was feeling very comfortable. She seemed to be sleeping comfortably at the moment.

"… You should just get back to the room if you wanted to rest."

Shaking his head and sighing softly, Joshua did not know what to do. He smiled bitterly. "Now is not the time to battle. So why are you following me all around? Wouldn't it be better if you just take a good rest here?"

Without the intention to disturb his own weapon from resting, Joshua kept the letter that he was holding in his hand and sat back onto the chair before his study table. Then he continued to tidy up the other letters and documents on his table.

Meanwhile, Ying who was deep into her dream suddenly frowned.

She was having a dream—

A strange and bizarre nightmare.

The sky was dark and the sun had disappeared. The land looked dimmed because shrouding clouds above it were spreading towards the end of the world. The dimmed red light that looked almost extinguished had formed a small dot shining on the edge of the sky.

When Ying opened her eyes in her dream, that was the scene she saw right before her eyes.

Right beneath her was a dead, silent land. The black soil was giving off a decaying smell all over the place. There was no sign of life at all in it.

Right above in the sky, the distorted and strange clouds were being blocked by the sky. The clouds were then charging into their own shapes slowly and steadily. They then formed into strange pictures that were bizarre. Some sort of evil power could be felt coming from them.

The silver-haired girl could clearly see everything in her surroundings.

In that dream, Ying was looking at everything from mid-air. She could clearly see everything. From the end of the sky to the other side of the earth, regardless of whether they were the mountains, the hills, the woods, the rivers or the ruins of the city, they were all shrouded by a thick layer of gray mist. The mist was so thick that people could get suffocated. It was also infused with some black dust all around the place, covering all things on the earth with a layer of contaminated crystal shell in the shape of a stone. Meanwhile, the rain was pouring down from the distorted clouds, spreading the power of Chaos across the entire world.

The power of Chaos had engulfed the entire world, causing everything on earth to descend into chaos.

Water no longer flowed, wind no longer whispered. The trees no longer grew. And the sun and moon no longer rose…

—Naturally, the flames no longer combusted.

The flame of the world had already been extinguished…

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Chapter 116: Not The Time to Make Promises

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Boom!

The earth was shaking.

In the quiet world, suddenly, a loud explosive sound resonated through the land.

Right in the middle of a ruined city that was shrouded in thick fog, there was something moving around. Partially hidden, its body was so massive that it looked like a mountain. It looked like it was trapping and gathering some sort of power from the surroundings.

As it passed by, the rock piles were turned into dust. The high mountains were leveled down to the ground. The 'power of existence' was sucked in by that gigantic monster, causing the world itself to start shaking.

Along with the crystal clear sound of glass breaking, everything around it had become blurry and further away as if everything would just no longer exist on the next moment.

—Fire…

Feeling faint and confused, Ying suddenly heard a voice.

…Fire!

That voice was echoing back and forth between the heaven and the earth of that world as if it was looking forward to something, as if it was craving for something.

So what does 'fire' mean?

The lady asked herself doubtfully.

—Naturally, it referred to the spark of the world. The first light that ever came into existence since the beginning of the world. Only 'fire', and the one and only 'fire' could light up the void entirely and banish all Chaos…

Boom! Another loud explosion came. The lady's instincts could feel it. The master of that voice seemed to be ready to answer her doubts and questions. However, having no idea what the reason was, the voice was interrupted by some sort of influence or power. The explosive sounds would just suddenly burst out of nowhere and shatter the voice away from getting to Ying. After that, Ying could not hear anything else.

Along with the sudden thunderous sounds, enormously fierce waves of Chaos swept across the land one wave after another. Ying felt overwhelmed and had difficulty breathing each time the wave of Chaos came at her. She could feel her soul gasping for air. However, a silver-white radiance suddenly emanated. Some sort of strange power that felt gentle had boosted the Will of the Divine Armament. It acted like a shield that repelled Chaos' power, banishing any trace of it that tried to approach Ying.

As time passed, the waves began to calm down. Meanwhile, the shield had also vanished. Upon lifting her head up, Ying could only look at her surroundings like she was lost. She looked at the sky that had not even the slightest sense of light.

Just now, she could feel that there was a great Will attempting to look after her. It was a gentle force.

[Remnants of fire, the descendants of steel. The creations of my people… It not yet the promised time, you should not be here.]

A booming voice echoed in Ying's heart. At the same time, a strange force repelled the soul of the little lady, causing it to rise, and rise towards the location where the dimmed radiance of the sun was.

[Return now, just return now. Hold down to the promised day, then you shall come back to fulfill your destiny.]

In the end, right before she left that world, Ying had no idea what just happened. However, she felt reluctant to leave the place. Right before she left, she was sure that she heard a prayer.

[—May the sun forever bless your soul.]

After that, the silver-white radiance emanated. A wave of force pushed over her from the direction where the radiance was emanating now. After the trance, the silver-haired little girl opened her eyes and found herself back in the real world once again.

She woke up.

"What's wrong? Are you awake now? Did you sleep comfortably well?"

The little lady sat herself up right after she woke up from her dream. Her eyes looked dazed. She seemed like she had not completely woken up yet. Her hair was a little messy at the moment. Some strands of hair had gotten into her mouth- so, after Ying heard the voice of her master with no clue of what was going on, she immediately shuddered and got up on her feet. Then she apologized in a hurry, "Sorry, Master. I have no idea why I felt so tired back then…"

After that, I dreamt about something… strange. What did I dream of just now?

"Well, Divine Armaments shouldn't need to sleep, so why…"

Softly biting her lip, the Divine Armament wrinkled her forehead a little. Then she muttered to herself looking troubled, "For Divine Armaments, we do have a state called 'hibernation'. That state is different from sleeping."

"It doesn't matter. You don't have to react so much to it. Sleep is for us to adjust our memories, a ritual to purify our souls. Even the vampires that do not require sleep would sleep for hundreds of years according to their needs."

Joshua looked at the silver-haired girl who was muttering to herself with a face filled with doubts. Then he noticed that Ying was actually kind of cute when she did that. He could not help to laugh, "No matter what, next time when you want to sleep, just tell me. I'm not a bad person. I wouldn't let you yawn just to follow me around, right?"

Upon saying that, the warrior suddenly noticed that ever since he had become a Gold tier, he had not slept at all. For so long, every time he noticed that he was tired, he would just close his eyes for a two-hour nap before he completely recovered.

To get such high-tier battles and training, normal people would have collapsed. Meanwhile, the Divine Armament had been tagging along all the while. She was always there every single time… From that point of view, Joshua could not help but feel guilty. He had not realized that he was behaving like a black-hearted count who loved to bully and force a little girl to go beyond her limits.

Although Ying had been reminding him her age was as same as his, who would care about that?! The warrior was a person that believed only what he saw with his own eyes.

The silver-haired lady was still frowning as she recalled her past memories. She could still vaguely remember that she had seen some strange phenomena in her dream. Although she was feeling all blurry and dizzy while she was in her dream, however, she could still recall something from it.

"So what was it…"

Standing near the sofa, she began to walk back and forth as she was trying hard to recall. However, no matter how hard she tried, she could only retrieve fragments of her dream: gray mists, a world slow on time, everything covered in rock crystallized substance, the Chaos waves and the gigantic creature that lurked along with the waves… Although it sounded like there was a lot of content, however, even if Ying could just connect it all, she could not get anymore out of that dream.

"The feeling was the same as the feeling last time when we were on the wall. It was just like the memory fragments that I saw through Master's Will. Although it felt like I've seen a lot of things, I can just remember a little bit of it actually… Could it be that I had been connected to some sort of great and powerful existence without my knowledge?"

Thinking quietly to herself, Ying was strangely confused. She could not fathom her current situation, "But I can share Master's memory because I'm his Divine Armament. So how could I be connected with some other existence then?"

"Huh?"

Just when she was troubled with that thought, the silver-haired lady heard the slightly excited voice of her own Master. "The dwarves… they want to give me a set of armor?"

Joshua was sitting by his study table. He was holding a dark gray letter in his hand. He was looking at the content of the letter while showing a slight interest in it, "And the armor set is being forged by the leader of the dwarves himself, Ironborn Moreila?! So does that mean I'm getting a set of Legendary-tier armor for free then? Does that mean they are really going to give it to me that just like that?"

Anyway, that was only one of the few good news there were these days. The warrior could not help to nod his head a little. Before this, he was looking at the other letters. The contents of those other letters had also confirmed that everything about the incident over the Empire that Alphonso mentioned in his letter was true. However, this sudden good news had changed his mood entirely in an instant. He felt much happier at the moment.

The dwarves had their own language and grammatical rules but also knew the language that humans use. It was still alright if they only used the language for daily conversations. However, if they were required to write the language in official formats or documents, it would surely be as hard as breaking through the sky.

It took a while of great effort before Joshua managed to look through all of the letters he received earlier. A large portion of the letter was meaningless greetings. The main point emphasized in the letter was congratulating the warrior on obtaining the title as the new count of the territory, acquiring his 'qualification'. Joshua believed that the 'qualification' was actually the process of acquiring and forming a pact with a Divine Armament. So according to the promise back in time, they would forge a set of armor that was the best. Then the armor would be given to him without any condition. If there was a chance, they would even send a messenger to visit him. Then the messenger would inform the date for him to go and collect his armor.

"The dwarves' armor must be the best among the best. I've been waiting for this a long time ago."

Upon putting the letters in hand down, Joshua looked at the ceiling of the study room. He had an eager look on his face. "Normal armor is already too weak for a person of my level. During the battle with the black dragon and the dracospider, even if I wore better magically enhanced armor, the armor would not have held on for much longer. Basically, the armor would be completely destroyed in a couple of minutes… This is a timely assistance, just like fuel delivered to me in the snow."

In the weapons category, there was the Divine Armaments. In the category of armor, there were these legendary equipment that were forged by the dwarves. So Joshua felt that even in the previous life, he had not had the chance to enjoy so luxuriously before.

Time passed very quickly. At that time, right in the study room of the mansion, the black-haired warrior was visualizing the future. At the same time, the silver-haired girl was still feeling troubled by her own dream. The room was quiet as no one was talking.

Knock knock knock.

Suddenly, a series of rapid knocks on the door broke the silence in the room.

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Chapter 117: A New Year Draws Near

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"Come in."

With a creak, the great doors of the study swung open, and there in the doorway stood the stable master of the estate.

Bearing plain features and chestnut hair, the man stammered a polite greeting to Joshua, then proceeded to explain the reason for his visit, a reproachful expression upon his face. Stuttering and stumbling with his hands gesturing animatedly, it took him several minutes to get his point across. Apparently, for some unknown reason, Joshua's dragon-blooded warhorse Black had suddenly refused to eat, and then drove everyone from the stable with its tantrum.

"My liege, well, the situation, you see, is as I've said, more or less."

The stable master was covered in mud and also some hoof prints. For Joshua and Ying, one could easily tell by their faces that listening to him speak was sheer torture.

"Right now, Black, in the stable, that is… back and forth, it's pacing, you see… just won't eat, it seems, no matter what… please, my liege, if you would…"

"Alright, I understand."

Raising his hand to stop the stable master from speaking further, Joshua rose, his expression grim. "For now, go and get yourself a fresh change of clothes, while I have a look at what's going on. Ying, will you rest here a while more, or do you want to come with me?"

Though she wanted to follow the warrior to go and see what the matter was with Black, Ying hesitated to answer, her mind still feeling like a complete mess, as though all kinds of thoughts were running through her mind, but she couldn't catch hold of any of them.

"Never mind, just stay here for the time being."

Seeing that his Divine Armament really did seem a little out of sorts, Joshua declared, "If you're feeling sleepy, go back to the room and lie down for a while."

He added, "That's an order."

"… uhuh."

Having received the silver-haired girl's response, Joshua nodded his head in satisfaction, then promptly strode out of the study, heading to the stable outside.

It was not a long walk from the estate to the stable, and in no time the warrior arrived before the building, which had been constructed out of gray pine-wood from the north. It was evening now, the sun was setting, and the snow had yet to fully melt away. His footsteps crunched over the frost, and before he'd even entered, Joshua could hear an irritable snort and the sound of something being broken.

"Sounds like someone's mad, alright."

Muttering this under his breath, he sauntered into the stable. Glancing around, Joshua saw that the floor was littered with wooden splinters, while the magnificent black dragon-blooded warhorse was pacing around the cramped confines, its eyes bloodshot. Every so often it would give a snort, and then, with a toss of its head and a flick of its tail, it would wreak havoc upon its surroundings.

Oddly enough, though the warhorse seemed thoroughly consumed by its rage, the moment it caught sight of Joshua, its temper began to subside, such that when the warrior reached out a hand to pat its head, the wild stallion—which had demolished the gate and fencing of its stall—stuck out its tongue to lick his hand affectionately.

"Good boy."

Stroking the horse's neck, Joshua looked around with some confusion. If he didn't already know that the splinters and broken fences that lay all around were this fellow's doing, no one would believe this amiable horse before him right now could have been capable of such carnage.

"What could have gotten you so angry?"

Murmuring this question to himself, he then tried drawing upon his Combat Aura to probe about inside Black's body, but the warrior couldn't find anything out of the ordinary. The horse's vitality was remarkable, but that came as no surprise—it was a known effect of the dragon blood. Remembering the time when Joshua rode Black from the canyon of beasts in the north-western plains back to the northern lands, a journey of seventeen days and nights, galloping non-stop without rest, the whole time Black never betrayed any sign of exhaustion, the blazing dragon's blood running through its veins providing it with unlimited vigor.

That alone was hardly anything too special. Some creatures, possessing more concentrated dragon's blood, could even emulate the ability of a dolphin to always keep a portion of their brain awake. That kind of extreme being, by all accounts, would never know a good night's sleep all their lives long.

The scan turned up nothing, so Joshua accessed the system to inspect the status of his horse— unusually detailed data and reports scrolled across the screen, but there still seemed to be no errors to be found. However, according to the system's information, the warrior was pleased to find that, having accompanied him across various battlefields, and having experienced multiple conflicts, Black had risen through quite a few levels, and was now equivalent to a mighty Silver tier mount!

"Now that you've fulfilled the pre-requisites to be considered a more refined pure-blood, I can see that your innate gifts could prove incredibly useful."

Stroking the flanks of his warhorse, the warrior was satisfied by the feel of strong muscles and a powerful build. "Excellent, the stronger you grow, the more capable I'll become in turn. As long as you can handle my power, I'll be able to quickly improve my skills in mounted combat. Keep it up, and when you attain the higher ranks of the Silver tier, I'll have something nice for you."

Whinny!

As though able to understand his words, Black responded with enthusiasm.

Not merely paying lip service, Joshua genuinely knew various methods to further purify its blood. All he needed was to get his hands on some potent materials, and he would be able to help Black overcome the inherent factors limiting the potential of its dragon blood; it might even be able to achieve Gold tier.

All else notwithstanding, a Gold-tier mount would perhaps be one of the most luxurious indulgences one could get in this world.

Just then, having gotten himself a change of clothes, the stable master hastened back to the stable. Upon entering to see the sight of Black, docile as a kitten, whinnying softly at Joshua's touch, all the man could do was stare in bewilderment.

Dumbstruck, he could have sworn by all his thirty-two years of experience tending horses that the horse before him; which had earlier sent him flying with a hoof to the chest—had been behaving in a completely different way from this! In all his time looking after dragon-blood horses, it had been the greatest peril he had ever faced: if not for him being in the Steel tier himself—not to mention the breastplate he'd been wearing underneath his clothing—he would surely have broken a few ribs from that!

Even so, that breastplate was now ruined by the grievous dent that kick had left behind. Thank goodness it had been as thick as it was, else the stable master had no doubt at all that right at this moment he'd be flat on the floor, unable to move.

"Oh, you're here."

Patting Black on the head, Joshua turned to address the stable master. "Looks like he was just in a bit of a mood earlier, or maybe the sudden increase in his abilities left him with a surplus of spirit… in any case, the first thing you should do now is to check to see if you're alright. If you've been hurt, be sure to claim some medical fees."

"No, my lord, not at all… no trouble, well, just a bit of pain, that's it… been many years, you know, looking after horses, after all…" The stable master stammered in reply.

"Well then, go prepare some horse feed."

Shrugging his shoulders, the warrior took a look at the feeding trough, which had been knocked over upon the floor, and added, "Use a little more meat— I can see it no longer has much appetite for hay."

Now that he'd determined that there was nothing wrong, Joshua returned to his study to continue attending to other matters.

What the warrior didn't realize, however, was that his passive skill 'Flare of Purification' had activated just before he'd entered the stable earlier, thus banishing a certain something that had been there.

Back in the stable meanwhile, Black was heartily devouring the meaty meal which had been lovingly prepared for it. In its eyes, there would occasionally be a flash of scarlet-and-golden light, followed by a sudden pulse of force, but then the light would swiftly vanish without a trace.

The voice which had previously been whispering something odd in its ear had now also gone, while the power that thrummed in its blood had been calmed somewhat by Joshua's presence. Now it was finally able to settle down and have a little something to eat.

Ah, there was a bit of an itch on either side of its head, as though something was trying to grow out from there…

… the time moved on, and just like that a few more days had gone by.

Winter in the stronghold held nothing of great concern. When he'd finished settling the administrative matters that had piled up, Joshua was at last able to find a rare moment's leisure.

Starfall Year 831, the 31st day of the 12th month. The morning before the eve of the new year, another flurry of snow descended from the sky.

Coming out from the temple to behold the drifting snowflakes, whirling and dancing through the air, Joshua found himself in a rather pleasant mood.

Perhaps it was the system—or maybe his 'Steel Armor Kokyu-ho' technique – which was augmenting his self-regeneration, such that the injury to his left arm was mending faster than the old priest had predicted. Rather than having to take it easy for a couple of months, he figured it would only take roughly two or three weeks to make a full recovery. The new bones had already set into place, so now the task at hand was allowing his Combat Aura to reinforce these newly re-grown bones, returning him to the level of tenacity worthy of a Gold-Tier warrior.

Out in the street, despite the falling snow, there were quite a few people bustling about.

It was really much too cold in the north. Going by the current weather, and the brush of the frigid wind against his skin, he'd estimate the temperature to be at least negative 30 or 40 degrees. In this climate, there was simply no way to hold a big new year's celebration. Nonetheless, everyone would be throwing their own parties back in their homes, welcoming the new year in the company of family and friends. Even the single fellows would gather together to bid farewell to the last night of the year.

The felled trunks of pine trees passed in an unending stream through the city gates, whereupon they were distributed to every household, to serve as an evergreen testament. The winter pines of the northern lands symbolized 'everlasting peace and prosperity.' It had always been the tradition of the northern people to use them as decorations for new year celebrations.

"Come to think of it, it's time to make some preparations myself."

Without noticing it, he was soon about to welcome the first new year since his transition into the world. Joshua couldn't help but smile. "If memory serves, as the count of the land, there's something more I'll need to do for the new year."

Looking around at this city that was his, as though he could see right through the solid stone walls to the blazing flame of each and every life within, the warrior nodded his head in contentment, then turned and headed off toward his estate in the western part of the city.

For this matter, he ought to have Ying with him.

… and soon enough, the new year would be upon them.

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Chapter 118: The Remnants of Chaos

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Chilly winds filled the air, while leaden clouds rolled ceaselessly through the sky. A blizzard rampaged across the frozen plain, howling winds whipping the fallen snow into a fog.

Beyond the northern city, upon the slopes of Great Ajax's mountain range, it was a bleak tundra.

Obscured by thick clouds, no sunlight managed to reach this place, so that even out upon the white snow, you couldn't see your own nose right in front of you. Moreover, there was no sound which could be heard above the shrill, whistling gale. In this place, the biting cold and merciless winds crushed the snow into a fine powder. Under such frigid conditions, even magic would be slowed to a halt.

Draughts collided, forming spiraling cyclones of snow, and all of creation was crushed between the whirling ice.

This was a harsh environment no normal person could hope to survive in. Barring certain specialized magical creatures, there was, in fact, no form of life at all in this bleak wasteland. Over the years, thrill-seekers and seasoned hunters alike would extend the same warning to visitors passing through the region: under no circumstances should they set foot in this area, for death stalked these lands, and those who ventured in would never be seen again.

But there would always be exceptions.

"Awoo!!!"

A savage holler pierced through the squall, ringing across the icy plain. There was nothing in sight but a streak of crimson light which flashed through the sky and then vanished. Then, an enormous shadow tumbled out from the heavens above.

Crash!

Shockwaves from the impact kicked up a raging tempest, filling the air with billowing snow, and upon the tundra, there was now a deep crater. Lying in the bottom of the crater was a white wyrm, its mouth protruding with sharp and jagged teeth. Gargantuan in size and vicious in temperament, its whole body was a massive coil of impossibly tough muscles. It seemed to have managed to survive its fall from the clouds—spitting out a mouthful of blood, it struggled to raise itself back upright.

Just then, an arm reached out and caught the creature's neck in a grip like an iron vice, terrifying strength mashing through its scales and flesh, creating gaping wounds each the size of a man's skull. In that same instant, the silver blade of a greatsword stabbed through the wyrm's heart.

The cold steel tore through rigid scales, freezing skin and fat alike. Just as blood began to pour forth, the freezing temperatures rendered it into crystallized crimson, a fringe adorning the fresh wound. As the blade sank deeper into the wyrm's body, a faint glow passed across its breadth, mysterious power surging through, and the colossal beast—which originally still had the strength left to struggle at least—glared with all its fury and malice, before the life left it completely, the wyrm dying instantly on the spot.

"That's the way, a quick death!"

At length, the dark-haired warrior became aware that his prey was already dead, and he relaxed his left hand, which had still been gripping the spine of the wyrm he stood astride of. The massive blade in his hand transformed, in a flash of magical light, into a young woman with silver hair, standing behind the warrior.

"This Rimetooth Wyrm is large enough—it'll do," said Joshua.

Brushing away the frozen blood on his left hand, Joshua nodded to himself. He regarded the fallen wyrm, its body already beginning to freeze solid in the cold, and with no small amount of satisfaction he said, "The effect of the dragon-slaying stone on a weapon persists for quite a while— even this left-over bit of power was sufficient to easily kill off an Upper or even Perfect Silver-tier wyrm. Truly, it was worth every coin."

However, Ying herself was feeling rather odd, and the girl reached up to touch her own face for a moment, grumbling, "I feel as if I've been tattooed, it's horrible…"

Looking up at her master, who towered over her in comparison, she said, with some exasperation, "Also, master, didn't Lord Artanis tell you to take better care of your left arm, for fear of its condition getting worse? Yet here we are, hunting wyrms in the snow—is this your idea of rest and relaxation?"

"It's not like that… The new year is just around the corner, and so I'm here to carry out my duty as count. In addition, Ying, you should know that a bit of exercise is just another part of good, healthy recreation."

Moving around a bit to ease off the forceful exertion from just a moment ago, when he had crushed the wyrms's scales and bones with his left hand, Joshua put one foot on the wyrms's skull, its eyes wide open in death. He decided he felt pretty good. "What's more, you can hardly compare this body of mine to that of an average person. It's just that I haven't yet regained every last bit of my former strength, that's all—but basically my left arm can already be considered fully healed—not fully recovered, but still more than strong enough for this Silver-tier wyrm here.

"Now, I just have to wait for my Combat Aura to reinforce these fresh new bones, and I'll be all set."

The warrior did not speak falsely: his body far surpassed what was typical for the Gold-Tier.

Without taking into consideration the differences created by the natural gifts each person was born with, after the first 'Rite of Revelation', someone of an Steel-tier class would receive strength equal to roughly three times that of a normal person. This enhancement applied to every aspect on the whole so that even a mere mortal who couldn't have taken on a common goose would suddenly become a valiant champion who could overcome daemons.

Talking purely about physical strength, there was no noticeable difference between the lower and upper grades of Steel tier. The specific training methods of the different classes were designed to help beginners in each class to master the use of their new-found set of extraordinary powers—it was at this point that the distinction began to be seen between warriors, mages, rangers, rogues, and other classes.

Upon reaching Silver tier, the power of these abilities would begin to change a person internally as well, spontaneously transforming the organs and skeleton. This gave one the toughness of a daemon, and they could even develop strength that was tens of times beyond average: a Silver-tier warrior could carry a daemon corpse weighing tons, deliver a strike with the impact of a cannon, shatter enormous boulders of solid granite, and the shockwaves given off by their attacks or movements could churn up a road; although mages in comparison experienced little physical improvement, nevertheless the tremendous forces at work would subtly refine the state of their soul, granting them phenomenally improved intellect and superb control over various energies.

The end of the Silver tier represented the limits of the human body. For a warrior, their mighty physique was the result of rigorous conditioning, which took the potential hidden deep inside them and brought it forth. Combined with their will, it produced a special ability known as Combat Aura, and the enhanced spirit of a mage allowed them to freely manipulate the diverse elements and mana around them, thereby creating a multitude of truly wondrous spells.

At this stage, whether warrior or mage, when all the power available to them was brought to bear in a serious fight, their souls would give off a mystical radiance, searing the spirits of nearby enemies. This meant that even without using any supernatural abilities, they were easily able to attack ghosts and other incorporeal beings.

Attaining the Gold Tier meant surpassing a human's natural limitations—beginning to approach, little by little, the ascendant form of a super-human being.

Someone like Joshua, for instance: ever since he'd crossed the threshold into the Gold tier, endowed with the powers of Will and Order, the warrior's body could no longer be compared to that of a normal person at all. He could take a swim through a freezing glacier, have a soak in red-hot lava, crush steel in his hand with ease—he could even press different metals together into a flattened lump, and then break it apart into crumbs as if it were a cookie.

With the 'Steel Armor Kokyu-ho' technique further bolstering him, Joshua's body could emulate any number of weapons: a swish of his finger could surpass the speed of sound, producing a super-sonic air current far deadlier than a blade; a wave of his arm, or a kick of his leg, and the titanic force produced could bring down great elephants and dragons. Right now, if he marshaled his full might, it could equal the strength of up to a hundred normal people—enough to go bare-handed against a wyrm and triumph. All this was only concerning his level of basic physical strength, and had not yet even begun to go into his array of techniques employing Combat Aura or Glorious Strength.

This kind of power, in the distant days of ancient human civilization, would have been sufficient for one to be viewed as a god.

"First, let's cut out the brain."

Saying this to Ying, Joshua held his hand straight like a knife, invoking his Combat Aura. Following a single downward slash, a ray of light coursed through, and the Rimetooth Wyrm was decapitated just like that. Its blood, now a sluggish paste, hardly managed to ooze out a little before solidifying into a seal of frozen blood at the neck. The wyrm's immense head, meanwhile, rolled and bounced across the icy ground, before coming to rest in a shallow rut.

At the same time, Joshua's passive skill 'Flare of Purification' activated, the unseen power of Order manifesting as radiance. Its cleansing light washed over the wyrm's corpse and severed head, which caused some wisps of black and purple to emerge, and then a brilliant flash followed which banished these remnants of darkness entirely.

After witnessing this scene, Joshua and Ying spent a moment deep in thought. The warrior commented gravely, "Indeed, although the dimensional door has been sealed, the energies of Chaos yet linger. Even in the Dark Forest near Moldova, there remain traces of the Berserk Dragon's taint…"

The girl who was his Divine Armament had a different concern. In her soft voice, she wondered aloud, "This wyrm is quite large. However, are we going to bring it back?"

"We'll drag it along as we fly, of course."

Hearing her question, the warrior chuckled, and in a mild tone he explained, "We've flown all this way to find a dragon to slay, so that I can bring its head and body back, where they'll be put on display for all my people to see."

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31st of December, the last day of the year. Night.

In the middle of the falling snow, the main square in the center of the main city of Moldavia had a large greenish-gray stone stage that was huge. There was a dent right in the middle, with many strange patterns on it. It looked just like an altar. A dozen knights that were dressed in bright armor was patrolling around it. The black flag with golden edges was installed on both sides of the stone stage. Several torches were ignited in the surroundings of the square.

Today, in the afternoon, the knights had received an order from their count. Also based on the tradition that had been passed down for all those years, they had constructed the huge stone stage over several nights before the day of the event. They had also ignited torches that burned on fuel all around the stage, lighting up the entire area of the square.

Meanwhile, in the surroundings of the site, there were quite a number of citizens who were wearing their thick cottoned clothes. They were surrounding the huge stage in a circle. They were gathering together as they were laughing and chatting loud about recent things that were interesting. Many of them were hugging and blessing each other with wishes, for the hard work they had done over the year and the outcome of their work.

The new year was just around the corner now.

This year's Moldavia was different. It was not because the old count had passed away, or that the young count had taken over the place. It was not the Dark Tide that appeared to be much larger in scale either—the most different part about this year was the powerful strength of their new count.

He was much more powerful than the count before this.

In mid-October, the old liege had passed away without a legit reason. During that time, a group of unknown knights and a fat man appeared to attack the main city and took over the count's mansion. They ever declared a curfew and martial law over the entire city. They also sent many street warriors to patrol the streets all over the city as well. That group of people did not allow the Dragon Caravan merchants to freely trade in the market of the city as well. They also had an extremely fierce demeanor.

After all, the city had a good environment in the first place. The citizens of the northern city were also friendly and they were all living together in harmony all the while. So how could they bear to suffer such changes in their city? Just when they were ready to pick up their weapons, ready to bring the fight to those strangers that were taking over their city, they had witnessed the return of their new liege.

Truthfully, no one even knew how their new liege took out those Silver-tier knights as it happened too fast. From the loud bang that came from the city wall until the collapse of the count's mansion, everything happened within merely three hours. A lot of people had just had their breakfast before they received news that all of the knights had been taken out; there was a new Gold-tier warrior that came from somewhere to wipe them all out.

A man named Joshua had declared himself as the new liege, the heir to the count's title, also the new liege that would own this territory. Naturally, no one opposed. Who would complain that their liege was as strong as hell? For the people in the North, it was most important that their count was powerful enough at least. After all, as long as it was someone that was not as dumb as the previous oversized man that was trying to take over the city, that somebody can be anyone. Since that was the case, why not let the strongest one become the new count then?

"According to rumors, if Master Joshua did not take part in the war, Fort Dark Forest would have been overrun by daemons and fall."

Among the crowd, a middle-aged man dressed like a hunter was stroking his beard. He was chatting with another person that looked like a fisherman. He sighed and said, "My sons are living near the mining town far from here. If the fortress was overrun and the daemons came into the territory, I have no idea what would have happened to all of us."

"Without Liege Joshua, we're as good as dead."

The fisherman shook his head. He seemed like not the type to talk much. He took a peek at the stone stage and spoke softly, "There's no telling what is it this year…"

"I think that it should be bear or giant frost snake. Recently, the Dark Tide just happened. Those monsters that do not hibernate had mostly died. I bet that only a few frost snakes and bears survived the war."

Upon noticing that the fisherman was not happy, the hunter shrugged and muttered to himself. "And we have no idea how many of those monsters were brought here."

Not only the two men, the others all around the square were discussing it in excitement. However, suddenly, the voices that filled the entire place began to quiet down. After a brief moment, the entire place became dead silent.

The hunter who could feel a strange presence furrowed his brows. He could feel that an oppressive existence was approaching from afar. Upon lifting his head, the hunter noticed that there was a red light flying across the snow in the sky from afar. The light was moving so fast that there was a red light tail following the flying red light. That red light was much more intimidating and heavier than the most powerful daemon the hunter had ever sensed before in his entire life. The hunter was left speechless. However, he could also feel that the light was somehow not threatening.

"What…"

Before he could even ask the question in his own mind, the hunter could see that the red light suddenly sped up. In just an instant, that red light had arrived at the side of the city, and then right above the square, a current of strong wind blew past. An intense scent of blood struck deep into the noses of every single human in the surroundings. The huge shadow followed by a red Combat Aura slowly descended onto the ground. The citizens that were intimidated by the sudden arrival of such trembling existence had finally regained their consciousness.

Rumble—

At that time, the supersonic sound had only approached the square.

Upon vibrating his entire body a little, he disengaged himself of his Combat Aura. The black-haired warrior then stayed levitated in the middle of the sky. He was holding the hand of a silver-haired girl with his right hand while he was carrying a body of a wyrm without a head on his back. The eyes of the wyrm head were wide open. The warrior then descended slowly towards the ground as everyone was looking at him with their jaw dropped.

Upon seeing that scene, the civilians stayed silent. After that one brief moment of silence, everyone burst into chatter. Some were shocked and most of them were basically shouting and crying out loud.

"Good heavens! What is that thing right behind the back of our Liege?!"

"Dragon? Is that really a dragon?!"

"So the sacrifice for this year is actually a dragon?!"

"No, that was just a wyrm. It's not a dragon with a pure bloodline. However, that is more than just enough already!" Some old adventurer who was more experienced managed to recognize the head of the wyrm that was being held in the hand of the warrior. He looked extremely shocked, "It's a Rimetooth Wyrm! Oh my god! Last year, we only had a spike-shelled boar. Although both are Silver tier, the difference is just too huge… Could it be that we will have the chance to taste wyrm meat this year?"

At the same time when Joshua was descending from the sky, the threw the gigantic body of the wyrm onto the dent right in the middle of the stage. The impact of the body onto the cold and solid surface of the rock stage let out a heavy sound. Upon stepping onto the green-gray rock stage, the warrior looked around the stage—countless people had filled up the space of the square now. It seemed that more than half of the citizens in the city were gathered here now.

Joshua grinned.

There were many traditional practices in Continental War. There were also many festive days throughout the entire year. Aside from the birthday of the Emperor and Independence Day of the Empire; the New Year, Astral Festival of a Midsummer Night, and also the Autumn Harvest Day were very famous festive days. All humans, and even elves and dwarves would celebrate the same festivals on the same day together.

Meanwhile, it would be the same for the New Year.

As a traditional practice that had been practiced over thousands of years, Joshua, as a liege, would need to slay a high tier daemon for the New Year Festival and provide food for his knights and his people. Joshua had to do that in order to embody the conquering nature in the hearts of men and to show that he had the strength to protect his own people.

A Gold-tier daemon would be extremely rare to come by, especially after the Dark Tide. Even though Joshua had not been able to find the remaining Gold-tier daemons that were hiding from him, however, getting a Silver-Tier wyrm was more than enough to prove his strength to his people.

Standing right in the middle of the crowd listening to the chattering voices of the people, Joshua did not say a word at all. He just stood on the stage, lifting the head of the wyrm up to show it to the people. One could tell by the eyes of wyrm that it died unwillingly. Everyone was shocked to see that pair of eyes. However, the people then cheered and praised. Even such a dreadful daemon would die at the hands of their new liege. Although it was terrifying to see that, however, it was also surprisingly comforting for the people. They felt safe as citizens of the city.

This was different from the news about how Joshua fended off the Dark Tide in Moldavia and Moldova; those regular people who had not seen Joshua's battle would not be able to understand how powerful he was. So they were still doubtful of Joshua's strength. However, now, even the slightest doubt in their hearts had been wiped away clean after seeing the wretched head and body of the wyrm.

"This is indeed the powerful being that fended off Dark Tide twice…"

An adventurer with a large shield on his back was standing among the citizens. He was looking at his own hands full of calluses. Then in his soft voice, he sighed. "Moldavia, Moldova, this man basically ended two Dark Tides. And now, he just slew an Upper Silver-tier wyrm out of convenience… I wonder when I can reach that level of power and strength…"

Without being bothered by the enthusiasm of the crowd, the warrior put the gigantic body of the wyrm right on top of the stage. Truth be told, Joshua was contented seeing the expression on the wyrm's head. When the festival ended, he decided to clean it up a little and put it as one of the decoratives in the main hall of the count's mansion.

A moment later, when the discussion came to an end, Joshua took a step forward. He stood on the edge of the top of the stone platform. Then he naturally rallied up everyone in front of him, "My citizens and people of the city, the year is coming to an end. In the middle of this year, there have been many things happening, both good and bad. However, it is comforting to know that everything had a gratifying ending and nothing needed to be said about it. The peace and harmony in the city have proven it all."

The warrior smiled in front of the citizens and people that looked up at him. Then he spoke loudly, "The sacrificial for the past years had not been enough for everyone to have a bite on it. However, this year, I went over to the plains of ice and frost just to slay a wyrm. And with this, I believe that everyone here will have a taste of my prey. I shall stop talking now-"

Upon ending his brief and simple speech, he stood up straight and gathered his Combat Aura. Then he wielded his hand around and instantly, powerful waves of impacts were emitted out, followed by a few invisible air blades cutting right out into the wyrm's body into tiny little pieces.

"My people, the year-end festival has begun!"

The entire square was filled with cheers and joy.

Standing among the cheering of 'Long live our Liege' and 'Praise our Liege', Joshua walked down from the stage slowly. He was not bothered by the cheers that were led by the other Knights. He did not attend to the people that were cheering his name while feasting on wyrm meat. Instead, he was walking straight towards the middle tower by the city wall.

Meanwhile, Ying was following the warrior walking along the street.

Upon entering the tower and stepping up onto the spiral stairwell, it did not take long before the two of them had walked all the way up to the top of the tower. The Warrior was sitting on the edge of the wall with his legs crossed. He was looking at the mountains and flying snows from distant far.

His eyes were calm as if he was not feeling excited and joyous after knowing that his people were admiring and worshipping him like a god. Joshua was merely staring at the dark sky and the dark land in the night. God knows what he was currently having on his mind now. Meanwhile, the silver-haired girl was also sitting quietly by his side. She was accompanying her master as he was spacing out.

Time passed.

Starfall Year 831, 31st of December, Night, 11.59 p.m..

"Indeed."

Suddenly, he spoke with a sensible voice, "It felt great to be praised too."

Even though the land was cold and the people there were living in poverty, that land was still Joshua's territory after all. With the people living on his territory, as their liege, the warrior was responsible for protecting them and getting praised for doing so. As an aristocrat, that was his duty.

Starfall Year 832, 1st of January, 00.00 a.m..

Clang—Clang—Clang

The magnificent bell on top of the church rang and the sound of the bell echoed across the entire main city.

That was the sound of the arrival of a new year.

—At the same time, eastern side of Mount Great Ajax, Moldova Territory.

"Brandon… you're going to depart tomorrow?"

Right in the middle of the count's mansion in the main city of Moldova, the violet-haired countess was hugging her lover tightly. She was a little reluctant to let her husband go. "Our children want to play with you a little longer."

"I wanted too, but Dani, my responsibility forbids me to stay here any longer. I must report the incident about the dimensional rift related to the Corrupted Black Dragon and the bizarrely large Dark Tide to the Empire as soon as I can." The golden-haired swordsman seemed helpless. He felt his finger slipping slowly down the skin on Dani's back. Then he sighed. "I'll have to depart for the Imperial City to secure the safety of your territory, to make sure such calamity will not repeat itself ever again—Because I wanted to spend time with your throughout the new year, I've extended my stay for too long now. Even though the dimension rift has been destroyed, however, it can also be reconnected anytime."

"… You're right. I can't allow the entire territory to descend into chaos for my own desire."

Sighing aloud as well, Vale Dani let go of her hands that were wrapped around Brandon's waist. Then she took a step back and chanted a secret spell. The mage then took a box out of the void and informed the golden-haired swordsman right before her. "While you're on your way, do not forget this. This is a gift for the count as a token of gratitude… and also do not forget to process the raw materials of the Gold-tier daemons and pass them to him. He left in a hurry and he did not take anything along with him."

"Joshua had really assisted us in so many ways… Honestly, I think that such a small return will not be sufficient. Also, I can't let you be the only one giving a token of gratitude to him.

Upon taking the box over from the hands of Vale Dani, Brandon recalled back about the time when the warrior was standing before the dimensional rift. The warrior chanted some ancient language that had been lost in time. Then he muttered to himself, "I should prepare a big gift, for the sake of recognizing further the dual blades of Order… alright, when I'm back in the Imperial City, I shall get right to it."

"Actually, instead of giving him a gift, he's more keen to have a duel with you."

Upon hearing that, the countess smiled gently at Brandon. She looked at the golden-haired swordsman with her gentle eyes and said, "However, my swordsman, are you confident that you can take him on?"

"Although Joshua is indeed freaking powerful, and it's obvious that he's a few levels higher than me… but I have the confidence I can!"

Tightening both fists, Brandon turned his head to the side and looked at the dark clouds through the windows. His eyes were filled with confidence, "Nothing else matters. Only a battle can speak, between one warrior to the other."

—Far away, Holy City of the Triplet Mountain. The Imperial City of the Empire.

The twin moons were shining brightly upon the entire city. The purely white wall of the city made of marble was reflecting the moonlight crystal clear making the scene look very holy.

Nostradamus was standing on one of the star towers in the middle of the Imperial City. He looked at the sky with a strange expression on his face.

"The weather is not too bad today. However, the magic waves are not suitable for teleportation though…"

The white-haired mage muttered to himself for a bit before he started shaking his head. "It doesn't matter. Since the things in the Imperial City have been resolved, I have time now. The coordinates would not differ much I guess."

If the teleportation went wrong, he only needed to do it one more time with some adjustment to correct it.

Thinking about the so-called emergency method, the white-haired old man immediately pulled out a scroll. Nostradamus read out a few secret words and activated the scroll with his spirit. In an instant, the scroll was turned into a flame and attached to his hand. The head of mages in the Imperial City raised up his right hand ignited with flame, then he swiped his hand across the air. Instantly, a noticeable trace was seen in the mid-air.

The flame continued to combust vigorously. After that, the flame turned into green-blue radiance. The trace of light began to expand and intensify. After a moment, a gloomy blue door appeared and was activated right before the eyes of the white-haired mage without any sound or indication.

Right behind that door, there was a vast flatland that had been covered by a layer of frost and snow. Everything across the entire flatland was white.

"It seems that the destination is correct. This is the northern land."

Upon nodding his head, he confirmed his own target. Then he pulled his mage robe a little to make sure it looked tidy before he crossed over through the door with a stride.

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Chapter 120: Waiting

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Just when Nostradamus took a step out and crossed the blue dimensional rift, he instantly felt that his body was instantly turned into some unexplainably strange existence between soul and matter. Along with the guidance of the spells and runes, the old mage crossed through the rift between worlds and arrived on the other side.

A powerful soul with the level of [Mastery, Nostradamus could see many things that other people could not see. In that one split second when he was crossing through the rift between worlds, he saw it. Not far from his destination, there was quite a large dimensional rift expanding at an extremely slow rate. There were traces of Chaos power seeping out of it as if it was trying to make another hole in order to get into this world once again.

Based on that speed… It should still take approximately more than a month or so before the dimensional rift would be reactivated again. Therefore, there was no need to panic just yet.

Nostradamus did a brief mental calculation. At the same instant, his body had also arrived at the other end of the blue rift. He stepped right onto the ground that was covered in white snow.

Upon the instant where the teleportation was complete, the old mage put his hand on his forehead. At the same time when he was attempting to regain balance he also tried to calm the swirling dizziness in his head. Then he could not help but sigh. "I can't seem to get used to this even after countless times of teleportation… It seems that a human still suffers disorientation when traveling through the rifts."

After that, he looked at his surroundings. The mountains and forests that were covered in silverish-white snow came into his view, and the overwhelming clouds covered the bright moonlight that attempted to shine upon the land. Nostradamus adjusted his glasses and looked at the situation nearby him. "It's been a long time since I last visited the North. It seems like I've not been here for more than twenty years… So where am I now?"

Because there were some unforeseen factors interfering with the teleportation, the old mage's dimensional rift was a little off the route. So he did not arrive at Moldavia's Dark Forest fortress as he expected himself to be. Instead, he came out into a place he was not familiar with.

Upon lifting his head to look at the sky, he confirmed the track and the movement of the moon and the clouds. Then he observed the mountains far from him for a little while. After all that, Nostradamus could not help but think. "This is a little too far from the original destination… I actually teleported myself over to the northern side of Mount Great Ajax… There are too many rifts around this region. Even I would face trouble in teleporting without precise coordinates."

"Well, then I shall just fly over there."

Upon confirming the direction he wanted to go by referring to his compass and using one of his directional spells, Nostradamus nodded and reached out his left hand which had two green magic rings on it. Then he pressed his hand in the air as if he was pressing some invisible button.

Instantly, magic power surged up along with the elemental power. The extremely cold winds in the North were easily manipulated by the twinkling magic rings. The atmosphere and gravity were nullified under the power of the spell. There was an invisible force being turned into a swirling and beautiful magic circle. After that, a carpet appeared right beneath the old mage and lifted him into the air.

"Since I've teleported myself over to the North now, there's no need to rush over there immediately… Instead of going over to seal the dimensional rift immediately, I'm more interested in Joshua from the Radcliffe family."

After being lifted up over thousands of meters into the air by his own spell, Nostradamus had gone over the layer of clouds. He could once again see the moonlight from the twin moons. He muttered to himself immediately, "He actually destroyed the dimensional rift all by himself… that's unbelievable."

It was not because the old mage was surprised. Regardless of which every type of dimensional rift it turned out to be, each of the rifts structures was extremely complicated. The nodes of the rifts would usually stay hidden deep in the rifts themselves. Normal people would not spot the nodes in the first place. Nostradamus admitted that he would not be able to analyze a completely unknown dimensional rift with a completely new structure and design within a few hours. So it would be impossible for him to be able to analyze the rift and battle at the same time.

However, the truth triumphed over everything. Even if the mage did not want to believe it, one warrior had managed to see through the magical nodes that were hidden deep in the dimensional rift during the gap of few minutes he stalled in the middle of a battle. Furthermore, the warrior did not even use five minutes to crush every single node in the rift; that was not some sort of bullsh*t rumor. It had happened for certain in real life.

"Every time when I hear the rumor, I can't help but feel that I'm really old…"

Sighing aloud, Nostradamus rode the frosty wind and magic, sitting on a magical flying carpet that looked like an illusion. He was traveling through the clouds passing over the Great Ias Mountains with no haste at all.

Time slipped without anyone's notice. It was already Starfall Year 832, 5th of January.

Nostradamus had arrived at the southern side of Mount Great Ajax, also known to be the inner region of Moldavia.

Within these few days, the old mage had traveled across quite a number of dark forests and some hidden borders in the North. The remaining thick breath of Chaos had led him to furrow his brows. As he approached nearer towards the southeast of the region, he could feel that repulsive pollution of Chaos was getting more condensed. Even after more than two weeks, those thick gray mist of Chaos still remained strong all around that region of the northern land.

"Such amount of power is not small at all. Meanwhile, it's still spreading at a very quick rate. Fortunately, the dimensional rift was destroyed in time. Or else the entire land could have been totally corrupted by Chaos power by now… everything would have descended into total chaos…"

Upon taking a stop right above a small black forest nearby Moldavia, Nostradamus had gathered some sample of Chaos power. Then he shook his head and sighed, "The Sacred Mountain cannot afford to send a group of their people to come and cleanse this land for the moment. If spring arrives and the frost and snow seals Chaos and lets Chaos seep into the earth, then it would become too late for them to cleanse the land later on. Things would escalate to a whole new level by then."

While he was thinking about how to solve the problem regarding the power of Chaos, the white-haired mage arrived at the snow land nearby the main city of Moldavia. He was high in the sky. Nostradamus was also able to see the black gigantic wall from afar.

However, just when he was beginning to descend so that he could pay a visit to the new Chaos Guardian, the young warrior miraculously destroyed the dimensional rift. Nostradamus instantly frowned. Instead of paying attention towards the city that laid before his eyes, he lowered his head down and looked at the snowy land below him.

In the middle of the Supreme-tier mage's magically enhanced view, two gigantic whirlwinds suddenly emerged right on the white snow land. Meanwhile, the two sources of Combat Auras were gathering on the land. The powers were dreadfully intimidating.

"What…"

Nostradamus could not help but stop everything he was doing after he asked himself with a soft voice. Then he quickly hid among the clouds and deactivated his spell. After that, he just stayed there and observed the situation down on the ground.

Right above the land that was currently covered by a layer of ice and snow, a huge and sturdy man wearing black leather clothes was standing firmly in the middle of one of the whirlwinds. Right beside the man was a silver-haired girl. The two of them seemed to be waiting for someone. Meanwhile, on the other side, there was another man riding along the wind with a stream of dark-green Combat Aura surging around him. He was charging towards the man and the girl at extremely high speed.

The warrior that was waiting had a large, solid body. His muscles were rock solid. His clothes were torn by an invisible force that came right out from his body. Based on the half-naked body of the warrior, he seemed like he had already trained every single strand of muscles and every single part of his body to the limit. The power of life that was surging all across the body of that warrior was as vigorous as a strong flowing river. The power was flowing through the body of the warrior so vigorously that every single heartbeat of the warrior could intimidate Nostradamus. Each heartbeat of that warrior was extremely heavy and frightening.

Speaking only about the appearance of the warrior, he did not look bad at all. He even looked a little nice to look at. However, the calm face of the warrior looked intimidatingly scary as if he could just choose a target and snap the target into two on the next split second. His aura was just terrifying.

"Brandon…"

As an old friend to chief of the Kaos family, of course Nostradamus could recognize the son of his old friend. After all, Brandon was a prodigy among swordsmen. Meanwhile, Brandon's performance and achievements had not tainted his good name so far. So the white-haired mage was very sure that this golden-haired handsome swordsman had completely mastered his own Glorious Strength and Glorious Soul. Brandon had completed constructing the basics for himself to cross into an even higher tier, [Mastery].

However, even though that was the case, Brandon was still slightly overwhelmed by that tall and sturdy warrior standing over there.

With the strength of a Supreme-tier mage, Nostradamus could naturally tell what all this was about.

Looking at the traits of the two combatants' Combat Auras, even though they looked similar, however, their wills were different from each other. Deep down, the dark-green Combat Aura of the swordsman contained pure holy power, a power of radiance that swore to annihilate all evil in this world. On the other hand, deep down the red Combat Aura of the warrior was unparalleled ferociousness, a black wave that only swore to annihilate and destroy everything in battle.

If Brandon was the holy swordsman who wielded dual swords, then the warrior that was standing on the other side was the War God of Steel that bathed in blood and fire!

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Chapter 121: Swords Are Not the Only Weapons I Have

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"You've come."

Upon seeing the golden-haired swordsman that was charging from afar stopping on a spot ten meters from where he stood, the man that remained still and calm like a statue took a step forward. He was trying to move his stiff body. His expression that was cold as steel on his face began to turn gentler. He seemed happy at the moment. "Truthfully, when I suddenly received your short message knowing that you wanted to duel with me before you traveled back to the Impercial City, I was very glad."

"For so many years, this is the first time I've received an invitation to duel. In the past, it was always me who would challenge the others… Brandon, I've never thought that you would actually challenge me to a duel. This is totally unpredictable, even for me."

"I'm not blind, Joshua."

Upon hearing what the warrior wanted to say, Brandon grinned. Even after he was charging at full speed, his strength was still barely used. Currently, the golden-haired swordsman was looking quite excited as well. "From the beginning, I knew you wanted to battle me. You did not know how to conceal your true intention. Back then on the wall, I can tell that you're a battle maniac—if it wasn't because of the Dark Tide coming at the fortress, if it wasn't because the black dragon was still lurking in the shadows, you would have challenged me to a duel on the spot."

"So it was so obvious from the looks of it."

Joshua chuckled unconciously. "However, I've not thought about hiding my intention about that."

After all, the name Brandon Kaos represented one of the [Legendary Champions] on the whole Mycroft Continent in the future. This was one opponent that he could not triumph over easily even when he was a legendary warrior in the previous life! The desire to battle with strong opponents… was that really something one would want to conceal?

With his both eyes locked on the golden-haired swordsman before him, Joshua revealed a smile of a hungry wolf that craved for blood long ago.

Charging into the dark abyss, breaking through the traps set by twenty-seven demon generals! Leading a party to raid Tear Valley Fortress! Annihilating six Legendary-tier demon lords! Lastly, when the party was out of ammunition and rations, he charged in and slew Goliath, the Demon Lord of Gluttony in the second expedition into the dark abyss and ended the battle in the Dark Abyss!

To be able to battle with such a strong opponent, that was the main reason Joshua was striving to become stronger. That was the purpose and the joy for him to live on.

Even though Brandon was not yet that legendary holy swordsman, however, Joshua was not yet that number one warrior in the entire world as well. Of course, although that wasn't really fair to begin with, however, the word 'fair' would not really have anything to do with a battle!

After being locked on by his opponent, Brandon did not let his guard down even for the slightest moment. He was also fully prepared to enter his combat mode. He was very vigilant against the possibility that his opponent would attack him.

Speaking of which, the man before him could potentially be the most gifted and most powerful warrior in throughout the entire history of the Imperial City since the city existed itself… Even the Emperor who became legendary only reached Gold tier when he was twenty-five-years old. Furthermore, if they were battling against each other with the power of the same tier, it would be difficult to tell who would win by the end of this battle.

No, it would be difficult to tell who would lose… Even if it was the Emperor himself, although he would be extremely powerful, however, his power level would still be within the imagination of human beings. Meanwhile, Joshua's performance in the battle with the Dark Tide had exhibited that he was no longer a human being. That destructive power and that durability of stamina he had on him were far more monstrous than any monster in the entire world!

Facing a younger man standing right before him, the golden-haired swordsman could feel a presence that he had never felt before. He took a deep breath. Brandon's both arms were trembling with excitement, not fear. Then he put his grips from both his hands onto the hilts of the two swords that were hanging by his waist. He could feel that the blood within his body was boiling right now!

Regardless of how powerful his opponent could turn out to be, he would only know after the battle began!

Speaking of confidence, he would never admit to being second place, ever. After all, he, Brandon Kaos had managed to rely on his Gift to persuade the Kaos family who managed to nurture a legendary mages in the past into supporting him to be a swordsman instead of a mage. He was a true prodigy!

The atmosphere around the two men was getting more intense than ever. The red Combat Aura and the dark-green Combat Aura were wrestling against each other in mid-air. Meanwhile, the air became as heavy as a heavy rock.

At first, the silver-haired girl that was sitting by the side with an unhappy face suddenly felt danger. She gave it some thoughts and retreated back by tens of meters. Upon walking away for over 200 meters all the way up to a hillside, she sat herself down and looked at her master battling that golden-haired swordsman with a disgruntled look.

Brandon naturally sensed that as well. After that, he furrowed his brows and looked at Joshua's both hands with a serious look on his face. The two fists were clenched up as solid as steel. Dark red Combat Aura radiance was surging around his fists, circulating vigorously. The fists looked like metal that was rock solid. They looked extremely dangerous.

However, no matter how solid those 'metal' fists were, Joshua was undoubtedly facing Brandon with bare hands!

"Joshua!"

With a raging roar, Brandon's face was filled with rage. His handsome face was slightly distorted. "No weapons?! Are you trying to humiliate me?!"

"It would still be acceptable if you don't wear any armor. However, if you really want to fight me, then you have to equip yourself with your Divine Armament at the very least!"

Moving both of his arms up to pull out the dual blades of Order from their sheaths, the blades of the two swords looked extremely sharp. Anyone that saw the glimmering flash of light reflected on the surface of each blade would definitely feel a chill up their spines. Meanwhile, the swordsman widened up his eyes. The light-green vortexes that were spinning vigorously in his eyes had an aura of death. "We should have a fair battle, you and I!"

However, the facial expression of the warrior did not change a bit.

"That's not the case."

Quietly listening to Brandon questioning him, Joshua put down the two fists right by his waist, boxing the heart of his fists upward. With his elbows close to his ribs, he adjusted his feet into a strange posture. He moved his muscles a little. Instantly, his rock-solid muscles on his back were bulging out. His body trembled and emitted out a powerful shockwave that was directed down towards the ground. The ground and the snow received an impact as if they were stomped heavily by the warrior. Then the ground began to tremble on.

Posing in that posture and charging up his power, the warrior grinned and laughed out loud, "You only need to know one thing—Brandon, you have mastered the skills in swordsmanship. Meanwhile, I know all of the methods and ways of battles."

The warrior was trying to emphasize that his fists and his body were also his weapons, not only swords and blades.

Upon saying that, Joshua's aura instantly loomed over a wide range of tens of meters in radius. His ferocious will to battle and his strong intention to kill were as strong as he was. He did not use his Combat Aura. However, the snow around him naturally got diverted away from falling onto him. Meanwhile, the snow on the ground also showed deep dent like it had been crushed by heavy objects before.

—Before Joshua transmigrated to this world, Joshua possessed the strongest [Assasination] technique in the entire world. The ancestors of these fists were heroes who had started empty-handed and calmed the world for over thousands of years ago!

The current master of this pair of fists had defeated all opponents in the same timeline in the previous life, claiming to be the most powerful and invincible martial artist!

With all his fingers clenched, he pushed himself to the limit. Although there was nothing in both of his hands, however, because of that, he had also accumulated all of the most ancient and most violent power that existed throughout the entire history of mankind—

"Brandon, I am fighting you empty handed not because I want to humiliate you. This is the true meaning of treasuring your strength!"

He was not kidding around!

Although it was really difficult for anyone to understand this with normal logic, however, Brandon's instinct was telling him that what Joshua said was the truth- upon seeing Joshua in a stance he had never seen before, he actually felt an intense chill up his spine immediately. That was an intense chill that was colder than negative 40 degrees! That temperature was enough to freeze boiling blood. That temperature was known as cold fear!

So, facing the pressure that Joshua pressed on him like an avalanche was about to collapse onto him, the golden-haired swordsman tightened his teeth and raised the dual swords in each of his hands. With his dark-green Combat Aura burst out all around his body, a shapeless gust began to surge all around his surroundings. His entire body instantly vanished like a mirage. His breath had also vanished completely into the surroundings as if he never existed in the world in the first place.

If Joshua was described as steel that combusts in vigorous blazing flame, an avalanche that was pouring down from the peak of the mountain in an unstoppable, then Brandon would be described as a shapeless mist that went berserk, a tornado that could tear and slice anything into pieces.

Even if the flame was as hot as the lava from the volcano, it would never be able to hurt the strong wind, not even a bit!

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Chapter 122: The First Round of Battle

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The tornado stirred the wind and snow all four directions. The distorted air turbulence infused with white frost and dust that were stirred into the surroundings had clouded everyone's sight within the area. Meanwhile, that moment, the golden-haired swordsman had already charged nearer to the right side of Joshua.

Brandon was not stupid enough to take the initiative to get closer to the side of the warrior. With Joshua as the center point, he ran circling around with the distance of tens of meters between them, swinging the dual sharp blades towards Joshua as hard as he could. Instantly, invisible airwaves that looked like sharp arrows were shot out straight at the warriors.

With his eyes widened and his full attention fixed on the attacks, those transparent air wave attacks were not merely simple shockwaves. They were actually shapeless air blades that were sharp, striking in towards Joshua like deadly flying birds!

Secret Royal Technique, the White Raven's Swordsmanship!

Dual swords were deemed to be agile weapons that could strike swiftly. Through the secret sword technique that could strike the enemy from a certain range, Brandon was constantly throwing his attacks at Joshua. While he was charging around Joshua in a circle, he was also throwing air blades that were sharp and powerful enough to cut through rocks and steel straight at Joshua without the slightest hesitation in him. Facing the incoming waves of air blades striking at him, Joshua was not given the slightest moment to strike back at Brandon!

The strength of every single air blade was exactly as powerful as the strike that the wielder of the swords could perform. In other words, each of these invisible air blade attacks was as powerful as Brandon's attack that could slice a house in half. At the same time, Brandon had also put everything he had into each of his attacks. Meanwhile, a direct slash, a horizontal sweep attack, a backhanded strike, or even consecutive piercing stabs, every single attack he threw were coming at Joshua in all different directions!

With this sort of insanely fast speed attacks, let alone Joshua's flesh and blood, even Gold-tier daemons and the thick rock city wall would be struck into pieces. After all, Brandon was wielding the legendary-tier weapon, the 'duals blade of Order'. If normal weapons were used under the condition when Brandon was going all out with his power, the weapons would have been shattered into countless pieces for being wielded at a speed faster than the speed of sound.

Facing such dreadful attacks, the warrior that was standing over there like a statue did not show the slightest fear in him. His eyes looked deadly serious. With both of his fists wielding around, he actually blocked every single air blade attacks that came at him!

There was no skill involved. There was no special move involved as well. With a calm and serious face, Joshua focused his Combat Aura over to both of his fists. Then he lifted his hands up to block, strike, hammer any attack that came at him. He only relied on his [Steel Armor Kokyu-ho] to strengthen his body to be tougher than steel. With his powerful and quick reflexes, he blocked every single ferocious attack that Brandon threw at him. He vanquished every single air blade that was thrown at him!

Boom boom boom!!

At the same time, just like the gusty tornado and the invisible airwaves that were surrounding the entire body of Brandon, the hands of the Warrior were also shrouded by white mists. The misty vapor that was generated by breaking through the sound barrier continued to emerge around his fists as he waved his fists around in battle. The countless air blades were being thrown at Joshua without any pausing moment. The attacks were rushing towards him. Meanwhile, Joshua was like the hardest reef on the coast. He generally shattered all the tides that came at him!

Was he even human to begin with?!

At that moment, the battle between the two men had sunk into a tie momentarily. The fists and the blades were clashing into each other. The trembling sounds of metal clashing against each other echoed through the entire battlefield. However. Those clanking sounds felt like they were resonating in Brandon's heart. After all, he was currently wielding his powerful 'Dual Blades of Order'. On the other end, Joshua was merely using his hands, bare hands! The present situation had clearly shown that he was losing!

"Give it more, Brandon. You don't have to hold back anymore. I know that's not your full strength at all!"

Joshua could actually still speak while he was blocking the attacks. He grinned and looked his focus on the presence of the golden-haired warrior. With the Combat Aura around him burst out, he pushed all of the air blades in the surroundings that were striking at him. After that, the warrior lifted both of his hands up and placed them before himself. His palms were facing each other as if he was visualizing that he was holding only something in between. Meanwhile, the dark red Combat Aura began to gather in between the two palms swirling vigorously, turning into a dark air of ball that was circulating and fluctuating intensely.

[Annihilation, Hadouken!]

Boom!

With a shockwave emitted from his arms, Joshua struck out the dark air ball out from his palms. The ground within the range of tens of meters in radius was trembling. Meanwhile, being struck out by Joshua with both of his hands, the dark Hadouken instantly turned into a beam of berserk dragon charging out, shattering all of the air blades that Brandon threw at Joshua like an unstoppable power force!

Facing such a terrifying strike coming straight at him, the golden-haired swordsman would not dare to hold anything back anymore. With a battle roar, Brandon unleashed his dark green Combat Aura. The aura began to surge across his entire body intensely, awakening the full potential of both his body and soul. Then he immediately stopped throwing air blades at Joshua that did not work at all. Right after that, he raised both of his blades high up in the air. A burst of air swirled around Brandon's body, along with a thunderous rumble.

[White Raven's Technique, Military Assault!]

Putting both legs forward, his full strength was unleashed. At that moment, Brandon's body was like lightning, destroying everything around him. His speed had reached its peak, causing the air around his body to swirl around like visible liquid. In the middle of the outburst of strong winds all around the place, one could only see the sparkling electrical charges that came from the friction between the air and the dual blades, and also innumerable afterimages of the swordsman.

The Dual Blades of Order were swung forward along with the strength of the violent wind. Then the blades landed right on the Hadouken that Joshua struck out at Brandon. As the explosive air flow of the clash rolled up a hurricane blowing all the ice and snow up all around him, two cold flashes of lights broke dark red Combat Aura and cut it up completely in half. Brandon came to the front of the warrior in an instant. Right after splitting the Hadouken in two, he straight away swung both of his blades straight towards Joshua!

Pak! Pak! Boom!!!

The shockwave from the movement of the swing was vigorous. The ripples in the air were so powerful that it shook everything the surroundings. The white mist had blocked everything in sight. Meanwhile, a pair of large hands that looked like steel along with two dark red flashing radiances came right out of the mist and blocked the blades that were powerful enough to slash through the thick city wall. Right after a thunderous crash, everything returned to normal and the mist was dispersed by the impact of the clash, revealing Brandon's terrified face.

"Now this is much more interesting."

Joshua grinned in excitement. Then he took in a breath of cold air. At the same instant, both of his hands were raised above his head. They were like solid steel, holding tight to the 'Dual Blades of Order'. Earlier, the warrior had adjusted his Combat Aura, his bones, and his internal organs. By doing so, an incredible source of power burst out from within his body. He took on the strike that Brandon struck right on him at full strength. However, because of that, half of Joshua's body had been hammered into the solid and frozen ground. With him as the center point, the ground all around the area of tens of meters radius had been completely sunk in as well. Countless cracks that looked like spider webs were seen all over the surface of the ground.

Joshua's ability to control his power on a micro-level had allowed him to direct the impact of the strike that Brandon struck on him down into the ground. That also allowed him to use his hands as the support to block the opponent's powerful strike. Of course, that arrogant attitude of his had also made him pay a heavy price. The razor-sharp dual swords almost cut his palm and nearly cut off the bones in his hands.

"Again!"

The blood within his body began to circulate vigorously. The body of the Gold-tier warrior began to adjust his Combat Aura as if his body was overclocking. Along with an intense explosion, dust and dirt were stirred up all over the place. Joshua's legs that were plunged into the ground had once again regained their freedom to move. He sent his power to his hands and the blood was immediately squirted out from the wounds on his hands. Meanwhile, the red Combat Aura was invoked along with the blood squirting out from the wounds on his hands, deflecting the two blades from his hands.

Although the warrior had two heavily wounded hands now, however, Brandon's condition was not that far well as well. The strong impact of slicing the Hadouken that the warrior unleashed in half had also inflicted some internal injuries on him. Furthermore, the strike that he used all his strength to strike onto the warrior was blocked, shaking his confidence. Because Joshua deflected his swords a little while ago, he was pushed back along with the weapons and was now suspended in mid-air.

Telling to himself that he was currently in a very unfavorable situation, Brandon immediately used his Combat Aura to get a hold of himself. He wanted to descend to the ground as soon as he could. Unlike the mages, even if a Gold-tier combatant could fly, they would still need the ground as their support in order to unleash their full power. So it was his uttermost disadvantage for being pushed into the middle of the air.

However, how was it possible that Joshua would give his opponent time to rest? He instantly tightened his fists and contracted his muscles that were as solid as steel. Immediately, his wounds were closed and he stopped bleeding for the moment. After that, he stomped the ground as heavy as he could. Along with the trembling ground, he instantly leaped over tens of meters and struck a punch out front at Brandon who was about to land on the ground!

That was an extremely destructive punch, which was coming straight at Brandon right now! Although the punch was simple, however, no one would oversee that destructive power that Joshua had with him.

Brandon had just come in contact with the ground. The old force in his body had not dispersed yet. New force had not been exerted as well. It was completely impossible to block or fight back. Facing the ferocious strike up close from Joshua, he could only charge himself with his Combat Aura and burst into power once again. He then evaded the blow with a backflip. However, at the same time, he also threw the sharpest blade in his hand, the 'Sharpest Edge' right at Joshua. That holy weapon instantly transformed into a light-green beam of light, cutting through the air and struck right in front of Joshua, blocking off his attack.

Rumble—Boom!!!

With his palm still bleeding a little, the warrior swung his fist into the air and the fierce impact of the fist set off a rush of wind along with the scent of rust and blood. The shockwave then crushed the ground and the icy snow across the ground. The atmosphere and the cold wind that were stirred up had blown out a black frozen road path on the snowfield. Numerous ice particles were slammed into the air and then fell back down again.

Upon one round of battle, the two of them looked into the eyes of each other. After that, they once again got into position as they began their next round of battle head on!

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Chapter 123: Extreme Mach Punch!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Buzz.

A light green radiance flashed. The 'Sharpest Edge' that Brandon threw out right before Joshua to stop him from striking his destructive fist straight at him was struck into mid-air in an instant. After that, it turned into a stream of light and returned to the hand of the swordsman. He furrowed his brows intensely and looked at the warrior right before him with a grim expression on his face.

"Blocking the dual slash of my blades with merely bare hands… and that surge of power… if I did not get hold of myself in time, I would have lost my blades to him. This man could literally defeat any normal Gold-tier combatants with only a finger or two of his full strength!"

No wonder he wanted to battle with his bare hands in the first place. Such an extraordinary power… was he still a human to begin with?! His normal strength could literally match the power of a dragon!

Upon letting out a hot breath, Brandon tightened his grip on the hilts of his swords. The tips of the 'Dual Blades of Order' were buzzing. Facing this sort of powerful opponents, he decided to cast away the thoughts in his mind, calming his heart. After that, he switched to his fighting stance, ready to attack.

For over hundreds of years, the Kaos family had been the core supporter of the Imperial royal family. As the heir of his family, Brandon could freely walk in and out of the palace and see the Emperor. He could even easily learn all the secret techniques and skills of the royal family. Naturally, he could also learn one of the secret techniques called [The Nine Swords].

Desert Winds, Devotion, Steel Soul, Iron Heart, Twilight, Shadow Hand, Stone Dragon, Tiger Claw. Of course, there was also the [White Raven] that he mastered. These nine styles had existed for a very long time, each one special and strange in their own way. Over many years, no one studied them closely because of their strict conditions. However, Brandon was different from the others. His Gift had perfectly fulfilled all of the learning conditions for the swordsmanship. After years of strict training and intense practices, not only he managed to master all styles, he even managed to master the essence of each style.

"Hah!"

With a roar, Brandon's eyes looked deadly serious at the moment. At that moment, his Combat Aura was rapidly surging around his body causing the invisible waves to disrupt the atmosphere all around in the air. Once again, he took the initiative to attack his powerful enemies in front of him.

Meanwhile, one moment right before the second round of encounter begin, Joshua could not help but sigh after seeing Brandon charging at him like a huge unstoppable hurricane force.

As expected. It is much more exciting to battle with another powerful human!

In battles with beasts and daemons including dragons, these 'opponents' would only be able to use their instincts to fight Joshua. Their attacks would have a particular pattern. Joshua could easily see through the patterns and predict how they were going to attack. Maybe it would be difficult to handle the beasts and daemons when one first came in contact with them, however, when one had encountered many of them and battled them for a very long time, these beasts and daemons would only be the prey, the targets for most hunters to hunt. After battling them for such a long time, the joy and excitement of battling them would be lost. It would eventually become purely torturing and killing pieces of flesh.

However, humans were not the same in such regard.

Humans would think and apply strategies. Humans would change their strategies based on the situation in battle. The situation would be just like before. Brandon gained some distance between him and the warrior before he used his [White Raven's Swordsmanship]. He could choose not to go melee with Joshua. However, beasts would not have that sort of thoughts. They would only choose to battle or flee. Meanwhile, humans were different. For instance, because Brandon noticed that range attacks could not work on Joshua now, he decided to change the way of his assaults—

Along with the sound of ripples in the air, the hurricane that went berserk shook the atmosphere in the entire surroundings. The ripples of air collided into each other so violently that harsh buzzing echoed through the entire area. The shockwaves and noises that were coming from the hurricane had interfered with Joshua's senses; his vision, his hearing ability, his sense of smell, and even his sense of touch had become irrelevant. All his senses had become ineffective at the moment under the circumstance that the strong winds were rampaging the entire area of the battlefield. At that moment, the warrior felt that he was completely shielded from everything in his surroundings by the wind. And he could no longer sense any other presence that was outside of the battlefield as well.

Using wind to cut off your enemy's senses? That thought went through Joshua's mind in an instant. This was indeed a good method though. If normal people were in his shoes right now, those people would have been vulnerable instantly after their senses were cut off. Even Joshua would lose his speed after losing all of his senses momentarily. In that case, with Brandon's speed and the weapons in his hand, Brandon could potentially deal fatal damage to Joshua.

However, unfortunately, Brandon's efforts did not work on Joshua as well.

For this swordsman right before Joshua, if he did not have the strength and aura that he would have in the next twenty years, regardless of everything, Brandon would still be one of the most powerful opponents Joshua had ever encounter ever since Joshua crossed into this world. Although Joshua could not have a fatal duel with Brandon, he would still be able to enjoy the battle by using all sort of skills to fight Brandon. That was considered as one of the most fortunate things for Joshua.

So, in a flash, Joshua closed his eyes and emptied out his heart. His mind and spirit gradually subsided like sand and gravel. At that moment, he did not need to use his eyes to observe the world. And he did not need to use both ears to listen to the sound all around him. Everything in his surroundings had subsided deep into his heart.

To the left!

His instinct reacted and he determined the direction where his enemy was—hiding in the middle of the hurricane, Brandon was moving so fast that he looked like a moving laser beam. He was striving to get over to the left side of Joshua that lacked defense. He struck out one of his swords towards the left armpit of the Warrior while he struck his other sword right towards the neck of the warrior. If he succeeded, the battle would undoubtedly end with him as the winner!

"Are you thinking of getting around my 'Steel Armor Kokyu-ho' and aiming to strike my weakest point?"

Good thinking, however, that won't work!

With both legs stepping back and turning his waist around, while Joshua evaded Brandon's sharp and deadly attacks, Joshua pulled his right back to the limit as if he was pulling a rubber band to the limit of the rubber band's elasticity. After that, by lending the strength from his thighs, waist, chest, arms, and wrists, he accelerated his punch with all five large muscle groups by five times of the initial speed of his punch. Then he aimed his punch right at the face of the golden-haired swordsman that was at the speed three times faster than the speed of sound!

[Nameless: Mach Punch 1 !]

Shruck!!!!

Along with the sound of the air being torn apart, the right palm of the warrior which was wounded earlier on by the 'Dual Blades of Order' once again left a huge splatter of blood. Right after that, the blood was evaporated instantly into a shroud of blood mist around his hand!

Meanwhile, facing a punch shrouded with blood mist that was powerful enough to remove his entire head off his neck, Brandon could only clench his teeth trying to change the course of the swing of his sword. By lending the swinging force from his sword, he tried to evade Joshua's punch, having the thought not to go head on with Joshua.

He was very well-aware that the two swords he was currently swinging could literally pierce through Joshua's lungs, or even Joshua's heart, breaking the backbones of the warrior! However, even though that was the case, he might not be dead even after all that. On the other hand, his head would definitely be turned into nothingness!

Boom!!!

The attacks of both sides landed on each other at the same time. The clear ripples of waves that were brought out by the swing of the two swords slashed through the snow land, landing on the trees in the far distance. Immediately, several tall giant trees that would require at least a few people to carry collapsed down to the ground. The impact from trees falling to the ground had stirred up snow into the air. In the meantime, the pressure that the warrior's fist punched out left a vacuum in the middle of the air, plowing the ground leaving a long deep pit on the ground. The violent friction of the air even produced lightning-like electrical charges that sparked around his right hand.

Taking a few steps back, Joshua opened up his eyes and took in a deep breath. After that, he breathed out a large breath of white mist, releasing the heat out of his body.

In the previous life, he had dedicated his entire life to training his body. In the end, he had finally broken through the limitation of humans. However, even though that was the case, his full strength could only allow him to strike out a powerful attack at supersonic speed. After all, his body would still suffer a certain amount of damage by the end of it. But now, relying on the body of a Gold-tier warrior, Joshua need not unleash any power. He did not even need to use his Combat Aura. He could easily break through the speed of sound by using the skill of his body. He could easily strike out a punch that was surging with electrical energy all around!

"What a great world… I've never thought that having a powerful body is actually something so enjoyable."

Joshua sighed. The red Combat Aura was blazing all around Joshua's body. This sort of supernatural power that was formed from Will and Life Energy would actually show different attributes based on the different performance of each person. In the previous life during the middle year of the game, Joshua had chosen Fire. Meanwhile, his Combat Aura had exhibited the similar attributes in this life.

However, right at the deepest part of the core, there had been a change much earlier on—ever since Joshua's soul and his body become more and more compatible, the changes in his Combat Aura had also increased. At the beginning after he crossed into this life, the Combat Aura of the warrior was still as red as the flame. Meanwhile, currently, the color of his Combat Aura had become much darker. It had now become dark red that looked like fresh blood.

Without getting bothered by such a trivial matter, Joshua looked at the Swordsman that was taking a break by the side far from where Joshua stood. The swordsman had a serious face though. Then Joshua smiled and said, "Use your Glorious Strength then, Brandon. And your [Mystic Eyes] too."

Or else, you would still be a little tasteless as a side dish.

Upon receiving such a provocation, the golden-haired swordsman did not show any signs of being weak at all.

"Then let's cut the crap, Joshua. Also, I've always wanted to see your Glorious Strength since long ago!"

"Are you kidding me, Brandon?"

The warrior scoffed. Instantly, his Combat Aura turned even darker to the point that it looked completely black like the color of ink.

Didn't I use it already?

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Chapter 124: Shun-Goku Satsu

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The waves of red Combat Aura that turned black were evaporating from Joshua's body into the air. At the same time, a murderous aura raided Brandon's senses. He could smell blood and rust all of a sudden, instantly sensing a death threat. Quivering in both legs, the swordsman instantly leaped a few hundred meters backward. After that, he only reacted and looked at the warrior with a terrified and baffled expression.

"So this is his Glorious Strength? So it wasn't the Light of Instinct or Origin, instead, it's the Light of Willpower?!"

Although each person's Glorious Strength was different from the others', however, after many years of studies done by the Empire, basically speaking, the Soul Strength that each Gold-tier champion had could be categorized into four different types.

The first type would be the Light of Instinct. It had the ability to characterize a particular ability. It would be just like hundreds of years ago when some Gold-tier vampire that went through the process of awakening and acquired a kind of ability that could stop time literally, called [The World]. Activating it would require no consequences or whatsoever. The only restriction it had was the interval time that the skill could be used again. It was considered as a normal power of instinct.

The second type would be the Light of Wisdom. It had the ability to turn into certain skill. It would be just like the skill possessed by Countess Vale Dani, called [Starfall Break]. The skill would be formed from the wisdom that was possessed by the possessor of the power. Using it would be the same as using normal skills. There was no condition or whatsoever to fulfill in order to use it. This type of ability would normally be extremely powerful. Regardless of the power's type, the wielder of the power would appear extremely powerful. Many powerful great Mystic Legacies were created this way.

The third type would be the Light of Origin. It would be the integration, the fusion between the soul and the body. It could awaken the bloodline strength that was buried deep down in the blood, transforming the owner's body and soul into a much more powerful and perfect form. Meanwhile, the Glorious Strength of this sort could be used more often when the wielder of this power had crossed into a higher tier. These powers would also constantly optimizing the owner's body, making him more powerful. Many of the humans' blood and the legacies of these special powers were derived from this type of power.

The last, also the fourth, would be the Light of Willpower.

Strong wills affected the world, differentiating its own power to change its own attributes. Just like Joshua here. His will to battle that rose from deep within his heart had influenced his Combat Aura, changing it into waves of murderous aura, waves of destruction and annihilation. The wielder of this power could leave their legacies and pass on their special strength to others. Many types of this sort of special powers throughout the world were born through such a way.

Normally, warriors had two types of Glory, one being Instinct while the other being the Origin. While most of the mages were wielders of Wisdom, the number of Willpower wielders was extremely rare. Brandon had never imagined that Joshua was actually the wielder of Willpower. Based on Joshua's previous performance in battle, Brandon had always thought that the strength of the warrior was of Instinct… Judging from the toughness of Joshua's body, Joshua could also be a wielder of Origin as well.

The black waves were fluctuating all around the body of the warrior. Joshua was not bothered at all by Brandon's rapid retreat; it would be better to say that retreat was a normal move. Facing his murderous aura, any Chaos daemon or beast would sense fear striking into their hearts.

Looking at the energy waves that were pulsating in his hands, the warrior mumbled to himself, "This is not vigorous enough… Because this is merely a spar. This is not a real duel to the death. So the Killing Aura cannot be activated."

He lifted his head and looked at the [ Mystic Eyes of Death Perception 1 ] that had been activated. He was observing for the weakness and flaws on Brandon.

At the same instant, far away from the warrior, the light green vortexes appeared in the eyes of the swordsman once again. Under Brandon's charging, these eyes of his that could look directly at death could see through the weak points and flaws of all things, whether it was a Gold-tier daemon or the dimensional rift, and of course, Joshua included!

With his [Mystic Eyes of Death Perception] activated, indeed, the body of the warrior that seemed flawless was now showing some vulnerable spots. Although these spots were swiftly moving around the body of the warrior, however, it would be extremely difficult for anyone to catch on with them. Well, there would still be possibilities for his enemy to hit the vulnerable spots though—

Meanwhile, if Brandon could hit it, it would be his victory!

At that time, the dark-green Combat Aura that was surging all around the 'Dual Blades of Order' suddenly became somewhat transparent. Meanwhile, the holy power of Purification Strength pierced through every single cell in Brandon's body. Countless green runes emerged on his body. The golden-haired swordsman smiled gently without making any sound. After that, the light of his Glorious Strength was unleashed—

Unlike Joshua who stepped out of his house to become the Chaos Guardian, Brandon had always followed his elders, training himself throughout the world, observing the impact and effects that Chaos could bring to this world. His soul was filled with hatred towards Chaos. And this hatred came from his heart, and turned into a purifying wind that could wipe out everything!

[Glorious Strength: Holy Mist!]

Instantly, with Brandon as the center point, a light colored gust that emerged all of a sudden was radiating with the Light of Annihilation, looking like it was about to wipe out every single existence of Chaos off from this world. This harsh gust rose to the sky. It even made a large hole in the middle of the clouds, allowing the sunlight to shine upon the ground.

Woosh!

The sound of air being torn apart was set off. That was a completely different form of the White Raven Technique. Brandon who already used his Glorious Strength only struck out a shapeless air blade that was moving as fast as the speed of light. His attacks were now much more precise and sharp. The warrior was intimidated to the point that he had to fully focus on handling the current situation. His pupils contracted. After that, the warrior struck out his fist, punching the air blade that was coming at him. He managed to shatter the air blade with his punch. However, compared to the more solid intangible air blades that he encountered earlier, this air blade did not shatter and disperse completely. Instead, it was shattered into countless smaller blades and struck onto the body of the warrior, tearing the clothes of the warrior into pieces!

Clank clank clank—

The sound of clanking between metals continued to echo into the surroundings. The shattered air blades did not deal any damage to the body of Joshua that was even harder than any enhanced armor available in the world currently. There was not even the slightest scratch there.

It was just like how they battled against each other in the first round, countless air blades were thrown at the warrior while the warrior blocked every single one of them with his fists. However, this time, there was something different about it. Joshua did not stand in one spot anymore. This time, he was running across the battlefield swiftly as he was blocking the air blades that were coming at him. He was charging towards Brandon at an insanely fast speed.

Meanwhile, up in the sky, the old mage who was observing the battle on the snowy land with his Observation Spell could not help but sigh. "I can't believe that there's actually someone who can battle against Brandon like that. This is really rare. That warrior must have trained for life in order to be able to battle with his bare hands without any weapon. I wonder how did he do it."

"Not just that, he actually is a wielder of Willpower!"

Meanwhile, right in the screen of his Observation Spell, the warrior that was charging forward suddenly turned his head around and looked towards the sky where the old mage was hiding.

"He detected my presence?!"

The white-haired mage was even more shocked. "That man's senses are terrifyingly sharp!"

He continued to observe the battle from above the clouds.

The mage thought that Brandon was indeed extremely powerful. He was still very powerful even if he was compared to the other powerful Gold-tier champions in the entire Empire. Brandon's Glorious Strength [Holy Mist] could turn into Purification Strength. Furthermore, using it together with his [Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, even the Supreme-tier daemons would have a difficult time battling Brandon. However, the new count of the Radcliffe family who was currently battling Brandon was actually much more terrifying than Brandon himself!

From the mage's point of view, he could naturally tell the truth about the power waves all around Joshua- The warrior's body resembled an abyss that contained the wreckage of countless souls. The wreckage of these souls came from countless Chaos daemons that he killed on the battlefield before this. The numerous twisted beastly remnants of the dead beasts surrounding him were transforming into the black waves that were surging all around him.

The Fire of Will burned on the soul of the enemies! With that sort of Glorious Strength, the wielder of this power would grow stronger as he kills. However, it was merely a sparring for him and Brandon this time. His opponent's will to battle had yet to fully combust. The golden-haired swordsman had already gone all out with everything he's got. However, Joshua was still holding some of his strength back.

Moreover, up to this point, Joshua had only used his body without using any weapon or any other powerful skills—it seemed that the battle would end the moment when he uses his skills!

"Enough!"

In the middle of the fierce battle, while facing the fierce air blade attacks from the swordsman, Joshua had already charged over to Brandon's side. His body was full of small wounds now. The closer he got, stronger the Purification Strength was. This kind of power that could wipe out everything hit solidly on the body of the warrior, purifying the killing intent that was surging all around him. Upon losing a protective barrier, it would be impossible for Joshua to deal with Brandon's Purification Strength, the enhanced 'White Raven Technique' without sustaining any injury. However, even though that was the case, Joshua still laughed out loud and said, "Let's finish it!"

Currently, he was less than five meters from Brandon!

"Indeed, it's time to finish this!"

Both of his eyes glittered with green light. Brandon let out an uproar. The holy hurricane continued to surge all around his body. After that, it turned into a swirling vortex, condensing onto the dual blades that Brandon was holding in his hands. He activated his [Fatal Demonic Gaze] straight away. Instantly, everything in the world had countless cracks and flaws. Meanwhile, right on the body of the warrior that was already right in front of him, there was a very obvious black mark!

The crack, the flaw! It was here!

Slash it!

The dual blades were wielded over. He could sense death approaching him. This agitating excitement that Joshua felt had led him to fully focus on the opponent right before him—The muscles across his entire body contracted and expanded tremendously right after that. His internal organs, veins, and bones were instantly activated by Satsui Hadou to unleash his power to his full potential. The warrior then reached out his right fist with unparalleled murderous aura to charge the power wave around him. By doing so, the warrior managed to charge himself to become his most powerful state throughout the entire history of his battle!

[Nine Swords, Steel Soul Technique, Instant Divine Breath!]

[Martial Art Stance, Shun!]

The dark red glowing radiance began to spread all over his entire body, purifying it. Facing the two blades that were coming at him, Joshua did not evade at all. He was using his 'Satsui Hadou' to charge up his right fist. Taking one step out along with a swing of his arm, he swung out the most direct punch he could offer straight towards Brandon who was charging towards him with his two swords like a hurricane!

Death, the dead, the living, the warrior, the weak, the deceased, the ill, the killed, the jealous, and the strength of the heart and soul, shall also be Glorious Radiance!

The endless crave for battles in the past was deemed to be the original form of Glorious Strength at this time. It was replacing swords with fists and swords, and the heart as the blade— Satsui Hadou, Shun-Goku Satsu 2 !

"What?" The old mage that was observing from above the sky dropped his jaw. Just when Joshua was activating his [Mastery Skill, he could faintly see something incredible stirring on the battlefield. "That is?!"

Boom!!!

The black murderous aura instantly burst out and blocked the sight of everything in the surroundings. The entire battleground instantly descended into darkness. Even though Brandon's body was swirling with the holy hurricane power, the surrounding remained dark as hell. However, one instant later, the black wave dispersed.

At this moment, the white-haired mage sucked in a breath of air, with a look of astonishment on his face.

That was—mastery?!

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Chapter 125: Twin Infernal Serpents Ring

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The black wave dispersed. Only an explosive sound was heard. Brandon was blasted back like a cannonball. Meanwhile, Joshua was just standing on the spot, pressing on two huge wounds right by his waist with his hands as blood was spilling like a fountain.

Because both of them were heavily wounded, the battlefield instantly descended into silence.

"Cough."

Upon letting out a cough and spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood, Brandon attempted to stand back up on his feet. Currently, he was in the middle of a puddle of icy water. Water mixed with dirt, mud, and blood were all over the body of the golden-haired swordsman. He looked like he was cornered tightly for good.

However, even though that was the case, he swung his hand and stood back up on his feet with the aid of the force from the swing of his hand. He struggled a little to stand back up though. After that, he looked at Joshua with a doubtful face. "Hey, what just happened? How is it possible that the crack on your body suddenly vanished?!"

A moment before that, Brandon was using his Nine Sword's [Soul of Steel, the Secret Technique [Instant Breath of God Speed]. With the dual blades slashed straight towards Joshua's body, Brandon was actually aiming for the weak spot, the crack on Joshua's body. In other words, he was aiming to strike his blades into the crack that was located right by Joshua's waist. However, that crack suddenly vanished without leaving any trace behind! However, the dual-bladed swordsman still managed to heavily wound the warrior, though it was not a fatal wound. Meanwhile, Joshua also took the opportunity to strike his [Shun-Goku Satsu] right on the chest of the swordsman.

"I've used some sort of stance to make my weak spots disappear temporarily… Furthermore, if you managed to land your strike on me, wouldn't I be dead for real? You're really cruel."

Replying Brandon in a low voice, Joshua flexed his muscles a little. The reinforced muscle fibers instantly stopped the bleeding on his large wound. "If you would have only raised your strike a little, I would have probably had two to three rib bones sliced opened. However, you've trusted your [Mystic Eyes of Death Perception] too much. So I only suffered some injuries to my stomach and my intestines."

"That's really strange. Sometimes, your knowledge is so little to the point that it is terrifying, yet sometimes you seem to know everything. Like right now, you know the special effect of my [Mystic Eyes] and the true name of my 'Dual Blades of Order'. However, you do not seem to know the message of the Chaos Guardian from your own family…"

Upon sighing out loud, Brandon clutched his chest which had a deep dent in it. Brandon furrowed his brows in pain. He sensed that he had at least five broken rib bones. "Nevermind that. Anyway, thanks for holding back. Or else, I would have gotten a large hole in the middle of my chest…"

"My skills are no match for you. I admit my defeat to you. I've lost this time."

"Hahaha… regardless of anything, I've had a great time battling you."

After the fierce duel, the two of them started talking to each other again like nothing happened. Even though Brandon lost, he did not felt unhappy about it. After all, he had gone all out on that duel. It actually made sense if he lost to Joshua though. Even though it was not a fight to the death, it was already a good battle for the two of them could duel to such extent.

On the other hand, Joshua was satisfied with the battle, not because he had defeated Brandon who was not yet the complete version of the Holy Swordsman. Truth to be told, the power level of the golden-haired swordsman was far from enough to defeat the warrior right now. Well, the warrior had the advantages of many years of experience and skills. That was not something that a combatant with Gift or high capabilities could make up for. It was already a pleasantly big surprise that this swordsman could actually bring such pleasure and excitement to Joshua during the battle.

Now, the warrior was happy for that reason and also because he leveled up.

[In a one-on-one duel, you have defeated the Imperial Council's Second Sword, Brandon Kaos.]

[His level, Level 47. Hero Form]

[You've succeeded in the Level Gap Challenge!]

Followed by a large amount of data that stated his achievements and experience statuses, Joshua just looked pass all the data. Including the improvement in his attributes, Joshua was not interested in everything.

The only thing that he was interested in was his level and whether he could level up or not.

Ever since he destroyed the time and space rift, the experience bar of the warrior had been stuck at the point where he only needed a little more to reach Level 44. The Dark Tide and the high-level Gold-tier daemons had disappeared completely for the moment. Meanwhile, because of the experience penalty that somehow existed in this world, it would be pointless for him to slay as many low-level daemons as he wanted to. Well, he confirmed that theory when he slew the Frost Dragon back then.

This time, Brandon took the initiative to challenge him. And that was really a pleasant surprise. And because of that small little chunk of experience points he acquired by defeating Brandon, Joshua was currently Level 45.

At this level, he had become completely different from before he reached this level. Upon reaching this level, Joshua had reached the realm of Upper Gold tier!

"Upon reaching the Upper Gold tier, many skills of my Mastery shall be unlocked. I'll attain many more styles and methods for my upcoming battles."

Because Gold-tier combatants had the ability to heal themselves, the two large wounds on Joshua's waist that were struck by Brandon's 'Dual Blades of Order' were almost close and stopped bleeding. Meanwhile, the intestines that were sliced open was beginning to reconnect with the warrior's control. The warrior could not help but nod his head. "My healing ability has gotten stronger too."

Of course, that was not the only benefit reaching the realm of Upper Gold. To be frank, although the warrior did not give much attention to that, there was a large difference between being an Intermediate Gold and Upper Gold. That would be the different status in the Imperial Council.

Before the arrival of the large-scale Dark Tide that could cause the average level across the entire Continental War to increase up to a whole new level, even though the status of Lower Gold was considered precious, however, they could only be normal commanders on the battlefield. Meanwhile, Intermediate Gold-tier beings would be able to become higher level commanders of course. As for the Upper Gold tier, the situation would be just like Otto the great general of the great 'Black Raven Army' when Joshua first arrived on this world back in the early stage. An Upper Gold would be capable enough to be the leader of an entire army… Meanwhile, the [Mastery Soul] would be the general, first class, of the Empire's Five Army.

Previously, regardless of how stronger Joshua turned out to be, he would still be merely an Intermediate Gold-tier warrior in the eyes of many. Although his status was enough to maintain his position as the count of his territory, however, the aristocrats from the Empire would still say that Joshua was not reliable enough. Even though he destroyed the dimensional rift, there would still be someone out there doubting his strength and power level. However, currently, regardless of who it was, including the general of the Five Armies, everyone would be bothered by the simplest word the warrior said.

First Class. Such a thing did not actually matter to Joshua who was in the system. However, for the others, the difference would be tremendous.

Meanwhile, Brandon who only managed to get his breathing pace right was staring at Joshua's self-recovery pace. He could not help but drop his jaw.

This man, was it 'Light of Radiance' or 'Light of Willpower' that awoke in him?! Is this man's body still human even?! Are you sure he is not some sort of dragon-blooded descendant or some sort of real dragon's incarnation?!

He lowered his head and looked at the dented part of his chest. That was the heavy punch that was infused with the warrior's murderous aura that the warrior struck him with. Even though only a small portion of the force from the punch had landed on him, however, the remained energy power had disrupted his healing capability. Because of that, the swordsman could feel the stinging pain in his chest while he was breathing.

"Joshua, how many percent is the Resonance Rate between you and the power of Order?"

After giving it some thought, Brandon asked Joshua cautiously.

"The Resonance Rate of the power of Order? What's that?"

Joshua frowned. Regardless of whether it was before or after the arrival to this world, he had not heard about this thing ever. "Speaking of which, the power of Order and the Purification Strength that you used just now, is there any difference between their nature? Although it felt holy, there's something different about it."

"The Resonance Rate is how far you and and the power of Order have resonated. Normally, the amount of Legacy Power you could get depends on your Resonance Rate. The higher your Resonance Rate is, the more Legacy Power you'll get. And the better effects you'll get. Normal people would get about 30 to 40. Those who can get 50 or more will be deemed as highly qualified."

Brandon was explaining patiently to Joshua, "As for the difference between the two, it would be just like the difference between the [Seraph's Holy Light] and the [Judgement's Holy Light]. Although both of them could deal a tremendous amount of damage to the Chaos, however, my [Purification Strength] can also deal quite a considerable amount of damage to the other enemies too. Meanwhile, the power of Order will only target Chaos. Order energy will only deal normal amount of damage to the other enemies other than Chaos."

"I see. So that explains a lot."

Upon nodding his head after understanding something about, Joshua looked at the small cut wounds all over his body. The light-green [Purification Strength] was still lingering on the surface of his wounds. Meanwhile, the same phenomenon was seen happening on the two large wounds on his waist as well. Although he had clenched his muscles and stopped the wounds from bleeding on, he could not close the wounds instantly.

This [Purification Strength] actually had a putrefying effect that would greatly disrupt the healing ability. In terms of damage, it did not pale in comparison to Joshua's [Satsui Hadou].

"Oh, Joshua. This is a gift bearing our gratitude."

Without asking on for the Resonance Rate of Joshua and his Order energy, Brandon could also guess that the number would be terrifyingly high even though the warrior did not say anything about it yet. Joshua's Resonance Rate would definitely be more than 90%. Or else, it would not explain why Joshua's body could be so powerful and strong.

Well, Brandon did not guess it wrong though. Joshua brought up the system tab and look at his own Class list. After that, he looked at the sub-list of his Chaos Guardian tab and looked at the Resonance Rate between himself and the Order power.

[Resonance Rate: 72 20 (Additional enhancement by the Azurite)]

"I can see why they categorize the Azurite as one of the Origin Artifacts. It actually can have such a great effect."

Upon coughing for a few times, Brandon reached his hand down to his waist and took out a small silver box from the sack that was hanging on his waist. It was obvious that the sack was the shrinking sack that was used to keep all items. The swordsman then passed the box to Joshua. "This is a small gift that Vale Dani and I picked for you. It's a small token of our gratitude for coming over to provide support to Moldova at a crucial time… We hope you'll like it."

"Then I shall accept it."

Joshua took the box over from Brandon. After that, he opened up the box while Brandon was staring at him holding the box in his hands. Upon seeing what was in the box, he asked curiously, "A ring?"

"Yes, a magic ring."

Joshua was looking at the ring with two serpents entwining it. There was a ruby with twenty-four edges right before the mouths of the two serpents. It was glittering with mesmerizing radiances all around, its beauty breathtaking.

However, the warrior seemed troubled as he spoke, "I believe this must be an extremely powerful magic ring. However, don't you think that the design of this ring doesn't quite suit my appearance? Tsk, this ring is just too beautiful…"

The design of this ring is a little too girly, my friend… Please differentiate the gender of the person that you wanted to give him or her a gift.

Joshua was not wrong though. The craftsmanship of this Twin Serpents Ring was a little too precise and elegant. Even if it was not a magic ring, this ring could still be sold aesthetically at an extremely high price. Not to mention that Vale Dani was a Gold-tier mage. She would certainly pick a gift to express her gratitude based on practicality… However, because of that, the tall and sturdy warrior was not suited for the ring. If Joshua forcefully wore the ring, he would look very ridiculous.

For a body that's almost two meters tall, passively shrouded with terrifying aura to wear a woman's ring… Heh… That scene would look extremely 'gorgeous'.

"Its effect is extremely powerful and effective against a lot of things. As for styling, just ignore it…"

Brandon was feeling a little helpless as well. He was a little bit upset about overlooking that point. Well, the Twin Serpents Ring was not the only powerful magic item in Vale Dani's collection back in Moldova. He would have Vale Dani send a talisman instead if he had noticed this.

Resting his thoughts on that matter, Brandon recalled something. "Oh, right. About the raw materials from the Gold-tier daemons you killed earlier on, they are all on the caravan that is right behind me. Do remember to take them all later on."

"Alright."

Upon entertaining the person with simple words, Joshua then took out the Twin Serpents Ring and used the system to look at its attributes.

[Twin Infernal Serpents Ring: Gold-Tier Extraordinary Magic Item]

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[Twin Infernal Serpents Ring: Extraordinary Gold-tier Magic Item]

[Serpent's Eye: Passive Skill. You will acquire the Thermo Vision of a snake. You will acquire the Life Vision. Your ability to capture moving objects will increase tremendously.

—Only living things will be captured by your eyes.]

[Bathe in Fire: You shall become immune to all sorts of non-magical flames. Your Fire Resistance will increase by 50%. Your Holy Flame Resistance will increase by 25%

—To bathe in the warm of the flame, is something anyone would desire.]

[Guard of the Two Serpents: One time each day. Summon two Silver-tier Giant Pythons of the Fire Element

—The thing that is more dreadful than being marked by one snake is to be marked by two.]

[Advanced Flame Barrier Charge: Three times a week. Casting Gold-tier Spell 'Advanced Flame Barrier Charge' without any delay.

— The flare of the sun shall protect my body.]

[—For the Fire Serpents, there's nothing else worth worshipping and following than the flames. This is a replica of an Ancient Holy Artifact. The artifact came from the sand dunes located in the Gleaming Desert that is always flurrying with insanely harsh winds.]

Four special magic effects! This was indeed an Extraordinary magic item!

"Hmm… this is a great item indeed."

Well, that was indeed an Extraordinary item that could drastically enhance the power level of a Gold-tier warrior. Joshua put the ruby ring on the center of his palm to take a closer look. There was a golden-red radiance gleaming brightly in the middle of the twenty-four-edged ruby. Then he nodded in satisfaction. "[Serpent's Eye] can allow a mage to follow the movement and speed of a high tier warrior. [Bathe in Fire] makes the user immune to fire-type spells. Summoning the Fire Elemental Giant Serpents and the Flame Barrier can largely increase the survival and power level of the user as well. Vale Dani has taken out a great item out from her collection. Her sincerity is well received."

If the design of the ring was not too girlish, it would have been a perfect gift. Joshua could not help but sigh when he thought about it.

"… I'm glad you like it."

Brandon who was about to open his mouth to explain the effects of the rings had once again being shut up by the warrior's words.

How did you know about the effects of the ring without Identification?

Brandon was a little depressed as he looked at Joshua who obviously did not know anything about magic. Then he sighed and said, "Actually, this is not all. Dani has also prepared more gifts. However, Moldova is still under restoration. The restoration is estimated to complete in a month or two… And now, I'll have to get back to the Imperial City as soon as I can to deliver the Marine Abyssal Spawn that you gave to me. I will also need to report in on the dimensional rift."

Upon saying that, Brandon smiled. "If you have the chance to pay a visit to Imperial City, inform me. Count Radcliffe, the Kaos family will forever welcome you with open arms."

"I'll definitely have the chance to pay the Imperial City a visit."

Joshua thought about the incident that was happening around the shops that his family ran. He raised the corner of his mouth up a little yet his eyes were cold. "Maybe I'll go there not long from now… However, my friend, are you sure you want to depart like this? Just look at you. It would be awkward for you to go back like this."

The golden-haired swordsman lowered his head and looked at his own body. There were bruises that were caused by the warrior's punches all over his body. Also, the shirt on his chest was torn. Blood was oozing out from the wounded muscles and his veins, tainting the lower part of his body red.

Well, he was not in a favorable condition to depart for the Imperial City now.

"That's true as well. Then I shall go to your city and clean myself up a little."

Shrugging his shoulders, Brandon could not help but laugh. "As long as you don't reject me."

"Well, I was afraid that you're not willing to come."

The two of them were walking towards the hillside where Ying was sitting around.

However, it was strange this time. The silver-haired girl did not come up to greet her master. Right before the eyes of the warrior, Ying was sitting in the middle of the white snow, leaning on a gray rock. She did not even move a bit.

"Ying!"

Joshua raised his voice on purpose so that his voice could reach the silver-haired girl that was far from him, "It's time to go."

No response.

"What's wrong?"

Feeling a little puzzled, Joshua furrowed his brows as he quickly walked towards the hillside.

Walking through the snow-drenching land of ice and walking up the slope of the hill, the warrior saw the shadow of his Divine Armament.

It was obvious that there was something wrong with Ying as she was sitting down on the ground leaning on the side of a piece of gray rock. Her face was red. Even her neck and her collar bones were blushing red. She had her arms wrapped around her chest. She seemed to be trembling. Her green eyes that glittered like fireflies were glowing with blurry radiance. It seemed as though her whole consciousness had been detached from her body.

"Ying? What's wrong?"

Joshua immediately ran to the side of the young girl. Then he held on to Ying's petite body in his arms. After that, he noticed that an inexplicably high heat was conducting throughout her entire body from the inside. Snow and frost all around her were melted. Meanwhile, the melted water had moistened the clothes and the long dress of the young girl, revealing her lean waist and thighs.

Upon sensing the arrival of the warrior by her side, Ying gently blinked her eyes a little. Her eyelashes trembled a little. After that, she whispered softly to the ears of her master, "Master… I'm feeling a little uncomfortable… I'm not feeling well…"

"Which part of you is feeling unwell?"

Joshua looked at the young girl with a deadly serious face without having a single clue about what was really going on. Then he said to the young girl with his softest possible voice, "Your body is getting hot…"

"No…"

The young girl was feeling the intense vibration in her core deep inside her body. An enormous source of energy was overflowing out from her body as well. She took a gentle breath and said, "I have no idea… the power that I felt when I formed the pact with you is now… urgh… my Divine Armament core is activating, it's getting faster and faster now…"

Ying turned her head and looked at Joshua. Her snowy-white skin was unusual red under the gloomy light of the cloudy day. Her green eyes seemed to be watery and both eyes looked a little foggy. "Master, the amount of unleashed energy is a little too excessive… I have no idea where the energy comes from… it's just too much for me… My body is feeling unwell…"

"Don't worry. It's only temporary."

Joshua had no idea what to say at the moment. Well, he was really bad at comforting people. Thinking a little, the warrior suddenly understood something. He immediately knew the reason why this strange phenomenon was happening with Ying.

He leveled up.

Indeed. Upon nodding his head, Joshua furrowed his brows once again. Because of the Divine Armament pact he made with Ying, the power between the two of them could enhance each other. The Divine Armament Transformation Level 2 had also greatly enhanced such an enhancement ability… Furthermore, Divine Armament could also level up their own abilities. As alchemy weapons that were forged to fight against Chaos, these Divine Armament had the ability to improve themselves in order to slay Aragami, Chaos daemons and other creatures that were tainted by Chaos.

However, Joshua had leveled up too fast. He had leveled up over ten times after he charged into the Dark Tide and slew the Ajax Aurumseeking Draconian Spider. Right after that, he even slew the Corrupted Black Dragon, a Rimetooth Wyrm, and defeated Brandon. Because of all those achievements, he had improved himself to a whole new level, to Upper Gold. Because of that, his power level had pushed Ying so far behind that she could no longer keep up with him all of a sudden.

As too much energy was flowing right through every part of her body, the girl's body could not handle the load.

"My head is dizzy… so hot…"

Ying's voice was slowly fading. "I feel that I'm going to undergo some changes now… Master, I'm sleepy…"

Letting out a sigh, Joshua kept his Divine Armament close in his arms. Meanwhile, the body of the young girl was still hot though. So, he frowned and said, "Nothing to worry about. Just take a nap if you're sleepy. I've told you before this. Just rest whenever you think it is necessary."

"Um… thank you…"

With the permission of the warrior, Ying revealed a faint smile on her face right before she fell asleep.

"Ying?"

The warrior called out to her twice. Then he noticed that the girl had indeed fallen into a deep slumber. It seemed that mere voices no longer could wake her up. She looked like she was sleeping deeply.Upon taking a deep breath, Joshua furrowed his brows a little. Then he looked at the calm and cozy face of the young girl. His good mood earlier on seemed to have vanished.

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Chapter 127: A Prolonged Slumber

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Brandon who followed Joshua over witnessed the entire incident. He looked at Joshua who was obviously not in a good mood. Then he attempted to comfort the warrior calmly, "Joshua, there's no reason to be anxious. This is most probably the ability of the Divine Armament to enhance themselves. This is actually a good thing."

Even though the golden-haired swordsman did not have a clear idea about thing related to Divine Armaments, he could at least still tell that Ying's breath was calm at the moment. She was not in any sort of danger.

"Is that so? Just improvement?"

Joshua repeated after Brandon. His eyes still showed signs of worry. His emotions were not stable at the moment. "Although I did not really care much about this, now, this thing is indeed a little strange…"

Ying only started to keep sleeping very recently. Ever since Joshua destroyed the dimensional rift, and the two of them returned from Moldova, Ying seemed to be exhausted all the time. Meanwhile, the horse back in his place was also behaving strangely. It had been cranky all the while since then. Although the horse would calm down again the moment he approached the horse, however, the horse would randomly get cranky all of a sudden.

Not just that. Joshua felt a little depressed recently. He was also not feeling that well…

Right beside Joshua, Brandon was still recalling on his past memories. He went through his thoughts a little and explained it to the warrior. "Normally, the level of the Divine Armament and the Master should be equal. However, this Ying is only an Upper Silver when you're already a Gold… Wait a minute, did you just hit Upper Gold tier?!!"

Just when he was talking to Joshua, he was also observing the aura on Joshua. After that, he took in a cold breath. He lost his composure and started ranting. "You were still an Intermediate Gold when you were battling me! No, I can still remember that three months ago, when you were still in the Black Raven Army, you were just an Upper Silver-tier warrior!"

"That's right."

Pinching the face of his Divine Armament several times, Joshua had confirmed that Ying was in deep sleep right now. She did not seem to be responding to any stimuli in her surroundings anymore. After that, Joshua replied, "The Seven Gods are right above us. It is most probably because of the gods' blessing. That was how I get to advance to a new higher tier after we battled against each other."

Bullsh*t! This is not something that can be explained with gods' blessing or whatsoever! Even the Divine Armament who made a pact with you could not catch up with your pace of leveling up! Are you some sort of god reincarnated as a human?!

Upon hearing that reason, Brandon's face became twisted. He was instantly left speechless. Suddenly, he felt an intense pressure deep down his heart. This monster that was standing right before him only spent three months to get from Silver tier all the way to Upper Gold tier. Could it be possible that he would become a Supreme tier being by next year? Could it be possible that he could become Legendary tier by the year after next year?

Based on his current speed of advancement, it was not impossible!

The truth was, even the Emperor himself only hit Legendary tier at the age of forty-seven. However, how old was Joshua now? Was he even half the age of the Emperor? Even if Joshua needed more time than expected, he would still potentially hit Legendary tier before he hit thirty! Meanwhile, if Brandon who knew to be a prodigy in such regard did not put effort into advancing to a higher level and higher tier, he would be left behind completely, right?

In any case, the swordsman knew he was thinking too far ahead.

The fact that Joshua could actually level up so insanely fast was because Joshua had plenty of monsters to slay. Meanwhile, along with his level increasing, he would need more Experience Points and high-level monsters to slay. If it wasn't because of the Dark Tide that happened recently and the few Gold-tier daemons that tagged along with the Dark Tide, without the special effect of the additional Passive Skill of the Chaos Guardian called [Light of Evil's Bane] that provided 30% additional Experience Points for killing Chaos daemons, he would only be a Lower Gold-tier warrior at this point.

Carrying Ying in his arms like one would a princess, Joshua noticed that she was very light, much lighter than her greatsword form. In addition, her body was small as well, smaller than her weapon form. He could not get used to the unusual feeling of holding her in his arms like that.

Regardless of whether it was the greatsword that was as large as a door or the burly body of the warrior, Ying was just too small when compared to them.

"So, I usually use this little girl to fight and slaughter the daemons, huh? That's really just like child abuse."

Upon imagining it a little, he could not help but laugh at his own thought. Joshua's mood had improved a little. Although he was still worried, however, regardless of anything, it was a good thing that Ying could level up. That was what he thought of.

"Let's go. Let's get back to the main city first."

Joshua turned his head and nodded at Brandon. Currently, there was nothing he could do in the middle of the snowy land. It would be best to get Ying back to the city as soon as possible. After all, the warrior had no knowledge about any healing skill or technique. Although his Profession was a blacksmith, he was not foolish enough to think that just any blacksmith would be able to tamper with this life form. It would would be better to just let her recalibrate.

"Alright."

After getting a brief reply from the golden-haired swordsman, the two men walked towards the main city not far away from them.

Meanwhile, the old mage that was hiding above the city was still in a daze.

"I mean…"

Taking a deep look at the two people who are heading towards the main city, Nostradamus mumbled to himself, "The fluctuations that just occurred are exactly right!"

"Supreme…"

Looking at the two men walking towards the main city, Nostradamus muttered to himself, "The energy wave just now, it was indeed Supreme!"

Back when he first noticed that Joshua had advanced into Upper Gold-Tier, the old mage did not feel any response from it. Due of this [Supreme, the old mage's relaxed face immediately tensed up. "If it was just his Strength, it could still be explained with Gift. However, [Supreme] is a realm that requires time to accumulate and adjust. There is no shortcut or any way to fake it!"

However, that became awkward. So how could a 23-year-old young man such a profound base form to cultivate out the power of [Supreme] then?!

Staying in the sky and hesitated for a brief moment, the old mage made the decision not to visit the new Count of Moldavia for the time being. Instead, he decided to get over to the dimensional rift in order to seal it first.

After sealing that rift, he wanted to spend the remaining time to observe the warrior to see how he reached the realm of [Supreme]!

Meanwhile, right in the middle of the snowy land before the city wall.

Joshua suddenly halted. Then he looked around and spoke doubtfully, "I can feel that there is someone spying on us… I had the same feeling back when we were battling against each other."

Meanwhile, Brandon had also looked into the sky and muttered to himself, "Indeed, I sebse ut as wekk… However, there's nothing there in the sky or our surroundings."

The two did not get themselves bothered by such a trivial thing. It would not matter at all even if there was someone spying on their battle. With their current strength, even though they were both injured, they were combatants that even normal Gold-tier combatants could not take on.

After walking through the frozen land, passing through the hills and snowfields, the main city had finally appeared right before Joshua's eyes. The black wall resembled a giant lying between the land of snow and the city, covering half of the vision. Meanwhile, the guards of the city's defending force had also noticed the arrival of their count with a guest. So they opened the city gates ahead of schedule and went out to greet the warrior.

Walking through the streets noticing they were bumpy, Joshua walked slowly. When he arrived at the manor at the west side of the city, it was already twenty minutes later.

"The count's mansion was destroyed while I was attempting to take back my throne as the liege of this territory. This is a temporary mansion."

Upon entering the mansion, Joshua noticed the doubt on Brandon's face. So he quickly explained it to Brandon. After that, he turned his head around and instructed the female servants that were right beside them, "Please escort this gentleman to the bathroom. Get this man an outfit of his size… and get me a set of clothes as well."

"Yes, my liege."

After the golden-haired swordsman was escorted from the main hall, the warrior carried Ying and walked straight to the bedroom on the second floor.

As Joshua usually did not need sleep, he would only close his eyes for hours as he took some rest in his study room. The Divine Armament on the other hand never needed rest. Hence, the two bedrooms looked brand new, with no traces of people using them at all. Throwing back the blanket on the bed, he finally put the young silver-haired girl to the bed.

The spiritual body of the humanoid Divine Armament was free from dust and had the function of cleaning themselves automatically. Therefore, the warrior had no further concerns. He covered the blanket back onto the bed with only Ying's head left uncovered on the bed. The young girl's face was flushed. Her breathing was becoming calmer and steadier now. She did not seem to realized she was just put to bed by the warrior.

"This feels really strange. I felt like I'm taking care of a daughter that's having a fever… I've never been married before. I've single this whole time."

Looking at Ying's face, Joshua spaced out a little. After that, he laughed and shook his head. Then he stood up and got himself ready for a bath. He wanted to change himself into something more comfortable.

Time passed fast.

Brandon left early in the evening and made his way back to the Imperial City after he bid the warrior farewell. More than a week later, the merchants from Moldova arrived the main city. The respectful merchants and the messengers that came on behalf of Vale Dani had delivered the black dragon's bones, the exoskeleton of the dracospider and many more daemons' raw materials. All of them expressed their greatest respect and adoration for Joshua. Some of them even attempted to abandon their family property only to be an attendant or a knight serving under the warrior. Joshua simply rejected their offer, of course.

The days were boring after he became the liege of the territory, especially when it was winter where snow was brewing in that region. In such season where it was too cold for people to even breathe properly, Joshua could not farm or drag his troops for training. All he could do was listen to the cold howling wind between the tower and the wall of the city, looking far into the Dark Forest that seemed to have regain its life force. The snow was pouring and piling up in the city. After that, the snow was swiftly swept away by the citizens of the city.

The chilly wind gradually stopped, and the cold weather had gradually warmed up. Time passed as swiftly as breathing; it was already one month later.

However, Ying had yet to wake up.

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Chapter 128: Steel That Was Tainted by Chaos (1)

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Starfall Year 832, 17th of February, Main City of Moldavia.

Joshua was standing in the middle of the courtyard of the military camp with no expression whatsoever on his face. Right before him were the knights that were wearing heavy armor. There were tens of them. There was an insignia two hands bearing swords on their chest. Anyone could tell that these were the loyal knights that served the Radcliffe family.

Each of these knights was about twenty to thirty years old. That was the age where these men were hot-blooded and had the courage and the passion to battle. However, even though that was the case, they could feel an inexplicable tension and thirst in their mouth while they were being watched by the calm eyes of their liege. The power of Joshua's soul had somewhat invaded their spirit. The formation of the knights was slightly shaken up.

Truthfully, every single one of them had already been on the battlefield and survived. They had all gone to the battlefield and experienced the power of blood and fire. However, it was obvious that the existence of the warrior was much more terrifying than anything they've ever encountered on the battlefield.

The clouds were tumbling, and the winds were blowing gentler than before. Snow was falling down to earth bit by bit. It was already February. The cold weather in that period was not as cold as one month ago. The breeze of the weather was swaying across the city gently, indicating that the weather was going to get warm soon.

Meanwhile, at that moment, Joshua began to speak.

"Each of you is chosen to be here for a reason."

He spoke in a flat tone, void of emotions. However, even though that was the case, most of the people in the vicinity were obviously hyped by his speech. Only a few of them remained calm. Meanwhile, the warrior overlooked that trivial matter as he stared at one of the young knights that was not trembling at all and said, "You're all aged between twenty to thirty years old. Your strengths range from Lower Silver tier to Intermediate Silver tier. Do you know what this means?"

"We're young… and our strengths are not weak!"

A brave young knight raised his hand and replied in a loud voice. He replied Joshua's question with enthusiasm, "We have more potential that has yet to be discovered!"

"That's a good answer. You're all chosen to be here because you have much more potential that has yet to be discovered and utilized!"

Upon praising the young knight and nodding his head, Joshua remained grim as he continued to say, "But there's something wrong about what you said. That is, your strengths… Your strengths are still too weak!"

Upon listening to those harsh words, everyone stood straight up in an instant. Meanwhile, Joshua walked back and forth in front of the knights while he was observing the expressions of the knights one after another. After that, he shook his head, and said, "With your current strength, I could have taken twenty of you at the same time back then when I was still an Upper Silver-tier warrior. You would not stand a chance in defeating me even if you come at me at the same time… You are my knights. Won't you feel ashamed of this? Do you still need me to protect you?"

"No!"

Because of the long-term education, these young knights had been made to know when to feel ashamed of themselves. They went red with shame upon hearing what Joshua just said. Their own pride made them ashamed of being weak. The knights then stood straight and shouted loudly, "Never, my liege! This is the greatest shame of all time!"

"It is good that you know shame. However, that still cannot change the fact that you are very weak now."

Nodding slightly, Joshua was satisfied with the response of his knights.

These knights were basically warriors that were picked from the fortress and the defending force of the city, potential seeds that were picked for nurturing. They were equipped with certain Gifts on them. However, their Gifts and talents were buried all because their families were poor and some other reasons. However, those reasons no longer affect them. In Continental War, as long as they had rage and resentment in their hearts, and they had the desire to change their current situation, then their futures would not be cemented. They would then gain the chance to improve themselves. All they needed was a chance, an opportunity to prove themselves. Then their strengths would improve without a doubt.

Meanwhile, Joshua was the man who was willing to give each of them a chance for that.

Upon thinking about it, the warrior said, "Fortunately, your weak strengths can be changed and improved.""Rolance, you're thirty three this year. You're an Intermediate Silver-tier combatant. Because of your body's quality, you cannot generate enough Combat Aura to shroud yourself around with it. So you cannot reach the realm of Upper Silver tier yet, let alone becoming a Gold. However, that's not because your Gift is not enough. That was because you're born poor. Your body did not receive proper development and your potential was not fully exploit. You need to think about using low-level Awakening Magic Potion to exploit your hidden power that has yet to be discovered. By doing so, you can undoubtedly breakthrough to a higher tier without having to worry about anything else."

"Blart, you're twenty four this year. You're a Lower Silver-tier combatant, and you're young. Your stamina is strong. However, you cannot sense the Combat Aura to reach into the realm of Intermediate Silver tier… Your problem is that your will is not pure enough. Even though you have the courage, you lack faith and conviction. You need a target, a goal to motivate yourself to fight. That will sharpen and purify your will. That will allow you to sense the power within you."

Pointing out the weaknesses of the knights, Joshua concluded what he wanted to say and paused for a brief moment. He wanted the knights to reflect on their own problems.

"I see."

"I first thought that this was my limit. I've never thought that this could be the reason to all that."

"No one had told me about all these before…"

The knights, every single one of them, had never experienced receiving such detailed points. They had been following and learning from another knight since they were young. They were treated as attendants as they learned and trained bit by bit.

After all, being an attendant to another knight could only earn them so much basic skills and techniques. However, without a proper and complete legacy at the later stages, these knights could only explore and learn everything else all on their own. Meanwhile, all sorts of legacies were in possession of larger forces like the aristocrats and the Empire in the middle region of the continent. So most low tier knights could only rely on their Gifts and instinct to improve themselves in order to attain higher tier. The younger knights did not understand the significance of the details. After hearing about their flaws and weaknesses, most of their eyes glittered with excitement. Then they began to reflect on their own shortcomings. However, the knights that were a little older than the young ones clearly understood how valuable such in-depth guidance was to them.

The knights in the courtyard had already reached the limit of their strength that they could attain with only their basic knowledge. Joshua's instructions could allow them to break through their own limits!

Not to mention that there had not been any lieges that would actually understand their own knights so deeply. They would not have taught their own knights to such a length! Upon sensing that they were being appreciated so much, their eyes filled with tears. Their hands also trembled softly. However, right after that, they toughened up their conviction and will, appearing stern.

Feeling a little comforted after seeing all that, giving a little time for the knights to stabilize their emotions, Joshua spoke once again.

"Inadequacy can be seen with our own eyes. So it's easier to improve on them. As long as you have the heart to improve, your strength will break through the limit and you shall attain a whole new level of strength by then. However, if you want to get stronger after that, what I just told you will not be enough."

Joshua's voice was not loud. However, the moment when he opened his mouth, everyone in the courtyard remained silent. All of the knights were listening to their liege's speech, "Back to the point, you only know the way of training that the Empire provided you with. Meanwhile, there's no such thing as a perfect training method… if that's the case, you'll make it to Perfect Silver tier at the best. However, you'll never be able to reach Gold tier."

"Gold tier?"

"That's too far-fetched…"

"Impossible."

"Can we become Gold tier as well?"

"I thought that's only possible for the elders from aristocrat families…"

Upon hearing that, the knights in formation began to mutter among themselves. However, right after that, they remained silent under the fearsome eyes of Joshua that was staring at them. Meanwhile, the warrior looked around at the knights who were a little nervous and excited at the same time. Then he spoke seriously, "I've gathered you all here today with one goal, that is to pass on a complete system for you to train yourselves."

"[Steel Armor Kokyu-ho]."

Joshua had thought about passing the [Steel Armor Kokyu-ho] to these knights a while ago. However, he only managed to make time to gather all his knights, picking the ones with Gift after he destroyed the time and space rift and after Ying had fallen into a deep slumber.

While teaching these young knights with Gifts about how to breathe based on rhythm, Joshua was also thinking about the future. He knew quite a lot of [Kokyu-ho] techniques. He even knew some of them that only the royal families of some smaller countries kept to themselves. Even some big countries such as the northern Empire were no match for him in certain regards. After all, Joshua had traveled into this world from Starfall Year 855, the time where the demon invaded the world and all humanity joined forces to fend off the invasion. In the period of time where battle was the only thing left for anyone who would like to survive, all sorts of [Kokyu-ho] techniques were no longer valuable. The techniques were taught to the people all around the world just like that.

"These knights are going to be my guards. So they need to have strong endurance and strong resistance ability to keep up with my pace… and for the side of the fortress, I should consider teaching them the [Rock Drake Kokyu-ho] which can provide much more explosive power and life force."

Upon putting his thoughts on solving this problem, Joshua could sense that one of the knights had an unstable breathing pace. That knight was not using the breathing rhythm that he asked all of them to follow. He felt a little uneasy about it.

"Control your breathing. Slow it down. Open your lungs. You need to learn how to get oxygen with your body, not just with your noses and mouths. You're Silver-tier knights. You're not regular folk who do not have any control over their own bodies. So slow down the process of your organs, lower down the speed of your blood circulating in your bloodstreams!"

With a punch on the chest of that particular knight, Joshua pushed the knight to spit out all of the air that he inhaled. His body bent into the shape of a bow because of that. However, he immediately stood back up straight while his liege was looking at him. Then he began to breathe steadily following the rhythm taught by the warrior. The knight did not show the slightest unhappiness on his face. Instead, he was feeling extraordinarily hyped to continue with the training.

This was not because he likes to be tortured of course. That was because he got to learn the [Kokyu-ho] techniques.

After all, that was one of the rare [Kokyhu-ho] Legacies! For knights who served at the borders, strength was much more important than wealth. Meanwhile, a complete knowledge of a Legacy power was undoubtedly one of the most precious treasures they could ever dream of getting!

Through this, they could all become independent nobles without a doubt after they acquired [Steel Armor Kokyu-ho]. Meanwhile, they could also build a knight family that bore Legacy They could even stand a chance to become a small lieges of other districts in the region. They could have a stable and peaceful life for a lifetime!

Our Liege does not only possess unparalleled power, he is also generous. He is actually willing to share such a rare and precious technique with his knights…

This liege was definitely worth following.

"That's right. Push out all of the air in your lungs. After that, follow the rhythm that I taught you, breathe in the air—your bodies will follow the pace and resonate with the power between heaven and earth. Your bodies will not just stay here like a pool of stagnant water that is not different than a piece of wood."

Without caring about the thoughts that the knights had on their minds, the warrior looked at the knights while they were trying their best to master [Kokyu-ho, nodding his head in satisfaction.

As the knights were practicing[Kokyu-ho] under Joshua's guidance, a slightly older guard stepped into the military compound. After greeting the warrior, the man whispered Joshua in a very soft voice, "My Lord, there's an old man and lady right outside the city wall. They requested to see you right away. That old man seems powerful though. I'm sure he's not weak at the least."

"A visit? Is that man a mage?"

Muttering to himself with a soft and yet deep voice, even though Joshua did not know which mage was paying him a visit, however, there must be something important if it was a mage. The North was a place that only a few would visit. So it was indeed rare to have a spellcaster as a guest.

"Escort the two of them over to my place at the west side of the city. I'll be right there shortly."

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