Soul of Searing Steel

Panda Novel

Hell did not break loose only in the Babel Province.

Calamities befell the Bay Confederation and every corner of the Illgner world as the light beam from the Apocalyptic Circle created a dimensional crack. Countless golems have descended upon earth. All the army forces in all regions were beginning to feel exhausted. After all, they had just given their best effort on clearing out the remaining golems earlier on. Now, they have to face another wave of newly descended golems which were greater in number than the previous wave.

The Sea Bay Central was one of the few regions that has yet to suffer the attacks of the golems. Of course, that was also one of the regions with the highest degree in regards of security. Even if there really was a golem invasion, the people in the Sea Bay Central would absolutely be capable of fending those monsters off.

After being on the airship for so long, the chief commander, who has finally arrived at his own office, sat down tiredly in his chair. He did not have the luxury to rest, though. Vulcan took a sip of water and quickly activated a number of observation circles. Numerous screens appeared before his eyes. Observing each of the screen anxiously, the red-haired elf felt his heart drop. He noticed that the situation was way worse than he had anticipated it to be.

The golem invasions of different intensities have befallen the nine provinces of the Confederation. Their numbers were tremendous and the density of the golem forces were also great. Though the numbers and density remained second to the numbers and density of the golem forces three years back at the Valley of Cold Winds, all the golem forces were focused on one location. Each of the nine provinces was invaded by the golem forces of almost that number and density. Perhaps more than nine provinces were under siege.

The army forces in all the provinces were exhausted. They have already put in everything they have got, spirit and manpower, into handling the golem forces within their own territory. The Sea Bay Central had no problem handling their fortress against the golems as they could rely on the fortifications of their own forts. However, they could not mobilize their forces even if they had the means to help the other provinces as their own force was too occupied with defending their own territory.

The storms were blowing at all of the coastal provinces. The port cities were hit by huge waves. Earthquakes ravaged all the hilly areas as hail and blizzards blew across the land in the northern provinces. In less than a few hours, the layer of ice in the northern provinces has visibly accumulated to half a meter thick. Even the armored vehicles were completely frozen and immobilized. The entire continent was devastated by all the calamities, causing the world to be in a critical condition.

The massive golem armies that were launching their fiercest assaults upon the cities came with the calamities—it was as if they were fully committed to annihilating the Confederation. De Loin Province had the weakest army force in their defense line against the golems, which was why they were already in a critically devastated state. Countless meteors were falling to earth, inflicting massive damage across the land, scorching up the grass and forests with fire that spread quickly across the wilderness, leaving cracks and giant pits in the devastated land. Under the siege of more than a thousand golems, the defensive forces of De Loin Province were forced to retreat to the other larger cities. The abandoned city was currently crawling with lifeless gray and rocky puppets. They were destroying any fortresses or buildings that were temporarily built by the army before the invasion, slaughtering the remaining local citizens who did not escape the city in time.

Corpses in horrific states of death were scattered all over the land. The flesh and blood of the elves were spilled and splattered everywhere and the broken pieces of the golems’ remains dotted the ground. The stench of blood lingered in the air.

Having no words to describe his feeling at the sight at that very moment, Vulcan gritted his teeth as veins popped up on his wrinkled temples. Having brought the Confederation up from the ashes of the Fallen Elven Dynasty with his own two hands, Vulcan loved every single elf in his world just like his own family. He would visit the cities upon their establishments just to pass on his blessings. So, when he witnessed the golems slaughtering his people in cold blood, his heart boiled with unspeakable rage.

But what could he do? The feeling of helplessness overwhelmed every single cell in his body. Even though he was trembling with a rage that grew in his chest as he watched the screens, he still could not do anything.

The Confederation is indeed in deep trouble now… could today really be the end of the Confederation?

Forcing his eyes away from the screens, the chief commander looked towards the observation screen that projected the situation in the Babel Province. The number of golems in that province was higher than in the other regions because that was where the Apocalyptic Circle appeared. There were almost five thousand more golems there. Among them was a massive army of aerial golems battling two troops of the Confederation armies at Babel Province. One of the two troops was defending against the horde of golems however, their battle was a stalemate. Meanwhile, the other troop was the heavily-armored convoy which was blocking the other horde of golems at a spot nearby the Sapphire Port.

In the hills surrounding the Sapphire Port, under the support of a black half-draconic beast, a military convoy charged in the direction of the capital city of the Babel Province. They have begun breaking out of the circle of the golem forces in the vicinity. From time to time, loud sounds echoed from the top of the hill, along with trembling thunderous roars that shook the heaven. Beams of light were seen penetrating the volcanic ashes and the thick water vapor. Black was crushing numerous huge golems with its enormous body. It grabbed as many opportunities and as much time as it could for the military convoy to safely launch their assaults at the golem forces to take out the weaker ones. The assault from both sides, Black and the military convoy, formed a huge net of firepower, clearing out everything that blocked their path.

It was undeniable that the cooperation between the half-draconic horse and the convoy was still lacking a little as a few golems could still slip through the net of fire. However, that was an insignificant problem to them as the half-draconic horse could simply smash the golems that escaped the net into pieces with a swing of its claws. The aerial golems seized every opportunity to land their strikes on the half-draconic horse when it was launching its assaults on other targets. But these flying creatures did not know that the red mist that was surrounding the body of Black was a high-temperature Fire Element that could kill the aerial golems that moved close enough.

With the support of the half-draconic horse, the situation is now under control and that was quite unexpected.

The Chief Commander took a deep breath and rejoiced that he did not pass the order to kill the half-draconic horse. Or else, his men would have been crushed by the ferocious attack of the beast instead. Besides, the beast would not have been able support the convoy to fight against the golems too, which would have led to the inevitable fall of the Babel Province. And that, would have also caused a domino effect on the other regions—every province would have fallen one by one.

“You must win, Volcanic Dragon!”

With both hands folded before his chest and his fist tightened so hard they turned pale, Vulcan looked at the screen as he spoke with a heavy voice, “You are… our only hope!”

At the same time, on the other side of the screen…

The half-draconic horse was trying to interpret the situation calmly. While every single attack was launched to destroy the enemies, Black felt very clearly that each of it attack was draining his energy and stamina. It was calculating to see if it had enough energy and power left to break through the circle of the golem forces. While Black was at it, it was also a little shocked to notice that the Magic energy in the atmosphere around it was actually getting denser with every passing second. Though the density of Magic has yet to become as dense as that back at the Mount Great Ias and Mount Sigma, the circumstance has allowed Black to fire a few more blast of light beam attacks.

But why? Why would there be so much excessive Magic all of the sudden? The half-draconic horse was a little puzzled. However, it did not let that bother it as long as it could annihilate its enemies in a more efficient way—why care about such trivial matter? Without the slightest hesitation, Black continues to launch its light beam attacks on its enemies, one after another. It swung its claws to attack the golems that got near it. Occasionally, it rammed forward at full strength, destroying the powerful golems, one by one.

Most of the golems were pretty weak. They could not even resist the fire barrier that was passively blazing around the body of the half-draconic horse. Black continues launching attacks, flinging its claws at the golems. However, the stronger ones that were Iron-tier and Mithril-tier and when they came together, they were of Silver-intermediate or Silver-pinnacle tier. Their power would be enough to penetrate the fire element barrier and the dragon scale, inflicting a significant damage to Black. After the magic has become denser, it seemed that the golems were not at all, affected in any way. Regardless of whether it was the power of the magic crystal cannon or the elemental barrier of the half-draconic horse, they would surely become stronger, causing the weaker golems to not be able to resist against Black and the convoy.

Even though Black did not seem to be bothered by that, the others were.

“What? Did you just say that the magic energy across Babel Province has suddenly increased by 42 percent?” Vulcan, who was in one of the armored vehicles, was fixated on the battlefield on the Babel Province as he spoke with the researchers in the research laboratory. The response that the researchers gave draw Vulcan back to the screen. “Why? Why did the density rise so much? That density was already enough to support quite a number of superior magic spells!”

However, the research laboratory could not give him an answer. They were merely monitoring the changes. After several calculations, the scholars could only come up with two possibilities.

After the golems die, their corpses would release some amount of magic energy—well, that reason was unlikely to explain the phenomenon. Though the number of golems in the Babel Province was massive, there were also many more golems in other places as well yet there was no similar phenomenon.

The second possibility did not seem logically possible but it made more sense.

“The tearing of the Dimensional space… has led the magic energy from the other world to leak into our world…” Vulcan repeated the researchers’ answer in a low voice.

He thought about it silently.

A while ago, the one strike that came from the Apocalyptic Circle has completely wiped out a mountain and the surrounding cities. As a result, tens of thousands or even a hundred thousand Elves were reduced to dust because of that. The power of terror even tore open the Dimensional space, leaving a large crack on the outer layer of this world.

Even if on the outside, the world looked like it has healed, the structure of the dimensional space remained fragile. Boundless magic energy leaked into this world, increasing the density of magic energy in Illgner. The mages in Babel Province were the ones who benefitted the most from it. Before that, they could merely perform some small magic tricks, now, with the support of the sudden increase in magic energy in the atmosphere, these mages have regained their abilities to cast superior magic spells.

In the capital city, the army forces that were battling against the endless stream of golems have suddenly noticed that they have obtained several advantages. Each of them felt physically stronger and filled with energy. Their aims have also become so perfect. In a flash, the firepower of the army forces has increased by additional thirty percent. The sudden outburst of their strength has instantly crushed the strongest wave of the golem horde. Because of that, the defenders of the city had successfully protected millions of lives behind them.

The credit went to all of the mages who suddenly could cast powerful magic spells after obtaining beneficial effects from the changes in the air. They possessed rich knowledge about spells and magic. If it weren’t because of the restrained environment of the world, these mages would have advanced into higher tiers long ago.

In the meantime, Professor Nielson was also a mage before he became a Master-grade scholar in the field of linguistics. Not to mention that he was also an archbishop.

More than ten years ago, the white-haired elf, who has become old, has already shifted his focus on something else when he noticed that it has gradually become harder to cast a spell. From then on, he focused on gaining knowledge about languages and everything related to the languages. Regardless, he still remained an archbishop. It was one of the reasons why the military personnel respected him. They were even willing to reveal their military tactics to the old elf.

He was initially a powerful mage in the past. However, because of the decreasing density of the Magic energy in this world, everyone’s ability to cast spells had been reduced. The mages could not even cast a simple supporting spell. That feeling of grief struck deep into Nielson’s memory. He will never forget that, ever. However, the circumstances has changed again. The old elf who was standing nearest to the dimensional crack was shocked to notice that his own strength was rapidly increasing.

Having no time to really understand the situation, Nielson left the armored vehicle immediately. The Elven professor immediately casted a superior agility spell upon Black. Towards the end of the cast, Black was very shocked to notice that it could move more fluidly. It looked at the old Elf with a surprised expression. The half-draconic horse has also noticed that even though this old man remained far weaker than Master Nostradamus, it was a familiar presence.

The presence of a Silver-tier mage.

The old Elf and the half-draconic horse looked at each other in the eyes and burst into laughter.

“Lord Volcanic Dragon, let’s break through the circle of these monsters together!”

The old mage laughed and added, “We shall not waste any more effort on delaying them. We shall just charge forward and get over to the capital city of the Babel Province. We should support the army forces of the capital city and solve their problems first. Then, we shall come back and get rid of these goddamn monsters!”

“Roar!”

The half-draconic horse did not seem happy. Its voice suggested that it was on fire at the moment. Although they were still being surrounded by tremendous horde of golems, Black was not showing even the slightest fear. The armored vehicles and the half-draconic horse have begun to make efforts to charge towards their targets at full speed, enduring the assaults of the golems in their path. The shells of the Mithril-tier golems shattered and flew across the battlefield as the cannon shot at the beasts charging at them. The aerial golems were still flying around in the air as they were shot down by one beam after another. Some of the light beam attacks had even penetrated through the clouds, revealing the starry sky.

The operation of breaking through the circle of the golem hordes seemed to have succeeded. The entire convoy was charging forward in the shape of an arrow. They easily penetrated the golem’s besieging formation of a net. The old mage and the chief commander behind the screen let out a sigh of relief.

Suddenly, a giant golden colossus, far larger than the other golems, revealed itself on the battlefield. It stood right before the armored convoy.

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