Soul of Searing Steel

Panda Novel

Having pursued the power of Order, Joshua found his target, a horse-drawn carriage traversing along a country road.

The power of the fourth successor was not strong, wavering around the middle of the gold-tier boundary at most. She did not even conceal her power, which was why Joshua could discover her presence from tens of miles away early on and give chase at such speeds all the way.

The process was unexpectedly smooth; no fighting, no interference by insensible Death Shades. It was so simple as if it were a dream.

Just as the warrior was standing on the air above the carriage, he realized that his objective of coming to this world is about to be fulfilled.

This good news is indeed exciting.

Slightly releasing a bit of his presence, Joshua tugged on the two sturdy warhorses pulling the carriage forward to a gradual stop. He then fearfully lowered his head. The coachman who spurred the horses into moving also noticed the unconcealed warrior; he frantically knocked on the window of the carriage, loudly informing the occupants that an accident has occurred outside.

Joshua did not actually do anything to provoke these ordinary people of the Holy City. He merely stood on the plains, waiting for his target—the appearance of the fourth successor.

Next, the red-haired girl in the resonant illusion came down from the carriage just like that. She stood on the ground and looked him in the eye.

The gaze of the warrior was quickly caught by the seemingly-ordinary white robe on her body.

This was a clean and spotless robe, unstained by any dust; apart from some simple ancient runes, it was devoid of any decoration. Yet in Joshua’s eyes, its essence could be clearly seen.

Just as the Azurite was actually a bunch of flames that have not begun to burn, the Dual Blades of Order were two unstoppable beams of holy light, and the Bright Scepter was the vessel carrying the Initial Flame, this seemingly ordinary robe was woven with layers upon layers of a texture that was like countless stars. No ordinary material went into its creation; boundless power and runes formed its whole. Even Joshua could not see clearly just how many runes and how much power were there in that moment. Were it to be unraveled and made into a magic circle, it may even be able to cover the entire continent, and upon the full release of its powers, it could even easily annihilate anything.

The warrior faintly remembered a similar existence—the Apocalyptic Circle, the enormous magic circle from the civilization of this different world that contained the souls of the population of the entire universe. Perhaps only this existence could compare to the true form of this robe.

Joshua’s full concentration was completely focused on the legacy robe; but on the other hand, Hillya’s concentration was completely focused on the warrior himself.

This is an indescribable feeling.

Hillya had walked this doomed world twenty-seven years, the intelligent life she had seen were innumerable. In this long period of time, the girl had developed a particular power.

She could roughly tell a person’s nature just by being able to see that person.

Wise, sinister, bold, rash, shrewd, stoic… even some who were good at hiding their hearts would expose their nature in some inadvertent actions, allowing Hillya to observe it.

But this man before her eyes…

Hillya lifted her head and stared into the other’s eyes with eyes of her own that were like lava balls. The maiden’s heart could not help but shudder.

Exactly what kind of eyes are they?

All feelings of an ordinary human were completely submerged in them, yet they were not dull and emotionless like a construct; on the contrary, a horrifying presence that could cause others to kneel in the blink of an eye was contained within them, seemingly able to burst forth at any moment.

Calamity. Inhuman.

Like facing a volcano soon to erupt, or a tsunami about to come crashing down, her danger sense was telling her to escape as quickly as possible, away from this existence that was immensely powerful yet incapable of fathoming nothing. Even the commander of the undead horde that has been in pursuit of her would be no match for him in terms of sheer terror.

However, the man started to speak.

“I have finally found you, the last of the successors.”

This voice was deep yet full of penetrative power, tinged with faint sounds like the clanging of steel. He spoke in an unexpectedly warm tone, like how one would speak with a friend, saying, “This world is too dangerous. You need to quickly return with me.”

“The last of the successors… are you referring to me?”

Hillya quickly grasped who the last of the successors he spoke of was. She touched the robe she was wearing with a complex expression on her face, but her body subconsciously took a step back.

If it were before, she would have departed with this champion unhesitatingly. But at present, after knowing the truth now… she would not want to move away even for a little bit.

He immediately took notice of this as well.

“You don’t trust me at all. That’s right, after wandering outside for so many years, you and your family may not remember your mission.”

Nodding his head slightly, this man said thus, “But even if you don’t believe me, you should believe this radiance.”

He gently stretched out his right hand, and at the beat of his heart, it made a heavy sound, and a green glow condensed along with this sound, forming a gentle burning flame in the palm of the man.

This flame let out light and heat. Though weak, it banished all the gloom and doom in the vicinity. When Hillya saw it, an incomparable peace quickly filled up every corner of her heart. She knew, the wielder of this flame is without a doubt her companion; such a glow that is orderly and utterly free of impurity was instinctively drawing all the successors, drawing them together like a signal in the night sky.

“… No.”

Hillya took a deep, long breath. She stopped herself from shaking, calming her body that had desired to go forth and touch the flame. In a low, yet unexpectedly firm voice, she said, “I won’t follow you back… I will never go to that world!”

Her words revealed a heart of determination that was shockingly evident with disgust and peerless resolution.

When he heard these words, Joshua’s forehead slightly wrinkled.

“Even though I have no idea why, you would deny my request, and you are so reluctant in returning to the hometown of your ancestors. You should know, there are so many undead in this world that are after your life. If it weren’t for Ooerbandeni’s protection, you’d most likely be dead a long time ago.”

He kept away the light of the Azurite in his hand, and then he took a mirror out of his bosom. Joshua channeled the power of Order into it, and then he said flatly, “You have no say in this matter.”

In the next moment, the warrior forcibly activated the sacred artifact created by the old pope, notifying the other party that he has found the fourth successor. Without any changes in tone, he spoke again, “I don’t like forcing others to do what they would not like to do, especially if it’s forcing a girl, but now, the robe you are wearing is carrying the lives of millions of an entire world; this doesn’t make me show you any mercy.”

Having sensed the change in Joshua’s attitude, Hillya immediately decided to turn around and run. Going along with her heart’s desire, the robe’s surface sparkled with all the specks of light; that was the spell automatically conjured by the innumerable interconnected runes. At that moment, the girl’s form became like a stream of light; at the blink of an eye, she has already fled beyond a mile.

Those in the high tier job class from the world of Grandia were essentially still using the arcane power in their bodies that they absorbed from the protocrystal; wielding it would yield dozens of tons of physical power or enough destructive force to collapse a small building, but this is the limit, and they can never use any arcane skills that are anything like teleportation. Besides, in the many years of escaping death, Hillya had already broken through the boundary of this realm, and at this time she was able to borrow the unlimited power contained in the air of the land and communicate with the mana in the surrounding environment, harnessing the power of heaven and earth.

With such majestic energies and the miraculous power of the robe, the girl with the dragon wings could cast three times in succession an actinic spell that was similar to teleportation. During the pursuit of the undead army, this skill saved her countless times. No matter how tightly she had been encircled, she would always escape at this speed.

But this time, she encountered the unexpected.

Joshua stood in place, not moving for even a bit. He just focused his senses for a bit, and then a thought flashed across his mind. In the next moment, Hillya, who had originally escaped to the wilderness about two miles away and was preparing to launch a second spell, felt an immense power in the air that can neither be rejected nor resisted in the slightest. This power was as if a group of flaming suns repelling all the powers of heaven and earth that were concentrating around her, followed by the materialization of energy into a hand, tightly gripping the girl in its palm, and then swiftly “sending” her back to the front of the carriage.

“Don’t think of running away.”

Cradling both arms, and looking at the girl with the dragon wings who was sent back at multiple times the speed of sound, the warrior slowly stepped forth, and said calmly, “Unless you can fly six miles away in the blink of an eye, out of my domain; if not, even if you were to ascend to heaven or to descend into the ground, you’ll never be able to leave.”

The giant hand of energy dissipated. The red-haired girl fell to the ground somewhat embarrassingly. She stood up pouting, and stared at the warrior with a bit of hatred, but at least she has abandoned all notions of escape.

“So now.”

Ignoring her attitude, Joshua walked up to Hillya, and asked her in a somewhat strange tone, “Can you tell me, why did you want to run away?”

The warrior’s attitude of self-questioning was already quite peaceful. The fourth successor was also seemingly unaffected by his Aura of Despair, not to the point of running out of fear, especially when he has already displayed the light of the Azurite. As a successor, he could naturally understand that he was her companion.

In the world of Grandia, there were countless undead in pursuit of the girl with the dragon wings. From the words of Urbandy, Joshua naturally learned of the dangerous situation of Hillya being in this world. He originally thought, he said, that the other party who had been taking great pains to escape all this time would have gratefully returned with him, and yet it unexpectedly turned out to be this reaction in the end.

But regardless of how the warrior asked, no matter how intimidating or inducing, Hillya would only have an expression of longing for death and refused to speak. Joshua could do nothing in this unusual situation. He was not some evil person at his core, and facing a fellow successor, a companion that would be most likely to fight against the Chaos together in later days, he definitely couldn’t be too coercive. And for the warrior to speak lines that were obviously only spoken by villains, he definitely can’t say them.

But this was not important anyway, since what Joshua wanted was the robe, and not the person. Whether or not the girl agreed, it was not as big an issue.

Within the Mirror of Holy Splendor sent by Pope Igor, a holy radiance slowly began to surge, ripples upon ripples like stone cast onto a placid lake. Soon after, the ripples calmed, an aged face appeared, and the old pope at the world’s end spoke with uncontainable excitement, “Joshua, you’ve found the fourth successor?!”

“Ah, that’s right.”

Joshua squinted at the red-haired girl who seemed wanting to resist until the end. He thought for a while, and he noticed that he had never asked for her name, so in one breath he said, “I have found her, but she seems uncooperative, and she’s not willing to come back with me.”

“This is a very normal thing. You’re asking someone to leave their hometown and go along with a complete stranger like you to another world. If she had agreed with just this sentence, it would instead be abnormal.” The old pope spoke on behalf of Hillya this time. Through the surface of Joshua’s adjusted mirror, Igor saw the girl with the dragon wings who was bound in place by Joshua’s Combat Aura. Like Joshua, he saw through the nature of the quaint robe worn by the girl; that was a material existence constructed by unending runes of order. With only a glance, the old pope could absolutely verify that this is the object of the fourth successor.

Yet at this time, Igor’s tone became strict instead. Within the mirror, the old pope lightly frowned. “But Joshua, I really didn’t expect that you would find your target this quickly.”

Per Igor’s guess, by Joshua’s power, looking for an inconspicuous possessor of the Sage’s Legacy in a completely unfamiliar world would have been an extremely difficult thing. A few months, half a year, or perhaps even several years, the Church of the Seven Gods had already made these long-term preparations. It was completely unexpected that the warrior could find the target in less than a month.

Such speed can be said to be simply too fast, so fast that it was beyond estimation.

“So that is why the portal is not completely ready yet.”

After hesitating for a moment, Igor decided to tell the truth after all, “The last time we sent you over was a hasty move, and the portal had shattered after that. Now we are making an all new and more stable dimensional portal, the kind that would not be affected even if it was the coming of the Great Mana Tide. But this portal is not completely built yet, so even if one person gets sent through, it would be a huge stretch.”

“How about waiting a while? In five days, the portal would be officially open, and at that time it would be easy for us to send even your black dragon over.”

“That would be unnecessary.” When Joshua heard the news, he frowned, and then his eyes shone as though he thought of something good. He shook his head and refused, saying, “The night is long, I will send her back right away. If possible, your holiness, you can also ask her why she would be so against our benevolence.”

“Well in that case, as you wish.”

Since Joshua had already made his decision, the old pope would not refuse. The face of the elder slowly disappeared from the Mirror of Holy Splendor, leaving only the words, “I am opening the portal. Get ready.”

At this time, the two persons from the Holy City, a coachman and a lady, stood before the horse-drawn carriage, taking in this sight in fright. They were completely unable to fathom just what was going on here— who is that champion whose might even matches the castle lord? Who is he talking to? And why is he capturing that ordinary dragon girl?

Because Joshua and the old pope communicated in the common tongue of Mycroft Continent, Hillya was unable to comprehend anything at all, let alone the two from the Holy City. There are some connections between the world of Grandia and Mycroft Continent, and the relationship between the common language of one to the other is like that of French and Latin, yet even so, it is not distinguishable by ordinary people who had done no research.

And in the next moment, they no longer had any thoughts of pondering on other things—ripples like flowing water suddenly appeared at the center of the vast wilderness right in front of them. This ripple stirred up space and caused an incredibly thin gap to appear in the middle of the shockwave. The edges of this gap were surrounded by layers of mystic and complex runes, gradually expanding as time passed. A humming sound, like that of gears moving against each other, caused everyone in the vicinity to go into a confused panic.

Following that, a gap that could barely fit one person opened, and Joshua was completely unaffected by the sounds of space-time. He directly grabbed Hillya just as he would grab a chick, and he flung the girl with the dragon wings whose name he still did not know along with the object of the fourth successor across, which caused the gap to close up abruptly, leaving only a fist-sized residue.

—Truth be told, this is a little like an alien abduction.

As he flung the shocked and helpless Hillya into the dimensional gap, Joshua suddenly came up with a thought. Thinking carefully, weren’t they who came from a different world aliens in some sense? Forcing the fourth successor who was a native of this world to go to their world for the sake of their own purposes, there’s no doubt that this is an abduction. Seriously speaking, he as the Count of the North as well as the Pope of the Church of the Seven Gods are no different from kidnappers who extort ransom.

But even if it was an abduction, it would not matter. When the four great artifacts are gathered, the mystery of the Initial Flame can be known. As this pertained to the life and death of the hundreds of millions of people of the Mycroft Continent, Joshua would not mind making a few more abductions if that was what it would take to solve the problem.

“Well then, sorry to trouble you.”

The voice of the old pope came through the Mirror of Holy Splendor that was activated once more. One could vaguely hear Hillya’s wrathful voice saying things like, “Let me go back!””You bastards!” But both he and the warrior chose to ignore them as if they could not hear a single thing. Igor said with some lamentation, “I don’t know if the end of the world is dangerous, and I don’t know of your situation now, but not to worry; five days at the earliest, the official dimensional portal will be opened, and at that time, the power of the Church of the Seven Gods can directly intervene in this world.”

“Dangerous… it’s definitely dangerous.”

Joshua turned his head towards the southern wilderness; he thought of the thirty-odd survivors who were still in the wilderness. Five days later, when the portal would be activated once more, those children would not need to struggle to survive in the wilderness. He said softly, “This world is is taking a great leap towards the end… if only I didn’t have a mission… wait a minute.”

Having said this, the warrior suddenly shut his mouth. He frowned and pondered for a moment, and then he was suddenly enlightened.

He had already found the fourth successor and artifact, and he sent back, when not too long ago, he flung the girl with the dragon wings into the gap and sent her to the old pope’s side.

This means that… there was nothing to hold him back now!

At this very moment, many things flashed across Joshua’s mind, such as the group of knights he saw when he had just arrived into this world; the residents of Jarien Town who still need to train in martial arts day and night even under the protection of a Heroic Spirit, searching for essential materials in the dangerous forest wilderness; as the Mountain Titan, Urbandy would need be always keeping watch for possible ambushes by the Death Shades, for even by his strength that reaches to the heavens, there is still the possibility of loss.

Such was the danger and ruthlessness of this world, that not a shred of order or warmth existed. The Death Shades ended all possibility of the survivors redeveloping civilization on this land. Even the town built by the survivors in the southern wilderness had already begun to gradually barter, and of those who could face the onslaught of the Death Shade Army, there were only thirty-odd children who survived.

A broken town, an old diary, children who were confused and have no vision of the future, bloodthirsty undead, perplexed souls, and a former hero who yearned only for death.

The fourth successor said nothing about these things. She was sure to know about the deepest secrets of this world, which was why she would display such an attitude. But it was precisely because of this, the warrior could be sure.

This world is sick, desperately sick, so desperate until even those who know the truth would not dare to speak of it.

Which is why it needs someone to cure it.

Having thought of this, Joshua laughed out loud. He balled up his fists, tightened his joints, and let out a loud noise like that of thunder. This laughter traveled far and wide, such that even the old pope could hear it clearly from the other end of the portal.

In the next moment, while Igor was doubtfully questioning him, the warrior stretched out his hand and placed it over his heart. A tsunami-like life force agitated, causing the Azurite to be forced out of his body. Joshua had no hesitation. He took this artifact that had accompanied him in countless battles and threw it into the fist-sized dimensional gap. And then, with the pointing of his forefinger, the blazing Combat Aura directly sealed the dimensional portal, severing all connections between the two worlds.

“Joshua, what do you think you’re doing?!”

The furious cries of the old pope reached the ears of the warrior via the Mirror of Holy Splendor. He asked with an almost questioning tone, “Why did you separate yourself from the Azurite?!”

“Having gathered the four great artifacts, Your Holiness should be able to find the mysteries of the Initial Flame.” Having lost the Azurite, the warrior’s face turned pale, but because all the life force in the Azurite had already been used by him to create the titan’s body, it had no effect on his power. Having heard Igor’s words, Joshua laughed indifferently, saying, “And I, naturally, would be going to do what I want to do.”

Having said this, he lifted his head and looked towards the slowly rising dark dawn, his smile slowly weakened, his expression gradually became calm and serious.

“A world is suffering before my eyes.

“Millions of lives are crying before my eyes.

“I can’t just sit idly by. I can’t be indifferent.”

Joshua sighed deeply. “After coming to this world, I had always felt I didn’t have a clear enough idea. Now that I think about it, in order to find the fourth successor as quickly as possible, I was actually holding myself back and did a lot less.”

“But it’s different now. I am no longer bound.”

Joshua stretched forth his right hand. Over this seemingly indestructible right hand that had been tempered over and over, a coat of a metallic color appeared. Although this hand appeared unremarkable, all materials within a radius of a few hundred yards, be they rocks or carriages, humans or trees, got inexplicably lighter; some dust and rocks of a lighter quality have begun to lose their weight, slowly orbiting this hand and floating fantastically under Joshua’s control, like satellites.

“I am already close to becoming Legendary.”

He spoke softly, “Worry not for my safety.”

“Since the fourth successor refuses to speak, I shall go find it myself. I shall find the truth of this world that is on the verge of destruction, and then, I shall turn it around.”

“This is what a successor of the Sage should be doing.”

At this time, Joshua started to smile again. That was a smile shown by a warrior on fire. Next, he kept the Mirror of Holy Splendor back into his bosom, no longer listening to the old pope’s rebuke.

Of course Joshua knew, this was a very willful decision.

But Champions have always had the right to be willful.

Bang! His body began blazing up. This fire was bright, as if it were a sun, carrying a vigor of life to replace the dawn, lighting up this dark and gloomy world.

That is the light released from the fury that was kindled in the Soul Blazer who faced this world.

The other side of the world.

Mycroft Continent, Far Seas Sacred Mountain, Church of the Seven Gods.

Within the Star Altar, old pope Igor clenched the mirror he was using to communicate so hard it had shattered in his anger. He took a deep breath, suppressing the anger in his heart.

This Joshua, he simply doesn’t realize just how important his existence is!

Throughout the thousand-year history of Mycroft Continent, the people who possessed the heirlooms of the Sage were less than a thousand if only a few hundred. The wielders of the pure white scepter alone include the successive generations of popes of the Seven Gods as well as several highly respected high priests; the Dual Blades of Order of the Kaos family had been wielded for some time by every member of the family, up until the Dual Blades chose their own master; let alone having wandered about outside, who knows how many have had their hands on the Azurite.

Yet even with so many people, over so many years, only in the hands of Joshua did the Azurite accomplish something no others could do—to merge with the artifacts as one.

“He may have been someone who had received the Sage’s true recognition… his existence is so much more important than a lifeless object!”

With the Azurite which was still radiating the warmth of the warrior’s heart in hand, the old pope’s heart which had been stoic all this time had once more begun to blaze with anger, but he when he turned his head, he saw the red-haired girl who was silent and at a corner, still bound. Igor sighed, and then stretched out a finger, releasing the bind.

“My apologies, our actions were too rash.”

A telepathic sound appeared within the depths of Hillya’s heart. Even though Pope Igor does not know the common language of the world of Grandia, he knew how to use telepathic transmission, and he wouldn’t need to use any polyglots. “Although this is a bit abrupt, we can only ask that you remain here for the moment. Joshua—that is, the one who sent you here—has already gone to search out the truth of your world. He may even solve those problems.”

“Oh, him… his power is indeed very strong, but if you are talking about solving the calamities that our world is facing… that’s impossible.”

During telepathic transmission, both parties are seemingly unable to mask the true thoughts of the heart. Hillya noticed this just now the moment the conversation began, but at this time it no longer mattered to the girl in the otherworld. She gently told a part of the truth of this world.

“The Plague of Death Shades is a punishment from the Sage.”

She said this in a calm yet forlorn tone, “My ancestors were but jailors who kept watch over the criminals. This entire world is a prison for traitors.”

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