Soul of Searing Steel

Upon hearing those words, Roland remained in silence. There was no telling about what he had in mind at the moment. Meanwhile, Joshua continued to walk forward as he led the group to the center of the large empty pit where there was a slight build-up of lava.

In this submerged lair of the Ancient Dragon, the lava was boiling hot and the winds were so blazingly hot. Not to mention that the ferocious waves of endless elemental energy surges were howling back and forth in the area for over hundreds of years. However, currently, everything calmed down all because of the footsteps of the warrior. The expedition party members who were initially standing by the entrance to the empty pit who could not approach due to the extremely high heat previously had noticed that the temperature in the surroundings was gradually falling lower as time passed. Meanwhile, the overflowing surges of the fire elementals no longer pulsated, thus losing their hazard levels. The surroundings fell into dead silence.

After hesitating for a while to make sure that the surrounding temperature had indeed gradually decreased, they gritted their teeth, held on tight to their talismans and stepped onto the solidified black rocky path that was left behind by the warrior. Then they picked up the pace and caught up with Joshua in a hurry. Having the basic instinct and the curiosity of being a member of an expedition party, the members did not stay rooted to the ground because of that. Instead, they wanted to know even more details about it. They wanted to get closer so that they could observe that scenario close-up.

The experience of venturing deeper into the lava cave was not just an experience that any ordinary person could get!

Black was following the pace of the group as it trampled on the lava… no, it was simply sinking its entire body into the molten lava, twisting its body as it was swimming slowly alongside the party members of the expedition party.

Meanwhile, it looked like this horse was not uncomfortable, instead, it looked cozy and relaxed. As it was swimming through the gold-red high-temperature lava zone, it even neighed with joy and the core on its chest shone even brighter.

It was visible as well that the impact of the surging power and the fire elementals that were initially surging strong around Black’s body had vanished without a trace. Since then, they never appeared again.

The warrior also did not care whether the members of the party were sticking close to him or not. He only gave one command saying that if the situation was not right, everyone would need to evacuate and retreat immediately. After that, he furrowed his brows a little and looked in mid-air at the center point of the area.

This huge underground cave was filled with highly heated lava and air currents. They were twisting and rising, turning the air into a distorted purgatory. The blurry air made it impossible for everyone to see the towering dome. However, right at then mid-air of the center of the dragon’s lair, there was a very dissonant spot.

That spot was quiet and calm. There was no trace of any distorted air in that area at all.

“The gathering point of magic energy.”

The hobbit that hurried over lifted his head up and uncovered the truth behind it. His voice was sharper, but not ear-piercing. He sounded extremely shocked, “This place is the node where magic energy gathers. What an enormous amount of power! Could it be that this is the power source that supports those hot steam and magic streams?”

“Yes.”

Joshua nodded as he agreed with the insight of the mage. He could also tell that this space, which remained calm even though there were countless twisting air streams in the entire area, in fact contained a large amount of intangible and pure high-density magic energy which seemed to be easily repelling all sorts of external interferences that had insufficient levels.

If there was no accident, then this spot, this land where lava gathers and was slightly higher than other places should be the spot where the Blazing Black Dragon lived and slept.

Because the Ancient Dragon had been staying there for a long time, even the nature of magic energy had changed along with time, forming an invisible enchantment and protecting its lair from being invaded by others.

Meanwhile, that was not all though.

“Underneath this layer of magic energy, there will still be another concealed layer,” said Joshua.

Then he stretched out his right hand, imagining himself grabbing on to air he closed the fingers on his palm. His voice instantly became deep. Then he continued speaking with a grim look on his face, “Meanwhile, underneath that concealed layer, that’s the real thing that I really wanted to see.”

“Let me what’s behind your guise!”

With his right fist clenched tightly, making the tattoo on the back of his palm more visible, Joshua seemed to have grabbed onto some shapeless existence, from the look on his face. Afterward, this warrior furrowed his brows intensely as he pulled downward with his strength. Instantly, an incomparably sharp sound of cracking and glass shattering was heard.

At that moment, even the sounds of boiling lava that was flowing and the explosive sounds of the endless surging heat from the depth of the volcano were suppressed by the sound made from Joshua’s pulling earlier. At that time, there was only one sound reverberating throughout the entire empty pit hole.

Rumble—

Violent winds were beginning to stir in the air. Because the magic energy structure that was constraining the elementals was smashed by an overbearing and direct force, all the fire elemental forces that were gathered in this area dispersed in an instant as they all flew rapidly towards other places. Regardless of whether it was the excessively high temperature in the underground giant empty pit or the dense magic Energy, all were beginning to dissipate rapidly. Under the low-pitched startled cries of everyone, the entire dangerous underground pit was completely transformed into an ordinary lava pool. It was no longer a dangerous area that one would require the protection of Joshua’s strength in order to ensure their safety.

The status of elemental corrosion had completely vanished!

After a few seconds, by the end of this strange phenomenon, a stream of blue lights appeared in the air, having mixed with red radiance of the lava, emanating across half of the underground giant pit into purplish-blue color. Roland who felt a little astonished still had his body enveloped by the holy white radiance for the moment. He consciously lifted his head up to have a look at the dome-shaped ceiling. However, what he saw next had him speechless.

That was a scene he was too familiar with, which filled him with extreme disgust.

In the midst of the lair where the magic energy initially gathered around, clusters of red light suddenly blinked and appeared there. These lights were stacked layer by layer, forming and spreading into a huge network that covered the entire underground pit. There were traces of gears operating, pulsing with unparalleled strength. However, that spectacular and mesmerizing scene lasted only one-tenth of a second. After that, it completely collapsed into scattering magic energy light particles. Each of them were carrying the essence of the Ancient Dragon that originated from the beginning of the birth of the world.

A sudden bizarre phenomenon that looked like countless snowflakes pouring down from the sky materialized on the collapsed spot. Even space was slowly shrinking under that sort of distortion. Then the spot began to crack slowly, revealing a mysterious hole. Meanwhile, beside the entrance of the hole, there was an extremely bright blue radiance. It looked like flashing star far away in the sky as if it was celebrating its freedom with utterly unexplained joy after being sealed away for many years.

“The dimensional seal.”

Ignoring to the reactions of everyone around him including Ying, Ling, and Roland who were so shocked that they were rendered speechless, Joshua’s eyes gazed upon everything before him. He was analyzing the possibilities he saw right before his eyes. Then he muttered to himself softly, “As expected, this is a dimensional seal. The dimensional passage in this place…”

Perhaps the others might not notice it, but the warrior had seen the glorious pattern that appeared for an instant and collapsed swiftly as clear as day. That was the prototype of the current large-scale Combined Magic Spell that was inherited from the powerful strength of the Ancient Dragon’s bloodline called [Dragon-Blood Mythal].

Taking its own blood and power as its source, an Ancient Dragon could easily create a powerful ancient magic circle that could actually communicate with nature, in order to achieve various purposes. Regardless of whether it was to guard its lair or to seal a powerful existence, these were deemed to be one of its effects. Meanwhile, the [Dragon-Blood Mythal] mentioned earlier on was an existence that could seal the dimensional passage that was right in front of them.

“There’s a dimensional passage?!”

It was not until this moment that the holy knight responded. Roland’s tone indicated shock. His deep blue sea eyes displayed infinite surprise. He then immediately turned his head and looked at Joshua. Just when he was about to open his mouth to say something, he held back because of the presence of the expedition party members that knew nothing about it.

Joshua did notice the holy knight’s expression. He nodded and signaled that he understood his thoughts. Then he continued to observe the dimensional passage that was presented right before him. He could feel the presence that was flowing out from that silent hole.

“… Not the Karlis world.”

After a while, his voice was heard once again, overshadowing the noise of the discussion among the members of the expedition party. Because of that, the entire cave went silent in an instant. Under everyone’s gaze, Joshua stared calmly at the dimensional passage that was hanging in mid-air as it was steadily emitting blue radiance from it. Then the warrior muttered, “It is not the world that’s about to be destroyed. The atmosphere from this world is very refreshing… There are countless lives to flourish, and it is suitable for human survival.”

That was not the Karlis world—that was a new world!

After thinking upon that, even with the warrior’s heart and mind, he could not help but take a deep breath trying to calm himself. He shook his head as he revealed a strange smile on his face, remaining in silence. Then he shook his head again and continued to analyze his own thoughts.

The center of the dragon’s lair at the bottom of the Great Ajax Volcano was a dimensional passage that had been sealed by the Ancient Dragon for over hundreds of years. It was a dimensional passage that was not connected to the Karlis world. Instead, it was a dimensional passage that led to a completely new world.

Everything was explained clearly now—400 years ago, it was not because of the awakening of the Blazing Black Dragon that caused the eruption of the Great Ajax Volcano where the dimensional space was shaken up and caused the dimensional barrier in the North to fail, eventually causing the appearance of countless dimensional passages that were connected to the Karlis world. Instead, it was just the opening of one-dimensional passage in the old lair of the Ancient Dragon that woke it from its slumber, causing the Great Ajax Volcano to almost erupt.

The Ancient Dragon had used its own blood to seal this dimensional passage that had disturbed its inner peace. However, it no longer wanted to live in this chaotic place. Hence, it simply moved away without even the slightest hesitation. It was precisely for that reason that the dragon-slaying army encountered nothing when they arrived at that lair. Along with their disappointment, they had also conveniently discovered the dimensional rift that could lead to the Karlis world.

Those red rocks by the entrance of the cave were actually residues of blood that the Ancient Dragon left behind as it was sealing up the dimensional rift. For humans and the Ancient Dragon, those blood residues were merely stains that were not wiped clean.

“This is really a surprise.”

The warrior suddenly felt a little unwilling to attend the banquet during the beginning of April—regardless of whether it was names and fame, or the celebration for winning the war with the orcs, those were merely boring interpersonal communication between people. It would merely be a small battlefield for a bunch of bored people who conspire against each other. How could that be much more important than a new world behind this dimensional rift then?

Maybe other counts were interested in this sort of child’s play in an attempt to strengthen their relationships with the nobles. However, Joshua was not that sort of person. He would rather fry two eggs for himself than wasting time chatting with those savages that were filled with arrogance. Not to mention that there was a completely new world with endless possibilities on the other side of this dimensional door now!