Soul of Searing Steel

Combat Aura originates from the life force and the will of a person. It is an egocentric force that repels everything that is not part of the person.

Magic energy is the remnant of the energy from the creation of the worlds. It is an omnipotent force that can be used to shape anything.

There is no mutual exclusivity between the two forces. There is no such thing as which one of them is better. They did not repel each other as well. The wielder of Combat Aura can still wield the power of magic. The mage can also train themselves in the art of ‘Kokyu-ho’. The two powers are not incompatible. So it will only rely on which power a person focused on.

However, the Divine Power is a completely different existence than the two powers.

The so-called Divine Power is the power to exist.

Everything must exist before they are molded. Magic energy can be used to shift elements and substances to form something. However, it cannot be used to create something out of the Void. The Divine Power is a kind of power that is found in the endless stream of the Chaos turbulence—a power which one can wield to create the Order and the existence of purification out of nothingness. That power is noble and is one of its kind.

Each of the Divine Powers possesses a part of the soul and the existence of the wielder. Hence, each person who wielded a Divine Power has their very own unique attributes and specialties. However, whether it was the Divine Power of the ‘Father Nature’ or the ‘Seven Gods’, the Divine Power can bring immeasurable destruction if it was used to destroy.

Just like that strike itself.

The three Divine Powers are gathered and stacked together. They turned into green Divine Patterns as the patterns are then engraved on the great sword and the lifted arm of the warrior. Joshua’s eyes flickered with blazing flames as he appeared like the Sage who walked on earth. Wild, violent wind swirled around the place all around the warrior. The swirling wind was so strong that they even formed a hurricane pillar that connected heaven and earth. Dirt, rocks, and trees moved with the wind. Many smaller golems are hurled into the hurricane as they rotated in the air.

In the face of many giants that could wield the power of the thunder and the storm, the warrior laughed in disdain. He then struck his great sword down.

The Divine Miracle has befallen the world.

Along with the howling of the wind, the dark clouds in the sky are completely pushed apart by a beam of solid green light that extended into the distance, far beyond the heaven. Even the dark void right behind the clouds is revealed by the light. Soon after, another noise that sounded just like a cotton blanket being torn apart is heard. The black mist that shrouded the entire world is also being parted. A long, bottomless crack appeared on the surface of the earth right after the black mist dispersed. Magma flowed hot, deep in the bottom of the crack.

All the Titan Colossus that were hit, paused. The wounds on their bodies looked as smooth as the surface of a mirror, as if those parts has been completely wiped out. Before these Titan Colossus that are split in half or had their limbs dismembered, could respond, Joshua swung his greataxe again.

A beam of light swept across half of the world, forming into the shape of a green fan. The light interlaced with the black dust that was hurled up into the air by the previous strike. In an instant, the dust and mist that shrouded the entire world are torn apart by a cross-shaped wound. Almost all of the Titan Colossus are hit this time. They are separated from their waists by the blow. Their upper bodies slid down and fell to the ground, followed by some great explosions.

Suddenly, explosions filled the entire world. Even at the end of the horizon where the green light could reach, was filled with explosions that everyone could not see with their eyes. However, the two powerful strikes that Joshua had swung by wielding the Divine Power has wiped out even the existence of the air, and the dimension of the world. The world is overwhelmed by indescribable noises.

“This feels…”

The warrior stood in the air as the green light that was gleaming around his body, dimmed down a little. However, his eyes remained bright as day. Everything happened so fast that the two strikes happened within a few breaths. Under the protection and blessing of the Father Nature, the small wounds that were caused by the overflowing Divine Power in the warrior have already healed up neatly. After unleashing the Divine Power, Joshua felt as if the weight of the world has been lifted off of his body. He held his grip tightly on the handle of the greatsword and the greataxe as he nodded in satisfaction, “This feels great.”

His body has become stronger and tougher after getting baptized by the Divine Power, he has crossed into a realm higher than before—the realm of the Supreme-Tier.

In fact, at the time where he first came into the world of Illgner, Joshua’s strength was still far away from reaching this level. Even though he was a Legendary in his previous life, it only happened in the game of his previous life. Those experiences from his past have been a great service to him living in the current world, he is currently in a world that is real. The experiences he had have proven to be insufficient for him to utilize anymore.

Hence, he wanted to take another path of his own choosing. He did not want to take the path he once did in obtaining the Mastery Skill. Instead, he chose to cross into the realm of Supreme tier by relying on Mastery Strength. As he battled restlessly against the golems, Joshua has gotten a few steps closer to his goal. He even had a hunch that even without the support of the system, he could have attained the realm of Supreme sooner or later. It was just a matter of time.

The enlightenment of awakening into a Steel tier resembled that of a person mastering the basics of the extraordinary strength. Having one’s soul radiating in Silver tier meant that the soul and the body of the person had evolved into the next level. The glorious light that a Gold tier possessed allowed the person to become one with the Extraordinary Strength in a preliminary stage.

The Supreme tier suggested that a person has exceeded his or her own limit as he or she has become an extraordinary living being. Engaging into battles is the easiest way for a person to reach his or her own limit and break through that barrier that restrained a person from reaching greater heights in terms of strength and power.

Nowadays, one could say that when conditions are ripe, success was sure. With the support of the Divine Power provided by the Father Nature, regardless of whether it was his understanding towards the nature of the power itself or the quest that is listed in the system, the warrior has reached the designated distance of crossing into a completely new height. All that was left for him to do was to break through the barrier right before him.

Hence, the warrior stepped into the sacred realm of the extraordinary as looked at the ultimate secret of power. He stood on the soil of the battlefield as he closed his eyes and focused on enhancing his essence embedded deep within his soul and body.

Red Combat Aura and the black ‘Satsui Hadou’ were spread to every part of his body from his chest. The two colors covered the light patterns of the Divine Power that belonged to the Father of Nature. The warrior is wrapped within an air cocoon. The cocoon floated in the same spot, tainting its surrounding with a dark red color. In that region, a terrifying murderous intent brewed and spread as the presence of destruction overwhelmed everything. The will filled with rage and the impulse to battle speared into the surroundings as if everything was about to be turned into a hell tormented by war.

That presence has even affected the puppets that were supposed to be emotionless. An area within a few thousand radii of the cocoon has become a forbidden zone. Aerial golems that were flying in the sky and the ordinary golems that were marching on the ground are threatened by the existence in the middle of the forbidden zone as they circled around the zone without entering it.

Roland looked into the distance as his eyes widened – How is that possible?!

Of course he understood what was going on. That was the cocoon that only emerges when a Supreme-Tier being was born. The holy knight had witnessed several seniors of his attaining this realm. Regardless of who it was, the person would be completely protected by the entire holy knight regiment and a few more archmages as he transcended into the next tier without worries, allowing himself to cross into the realm of extraordinary and sacred.

But Joshua… did he actually cross into the next tier just like that? He just crossed into the realm of Supreme-tier standing on the battlefield where he was confronting the Chaos and the Evil God? That was outrageously insane! Even Roland could not fathom as he subconsciously exclaimed in surprise, “In the name of the Seven Gods, how could he?!”

Joshua had in fact prevailed in doing so.

Soon after, the Holy Knight has also noticed that the golems actually did not have the gut to take another step closer towards the air cocoon that seemed helpless and vulnerable. The puppets that were bestowed only with the most basic and fundamental ability to determine, were standing behind the line they assumed to be the ‘extremely dangerous’ region. Even with their simplest mind, they knew that stepping into the danger zone would only result in pointless sacrifices. Hence, the monsters circled the warrior without stepping into the danger zone. The movements of the monsters led the number of the monsters in other places to increase. In order to resist against the sudden increase in the enemy forces in his surroundings and to prevent the enemies from reaching the body of the Father Nature, Roland had to turn away from the situation of the warrior as he focused his mind on eliminating those flying puppets that could move swiftly and freely in the air. He had to focus on using his full strength in order to ensure success.

On earth, Black felt a little pressured. The Mithril and Adamantine-tier golems emerged from nowhere as their numbers grew. Black could no longer break through the army of golems of those tiers simply by using its charge attack. Hence, it needed to launch its dragon breath occasionally in order to annihilate a wave of golems. However, the number of these golems did not seem to be decreasing at all even though they were being showered with ferocious attacks. Instead, their number continued to grow, making the resistance against the golems much more difficult as time passed.

High above in the sky right beside the huge air cocoon, the spirits of Ying and Ling surrounded the air cocoon. Their psionic bodies were currently undergoing an enhancement process as they were being held in Joshua’s hands. They could sense that their master was fine for the moment. The warrior was growing stronger by the seconds, resembling the natural process of a metamorphosis, an essential transformation that makes a being much stronger after the process is completed. It felt as if their master was like a hard steel, slowly getting forged into a razor-sharp blade with scorching fire under the fierce beating of a blacksmith. Hence, even though the two divine armaments were troubled, they could only witness the process of metamorphosis of the huge cocoon without making even the slightest voice or sound that might possibly interrupt their master.

The will of the Father Nature was paying much attention to this from afar. Its spirit was observing the air cocoon that was floating in mid-air as it unleashed tremendous waves of despair into its surroundings. Upon seeing the happening of it, the existence could not help but let out a sigh.

—Even at their time which was deemed to be the most prosperous era of all time, a person of Joshua’s age crossing into the sacred realm of the Extraordinary would be deemed as fast. Such a person is known as a prodigy that only existed once in a century. The existence that seen that also noticed that the warrior possessed the Legacy of the Sage that the Sage left behind upon its departure from the world. Perhaps that was the main reason the existence has chosen a bunch of outsiders from another world to carry out a significantly defining task in saving this world.

Judging from the current situation, that choice was indeed the best choice the existence has made. That man did not let it down at all. He might even embrace more of its power and strength upon reaching the threshold of Supreme and complete its plan that it laid out.

The green light gleamed brightly within the area of the blessing. The golems that were shined upon by the green light instantly got entangled by tenacious vines that grew right out from their bodies, disabling them of their capabilities to move, allowing Roland and the others to kill them. At the same time, the branches of the giant tree that were petrified at the bottom of the mountains was slowly turning back to brown. With the continuous explosions in the surrounding, the huge underground cave gradually collapsed.

From the sky, it seemed that the entire area of Mountains of Origin was slowly sinking. The Elven guards that were riding on the airships are astounded by the spectacular scene—their jaws dropped open. They have not even recovered from the shock they got from the awakening of the Mother Tree. Their gazes were fixated on the magnificent divine miracle, completely unaware that the ground beneath them has sunk over hundreds of meters.

Boom!

With a tremendous noise, everyone turned around and looked at the Mountains of Origin behind them. Even the elven guards are shocked to the point they felt numb. At that time, they screamed out loud, one after another, some of them even shrieking.

The ground where the mountains stood had vanished. As the underground cave collapsed, the entire area above the collapsed cave, along with the hills, has sunken. The entire area has turned into a gigantic pit. In the center of the giant pit, lied a vein rooted deeply into the earth. A giant tree that is covered with mudstones is revealed.

The giant tree was magnificent. A part of its canopy was as tall as a mountain. If it wasn’t because half of its gigantic sunken main trunk, the giant tree could have reached the Void beyond the clouds and the sky.

Mudstones and gravel fell from the branches of the divine tree. The outer shell of the giant tree that was initially covered up by rocks has gradually shattered as they peeled from the giant tree, revealing the brown trunk of the giant tree. With the breezes of the green Divine Power, new shoots were growing all over the branches of the tree. The scent of life, nature, and purification filled up the entire sanctuary.

A thousand years ago, the Father Nature came to the world of Illgner with a colony of elves. The world was initially a continent filled with the wilderness and deserts. The world was not fit for the survival of the elves. As Father Nature wanted to make Illgner inhabitable, so it plunged itself deep into the world in the form of a humongous root as it began absorbing the magic energy in this world to modify the nature of the entire world of Illgner. Other than the volcanoes and other locations unsuitable for habitation, Father Nature had absorbed every trace of magic energy in every inch of the world to reform Illgner into a world suited for the elves.

However, the action of Father Nature has brought an unprecedented natural disaster upon the living beings which had been living peacefully in the world. And because of the sufferings that were happening across that world, the Evil God ‘Calamity’ that was wandering aimlessly in the Void had been attracted to the Illgner world.

As Father Nature revealed its true form, which has awoken to another level, all of the golems instantly raved as their bodies began to glow with intense magic energy. They were beginning to operate their bodies at an overload as they were ready to break through the line of defense set up by Roland and Black. Their main objective was to destroy the existence of the giant tree.

The ten light wheels that lingered in the sky began to spin rapidly in order to gather their powers and strengths. At the same time, the silvery light flashed like bright stars in the sky. The lights of the sky fire beamed across the sky as they tore through the dimension in order to reach the giant tree. The attacks aimed to wipe out the giant tree, just like they did with Mount Sigma.

The power of an Evil God was the power of the Chaos that could reduce everything into nothingness. Even though it could not create like how Divine Power works, it could bring immeasurable destruction to everything.

However, the silver beam that was launched towards the giant tree was suddenly blocked by a green protective barrier that instantly emerged before the giant tree. The surface of the light barrier rippled like a huge wave. However, it was not torn apart. It remained tough despite the attack.

The attack of the Evil God of Calamity has gone wasted. However, regardless of the aerial golems or the puppets that remained on the ground, all of the enemy forces were becoming even more berserk. They were no longer trying to attack or kill Roland and Black. Instead, they were attempting to break through the line of defense to approach the giant tree. Currently, their priority has been set to attack the Divine Tree of Beginnings that was currently awakening. Several monsters that were as large as a fortress emerged in the sky behind the moving dark clouds. They unleashed a stream of magic energy to suppress Roland and Black. Their main goal was to make sure that the golem army could march towards their main target—the giant tree—without being interrupted.

On the ground, the golems began to merge with each other. They fused themselves into one as they turned themselves into new stone giants. That was not the end of it. With the infinite Magic energy in the bodies of the puppets, the substances around their bodies were gradually changing as well. They were changing from rock into metal. Then, the color of their bodies turned yellowish like gold. They appeared to be evolving into terrifying Titan Colossus again.

The momentum of the golems was becoming more ferocious than before. Roland and Black seemed to be feeling a little bit overwhelmed by the enemy forces. Even though they were powerful, they were obviously having a disadvantage in number—the horrific attacks of the puppet army was as terrifying as the assault of a tidal wave. The both of them were drowning in the golem army. Although the two of them remained in the line of defense as they destroyed any golems that came into contact with them, more and more golems have managed to slip through their defenses as the monsters charged at the Father Nature.

However, suddenly Roland and Black, who were barely holding on, heard a deep voice that sounded very familiar.

“I’ve kept you waiting, my friends.”

A hint of wild laughter came after. He did not seem to be bothered by the tidal wave of puppets that were marching towards Father Nature. Instead, he let out a mad and loud laughter as he said, “I have a good news to tell you all!”

A red light suddenly appeared. It shot across the sky like a lightning bolt. All of the golems along the way were completely destroyed. None of them survived the onslaught of the red light. Explosions filled up the battlefield, followed by terrifyingly powerful impacts. Because of that, countless aerial golems began to fall to the ground like golem rain. Another wave of explosions filled the air again.

I have leveled up!