Soul of Searing Steel

Starfall Year 833, the 3rd of September. Cloudy noon.

The Sacred Mountain in the distant sea, the Great Central Shrine District, Temporary Plaza.

Hundreds of puppets built from the divine spells transported earth and rocks back and forth in the area. They cleared out a special and vast plaza that was a few hundred meters wide. Wreckages of shrines and the golden light barriers that shielded up the border of the plaza were seen in that area. The shrines stood with their tips shrouded in sacred light mist. Runes floated out from the tip of the shrines. The runes then submerged into the light barriers in the surroundings as if charging the light barrier charged.

Ever since that battle, the berserk dragons had never done anything that harassed the Church of the Seven Gods. There were many reasons for that. Above all, the main reason was that the Pentashade Dragons had discovered that they no longer had what it takes to breach the defense of the Sacred Mountain.

Pope Igor, the strongest man in the continent, was not only idolized by the humans. That was a fact recognized by all races in the Mycroft Continent. Even though the three Legendary-tier dragons were bravely engaged in the battle with that man by relying on the enormous number of the berserk dragon’s legion, the presence of the Nature’s Magister and Israel were completely unexpected. Their plans were disrupted because of that.

The Sacred Mountain with three Legendary-tier champions had become almost ‘indestructible’. Even though the Legendary-tier dragons used their full strength to keep the Legendary-tier champions occupied, the remaining of the berserk dragons were not capable of breaking the defense line of the Great Central Shrine District after losing the ‘Longsword of the Ashlands’.

Thus, the calm and peace that were longed for had finally befallen the gray island Aida. Even the berserk dragons had discharged their blockades in the sea. The first reinforcement army from the kingdom in the distant south had finally arrived at the temporary harbor that was set up on the east side of the Sacred Mountain—the original harbor had been destroyed by the violent earthquake caused by the Longsword of the Ashlands. Because of that, they could only use their divine spell to temporarily build a harbor on the sea.

The temporary plaza was set up to store the abundant supplies brought over by the reinforcement army. The divine puppets that were built for wars had put down their weapons and equipped themselves with shovels as they began large-scale ground-flattening and reconstruction works. Their efficiency was unexpectedly high, leaving quite a number of priests pondering upon the possibility of turning their divine puppets into construction-type puppets.

Saya stood on top of a shrine near the plaza, on a column, to command the puppets from a distance.

After returning from Anos Abyss, the three members of the church from the expedition party had swiftly gone to their respective posts to assume their roles to handle the aftermath of the war. Roland and Robzek were tasked as the commanders at the defense line in the northwest of the Sacred Mountain while Saya was tasked with the responsibility to control the puppets in supporting the necessary defense line of the Sacred Mountain.

It was a truly weary job to command over hundreds or even thousands of divine puppets at the same time as she would also need to adjust their formations accordingly to battle against different types of draconic beasts in the defense line of the Sacred Mountain. It was not easy at all for a Gold-tier champion like Saya. Furthermore, she had to work like that for weeks with no time to even complain, but Saya was not that kind of person anyway. She completed her tasks perfectly and saved many shrines that needed urgent supports. She was praised and rewarded by the church for being responsible—from now on, the two to three hundred divine puppets in the plaza belonged to her.

Although those puppets did not conform to the Saya’s aesthetic standards, at least puppets would never revolt! For that, it was pretty comforting for the great nun, who was traumatized by her previous experience with Nolan.

“It seems that the Sacred Mountain is in need of a complete reconstruction now.” After making sure that all of her puppets had carried out the tasks based on her plan, Saya nodded and looked around her from the top of the shrine.

Saya could ‘see’ that the other shrines across the Sacred Mountain were covered in golden lights as they were shrouded with a sacred atmosphere. Although the situation across the Sacred Mountain seemed good and there were in fact, problems. The walls of each shrine were full of cracks. The pathways made of stones and rocks that linked the shrines together were destroyed completely. Many more stone monuments and columns had already collapsed and crumbled, leaving only pieces of debris.

Even though the berserk dragons did not insist on taking down the Sacred Mountain, they had indeed destroyed about eighty percent of the buildings in that sacred place. The only regions that were undamaged were the inner region of the Great Central Shrine District and the Sacred Mountain itself. According to the judgment of the great nun, after the Pentashade Dragons had retreated, the church would begin a great scale reconstruction. When the time comes, she who possessed a large number of divine puppets would definitely be much more occupied than the time during the war.

“Perhaps it is for the better. Those old buildings scattered across the Sacred Mountain had been inconsistently built thousands of years ago. There was no planning at all… So building everything from scratch would definitely be better.”

Just as Saya was deep in thoughts, a white light suddenly illuminated the sky. The great nun lifted her head and looked into the sky and was shocked. She saw that the dark clouds in the sky above the peak of the Sacred Mountain were quickly dispersing. Blinding sunlight shone at the settlement of the berserk dragons in the distance like a beam of light shining from the peak of the Sacred Mountain.

However, the shocking fact was that those legions of berserk dragons that was raiding the gray island had turned into pieces of light particles all over the place under that light.

“No, those are really illusion!” With merely a simple ‘glance’, Saya could clearly understand that those berserk dragons that looked extremely real were just illusions. The dark clouds and the dragons in the sky had vanished without a trace. The legion of berserk dragons which surrounded the Sacred Mountain for over ten days had suddenly been replaced with the illusionary images. It seemed that all of their real bodies had already left and disappeared!

“Humph.”

The Legendary-tier warrior on the top of the Sacred Mountain sounded enraged and cold. His voice echoed across the sea and the sky around the Sacred Mountain, “Cowards.”

However, the great nun sighed in relief as if a heavy boulder was lifted from her chest.

At the least, there was no need to battle.

From the looks of it, the Pentashade Dragons had already determined that they could not break the defense line of the Sacred Mountain. So, their main forces retreated from the Sacred Mountain was tending to the wounded and was reorganizing the defense line. That should also explain why the reinforcement fleet of the kingdom from the distant south could arrive at the gray island without encountering a single obstacle. It appeared that the Dragon’s Calamity that had been running rampant across the southern continent would finally stop spreading because of their loss in this battle. The legion of berserk dragons had retreated momentarily as it was not possible for them to turn back and support the remaining forces of the draconic beasts in the South. The army of the kingdoms in that region of the continent would surely be more than capable of easily annihilating the remaining forces.

However, that did not mean that that was the end. Everyone knew that the decisive battle that occurred back at the Sacred Mountain was nothing but an anticlimax. The legion of berserk dragons that withdrew their forces because of three Legendary-tier dragons was capable enough to break the defense line of any other kingdoms or confederations. They had yet to lose their core strength and still possessed the ability to battle again.

Joshua also understood that.

At the entrance of the Great Shrine on the top of the Sacred Mountain, the warrior stood at the edge of the shrine as he looked at waves on the surface of the sea in the distance.

Everything about the current development of the incidents was completely different from the incidents in his past life now—in the past life, the Dragon’s Calamity would happen in Starfall Year 834. The powerful legion of berserk dragons would have invaded half of the kingdoms and also the business alliances across the continent in the Far South. They had even conquered many settlements of the elves and the lairs of the insect races. The main forces of the berserk dragons were on the brink of breaking through the defense line of the Sacred Mountain by now. The war would not be over until Pope Igor could defeat the three Legendary-tier Dragons before the Seven Gods could push the Pentashade Dragon God back to the sky as they transformed into Sages to fight against the enemy.

Although the legion of berserk dragons had been dismissed, the first wave of the Great Mana Tide had coincidentally arrived and invaded the world like a storm. The intense waves of magic energy had been unleashed violently into the world and agitated all of the beasts and animals across the continent. Because of that, the riot and outbreak of the berserk dragons had been accelerated as well, causing the Dragon’s Calamity to intensify.

It could be said that the Dragon’s Calamity was an invasion carefully planned by the Pentashade Dragons where they had steps to follow. It was war. However, it had become a calamity similar to the Dark Tide.

Now, because the three Legendary-tier champions that had gathered at the Sacred Mountain while Joshua had completely shattered the conspiracy of the berserk dragons to destroy the defense line of the shrines, the Pentashade Dragons had noticed that they no longer possess the advantage over the battlefield. Hence, they did not press on. Instead, they chose to retreat to some unknown territories. From the looks of it, the war would no longer force the gods to step in anymore. The Great Mana Tide had yet to arrive. The draconic beasts scattered across the great continent did not turn to another level of savage like they did at the same time back in the past life. The difference between the two lives had become strangely huge now.

It could be said that the Divergence rate of change in the world line had definitely exceeded one ¹ . Because the war did not break out like it did in the pre-existence, the Pentashade Dragon God did not engage in battle with the Seven Gods of the human race. But the legion of berserk dragons was not dismissed either. They were just retreating. The clergy of the Sacred Mountain and the Church of the Seven Gods did not suffer any great loss. The warrior had no way to know whether the change was for the better or for the worse. However, everything had nothing to do with him anymore.

Because he was currently preparing to return to the north.

Before Israel pushed away the dark clouds shrouding the entire sky to uncover the truth that the berserk dragons had already retreated long ago, Joshua was talking to the three Legendary-tier champions. The warrior and Roland shared their experiences about when they were back in Illgner world to the female Nature’s Magister, the elder druid by the name ‘Idril Galanoth’. After the High Druid with an interesting confirmed that the two of them did not lie using her divine spells, she believed every single word from their mouths.

When Father Nature sent Joshua and the others back to the Mycroft Continent, he had sealed the dimensional passage. However, the dimensional trace still remained at the bottom of the Mount Great Ajax. The elven race would never give up searching for their Father. In fact, even now, the beliefs of the Father Nature still remained among the elven race, passed down from one generation to the next. Although most of the elves other than druids would only treat it as a worldly belief or a culture, it was obvious that the influence of the Father Nature was deep as it was yet to be lost even after thousands of years.

The Nature’s Magister said that she would bring her own party and travel to the north a few months later so that they could observe the behavior of the dimensional trace underneath the Mount Great Ajax. They could also confirm the location of the Illgner world. Before that could happen, she suggested Joshua to remain at his own territory and get some rest. She also informed Joshua to ensure that no one could destroy the residue of the dimensional passage–if everything went right, she would bestow a great gift upon the warrior as a gesture of gratitude.

Be it Pope Igor, Israel or the warrior himself, all of them felt positive about that suggestion—it was obvious that the situation at the Sacred Mountain was improving by the seconds. They even had support from Legendary-tier champions to suppress the enemy line. So, Joshua found that his presence unnecessary in the Sacred Mountain. Pope Igor had also expressed his gratitude towards Joshua’s support in the past battles. As for the compensation and rewards, since the Sacred Mountain was currently under reconstruction, they would be sorted out and sent over to the warrior later on.

At that time, the three Legendary-tier champions were discussing matters related to the Pentashade Dragons in the hall. The warrior came to the front of the hall as he also brought along the divine armaments, Black, Eva and also Suralno, who looked bitter. They waited for the teleportation to be ready.

Soon, the young elf, Hill, and the Oceanic Dragon Lady Funa arrived at the entrance of the hall. Seeing the warrior and the others, they greeted their comrades with a smile.

The two of them came to the Great Shrine with the same goal as the warrior. They were also waiting for the teleportation to be ready. They, who were also invited by the Church of the Seven Gods to join the expedition into Anos Abyss, had also joined the war with the berserk dragons. It was obvious that the strength of the young elf had improved tremendously after experiencing a series of tough battles. It seemed that he was almost at the brink of reaching the Gold-tier because of that. And so, Hill was in an extremely good mood. He had been chatting and laughing with Funa who stood beside him. They were discussing the way to tell their stories of their adventure to their comrades when they were back at the Order of the Leviathan Knights in the Eastern Sea.

It was already September as the warm breezes of the autumn blew across the land and the bright sunshine followed. Joshua took his eyes off the surface of the sea where there was no longer any trace of the berserk dragons. Then, he looked at the people behind him.

Their expedition and adventure of venturing into the distant South had come to an end. He had gained a lot and changed a lot. Looking at the smiling faces of Ying and Ling, Eva, and also Suralno who was forcing himself to be happy, the warrior felt that the journey had been meaningful. He had improved in regards to his strength and his mood.

Suddenly, footsteps came from inside the hall.

An old man with white hair walked out of the hall. It was Pope Igor. He smiled and looked at the people gathered at the front door of the great hall.

This time, the Sacred Mountain was able to take care of the raid by the berserk dragons at such a small expense because of the people before him. If it weren’t because the expedition party of the Epoch closing the abyssal rift at Anos Abyss and defeating the humungous legion of the abyssal dragons back at the Blood Moon of the Dark Abyss, the church would have needed to face a battle with the frenzied dragons and also a huge legion of abyssal dragons. If Joshua did not notice that there was something wrong with the divine longsword possessed by the red dragon, the death count of the clergy would have been thousands or even more.

Resting his thoughts on that matter, the old man turned around and looked at the warrior. Perhaps it was time to tell him more about the fourth item of the Sage’s Inheritance. That was what Igor had on mind.

In the end, he did not say a word. The old pope decided only to tell Joshua about that after the Sacred Mountain had completed its reconstruction. It would be better if he could just sit down with the warrior when the two of them were free and speak about it leisurely.

Now was the time for everyone to take a break.

“It seems that you guys are in a hurry to return to your own places. I shall spare you my unnecessary words then.”

After taking a good look at everyone, Igor spoke deeply, “Alright, get ready, everyone. The teleportation is about to begin.”

The teleportation was a matter of early notification. So, it was not necessary to say anything more.

Joshua and the others gestured that they were all ready to go. The Nature’s Magister and Israel had also walked out of the great hall. The two Legendary-tier champions glanced at everyone without saying a word. They were also in a pretty good mood as well.

Blue light shone gently under the surging holy light. Two dimensional passages connected to two different places emerged before their eyes. After bidding farewell, Joshua and Thrall stepped into different dimensional passages and returned to their own homeland.

Taking a step forward and entering the teleportation passage, the dimension instantly shifted irregularly. The warrior suddenly felt something as he closed his eyes and allowed his soul to ‘look’ into the void around him.

His divinity slowly radiated into his surroundings as all sort of messages in the dimensional waves were captured.

In the middle of the void, there were several humongous existences that seemed like the incarnation of many lives. They gathered at a spot as if waiting or perhaps looking out for something. Among those gigantic existences, Joshua could also feel a familiar presence. There was also the God of Might and Justice and the God of Life. However, the thing that shocked the warrior the most was that he could also feel the abyssal presence that belonged to the Pentashade Dragon God.

The Pentashade Dragon God that triggered the Dragon’s Calamity to raid the great continent in the distant south actually did not fight with the few other gods. Instead, they were actually carefully guarding against something out there?

Before he could even relate that with anything else, the teleportation had ended. The warrior opened his eyes to see that he had already arrived at Moldavia. He was standing in front of the main gate of his mansion.

The divine armaments, the black draconic girl, Eva, and the blue dragon behind the warrior had also stepped out of the dimensional passage. Before Ying and Ling could cheer for arriving back at home at last, a flash of magic energy passed in front of everyone. With the surging elemental energy, the Artificial Intelligence lady was projected before Joshua who was surprised.

“You… you’re back.”

She spoke gently.

“It’s been a while.”

Joshua nodded and said, “I’m back.”