Soul of Burning Steel

——It's really depressing.

When Loranda was ushered in by the maid and sat in the reception hall of the lord's mansion waiting for Joshua to arrive, he looked at the surrounding decorations and couldn't help but think so.

The decoration design of the Radcliffe family is too gloomy, just like those vampire castles in knight novels.

In front of him was a neat and orderly hall full of northern style. Whether it was potted plants, tables and chairs, hanging paintings or accessories, they were all placed in an orderly manner, making it speechless, but the dark floor matched the gray The walls, together with the slightly dim pyroxene lamps, always give people an instinctive sense of depression.

But even so, the paladin had to admit that these decorations were indeed very particular. Although the style was somewhat depressed, the details were gorgeous, and they were absolutely worthy of the history and status of the Radcliffe family.

However, the design style is too far from that of the holy mountain, which makes him a little uncomfortable every time he comes. Sighing slightly, Lolanda turned her head to look to the other side.

Hanging on the most conspicuous wall of the hall is a map of the world of Mycroft, and next to it are several smaller maps of the empire, the map of the Northland and the map of the territory of Moldavia. This map seems to be the most recent It was newly replaced, and many places on it were specially marked with red dots and black crosses. The paladin took a look and found that the red dots were all concentrated in the far south, which is the center of the current dragon disaster, while the black crosses were more scattered. , There are all over the world, and I can't see anything for the time being.

——Does the red dot represent dragon disaster, and the black cross represent cultists?

Since he saw many places marked with black crosses on the map of the Moldavian territory, and he himself had gone out of the city to raid several times, he recognized that the places marked on it happened to be a few villages where cultists had appeared, so Loranda couldn't help but have such a guess.

And just as he was looking carefully at the densely packed marks on the map, a clear and rhythmic footsteps came from a distance.

Not long after, the door to the reception room was opened.

"My friend, it's so late, what are you looking for me for?"

"Joshua."

Hearing this familiar and direct voice, Lolanda stood up, looked back at his friend, shrugged his shoulders and said, "There is something wrong."

"let me guess."

He casually hung the overcoat he was wearing on the hanger beside him, and the soldier moved his wrist. He glanced at the paladin, who was considered to be fully armed and even wearing white armor, and said in a relaxed tone: "Are you going back to the holy mountain?" .”

The paladin was stunned for a moment when he was told the purpose, but then he nodded calmly: "That's right, the Holy Mountain needs me, and my comrades are waiting for me - I have captured most of the territory in the past few days. The cultists have all been wiped out, and even if there are some leftovers, it shouldn’t cause any harm, so it’s almost time to go back.”

"I really want to thank you for this, it really helped me a lot."

Reaching out his hand to signal Loranda to sit down again, Joshua approached a heavy wooden cabinet with potted plants on it.

The parlor is usually used by soldiers as a place to rest in the afternoon, so some drinks are always on hand. At this time, Joshua picked up a bottle of wine in a black bottle from the wooden cabinet with a fresh-keeping circle painted on it. The unique logo of a winery.

Lifting it up, he silently asked the paladin if he wanted some, and after getting a negative answer, Joshua took a bottle of wine by himself, and found a seat to sit down.

"I wanted to buy you some wine, but it seems that the precepts of the paladins are indeed very strict."

With a flick of his finger, the cork of this bottle of wine popped out. Joshua didn't drink in a hurry. He turned his head, looked at the big map on the side, and said to himself: "The Holy Mountain of the Far Sea is located in the Far South Kingdom. Outer seas, if the dragon calamity wants to invade the Far South Kingdom and even the entire continent, it must first pull out the nail of the holy mountain, so the five-color dragon chose to divide its troops into two groups."

"Because of the church's ambush and impenetrable defense, the mad dragon army that attacked the holy mountain failed repeatedly, but as the elite troops that attacked the central defense line of the Far South Kingdom retreated, they would definitely choose to concentrate their forces, turn around and forcefully attack the holy mountain, and uproot themselves. Great threat from the rear."

"Yes."

He echoed, and Lolanda knew that what the soldier was talking about was the recent situation in the Far South. Although it was a bit brief, it was clear enough. He said firmly, "Now the mad dragon is mobilizing the army and preparing to attack the holy mountain in an all-round way, and we As a paladin of the church, I have no responsibility."

"Indeed, it is your responsibility."

Joshua, who knew this history and even experienced it himself, nodded his head. He knew that the five-colored dragon clan who gathered all the elite forces and cooperated with the mighty mad dragon army almost captured the holy mountain in the far sea. It was because the clergymen of the entire continent continued to join the defensive position through teleportation, which blocked the strongest wave of offensive.

And the five-color dragon god was also besieged by the seven gods of the human race after this battle, knocked down the boundless heaven, and was forced to enter the Mycroft Continent in the form of a saint, but the seven gods did not continue to pursue, but let their anger turn into anger. The five-color dragon god spread the dragon disaster to every country in the entire continent.

Back then, many people were puzzled by the choice of the seven gods. Obviously, they only needed to work harder to completely kill the five-headed dragons (five-colored dragon gods) and end the dragon disaster, but they suddenly stopped and even disappeared. It took a while, but now, Joshua can understand that at that time, the seven human gods may be resisting the evil god who bewitched the five-color dragon god and spread the dragon disaster in the void, [plague].

"Anyway, here's a toast to the Warriors."

After finishing speaking, Joshua simply raised the wine bottle in his hand, gestured to the paladin from the air, and then he took a sip of the wine in the bottle.

This bottle of wine from an unknown place is of a good vintage, rich in fragrance, and has a mellow taste after the entrance without any harsh feeling. It is obviously the proud work of a well-known winery. If you are a person who knows how to appreciate it, you will definitely be moved. This is a good bottle of wine, worth savoring carefully, but for soldiers, the only evaluation is 'delicious'.

After finishing the drink, Joshua put the wine bottle aside. He frowned, as if thinking about words, but then shook his head and said: "Think about it carefully, there is nothing to remind, according to your strength, as long as you If you don’t intentionally seek death, there is no way for the dragon disaster to kill you, so I can only wish you the best of luck and achieve your goals.”

"Thank you, but this is not a warrior, I should do it, not to mention I have been away from the battlefield for so long, I should have gone back."

Lolanda's expression seemed indifferent. It seemed that he didn't care about Joshua's title, but he still said seriously to the soldier, "I'm sorry for your inconvenience during this time."

Regarding the paladin's reply, Joshua immediately retorted: "In the face of danger, he is still willing to fulfill his responsibilities. Such a person is called a warrior." At this point, he shook his head: "I should Thank you. If it weren't for the help of you and Artanis, I wouldn't be able to sweep up the cultists in the territory so easily. Look at the couple in the Moldova territory next door. They have worked hard for half a month, and the progress is not yet halfway .”

Having said that, the hall fell into silence, and after a while, Joshua spoke again.

"Loranda, do you know how strong 'Extreme Intention' is?"

"……Of course I know."

Also silent for a while, the paladin carefully considered his words. He frowned and said in a low voice: "Extreme Intention is the existence that has broken through the limit of the concept of human beings and completely entered the extraordinary realm, the existence that has reached this level." , rather than human beings, it is better to say that it is some kind of natural disaster, some kind of phenomenon, their strength is no longer what ordinary people can use common sense to measure."

"Very formulaic answer, but not enough."

Joshua shook his head, and succinctly denied Lolanda's reply: "You don't know how strong Ultimate Intent is."

After finishing speaking, before the angry paladin could refute, he picked up the wine bottle by himself, and after taking a sip, Joshua raised his head, looked at the ceiling, and said to himself: "Now is the time of the great demon tide. Before the advent, the overall strength of the world was not high. The silver realm was a high-ranking officer in the army, the gold realm was the leader of an army, Jiyi could rule a legion or even a province, and the legendary realm could suppress the entire empire. "

"In this era, it is far more difficult than the advancement of strength in later generations, but I still reached the realm of extreme intention."

Having said that, Joshua lowered his head, and he looked directly into Lolanda's eyes. There was no emotion in the red eyes, only a blazing fire: "What does this mean?"

"It means, with my strength, if I go to the Far South."

The soldier's clear and heavy voice echoed throughout the reception room, even causing the potted plants and bottles placed to vibrate violently: "It is enough to defeat an entire dragon army with one man's power."

"If I go to the far south, the kingdom's central defense line will be impregnable because of my joining."

"Because there are more powerhouses like me at the extreme level, the army of the mad dragon will be restrained and will not dare to expand recklessly as before, and those fortresses that cannot breathe due to the dragon disaster will also have a chance to recuperate. Start regrouping for the next shock."

Speaking of this, Joshua shook his head at Lolanda, and said with some regret: "This is the strength of a strong man of extreme intent, enough to change the direction of a battle and the fate of a country."

"Let me ask you, do you know how strong the Extreme Intent is? You said you knew, but in fact, you didn't know."

Speechless, Loranda didn't know how to answer Joshua for a while, but with his psychological quality, he reacted quickly and found out points that could be refuted.

"That's true. If the Far South Kingdom suddenly has an extra strong man of extreme intent, the battle situation can indeed be greatly eased, and it can even turn defense into offense and counterattack the mad dragon."

Calmly affirming Joshua's previous words, Lolanda knew that what the other party said was correct, but there was something untenable. He shook his head vigorously and said, "But, Joshua, you are a member of the Northern Empire. A nobleman, you are the Earl of the Northland, the lord of Moldavia, you are a strong man of extreme will, which is enough to protect your territory, but what does it have to do with the Far South Kingdom?"

Probably Joshua's tone had angered him a little earlier, so the paladin's words became sharper: "Yes, you have absolutely no control over there, and all of this has nothing to do with you."

"You think so, the Far South Kingdom thinks so, the Church of the Seven Gods thinks so, and the mad dragon thinks so too."

Said slowly, Joshua didn't care about Lolanda's tone, he just said his own words: "So they didn't provoke all the forces in the whole continent for the time being, but sent the cultists to lurk and wait until they The successful capture of the Far South will be the time when the rest of the Mycroft Continent will be on fire—and before that, everyone will ignore the fall of the Far South Kingdom, because it has nothing to do with them."

"Lolanda, you are a paladin. You possess the power of the holy light that only extraordinary people possess, but your mind is still restrained, and you have not freed yourself from the meaningless geographical relationship."

Even when it came to this point, Joshua's tone was as calm as at the beginning, there was no emotion in his eyes, and his tone was as flat as a direct statement: "You think, as the lord of the Northland, I should Stay in the north, develop the territory, and prepare to resist the disasters that will come in the future. As for the matter in the far south, it has nothing to do with me, so I should just sit on the sidelines."

"This seems to be an unspoken rule. Because of the differences in region and nationality, everyone sticks to their own one-third of an acre of land. Even if a disaster occurs, they are unwilling to reach out to help the neighbors."

"But why should I care?"

The soldier sneered, and he paused every word, and said to Lolanda in a very clear voice: "The rules are determined by those with power."

"I am a strong man of extreme intent. This strength belongs to me. I can help whoever I want to help. I don't need anyone's permission or any relationship. Moreover, I don't think that the Church of the Seven Gods will refuse my help. "

"But you are an imperial noble, His Majesty the Emperor, the royal family of the Far South Kingdom..."

Unable to refute for a while, Lolanda's thinking was obviously a little confused. He didn't know what to say, so he could only ponder over the loopholes in the warrior's words. .

"Do I care about my status as an imperial nobleman?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Joshua smiled indifferently, he seemed to be indifferent: "Could it be that Your Majesty Israel will kill me because I want to help Yuannan resist the dragon disaster? Kill me, an extremely strong man with advanced legendary potential."

He shook his head, and then said flatly: "Don't be kidding, Lolanda, put aside the rules and regulations, all of this is because I am willing-I have the power, so the rules are set by me."

"Because everyone is hesitant, because they are worried that helping others will hurt themselves, so those who have the ability to take action refuse to do so, and then lead to greater disasters. If this kind of thing really happens, you don't think it's too ridiculous ?"

"The fate of the world is gradually falling into the abyss because of this."

When he said this, waves of power of order appeared in Joshua's body, and a blue circular light appeared on the chest of the soldier.

At this moment, Lolanda seemed to see an illusory shadow superimposed on the figure of the warrior. This shadow had white hair and white eyes, and there was a glory that ordinary people could not look directly at.

And a thick and firm voice came from not far away and entered his ears.

"This world needs heroes."

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