Soul of Searing Steel

Panda Novel

When both eyes made contact, Joshua lost focus for a split second. The white pupil was like a kaleidoscope, causing the opposing person to be unable to shift their focus. Although Joshua immediately recovered, it was no doubt that the warrior had made a grave mistake.

During the time he had gathered his focus and shifted it away from the white pupil, the white ‘light’ carried forward a momentum that could submerge everything in its path, forcing it onto Joshua.

That was the light of a fire, a power that gave all living being the power to live. It was also a white wave that could not be withstood by humans just by looking at it. Even Joshua could not look at it directly. Joshua subconsciously raised his arms to block the incoming attack and tried to squint his eyes, attempting to filter as much of the radiance as possible. At this moment, the only thing that the warrior felt was ‘too powerful’.

It was an unbelievable power.

The power did not directly blast onto Joshua’s body. When the light wave rushed towards him, it was like an ocean trying to cover the existence of the warrior. At the same time, a strong pressure descended upon the warrior’s body.

This was only the beginning.

As a Legendary warrior, a person who once battled against the Demon Lord of the Abyss and the Necromancer Monarch. These were once the greatest opponents he fought before. He had far more experience compared to 99.99% of the people in this world. He believed that even if the Aragami God were to descend right now, it would not give him such feeling of complete hopelessness.

However, this light formed by the power of Order had achieved that.

Just what kind of power could cause a person who had reached the pinnacle of power, close to the realm of gods to feel so powerless?

Joshua does not know, but he did not give up. The blood in his body was trying its best to be circulated. His bones were colliding with each other. Even if his body’s capability had reached its limit, ready to give up at any moment, the willpower and the thirst of combat remained firm deep within the blood and bones of the warrior.

Gritting his teeth as if it would shatter at any moment, Joshua withstood the pressure with all his might. His red eyes reflected a strong light far greater than a star. Joshua held his head high. His throat released a roar of fury. He looked directly at the light. No matter how much pain he felt, he would not admit defeat.

Under his own willpower to withstand the pressure, good things finally happened. After a while, Joshua was getting accustomed to the bright white light rushing into his eyes. He could vaguely see a shadow of a person behind the bright light.

It was like a sketch, a person formed only with black lines and white background.

It was like a body formed by light from the power of order under the burning white flames. A body with white gown, a human with both white hair and eyes were looking at their frontal direction. ‘He’ was standing in the sea of light, with his sight looking passed Joshua, directly facing towards distant Dark Abyss.

Feeling the gaze of this ‘man’, something happened on the other end of the abyss. Numerous hands with dense black blood, filled with poisonous and corrosive fluid, were reaching out from the abyss. All of them wrapped together, forming a wall filled with dead meat and poisonous spores, trying to withstand the invasion of the light.

However, it was futile.

Without any words or action, the white ‘man’ merely gazed towards that direction. The darkness, core of the dark abyss, hidden within Joshua’s spirit which was not able to be expelled by the Azurite was starting to crumble.

Accompanied with a dying wail, the darkish-green wave was broken down into smaller pieces and purified. At the dark sacrificial hall located on a far island, the dark stone altar and all the runes were instantly destroyed. Numerous light beams were released from the cracks of these objects and gradually turned them into dust. The strong power of Order followed the path of cause and effect, radiating directly towards its destination. Two silhouettes that were waiting for the curse to set in were completely submerged into the light.

Under the devastation of pain and agony, the two dragons with goat-like horns had distorted faces. They looked similar to the creatures of the abyss. Under the radiation from the power of Order, the disgusting faces, which would cause nightmares further distorted into lumps of flesh. The power which was completely opposite to their nature invaded their body, destroying the balance of physics and energy from within. Even if both of them were to live on, they would be completely useless in the future.

The sacrificial hall in the far island was completely destroyed. No matter the array of fresh blood or other stone altars, they were completely destroyed and lost all their effects. The white light shot through the cracks of the island, piercing through the sea, the skies, and the heavens.

Within Joshua’s spirit, the corrosive darkness was completely expelled. The white light covered everything, in all directions. The light slowly dwindled and the warrior was able to see the white ‘person’ more clearly.

It was a shrine made of large white stones. This shrine was situated within the center of a big city without an end. The white ‘man’ was standing in the center of the shrine. There was light radiating from his body, illuminating the whole shrine. The cold rocks were like layers of diamonds reflecting the light, giving an awe-inspiring view of the shrine.

There was a colorless flame burning on the altar right beside of the ‘man’. Without an expression, Joshua looked at the appearance of this ‘man’. All he could see was a pair of eyes which had perfectly merged with the lights of a flame. A long gown which was not moving by any blowing wind. On top of it, there were some simple yet holy lines of light.

As if feeling the gaze of the warrior, the facial expression of this unknown being felt a little shocked. ‘He’ looked towards Joshua and it made his heart skip a beat. However, Joshua noticed that the other ‘person’ was not looking at him, or rather ‘he’ was looking at the item on his chest.

It was the direction where the Azurite was located.

Nodding ‘his’ head without any further action, the pure white humanoid and the great shrine vanishes without a trace in front of Joshua.

After a long silence, Joshua snapped back to reality.

“That was…”

Before he could speak, he looked at the Azurite on his hand now which was being activated. The pure green light radiated in front of the warrior and a different world was slowly introduced to Joshua.

Roads made of rock blocks. The sound of wheels rolling could be heard. A tired old horse was pulling a cart and it was slowly passing through the gate of the city filled with vines. It passed by the moat and entered the uneven small road.

Soon, the city was completely left behind. The following scenery was the vast green land and hills. There was forest within a visible range. The water within the spinning watermill reflected sparkling light from the water, which was as clear as a crystal.

The summer wind blew, filling up the hills with dandelions. Numerous purplish white seeds dispersed with the wind. The carriage passed through a small path which was surrounded by trees from both sides, proceeding towards the wooden suspension bridge. The dances of the leaves within the fir forest released sound like the waves within the sea. It was like the world was singing an unnamed song in harmony.

The carriage headed towards a faraway small village.

A man with a huge scar located on his right eye was eyeing the carriage. He was covered with a huge armor, concealing all the scars he had throughout his body. He was carrying a huge sword on his back. The size of the sword was comparable to the size of a normal human. The blade of the sword was tainted with traces of blood which was unable to wash away.

Joshua stood at the side of the road like a sturdy fort. He was like an observer. Using his gray eyes, he monitored everything within his vision.

At that moment, the warrior was not having his usual appearance which was black hair and red eyes. His current image was of the legendary warrior that was mentioned in numerous legends that slew countless devils and monsters. The gaps between his armor contained a black substance which released a terrifying smell of blood which was unbearable to others. Each and every permanent damage on his armor were like the Medal of Honor he gained throughout the journey of battle.

The carriage slowly passed by and reached the village located within the hills. Under Joshua’s observation, the vision in front of him slowly fades, turning to a very simple picture, which eventually disappeared.

At this moment, a boy with white hair and eyes slowly moved towards him from afar.

He had the perfect appearance. His eyes were like the dazzling galaxy. Each and every key element gathered within him were the best of the best. Any level of perfection imaginable could be applied to this young man. When he started to walk, grass sprung from the earth and the air was purified. The shy dandelions which basked under the strong sunlight were no longer hiding and stood up strong.

A young man which one could not degrade or belittle. Even Joshua himself was completely stunned by the characteristics of this man in front of him.

However, the complete perfection and holiness did not make him common. No realism could be felt from the body of this young man, as if he was not an existence that belonged to this world.

A summer wind blew past his body. The dandelions flew up, forming lines of different depths. The cloud slowly moved. As the sunlight hit the clouds, shadows were cast on the vast land.

The white-haired boy slowly walked from the road within the field. Joshua noticed that the boy was slowly approaching his side.

Joshua could not help but feel a rare feeling of tension.

The distance between both of them was getting decreasing.

One of them was the man who had faced numerous trials and battle, a person that had walked through blood and fire, achieving the state of a legendary warrior.

The other one was a perfect being, a young boy different from common mortals.

Soon, Joshua noticed that this young man was like a passerby in life, walking past him. He had not taken any action against him.

Joshua himself was like an illusion, a visitor to this world. Finally, Joshua noticed and understood this factor.

As he turned his head, the warrior wanted to observe the direction where the young man went. However, the world of illusion was slowly crumbling, shattering into pieces.

Joshua opened his eyes.

At that moment, he had utilized the power of order within the Azurite and engaged with the Chaos energy that came out of nowhere. Everything happened in an instant. He calmed down by taking deep breaths and felt the familiar presence within Ural Fortress. The warrior could finally confirm that he had returned to this world, the world where the humans lived.

The sound of people from the surroundings could be heard by Joshua. As he slowly regained his focus, Joshua took a deep breath to fill his brain with oxygen. He felt the presence of at least three Gold-tier warriors heading his way. Even Ying and Ling were rushing towards him.

Of course, he took his time recalling the scenery that he saw in the illusionary world.

In the end, he could only mumble to himself helplessly.

“Who… is he?”

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