Soul of Searing Steel

Panda Novel

The black wind howled across the world.

That was not ordinary air flow that was formed from the air pressure in the atmosphere. Instead, that was a pitch-black wind that came from the other side of the dimensional rift, carrying destruction and chaos with it.

No matter it was the ruins of the city, the pieces of the golems, the mountains or the forests—everything that came into contact with that evil energy was reduced to ashes and dust. The wind blew the ashes and dust all over the place.

The dust blocked the sunlight, causing the world to be dark. The rivers were severed and the sea was frozen.

The power of the Evil God ‘Calamity’ was too powerful. It had already brought along calamity that could potentially cause total destruction.

Father Nature should unleash his power and use the Divine Network to purify these tainted winds. Otherwise, there would be no living beings left on earth even before the arrival of the Evil God. This world would become like the dark world on the other side of the crack. Everything would be corrupted and reduced to ashes and dusts.

However, Father Nature remained silent instead. He looked at Joshua as if He just noticed something out of the ordinary.

To be precise, He staring at the thing that the warrior was holding in his hand.

Without being bothered by the fact that the god was shocked, Joshua lifted the Azurite in his left hand. His red eyes were fixed upon the fist he lifted in the air.

The body of the warrior was tough as steel and was completely surrounded with dark red armor that was forged from his dark red Combat Aura. His left fist was also surrounded by the Combat Aura. The dark red Combat Aura unleashed heat hot enough to melt steel.

However, that dark red aura was slowly being replaced by another color.

It radiated light that appeared like the sky and the sea. It felt so sacred and holy—so purifying.

The radiating light of the Azurite.

The holy glow slipped through the gaps between Joshua’s fingers and slowly into the surrounding. Regardless of whether it was the ravaging dark wind or the Divine Power of Father Nature, none of them was capable of stopping the light from spreading into the world.

Up to this point, the will of Father Nature was only beginning to tremble. The great and grand will of the god spread in all directions like an unstoppable wave, purifying everything until the edge of the world.

“It’s you! My friend, this is your strength—But why, why would you do that?!”

Even in the face of the Evil God, it did not show even the lightest hesitation, nor did it even falter. Even though he was going to sleep forever, Father Nature remained calm as always as it gazed at the radiating light. Then it immediately started asking questions. The branches of the giant tree shook violently. Green, vibrant leaves fell to the ground. Its voice wounded, doubtful and shocked at the same time. “This is a ‘Flame Seed’!”

Earlier on, when it appeared before Joshua, Father Nature could sense and see that the body of the warrior carried strong power of Order. He was just like the thirteen Saints who were the apostles of the Sage himself during the Age of Glory. Because of the age and strength of Joshua, he treated the warrior like the descendant of the Saints. Hence, he called the warrior, the Successor of the Sage.

But now that the true power of the azure orb was revealed, Father Nature was shocked. That was the power that any Saint would be able to possess, that was actually the fundamental power of the Sage himself!

If that power was separated, then now, the Sage must be…

Joshua silently smiled at Roland and Father Nature who were observing him. As he turned back towards the enemy, the warrior was dead serious. He noticed that he was already completely covered in the green radiating light. He could see the flesh and bones inside his left fist. He shut his eyes and suddenly tightened his grip.

Kachak!

A crisp cracking sounded loud and clear from his fist. Father Nature was witnessing everything.

What… what has he done?

Just as the god was puzzled by his action, the green light that had initially spread into the distant was absorbed back to the post where Joshua’s left fist was. In a flicker of light, the holy power was absorbed into the body of the warrior. Instantly, light was seen glowing from his left fist as it continued to spread to the other parts of his body. In the end, the light gathered above his head and formed into the shape of a crown.

There were twelve spiral-like sharp thorns on the crown with an emblem of fire. A gem mounted in the center of that crown. It looked holy and unique.

The surge of power covered the entire body of the warrior just like how it did years ago back in the Karlis World. The armor of Combat Aura that covered the entire body of Joshua cracked like porcelain. Between the cracks, across the surface of the Combat Aura, there were ashes and sparks leaking out with irregular gleaming red lights. The sparks and the ashes drifted into the surroundings.

“—even the power of the ‘Spiral Crown’ has been isolated from it!”

With a single glance, Father Nature was able to recognize the source of this power. The branches of the giant tree shook as strong winds blew. Green light particles drifted towards the ground. The god seemed to be overwhelmed with a complicated emotion. “That… that…”

“That is the power of the ‘King of the Searing Soul’.”

Joshua opened his eyes. His eyes shone so brightly that they appeared to be filled with blazing flames. His pupils seemed to have vanished from his eyes. “Father Nature, the Sage is long gone. Before he left the continent of Mycroft, he left four Legacy items.”

“And one of the four Legacies is the Azurite that I hold in my hand.”

The Dragon-hunting Gunblade hammered down on earth as it traced a line across the sky. Ashes and sparks were seen flying off from the blade of the Dragon-hunting Gunblade as it radiated with fire that seemed to be bright and then dimmed at times. The voice of the warrior sounded extremely calm and emotionless. “Its ability… perhaps you know better than me.”

Father Nature did not respond to the warrior. Despite already having a rough answer, it was still quite taken aback by the warrior’s answer. However, the god remained in silence as it looked at the shadow of the warrior without responding.

Joshua lifted his head and looked towards the dimensional rift in the sky.

Underneath his skin, red radiating lights flowed out into his surroundings. His heart pounded hard. However, the blood that was flowing in his veins had undergone some changes and had transformed into a liquid form of flame.

Golems had no soul, but their bodies contained the presence of Chaos. The Azurite that was currently on the body of the warrior, combusted the loathing presence of Chaos as its fuel to maintain the form of the ‘King of the Searing Soul’.

In that divine form, the entire world appeared completely different in the eyes of the warrior.

Everything seemed to be dimmer. Be it the mountains or the clouds, the forests or the cities, everything in the world seemed to be fading away, vanishing. The only thing that remained was [Existence].

The Initial Flame burned on Chaos as it brought light into the lifeless dark void. The light shone on everything, differentiating ‘Existence’ and ‘Void’, making the world reveal its true form. Everything relied on the power of the fire to live. They lived and died under the light of fire. There were boundless multiverses with many things in the universe. However, everything was the power of an ‘existence’.

Meanwhile, in the [Existence] called the Illgner world, dark and dead presence spread.

That was the power of the Evil God.

The Chaos in the void combusted fire as its fuel to generate the power of ‘existence’. However, a part of it was still able to make contact with the light where they acquired their physical form and turned into the first Evil God. Although they were also some sort of existence, they remained as the embodiments of destruction.

Even though the Evil God ‘Calamity’ was not the first batch of Evils Gods that returned to the purest form of void, its true form did not differ much from the origin of the Evil Gods. It still resembled Chaos that represented void, death and unpredictable future.

“Lend me your strength, Father Nature.”

Looking at the dark galaxy at the other side of the crack and the dark twisted Evil God in the void, Joshua spoke in a calm tone with a hint of excitement as he looked forward to the battle, “As you can see, this is the power of the ‘King of the Searing Soul’. Initially, my realm was far from reaching its standard. However, the will of the Karlis World has aided me in obtaining this form of power.”

—The King of the Searing Soul was the guardian of the world. The warrior had yet to attain enough power to fully unleash that form of power. It would not make a difference no matter how many daemons he slaughtered. This matter had been proven to be true back in the Karlis World.

However, the circumstance would change if a god could provide aid to him.

“You said that trees are not combat efficient.”

Father Nature remained silent as he thought through some things. Joshua started speaking again, his voice a little muffled underneath the helmet but carried a sense of joy as he said, “But I am built to battle.”

“I swear by my soul and the blade of my spear. I, Joshua van Radcliffe, will never bring shame to your strength!”

“… Interesting.”

The giant tree remained silent for a moment. Then He burst into laughter as He spoke, “This is truly unpredicted.”

The laughter sounded deep and echoed into the surroundings. Father Nature then said, “I have never thought that, a thousand years after I fled from my homeland and from that battlefield, I will eventually fight side by side with the King of the Searing Soul, the origin of the power of Order!”

He looked at Joshua remorsefully. Father Nature seemed to be looking at the white shadows that were standing in the void a thousand years ago through Joshua.

—Is this right?

—My friend, even though you have left this world, your heart was fixed on saving lives. Does a deserter like me deserve saving?

—If it is fated so, then I shall choose to believe!

Believe your Legacy, believe this human being before me.

“So, Joshua.”

For the first time Father Nature called the name of the warrior with such a formal and serious tone. The branches of Father Nature began to shake. Its will revealed its true form as a god, with a building pressure.

The pressure began to overwhelm the entire world. The mountains that were near to Father Nature were crumbled instantly by the Divine Power and later remoulded by the power of Order. Green lightning flashed across the sky and struck a single spot, forming a mass of blinding light above Joshua’s head.

In the middle of that mass of light was the beginning of everything. Beasts ran across the plains. New shoots grew into huge trees as the trees slowly formed a vibrant forest. Thousands of species inhabited that forest as they lived and died. The life cycle was completed and repeated, over and over again.

That was the true nature of the Divine Power, the power of ‘existence’. Everything lived for that, and everything were destroyed for that too, just like everything had to live and die, and new lives would replace the dead and restart the cycle again.

“Embrace my power.”

The leaves withered and the branches petrified. The exhausted Father Nature had spoken His mind. The mass of light fell onto the warrior and embedded itself deep into the body of the warrior. A power flowed into the body of Joshua like a tidal wave and enhanced the body of the warrior.

The Divine Power slowly crushed every part of the warrior’s body, especially the weakest parts and completely remoulded his entire body. The excruciating pain was far beyond anyone’s imagination. Even Joshua had to grit his teeth, his veins strained against the skin on his forehead as he endured the pain. Cold sweat that should be dripping down was dried by the boiling of the Divine Power. His heart pounded loudly. The great power flowed through the veins underneath his skin, causing him to roar. The symbol of a crown on his forehead emitted light until it was brighter than the light of the Divine Power.

With Roland by the side, the Divine Power that was initially moved like waves around the body of Joshua, left the space wrinkled and distorted. But as a blue light flashed across the place, a powerful energy wave resonated into the distance. That energy wave moved beyond this world.

That energy wave even resonated with holy power that was embedded within the body of the holy knight.

*****

Back at the Mycroft Continent.

—Imperial City, the mansion of the Chaos Family.

The blond swordsman quietly trained as hard as he could. His mind was troubled by some thoughts. He lowered his head as he looked at his Dual Blades of Order that gleamed with blinding light. Instantly, his mind thought of the shadow of a black-haired warrior.

So what is he up to this time? Did he get himself into another big mess this time?

As his mind was set upon that, the swordsman sighed. However, letting this thoughts run wild would not help the situation. He slowly calmed himself as he once again focused on improving his strength.

*****

—Distance south, the peak of the Sacred Mountain.

The white-haired pope performed his daily prayers in front of the seven sacred emblems in the deepest part of the great church. Suddenly, he opened his eyes and looked to his side. His sharp eyes seemed to see through the barriers of the world and right into the other side of the void.

“… An ancient god… has awakened?”

*****

Back on the Illgner Continent.

The radiating light of the Divine Power slowly faded away and was replaced by ripples that looked as dark as ink and as red as blood.

A shape of a man emerged, standing in the void. The power that was so dense that it was compressed into a substance that slowly turned into a wretched-looking armor as tough as steel, covering the body of that man.

Joshua’s body was completely surrounded by a layer of blazing Combat Aura—or maybe that was the Divine Power. The eyes beneath the helmet emitted bloody red light. Ashes and sparkles surrounded his body, defying gravity.

Even though his face remained unseen, it could be felt that the warrior was currently smiling.

The power of the gods fused into the Azurite. The power of the King of the Searing Soul enhanced. Because of that, Joshua’s soul was also combusting and expanding as well. At the end of it, his soul seemed to have detached itself and made contact with some sort of will that was rooted deep in the universe of everything.

There were boundless worlds in the entire universe. With every passing second, new worlds were born in the light of the first fire while some old worlds were engulfed by the Evil Gods and the Chaos.

But there was one thing that everything including civilizations, worlds, races and any living beings would do. That was the core of everything—fighting.

There would not be any beginning if there was no end. That was a thing that one does at the moment one is born. It is not merely fighting against each other, slaughtering each other. Instead, it carries a much more significant meaning—men were fighting with each other to obtain better days. They fight with the rivals of their love interests as they compete to win the hearts of their love ones. Even every breath and every action is a battle.

Obeying everything means to fall into an eternal sleep.

Hence, people fight. That was the proof of life. That was the symbol of ‘existence’.

The violent and unique Divine Power spread into the entire world with the will of the warrior. Be it the holy knight or the surviving elves, or the souls of the divine armaments that were in the weapons, all of them could feel a wave of scorching air spreading and expanding in the world.

Because of that wave, the world’s heaven and the place where gods lived, a great existence had also looked at the void.

It seemed that the God of Might and Justice was also fixated on the Illgner Continent and he seemed as if he was recalling the memory of the ancient past. That memory silenced the god as he could not remember when it transcended into a god and when the god of men rose up from the world of men. It remained silent in the void for a very long time. Then, he attempted his first sentence with a soft and familiar voice, “With the Initial Flame as the vow, the sanction upon the flame of Chaos must be carried out—”

Lifting his Dragon-hunting Gunblade, Joshua pointed the tip of the gunblade towards Chaos that was lingering in the darkness in the crack in the sky. He laughed out loud as he said, “With the Primordial Steel as the agreement, sanction upon all evil steels!”

In the sky, the Evil God ‘Calamity’ took a step into this world through the dimensional rift.

Right by the edge of the dimensional crack, the dimension was shattering under the influence of the distorting Chaos. The world shattered and fragments of it scattered fell from the sky like it was raining glass. As the Evil God came into this world with its body that could distort the dark galaxy, under the influence of some sort of power, it gradually turned into a gigantic meteor.

That was the ultimate calamity that brought destruction to many worlds, causing those worlds to perish, never to be reborn.

[Great Stars of Ten Calamities]!

The warrior lifted his head and stared at the fire that could end the worlds.

“Natural calamities will not stop me…

“Even the Evil God will not stop me!”

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