Soul of Searing Steel

After returning from the world of Illgner, Joshua noticed that his combat aura and his power had changed quite a bit.

Prior to that, the warrior was much more superior than the other beings of the same tier in regards to his skills and his unmovable determination. He could always hit his enemies' most vulnerable spot. He no longer bothered himself with the pain and the damages inflicted on him. He was throwing blows after blows at his enemies. The Azurite's abilities made him fearless against the vehicles and the injuries he would get. As long as his will was firm and strong enough, he could battle on forever.

However, Joshua noticed that his body and his combat aura were expanding like an inflating balloon—if the warrior's level of combat aura was a ten before, it is now a hundred.

Perhaps that was the powerful thing about possessing the Strength Mastery. Having no limits to his gift and his physical body and also the Azurite to support him by charging up his vitality from time to time, the warrior had some advantages there. Joshua also knew that it is possible indeed. However, the sudden increase in his power had caused him some trouble.

The warrior could no longer use his full strength. After all, there was no limit to what he could do.

In the Mycroft Continent, before the arrival of the Great Mana Tide, the Gold-tier was the highest power in the art of battle. Supreme-tier was a strategic weapon. The Legendary-tier could oppress an entire kingdom, or any other massive force. Joshua who is a Supreme-tier was already the top 0.1% of the people in that world. It was truly difficult for him to meet a worthy opponent to test his limit now.

However, the problem was now solved.

The clouds were instantly torn apart by the red meteorite that moved against the flow of the current. From the sea all the way to the sky, Joshua aimed straight at the Crystalline Abyssal Dragon as he flew upward. His fist crossed over 3,000 meters and connected with the enemy. The warrior had been looking forward to doing that since a long time ago, a punch at his full strength.

That heavy punch was thrown right at Mandagar's head. After all, the head was the most vital part of the body.

However, the crystalline dragon did not show any fear. After noticing the approaching warrior, it changed its mind on being defensive and evasive as it could no longer cast spells like it did before. It lifted its dragon claws and slammed them onto Joshua. That strike was as heavy as the impact of a meteor crash. The shockwave of the impact tore through the atmosphere like a raging storm.

Ever since it sided with the Evil God of Famine and crystallized its own body, Mandagar no longer felt any fear whenever it was in a melee battle. Every part of its body was made up of living crystals that could freely disperse and combine themselves. Furthermore, its body was tough, making Mandagar fearless against any physical damage. With the magic energy's support, Mandagar could even enhance itself with its enormous strength in a single strike. It had never possessed as much power as back when it was still an ordinary giant dragon.

It also wanted to test it out.

A small and a huge shadow crashed into each other, followed by a loud explosion. A rumbling sound followed.

Phantomlike shadows crossed the sky and occasionally crashed into each other. Each time they did, explosive rumbles sounded. Mandagar and Joshua were engaged in a battle and were moving around rapidly in the sky trying to take each other down. Traces of black-red and black trails intertwined in the sky. Explosions were heard from time to time. Shockwaves of the impacts between the two powerful beings echoed after each explosion.

Occasionally, the two of them would pause and look at each other for a moment. It was obvious that the crystalline dragon's body was covered by deep wounds and traces of gigantic fist markings. Its head and its heart were also covered in huge finger-like dents. The warrior was also covered in his own blood as his abdomen was also cut open, revealing his internal organs that throbbed to the beat of his heart.

However, in that brief moment, the wounds and injuries on their bodies were healing at an astonishing rate as they took in deep breaths. Soon, they started to fight again, causing explosions, shockwaves, and outbursts of heat and flashes of lights in the sky.

The iron fist of the warrior and the draconic wings of the giant dragons caused powerful sonic booms and stirring the vast blood sea. Hot air flow mixed with the dust and the impacts as the viscous sea of blood rippled. Tall waves spread from under them as they continued to battle.

However, at the end of the fierce hand-to-hand combat, Joshua was on top of his enemy.

"Hahaha!"

The black-haired warrior slid himself down the giant dragon's back. Then he laughed out loud like a madman and lifted his arms to block the fierce Mandagar's sweeping tail. The crystal tail was like a gigantic centipede spinning as it tore through everything. However, Joshua easily grabbed onto it. The abyssal dragon's tail crumbled.

The warrior's movement was astoundingly flexible and agile. His body was so much smaller than the abyssal dragon. The warrior maintained the upper hand in the battle as the crystalline dragon could only passively defend the warrior's attacks. It was beginning to be overpowered by the warrior. Joshua made his way straight to the bottom of the abyssal dragon as he managed to grab the small opportunity that Mandagar gave in a split moment.

Reaching his hand out without even the slightest hesitation, the warrior locked his grip onto the dragon's claw and roared loudly as swung his arm.

The crystal Mandagar was about sixty meters tall, not including its tail. Even though it had already shrunken after being attacked by its enemies earlier, it was still at least fifty meters tall. Its leg was like a tall and sturdy wall. Even if a person could grab onto it, that person would never be able to move it. It was not possible for a needle to lift a piece of bean curd.

However, the warrior's hands that were charged with the combat aura were like gigantic iron tongs that clipped tightly onto the abyssal dragon's leg. Joshua relied on the waving force as he tossed the humungous abyssal dragon in midair like a toy before throwing it into the sea.

The viscous red sea water was like a metal board when falling from a height. Both wings of the abyssal dragon were shattered into pieces of crystal shards upon impact. The dragon was shocked and stunned.

However, the attack did not end there. Joshua burst with power and slammed the abyssal dragon onto the surface of the sea again.

Boom!!!

The powerful impact formed a liquid crater. Mandagar's eyes bulged. It was obvious that it was heavily injured. The warrior grabbed onto the abyssal dragon's ankle and tossed the dragon to the sea as far as he could with all his might.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

The crystal dragon's huge body was like a piece of stone leaving a child's hand, skipping across the surface of the red sea. The moment its body touched the surface of the water, an explosion burst as the body bounced off the surface of the water before coming down to the sea again. Its body skipped a few times on the surface of the sea.

After recovering its senses from the continuous blows, Mandagar opened its jaws, ready to roar. It had never been treated like that before in its entire life. Rage built up in the abyssal dragon. However, its heart suddenly stopped. Then it immediately scattered into pieces of crystal shards.

The warrior had charged rapidly across the air as tapped with his feet to accelerate even more. His footsteps had caused a huge concave passage a few hundred meters wide and a few meters deep to form behind him. As he tried to kick the dragon with his full strength, his kick landed on nothing instead.

Mandagar reassembled its body in midair and had decided to not engage the warrior in a hand-to-hand combat. That was one of the stupidest things one could ever do. It immediately flapped its wings and flew into the sky faster than the warrior. At the same time, it launched Magic Ray attacks at the warrior from a higher ground.

Mandagar managed to catch Joshua off guard—although the warrior knew how to fly, he was definitely not able to outfly a flying dragon in the sky. If the enemy decided to play tag with the warrior, he would not be able to attack the dragon.

At the same time, Mandgar also managed to split a small part of its spirit to control the ritual so that the ritual would be completed—instantly, another enormous floating island emerged and began to land on the blood moon. Soon, it submerged itself into the blood sea and turned itself into another Chaos rune.

Joshua noticed that. He immediately stopped pursuing the abyssal dragon and turned around, ready to attack the Chaos rune. However, Mandagar blocked the warrior again. Even if it had to suffer the warrior's attack, the dragon was determined to slow down the warrior from interrupting the ritual.

As the two of them were engaged in a fierce fight again, the fifteenth Chaos rune broke the surface of the blood sea and flew into the sky to join the rest. Mandagar felt that it was one step closer to attaining the Legendary-tier. The abyssal dragon's spirit could also vaguely feel that the there was a great power of the plane of the shattered blood moon coming upon its body, causing its power to increase to another level.

Seeing through the warrior's charging attack for the first time, Mandagar blocked his attack. A purplish black plasmatic Dragon's Breath burst out as the warrior was pushed back a little. The abyssal dragon flapped both its wings and savored the rapid increase of power surging within its body.

"Joshua, did you know that the blood moon beneath us has no core? It's just a liquid planet purely made up of spiritual blood."

Looking at the warrior before it, Mandagar spoke in a deep voice, "The life of this plane intended to merge everything into one by relying on Magic. It wants to create an ultimate life form that surpasses life itself—the blood moon is its embryo."

The warrior did not respond. He did not hear a single word spoken by the dragon. Joshua furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at his enemy, determining the weak and vital points on its body—he had found out that the abyssal dragon's strength increased with the progress of the ritual. It would become stronger as the ritual is nearing its completion. A moment ago, the warrior could still beat the dragon by a little. However, now, the abyssal dragon had become much stronger than before. It had become so strong that it was a little stronger than the warrior.

—The situation is not looking good.

Mandagar was not done talking though. The old dragon had lived over a few centuries. It let out exhaled loudly. Its crystal throat and the lungs were enchanted organs that were used to charge its 'Dragon's Breath'. It continued in a deep voice, "Those hubris beings had failed. And the world was destroyed because of that. Even though the world had fallen into the Dark Abyss, no demon had emerged. However, they have succeeded. The blood moon has gathered the life forces of everything. And now, it is being used by me."

"Just like now."

In the distance, underneath the blood moon, among the fragments of the continent, a brown rock mountain rose into the air approaching the blood moon at a rapid pace. It landed on the surface of the blood sea, hurling up blood waves. After being modified by the ritual carried out by the abyssal dragon, the island turned into another gigantic Chaos rune and floated back into the air again.

It was obvious that controlling the ritual drained a small part of Mandagar's spiritual energy though. Joshua seized the opportunity to charge at the Chaos rune. However, the abyssal dragon was persistent as it blocked the warrior before he could reach it. It did not fear death. So it used its body as a shield to stop Joshua from attacking the Rune.

During that process, the abyssal dragon's body shrank a lot. In every passing moment, there was a large number of shattered crystals being reduced to dust. Because of that, Mandagar could no longer use all those powdered crystals to reform its body. However, the abyssal dragon did not seem to care at all. It laughed out loud as it endured the attacks of the warrior.

"This is futile. You can't stop me all by yourself."

As the battle continued, the abyssal dragon continued, "I can't do anything to you now. However, in just a little while, you shall be dead underneath my claws. You shall taste defeat!"

The sixteenth Chaos rune was slowly rising into the sky. It was beginning to turn blurry. During that moment, the warrior increased his attack on the dragon.

"This is pointless. Although I cannot defeat you, I will still be capable of keeping you occupied."

Mandagar thought that the warrior was beginning to feel anxious as the Chaos runes were projected to the other world one after another. So it spoke with a deep, joyous voice, "You are powerful, but…"

"You are talkative."

Leaping into the sky, the warrior struck his fist into the abyssal dragon's face and shattered half of its jaws and all its teeth. Then the warrior smiled coldly and said, "Who said that I am alone?'

Before Mandagar could even comprehend what the warrior said, a thick blazing holy light launched from the blood sea. The beam of holy light struck at the Chaos rune. With the holy light came two more Dragon's Breaths that was weaker than before, one was a thunder type while the other was a flame type.

The holy light that connected the heaven and earth and the two Dragon's Breaths only lasted for a few seconds. However, within that few seconds, those attacks had struck the Chaos rune and completely reduced it to dust. A deafening sound exploded.

In the distance, on the deck of the Epoch, Robzek was pale and standing on the forefront of the bow. Flickering holy light wheels rotated behind his body. Funa and Black, who were in their human forms, stood right behind the Holy knight. There was also a giant seal with a spherical body behind the three of them. It leaned against the three of them like a giant cushion to take a rest. They seemed completely exhausted.

The Steel Element Eva looked into the sky and released a buzzing sound.

That was the Steel Element that was neglected. Because of that, it was able to turn the situation around—it was not an ordinary living being, nor was it some sort of parasitic living being. It did not faint from the intense trembling and bumping. Nolan's betrayal had knocked most of them out cold, Eva had been cautiously bringing everyone onboard. It also woke the young elf, Hill, after deciding that it was the most suitable thing to do.

Even though Hill was weak, he was an experienced traveler. As an Oceanic Druid, the magic patterns on the body of the young elf had a certain power to suppress any poison or parasitic creatures from taking over its body. After he regained consciousness, Hill immediately transformed himself into a gigantic seal that was five meters tall.

Magic and divine spells such as 'Transformation' required the changing of physique and soul. It looked easy, but, it was actually a very difficult spell to cast. After transforming into his beast form, Hill was no longer affected by the parasitic creature in his body. After completely regaining his consciousness, he woke his personal animal companion, Funa. He used his nature divine spell to suppress the parasitic creature in her body first. Then, he woke Black. Then, he had the two dragons transformed into their human forms.

Soon, the female Oceanic Dragon and the black draconic girl were no longer affected by the parasitic creatures inside them.

However, the three of them were not powerful enough to affect the outcome of the battle happening high up in the sky. The impacts caused by Joshua and Mandagar were so powerful that even the Epoch in the distance was shaking violently. After a brief discussion, the three of them decided to wake Robzek, the most powerful man among them on the deck.

The druid's nature divine spell worked best on himself and other animal companions. However, it was barely effective when used on human beings—especially a powerful human holy knight with a completely different religion. However, Hill and the others decided to wake him up first because the silver-haired holy knight had a strong will and was extremely powerful. After he awakened, he saw that the warrior was battling the abyssal dragon. He felt surprised after finding out that Joshua was not affected by the parasitic creature. He also his blood boil.

—How could he let his comrade protect them, battle against their enemy alone out there?

He endured the excruciating pain in his head and stood up on his feet. The holy knight saw it as a matter of life and death. So, he began charging the holy light within his body and aimed at the gigantic Chaos rune to launch the most powerful attack he could muster.

High up in the sky, while Mandagar was caught off guard by the sudden attack of the Chaos rune. Joshua also delivered a solid kick on its neck. The neck broke with a loud crack, the crystalline dragon's draconic neck was kicked into a forty-five-degree angle.

Without saying more, the warrior stayed silent as he continued with his attacks. His surrounding had turned into a semi-vacuum from the powerful force of every single impact of his fist on the body of the abyssal dragon. Crystal shards fell from the body of the abyssal dragon and were soon reduced to dust.

"Roar!!!"

Mandagar roared and instantly burst with power. Suddenly, its entire body was covered in a layer of white plasma light barrier. The intense high heat forced Joshua to stop attacking. Soon, the gray light in its eyes seemed to condense as if it was determined to do what it took to win the battle.

It charged higher into the sky with its back towards the warrior, leaving itself vulnerable. Then, it aimed the Epoch and launched a powerful, black Dragon's Breath.

That was a good call—Joshua was not able to kill it yet. So Mandagar decided it worthy to wipe out the members of the church on the Epoch. It could still fight the warrior after it was done wiping out all possible variables that could lead to its demise, no matter how insignificant the variables were. By then, it could slowly create the remaining Chaos runes one by one in order to enhance its power. When it becomes powerful enough, the abyssal dragon would break the balance of the battle and suppress Joshua.

Even if the warrior could block that powerful strike, Mandagar could still use the Epoch to its advantage to restraint Joshua.

A train of thoughts came to the holy knight's mind. Robzek could already see the Dragon's Breath charged with immense negative energy flying towards the wrecked ark. Although he was still affected by the parasitic creature in his body, he was also a Supreme-tier Champion like Joshua. The holy knight took out a short scepter, a shapeless and colorless flame.

'Flame of Holy Splendor'

A flame originated from the Sage's Inheritance The 'Bright Scepter', which currently in the possession of the pope. It was one of the power originated tome the Initial Flame, being one of the root sources that represented all light across the world.

That Holy Artifact was originally prepared to handle much more powerful demons. The abyssal dragon would stand no chance when it is attacked by the scepter's light. Meanwhile, the expedition party had yet to encounter any demon. However, they were facing the attack of Dragon's Breath charged with negative energy.

The holy knight chanted a prayer.

"—Praise the eternal sun—"

Soft and warm light glowed around the scepter.

High up in the sky, Mandagar was interrupted by a raging roar before it could see how much damage the Dragon's Breath had done to the ark.

"Mandagar!"

The warrior suddenly charged at the abyssal dragon. Everything around him trembled. Instantly, the clouds and the mists above that blood sea were pushed away by an invisible force.

Joshua was instantly enraged by the crystalline dragon. The warrior was overwhelmed with rage. That was the first time he was so angry since he set foot into this world—none of the rage he felt before could compare to this.

The warrior's crystal clear eyes were tainted by a red light that indicated misfortune. His white eyes were instantly devoured, leaving only the red pupils that were shrinking. After that, even the red pupils vanished from his eyes. Right above the warrior's bones, layers of mysterious runes began to flash. The presence of holiness gushed out as the power originated from divinity began to charge the warrior.

"You anger me!"

There were only red, the color of blood, in the warrior's eyes.

In the darkness of the void on the blood moon, a red gigantic star shone.

The bloody light of misfortune began to blink like a call to war. Slaughter and destruction had descended to the world.