Soul of Searing Steel

Fairyland, the world of Mycroft. Formerly the Observation Encampment of Dimensional Anomalies, presently the Exploration Base of Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds.

7:12 p.m, the 23rd of February, Starfall Year 836.

Hill, an official Dragon Knight serving under the First Brigade of the Leviathan Knights, was stretching lazily beside his Oceanic Bladed Dragon companion named 'Funa' who was in human form. Both of them were standing outside the entrance to the exploration base belonging to 'Sage of the Eastern Oceans Vahina'. Hill himself was not tall—or at least he appeared to be very petite compared to his sea dragon companion, and his long hair that reached behind his back swayed as his head moved. The blue dragon lady on the other hand stood behind him and slowly helped her master tidied his hairstyle, her sapphire eye flickering with a mild light—herself a beauty even by most standards.

There was a coat of arms hanging over both of their bodies where a dragon and a dragon spear crossed each other, and over it was two golden dolphin badges which indicated the pair's rank and identity.

"Aren't the commander and the others returning yet?"

While the elves aged slowly but were still outclassed by dragons in that respect, Hill was much older than most people even though he looked like a teenager. He now looked toward the far-flung edge of Fairyland where the Void was glinting in obscure radiance, and mumbled to himself with a lazy tone. "It's time to change shifts. With how punctual the commander usually is, there should be some discovery."

"As long as there isn't any danger." Funa's mouth twitched even as she groomed Hill's hair. "After all, even that man went missing in there."

"I think, instead of putting as if that 'man' vanished in there, it would be more apt to say that he deliberately went ahead to explore some unknown place." Hill shook his head, refuting his companion's opinion. He narrowed his purple pupils at the other end of dimensions, toward the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds shrouded behind endless radiances and dimensional barriers.

"After all," he murmured softly, "he is Joshua."

More than a year ago, Hill and Funa were comrades who were part of the same expedition as Joshua and the Seven Gods Church into Anos Abyss during the war against the berserk dragons. As important members of the Eastern Leviathan Knights, the elven druid and his Bladed Oceanic Dragon companion had been hired by the Church as a marine specialist who would discern the oceanic flows and direction of the great vortex. Due to certain unexpected happenings, the Anos Abyss shifted drastically halfway through, with the oceanic flows and vortex changing unusually due to schemes of the Abyss and the Pentashade dragons. Even so, they remained comrades who contributed much to Joshua and the others in battle.

This time, due to the incidents in the Dimensional Anomaly—Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds, the pair who were members of the Leviathan Knights and one of the two greater factions under Vahina's banner naturally followed the legion's commander to the encampment in Fairyland. However, as a Bladed Oceanic Dragon, Funa could not adapt to the dry environment of the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds and hence the two were left patrolling the base.

"Come to think of it, Joshua was like the commander back then—Supreme-pinnacle and on the verge of breaking through. But now, the commander remained Pinnacle while he is now Legendary champion."

At the very mention of 'that man', Funa who had been bored from house watch duty became a little interested. She simply pulled Hill into her embrace and went to sit upright in a corner despite his protests of 'let me go'.

"The sage had said then that he would develop into Legendary in a few years," she said, her voice welling with emotion. "But neither Her Ladyship or us would think that he would ascend so quickly."

Typical dragons would reach Silver-advanced once they became adults, while those of special bloodlines or certain innate talent would break through to lower-Gold albeit being more powerful than other races of the same tier. Inversely, after they became adults, their mass became exceedingly huge and their fundamentals too substantial that it was difficult for them to raise their life essence and reach Supreme.

Just like Funa. She was now over a hundred years into her adulthood but remained Gold-advanced and had been unable to touch the walls of Gold-pinnacle, much less Supreme. It should be taken into consideration that she was one of the rare diligent dragons who even joined the Leviathan Knights and thereby received much guidance from dragon knights and Legendary champions—and yet that did not help her break past the innate limitations of her race.

"You're just an ordinary Oceanic Bladed Dragon—your father a plain blue sea dragon and your mother a typical bladed dragon, having no special bloodline or excellent legacy."

Grasped tightly in Funa embrace, Hill the elven youth whose head was squeezed between her breasts simply gave up after struggling for a while, before shaking his head seriously when he heard his companion words that had a hint of a sigh. "If you didn't work hard, you would at most be lower-Gold now and a typical beast—just like those savage dragons hunted by dragon slayers across the world. But now, you're a famous sea dragon that even the Seven Gods Church must send formal invitations to… Don't compare yourself to monsters. They may seem enviable to others, but they actually carry much responsibility many would never comprehend. 

At that, Hill chortled a little and glanced toward the Multiverse Sacrificial Ground over the edge of the dimensions. "Just like Joshua. Just look how he had been resting for the past few years, and yet met how many difficult challenges? I think this time he must have stirred a hornet's nest on his own initiative, and simply shocked everyone else in the process.

Though Hill's inference was not right it was not too far off the mark either. As the two affectionately enjoyed their time in a Fairyland evening, a spatial turbulence engulfed half the dimensional region. A single silver star was quietly darting toward them, crossing worlds from the faraway edge of the stars!

"Alright!"

Hill's eyes shone at the sight, and actually shrugged off Funa's embrace and stood up, exclaiming in excitement. "Joshua must be returning!"

From his words, he appeared to have no doubts that Joshua would return safely.

"What is there to be excitedly about?" Funa grumbled unhappily as she straightened her clothes. "So what if they had returned? After so long, who knows if the Legendary warrior would even remember us…"

"Even if he doesn't, I want to meet him at least once." Hill said as if speaking to himself, ignoring his partner. "Rumor had it that the two guest instructors at the Skypiercing White Tower—the 'Rune Master' and the 'Mind Lord' were closely linked to Count Radcliffe. Those two, apart from being Legendary mages, are also elites of the Ancient Dragon scene… They must have found something."

"What?" Funa was now truly confused. The blue-haired dragon lady scratched her head, perplexed, creating cracking blue sparks amongst her streamline strands of hair. "Hill, you elves are always like this, I no longer understand what you're saying…"

"It means—" The young elf smiled at his companion, moved closer and whispered into her ears. "Everything I do is for you, my dear blue dragon lady."

Leaving aside the matter of Funa who froze where she was with a crimson face, Joshua, Nostradamus and the other had appeared above the huge metallic tower beneath the silver sun—the [Silver Sky Radiance], the true form of the Commanding Will. Endless colors had appeared in order, developing illusory radiances that tore apart the dimensions in the center of the Multiverse Sacrificial ground within the dimensional anomaly, just as it had when they left.

"Funally, we're back at the edge of the world of Mycroft," Nostradamus said, reveling as he took a deep breath in the very moment he had stepped out of the portal that stretched across the Multiverse.

"The smell of home."

Though there was rot and sanguine as if there were calamity and strife in every second, it was the world he was familiar with, the homeland he wanted to change. After returning from Stellaris, the old mage gradually became convinced that the reformations in the Northern Empire—or perhaps the entire world of Mycroft—must be executed. Against the Void Swarm monsters that numbered up to millions, he had deeply felt how powerless one or two Legendary champions were.

Therefore, the whole world must enter the domain of extraordinary. It is only through that they had the power to protect themselves in war. Naturally, he and Joshua had actually destroyed all of those millions of aberrations, but it was a special circumstance—the mage Nostradamus so swore that he would never enter a battle such as that ever again, it genuinely shortens one's life.

Moreover, he planned to discuss the issues about reformations with Israel once he returned to the Imperial Capital. The advanced education system and social structure of the Midgardian star-faring civilization had brought Nostradamus great inspiration. He had a draft in his mind that would complete when the time comes.

Beside him, Joshua was conversing with the Commanding Will in spiritual space rapidly, exchanged substantial volumes of information within seconds. Joshua frowned after the link was subsequently cut off, clapping on Ying's shoulders, surprising her as he gestured for the silver-haired girl to recapture Light who was flying around rampantly.

Just as Ying called out to Ling and help encircle the extraordinarily animated luminous orb after having just consumed a Steel Shard, Joshua fell into deep thought.

"The Commanding Will received much from this mission. With my success in helping the Midgardians weather a calamity, the excess energies from the psionic rituals were all absorbed by it to repair its body."

From that interaction just now, Joshua learned that the Commanding Will had greatly improved compared to its state when it first awakened. In the very least, it had stabilized its soul's damage and kept it from dissipating in any given moment, and next time—if there was another mission—it would not have to burn its own soul to teleport Joshua and the others.

Beyond that, parts of the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds had been reactivated thanks to the successful rescue mission. For example, the Silver Sky Radiance—its very core—would carry out its duty as an artificial sun, cleansing the demiplane off abyssal scents bit by bit and rebuilding its ecosystem. The inspection hub at the center as well as its inspection hub had also regained some of its functionality, charging and repairing the Giant God Warriors who were awakened following external disturbances.

Joshua had incidentally attained much information from the Commanding Will about the Giant God Warriors as well. As sentries of the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds, half of the seven hundred and twenty Giant God Warriors remained in slumber, with most damaged and in need of extensive repair. Those that were active now could in fact be employed as mercenaries with certain energy and resources, following him when he was teleported to other worlds to carry out missions.

According to Starfall Era standards, the abilities of the Giant God Warriors were of Supreme-intermediate standard, but any of them would lose against Supreme-intermediate champions in a fight, especially against Joshua's type and even if the warrior was still Supreme-beginner. Be that as it may, their frightening firepower made them extremely fitting as combat puppets—as one of the designs made by [Daranelle the Creator], the Giant God Warriors had spellcasting prowess that could compete with a legion of mages, and could suppress an army of Extraordinary individuals with sufficient energy charge.

Though they had no place in a battle stage such as Stellaris, bringing along just one Giant God Warrior would certainly make the mission much simpler on a continental-level of subjugation.

There was many other information as well, including the fact that the various factions on Mycroft had launched urgent search and exploration when Joshua and the others went missing. The Commanding Will did its best to control the Giant God Warriors so that they would not come into conflict, but it appeared that one had been destroyed in an ambush by one of the factions. However, the Commanding Will did not launch countermeasures in lieu that they were here to search for Joshua, and merely tightened the defensive perimeter to keep every intruder out from the core zone.

"Master Nostradamus. Reach out with your senses—how many factions are there in the Sacrificial Grounds?" Joshua asked the old mage who was busy studying the gifts Joshua delivered to him from Star the Steel Python, while the warrior kept his gaze on Ling and Ying who had finally caught the luminous orb after much trouble.

Nostradamus, busily trying to determine what a cluster of pale lights was, raised his head at Joshua's words and scanned at the demiplane once from high above. "Let me see. Our Black Raven Army, the commander of the Leviathan Knights, Barbarossa's apprentices, the murlocs… Huh. The Seven Gods Church and the elves are here too? And that elder from the Psionic Royals in the West Mountains, an old friend of mine."

"The seven major factions. Basically, every influential power in Mycroft is here—it seems that our disappearance could be considered to have involved the whole world."

The old mage guffawed, appearing not to have much thoughts over the matter, blurring the lines between whether he felt it to be a reasonable sight or had long been accustomed to such a stage. Still, it was true that as rare Legendary champions over the entire world, their every action would prick the nerves of countless people.

"It's not going missing, we're just off to save a world."

Having returned to a familiar world, Joshua felt every iota of Steel Strength in every part of his body humming slightly. He smiled as he sensed his heightened ability, and naturally rose into the air. "Now, let us meet them, and tell them the good news that could lift the entire world."

"Slow down, I haven't really figured out what this thing is… Fine." Shaking his head, Nostradamus replied helplessly as he rose into the air as well, putting away the gifts from the Steel Python in his hand. "It's a good thing to return earlier—we've wasted too much time, and I wouldn't know how long Israel would have been sulking."

"Saving peoples from a few planets isn't considered a waste of time. And it's you who followed me on your own—I've planned to handle things myself in the first place."

Bringing along Ying and Ling and the immeasurably excited luminous orb, Joshua and Nostradamus flew toward the outskirts of the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds and the edge of the dimensions. There was an ear-splitting boom as they left the atmosphere, but the two men appeared relaxed given that they had returned to their home they had been away from for so long. Countless personnel of various factions from around the world sprinted out from their exploration base, assuming formations and assembling around the outskirts of the Multiverse Sacrificial Grounds. They appeared nervous yet excited, their hearts throbbing over an unpredictable future.

For two Legends who had left for some time had returned to this world, and also because the gaze of the entire world was focused here.