Soul of Searing Steel

“Whatever the case may be, we can’t stay relaxed now that things had come to this.”

Sighing, Barnil could tell that the dire circumstances at hand were inevitable. He raised his hand to tidy the collar of his robes, after which the old mage who had always been well-groomed drew out a thick gilded black tome. It was an elegantly decorated grimoire that left Barnil’s hand as soon as it was taken out, floating before his chest and flipping open as if alive and browsed through itself rapidly.

“An Abyssal Lord and a deity’s clone. William, how many years has it been since we last met such a dangerous situation?”

Standing upon the dark skies of the Sixth Abyss, Barnil did not spare a glance at the grimoire that was flipping itself, staring instead at the black clouds filled with corrosive and toxic air. He put the question to his great friend out of habit, while blinding rays of rainbow colors appeared before his body from the pages of the grimoire. Soon, countless dazzling runes appeared around the Legendary mage as if stars, twinkling, and the outline of a colossal magical circle that shrouds almost ten miles could almost be seen, forming rapidly from the rainbow light that surged out of the grimoire pages.

“Forty years? Fifty years? Who the hell knows—apart from those youthful and exuberant years, we’ve always tread carefully and never allowed ourselves to fall into threatening situations.”

Beside Barnil, the wandering poet who still appeared young shrugged lightly instead. In the face of the powerful being that surpassed most Legendary and closed in incessantly, William had not a hint of worry and pulled out a crystal ball of utmost purity, its pale blue radiance swirling like a vortex in its center. The Legendary wandering poet held it close to his poet, and smiled leisurely. “Of course, whatever happens, there is no danger to speak of in this world as long as you and I work together.”

“I like that line of yours.”

As the two laughed synchronously. In a very brief instant, a construct with complex geometrical dimensions composed of infinite runes appeared out of thin air above the entire Squirming Forest. Endless magical circuits formed from pale blue triangles, circles, and prisms devoured mana wildly from the surroundings as if a void, and within breaths every element within dozens of kilometers were emptied by the giant circles, distorting even space itself obviously.

Some distance away, the Abyssal Lord [Demon King of Gluttony] Goliath naturally found the drastic magical ripple in the distance. As a clone that the true body placed in the Abyss, the huge Burning Eye gradually decelerated.

It felt that something was not right, and picked up a rather familiar scent, a breath that made it recall some memories from the past.

Greed and evil were not flaws in the Abyss, while modesty and kindness were sins that must be extinguished. In this wasteland with no future, even worms would struggle against their own kin for the rights to nibble rotting meat—to survive, absolute self-centeredness and suspicion were compulsory qualities of all demons.

And Goliath was one of them. It was also the greediest demon in the Sixth Abyss, a truth that did not need to be doubted.

Hunger, greed. Since its birth, endless lust had occupied its body and soul, and to Goliath, every single soul it could devour would never satiate it—merely making it even more hungry. Neither could anything that could be possessed would never satisfy it, merely making it even more possessive. Because of that boundless greed, it started to steal food from its kin when it was still a worm, using its muscle, teeth, talons, innate spells and all powers at its disposal to take that which could be taken.

In the cruelest competition, the weak worm slowly grew into a powerful gargoyle, and as if a born demon king that the Abyss nurtured from its wastelands, it possessed cruelty and strength that astonished even demons. After a few easy challenges and torture to death, the archdemon that had yet to make a name for itself acquired its territory for the first time. However, its will to dominate was so substantial the demon became twisted, and for more land it declared war against the five demon lords around it.

It had to be said that it was no good idea. Even the future Abyssal Lord had no way to triumph against five demon lords that had ability comparable to itself, and if not for the five Lords having such irreconcilable grudges that they never combined to deal a lethal blow on Goliath, the future state of the Abyss would have been drastically different. Even so, the heavily injured archdemon could not stay in its own domain—to escape enemy pursuit, it a special ‘summon’ and arrived at an unfamiliar world.

It was a unique world. There, forests expanded like magical creatures in resonance to mana tides, while dangerous magical beasts and draconic species occupied every corner between heaven and earth. Against the endless assault of the beastly waves, the civilization of that world exhausted all ideas to resist them, building forts, cities and poured all efforts into developing spells and techniques for combat, as well as searching for weapons left behind in ancient ruins—with spells linked to the Abyss that summon demons for battle included amongst them.

The mage that had summoned the archdemon had been initiated, although both him and his instructor did not understand the fundamentals regarding demon-kind dude to a lack in legacy. They actually believed that it was just a unique otherworld beast, and so simply made an ordinary partner pact with no additional restraints.

Without precaution, they granted the archdemon freedom to fight the swarm, which the injured demon certainly would not spurn especially with the droves of delicacies before its eyes that could help it recover. After displaying a little of its ability, it completely wiped out the invading waves of beast, and for that, the young mage even excitedly named the archdemon Goliath—the name of giants with endless power, and allowed it to return to its own world after the demon had quelled the beast tide for several years.

Everything started from there.

Since that day onwards, the demon had received a name. It remembered that name, and also the name of that world.

Mycroft.

That was how the citizens of that world addressed the land beneath their feet, a name that it could not forget after centuries. It kept recalling every brief moment in that distant past even on this day—the clear air, crystalline streams, the sweet flesh and the defenseless, foolish but kind diverse races.

I would definitely conquer it all.

From that day forth, an ordinary demon died, with an indescribable demon taking its place in revival. After returning to the Abyss, Goliath’s flames of lust expanded steadily as he now possessed a newfound purpose. It thirsted for everything, thirsted for that world which had been completely different from the Abyss—cheerful and beautiful.

When a life had experienced the vastness of the stars, how would it endure the shackles of gravity anymore? When the vision of borderless greed was opened, who knows how much it would bloat?

Unlike other demon Lords that were mired in trivial disputes or contented with having some cave or summit as their lair, when Goliath resurfaced in the Sixth Abyss it began to compel imps to build fortresses emulating the ones constructed in that world to resist beast tides. It even learned the martial arts training of that world and trained its demon lackeys, and was willing to pay huge price to forge armors and weapons. All of it had been sneered at as foolishness when the other demon Lords noticed it, mocking the behavior as meaningless—all of them, shaking their heads, believed that Goliath had lost the greed and selfishness that was most important to demons due to its monumental failure.

But they were wrong.

It was not abandoning greed, but because Goliath’s ambition was far beyond that. A territory, a plain, a little piece of the Abyss—or even the entire Abyss was not worthy in its eyes. What was there to strive for in some frivolous riches? Laughable. This corrupted world had no way of inciting even an iota of its lust, what more was some meaningless metal!

Its target was at the other end of the Void, that beautiful and endlessly lively otherworld—that infinite Multiverse!

Perhaps out of an instinctive thirst for fire, perhaps out of an objective that stood out from the masses or even perhaps out of a massive greed that stood above all lust, it appeared that the Will of the Sixth Abyss began to pay attention to Goliath from that moment on. In centuries of slaughter and conquest, the archdemon became a rare Monarch in the Abyss and achieved final victory in seeking the highest seat within the Abyss. Having waited some time for that moment, the Abyssal Will coronated its Demon King as it became the Greatest Lord of the Sixth Abyss. The Lord did not fall short of the Abyssal Will’s expectations either, and began to investigate or simply invade all neighboring worlds with no hesitation.

Now, Goliath smelled a scent that it could never forget that appeared to be from that world. Just as how the two old mages noticed it, the Abyssal Lord also noticed the two Legendary spellcasters in the center of that massive magical formation.

There were actually three Monarchs combining, Goliath thought. If it itself had not returned by sending a clone, there would have been severe losses even if the other few Sixth Abyss Monarchs came back at once. It seemed that just as it had spied upon the Mycroft Continent for centuries, the Mycroft Continent was spying upon the Sixth Abyss all along as well.

It might be a trap.

The moment that thought appeared, the Burning Eye’s gigantic vertical pupil smoothed slightly, and a soundless sneer resounded from the depths of many a demon soul. Ferocious and fearsome Abyssal Blaze began to incinerated the void around its body just as the Abyssal Lord unleashed monstrous malevolent energies. A deathly power of corruption from the Abyss itself, it eroded the world, creating fissures over the skies that resembled shattered glass. Thus, dimensional turbulence that belonged to the void started to spill from those fissures, and, guided by Goliath, it cascaded towards the warrior, the black dragon and the two Legendary mages!

“Then they shall be crushed.”

Using the Legendary spell known as [Void Flow] from the very start, the area of effect for that combat magic was as wide as several thousand miles and struck both foe and ally, dealing the most grievous of radioactive impact for all elements and creatures beneath heaven and earth. Any spell construct would shatter under its high-energy rays while any living being with a soul would have to endure the most serious of traumas and lose their lives. It, however, had no effect on dead or inorganic object, a ‘purging spell’ used exclusively to destroy life.

On the other hand, the Dragon God did not make a move since this place was Goliath’s home ground. If it did as it wished, it was possible that the Abyssal Lord would view as it a provocation and become extra vigilant. Furthermore, from the looks of things at the moment, having Goliath did the work was plenty enough.

Meanwhile, up in the air, Joshua who was flying like a meteor on low altitudes finally found the black dragon that was sprinting wildly on the ground.

Naturally, he also saw that tremendous magical formation that was slowly appearing in the distance.

“Finally showing up.” The warrior breathed out a sigh. He had been puzzled for a while—he had clearly been fighting so intensely with that beholder general, why was there no reaction at all? Now, it appeared that the two Legendary mages were merely prudently preparing precautionary methods instead of dashing out to assist him impetuously.

Such careful behavior, as expected of senior Legendary champions that had ascended for a few dozen years.

With a burst of speed, Joshua arrived on top of the black dragon’s head and controlled his weight so that he stood gently on Black’s head. At the same time, the black dragon girl’s rather panicked voice rang within the warrior’s mind.

‘Master, you told me to run further away when the fighting starts so that I won’t get caught—but how come I didn’t escape the zone of battle even now?!’

“It’s fine, there’s just been something unexpected.” Joshua stroked the black dragon’s horns and had wanted to add something, only to notice the celestial phenomenon in which Goliath was tearing apart space itself in the air. Hence, he quickly switched gears and consoled her instead.

“It’s not your fault, Black, but now I should be carrying you and running instead. Revert to human form.”

Even before he finished speaking, the warrior clapped his hands to command the black dragon girl, so that she transformed into human form. Although Black swiftly did so, the timeframe in which she changed was simply too slow—which could have been an issue with proficiency.

Joshua furrowed his brow at the sight, and swiftly lifted the still-a-dragon overhead and flung it into the distance, while he swiftly turned and threw a fist out, throwing searing winds that, wrapped in surging energy, knocked away the surging Void Flow. In the very next moment, he turned again and accelerated again towards the black dragon girl that had finished transforming and was dropping down from the skies!

Grabbing Black with a single princess carry, Joshua did not pause as he threw the girl handily over his shoulders. With another aerial burst of speed, he sped past the velocity of sound by fifteen times due to the tremendous heat energy that exuded bolts, darting towards the huge magical circle that the two Legendary mages had raised.

“Pfft–” The black dragon girl had wanted to protest out of instincts the moment it reacted—she was the mount, how could her master carry her and run?

But before she could say it, half her body was suddenly flattened against the warrior’s shoulder due to the sheer reverse airflow against fifteen times the speed of sound. Even the black dragon’s body almost could not handle the impact force from the armor formed out of Steel Strength, and had almost fainted.

And when she finally adapted to it slightly, she started to cry out sobbingly.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaah—slow down, Master!”

Would Joshua even do that? Noticing the Void Flow that was gushing from behind, he even accelerated again—though the attack would not be effective against him, it was truly fatal for Black. The strength of the black dragon girl’s soul was far weaker compared to typical Gold or sturdier Silver-tiers since her intelligence had only been unlocked a few years ago. She would never last longer than a second against such a purging spell that expressly assaults elements and souls, and would be killed between breaths.

If not for that, he would not have accelerated so forcefully mid-flight—he would simply pause where he was, face the spell head on and wait for the two mages to arrive as back up. Then, they would use the dimensional coordinates that had already been prepared early on and return to the Mycroft Continent.

The Void Flow had neither color nor shape. It resembled distorted atmosphere caused by the presence of hot air, and simply descended from the skies with an obscure radiance. Under the lead of the Abyssal Lord, multitudinous streaks of obscure radiance swept through the air and claiming the life of every living thing along its way. Be it the most inferior Abyssal worm or wild archdemons, everything died in no time at all, their souls turning into dazzling shrouds after the radiation struck, floating away from their bodies.

A thought flashed through Joshua’s mind upon seeing the spectacle. Once more, a ray of silver light rose behind Joshua’s back, the specks that were reminiscent of stardust formed a semi-circular shield and tightly covered Black who was over his shoulders. Clusters of twisted light swept through but were completely blocked by the speck shield that resembled metal with nary an influence.

Soon, one master and one mount thundered towards the spell formation that the two Legendary mages had raised northwest of the Abyss. Amidst clusters of soul lights that broke off from demons and Black’s meek ‘Heeeeelp!’ cries, Joshua dashed into the area within the pale-blue circle.

At present, under Barnil and William’s combined control, huge mana bolts carved one mysterious trace after another, the blinding runic light fluctuating beside their bodies. The humming sound as if from a gigantic machinery engulfed the entire Squirming Forest along with the pale-blue radiance, causing every tree leaf and branch to quiver in discomfort, but whenever the profound Void energy shone on the circle, it could only remove several uncorrelated parts on the outside layer.

Having seen it, the warrior who was already slowing down could not help nodding in awe. He also sensed immense forces assembling rapidly between the two, causing extreme turbulence to actually surface spatially. It was a phenomenon that did not even appear when Nostradamus ascended into Legendary!

“As expected of the partnership between two Legendary—such power!”

In the pre-existence, Barnil and William were two Legendary spellcasters who always behaved mysteriously and never saw action much—even Joshua had not seen the way they fought.

Now, the two appeared inclined to do their best, and even Joshua could not help being expectant about what sort of ability they would display!

“This isn’t just some profound power!”

Having heard Joshua’s expression of awe, the well-groomed mage stared at the Burning Eye overhead, the grimoire before him incessantly emitting translucent light towards its surroundings.

Barnil then laughed boldly. “It’s Wisdom and Truth appearing before thine eyes!”

“Hahahaha. With us old codgers here, would a newcomer such as you have to move?” The other younger and more handsome mage laughed in high spirits too. “Everyone here?”

“Go!”

With those very words, before the warrior, Abyssal Lord and the Dragon God at the other end of the horizon reacted, Barnil and William moved simultaneously.

Both Legendary mages activated the circle, and the energy ripple that engulfed the entire Squirming Forest flashed, causing the world to twist and the dimensions to flip. In that indiscernible instant, with a glaring glint that illuminated the heavens and before Abyssal Lord and Pentashade Dragon God could react, every piece of land and air caught within the circle—including all matter, lifeform, the two mages, and Joshua—disappeared at once!

Joshua was left speechless.