Soul of Searing Steel

Joshua had waited for a very long time.

Since the day he punched out against the silver Ancient Dragon and jolted it from its slumber, he had always been waiting to head to that unknown world and face it in his actual form.

Joshua enjoyed battles—such was the truth. It was also true that he had always wanted to challenge an ancient dragon, to experience what power the so called 'Perfect Being' and 'Primeval Lifeform' wielded. Unquestionably, to do battle against an Ancient Dragon was his personal desire. He wished to exchange blows with such an opponent definitively and compare their differences, and it would be the same even if the opponent did not know him or had no argument against him in the first place.

Still, with his battle tendency, Joshua had always held a certain principle—he would never lash out deliberately against beings that did not display enmity on their own accord. No matter how much he wanted to fight, it must at least be an honorable battle. What he did under the influence of divinity more than half a month ago was hence indisputably ambush, in which he threw a punch whilst the Ancient Dragon was caught unawares, awakening it utterly from its slumber.

And the chain reaction from that action had sent great waves across the surrounding region and world circles, undoubtedly causing much trouble for the Ancient Dragon.

Even if Joshua had thousands of reasons, he could never wipe away the single truth—being unable to control his own lust and hence causing a great transgression was simply too laughable and embarrassing.

"I shall shoulder what I did."

He thought, and was impatient to cleanse himself of that humiliation. There was no question that his party was not the only ones seeking the whereabouts of the Ancient Dragon, and with the Ancient Dragon's bellow sending ripples throughout the edge of the Abyss, the multitudinous demons and alien races must be now circling that world, spying for the Ancient Dragon's power.

Hence, the warrior's objective now was to chase off those beings… Naturally, Joshua did not think of it as penance for his rash behavior before, and it was definitely not out of a good heart.

After all, there was only one who could challenge the Ancient Dragon.

"Joshua, do you feel it? The Observer has detected substantial energy signatures… Tsk, how many people are there around here?"

In the endless darkness of the void, a tiny white airship was moving urgently, moving in tune with dimensional turbulences as it traversed the Void. It was the 'Observer' that Barnil and William made many adjustments too, a research vessel that could negotiate the Void with ancient elven sunship technology and one of the two Legendary mages' procurement from exploring ancient ruins years ago.

The little white inversed-trapezoid airship was less than a hundred and fifty meters long, with two elliptic holds by its side. Though it appeared pocket-sized it was actually well-equipped, armed with Void observation equipment that was first-class even for the Skypiercing White Tower. At this moment, Barnil was reading the abnormal energy signatures in the surrounding dimensions, before inhaling sharply. "It's those Abyssal demons from the Sixth Abyss! The Pentashade dragons! There are also three other traces of advancing from three completely different worlds!"

"Well, that means there are now at least five factions that could move freely in the Void that had detected the presence of the Ancient Dragon and closing in on that world," William said as he controlled the navigation of the Observer. "We are all acquainted with the Abyssal Liege of the Sixth Abyss—Goliath the Glutton and the Five Demon Generals under him, which is considered a superpower in the Abyss who often invaded other Abysses and other Worlds. The Pentashade dragons are also old friends—although they had been pummeled by the Seven Gods Church to a rather pitiful state, their three Legendary Dragon Kings are, at minimum, their peak combat force."

"Still, from which hole did those three factions leap out from? Beings that could travel the Void are no trifling things—if they had been staying nearby the Mycroft Continent all along, why haven't we found them for so many years? "

The two Legendary mages keep raising questions without stopping, their bellies brimming with curiosity, although Joshua knew certain secrets thanks to the rekindled Flame of the world of Karlis.

Worlds destroyed could be revived, just like how the Mycroft Continent recovered by using the Flames of the world of Grandia, as well as how Karlis was now temporarily kept aflame with the residual Flames from Grandia. Order and Chaos are interchangeable, with a single line separating destruction and new life. Indeed, in Grandia where the Four Great Elements were beginning to crumble and yet revitalized with the appearance of a complete ecosphere, could Abysses not rise again with their own residual flames?

The power of Ancient Dragon creates things out of none, granting new ecospheres to worlds completely without vigor, which in turn were irresistible for demons. By the same principle, that power of revival held great attraction to worlds that were nearing their own ruin, such as civilizations that lived in nuclear winter environments… it would not be atypical for civilizations that could destroy their own world to have the ability to travel in the Void, but they should not have so much remaining power for Void exploration operations due to their own hostile environments.

If not for the Ancient Dragons, they would definitely be staying in their homes, prudently licking their own wounds while sending small scout troops to find worlds suitable for migration. That was perhaps the reason why Mycroft could not discover before them.

Both Barnil and William nodded in agreement after Joshua told them about his hypothesis, with the wandering poet saying solemnly, "that's certainly plausible."

"Our world of Mycroft had once faced a downward spiral to destruction as well. It was precisely why our position in the dimensional map neighbored the Sixth, Seventh and Thirty-Seventh Abyss. To tell the truth, most worlds that were closer to us were about to fall, and enter the Abyss."

Joshua nodded subconsciously when he recalled the nearby worlds of Karlis and Illgner, the latter of which was attacked by the Evil God of Calamity—those were certainly worlds on their last breath.

"But we can't care that much—they should strive on their own to save their own world. They must be prepared to be sent flying if they stand in our way of meeting the Ancient Dragon!"

Both Barnil and William burst with purpose once they learned the possible origins of the unknown factions, with the white-haired mage Barnil turning and grinning at his old friend. "Hahaha! This adventure is really exciting. At least nine Legends, and five factions that could travel in the Void—have we entered a game of such scale in the past few decades?"

"Never before—now, yes!" William laughed loudly as well even as he accelerated the Observer through the Void. "Really interesting. Such free, unrestrained adventuring that challenges our own limits and leaves no repercussions—that is why we always stayed free and never joined any faction!"

A white bolt therefore abruptly appeared in the Void. It twisted the dimensions and advanced in tune with dimensional flow, bypassing worlds after worlds that emanated radiance amidst the Great Mana Tide and closing in on their destination.

However, a massive fleet suddenly appeared in the Void.

***

The dark Void of the Multiverse was filled with endless dimensional turbulence. Special equipment or powerful abilities that could spy through the dimensions were needed to explore such environments, but no matter how precise the instruments or formidable their abilities, there is a limit to their boundary of observation. To the three Legendary champions present on the Observer, just as they were about to reach the world where the Ancient Dragon was, an abnormal fleet abruptly came to view the edge of their observation range.

It was a fleet composed of thousands of spherical warships painted in an inconspicuous dark-blue, with unusual emblems drawn over their external armor that resembled the scales of living creatures. Most of the spherical warships were of equal size—a diameter of around four-hundred meters, with a single colossal one that was almost a thousand-meters long and appeared to be their flagship, its size and special sky-blue painting letting anyone see their uniqueness at a single glance. 

"******, ***, ******!" (This is the Fleet of the Fetila Federation. Stop at once, intruders, this dimensional region is under lockdown!)

"A Void fleet seems to want us to stop and cease our advance." Joshua smiled, lifting his brow. "Looks a little magnificent too—airships had not even seen widespread use on the Mycroft Continent yet, right? So, sink them or charge?"

"You call that magnificent?"

William could not help sneering in reply to Joshua's words, shaking his head while navigating. "In fact, if not for the world of Mycroft yet to develop fundamental magical technology industries and thus unable to turn our research into reality… but such a fleet?"

"If we popularized the power us Legendary champions grasped and adapted it to civilization use, it would be difficult for me to actually imagine how powerful the Mycroft civilization become… but such a fleet?" Barnil sneered as well. "crude rune usage, and simply laughable."

"Let's avoid troubling them, since they were kind enough to not fire on us."

"*****." (Vessel coming at us, dead ahead.)

A great mana surge started to stream from the colossal spherical warship. Inside, a creature which had the upper body of a squid, the lower body of a worm, a huge skull and tentacles was controlling its own mana and the warship resonance in the central command room, instructing the entire fleet while issuing its warning.

"******, *****, ***...?!" (Please turn around at once, we would fire if you continue on your current course…?!)

As the unusual creature sent its command, astonishing mana waves were immediately unleashed from the entire flotilla of spherical warships, forming simple yet detailed giant magic circles in the Void where energy rapidly condensed. Dark red mana beams hence were armed and ready to be fired, but just as flagship control realized that the Observer had no intention of slowing down and hence readied to call for Weapons Free, it suddenly paused and did nothing, even closing its breathing orifice on its back.

—By the ancestors, what is going on?!

Dakrodas, the grand commander of the Fetila Federation's First Fleet and controller of the flagship could not believe what it was seeing. It froze at the central command room of the flagship, gaping at crazy scene displayed in the magical screen before its eyes.

On the other end of the Void, that little white flying equipment had registered a threat level by the warship prejudge system that was no more than five, meaning that it was about as dangerous as a wandering debris. The civilization behind such a poor little ship must pose no danger at all, which was why Dakrodas did not hesitate to issue the order to repel and pulverize it… and yet the circumstances changed now.

"*, ***, ***, ***, ****?!!" (Five, nine hundred and twenty thousand, sixteen million, seventy-four million, three hundred and eighty million?!!)

Dakrodas hence stared blankly as the numbers displayed upon the prejudge system rose wildly, leaping to a depth that far outmatched ten First Fleets. It had initially believed that the magical system of the warship had developed an error, only to be dealt another tremendous when the energy estimation system at the very next moment.

"*****, ****, ***?!" (Energy values surpassing five hundred million—supreme energy alert, evasion suggest?!)

Are we facing a small sun?

Dakrodas still could not believe it. Although it knew that the Multiverse was vast and borderless with incalculable powerful beings. However, the Fetila Federation that had conquered several worlds were no slouch either—despite their severe losses due to civil war that their prime world approached devastation, it would never believe that a little ship had the ability to outclass their entire fleet by such a wide margin. Therefore, Dakrodas did not hesitate to decide that the observation had become erroneous and reached out with its own magical powers, intending to spy on the truth of that small craft—

And therefore, it saw the truth.

There were three profound and imposing wills, with one of them consisting of countless layers of spiderwebs, a spiritual system composed of incalculable amounts of mind network and was as complex a world. Another appeared to be runes incarnate, with millions of diverse symbols that represented limits meanings—like playthings under his control, capable of forming all things at will. The last one, resembling either a sun or a steel that was burned red—sturdy, indestructible and carrying the incandescence that could incinerate everything. Although it was not as unfathomable as the two other wills, it had another pureness of power.

Each will manipulated energies that could power entire fleets for months, and yet those energies were perfectly bound within their own bodies. The reason why the warship system mistakenly judged that their combat prowess at five was because they had yet to release it, but now, the ever-rising number told Dakrodas that the power which their race was proud of was not worth mentioning before certain superior beings.

The entire Fetila Fleet simply paused where they were in the Void, allowing the Observer to simply weave through the fleet at a speed that was neither swift nor slow. The runic offensive circles they had released welcomed the advent of the Rune Master and his departure as if paralyzed, and it was until the Observer had completely left the observation zone of the Fetila Fleet that everyone broke out in coolants similar to human sweat all over their bodies, as if awakening from a dream.

"…That was too dangerous."

It was only after the Observer totally vanished that Dakrodas wiped away the coolant over its body with a shivering tentacle. "As I thought, we can't participate with incidents related to Primeval Bins… report to the council and inform the advance team ahead of us, we are abandoning mission… First Fleet, turn back!"

The efficiency of the Fetilans were certain. In minutes, the entire fleet of spherical warships had finished calibrations and returned decisively, vanishing within the Void.

And it was the correct decision.

For at this time, the region around the world of Kronos had become a battlefield where Demon Generals, Legendary Dragon Kings, super-warships that were equal to Legendary champions and unnamed superior beings were standing off against each other. No being would retreat in the struggle for the power of the Ancient Dragon, and a terrible battle would soon begin.

And in that very moment, a tiny white airship was still travelling through the Void.

En route, almost arriving.