Soul of Searing Steel

At this moment, the silver-haired girl felt a strong rush of memories from the pact in her mind.

There are infinite minuscule fragments of memories flowing into the memory core of the Divine Armament.

"You were born in the wrong time."

There was once a person from a distant time who told him this.

In the memory from a long time ago which was forgotten, there was an ancient yet simple dojo and in it was a middle-aged man. The old man's eyes were only half open, as if that was the furthest he could open them. The man breathed heavily and his eyes were filled with astonishment looking at his son who defeated him that was standing in front of him.

"You have surpassed me in every way."

The man took a deep long sigh as he slowly got back on his feet. The man was a veteran warrior who had triumphed in countless battles, however, upon seeing his son who defeated him, he felt impressed and yet pity as he added, "What a pity, although you have learnt all the martial arts and become the strongest under the heaven, it is useless in the world we are living in now."

It was not a time of chaos, and fighting was useless in this world…

The eyes of the middle-aged man could be seen filled with compassion.

"You are a starved wolf among the herd of sheep, what you crave for is meat filled with blood but all you can have is green grass and lying on the plain field. No matter how hard you find, there will be no one who is even comparable to you in fighting in this world."

The youth stood there silently looking hard at both his fists while he gripped and loosened them. He seemed to be unaffected by what his father had told him. In the bottom of his heart, he had a tiny doubt on whether what his father told him is true or not.

All he ever desired was to fight to his heart's content; the desire to fight by putting one's life on the line. Unfortunately for him, it will not happen again, no matter whether in the Dojo from distant times or the battle that had just ended. The compassion within his soul would never be lit again.

This is a harmonious world, a world without any disputes where all races stood as one, there is no need for the warrior to exist.

The memory fragments slowly faded away into the distant sky, the flying dragon flying on top of the mountain inhaling the frost, the howling of the beasts can be heard along with the breeze echoed past them to a faraway place.

When the cold breeze passed through Joshua, he suddenly smiled and stood by the edge of the fortress wall. He looked at the mountain clusters and the sky, it seems as though he can see through the obstacles and see all the Daemons that were lurking in the shadows and darkness.

Joshua reached out his hand, a red flame burning on his palm and the Combat Aura gave out a bright light. It slowly turned into a darker color and became dark red, it shone throughout his face.

The flame seemed to be held back, the dark red blaze unable to darken its color furthermore, it stayed like that and ceased to move no matter how vigorously it lit up.

"The killing intent which showed out that does not have a target will only be like that."

As he mumbled with slight regret but there is confidence and hope, "Nevertheless, when the next battle starts it will be my glory."

This was a real world.

There is no doubt this was real; the heartbeat from his heart or the thin ice underneath his feet or the passion in the warrior's blood or even the enemies' flesh and blood. They were data in the game, not beautiful posters; their very existence of the above mentioned was real, no matter in the distant past or the current times.

In this world, everything was real regardless of the battle; killing or even dying together with Combat Aura, the concept was same with the non-stop flow of the stream.

The triumphant dark-haired warrior would rest in peace here.

The glorious strength which laid deep in the soul was the combination of determination and passion which was released together to the fullest. It cannot be defined by a mere game or could it be deciphered by the system. In order to become a legendary warrior, one had to work hard and earn through his both hands.

Joshua was a drifter of time and not a good person in heart; he did not have any feelings for the world that he was currently in no matter what ill fate may befall this world. He only cared deeply for the safety for those he cared about. The calamity consisted of endless waves of strong enemies. Just like at Ares Fortress invaded by creatures from the abyss like countless worms, this was an opportunity for battle.

As long as the killing urge was released, then the battle could be continued, it was all that matters.

"Ying, the hour is late let's head back," said Joshua without caring that the silver-haired girl was confused with his words while patting her head.

"Yes Master," said the girl.

The confused girl hadn't had the slightest clue about what her master said, thought and even with the memory synchronization, she was unable to see things clearly. She vaguely understood what her master meant and felt that her questions were answered as she nodded with some doubts and followed him on his back.

Although, she did not get answers to the questions there was one thing which is clear to her.

"My master Joshua yearns for battle, thus he needs me, which is enough."

Feeling satisfied that she was needed, she smiled as she followed her master while leaving the castle wall. It is not a matter of feeling nor loyalty, just like a warrior is destined to fight, a weapon solely belonging to its master.

The snowfall continued as they walked away.

Somewhere along the direction where Joshua had gazed upon, behind the cluster mountain, deep in the forest, there laid a huge dragon which had half of its body black and gold color resting on top of a gray cliff, licking its wounds.

There was a red-black halo circling the steel spear which pierced the wound, the wound which should have been healed is still flowing with blood and draining its energy.

"Arghhh…"

The soaring rage filled the forest and the black dragon's body emitted chaotic magic. Purplish black mist shot up the sky, spreading throughout the forest. Countless Berserk Daemons breathed in this energy; they were relieved as their evolved body had special needs. Their bodies then created a crystal-like exoskeleton around their bodies, containing unknown energy.

In the middle of the Black Forest, a bright light was emitted; a chaotic and foul mist came gushing out of a black dimensional rift.

On top of a hill, there was a huge amount of energy from other dimensions coming to this world through the dimensional passage. There were many crustacean bug-like creatures with crystalized shells coming out of the dimensional passage and they lingered around the area while their numbers kept increasing.

In the chilly black mist, an invisible wing could be seen vaguely as both wings flapped in the sky; there were strange lines carved on the wings with shining ice blue magic light. As the blue light shone, the snow seemed to be heavier and the wind was stronger in a ten-mile radius. The air flow also change its direction due to the wings and is heading towards Moldova Fortress.

Buzzzz...

The buzzing sound caused by the icy blue wings split the cloud in half as an enormous half transparent butterfly as huge as a castle emerged through the dimensional rift.

The snowfall was getting heavier and heavier.