Chapter 30: Order Twin Blades
[Continent of Strife] was a fully immersive game from a past life with an exceptionally high degree of freedom, boasting millions of regular players and hundreds of millions of registered users. It was truly a landmark, epoch-defining masterpiece of the world.
As its name suggested, sword and fire, blood and steel, and endless strife were its eternal themes. Beneath the blazing sun and twin moons, as players continuously explored, adventured, fought, and completed quests across the Mycroft Continent, the history of the game world slowly advanced.
Players could freely participate in the course of history, using their own power to influence the world's direction and reverse major trends... Driven by players and various events, the storyline of the Continent of Strife could be divided into four stages, known as the four game versions.
The first version's theme was conflict between races.
The northern humans against the orcs, the southern humans against the alien insects, the western humans against the mountain folk, the eastern humans against the sea beasts. No matter the region, the faction a player belonged to had a hostile race. Eliminating or conquering them was the player's choice and mission.
In the past life, the human and elven kingdoms of the southern lands conquered the alien insects and signed an Order Pact during the epic event [Eternal Oath]. Meanwhile, the Northern Empire, during the epic event [Glory Expedition], completely routed and utterly exterminated the orcs of the northwestern plains.
The second version's theme was conflict between civilization and nature.
The Black Tide of the Black Forest was one of the most frequent and terrifying natural disasters faced by all civilized races. Quelling it, discovering the cause of the Black Tide, or completely solving this millennia-old puzzle that plagued civilization was the key point of this version.
In the past life, no faction ever quelled the Black Tide or found the reason for its formation. Everyone simply fought it back and then let it be... It wasn't considered a failure; history still passed slowly, but the consequences remained.
The latter two versions were, respectively, conflict between gods and conflict between worlds, which were a bit too far in the future to concern them now.
Regardless, the transitions of these eras were composed and driven by countless legendary and epic events. These events naturally required people's participation. Anyone had the chance to become the center of a historical turning point, the so-called [Heroes].
Before his transmigration, Joshua was participating with his comrades in the world-class epic event [Starfall Skyward] at the end of the fourth version. Their goal was to resist the third invasion of the Demon Lord's army. If successful, this battle could influence the world's direction and reverse the course of history—making them heroes in the truest sense.
Unfortunately, due to the betrayal of certain individuals, the warrior was eliminated early on. Although he didn't see the subsequent events, since even the leader was assassinated, he assumed it was a failure... They hadn't managed to reverse the fate of Naya Fortress.
But now, things were different.
Joshua had transmigrated into this familiar yet strange world... this real, tangible, undeniably existing world.
Now, there were still many, many years before that failure from his past life. There was a very long time to prepare.
If that was the case, then no one could stop him anymore—not even fate. When faced with a warrior determined to change it, fate would no longer be fate.
Joshua looked at the Brandon Kaos before him.
This golden-haired man was undoubtedly one of the most core heroes of the fourth version of the Continent of Strife from the past life, [Continent of Strife: Myriad Worlds, Myriad Armies]. The warrior had even fought alongside him once.
When Brandon led several Legendary-rank experts to infiltrate the Tear Valley Fortress in the Abyss to assassinate the invading Demon Lord [Gluttony Demon Lord Goliath], Joshua was leading his own war band on the main battlefield as part of the human allied forces, fighting a decisive battle against the demon army to tie up the enemy's attention.
Although they had never met face-to-face, in a sense, they were very familiar with each other.
That was why Joshua found it so unbelievable.
This bachelor... no, rather, this pure ascetic—when did he get a wife?!
"Since you can fully represent Count Scalante in handling affairs, this makes things much more convenient."
Even though his ingrained impression was shattered, Joshua didn't ask directly. He continued along the previous topic, his expression calm. "My knights have been riding hard in this weather for a long time. They are exhausted and urgently need rest. Though it may be a bit presumptuous, I hope you can provide places to rest and food as soon as possible."
"A perfectly reasonable request."
Without a moment's hesitation, Brandon nodded in agreement. Faced with this group of knights who had come from afar to provide support, he couldn't refuse such a simple request. He waved over a soldier and instructed him, "Tell the people in the back to prepare. Clear out enough houses and prepare a meal—the best kind."
"Thank you."
"It's my duty. The warriors have come from afar; I should be the one thanking you."
After exchanging thanks, the golden-haired warrior looked around, then said seriously to Joshua, "Lord Count, the beast tide has receded for now... If you're not in a hurry, there are some things I'd like to discuss with you in private."
"No problem."
Joshua had no reason to refuse. He readily agreed. "Go ahead."
"Then please follow me."
Brandon nodded and turned directly, walking towards the spiral staircase at the corner of the city wall.
The warrior followed.
The soldiers originally standing guard at the stairs saw two Gold-rank experts approaching and immediately saluted. At the golden-haired swordsman's gesture, they nodded somewhat nervously and quickly went out to patrol, leaving an empty space for the two.
"Mr. Brandon, this place is quiet."
Joshua was never one for polite formalities. Once the city guard had left, he asked directly, "So, whatever it is, you can speak your mind now."
"It's nothing..."
At this point, the swordsman fell silent for a moment instead. He frowned slightly, as if he hadn't yet figured out how to say it.
But then, the handsome golden-haired swordsman shook his head and sighed softly. "Forget it. Explaining it would indeed be troublesome, but showing you this should make it clear."
With that, Brandon solemnly gripped the twin swords at his waist with both hands and slowly drew them.
Joshua raised an eyebrow, his crimson eyes fixed on the other's waist. He naturally wouldn't misunderstand that the swordsman was about to attack him. The warrior could clearly see that the other man was trying to show him his weapons.
Moreover, even if he did intend to attack, the warrior was confident he could beat this future Legendary Sword Saint, who was still only at Gold-rank, until he cried and called for his mother.
But for now, he had no time to think about such strange things. While wondering why the other man was showing him his weapons, Joshua's attention was completely drawn to the twin swords.
As these unremarkable-looking swords, always hanging at the swordsman's waist, were drawn, infused with the golden swordsman's battle qi, a colorless light immediately illuminated the entire spiral passage. Some nameless power pulsed slowly on the blades, rippling and transmitting through the air like waves, stirring up faint currents.
This ripple felt incredibly orderly, like the embodiment of rules themselves—the most severe yet also the most gentle power. It was exactly like the power contained within the Azure Orb, even identical in every way.
"Born from fire, forged from steel. Wisdom is eternal, Order endures."
The golden swordsman's voice came through, carrying a hint of a smile. "These are the heirlooms of my family: the Edge of Order Iron, the Blades of Sequence. In other words, the legendary holy swords forged by the Third Saint of the Sage—[Order Twin Blades of the Sanctuary Guardian]. Like your [Azure Orb of the Seal Guardian], they are relics left by the Sage to combat Chaos."
"The new Chaos Warden, I'm very glad to see you here."