Chapter 47: The Space-Time Gate Opens Again
The moment Joshua entered the edge of the Black Forest, he discovered that due to the chaotic mana and the thick purple-black mist, he had lost his sense of direction in an instant. Even the highly conspicuous sunlight coordinates in the sky could no longer be sensed. All he could see were countless ferocious magical beasts.
However, losing his bearings and target was something this warrior had already anticipated.
A small clump of black mist swirled inside a small bottle at Joshua's waist. This was the breath he had deliberately taken after enduring a blast of Black Dragon's mana breath—using this breath as a guide, he could bypass all wrong paths without needing the sunlight coordinates, charging straight along the correct route toward the location of the Black Erosion Dragon, the direction where the beast tide surged most violently.
"Oww!"
Swinging his greatsword and giant axe, tearing apart and slaughtering any enemy daring to block his advance, a low wolf howl suddenly sounded from beside Joshua right after he finished a continuous exchange of blows!
Joshua sensed immense danger. His hair stood on end. His body's instincts made him turn around instinctively, and at that same moment, a massive gray wolf lunged fiercely out from the shadow of a tree beside him!
This magical beast, a full four meters in length, had visible chaotic shadow mana flowing through its body. Because Joshua dodged in time, it didn't hit its target but instead pounced onto another mindlessly charging magical beast. Instantly, that poor beast was completely eroded and dissolved by the thick shadow mana, vanishing into nothingness.
Silver High-rank magical beast, Shadow Wolf. Like all shadow-type magical beasts, it possessed the ability to sneak attack by diving into shadows! Its innate ability allowed it to use the power of shadow to dissolve most matter!
Having missed its strike, the giant wolf didn't linger. It immediately ran to the shadow behind a massive black tree, channeled its mana, and prepared to return to the shadows, waiting for another chance to ambush.
"Naive."
With a sharp shout, the silver greatsword swept horizontally, and the sound of wind and thunder roared.
How could Joshua, having been ambushed, give this enemy a chance to escape? The greatsword swung, battle qi flowed, and a razor-sharp red energy blade shot across dozens of meters like a laser, slashing horizontally toward the giant wolf's location.
But the giant wolf had only just begun to submerge, with only its hind legs having merged into the shadows. Relying purely on instinct to hunt, it never imagined that it, already hidden, would be counterattacked.
Striking once without pausing to watch the result, Joshua maintained his previous speed, constantly leaping and weaving through the earth and bushes, quickly disappearing into the forest's darkness. The next moment, the Shadow Wolf was bisected, its body split in two. Twisted shadows swallowed its remains, while the tree in front of it slowly toppled, as if cut down by something invisible.
"Boom! Boom!!"
The sound of footsteps shaking the forest echoed continuously through the black bushes. The ferocious roars of the surging beast tide howled as they swept through the jungle. This nearly endless beast tide, impossible to quantify by numbers, gushed forth like a black fountain erupting from a crack, ceaselessly pouring out from the darkness amid the mist and trees. And a red light firmly stood at the center of this tide, unmoving, even advancing rapidly forward.
Joshua could sense that the chaotic mana ahead was gradually increasing, and the density of the frenzied beasts was also growing. These monsters had already begun to show obvious signs of crystal mutation, and their strength was increasing.
"Master, these magical beasts are all showing signs of Wild God transformation!"
From the silver-white greatsword in his hand came Ying's mental warning: "I think ordinary weapons are no longer effective against them."
"No, they still have some effect."
Pulling the giant axe from the collapsed skull of a mammoth, Joshua stood on the corpse of this massive monster, pausing for half a second to identify his position and target direction. At the same time, he mentally communicated with his Divine Mechanism: "Is Wild God transformation that state where crystals grow all over the body?"
As he spoke, the warrior decisively hurled the now-damaged giant axe forward. The sound of air tearing roared, and wind waves surged ahead. The heavy weapon, originally designed as a throwing axe, turned into a blurry black streak, cleanly hitting a group of galloping giant boars. Their tusks had already begun to crystallize, and the surrounding chaotic mana was like a black vortex.
But the battle qi explosion carried by the flying axe brought terrifying lethality. Amid thunderous roars, a semi-transparent shockwave reverberated through that space. The entire group of monsters died on the spot, their flesh and bones reduced to pulp.
"Yes... but Master, it's better to use me to deal with them. My properties can more easily split these monsters' shells and kill them..."
"Don't worry, there will be time for you to fight later."
His blood-soaked black cloak rustled loudly during the rapid advance. Joshua quickly pulled a steel-forged knight's lance, two meters long, from his waist, ensuring he maintained a dual-wielding state. In such intense combat, weapon consumption was abnormally fast. At this moment, he still had a greatsword, a lance, and three throwing axes at his waist, and the shield on his back remained unused.
Using only the Divine Mechanism would limit the area and frequency of attacks too much. If humans had more than two hands, Joshua would have wished to use all the weapons on his body at once, just like those six-armed serpent demons in the Abyss.
Boom!!!
Suddenly, a low, rumbling sound came from the direction of the Black Forest's center, like continuous rolling thunder descending upon the earth, or like endless boiling magma surging from the depths of the ground. Joshua, who had remained expressionless until now, sensed the change ahead and immediately frowned.
"The Space-Time Gate has opened again!"
So soon. There really is no time left.
As soon as he spoke, accompanied by violent fluctuations in space-time, a black pillar of light shot forth like a fountain from the darkness between the bushes. It pierced straight through the sky along the trajectory of the sunlight, reaching the clouds, dyeing the heavens a layer of dim black.
"Oww!!!!!"
The chaotic mana tide surged, and instantly, all the surrounding magical beasts went berserk once more. The frenzied beasts, which had only known to charge forward and wouldn't attack Joshua unless they met him head-on, now turned their glowing purple-blue eyes—or multiple eyes—toward the warrior emitting a faint order fluctuation. They seemed to have completely abandoned their original target, intending to first eliminate this small enemy beside them that exuded a repulsive aura.
"Fully chaotic? That's actually a good thing."
Without turning his head or looking around, Joshua could clearly see through his Heart's Eye the movements of all the magical beasts attempting to attack him.
Not only that.
In his Heart's Eye, within the encirclement that had already formed, beside those massive monsters at least three meters tall, many monsters covered in pale silver smooth carapaces, radiating metallic light, were also lurking and approaching him.
These monsters had slender, insect-like bodies, with a layer of crystal-like carapace covering their backs. Inside, various dazzling lights flickered, and vast chaotic power reverberated within, providing them with formidable strength.
"Master, many mature Wild Gods are nearby!"
Ying's mental fluctuations became tense: "They're different from ordinary magical beasts!"
Ignoring his Divine Mechanism's warning, facing this encirclement of frenzied beasts that seemed intent on overwhelming him with numbers, Joshua, standing on a stone surface, took a deep breath and even closed his eyes again.
His breath circulated. Within his body, encased in black armor, came a series of explosive sounds from bones and tendons. His blood flowed faster, and his battle qi expanded and contracted with his increasingly heavy heartbeat, as if inhaling and exhaling power.
At this moment, all the warrior's strength and aura were completely withdrawn, making him look like an ordinary person. Seeing this, the frenzied beasts excitedly roared, their charging speed increasing.
But the next instant, Joshua opened his eyes. Red light blazed.
"Break!"
Completing the accumulation of power in an instant, with a sharp shout, he exerted force from his feet. Joshua stomped on the ground. The earth collapsed, countless spiderweb-like cracks spread across the stone surface, and countless rocks and trees shattered. Amid the raging wind and dust clouds sweeping in all directions, his entire form turned into a red meteor, charging straight ahead—toward the enemy's strongest point, a frontal assault!
Rings of white mist appeared behind him. In an instant, Joshua had already made contact with the enemy's vanguard.