Chapter 49: Standoff and the Redwood Rune Box
Before his eyes was a vast expanse of white, a chilling sensation flooding his entire body. Semi-transparent ice crystals melted from the heat of his body, turning into warm steam. Lying flat in the snow, Joshua took a deep breath. Unsurprisingly, he sensed a thick surge of chaotic mana within it, attempting to erode his body.
This place had been completely corrupted. Without several High Priest-level clergy to perform a purification, even if the space-time gate were closed, the deep darkness would remain entrenched here for centuries to come, slowly assimilating everything.
At this moment, the warrior began to recall what exactly [Chaos] was.
...Actually, there wasn't much to think about. It was simply the source of all calamities, both in his past life and this one—no exceptions.
Chaos, this kind of thing, would devour everything illuminated by fire. It would blur existence, erase order, destroy civilization, and taint wisdom. Any living being would not permit such behavior. Joshua chose to fight Chaos not because of superficial factors like emotion, but out of the duty of being an orderly intelligent lifeform. This was an unavoidable responsibility.
Although order and chaos were two sides of the same coin, and fire needed it to burn, to release the light of existence, and to give birth to the source of worlds from the void, regardless—whether it was an Abyss invasion, void erosion, evil god temptation, or the arrival of alien demons—none of these events related to Chaos were ever good. Each time, they caused massive casualties.
This space-time gate incident was no different.
If Joshua hadn't closed it immediately, allowing the gate to fully open and the entity behind it to extend its tentacles, it would undoubtedly have been a disaster no less severe than the true descent of an Abyss Lord—a major event worthy of being recorded in history, one that required a Legendary expert to resolve.
Though he craved battle, Joshua certainly didn't want such an event to occur near his home.
Fortunately, the situation hadn't yet reached such a dire stage. Although the subsequent plans were somewhat troublesome, all in all, he would first slaughter those monsters, then think about more complex issues.
Boom!
The recollection was completed in an instant. In fact, just a moment after being buried by the snow from the tree, red light flickered within the snowdrift. Heat rose, and Joshua's battle qi expanded and contracted, easily shaking off the layer of snow piled on him. His right hand firmly gripped the silver-white greatsword as he stood up, then spat out a mouthful of congested blood from his lungs.
The seemingly fierce pounce earlier hadn't inflicted a fatal wound on the warrior.
"This monster is a bit stronger than I thought."
Joshua looked at the distant giant beast, which was also watching his direction, waiting for an opportunity to attack. For the first time since charging into the Black Forest, his expression turned somewhat serious.
Alien insects were monsters hundreds of times larger than ordinary insects. The magic insect encountered earlier was one of them.
Their physical capabilities far surpassed ordinary Black Iron-rank magical beasts, even to the point of being overwhelming.
Although they lacked sufficient intelligence to learn various techniques, relying purely on their physical strength, natural instincts, and various innate spells, they could still be considered a powerful race, thriving in this world full of strife.
Back in the Far South, the combined forces of humans and elves had barely managed to suppress the locally rampant alien insects, signing a coexistence and mutual benefit pact with the Hive Mind during the epic event [Natural Covenant].
Relying on their physical bodies to contend with humans and elves who had nearly entered the era of magical industry was enough to prove their terror.
However, there was one type of creature that could easily hunt alien insects of the same size, or even several times larger, and feed on them.
That creature was the spider—a terrifying being that resembled an insect but was not one.
And the Gold-rank magical beast known as the Dragon Spider was even more so.
In the distance, the massive monster with a yellow-gray carapace stood motionless, its eight huge, somewhat crystallized legs ready to charge. The wound on its lower abdomen, inflicted by Joshua's lance, continuously oozed a bluish-white, milky mucus. Its eight eyes flickered with a purple-blue light, while its terrifying maw and fangs opened and closed, dripping colorless venom.
The Dragon Spider—a fearsome creature with the carapace of a giant crab, the magic resistance of a dragon, and the explosive power of a spider. Its defense, speed, and attack power were all terrifying. An ordinary Gold-rank warrior facing it wouldn't last ten exchanges. Dealing with such a monster required at least a well-coordinated four-person elite squad to barely manage.
Even a pure-blooded dragon at the same rank might not be as strong.
Touching his breastplate, Joshua was unsurprised to find two large holes.
Just now, when the Dragon Spider had ambushed from underground and slammed into him violently, his extensive experience had told him what it was going to do. Although he had many ways to dodge this attack, after thinking and judging, Joshua decided to meet the monster head-on in a direct clash.
Due to the difference in mass, the result of this head-on collision was the warrior being ruthlessly knocked flying. The giant spider's fangs had also intended to pierce into his body and inject venom, but blocked by his battle qi and armor, this fierce bite was stopped by the Steel Armor Breathing Art, leaving not even a white mark.
Although he had sustained some internal injuries, Joshua had at the same time driven a lance filled with battle qi deep into the opponent's body. The two-meter-long steel lance sank in up to the hilt, and the battle qi exploded inside its body. Compared to the degree of injury, the Dragon Spider was certainly worse off.
"..."
Without speaking, the warrior remained silent, locked in a standoff with the giant spider. Meanwhile, countless magical beasts were swarming in from all around. This was the center of the Black Forest, not an arena for him to duel the Dragon Spider—it was the enemy's stronghold. Surging darkness like a tide surrounded the small grove where Joshua stood, filled with the chaotic roars and howls of beasts. However, even these weak, frenzied magical beasts, having lost their reason, dared not attack the warrior before them.
They were waiting.
And the Dragon Spider, which still retained a shred of intelligence, was hesitating.
As a Gold-rank magical beast with dragon blood flowing through its veins, even after being eroded by Chaos, its intelligence hadn't been completely lost. It could still weigh pros and cons. That was why, after being severely wounded, this monster had changed its previously ferocious nature and cautiously held its ground against the black-armored warrior.
As a hunting bird-spider and insect-spider that didn't weave webs but relied purely on venom and fierce pounces to catch prey, its silk and spinneret had, over millions of years of evolution, become mana organs for releasing binding spells. Just now, it was this spider-silk spell, comparable to a high-level human immobilization spell, that had firmly pinned Joshua in place, unable to move, forcing him to endure its attack.
But what it had never expected was that this iron can in front of it was unexpectedly tough.
The Dragon Spider had eaten people, many people. Whether armored or unarmored, using magic or not, as long as they were human, most only needed to bite through their outermost shell to taste the tender raw meat inside... But this guy in front of him, even if you bit through the outer shell, the inside was still just as hard, even harder.
Faced with such an extraordinary situation, an ordinary beast would give up hunting this powerful target and seek weaker prey instead. But this time was different... The power of Chaos was spreading through its body, making it unable to tolerate the waves of orderly fluctuations emanating from Joshua. Yet reason repeatedly warned that fighting this human was an extremely foolish act.
The clash between instinct and intelligence made the Dragon Spider even more cautious, while the surrounding magical beasts, cowed by the warrior's power, dared not move recklessly. This gave Joshua ample time.
"I originally thought I'd have to fight and grab it at the same time, which would be troublesome."
Grabbing the hole in his armor caused by the Dragon Spider's bite with his left hand, Joshua muttered to himself, "I didn't expect it to go so smoothly."
Your choice not to attack is your own death sentence.
A grim smile appeared on his face. Then, his muscles contracted, his arm exerted force, and the incredibly hard enchanted armor was torn open like thin paper, creating a crack. He reached his hand inside, fumbled around his chest, and then pulled out a box.
A box carved from redwood, covered with countless flowing runes.