Chapter 53: Spear of Sunlight!
Praise, praise the fire in the void, praise the light within the fire, praise the thunder within the light!
Then, praise what is worthy of praise! The source of life, the radiance of existence, the divinity that illuminates the world!
"Praise, the Sun!"
Raising the longspear in his hand, Joshua laughed heartily as he praised, accompanied by a bold roar. His scorching hot Battle Qi trembled and condensed, a blinding flash like the scorching sun clenched tightly in the warrior's hand. Lightning coursed through his palm, and a holiness capable of destroying everything rapidly took shape, centered around the steel cavalry spear.
Facing the three Gold-rank magical beasts that appeared and attacked simultaneously, Joshua, after charging into the Black Forest, finally unleashed his first skill—
[Ultimate Essence·Spear of Sunlight!]
Gale winds converged, chaos was cleaved apart. The light, condensed to its extreme, exploded with a roar. Against the backdrop of the surging chaotic dragon breath, the warrior charged without hesitation towards the Dragon-Hunting Giant Spider before him.
The remaining azure-purple third eye met Joshua's gaze. It seemed as if electric sparks flew, but there was not a trace of pity in the warrior's crimson pupils, as red as glowing steel. Ignoring the terrifying attack behind him, Joshua swung his arm, leaving a golden scratch in the air. He thrust the unseeably bright spear forward. Blazing golden radiance burst forth, plunging completely into the spider's head, already scarred and burning from the Yan Blade's flames!
Boom!!
There was no blood or shredded flesh. Amidst the blinding flash, rings of circular shockwaves, accompanied by intense heat and high temperature, melted everything away. On the ground, dust and flying smoke billowed. A semi-circular, bowl-shaped golden light shield slowly rose, completely enveloping the spider's nearly ten-meter-long upper body, then reducing it to nothingness and embers.
Instantly, between heaven and earth, within the Black Forest, all things could hear no sound, nor see any color. They could only feel the scorching hot wind surging wildly, surging back and forth across the land, turning solid rock into dust and churning the earth like waves.
One strike of the Spear of Sunlight forcibly killed the Dragon-Hunting Giant Spider. One of the three Gold-rank magical beasts was gone. It should have been a great victory worthy of cheers, but under the current circumstances, Joshua had no room to rest. He turned around. The surrounding frenzied beasts had long since scattered when the Ice Butterfly unleashed its large-scale, indiscriminate ice spear attack earlier. And the black chaotic dragon breath was now right before his eyes!
The scorching mana tide carved a trail of red-gold magma across the ground. Like a tornado, it swept up endless mana in an instant, completely engulfing Joshua, who was momentarily exhausted and unable to dodge!
—On the hilltop.
A figure charged down from the heights with unstoppable force, leaving behind a trail of deep cyan wind and massive waves of blood wherever it passed. Ordinary frenzied beasts couldn't last even a moment against the twin blades in this figure's hands, instantly torn into a mess of blood and shredded flesh. Only powerful monsters at the Silver High-rank could barely keep their bodies intact. Threatened by this immense power, the nearby frenzied beasts no longer paid attention to the battle of the Gold-rank powerhouses on the side. Instead, they turned and surrounded this figure.
But it was useless.
Brandon fully activated his magic eye. A deep cyan vortex swirled within his pupils. Breathing steadily, he swung his twin blades, tracing countless black lines through the air. The sharp blades struck the 'cracks' on all the surrounding magical beasts with stable and precise accuracy. In an instant, the so-called encirclement was easily torn apart. The Gold-rank swordsman effortlessly broke through the encirclement of these foolish monsters and arrived at an open plain.
Due to the battle between Joshua and the spider, all the surrounding trees had long since fallen, either smashed to pieces or burned to ashes. The frenzied beasts had also all fled because of the Ice Butterfly's magic from afar. The view was clear, and Brandon could see the fierce battlefield distinctly.
But what he saw was this scene—the warrior burning with crimson Battle Qi using a golden spear to reduce the giant spider's head to nothingness, while the black dragon breath, sweeping across the land like a tornado, engulfed him at the same time!
A bone-chilling cold surged from the base of his spine, pierced through his heart and brain, and reached the depths of his soul. Without time to think, the Gold-rank swordsman's heart was filled only with a chill.
Joshua, dead?!
As this thought arose, chaotic thoughts flooded his mind. Brandon's instinct made him start thinking rapidly—the Dragon-Hunting Spider was dead now, Joshua's fate was unknown, but it seemed unlikely to be good. In that case, it was better to retreat quickly and hold the city wall. As Verdani said, although the Empire's experts were busy suppressing the Black Tide in the south and center, the Northern Lands, as the sealed location of the Space-Time Channel, was also extremely important. It wouldn't be long before an Ultimate-rank expert arrived.
As for the Space-Time Channel, it was regrettable, but one shouldn't worry about things they couldn't accomplish.
"No, once the Space-Time Channel opens, there's no more holding the line!"
Gritting his teeth, Brandon suddenly came to his senses. As an enemy of Chaos and a guardian of Order, he clearly knew the consequences of an Evil God's tentacles reaching into this world. Preventing this situation was his duty and destiny. In an instant, he cast aside all thoughts of cowardice and retreat. A resolute aura of no return appeared on the Gold-rank swordsman.
He absolutely could not let Verdani die before him, and he absolutely could not let Joshua's sacrifice be in vain!
—Far away, within the clouds.
The black and gold two-colored dragon, spreading chaotic mist, flew at high speed, arriving at the location of the breath attack. It coldly surveyed the devastation on the ground below with its single eye—the Black Forest, originally covered in mud and rock, was now just a huge, red-gold crater. Inside, magma flowed and exploded, splashing red-gold sparks, slowly filling it.
Above the crater was a sky-obscuring cloud of black-purple thick smoke. Within the smoke and clouds, dim lightning crackled.
Under the devastating breath attack, which the Black Dragon had long prepared, gathering all the chaotic mist mana from its surroundings, this area of the Black Forest was completely destroyed. The soil for hundreds of meters was completely blasted away and overturned. Countless ashes and dust surged into the clouds, making the already gloomy sky even darker and more oppressive.
Is it over?
The Black Dragon knew that its full-power breath, transformed by Chaos, was incredibly powerful, even stronger than the destructive power of an average Gold Peak grand spell. It was enough to collapse hills, boil rivers dry, and even change the local terrain, completely breaking open the city gate of the nearby Black Forest Fortress. Logically, this was no longer power that a being of its rank should be able to use, but now the Black Dragon could control it smoothly, without any sign of backlash or sluggishness.
But could such an attack really kill that warrior?
The Black Dragon clearly remembered that back in the sky above the fortress wall, a crimson spear had torn through the air, pierced the magic barrier, and stabbed into its body. In its fury, it had retaliated with a dragon breath.
Although that breath attack certainly wasn't prepared for as long as this one, and its power was absolutely not as strong as the one just now, it was still a dragon breath. Apart from the output, there was no essential difference between that attack and the current one. Yet that warrior using crimson Battle Qi had managed to withstand it with his human body.
"..."
In the crater, magma churned. There was no sign of anything unusual. This gradually dispelled the Black Dragon's doubts.
Even if this warrior could kill the Dragon-Hunting Spider, a powerful magical beast that even it found troublesome, a human was still a human. It was absolutely impossible for him to survive such an attack. Even if he barely held on to a breath of life, he couldn't withstand the burning of the magma.
He is dead.
The relieved Black Dragon turned its head and looked down at the side of the hill below. A deep cyan dot traced an arc across the ground, breaking the sound barrier, pulling a vacuum corridor through the dust, and running towards the magma crater that was beginning to cool.
It nodded slightly, flapped its wings, stirring up drifting scale powder. Its figure merged into the clouds and black mist, disappearing from sight. But its mind issued an instruction, commanding the Ice Butterfly, which had been parasitized by a Chaos Egg and completely eroded and controlled, to manipulate its ice mana. Thus, the blizzard in the sky, which had been slowly weakening, intensified again. The biting wind carried the chill, cooling the hellishly hot battlefield.
A cyan dot. Order Force. Instinct told the Black Dragon that this was also a powerful enemy, one it needed to prepare carefully for and treat seriously.
Both sides shifted their attention elsewhere. No one cared about this patch of land anymore. The gray-yellow carapace of the Dragon-Hunting Giant Spider, its body only half remaining, was gradually buried by the wind and snow. The magma slowly cooled.
But right in the center of the gradually solidifying magma pool, a sound emerged.
"Thump!"
A slight ripple.
"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
A violent heartbeat suddenly sounded. The ripples expanded. The viscous red-gold magma rippled. Then, a humanoid figure, wrapped in crimson flames and colorless light, slowly stood up from the red-gold magma.
"...Huff."
A deep breath expelled a scorching wind, stirring the distorted air. Magma clung to its body, slowly dripping down, but the figure seemed oblivious.
It stared straight up at the high sky.