Chapter 60: One Sword, Two Halves!
For some reason, the flying snow suddenly vanished. The dark clouds dispersed, and sunlight fell down. Under the blazing, scorching sun, a reddish-gold halo surrounded Joshua. The high temperature distorted the air, and surging winds crazily churned outward, even lifting semi-transparent shockwaves that spread in all directions. His overbearing, unmatched aura made the horde of beasts halt, not daring to approach any closer.
**[Heavenly Descent]**: The frenzied power surged through the warrior's body like thunder, sweeping away all remnants of filth, chaos, and evil. Under the eruption of his incredibly powerful Battle Qi, all foreign elements dissipated into nothing. This was even more true for the Mad Dragon Plague and Chaos Mana rapidly spreading up his leg—a flash of reddish-gold radiance passed, and the strange patterns immediately vanished without a trace. His sore and limp muscles also regained their vitality.
*Boom!*
With one step, the earth trembled. Joshua, holding his sword in one hand, charged without any hesitation towards the halted beast tide ahead and the Black Dragon hiding behind it. Accompanied by his violent stomps, the wind howled, leaving a twisted red light trail behind him. At this moment, the warrior held nothing back—he *couldn't* hold back—and erupted with his full strength!
In the eyes of the frenzied beasts and Wild Gods, it was as if a red blur crackling with lightning shot before them like light. Then, a flash of silver-white blade edge passed by. Their purple-blue eyes saw nothing but an afterimage. By the time the sound reached their ears, their heads were already soaring into the sky.
*Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!*
Joshua's figure shot straight through the formation of frenzied beasts. Every Magical Beast he passed was instantly killed, their heads severed by the greatsword, their bodies torn by the blade. A crimson mist of blood rose into the air, then was evaporated by the high heat radiating from the warrior's body, turning into red steam. Just as the frenzied beasts ahead began to stir from the attack, Joshua had already passed through them, reaching the rear.
"Break for me!"
With a furious roar, he unleashed a single Qi-Charged Slash. The air blade cut through over a dozen Magical Beasts ahead like tofu, cleaving them in two. He spun the sword half a turn, bisecting several Crystal Wild Gods that were pouncing from the side. Seizing the opportunity, Joshua rapidly charged through this stretch of cleared ground, his movements fluid and flawless, without a moment's hesitation.
This was the third second since Joshua began his charge. In the distance, the Black Dragon's head had only just roughly reformed; its horns and eyes had not yet appeared.
**[Heavenly Descent]**, as the ultimate secret art of all warriors, uses powerful Life Energy that repels everything to eliminate all negative statuses and nullify any spell effects. However, its cost is consuming one-tenth of the user's total Battle Qi per second. This was precisely why Joshua had held back from using it until now—once activated, even if he were at full capacity, it would only last ten seconds.
Now, due to the erosion of Chaos Mana, Joshua was forced to activate this ultimate art, meant only for the most dangerous moments. It was also because of this skill that this warrior, who had been fighting for a long time and whose left arm was already broken, could move freely through the beast tide without worrying about being entangled by some strange innate spell of a Magical Beast.
*Sssssss!!*
Although the Firefly-incarnated greatsword Divine Mechanism was inconvenient to use, its power was unmatched. Beneath its edge, any Magical Beast was cut in two with a single blow. Even a slight touch would result in a chunk of flesh being torn away by the rapidly spinning Battle Qi vortex on the blade.
Joshua continuously killed the Chaos-eroded Magical Beasts and Wild Gods around him. Relying on the feedback from the Azure Orb to restore his energy, he maintained the state of **[Heavenly Descent]**. The greatsword was wielded like a silver whirlwind, circling the warrior's body. Any Magical Beast daring to approach would be instantly sliced into shreds of flesh and debris.
When a warrior possesses strength beyond the ordinary, incredibly masterful skills, and an unshakable resolve, then nothing can stop his advance.
Not a high mountain, not a vast ocean, not even the boundless beast tide!
His right hand swung so fast that even an afterimage couldn't be seen. Layers upon layers of silver-white sword light surged like shimmering tidal waves, instantly drowning all the surrounding Magical Beasts. Although Joshua could only wield the sword with one hand due to his injured left arm, his imposing manner was in no way inferior to when he had dual-wielded the sword and lance. He charged at full speed, his form transforming into a reddish-gold streak of light that pierced through the beast tide. One after another, the bodies of frenzied beasts were severed, their heads flying into the air.
"Opportunity!"
He swept his sword horizontally, batting away a rhinoceros-like Magical Beast. The creature's neck was violently twisted by the immense force, and its massive body toppled over, beginning to roll, crushing a group of Magical Beasts beneath it. Joshua's eyes swept across the scene, and he immediately realized that he was less than fifty meters away from the Black Dragon, whose head was mostly formed and nearly fully healed!
This was the sixth second of **[Heavenly Descent]**. Even with the Azure Orb continuously providing restorative power, Joshua's Battle Qi reserves were down to only one-fifth!
"Up!"
The warrior stomped the ground fiercely. With a violent rumble, the stone floor was torn open, creating a huge fissure that split the originally flat ground into several smaller sections. Amidst the earth-shaking tremor, a massive rock suddenly rose up, standing like a stone stele in the midst of the beast horde.
*Boom!!!*
With two steps, Joshua stood vertically on this giant rock, almost at a ninety-degree angle to the ground. He bent his legs, muscles tensed, his gaze piercing through the beast horde, staring directly at the Black Dragon that had completely fallen into Chaos. A red light blazed fiercely in his eyes, churning like magma.
Battle Qi is a power formed by the will's shaping when the physical body is trained to its limit. The method to use it is very simple: just burn your heart, your fire, your soul's will and conviction with all your might.
And now, the warrior's Battle Qi was burning to its absolute limit!
"—I, Joshua, was a Legendary in my past life because I was a damn good fighter!"
He kicked off, the wind and waves exploding. Amidst the erupting dust, the standing giant rock was instantly shattered in the middle. Visible air waves rolled. Using it as a foothold, the warrior unleashed his fastest speed, flying like the swiftest arrow!
Mid-air, he declared proudly, "Not because I was a Legendary in my past life, so I'm a good fighter now!"
You bunch of weaklings, don't get the cause and effect wrong!
Accompanied by this arrogant proclamation, a reddish-gold radiance streaked across the sky, like a meteor carrying a momentum that could destroy everything, breaking through the beast tide and crashing into the Chaos Dragon protected by the horde. Just as Joshua arrived above the Black Dragon, the silver-white greatsword, wrapped in the blazing light of Battle Qi in his hand, swung down from above, slashing fiercely towards the dragon's body!
*Huummm——!!!*
A seemingly simple slash produced a strange humming sound. The fierce wind roared and exploded. As the greatsword's blade traced a red light trail through the air, the air let out a series of crackling booms. In the instant before the Black Dragon's head was about to fully heal itself, in the instant before the Chaos Mana had accumulated to its peak and was about to undergo a transformation, this sword strike, containing Joshua's wrath, came down cleanly and decisively!
The Black Dragon, its reason completely swallowed by Chaos, opened its massive maw, seemingly trying to let out a roar. But it was too late. From the moment its intelligence was destroyed and its body became the possession of the Evil God, it was doomed to be unable to withstand the warrior's attack. Under the light of the Gold-rank warrior's Battle Qi illuminating the surroundings, the Black Dragon could only use its 'head,' which had not yet grown eyes, to 'watch' Joshua's sword come crashing down!
*Pfft—Crackle!!!*
A red light slashed down in a straight line. The sounds of flesh being torn and bones being crushed into powder came in rapid succession. The Black Dragon stood frozen in place, its massive black body motionless. A reddish-gold light scar, like flowing magma, appeared in the center of its body, slowly splitting the dragon's form in two from the middle.
(To be continued.)