Chapter 20: Steel Tainted by Chaos 2
West of the city, the auxiliary mansion.
Having revealed his identity as a mage and been welcomed in, Nostradamus sat on a chair in the reception hall. He sipped the hot tea served by the maids, leisurely observing his surroundings, then remarked with a sigh, "Unexpectedly, even a backup lord's mansion has no lack of interior decoration... This cut was made at precisely the right spot."
Although this final remark was somewhat inexplicable, no one found it abrupt, because not far in front of the white-robed mage hung the head of an Ice Fang Dragon mounted on the hall's wall.
From the end of last year, the ice dragon used for the sacrificial festival now remained only as this severed head, hanging there. Its eyes were wide open in fury, perfectly preserving the anger it held in life. If an ordinary person saw it, they would surely be startled.
In fact, most of the maids and servants working here had been frightened by this ferocious decoration at first, but after so long, they had all grown accustomed to it.
"Starting from the gap of the fifth weakest vertebra, a single clean cut with no hesitation—very experienced. Just how many heads has he chopped off to gain such skill?"
Continuing his praise with a nod, the old mage turned to the long-eared woman beside him, who was dressed in a robe and sitting quietly on a chair, occasionally taking a sip of tea. He asked with a smile, "Claire, as an Earth Druid, aren't you dedicated to the balance of all living things? Don't you have any opinion on this?"
"Hmm..."
Hearing Nostradamus's words, the druid with green hair and long, pointed ears furrowed her brow slightly. Claire gently set her teacup aside, thought for a moment, then replied seriously, "It's not a slaughter. No issue."
Having said that, she picked up her teacup again, took a sip, and revealed a faint smile.
"You really do love your tea."
Shaking his head, the old mage was not surprised by this answer. The elf druid before him was not an extremist of the Forest Faction but a more moderate member of the Earth Faction. They believed that civilization was also part of the natural cycle. As long as it wasn't like the pathological over-logging of the Black Forest, then hunting magical beasts or harvesting timber was within acceptable limits—the baseline being not hunting pregnant females and replanting seedlings after logging.
*Crack.*
A sound came from the door not far away.
"Ah, the master of the house has arrived."
Clapping his hands, the white-robed mage immediately stood up. He looked with a smile toward the side of the reception hall, where the corridor leading to the main entrance was located. "Claire, as a guest, actively greeting the host's arrival is the most basic etiquette."
"Fake."
The elf druid shot a glare at her old friend.
"We've known each other for nearly fifty years, haven't we? There's no need for so much formality between acquaintances."
As the two were conversing, Joshua entered his auxiliary mansion. At this moment, he was wearing a form-fitting black-brown leather armor, with a military ceremonial longsword at his waist. Since the warrior hadn't cut his hair recently, his long locks were tied into a ponytail hanging behind him.
Joshua passed through the corridor and entered the reception hall. The smooth black pinewood floor produced clear footsteps as they met the soles of his boots. His eyes held a hint of curiosity, as if wondering which mage would want to visit him at this time—but when he saw the white-robed old mage, the warrior's eyes widened, and his curiosity instantly turned into shock.
"Ultimate Essence of the Soul?!"
Exclaiming in a low voice, Joshua instinctively placed his hand on the sword at his waist, readying himself for battle. "This is way too overpowered!"
According to the messenger's report, the visiting old mage was highly skilled, with a depth that was impossible to gauge. But the warrior had assumed that "highly skilled" meant at most Gold-rank, perhaps even just a Silver High-rank mage. After all, the city guards at the gate were only Black Iron-rank, so whether it was Silver High-rank or Gold, they would all seem like unfathomably powerful beings to them.
Regardless, he had never imagined this.
By the Seven Gods, how rare were Ultimate-rank mages in this world before the Great Magic Tide arrived? The Eastern Plains were the homeland of mana-powered industrialization, boasting the best and most complete mage academies and traditions. Yet even so, there were no more than twenty Ultimate-rank mages. And the current Northern Empire was no longer the nation of three hundred years ago, which had Legendary mages. Now, even the emperor was a Legendary warrior, and the empire had only two surviving Ultimate-rank mages!
Thinking this, Joshua calmed his surprise. He focused his gaze, took a deep breath, and sighed. "Imperial Archmage, President of the Royal Mage Association... Lord Nostradamus, you came to my humble territory without giving prior notice. Were you trying to give me a surprise?"
Clearly, it was only surprise, with no joy. Sighing inwardly, the warrior looked helplessly at the Ultimate-rank mage before him, recalling from his past life the information about this old man.
Nostradamus, no surname, born in the year 768 of the Falling Stars Era. His parents were commoners in the Imperial Capital. From a young age, he displayed extraordinary talent in spellcasting and prophecy. With the support of the Kaos Family, he successfully became a Silver-rank mage at the age of twenty-three. Thirty years ago, during the era of the previous emperor, in the year 802 of the Falling Stars Era, the then 34-year-old Nostradamus had already achieved Gold Glory. Answering the empire's call, he resolutely joined the army, participating in the largest war against the orcs in three hundred years—the First Northwestern Plains Full-Scale War.
On the battlefield, the previously unremarkable Nostradamus shone with incredible brilliance. The mage corps built around him were undefeated, even successively routing three orc shaman legions of equal size. Post-war statistics showed he had defeated twenty-seven Gold-rank orc experts of the same level. This number shocked even the then-emperor, who invited him to teach his future successor, the Great Prince—now His Majesty Emperor Israel.
Of course, this was not why Joshua remembered him. Although these events were legendary, they weren't worth remembering for so long. What truly made Joshua remember this mage happened in the future—
In the year 835 of the Falling Stars Era, three years from now, this old mage in his past life stayed true to his original aspirations: he founded the empire's first formal mage academy in the Imperial Capital. Whether commoner or noble, anyone with talent could enter and learn the mysteries of magic. This action cultivated countless powerful spellcasters, providing great assistance in the future resistance against Chaos invasion.
Come to think of it, Brandon seems to be his junior... So the reason for his visit here seems quite obvious.
"It is my disrespect not to have informed you, Lord Count. As for laughter, let's not mention the long and storied history of the Radcliffe Family of the Northern Lands. Your reputation as the Iron Count has long spread to the Imperial Capital—riding a horse for seventeen days and nights to ambush and kill rebels, leading troops to reinforce Moldova, and closing a spacetime gate single-handedly. These great deeds have become topics of discussion at noble banquets in the Imperial Capital."
The old mage smiled as he praised the warrior before him, and the warrior, in turn, seized the moment to express his admiration. After exchanging pleasantries for a while, they quickly got down to business.
"The reason I came is precisely for the spacetime gate in the Black Forest of Moldova."
Nostradamus stared intently at the warrior, his eyes full of curiosity. "As one of the empire's only two Ultimate-rank mages, sealing spacetime gates is my responsibility. Half a month ago, with the assistance of Lady Verdani, I completely sealed that enormous spacetime fissure. Thanks to you, Lord Count, for destroying all the mana convergence points, I didn't need to spend extra effort cleaning up the residual Chaos."
In fact, aside from this, the old mage had secretly observed Joshua for at least two weeks. Besides being shocked that the warrior had advanced to Gold High-rank, he had been constantly searching for any trace of the Ultimate Essence. But over this long period, he had found not a single hint of it, as if the trace of essence that appeared when the warrior fought Brandon was merely an illusion.
Without evidence or clues, he couldn't make inferences. For now, Nostradamus could only set this matter aside and handle the main business first.
"Just call me Joshua. As for those deeds, they were merely the duties of a lord. I didn't think much of them." Joshua shook his head. The warrior knew that the old mage was of common birth and had stayed true to his principles over the years, refusing all of the empire's rewards, remaining a commoner to this day. But that was no reason for the other to use honorifics toward him. He turned to look at the green-haired woman standing quietly behind the old mage and asked with some curiosity, "And who might this be?"
"She is my longtime friend, Claire Wind-Song, a Gold High-rank Forest Elf Druid."
As if he had been waiting for the warrior to ask this question, the white-robed old mage smiled and introduced her to Joshua. "I invited her here precisely to purify the Chaos mana accumulated in the Northern Lands' earth due to the spacetime gate."
I see. Hearing this, the warrior immediately understood.
Currently, the Far Sea Holy Mountain was preparing for some major events, so they had no spare personnel to send out to cleanse the Chaos force in the Northern Lands. The Church of the Seven Gods was in the same situation. Therefore, Order Druids who followed the path of balance were indeed the best choice at the moment. They could also purify Chaos force, and given that the current situation in the Northern Lands involved polluted earth, druids who breathed in harmony with nature might be even more suited to the task.
As Joshua knew, the large druid organizations of later generations were quite skilled at purifying polluted land, restoring oases to the nearly war-ravaged Mycroft Continent.
"Greetings, Lady Claire. Your arrival is an honor to my territory."
"Greetings, Lord of this land."
In response to Joshua's welcome, Claire closed her light gray eyes and nodded slightly to show her respect. Then, without further ado, she spoke directly, "There is Chaos lingering in your house."