Chapter 45: Go to Battle
Joshua gazed with a hint of nostalgia at the surging horde of wild gods before him. Countless crystalline carapaces shimmered with fine light, like a school of fish rippling across the ocean surface.
This scene flickered in his eyes, and faintly, the warrior's gaze seemed to see two worlds.
In one world, the sky burned, fire-like red cloud vortices churned in the heavens, howling gales swept across the land, turning once-solid gray stone back into molten lava. Accompanied by thunderous roars, demon armies trampled through flowing magma, swarming like a plague of insects.
In another world, the sky was dim, the land obscured by cloud cover. Above the horizon, the sun was dying out. A biting cold wind swept over everything, raising ash tornadoes across the barren dust plains. The army of wild gods thundered silently across the frozen earth, like a tide of death devouring all.
But a cold wind blew, snapping him awake.
Before him, stretching endlessly, the wild gods emerging from the fissures in the earth told him that the past was truly past. This was not the world where he had once fought, but an entirely new battlefield.
"Huff..."
Joshua exhaled deeply, his gaze clearing once more. He looked around. Moria, Claire, and Lin all met his eyes in turn. The old dwarf and the elf nodded, brandishing their weapons to signal they were ready to fight at any moment.
Joshua nodded back in acknowledgment. He knew he was no longer the legendary warrior of that Continent of Strife.
Now, he was the head of the Radcliffe Family, the Chaos Warden. He stood atop a steel mobile fortress as massive as a mountain, in the dying world of Carlis, facing an endless army of wild gods—and preparing for battle.
"Woooooo—"
The fortress continued to race forward. White mist billowed out, radiating the dazzling light of mana. The rumbling roar of steel machinery drowned out all wind sounds. The wild gods chased behind, forming an elongated line.
Along the way, countless city ruins could be seen. Occasionally, some towering stone structures still retained their form from a thousand years ago, like a massive lighthouse not far away. Its top was broken, but its body remained intact, standing tall amidst the ruins.
But no one had time to observe these sights. The wild gods were closing in.
"Number Three, how long until we reach the designated location?"
Joshua asked the divine mechanism girl through the psychic terminal.
"According to the current speed, we will arrive at the Myriad Realms Sacrificial Ground in about seven minutes."
Number Three's voice came through the terminal, carrying a hint of excitement. "But before that, there's something I want to try."
"Try what?"
Joshua felt a slight unease. He looked up at the top of the steel fortress. The divine mechanism girl was standing there, her silver hair fluttering in the wind. She raised her right hand, and a beam of light shot into the sky.
"Activate."
"Rumble..."
At the operator's command, a low grinding sound of steel friction echoed. At the very top of the massive steel pyramid, around the crystal sun, densely packed steel towers rose up. Their surfaces were covered with countless intricate runes, forming nearly endless magical arrays.
Claire, who was gathering mana to deal with the wild gods about to charge the fortress, froze for a moment. Moria, condensing battle qi, also stared wide-eyed. Even Joshua couldn't help but look up at the countless magical arrays surrounding the fortress, blotting out the very sky.
Energy, vast and complex enough to warp space, flowed like a river from the core inside the steel pyramid, forming a golden nebula-like glow above the crystal sun. Under the amplification of countless arrays, this light rapidly expanded and grew, radiating an intensely dense order force. Around it, space itself twisted, the blooming brilliance shining like a true sun, and the faint humming sound shook heaven and earth.
"Solar Flare—Fire!"
Number Three issued the command again. Hearing her voice, even without seeing her face, Joshua could guess her expression—clearly one of extreme excitement and joyful delight.
And as the command to fire was given, the wind stopped.
The people from the Mycroft World finally witnessed the terrifying power of the mobile fortress, the pinnacle creation of the Carlis people.
"Whoosh."
A faint vibration, indescribable, rang out in everyone's ears. Joshua immediately felt his body grow heavy, as if gravity had increased. Along with this anomaly, the light orb above the crystal sun blazed forth, illuminating heaven and earth like a true sun. Even the mountains and hills beneath the clouds were lit up. The world, ruled by chaos and darkness for a thousand years, once again welcomed light.
Then, the light orb transformed into a streak of light, shooting straight toward the army of wild gods!
Boom boom boom——————
The intense light struck the earth. Soil surged like waves, countless ashes blasted into the high sky, then scattered as a rain of dust. Under the assault of this terrifying beam, the endless army of wild gods was split apart. Tens of thousands of wild gods turned to ash in a single blow.
A trench filled with molten lava at its bottom appeared on the earth, like a scar. The wild god army had been cut open, creating a passage hundreds of meters wide.
But this terrifying attack could not destroy all the monsters.
Several enormous creatures, their bodies flickering with strange light, broke through the smoke and dust caused by the explosion. They were covered in ferocious (zhengning) crystalline carapaces, with not a single scratch on them. These insect-like monsters opened their massive maws, letting out silent roars, and then charged toward the only living beings on the massive base of the steel fortress—Joshua and his group.
But no one showed fear. In fact, everyone smiled.
"Number Three did everything she could."
Joshua looked at these rapidly approaching wild gods, all at Gold-rank strength, and spoke to his companions beside him. Then, he extended his left hand toward the divine mechanism boy nearby. "Now it's our turn."
The warrior gripped Lin's hand. A surge of mana erupted. After a dazzling flash of light, a heavy long-handled double-bladed great axe, capable of splitting mountains, appeared in Joshua's hand. At the end of the axe handle was a black chain, and the other end of the chain vanished into the warrior's left wrist.
He swung the black axe in his hand. The air was split by the blade, producing a whistling wind. Joshua's body blazed with crimson battle qi. He shouted, "Let's go!"
(To be continued.)