Chapter 16: My Palm Itches a Bit
Upon hearing his master's words, Rin was genuinely stunned for a moment. Holding the grimoire in his hand, he blinked his eyes—he truly hadn't expected that after seeing a real demon, his master's first thought would be about such a trivial matter.
*You can do that during any advancement, right? And a demon that hasn't appeared in the world for at least several decades, along with this grimoire in hand, are obviously far more important.*
But that was fine too. The Divine Mechanism boy shrugged, then happily stepped forward and grasped Joshua's hand. A flash of magical light flickered, and a black great axe materialized in the warrior's hand.
On the blade of the black double-edged great axe were patterns resembling flames, each pattern consisting of incredibly dense, sharp serrations. Between the two blades, on the sharp spearhead, there were also two long blood grooves. Whether for slashing, thrusting, armor-breaking, or piercing kills, this great axe could handle it all.
On the ground, the dying demon—its limbs crushed, its horns broken, its entire body's muscles sliced open—watched as the warrior raised the great axe, aiming at its head. The battle qi and Order Force entwined on the black axe blade were a terrifying attack that even its own lord could not withstand.
*I'm going to die!*
This single thought flashed through its mind. But then, on the verge of death, the blood still flowing in the demon's body and its fierce nature began to boil.
*Even if I die, I won't go down like this!*
The Rending Demon was a high-rank demon from the Abyss. Its physical attacks were incredibly powerful and pure, almost impossible to block or defend against with armor or shields. Its claws and demonic flames could even tear apart magical barriers and conceptual restraints. But this by no means meant it lacked spellcasting abilities.
In fact, as a high-rank demon, its spellcasting abilities far surpassed those of an average human Silver-rank mage, even rivaling certain Gold-rank magical beasts!
The dying demon burned the blood within its body, launching a desperate final resistance. Its physical form was destroyed, but its soul was still intact, fully capable of casting spells. The demon's black-red blood ignited, boiling like sulfurous spring water, suddenly evaporating into a corrosive, blood-red mist. Terrifying fire elements converged from all directions, instantly forming an Empowered Fireball!
The Fireball itself was not a profound spell, but its destructive power was terrifying. A single Fireball could overturn an entire heavy-armored unit. The intense heat and the corrosive properties of demon blood ensured that those who survived the explosion would wish they hadn't. If combined with the multiple explosions brought by empowerment, it possessed enough destructive force to level a city wall.
Since this was an instinctive spell that burned its life force, even Joshua couldn't block the Rending Demon's Empowered Fireball in time.
In the next instant, a bright blue fireball, two meters in diameter, shot towards Joshua's face with lightning speed!
But the warrior made no move to dodge. He simply raised his right hand and placed it casually in front of him, his expression utterly calm, as if he were merely reaching out to catch a ball thrown by someone.
*An Empowered Fireball from a dying demon.*
In this critical, hair-trigger moment, Joshua still had the mind to think about other things. Staring at the blue fireball that was even ionizing the surrounding air into plasma, he recalled absentmindedly, *I remember back in the Bloody Altar, when I was still at Silver rank, hunting demons in a group often ended with this thing killing us. We'd almost finish it off, and then a self-destruction would level over twenty square meters of ground, wiping out the entire party.*
*But now...*
The blue fireball slammed into the warrior's palm. Instantly, a scorching aura spread. A high-temperature stream of mixed blue and red flames engulfed Joshua entirely. In the next moment, the violent mana drove infinite fire elements into a violent explosion. Amidst the roar, a small mushroom cloud rose. A visible shockwave, accompanied by winds exceeding five hundred degrees, swept outward, melting all the snow.
*Did it succeed?!*
Having released its last bit of power, the Rending Demon's mind began to blur. It was doomed to die this time. Even if it killed the warrior before it, the silver-haired girl standing nearby still had the power to finish it off. But it had only wanted to take someone down with it.
But a voice filled with despair echoed from the high-temperature smoke.
"An attack like this doesn't mean anything to me anymore."
*Impossible! How could a human survive such an attack?!*
From the mist created by the evaporated snow, a figure emerged. Joshua lowered his raised right hand. He was completely unharmed, not even a single strand of hair was curled. The warrior, standing at the very peak of the Gold rank, looked at the demon, which had burned all its blood dry, and emotionlessly raised the great axe in his hand.
Then, in the demon's despairing and incredulous gaze, he swung the axe and chopped down.
...
"How do you feel, Rin?"
Joshua asked the black-haired boy, who had already deactivated his Divine Mechanization, and said calmly, "If it's not enough, we can use this book to summon more demons to grind on later."
"...Actually, it's probably enough."
Rin stood behind Joshua. He handed the Book of Iboun to Ying, who was pushing Number 3, but frowned thoughtfully and said, "But I'm not feeling sleepy yet..."
"You don't necessarily have to sleep!"
Upon hearing this, the silver-haired girl immediately became anxious. "Last time, I had an accident during my advancement! It's not like I *wanted* to sleep that long! Originally, it was supposed to be something I could finish in just a few days of rest!"
"Alright, alright, my... I wasn't even talking about that..."
Listening to the exchange between his weapons behind him, Joshua chuckled softly and continued walking back towards the main city.
Ever since he had killed over a hundred thousand Chaos Monsters, Joshua's physical constitution had been enhanced to an incredibly terrifying degree. The Fireball just now, under his defense, could only make his palm itch. The warrior estimated that his innate natural armor was now over one hundred points, surpassing many ordinary magical armors.
After walking for a while, they neared the city gates.
On the road ahead of Joshua and the others, several Paladins appeared.
These knights wore gray armor adorned with the black circular holy emblem of the God of Might and Justice. Behind them, two priests in white robes also appeared, accompanied by a few city guards. This group made no attempt to hide their movements. Upon spotting Joshua and his party, they quickly walked up to the warrior, bowed, and paid their respects.
*What's going on?*
Joshua looked at their actions, wondering with some confusion. *Is someone looking for me? Atanis?*
Not long ago, Atanis had advanced to Gold rank in Saint Lawrence Cathedral, and holy light had illuminated the entire city. The next day, many people had moved into the church. The God of Might seemed to suddenly place great importance on this place, directly sending five Silver-rank Paladins and ten Silver-rank priests. Fortunately, these people still had the integrity of clergy and didn't cause any trouble when they moved in. Upon entering the city, they had even sent a representative to visit the Lord's Mansion, expressing their willingness to follow his orders.
He then asked the Paladin before him, "Knight, what's the matter?"
The Paladin also seemed somewhat unclear. He simply replied respectfully, "Lord, Bishop Atanis sent us to find you. He has come as well and is right behind us."
Hearing this, Joshua slightly turned his head to look behind the knights and priests.
Indeed, a white-haired figure was walking quickly towards them.
*Bishop Atanis has come too.*
He quickly walked up to Joshua. There was no need for formalities between the two. The old man asked with some tension and confusion, "Joshua, I just felt the aura of the Abyss. What happened?"
"Nothing, I just eliminated a demon."
Joshua casually pointed at the grimoire placed in the cart with Number 3. "It was summoned by that book."
"...I see. Such an evil grimoire... But since it's in your hands, I can rest easy."
Catching his breath, Atanis sighed and said, "I just received an order from the headquarters of the Church of the Seven Gods, from the Holy Mountain. The strongest Paladin of the younger generation in the church is coming to the Northern Lands to visit Saint Lawrence Cathedral. I was wondering why that guy would cross an entire continent to come to my place, and then I suddenly sensed the aura of the Abyss around here..."
He spread his hands. "Can't blame me for thinking the worst and getting nervous."
"My fault, for startling you." Joshua laughed and joked with the old man. "But the strongest Paladin? Who is that?"
"I remember his name is Loranda. Since he's a candidate to succeed the next Pope, he has no surname."
The old priest recalled for a moment, then said, "According to the internal information I received, he should still be on the road in the Western Mountains, still far from the Northern Lands..."
"Wait! What did you say?"
Suddenly, Joshua interrupted Atanis. His expression was surprised, almost incredulous. "Who did you say?"
"Who... Oh, the knight's name is Loranda, the adopted son of the current Pope of the Church of the Seven Gods, one of the candidates for the next Pope."
Not angered by the interruption, Atanis continued to recall, "I remember he's a very popular candidate, with high prestige. His strength has also reached Gold Peak, only slightly inferior to yours."
*Loranda... that guy.*
Joshua seemed not to have heard the old priest's words. His expression was somewhat complex, a look of confusion appearing on his usually calm face.
*That guy... didn't he fall from grace later on?*
(To be continued.)