Chapter 47: The Warrior Descends Upon a Foreign World
Black clouds spread across the sky. With the arrival of summer, the region from Moldavia to the Great Aias Volcano had long been covered in dense clouds. The blizzards that had raged unceasingly throughout the year had now transformed into torrential rain, filling heaven and earth with a cold, damp sensation.
In the heavy rain of the Aias Mountains, four figures clad in rain cloaks with black fabric and red trim were walking near the volcano. Their garments bore the crest of the Radcliffe Family—a hand gripping a sword. Although they wore rain cloaks, the wind and rain could not approach their bodies at all.
"Are you really not going to find a mage, Joshua?"
The four arrived at a hidden cave on the volcano. Midway, one of the figures draped in a robe couldn't help but speak to the person beside him. He removed his cloak, his expression puzzled. "Neither of us knows anything about magic—well, that's not entirely true—but at least we don't know how to cast spells. We're helpless against something like a space-time gate."
"Relax, Loranda. In fact, finding a mage for this matter wouldn't be of much use."
Inside the volcanic cave, Joshua also removed his rain cloak. He was wearing a full set of light armor, inscribed with elven magical runes that flowed across its surface. With the warrior's movements, the armor clinked and clattered. As he flexed his fingers, Joshua said calmly, "If the passage on the other side is truly blocked by an elemental storm, then even Master Nostradamus himself couldn't do much about it. On the other hand, Pope Eagle might be able to solve the problem."
"Why?" The paladin looked bewildered. "His Holiness is powerful, but he's not proficient in space-time magic. Master Nostradamus's mastery of space-time spells is renowned throughout the world—even the legendary council of the Sky-Piercing White Tower has praised him."
"Because the space-time passage is right there; it's just blocked by some force."
Taking his helmet from Ying, who stood nearby, Joshua placed it on his head. Through the helmet, he explained in a low voice, "Think of it like a tunnel. Our end is intact, but the other end is blocked by mud and rocks. We don't need to find a space-time mage to dig a new tunnel; we just need to clear away the debris. And when it comes to raw strength, how many people in this world are stronger than His Holiness the Pope?"
Ah, I see. Use pure force to blast through the elemental storm on the other side, temporarily opening the space-time gate—that makes sense logically, but friend, your analogy is problematic!
With a strange expression, Loranda knew that what the other said seemed to make sense, but he still felt something was off. By the time the surrounding environment had become scorching hot, nearly reaching the lava pool, he couldn't help but ask again, "Then... what are we going to do now?"
"Didn't I just say?"
Turning his helmet, the fully armed warrior looked a bit puzzled. He twisted his wrist and said matter-of-factly, "Go to the space-time gate, and then 'force' it open."
---
—Ilgena World.
Above Babel Province, a dazzling aurora appeared.
With the now-vanished Nasir Mountain as the epicenter, a surge of immense magical power stirred the winds and clouds, creating an invisible tide. Blue-green magical light flickered across the sky in arcs, while other elemental lights shone with extreme brilliance—something the elves could never have imagined even in their wildest dreams. In just two days, the world's magical concentration had returned to the level of four hundred years ago, when many spells could still be used.
Although, for unknown reasons, this elemental concentration was still naturally declining, in Babel Province alone, the rate of magical increase far outpaced the decline. Many mages discovered that they were no longer useless fools who could only cast boring cantrips like reading spells, identification spells, or detection magic. They excitedly manipulated various tangible and intangible magical forces and used them to fight against the seemingly endless stone demons.
The elemental tide did not make the stone demons stronger, but it seemed to increase their numbers. Several scouts witnessed a few particularly large stone demons splitting off parts of themselves to form smaller stone demons. These smaller demons rapidly grew larger by devouring rocks and soil, then launched continuous attacks on them, creating a cycle.
In the capital of Babel Province, street fighting remained exceptionally fierce. The sudden increase in magical concentration did little to help the ordinary soldiers. Fighting against the endless stone demons, they remained at a disadvantage.
The sun set and rose again. The light rain stopped and then fell once more. The enemy's numbers not only failed to decrease but kept increasing. As the intensity of the battle rose, many elven soldiers despairingly realized that their comrades were falling one after another, or collapsing from exhaustion and losing combat effectiveness. Yet the monsters showed no end in sight, leaving them to face it all alone.
In the narrow alleys, after taking down one enemy, another would immediately charge forward. Soldiers never had a moment without an enemy in their line of sight. Their nerves were perpetually taut, with no chance to rest. Flying stone demons had now also reached the capital, descending like a black fog of monsters.
If not for the Volcano Dragon—that incredibly powerful dragon using its unimaginable light attacks to shoot down countless flying stone demons—the capital of Babel Province might have already fallen.
Black was now rapidly shuttling through various parts of the city. Using its immense power against ordinary stone demons was overkill. The half-dragon was currently hunting down the golden statues, and if it encountered a mithril-rank stone demon along the way, it would take care of that too.
Although this city had nothing to do with it, although the elves here had nothing to do with it, and even this world had nothing to do with it—Black didn't care about any of that. Fighting itself was a joy, following in its master's footsteps was a joy, and simply unleashing its own power was a joy. The dragon's heart never had superfluous thoughts; as long as it was happy, it would do anything.
With a violent crash, it slammed a golden statue into a building. Amidst the dust filling the sky, the half-dragon thrust a claw into the joint of the left arm of an adamantite stone demon in the rubble before it. After fighting for so long, Black had finally adapted to its body's shape and power. Having battled the stone demons for so long, it had also grasped their attack patterns. So, when encountering this powerful but rigid monster, Black easily immobilized its movements, tore off its left arm, and finished it off with a single breath.
The prolonged battle had dampened the elves' morale, and even with Black's help, they were still at a slight disadvantage. However, as the magical concentration gradually rose, the mages who had rested for a long time began to show their strength. They cast various stamina-restoring buffs on the warriors. Given the current situation, as long as things didn't worsen, a reversal could come within a few hours.
But for some reason, Black felt a growing unease. Part of it came from the stone demons' unchanging attack patterns—no matter what, war wasn't a game. How could the enemy just watch them slowly mount a counterattack? The half-dragon was certain the stone demons were brewing a real offensive.
The other part of the unease was inexplicable. No matter how hard it thought, it couldn't find the reason. It was just a natural, unsettling feeling in its heart.
"Roar..."
Shaking its head and letting out a low growl, Black abandoned the thought. There were still many places in the city that needed help, and many things it had to do.
---
At Sigma Volcano.
Due to volcanic ash, the sky here was also overcast. The previous eruption had evaporated all water within hundreds of miles, filling the region with steam. Sigma Volcano was now experiencing a torrential downpour. Purple lightning flashed among the black clouds, sometimes striking straight down, blasting the peaks of the surrounding mountains.
At the crater, golden lava churned. Part of it cooled and hardened into black igneous rock under the rain. White steam, mixed with impurities, rose and turned into thick fog in the rain, covering the area around the crater with a white haze.
Immense magical power was accumulating within the volcano. Lava, the blood of the earth, contained the primordial magic that had formed at the world's birth. It could easily erode both magical and physical defenses. Because the power of lava was violent and difficult to extract or utilize, a trial had been passed down among warriors in ancient times, before the power systems of the Mycroft Continent had fully formed.
Bathing in lava.
If a warrior could bathe in lava with their bare flesh and emerge unscathed, they would be respectfully called a [Combat Mentor] by all. Such a person could guide all warriors within several cities, or even an entire nation. Anyone who met them would respectfully address them as Teacher.
But now, a strange vortex had appeared in the crater.
Layers upon layers of blue light patterns emerged within this vortex. Their glow gradually brightened, even surpassing the light of the surrounding lava. If anyone could witness this scene, they would surely be awestruck by the magnificent sight.
Finally, when all the light patterns flickered to their brightest, an explosion occurred.
With a thunderous roar, the entire volcano shook. Then, an invisible wave spread outward from the crater, sweeping across the entire mountain range in an instant.
After the explosion, two spheres of light—one crimson and one holy white—flew out from the churning lava and landed on the black volcanic rock halfway up the mountain.
"What the hell is going on?!"
Joshua removed his steel helmet, which had been heated red by the lava. His expression was displeased as he surveyed the scorched earth around him. He said in a deep voice, "Last time we saw it, it was a lush green forest, full of birdsong and flowers. When did it turn into a volcano?!"
And we were right in the middle of a lava pool!
Lin looked around at the scene. The black-haired youth was still shaken. Just moments ago, when the warrior and Loranda had joined forces to blast open the space-time gate, countless golden lava had surged back through the channel like a tide. He had nearly been completely submerged. Fortunately, Joshua reacted quickly, expanding his battle qi barrier to cover Ying and Lin, or they would have been scattered. Although the divine mechanisms couldn't be destroyed by lava, if they were separated in a volcanic magma chamber, finding each other would be difficult.
"This place just experienced a volcanic eruption."
After calming down from the rain, Lin confirmed this. Ying nodded in agreement beside him. She tidied her silver-white hair, which had been disheveled up to her waist, and squinted as she said, "There's the smell of many people who died suddenly... hmm, and the scent of Black!"
Before Black awakened its bloodline and advanced to become an ancient dragon descendant, the silver-haired girl had always taken care of its daily needs and groomed its fur. The two had a good relationship. When Joshua went to observe the Nissier Winterfell Academy, Ying would even go with Black to the Snow Mountain Palm Print Lake to play diving and surfing.
Hearing this, Joshua also nodded. He too had detected the scent of his own mount in this place. But then, the warrior suddenly frowned. He warily scanned his surroundings and asked the still-shocked paladin beside him, "Wait, Loranda, don't you feel something's a bit off?"
Something off? There are plenty of things off! More to the point, how can you all be so calm?
In the heavy rain, the paladin's face was full of shock. Not to mention the warrior's so-called "opening" of the space-time gate, which was literally a physical (forceful) opening, the subsequent lava backflow had nearly startled him—not because Loranda was afraid; his power could easily withstand some lava. But the paladin had also seen the forest-like scene on the other side with Joshua last time. He hadn't been mentally prepared at all. In that critical moment, he had to quickly raise a holy light shield in front of him to keep the lava from burning his clothes.
Because he had thought this trip was just to check on the space-time gate, unlike Joshua's exquisite magical armor—a gift from Claire, crafted by the elves of the Far South—the paladin's clothes were just ordinary casual wear. He hadn't prepared for battle at all.
Seeming to notice Loranda's expression, Lin smiled and said, "Mr. Loranda, when you're with the master, you need to get used to these things."
"Yeah." The silver-haired girl nodded with deep sympathy. So far, wherever the master was, accidents were bound to happen—and they were always dangerous ones.
Suddenly, an invisible wave swept over them. The paladin, who had been bitterly shaking his head, had his gaze snap into focus. He turned his head and said gravely to Joshua, who was still warily observing their surroundings, "Friend, you're right. Something is definitely off!"
"There's..."
But before he could finish his sentence, a brilliant white light burst forth from the paladin, Joshua, Ying, and Lin.
It was the color of Order Force.
"...the scent of Chaos."
Completing the sentence Loranda hadn't finished, the warrior placed his hand on his chest. The Azure Orb there was pulsing, radiating intense heat. He frowned deeply, watching his surroundings warily, but found nothing. His voice was low and serious: "Be prepared. There are Chaos Monsters here, and their presence is very strong!"
A wave of unease suddenly surged in the warrior's heart. There were Chaos Monsters here. Was his mount okay? Could Black have run into trouble?
That horse had been with him since the northwestern orc battlefield until now. In terms of time spent together, it was even more than Ying and Lin.
But now was not the time to worry about others.
In the sky, at the edge of the firmament, a light was beginning to shine. Having detected the presence of its mortal enemy—the so-called Order Force—a massive formation of ten light wheels slowly emerged from the void.
A terrifying, heavy, and obscure aura began to spread from the edge of the sky. A low hum echoed through the heavens, as if the highest level of alarm had been triggered.
—The Revelation Appears Again.