Chapter 65: The Truth
Does his master truly need a mount?
Standing upon the earth, having just exhaled his most powerful breath of dragonfire, Black watched as Joshua transformed into a mass of crimson flame, charging through endless spells toward the sky fortress. What filled his mind was not worry, but a troubling question about his own existence.
The warrior ran faster than him, could fly as well, and in terms of combat prowess, far surpassed him. Most of the time, he was only useful for lending a hand, like just now. Master... this fellow... does he truly need a mount?
But no matter how much the half-dragon worried, the battle continued.
In the sky.
Even after breaking through the barrier and the interception of spells, the sky fortress still possessed the means to resist.
The moment Joshua breached the interior of the protective wall, the remaining magical runes burst forth with brilliant light. An invisible, colorless, purely concentrated magical energy transformed into a semi-transparent torrent, surging toward the warrior.
As a derivative of the power of creation at the dawn of existence, magic in the hands of a powerful mage possessed the ability to realize anything. Pure magical energy, lacking any specific command, could accomplish nothing on its own—but this was precisely its strength. Anything too pure would be assimilated and annihilated by it, making this the simplest and most brutal method of use.
But for Joshua, this was far too simple and brutal. As the semi-transparent tide of magical energy surged toward him, he couldn't even be bothered to block it. Instead, he simply charged straight through!
Even if it could assimilate everything, it still needed time to react. The warrior was far too close to the sky fortress. No matter how dense this pure magical energy was, it couldn't assimilate him in the fraction of a second it took him to cross the tide. A flash of red light passed by, and Joshua shattered a blue-glowing magical rune with a single sword stroke.
Now, only three of the sky fortress's magical runes remained—half of the original six. The fortress, which had been maintaining a powerful offensive, immediately stalled for a moment. Then, a large number of magical arrays dissipated, and the pure magical energy tide couldn't sustain itself for long before being absorbed by the atmosphere.
The enemy grew weaker and weaker, but Joshua's momentum only increased. The outermost layer of his skin had indeed been assimilated by the magical energy, and he had suffered considerable internal injuries from the invisible impact. However, thanks to the Azure Orb and the superhuman regenerative speed of a Gold-rank expert, it no longer affected the battle. Now, without any pause, after shattering this magical rune, he charged toward another.
This time, he used his full strength.
Above the Dreyer Peninsula, located between Babel Province and the Origin Mountains, a crimson lightning bolt suddenly flashed. This lightning was so dazzling that it even outshone the light of the newborn sun. In other cities, most of the elves who had survived the stone golems and meteor shower did not witness this scene, but a small number still noticed it.
Then, they discovered that all the stone golems had frozen for a single moment. On the distant horizon, a flash even brighter than the previous crimson lightning appeared.
This flash was continuous, blindingly bright. In the end, it completely transformed into a small sun.
"What is that? A new kind of stone golem?"
An elf hiding in his home stared blankly at the sky. He was not alone. All the elves who noticed this, and even the stone golems themselves, turned to look in that direction.
But the elves on the Dreyer Peninsula could see a clearer scene.
An elven explorer who had survived by hiding in a cave while exploring the wilderness cautiously poked his head out to look at the sky. Accompanied by the rumbling vibrations that reached him, he gasped, his eyes wide open.
"A floating city... falling?!"
In midair, the sky fortress slowly descended toward the ground amidst a series of violent explosions. Five of the six magical runes that powered it had been destroyed. The sole remaining rune now glowed with a deep blue light, but it was completely unable to support the fortress's enormous weight.
Around it, magical arrays and hexagonal semi-transparent barriers flickered in and out of existence. A few corrosive rays shot out, as if the sky fortress still wanted to strike down the man standing in the sky, looking down upon it.
But it was useless. Though the black-haired man was exhausted and had suffered considerable injuries from withstanding the magical energy tide, he was not someone to be taken down by a mere few rays. He swung his arm, and the surface of his black axe, like a shield, blocked all the rays. The axe itself remained completely unharmed.
This was the final attack. After this, an even more violent explosion occurred from within the fortress—a backlash caused by the destruction of the magical circuits. Pillars of fire and bolts of lightning shot out from the gaps in its exterior, turning the massive floating object into a burning meteor. Finally, with a thunderous explosion ten times louder than a thunderclap, the entire sky fortress detonated. Accompanied by a ring-shaped shockwave, countless fireballs scattered and fell to the ground.
The vast majority of the flying stone golems in the sky had already been cleared. Even if a few remained, they posed no threat to the group.
The battle was temporarily over.
Landing on the ground, Joshua deactivated the Divine Mechanism forms of Ying and Lin. The silver-haired girl seemed excited and happy after the long-awaited intense battle, while the black-haired boy looked somewhat dazed, having been used as a shield to block the corrosive rays earlier. His eyes even glistened with a misty sheen. But overall, the atmosphere was cheerful. Even Joshua smiled when he saw the ground littered with the wreckage of the sky fortress.
Loranda and Black also arrived nearby. After exchanging greetings and celebrating the victory, the paladin didn't waste words. He said directly, "Joshua, there are still many stone golems behind us. It's better not to linger too long."
He wasn't deliberately breaking the mood; it was just the truth. "They might catch up soon."
"I know."
Nodding, Joshua agreed with Loranda's opinion. He naturally knew that there were at least dozens of rock giants and nearly endless stone golems behind him. These monsters were an amalgamation of creatures from several provinces, all gathered to surround them. "They really think highly of us."
As for the reason... it was probably because of the Azure Orb.
Raising one hand to press against his chest, Joshua felt the intense heat from the blue gem. It vibrated like a beating heart, burning hot, craving battle.
As a bearer of Order, he had a natural aversion to Chaos, and the minions of Chaos were no exception. If those monsters could truly sense the Azure Orb and the power of Order within him, then this situation was not at all surprising.
"So, Master, where are we going next?"
Ying asked curiously. "Black just picked a random direction to flee earlier. We're completely unfamiliar with this place."
"Yeah, the books we got from those elves only told us that this world is called Ilgna. The rest of the information is pitifully scarce, let alone a map."
Lin, who had calmed down a bit, also chimed in with a complaint. He seemed to hate this feeling of complete uncertainty. "So far, we don't even know the origin of our enemies. Who is the master of these magical puppets? There must be a commander for them, right?"
"Don't bother thinking about it. Those elves spent three hundred years and still couldn't figure it out."
Loranda shrugged. He looked completely unconcerned, even carrying a strange sense of ease. The paladin spread his hands and said, "By the Seven Gods, I don't think we can figure it out in a short time. But since we have no choice, we'll fight when we encounter enemies. Kill all these monsters. That's all we can do."
As soon as he said this, the others, along with the dragon, all turned to stare at him. Just as the paladin was feeling a bit bewildered, the silver-haired girl softly murmured, "Looks like he's been assimilated..."
Loranda: "...?"
While the group was debating the meaning of the word "assimilation," Joshua walked over to the scattered ruins nearby. He rummaged through the debris left by the sky fortress's explosion, seemingly searching for something.
Finally, guided by the Azure Orb, he actually found a peculiar item.
A half-destroyed ring of light.
This ring emitted a deep blue glow. Like the silver ring of light and the core obtained from the Thunder Mountain, it was covered in cracks, and its luster flickered on and off. But regardless, it radiated a strange power, containing a faint trace of Chaos aura. It was because of this that the Azure Orb had reacted.
Frowning, Joshua silently stared at the object in his hand.
Another ring of light? It hadn't been completely destroyed even by the sky fortress's self-destruction. Just how tough was it?
Recalling the hint given to him by the Forest Soul in the spiritual world—"Collect every ring of light you can obtain"—the warrior silently put it away. Then, he turned and walked back toward the group. As he walked, he said loudly, "Alright, everyone, get ready to move. If we don't leave now, the enemy will really catch up."
"Where to?"
Loranda gave up on discussing what "assimilation" meant with Ying and Lin. He turned and asked with some confusion, "We don't even know where we are right now."
"You don't know, but I do."
Shaking his head, Joshua shifted his gaze to the half-dragon, his expression showing approval. "The direction Black chose earlier was correct. Well done. As for now, we'll set off immediately. On the way, I'll explain to you the ins and outs of this world."
This was a perfectly normal instruction, and naturally, no one had any objections. Just as everyone climbed onto Black's back, the half-dragon immediately sprinted off in the original direction, kicking up dust. On the horizon in the distance, the figures of rock giants and stone golems were slowly emerging.
On Black's back, Joshua recounted to everyone the process of his communication with the will called the Forest Soul in the spiritual world.
Due to time constraints, although the Forest Soul had not explained everything about this world in detail, it had focused on two important matters—the origin of the elves in this world and the existence behind the stone golems.
By piecing these two points together, one could roughly see the truth behind the fog and the entire chain of cause and effect.
The beginning of everything originated from the end of the Era of Radiance, three hundred years before the loss of the Mycroft Continent.
That era, when all races resisted Chaos.