Chapter 71: The Reason to Draw the Sword
A powerful being needs no reason for its actions—it simply advances when it wishes to advance and stops when it wishes to stop.
A powerful being needs no reflection on its deeds—it continues to exist as it wills, and that is the proof of a true strong one.
Thus, the same holds true for a warrior who truly craves battle.
There is no need to seek a grand cause. If one wishes to fight, one fights. Even saving the world is not a reason for a warrior to draw their sword.
As the Apocalypse Array slowly began to rotate, this formation capable of controlling the entire world revealed the true power of the Calamity Evil God.
The sky, which had been clear for ten thousand miles, was suddenly filled with countless thick, heavy dark clouds. In an instant, an endless gray shroud covered both the heavens and the earth.
Gray mist spread along with the dark clouds, and thick dust filled the entire world except for the Origin Mountain Range. The air rapidly turned icy cold, and moisture froze, coating everything in a layer of ice. This bitter cold withered plants, dried up rivers, and the remaining living beings struggled within the gray and ice, unable to breathe.
One of the Ten Plagues: Dust Mist.
Only the Origin Mountain Range, the place sheltered by the Father of Nature, remained unaffected by the Apocalypse Array. The dark clouds formed a wall, wrapping around the entire mountain range, but they could not cross the pale green holy light to invade within.
However, the Dust Mist's failure did not mean other things could not. Purple magical lightning bolts wove through the thick, heavy clouds, accompanied by rumbling thunder. Several lightning bolts forked and struck the ground. Within the dust clouds illuminated by the lightning, massive beings were striding forward. Their golden, colossal bodies stirred the mist, creating gusts of wind, as if mountains themselves were advancing.
Those were Titan Colossi.
The ultimate puppets formed from the fusion of countless Stone Golems.
One, ten, a hundred, a thousand… The number of Titan Colossi alone had already exceeded several thousand. Even without counting the ordinary Stone Golems that covered the ground, countless flying beings filled the sky. Their swarms were like dark clouds, gliding through the thunder among the clouds.
The Chaos army had grown to such an extent in just a few days. It was unknown how many mountains they had devoured or how much earth they had hollowed out to reach this number.
Seeing this, everyone fell silent.
Whether it was the elven guards on the airships, the paladins standing with Joshua on the half-dragon's back, or Ying and Lin held in Joshua's hands, as well as Hei beneath him—all showed hesitant expressions or transmitted similar emotions through their spirits.
—Unbelievable!
—How did they manage this?!
—Why are there so many?! How can we possibly win?!
Countless thoughts flashed through their minds. But to say they were afraid or cowardly would be to underestimate their will. Still, a trace of doubt appeared in everyone's heart.
"Even in the Plague Lands, facing the overwhelming horde of the Plague Evil God's minions, I never felt like this…"
Gripping his weapon tightly, holy lightning coiled around this cross-shaped warhammer. Loranda felt the divine power from the Father of Nature within his body. He believed in his own strength, the holy light, and his weapon, yet he still harbored some doubt.
He doubted whether he could win, whether he could safely survive this campaign. Even someone as confident as Loranda could not be certain of victory in the face of such an enemy horde. He even felt an impulse to pray to the Seven Gods.
But the wait was not long.
Before long, at the edge of the Origin Mountain Range, where sunlight still shone, a steel giant hand suddenly extended from the wall of gloom. Then, a golden puppet as massive as a mountain stepped out from the cloud of dust. Its stride was unwavering, marching firmly toward the center of the mountain range, where the Heavenly Source Divine Tree stood. Behind this Titan Colossus, more than a dozen others followed, their steps synchronized, causing the earth to tremble.
At the same time, within the Origin Mountain Range, countless low peaks and hills split open one after another. Inside were petrified giant branches, their tips radiating green, holy light, dyeing the entire sanctuary zone in a shade of cyan. The Father of Nature was gradually awakening its true body. And at that moment, a voice that seemed to be suppressing excitement sounded from beside the paladin.
"The Stone Golems are already here."
Wrapped in crimson battle qi, as if he were burning fiercely, Joshua brandished the weapons in both hands. He paid no heed to the Titan Colossi swarming before him and said casually, "Loranda, before the battle, I must tell you something—"
The warrior turned and smiled at his friend. "If you don't hurry up, be careful—you might not find any enemies left!"
He spoke so casually and lightly that it was impossible to doubt him. Before the paladin could react, he leaped forward, turning into a swift crimson streak of light heading straight for the Titan Colossi, leaving behind only a quickly dissipating sentence: "Fight! Don't pray!"
For your blade is with the gods!
Neither Loranda nor Hei had ever imagined they would face such a battle. After the warrior left at supersonic speed, creating a vacuum corridor, the half-dragon and the paladin exchanged glances, both feeling an immense absurdity. There were only two of them, one dragon, and two weapons, yet they were charging against thousands of Titan Colossi and a sky full of flying Stone Golems. And from what Joshua said, he wasn't just fighting these monsters—he intended to sweep them all away?
Staring blankly at the warrior's disappearing figure, Loranda's heart was filled with emotion.
—Joshua, you truly are a free man.
He chose his path without hesitation, advanced toward his goal without doubt, and never wavered in his way of existence.
"How enviable. I wish I were like that too—believing in myself without hesitation, living according to my own heart."
But you're right. At this moment, that is exactly what we should do.
Shaking his head, the paladin, now inexplicably filled with courage, laughed loudly and leaped off Hei's back, flying into the sky toward the swarm of flying Stone Golems that was like a dark cloud. Holy light wrapped around his body as he charged at them without hesitation, roaring, "It's time to fight!"
Because there was no other choice!
The power granted by the Father of Nature surged within him. Vast divine power gathered on his warhammer. An instant later, Loranda teleported, turning into a ball of light that plunged into the swarm of flying Stone Golems. Countless puppets tried to intercept him but failed, crushed to powder by the paladin's casual strikes.
Stone shards flew everywhere. Loranda was like a fish in water, unstoppable. The Stone Golem bodies that once required effort to shatter were now easily destroyed with a single touch.
This surprised him so much that he even forgot to dodge other Stone Golems' attacks. But the enemies were not slow either. In the moment he paused, seven or eight Stone Golems with sharp horns, like gargoyles, charged straight at the paladin. Their impact carried a piercing howl as they slammed directly into Loranda's body.
But it was useless.
Reacting quickly, the paladin muttered a secret word, summoning a giant shield out of thin air, and then he smashed these Stone Golems into pieces one by one. The upper part of Loranda's clothes had been completely destroyed by the earlier violent impact, revealing a body that could be called perfect. He looked down and could hardly believe he was completely unharmed.
So this was the power of divine punishment? The blessing of the Father of Nature was this powerful!
To help everyone resist the Chaos army, the Father of Nature had held nothing back in its blessing. Its full empowerment instantly granted them strength far beyond their own levels. Loranda felt that even the captain of the Church of the Seven Gods' knight order could not compare to him in pure strength. This was already a completely superhuman force, enough to kill a dragon with bare hands and shatter steel.
"To have reached this level—no wonder the Father of Nature entrusted this great task to just a few of us!"
Finally realizing how powerful the strength within him was, the paladin laughed loudly and advanced through the air, stepping on dust and atmosphere. With each charge, he shattered countless flying Stone Golems along the way, like a platinum holy light carving a sacred path through the black clouds. Amid the flying debris, the wind whipped at Loranda's clothes. Though he wore no armor, he felt his body was tougher than any armor. Even in a direct collision with a Stone Golem, he was never the one injured.
However, he was somewhat puzzled. Although the blessing from the Father of Nature gave him overwhelming power, the number of Stone Golems did not decrease with his attacks. Instead, they seemed to increase. For every flying Stone Golem he killed, two or even three emerged from the dark clouds, as if endless.
At the peak of the Origin Mountain Range, Hei blinked. Compared to the paladin, it hardly thought at all. Since the two leaders had already charged into battle, it should fight too.
The paladin chose to deal with the flying Stone Golems, Joshua chose to deal with the Titan Colossi, so it would intercept the ordinary Stone Golems.
Thus, the moment the paladin left, the half-dragon followed Joshua's lead, charging toward the direction of the Titan Colossi, kicking up countless clouds of dust along the way. As it ran, holy light patterns circled around Hei, enhancing its power while also instilling it with knowledge.
The bloodline inheritance of the Refining Black Dragon.
As a former god of the Mycroft Continent and ruler of the forests, the Father of Nature had naturally seen many ancient dragons. The Refining Black Dragon was one of them. This ancient dragon, which roamed the seas, creating volcanic islands and small continents, was not violent. It even bore goodwill toward nature and living beings. It had a pleasant exchange with the will of the Father of Nature, who had also come with goodwill, and they exchanged many things, including part of the Refining Black Dragon's inheritance.
And now, it was just in time for Hei, who had awakened the Refining Black Dragon bloodline.
The half-dragon felt the bloodline power, which had only recently awakened within it, being continuously stimulated and grown by the divine power contained in the blessing within its body. New flesh and blood replaced its original mortal flesh, gradually transforming into the body of an ancient dragon—one of the earliest beings at the dawn of creation.
The power of flame surged around it.
Now, with every step, Hei left a golden molten crater on the ground. Golden-red molten patterns, like those at the center of a volcano, appeared on its black carapace. The half-dragon charged directly into the countless Stone Golems on the ground. Red fire elements erupted from its body, and the materialized impact split the Stone Golem army apart.
Hei did not attack. It merely passed through them. The terrifying heat alone completely melted most Stone Golems below the Silver-rank. And that was not all. Its massive body and tail, upon even the slightest contact with a Stone Golem, would send them flying into the air with incredible force, crashing heavily to the ground and shattering into pieces. The half-dragon's mindless charge caused the Stone Golem army to collapse entirely, falling into complete chaos.
But the same problem appeared for it—the number of Stone Golems seemed endless. Even with overwhelming power, Hei could not reduce the army's momentum.
Meanwhile, Joshua was confronting the giants.
The dark clouds brought by the dust had completely swallowed the light. Except for the Origin Mountain Range, the area around the Father of Nature, everything was consumed by darkness. Countless rock giants and Titan Colossi emerged from this pitch-black darkness, marching toward the center of the mountain range, toward the ancient tree half-buried underground.
Their advance seemed capable of crushing everything. Even hills, peaks, cliffs, and rivers could not stop the giants. These monsters trampled everything into dust, as if unstoppable.
But one person stood in the air before them, blocking their path.
Joshua held a greatsword and a giant axe, surrounded by a flowing crimson battle qi. The terrifying fluctuations of battle qi shook the atmosphere, creating watery ripples for hundreds of meters around. He stood silently in the air, staring through the distorted atmosphere at the approaching Titan Colossi, a strange light flickering in his eyes.
It was the light of excitement.
The power within Ying and Lin, due to their Divine Mechanization, was infused into the warrior's body. This meant Joshua now held three times the protection of the Natural Guardian.
And this power was enough to crush everything before him.
"Pitiful puppets—"
Divine patterns, like circuits, spread across Joshua's skin. True divinity was infused into the warrior's body, causing the Azure Orb on his chest to emit a cyan light. The red and cyan intertwined, turning into a deep purple.
Looking at the still-advancing Titan Colossi, the weapon-wielding Joshua curled his lips into a ferocious grin. Something seemed to burn in his crimson eyes, and pure battle fervor boiled in the warrior's heart.
He took a deep breath. His heart, under the immense power's enhancement, began to beat rapidly, circulating blood, battle qi, the power of order, and three times the divine power throughout his body. This terrifying force even exceeded the limit of the Father of Nature's blessing, causing the warrior's muscles to swell and veins to bulge. Under the pressure of countless forces, countless capillaries burst. Blood was vaporized by the intense heat, spreading a mist of blood in the air.
At this moment, the gale stirred by the warrior had become a true storm. His voice shattered in the wind—
"Return to eternal slumber!"