Chapter 41: This World Needs Heroes
—It's truly oppressive.
When Loranda was led by the attendant and seated in the reception hall of the Lord's Mansion, waiting for Joshua's arrival, he looked at the surrounding decor and couldn't help but think this.
The decorative style of the Radcliffe Family was far too gloomy; it was practically like the vampire castles described in knight novels.
Before his eyes was a hall filled with Northern style, orderly and neat. Whether it was potted plants, tables and chairs, hanging paintings, or ornaments, everything was arranged with meticulous precision, leaving nothing to criticize. Yet the dark floor paired with the gray walls, combined with the somewhat dim glowstone lamps, always evoked an instinctive sense of oppression.
But even so, the paladin had to admit that the decor was indeed quite refined. Although the style was somewhat melancholic, the details were not lacking in splendor, absolutely worthy of the Radcliffe Family's history and status.
However, the design style was far too different from that of the Holy Mountain, making him feel a bit uncomfortable every time he came. Letting out a slight sigh, Loranda turned to look at the other side.
Hanging on the most prominent wall of the hall was a map of the Mycroft World, with several smaller maps of the Empire, the Northern lands, and the Moldavia Territory beside it. The map seemed to have been recently replaced, with many places specially marked with red dots and black crosses. The paladin fixed his gaze and noticed that the red dots were all concentrated in the Far South, the current center of the Dragon Calamity, while the black crosses were more scattered, appearing all over the world, revealing nothing clear for now.
—Do the red dots represent the Dragon Calamity, and the black crosses represent the cultists?
Because he saw many places on the Moldavia Territory map marked with black crosses, and he himself had gone out of the city to sweep them several times, recognizing the marked locations as exactly the villages where cultists had appeared, Loranda couldn't help but form this conjecture.
And just as he was carefully examining the dense markings on the map, a clear and rhythmic sound of footsteps approached from afar.
Soon after, the door to the reception hall was opened.
"Friend, what brings you here so late?"
"Joshua."
Hearing this familiar and direct voice, Loranda stood up. He turned to look at his friend, shrugged, and said, "There is something."
"Let me guess."
Casually hanging his coat on a nearby rack, the warrior flexed his wrists. He glanced at the paladin, who was practically fully armed, even wearing white armor, and said in a relaxed tone, "You're preparing to return to the Holy Mountain."
Caught off guard by having his purpose revealed, the paladin was stunned for a moment, but then calmly nodded: "That's right. The Holy Mountain needs me; my comrades are waiting for me. A few days ago, I finished clearing out most of the cultists in the territory. Even if there are remnants, they shouldn't cause much harm, so it's about time to go back."
"I really have to thank you for that. You've been a great help."
Gesturing for Loranda to sit back down, Joshua approached a heavy wooden cabinet with a potted plant on it.
The reception hall was usually used by the warrior as an afternoon resting place, so it was always stocked with some drinks. At this moment, Joshua took a black bottle of wine from the cabinet, which was inscribed with a preservation array. The bottle bore the unique emblem of some winery.
Raising it, he silently asked the paladin if he wanted some. Upon receiving a negative answer, Joshua took the bottle himself, found a seat, and sat down.
"I was going to offer you a drink, but it seems the paladin's precepts are indeed strict."
With a light flick of his finger, the cork of the wine bottle popped out. Joshua didn't drink immediately. He turned his head to look at the large map on the wall and muttered to himself: "The Far Sea Holy Mountain is located off the coast of the Far South Kingdom. If the Dragon Calamity wants to invade the Far South Kingdom and even the entire continent, it must first remove the Holy Mountain, a thorn in its side. So the Five-Colored Dragons chose to split their forces."
"Due to the Church's ambushes and impenetrable defenses, the mad dragon armies attacking the Holy Mountain have repeatedly failed. But as the elite troops attacking the central defense line of the Far South Kingdom withdraw, they will surely choose to concentrate their forces, turn back, and forcefully take the Holy Mountain, removing the great threat to their rear."
"Yes."
Echoing him, Loranda knew that the warrior was talking about the recent situation in the Far South. Though somewhat brief, it was clear enough. He said firmly, "Right now, the mad dragons are mobilizing their armies, preparing for a full-scale assault on the Holy Mountain. As a paladin of the Church, I have no choice but to go."
"Indeed, that is your duty."
Knowing this history, even having personally experienced it, Joshua nodded. He knew that back then, the Five-Colored Dragon Clan, gathering all their elite forces along with the surging mad dragon armies, had nearly captured the Far Sea Holy Mountain. It was only because the clergy from across the continent continuously joined the defensive positions through teleportation that the strongest wave of the assault was repelled.
And after that battle, the Five-Color Dragon God was besieged by the Seven Gods of Humanity, cast down from the Boundless Heaven, and forced to descend into the Mycroft Continent in their saintly true form. But the Seven Gods did not pursue further, instead allowing the enraged Five-Color Dragon God to spread the Dragon Calamity to every nation across the continent.
Many at the time were puzzled by the Seven Gods' choice. They only needed to push a little harder to completely slay the Five-Headed Demon Dragon (the Five-Color Dragon God) and end the Dragon Calamity. Yet They suddenly withdrew and even disappeared for a time. Now, Joshua could understand that the Seven Gods of Humanity might have been in the void at that time, resisting the evil god who had instigated the Five-Color Dragon God to spread the Dragon Calamity—[Plague].
"Regardless, let's first toast to the brave."
With that, Joshua raised the wine bottle decisively, gestured to the paladin from across the room, and then took a sip of the wine.
This wine, of unknown origin, was of excellent vintage, fragrant and rich. It had a mellow taste on the palate, with no hint of astringency, clearly a proud creation from a renowned winery. To someone who appreciated it, it would undoubtedly be considered a fine wine worthy of savoring. But to the warrior, it only merited the simple evaluation of "tastes good."
After drinking, Joshua set the bottle aside. He furrowed his brow, as if pondering his words, but then shook his head and said, "On second thought, there's nothing much to remind you of. Given your strength, as long as you don't deliberately seek death, the Dragon Calamity can't kill you. I can only wish you a smooth journey and success in achieving your goals."
"Thank you, but this hardly makes me a brave man. It's just what I should do. Besides, I've been away from the battlefield for so long; it's time to go back."
Loranda's expression seemed quite indifferent, as if he was unimpressed by Joshua's title. But he still said seriously to the warrior, "I've troubled you during this time."
In response to the paladin's reply, Joshua immediately countered: "When facing danger, still being willing to fulfill one's duty—that kind of person deserves to be called a brave man." Saying this, he shook his head: "I should be the one thanking you. If not for your and Artemis's help, I wouldn't have been able to sweep the cultists from my territory so easily. Look at the couple in the neighboring Moldova Territory; they've worked hard for half a month and haven't even reached the halfway point."
At this, the hall fell into silence. After a moment, Joshua spoke again.
"Loranda, do you know how strong the 'Ultimate Essence' is?"
"...Of course I do."
After another moment of silence, the paladin carefully chose his words. Frowning, he said in a low voice: "The Ultimate Essence is the state of breaking through the limits of the human concept and fully entering the transcendent realm. Those who reach this level are less like humans and more like a natural disaster, a phenomenon. Their power is no longer something ordinary people can measure with common sense."
"A very formulaic answer, but not enough."
Joshua shook his head, simply dismissing Loranda's reply: "You don't know how strong the Ultimate Essence truly is."
With that, before the slightly irritated paladin could retort, he picked up the wine bottle and took another drink. Looking up at the ceiling, he continued muttering to himself: "Now, before the Great Magic Tide descends, the overall strength of the world is not high. The Silver realm makes a high-ranking officer in the military, the Gold realm a military leader. The Ultimate Essence can command an entire legion, even a province, and the Legendary realm can suppress an entire empire."
"In this era, advancing in strength is far more difficult than in later ages, yet I have still reached the Ultimate Essence realm."
Saying this, Joshua lowered his head and looked directly into Loranda's eyes. His red pupils held no emotion, only a blazing flame: "What does this mean?"
"It means that with my strength, if I were to go to the Far South..."
The warrior's clear and heavy voice echoed through the entire reception hall, even causing the potted plants and bottles to tremble violently: "I alone would be enough to defeat an entire mad dragon legion."
"If I were to go to the Far South, the kingdom's central defense line would become as solid as a fortress because of my presence."
"With an extra Ultimate Essence-level expert like me, the mad dragon armies would be restrained, unable to expand recklessly as before. The fortresses that have been gasping for breath due to the Dragon Calamity would get a chance to recuperate and begin reorganizing for the next onslaught."
Saying this, Joshua shook his head at Loranda, somewhat regretfully: "This is the power of an Ultimate Essence expert—enough to change the course of a battle, enough to change the fate of a nation."
"I ask you, do you know how strong an Ultimate Essence expert is? You say you know, but in truth, you don't."
Left speechless, Loranda didn't know how to respond to Joshua for a moment. But with his mental fortitude, he quickly recovered and found a point to counter.
"Indeed. If the Far South Kingdom suddenly gained an Ultimate Essence expert, the war situation could indeed be greatly alleviated, even turning from defense to offense, counterattacking the mad dragons."
Calmly affirming Joshua's earlier words, Loranda knew that everything the warrior said was correct, but there was one point that didn't hold up. He shook his head emphatically: "But, Joshua, you are a noble of the Northern Empire, a Count of the North, the Lord of Moldavia. You are an Ultimate Essence expert, enough to protect your territory. But what does that have to do with the Far South Kingdom?"
Perhaps Joshua's tone had irritated him earlier, so the paladin's words became sharper: "That's right. You have no jurisdiction there. None of this has anything to do with you."
"That's what you think. That's what the Far South Kingdom thinks. That's what the Church of the Seven Gods thinks. That's what the mad dragons think."
Speaking slowly, Joshua didn't mind Loranda's tone. He simply continued his own words: "So they haven't provoked all the forces of the continent for now. Instead, they send cultists to lie low. Once they successfully capture the Far South, that's when the flames of war will ignite across the rest of the Mycroft Continent. And before that, everyone will turn a blind eye to the fall of the Far South Kingdom, because it has nothing to do with them."
"Loranda, you are a paladin. You possess the Holy Light power that only transcendent beings have. But your thinking is still bound, not freed from meaningless regional distinctions."
Even saying this, Joshua's tone remained as calm as at the beginning. His eyes held no emotion, and his voice was as flat as a direct statement: "You think that as the Lord of the Northern lands, I should stay in the Northern lands, develop my territory, and prepare to resist the coming disasters. As for the Far South, it has nothing to do with me, so I should stand by and watch."
"This seems like an unspoken rule. Because of differences in region and nationality, everyone sticks to their own little patch of land. Even when disaster strikes, they are unwilling to lend a hand to their neighbors."
"But why should I care about these things?"
The warrior let out a cold laugh. He spoke word by word, with a clear voice, to Loranda: "Rules are decided by those with power."
"I am an Ultimate Essence expert. This strength is mine. I can help whoever I want, without needing anyone's permission or any connection. And I don't think the Church of the Seven Gods would refuse my help."
"But you are an Imperial noble. His Majesty the Emperor, the royal family of the Far South Kingdom..."
Unable to refute for a moment, Loranda's thoughts were clearly in disarray. He didn't know what to say, only racking his brain to find a flaw in the warrior's words. The warrior's speech was challenging his everyday common sense, leaving the paladin at a loss.
"Do I really care about being an Imperial noble?"
Shrugging, Joshua laughed indifferently. He genuinely seemed unconcerned: "Would His Majesty Israel kill me because I want to help the Far South resist the Dragon Calamity? Kill me, an Ultimate Essence expert with the potential to advance to Legendary?"
He shook his head and said flatly: "Don't joke, Loranda. Cast aside the rules and regulations."
"Because everyone hesitates, because they worry that helping others will harm themselves, those with the power to act refuse to act, leading to even greater disasters. If something like that really happens, don't you think it's laughable?"
"The fate of the world is precisely what gradually sinks into the abyss because of this."
As he said this, a wave of Order Force rippled from within Joshua's body. A circular, cyan light appeared on the warrior's chest.
In that instant, Loranda seemed to see a phantom figure overlap with the warrior's form. This phantom had white hair and white eyes, and a Glory that ordinary people couldn't look upon flowed through its body.
And a deep, firm voice came from not far away, entering his ears.
"This world needs heroes."
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