Chapter 45: No Man Is an Island
After Ivan walked out of the office, led away by Orlando, Joshua invited Nostradamus to sit down and asked him to explain in detail what exactly His Majesty the Emperor wanted to tell him.
The old mage sat down without any nonsense. He took a sip of tea, concisely finished his account, then squinted his eyes, stroking his beard, waiting for the warrior's response.
After Joshua quietly finished listening to Nostradamus's narration, he said calmly, "They finally spoke up."
There was not a trace of surprise on the warrior's face, as if he had long anticipated this. When Nostradamus raised his eyebrows and met his gaze, Joshua revealed a smile: "Originally, I thought that after the academy matters were settled, whether the Holy Mountain invited me or not, I would have to make a trip to the Far South."
"That is the Far South, and you are the lord of the Northern Lands."
Tapping the table, the old mage frowned and reminded him: "Joshua, that is the birthplace of the Dragon Calamity, the most chaotic place on this continent right now. You are an imperial noble from the other side of the world—what are you going there for?"
Speaking up to this point, Nostradamus paused, seemingly searching for the right words, then continued: "Honestly, why bother? The Far Sea Holy Mountain is inviting you over, at most because they've taken a liking to your Order Force. There are plenty of sacred artifacts that can replace the Order Force; you are not a necessary factor."
"You don't want me to go to the Far South."
Joshua was not surprised by the old mage's attitude: "But I think this idea isn't bad—look, they are willing to pay two sacred artifacts for this. As long as I go, I can enter the Sanctuary and choose freely."
"To be precise, I don't want you to go to the Far Sea Holy Mountain."
Nostradamus sighed, shaking his head with some bewilderment: "On the contrary, I completely don't understand why you want to go to the Far South. It's a tangled mess right now; whoever goes will have a headache. Compared to dangerous events that require an Ultimate-rank expert to intervene, two sacred artifacts are far from a fair reward."
"If trouble doesn't come to me, I'll go find trouble."
Shrugging, Joshua stated his life philosophy flatly: "Fair or unfair doesn't matter; the most important thing is that my hands are itching—I can't stand just staying in the Lord's Manor, merely 'listening' to battle reports from afar."
"Since the Church is willing to pay a reward to invite me to fight, why not go along with it?"
After speaking, the warrior raised his hand, showing his fist to the old mage: "See this, Master Nostradamus? What is this?"
"A fist."
It was a clenched fist, a bronze-colored one weathered by wind and sun, as indestructible as the hardest steel. The slightly bulging veins were brimming with the breath of life. Even Nostradamus had never seen such a powerful fist; it seemed that once it swung out, nothing in the world could stop it.
"Very powerful. No wonder you are the youngest Ultimate-rank expert in the empire's history. Your life force is more abundant than a dragon's."
He first praised it, but Nostradamus still didn't understand what Joshua wanted to express. The old mage asked with some confusion: "But, then what?"
"There are quite a few Ultimate-rank demonic dragons in the Far South; you may not be able to defeat them easily."
"—There are hundreds of thousands of people trapped in the blockade zone of the mad dragons in the Far South. The central defense line is hit by tens of thousands of mad dragons every day."
The warrior's answer seemed somewhat off-topic; he was simply narrating the battle reports from the past few days: "Of course, the situation is improving. A few days ago, the allied forces of the kingdom and the elves reclaimed a lot of lost ground, but we all know that this is because the Five-Colored Dragons are contracting, concentrating their forces, preparing to first break through the Church of the Seven Gods."
"If they succeed, then without a doubt, the Far South Kingdom, the largest human settlement in the southern part of this continent that has lost the Church's support, will be breached by the alien races—devastation, countless families torn apart, and the once prosperous civilization will be completely destroyed by barbarism."
Speaking here, Joshua's gaze deepened. He recalled the time he fought in the Far South in the past, that exhilarating feeling still fresh in his memory.
"So, now."
But he was not influenced by past memories. After a few seconds, Joshua's eyes regained clarity. His tone was very calm, without any excitement. The warrior looked directly into Nostradamus's eyes: "My fist tells me—power should be used here. It has been tempered for over a decade to reach this level, not to watch this happen."
"...Well said."
Not knowing how to respond, the old mage's expression was complex.
He certainly knew that if the dragons really breached the Holy Mountain, the situation would become irreversible, and the human forces across the entire continent would fall into true passivity... But was it possible? The strongest on the continent, Pope Igor of the Church of the Seven Gods, was there, plus the Church's defensive formations built over nearly a thousand years. Even if the Dragon God descended, it might not be able to breach the Holy Mountain. The Seven Gods of Humanity had always watched over the Far South; They would not sit idly by.
In the end, the old mage still believed that all of this was too far away and had nothing to do with the empire.
"No man is an island, entire of itself."
Regarding Nostradamus's attitude, Joshua shook his head and said seriously: "Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. Whether it's you or me, it's the same."
"When the real death knell tolls, no one can be spared. Hesitation cannot save those who watch, and caution cannot save those who hesitate."
Although the timing was somewhat off due to Joshua's changes to the world, the warrior remembered very clearly how critical the situation of the Church of the Seven Gods was in his previous life.
On a stormy summer night, taking advantage of the typhoon during the rainy season in the Far Sea, three legendary Five-Colored Dragons led nearly a hundred thousand maddened flying dragons to attack the Holy Mountain. Although the Church had long prepared for battle, they were still suppressed by such an intensity of assault and unable to counterattack.
During that week of torrential rain, before the three legendary dragons even made their move, all the outer fortifications of the entire Church of the Seven Gods were destroyed. Most of the clergy abandoned the towns on the island, preparing to rely on the sturdy temples on the Holy Mountain to continue defending.
What followed was a war of attrition. Every day, new armies of mad dragons arrived from all over the world, even from the distant ends of the sea. Their numbers were nearly endless, attacking without rest. No matter how resilient the spirits of the Church clergy were, they were only human. They could not endure a week of unceasing high tension. And just when all the humans were exhausted beyond measure, the three legendary dragons struck decisively, preparing to completely destroy the Holy Mountain's defenses.
Pope Igor and the various bishops had no choice but to engage. The aftermath of their battle even dispersed the raging typhoon. Their fight lasted for eight days and nights, but the clergy in the Holy Mountain could not hold out that long. Many knights who had been fighting from the very beginning began to die suddenly from exhaustion, and the defense line fell into great chaos.
Fortunately, at this time, an obscure priest received a divine revelation. He developed a special teleportation array. Any clergy holding the power of Holy Light could use mutual resonance to locate each other. With the help of a spacetime-related sacred artifact in the Great Temple, clergy traveling around the world used this special teleportation array to arrive directly at the front line of the battlefield. With this fresh force's help, the Holy Mountain's defense line gradually stabilized.
At the end of the battle, Pope Igor's strength proved superior. He single-handedly defeated all the high-end combat power of the Five-Colored Dragon Clan and, with his legendary might, completely drove away the mad dragon army. But even so, it was far too late.
After this battle, the Church of the Seven Gods was severely weakened. Almost all the paladins and priests traveling across the Mycroft Continent disappeared, laying the groundwork for the subsequent rampage of cultists. And because the Far Sea Holy Mountain had contracted most of its sphere of influence, many sealed lands or Chaos-eroded regions under their supervision began to gradually expand. Perhaps it was at that time that the Abyss of Anos, originally just a small crack, gradually grew into the Abyss Gate of later generations.
If, at that time, experts from other regions had been willing to lend a hand to the Church of the Seven Gods, things would never have come to this.
"First, take me back to the Lord's Manor, Master Nostradamus."
Standing up, Joshua looked up at the skylight letting in sunlight. The warrior squinted his eyes. He no longer wanted to explain and said calmly: "I need to tell Ying and Lin that the rest is over."
"It's time to set out."
Realizing he could not persuade the warrior, Nostradamus also sighed helplessly and stood up. But then Joshua seemed to remember something. He took a transparent crystal from his bosom. Looking at this crystal, the warrior seemed a bit hesitant.
But then, he made up his mind: "Next, we'll go directly to the Imperial Capital."
"I happen to have something to say to His Majesty Israel."
—Half a day later.
Northern Empire, Three Mountains Holy City, Imperial Capital Morlai Palace.
Sensing the teleportation fluctuation within his palace, Israel, who was looking at a map of the Far South in his study, raised his eyebrows.
"Came quickly."
He rubbed his chin and murmured softly: "As expected of a young man; his decisiveness is far higher than ours."
After speaking, he put away the map on the table and hung it on a corner of the wall. Then, this His Majesty the Emperor sat down in his chair, waiting for the upcoming visitor.
A few minutes later, rhythmic footsteps sounded on the corridor outside the royal study, then stopped at the door.
Sensing the powerful life force outside the door, Israel smiled slightly and casually said, "Come in, the door is unlocked."
He had never liked those tedious formalities, so he was always very casual in private. Hearing this voice, the door was opened, and the empire's ruler unsurprisingly saw Joshua's face.
"You accepted the Church's invitation?"
Without unnecessary pleasantries, Israel asked Joshua with interest. Unlike the resistance Nostradamus had shown, this His Majesty the Emperor was simply a bit curious. Then, he shrugged and said: "Right, you're a person who can't stay idle. If there's a chance to fight, you won't let it pass."
As a warrior, he understood a warrior's mindset better than the old mage.
"But, where is your Divine Mechanism? And that sea dragon? Aren't they going with you?"
Compared to the last time in the Hall of Sacred Emblems, where the empire's ruler was exhausted and burdened with heavy thoughts, Israel was in a very good mood now. Joshua didn't know why, but he could tell that this His Majesty the Emperor was very approachable at the moment.
So he didn't bow either, but simply explained: "Ying and Lin should still be taking care of Brandon and Verdani's child now. I've already notified the couple to come back and pick them up as soon as possible. As for Black, his size is too large; he needs a special teleportation portal to be sent over. Master Nostradamus doesn't have time now; he probably won't be able to open such a passage until tomorrow."
"The Divine Mechanism is one thing."
Hearing this, Israel's expression showed some confusion. He frowned and said: "Last time, didn't I give you a Shape-Shifting Pendant? It should be able to change that sea dragon's size to about that of an ordinary horse. Although it can't be used for a long time, it should be absolutely fine for passing through a teleportation portal."
"..."
His breath caught slightly. Joshua suddenly realized that he seemed to have truly forgotten about this matter.
Yes, after returning from the Imperial Capital last time, he had directly gone to deal with the cultists and the dragon egg matter, then prepared for the academy's tests. Interspersed with small matters like Brandon and his wife visiting to entrust their daughter to his care, he had completely forgotten about the Shape-Shifting Pendant!
This was indeed a bad habit. The warrior had always been too lazy to check what equipment he had on him; as long as he had a weapon, it was all the same.
But Israel didn't pay attention to Joshua's expression. He said calmly: "You came to ask how to get to the Far South? Don't worry. The Church and I have long made arrangements. After all, this is a major matter concerning the empire's dignity. It will definitely give you a surprise."
Speaking here, he revealed a smile, looking very satisfied with that so-called surprise.
"Partially, but I came here for another purpose."
Sensing the topic drifting further and further off course, Joshua quickly stopped the deviation. He stood before Israel's desk and said in a deep voice: "Your hidden injury."
As soon as these words were spoken by the warrior, the atmosphere in the entire study froze.
But then, the pressure from this legendary expert quickly dissipated.
"It's not surprising that you can see it."
No longer sitting in his seat, His Majesty the Emperor stood up and paced in the study. He said self-deprecatingly: "Last time in the Hall of Sacred Light, I was indeed a bit out of sorts. Too much fatigue and long-lasting pain made me forget to conceal my emotions—or perhaps even earlier, just when we first sparred, you noticed this."
—Actually, even earlier, like in the previous life.
Joshua did not respond, because before him, a detailed panel was slowly emerging.
Back then, with his Gold-rank strength as a warrior, he couldn't see through the panel of His Majesty the Emperor before him through the system's appraisal. But now, Joshua had reached the Ultimate realm. Although there was still a great distance from the Legendary realm, if it was just simply looking at the panel, he could still see it.
[Name: Israel Diamond]
[Template: Legendary]
[Title: Empire's Ruler, Heaven's Chosen Dragon Knight]
[Race: Human, Northwestern Branch, Special Classification 'Heaven's Chosen']
[Racial Skill: Chosen One (All skill advancement speed x1.1)]
[Level: lv94 Heaven's Chosen Legendary]
[Challenge Level: lv90]
[Attributes: Omitted]
[Life Profession: Fishing]
[Status: Hidden Injury (lower back), Life Drain (suppressed state)]